PrepTest 143

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Paradox

Stimulus Summary:
Home ownership shows economic prosperity, but it's correlated with regions of high unemployment.

Answer Anticipation:
How could something that shows economic prosperity be correlated with high unemployment? That's what we're tasked with resolving. It's hard to anticipate something in this question, so we should get to the answers ASAP. Anything that highlights why owning a home would make you less likely to have a job will suffice.

Answer Explanation:
This answer explains why homeowners might find it more difficult to have a job—they can't move for work. If you're tied to a mortgage, you can't pack up and move for a job opening elsewhere, thus you're more likely to be unemployed.

Key Takeaway:
Some Paradox questions are going to be very difficult to anticipate. Don't get hung up there—if you have a clear idea of what needs to be explained, move on to the answer choices and spend your time analyzing them.

Incorrect. If the jobs are closer to homeowners, then unemployment would be expected to go down in these regions, not up.

Incorrect. While this answer aligns with the paradox, it doesn't explain it. We need to answer why this is true, not provide more evidence that it's true.

Incorrect. If anything, this answer suggests homeowners should have an easier time finding a job and thus not being unemployed, making the paradox worse.

Incorrect. Economically secure people tend to have jobs that they expect to keep, so this answer doesn't resolve the paradox.