Back to the Basics: Paradox Questions

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Paradox questions confuse test takers. The question is how do I correctly answer a CR question that is paradoxical?

Usually, paradox questions say something like: "Resolve the paradox". And that is a clue! The test makers want you to resolve the paradox.

How do you resolve a paradox? Let us understand with an example:

The Mayor promised that the local economy would do amazingly well, once the new stadium was completed. He provided the logic that since tens of thousands of people would come to watch sports events every month, these people would have to stay in nearby hotels, eat at local restaurants and shop for goods from the local shops. However, sales figures show that there was no impact on the revenue of the local retailers, hoteliers . In fact, in many cases, the sales actually went down.

How do we explain this paradox?

Obviously, there has to be a plausible explanation. There could be many, but on the GMAT only one of the options given would be correct.

In order to resolve the paradox, use the Bridge technique. The premise states x, which should give result y, but in reality gives result z. So there has to be some fact that would be able to bridge the gap between two contradictory things.

Bridge technique says that you need to choose an answer choice that Proves there was no paradox in the first place!

Let us say there were 3 choices:

Choice A: The stadium itself failed to attract crowds. -> doesn't explain why sales went down
Choice B: The mayor was lying -> irrelevant to the argument
Choice C: Sports fans bought snacks and other food items inside the stadium and never had to stay overnight. Also, local people avoided shopping downtown when such events took place, because the traffic and rush was just mind boggling.

That last choice explains everything. Fans never had to stay overnight. They did not eat at local restaurants, because they visited only for games and stadiums provided enough "food" for them. Plus, since the locals avoided the local shops during events, obviously local businesses not only did not profit from the stadium, their revenue actually went down.

That choice shows that there was no paradox to start with!

So, use the bridge technique and simply pick the choice that proves there is no paradox! Other choices will either be IRRELEVANT or won't completely explain away the paradox.



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