Yes this is a Cause and Effect Question. Ultimately, the argument is saying if the public library is moved from Redville to Glenwood, then the library would be within walking distance of a larger number of library users.
Why? Because there are many more people living in central Glenwood than in central Redville, and we are told that, in general, people will walk to the library only if it is located close to their homes.
The first thing that should pop out at you is just because a town has more people does not necessarily mean that there are more library users. To weaken a Cause & Effect question, we must show the cause, without the effect.
This is just what answer choice (B) does: "The number of people living in central Glenwood who would use the library if it were located there is smaller than the number of people living in central Redville who currently use the library."
So, even if we did move the library to Glenwood, we would not be within walking distance of a larger number of library users, since--according to answer choice (B)--there are a smaller number of people living in Glenwood who would use the library if it were located there than those who live in Redville and currently use the library in Redville.
Hope that clears things up! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
RichardMay 20, 2015
Thanks for nice explanation! It really helps!
LaurenCAugust 8, 2016
Why wouldn't answer A work?
halleraeMarch 1, 2018
I'm confused with your explanation above, the passage states that: "the library would then be within walking distance to a larger number of library users"... it goes on to say that Glenwood is bigger than Redville, but doesn't the language above say that it's not just more people, it's more people that use the library? That first sentence of the passage is problematic to me, and I'm still having a hard time understanding how to overcome.
jstaffSeptember 5, 2018
I'm also interested as to why answer A does not work
Max-YoungquistSeptember 6, 2018
@laurenC @jstaff the passage states "people will generally only walk to the library if its close to their homes."
(A) states:
"Many more people who CURRENTLY walk to the library live in central Redville than in central Glenwood." The key word here is currently, as the library is currently in Redville not Glenwood. Thus (A) simply restates the premise that "people will generally only walk to the library if its close to their homes." Thus (A) does not weaken the argument. I hope that helps!
