Think about the stimulus this way: the heavy taxes that the government places on gasoline will deter people to drive, meaning people will use less gasoline. So if people are using less gasoline, the money the government gets from the taxes placed on gasoline will not be very great. Therefore, their effort of using the revenue from the gasoline tax to subsidize electricity, in order to reduce prices charged for electricity, will be thwarted by their efforts of deterring people from driving.
We are asked to find another scenario that has a similar inverse relationship. The more one plan works, the more another plan will be hindered by the other's success.
(A) is incorrect because even though the library's late fee will encourage borrowers to return their books on time, the revenue used from the late fees still goes towards the same effort of trying to reduce the amount of borrowers bringing in books late. Therefore, one plan is not being thwarted by the success of another, as in the stimulus.
(B) is incorrect because the revenues gained from the surcharge placed in order to deter use of overnight delivery is merely used to help pay the extra expense of the overnight delivery service. One plan is not being thwarted by the success of another, as in the stimulus.
(C) is incorrect because the two plans, charging admission fees so park users will contribute to the park's upkeep and not financing any new projects from the admission fees, do not work against each other. The plans work symbiotically, not thwarting the other. Therefore, one plan is not being thwarted by the success of another, as in the stimulus.
(D) is incorrect because just as in answer choice (C), the two plans, the restaurant charging a service charge to spare customers the trouble of individual tips and that service charge being shared among the restaurant's workers in order to augment their low hourly wages, work symbiotically together, rather than against. Not only are the patrons lessened of their burden to give individual tips, but the workers still get compensated for their work. Therefore, one plan is not being thwarted by the success of another, as in the stimulus.
(E) is CORRECT because the toll that the highway administration charges will deter motorists from using the bridge, meaning, eventually, less tolls will be paid. Therefore, the more motorists are deterred from the bridge because they don't want to pay a toll, the less money there will be in the reserve fund created from the revenue of those tolls to one day build a new bridge. Thus, the more one plan works, the more another plan will be hindered by the other's success, just like in the stimulus.
Hope that was helpful! Let me know if you have any more questions!
AdvaithAugust 11, 2015
I'm confused about the difference between A and E. Could you explain the difference between the two answer choices, thanks.
NazAugust 25, 2015
As explained in the thread above, the difference between (A) and (E) is that unlike answer choice (E), answer choice (A) describes two plans that do not work against each other.
Answer choice (A) describes a scenario where the library's late fee will work towards encouraging borrowers to return their books on time since the revenue used from the late fees goes towards this effort of reducing the number of borrowers who bring in books late. Thus, the two plans do not thwart one another.
Answer choice (E), on the other hand, describes two plans that work against one another. In hopes of one day having enough money to build a new bridge, the toll charged by highway administration to motorists could deter motorists from the bridge, in effect, reducing the money in the reserve fund created to one day build a new bridge. So, as you can see, the more one plan works, i.e. the more the motorists are deterred, the more the other plan will be thwarted, i.e. the less money will be available to build a new bridge.
Hope that clears things up! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
