Single correct option
The paragraph given below is followed by four options that indicate the best placement of a missing sentence. Choose the option that best completes the paragraph.
Paragraph: Urban planners have long debated whether adding lanes to a congested highway actually reduces traffic. [1] Textbook intuition says more lanes mean more capacity and therefore less congestion per vehicle. [2] Yet numerous studies of highway expansions have found that congestion often returns to its previous level within a few years, sometimes worse than before. [3] The explanation lies in what researchers call induced demand: the eased congestion draws drivers who had previously avoided the route, taken public transport, or travelled at off-peak times, until the road is once again as congested as before the expansion, but now carrying more total traffic. [4]
Missing sentence: This phenomenon has led some cities to experiment with the opposite strategy — deliberately removing lanes and watching for the predicted gridlock, which frequently fails to materialise.
Paragraph: Urban planners have long debated whether adding lanes to a congested highway actually reduces traffic. [1] Textbook intuition says more lanes mean more capacity and therefore less congestion per vehicle. [2] Yet numerous studies of highway expansions have found that congestion often returns to its previous level within a few years, sometimes worse than before. [3] The explanation lies in what researchers call induced demand: the eased congestion draws drivers who had previously avoided the route, taken public transport, or travelled at off-peak times, until the road is once again as congested as before the expansion, but now carrying more total traffic. [4]
Missing sentence: This phenomenon has led some cities to experiment with the opposite strategy — deliberately removing lanes and watching for the predicted gridlock, which frequently fails to materialise.
- A. After [1]
- B. After [2]
- C. After [3]
- D. After [4]
Show answer and solution
Answer: (D) After [4]
The missing sentence begins with 'This phenomenon', referring back to induced demand, which is explained only in the sentence just before position [4]. It also introduces a new, forward-looking point (cities removing lanes as a counter-experiment) that logically closes the paragraph after the concept it depends on ('this phenomenon') has been fully defined. Placing it any earlier ([1], [2], or [3]) would mean referring to induced demand before it has been introduced, breaking the logical flow.
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