16Hit1600
Craft and StructureVery hardTwo authors on a policy's effects

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 The city's rent cap has failed, economist Dario Fonti argues: since it began, fewer new flats have been built, and landlords have withdrawn properties from the rental market. Text 2 Fonti is right that supply has fallen. But the cap was never meant to build flats; it was meant to keep existing tenants in their homes, and evictions have fallen by 40%. Whether that is failure depends on which problem you thought the cap was solving.

Which choice best describes how the author of Text 2 responds to Fonti's argument?

  1. A. By conceding his evidence about supply but arguing that he judges the policy by the wrong goal.Correct
  2. B. By denying that supply has fallen.
  3. C. By arguing that the cap should be abolished.
  4. D. By claiming that evictions have risen.

Answer: A. By conceding his evidence about supply but arguing that he judges the policy by the wrong goal.

'Fonti is right … But the cap was never meant to build flats.'

Why the other answers are wrong

B. By denying that supply has fallen.
Text 2 concedes the supply point.
C. By arguing that the cap should be abolished.
Text 2 defends the cap's purpose.
D. By claiming that evictions have risen.
Text 2 says evictions fell by 40%.

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