Information and IdeasEasyMatching a quotation to a claim about punctuality
Information and Ideas practice question
In 2021 the Marleston transit agency published a revised timetable for its Route 9 bus. Reviewing the change, transportation analyst Dev Raghunathan reports that "in the year after the revision, 92 percent of Route 9 buses arrived within five minutes of their scheduled time, compared with 68 percent in the previous year." He notes that "the revision added eight minutes to the scheduled travel time between the two ends of the route" and that "total ridership on Route 9 remained almost exactly the same." He adds that "most riders interviewed at three stops said they had not noticed that a new timetable had been issued."
Which quotation from the text best supports the claim that the revised timetable made Route 9 buses more likely to arrive on schedule?
- A. "in the year after the revision, 92 percent of Route 9 buses arrived within five minutes of their scheduled time, compared with 68 percent in the previous year"Correct
- B. "the revision added eight minutes to the scheduled travel time between the two ends of the route"
- C. "total ridership on Route 9 remained almost exactly the same"
- D. "most riders interviewed at three stops said they had not noticed that a new timetable had been issued"
Answer: A. "in the year after the revision, 92 percent of Route 9 buses arrived within five minutes of their scheduled time, compared with 68 percent in the previous year"
The claim is about on-time arrival, and A gives before-and-after on-time percentages that rose from 68 to 92. B describes a change in the schedule itself, mistaking a feature of the revision for evidence of its effect on punctuality. C reports ridership, which measures how many people ride, not whether buses were on time. D reports rider awareness, which is unrelated to actual arrival times and if anything cuts against the claim.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. "the revision added eight minutes to the scheduled travel time between the two ends of the route"
- Adding eight minutes describes what the revision changed in the schedule, not what happened to punctuality afterward — you need the before-and-after arrival figures.
- C. "total ridership on Route 9 remained almost exactly the same"
- Ridership counts how many people rode the bus, which says nothing about whether buses arrived on time.
- D. "most riders interviewed at three stops said they had not noticed that a new timetable had been issued"
- Riders not noticing the new timetable speaks to awareness, not actual arrival times — if anything it works against the claim.
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