MGMAT CAT - CR

[Supernova]

Life in an urban center, with daily experiences of subways, crowded sidewalks and dense living, provides countless opportunities for social contact and connection. Exurban life, by contrast, exists in the openness of freeways and one-acre lots, exhibiting little that would suggest social commonality. Yet studies show that people who live in exurbia consistently rate their feeling of connectedness to their community as strong whereas urban dwellers more frequently express feelings of isolation.

Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the difference in the reported feelings of connectedness between urban and exurban dwellers?

A. The cost of living in exurbia is significantly lower than that in urban areas.
B. Rates of attendance at houses of worship are much higher in exurban areas than in urban ones.
C. Exurban school districts often spend more per capita on their students than do those in urban areas.
D. The rate of violent crime is much lower in exurban areas than in urban ones.
E. Many people who live in exurbia moved there from urban areas.

[Supernova]

I picked up E as A,C,D are straight out. B looked a little tempting but E seems closer to the argument.
Please explain your reasonings!

I personally feel reasoning given in solution a sawy from regular GMAT CR. I would request MGMAT guys to explain their solution.

Also, can anybody tell me how to register in this forum as i'm already accessing CATs by MGMAT?

[StaceyKoprince]

Please remember to follow protocol. The subject of your post should be the first 5-8 words of the question itself. Thanks! Also, you don't need to register here - nobody does.

Argument:
urban = people are physically closer together / not as much distance to keep them separated
exurban = people are physically farther apart
YET exurban people feel more connected to the community while urbanites feel more isolated (implication: even though the exurbanites are seemingly physically farther away from everyone else)

By saying "yet," the author is implying that he finds it surprising / odd that exurbanites feel more connected even though they apparently don't interact with other members of the community as much as urbanites do.

We want to find any answer that will make the author say, "Oh, is that true? Then I guess it's not so surprising that exurbanites feel more connected with their communities." (Or, conversely, "I guess it's not so surprising that urbanites feel more isolated" - could go either way.)

A - doesn't tell us why the exurbanites feel more connected or the urbanites more isolated
C - same
D - same
E - same. This piece of information is likely true, just in general. But it does not actually explain the DIFFERENCE in level of connectedness bewteen urban and exurban people - why are the exurbanites more connected? Because they moved from urban areas? Well then why don't the urban people feel more connected - where did the change in feeling come from? I have no idea.

B, on the other hand, does tell my why exurbanites might feel more connected DESPITE the fact that they are often physically farther away from others - they spend more time engaging in community-building activities (e.g., attending religious services).