Urban planning researchers Chen, Martinez, and Kim have proposed that incorporating curved walkway designs into plaza environments enhances pedestrian...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Urban planning researchers Chen, Martinez, and Kim have proposed that incorporating curved walkway designs into plaza environments enhances pedestrian navigation efficiency during high-traffic periods when individuals must frequently change direction to avoid collisions. To test their proposal, a research team constructed two scaled plaza models—one featuring curved pathways and one with traditional straight pathways—and conducted identical pedestrian flow simulations under crowded conditions.
Which finding from the simulation tests, if true, would most strongly support Chen and colleagues' proposal?
The curved pathway model required substantially more maintenance resources after the simulation than the straight pathway model did.
Pedestrians in the curved pathway model completed route changes notably faster than those in the straight pathway model did.
The curved pathway model accommodated considerably fewer total pedestrians than the straight pathway model did.
Pedestrians in the curved pathway model took significantly longer to reach their destinations than those in the straight pathway model did.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| Urban planning researchers Chen, Martinez, and Kim have proposed that incorporating curved walkway designs into plaza environments enhances pedestrian navigation efficiency during high-traffic periods when individuals must frequently change direction to avoid collisions. |
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| To test their proposal, a research team constructed two scaled plaza models—one featuring curved pathways and one with traditional straight pathways—and conducted identical pedestrian flow simulations under crowded conditions. |
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Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Chen, Martinez, and Kim proposed that curved walkways improve pedestrian navigation efficiency in crowded conditions, and researchers designed an experiment to test this proposal.
Argument Flow: The passage presents a specific hypothesis about curved walkways being more efficient for pedestrian navigation during crowded periods. It then describes how researchers set up a controlled experiment with two different plaza models to test this proposal under identical crowded conditions.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? Which experimental finding would provide the strongest evidence supporting Chen and colleagues' specific proposal about curved walkways.
What type of answer do we need? A research result that demonstrates curved walkways actually do enhance pedestrian navigation efficiency during high-traffic periods with direction changes.
Any limiting keywords? N/A
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The researchers' proposal is specifically about navigation efficiency during high-traffic periods when people must frequently change direction to avoid collisions
- The right answer should show that curved walkways actually perform better than straight walkways in exactly this scenario
- We'd want evidence that people navigate more efficiently in the curved pathway model compared to the straight pathway model during crowded conditions
The curved pathway model required substantially more maintenance resources after the simulation than the straight pathway model did.
- This talks about maintenance resources after the simulation
- Maintenance costs have nothing to do with pedestrian navigation efficiency
- The researchers' proposal is about how people move through spaces, not upkeep costs
Pedestrians in the curved pathway model completed route changes notably faster than those in the straight pathway model did.
- Shows pedestrians completed route changes faster in the curved model
- Route changes are exactly what the proposal addresses
- This directly demonstrates enhanced navigation efficiency and perfectly matches what Chen and colleagues predicted would happen
The curved pathway model accommodated considerably fewer total pedestrians than the straight pathway model did.
- Shows the curved model accommodated fewer total pedestrians
- This actually suggests the curved design might be less efficient for crowd management
- Doesn't address navigation efficiency
Pedestrians in the curved pathway model took significantly longer to reach their destinations than those in the straight pathway model did.
- Shows pedestrians took longer to reach destinations in the curved model
- This directly contradicts the idea of enhanced navigation efficiency
- Taking longer to get somewhere is the opposite of efficiency