Question

wiping out graffiti in houston
city of houston, department of neighborhoods
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facts

• while the cost of graffiti vandalism in the u.s. has not been definitively documented, many municipal governments, communities and property owners report that the cost is rising each year.
• based on figures from a variety of cities across the country, graffiti cleanup costs tax payers $1-3 per person per year. in smaller communities, the cost is less than $1 per person. nationally, this adds up to between 300 and 900 million dollars per year.

1. what common idea about graffiti does the author disprove?

○ a. graffiti is expensive for cities to remove.
○ b. gangs are responsible for the majority of graffiti.
○ c. graffiti can harm businesses and property values.
○ d. graffiti contributes to other crimes in a community.

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Explanation:

The text confirms that graffiti is costly to remove (supporting A), implies it harms communities/property owners (supporting C), and the context of anti-graffiti programs suggests links to community harm (supporting D). No data is given to disprove these. However, the text never mentions gangs as the main source of graffiti, and since the other options are either supported or not addressed, the author disproves the idea that gangs are responsible for most graffiti.

Answer:

B. Gangs are responsible for the majority of graffiti.