In an approximate sense used in everyday American city planning, about how many city blocks are there in one mile of distance?

Introduction / Context:
This question checks general practical knowledge and estimation skills in an analytical reasoning setting. City blocks are standard units of distance in many North American cities, and a rough rule of thumb is often used to relate blocks to miles. The goal is not an exact engineering value but a reasonable range for typical urban blocks in one mile.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• We consider typical rectangular city blocks in many American cities.
• A mile is equal to 5280 feet.
• Average block length in common usage is roughly between one tenth and one eighth of a mile.
• The options provide ranges of possible numbers of blocks per mile.
• We are looking for the most reasonable approximate range, not a single exact count.

Concept / Approach:
The approach is to use simple proportional reasoning. Many urban planners and navigation guides use an approximation like 10 to 12 blocks per mile along some directions. This suggests that each block is around 400 to 500 feet long. We compare that benchmark with the proposed ranges to find which range best captures common experience while staying realistic.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that one mile is 5280 feet. Step 2: If there are about 10 blocks in a mile, then the average block length is 5280 / 10 = 528 feet. Step 3: If there are 12 blocks in a mile, then each block is 5280 / 12 = 440 feet. Step 4: These values between about 440 and 530 feet match typical urban block lengths in many North American cities. Step 5: Therefore an approximate range of 8 to 12 blocks per mile is reasonable. Eight blocks would give 5280 / 8 = 660 feet per block, still plausible for some long blocks, while 12 blocks give shorter but still realistic blocks. Step 6: Ranges that start higher, like 12 to 15 or 15 to 20, imply much shorter block lengths that are less typical for standard reference rules used in reasoning tests.

Verification / Alternative check:
A quick sanity check is to compare with the common rule that about four short blocks or eight long blocks make up one mile in some cities. This again supports a lower bound near 8. Likewise, guidebooks sometimes say that roughly 10 to 12 blocks is about one mile. This confirms that 8 to 12 is a reasonable approximate range in the context of this question.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• 12 to 15 blocks: This implies block lengths shorter than 440 feet, which is less typical for a general rule of thumb for long city blocks.
• 8 to 15 blocks: This range is so wide that it becomes less informative and mixes very long and very short block sizes.
• 15 to 20 blocks: This would require very small blocks of around 260 to 350 feet, which does not match the usual long block approximation.
• 5 to 7 blocks: This would give blocks longer than 750 feet, which is unusually long as a standard benchmark.

Common Pitfalls:
Students may look for an exact number of blocks rather than a reasonable range or may rely only on one city layout they know. The question is aimed at typical approximations used in reasoning problems, not at survey level precision. It is important to interpret the wording as approximate and choose the range most consistent with widely used rules of thumb.

Final Answer:
A reasonable approximate range for the number of city blocks in one mile is 8 to 12 blocks.