PrepTest 113, Section 2, Question 19
Physician: Hatha yoga is a powerful tool for(48 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AThe individual counseling(18 more words not shown)
- BMost smokers are(10 more words not shown)
- CTraditional self-help groups(8 more words not shown)
- DPeople who practice(13 more words not shown)
- EOther forms of(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Doing as well as a self-help group sounds encouraging. But how well does that group work?
The trial gives us a comparison: yoga plus counseling produced the same reductions in smoking and cravings as a traditional group plus counseling. That doesn't yet tell us whether either approach is powerful. If the comparison group barely helped, matching it wouldn't make yoga a powerful tool. Equal results could be equally disappointing.
What we’re looking for
We need an assumption required by the physician's argument. I'd expect something establishing that the traditional self-help groups are an effective benchmark. Otherwise, the comparison has no force behind the word 'powerful.'
Working the answers
- A
The physician needn't assume counseling contributed nothing. Counseling appears in both treatment arrangements, and it could help both groups. The argument doesn't establish how much of each outcome came from counseling, but that doesn't mean it requires counseling to be useless in the yoga group. A imposes an unnecessary zero-contribution claim.
- B
The trial used yoga once a week. Whether most smokers could do it more often doesn't establish how effective that weekly arrangement was. The comparison and conclusion don't depend on the ability to attend extra sessions.
- CCorrect
This makes the traditional groups a meaningful standard of success. If those groups are powerful tools, matching their results supplies the comparison the physician wants to use in support of yoga. Without that assumption, equal reductions don't establish a powerful effect.
Keep the limit clear. C doesn't answer every question about the trial, such as how much counseling contributed, and it doesn't promise that everyone quit. It supplies the needed assumption about the benchmark. We're identifying what this argument relies on, not declaring the comparison alone a complete demonstration of yoga's effect.
- D
A tool could help achieve a particular goal while having an unwanted physical effect. The argument concerns help with quitting smoking, not an assurance that the practice has no possible downside. It doesn't need D's separate claim about physical harm.
- E
Other forms of yoga could be equally effective or even more effective. That wouldn't prevent hatha yoga from being a powerful tool. The physician isn't claiming it is the best form of yoga, so a comparison with every alternative isn't required.
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