PrepTest 119, Section 2, Question 6
University budget committee: Athletes experience fewer injuries on(35 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(13 more words not shown)
- AThe university's current(11 more words not shown)
- BMost injuries sustained(20 more words not shown)
- CIt is difficult(17 more words not shown)
- DMaintaining artificial-turf fields(18 more words not shown)
- EAthletes who have(17 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why replace the field when both facts seem to favor keeping it?
Artificial turf has fewer injuries and costs less to maintain. Those are the facts we have to work with, even if our own experience playing sports makes us question them. On those measures, the existing field looks like the better choice. Yet the committee recommends natural grass.
What we’re looking for
There must be something else worth considering. Maybe grass looks better, or maybe it offers an environmental advantage. Those are guesses, not facts we're allowed to add. They show what we need: a reason to choose grass despite the advantages stated for turf. For this discrepancy question, hold both sides in view. We're explaining the recommendation, not denying the evidence that made it surprising.
Working the answers
- A
Extensive maintenance is a drawback, but how does it compare with maintaining a grass field? Grass needs attention too. Knowing this turf field has required a lot of work doesn't show that replacing it with grass would solve the problem. A points to a concern without giving us the comparison needed to explain the recommendation.
- BCorrect
Fewer injuries doesn't necessarily mean a better outcome for the injured athletes—or a lower total cost. Most turf injuries take longer to heal and require more expensive physical therapy than grass injuries do. That's a reason to favor grass even if injuries happen there more often.
Imagine more relatively minor injuries on one surface and fewer injuries that require long, expensive recoveries on the other. Counting injuries alone misses that difference. B preserves the stated injury count while adding information about the burden of those injuries, which helps explain the committee's choice.
- C
If spectators can't tell the surfaces apart, their viewing experience doesn't supply a reason to prefer grass. This makes the options similar in one respect when we need an advantage of the recommended option.
- D
Both surfaces require maintenance, though the tasks differ. The passage already tells us that grass costs more to maintain. Listing turf replacement alongside watering and fertilization doesn't explain why the committee would accept that higher cost.
- E
This gives a preference among athletes accustomed to grass, but doesn't tell us whether the university's athletes belong to that group or why their preference should outweigh the stated drawbacks. It offers a possible consideration; B gives a direct comparison bearing on both injuries and expenses, the concerns the committee actually raises.
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