PrepTest 127, Section 1, Question 3
Teacher: Participating in organized competitive athletics may increase(62 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(26 more words not shown)
- AIt is mentioned(16 more words not shown)
- BIt is a(9 more words not shown)
- CIt is a(8 more words not shown)
- DIt is cited(11 more words not shown)
- EIt is cited(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
I can see how playing soccer or practicing gymnastics might improve a child's strength and coordination. The teacher only says it may help, so we do not have to establish that every child improves or that sports are the only way to develop those abilities.
Then comes the concern: children who are less physically developed can be left feeling inferior. Perhaps that is a reason to give those children more support rather than end the programs. But the teacher takes a different route. Those lasting feelings are presented as a possible benefit because adults with feelings of inferiority become more successful.
Does the prospect of later success outweigh the cost of feeling inferior as a child? That is a fair question. Imagine a child who dreads being the weakest player in dodgeball. Telling us that the child might be successful as an adult does not by itself settle whether the experience is worth it.
What we’re looking for
We are not being asked to attack the argument, though. We need the role of the opening claim about strength and coordination. Work backward from the conclusion: funding for children's athletics should not be eliminated. The opening claim supplies a benefit of those programs, so I would describe it as a supporting consideration. Now we need an answer that fits how that benefit relates to the rest of the case.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
The policy is funding children's athletic programs. Increased strength and coordination give one possible reason for that policy. The additional reason is the teacher's claim that the feelings of inferiority can lead to greater success in adulthood.
That second reason is easy to miss because inferiority initially appears as a criticism of sports. The teacher then turns it into support for preserving the programs. A captures both reasons without requiring us to agree that the later benefit outweighs the childhood cost. Keeping an existing funding policy is still a policy choice; “adopting a policy” does not make A incompatible with preserving funding.
- B
The teacher never argues that sports fail to improve strength or coordination. Acknowledging another effect, such as feelings of inferiority, does not refute the physical benefit. Both effects could occur.
- C
The teacher does not provide research or examples showing that athletic participation improves strength and coordination. That claim is used as a starting benefit. The later research concerns adults' success, not evidence establishing the opening claim.
- D
Improved strength and coordination are reasons to support athletic programs, not reasons for eliminating their funding. The concern about inferiority is the possible reason for cutting funding that the teacher tries to answer. D assigns that concern's role to the wrong statement.
- E
The teacher supports preserving funding, and the opening physical benefit supports that position too. It is on the same side of the argument. The objection raised against the programs is the risk of lasting feelings of inferiority, not the increase in strength and coordination.
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