PrepTest 127, Section 2, Question 13
Heart attacks are most likely to occur on(46 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(21 more words not shown)
- ABecause they associate(14 more words not shown)
- BMany retired people(10 more words not shown)
- CPeople seldom change(8 more words not shown)
- DStress is the(8 more words not shown)
- EUnemployed retired people(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why would heart attacks be more common on Monday? Work-related stress is one possibility. A change in sleep after the weekend or other weekend habits might also be worth investigating. The passage gives us stress from returning to work as the accepted explanation, but that doesn't make every other possibility disappear.
The finding about unemployed retirees seems surprising only if they have no reason to be more stressed on Mondays. Could they still have Monday pressures? Perhaps they volunteer at a community center and have to arrive early. Perhaps their children's return to work or the increased activity around them affects their routine. Even memories of their own workweek could matter. These are possible ways Monday could still feel different after retirement.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to explain their Monday pattern. We don't need a general reason retired people might have heart attacks. We need something that distinguishes Monday from their other days. I would look for a connection between Monday and stress that doesn't require a paid job.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Retirees' association of Monday with work makes them more likely to begin large projects that day. Those projects could bring pressure or demands even though the retirees aren't employed. That gives us a plausible reason for Monday to be more stressful and helps explain the pattern.
We still make a modest connection between undertaking a large project and experiencing stress. A doesn't prove the complete medical explanation. But it addresses both important parts of the question: people without jobs and something special about Monday.
- B
The people whose pattern we need to explain are unemployed retirees. Retirees who take part-time jobs aren't that group. The existence of working retirees doesn't explain why retirees without jobs have a greater likelihood of a heart attack on Monday.
- C
Continuing old dietary and health habits might help explain continuing health risks. It doesn't tell us what makes Monday different. We would have to add a fact about a Monday-specific habit to get the explanation we need.
- D
Even if stress is the major influence on heart-attack risk, why would unemployed retirees experience more of it on Monday? D gives us the general importance of stress without supplying the missing weekly pattern.
- E
This compares retirees with employed people. Our puzzle compares Mondays with other days for unemployed retirees. A higher overall risk in one group wouldn't explain why that group's risk peaks on a particular day.
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