PrepTest 128, Section 3, Question 5
Those who participate in risky sports often do(48 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(7 more words not shown)
- AOften those who(31 more words not shown)
- BIn general, people(16 more words not shown)
- CMost people who(20 more words not shown)
- DParticipating in risky(10 more words not shown)
- EMost of those(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Confronting a fear could be one reason to climb a mountain. Someone might also climb because they love the activity. The passage says fear confrontation is a common motive, so we can accept that without assuming it explains every participant.
The important comparison comes next: people who take part in these risky activities have more self-confidence than other people. The author concludes that confronting fears probably increases confidence.
What if the confidence came first?
Imagine someone who is scared of heights but confident enough to attempt the mountain anyway. A less confident person might never start climbing. In that case, risky sports could attract people who already have greater confidence. Finding confidence among the participants wouldn't establish that the activity created it.
What we’re looking for
We're asked to weaken the reasoning. I'd look for evidence supporting that other direction: confidence helps explain why people confront the risk, rather than the risk explaining their confidence.
Working the answers
- A
Not knowing you have a fear, or how strong it is, doesn't tell us where your self-confidence came from. A person could discover a fear while participating and gain confidence afterward, or already be confident beforehand. A doesn't distinguish those possibilities.
- BCorrect
The participants generally had above-average self-confidence before they began any risky sport. That makes the alternative explanation much more plausible: these activities attract people who are already unusually confident. Their present confidence therefore isn't good evidence by itself that confronting fears produced the difference.
This doesn't prove that the sports never add any confidence, or that confidence is the only reason people participate. It does weaken the author's attempt to explain the participants' higher confidence by their participation.
- C
This gives other reasons why nonparticipants avoid risky sports. Perhaps they lack time or simply prefer something else. It doesn't show whether the participants were confident before beginning or gained confidence by confronting their fears. The cause of the participants' confidence remains unresolved.
- D
There can be several ways to confront fear. Therapy might be another, for example. That doesn't prevent confronting fear through a risky sport from increasing confidence. The argument never requires risky sports to be the only way.
- E
Nonparticipants' doubts about excelling at these activities don't establish what created the participants' confidence. Doubting your ability to excel at rock climbing is also narrower than having low self-confidence generally. E leaves open whether confronting fear increases that broader confidence.
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