PrepTest 133, Section 1, Question 12
Aerobics instructor: Compared to many forms of exercise,(35 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- ASkilled practitioners of(11 more words not shown)
- BTo reduce the(19 more words not shown)
- CBeginners at kickboxing(18 more words not shown)
- DKickboxing aerobics is(13 more words not shown)
- EMost beginners at(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
That impressive kick may be beyond what a beginner can safely do.
The instructor gives us a chain: beginners who try to match skilled practitioners' high kicks are very likely to overextend, and overextending often leads to injury. I can see the practical response. Don't push yourself into that high kick just because someone more experienced can do it.
What we’re looking for
We're asked what the statements most strongly support. A recommendation to avoid that particular risk fits the evidence. A promise of no injuries would go much further. The passage identifies a way beginners can get hurt; it doesn't give us a complete account of every injury in kickboxing aerobics or every other form of exercise.
Working the answers
- A
How frequently do skilled practitioners overextend or get injured? We aren't told. The passage describes the danger when beginners try to imitate them. Even if experience reduced that danger, a reduced risk could still be substantial. We can't turn the discussion of beginners into a claim that skilled practitioners are unlikely to be injured.
- BCorrect
Beginners should avoid trying to match those high kicks if they want to reduce the risk of injury. That advice follows the specific connection the instructor supplies: imitation makes overextension likely, and overextension often causes injuries. B responds to the identified danger without promising that avoiding it removes every possible risk.
- C
This promises too much. A beginner who avoids copying high kicks could still be hurt in another way. Perhaps the beginner falls during a different movement. The passage doesn't say imitation is the only source of injury, so eliminating that behavior doesn't establish that injuries will never occur. Reducing a risk, as B recommends, is different from eliminating all risk.
- D
We know kickboxing aerobics is highly risky compared with many forms of exercise. We don't know how it compares with the entire category of aerobic exercises that lack high kicks. An activity could avoid high kicks and still have other serious dangers. Not having this particular hazard doesn't establish that the whole activity is safer.
- E
Most means more than half of all beginners. The instructor gives us a risk when beginners attempt these kicks, but doesn't tell us how many beginners make the attempt. Many might avoid it. We also aren't given an overall injury percentage. A warning about what happens under particular conditions doesn't establish that most people in the whole beginner group get injured that way.
More Must Be True questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Must Be True questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.