PrepTest 141, Section 4, Question 16
Stress is a common cause of high blood(29 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AFor at least(19 more words not shown)
- BMost people with(13 more words not shown)
- CMost people who(11 more words not shown)
- DEngaging in exercise(6 more words not shown)
- EFor at least(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Exercise, a calmer mind, less stress, lower blood pressure—that looks like a useful connection. But let's check how far the passage actually takes us.
Stress is a common cause of high blood pressure, not necessarily its only cause. Reducing stress could help without making someone's blood pressure perfect. The passage says some people can lower their blood pressure by calming their minds and reducing stress. It also says most people can calm their minds through exercise.
My first thought is that exercise might therefore help with blood pressure. We need to be careful, though: the people whose blood pressure responds to calming their minds aren't expressly identified as the people whose minds respond to exercise.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for the strongest supported conclusion. For each answer, check which change leads to which result and how many people the passage actually covers. A plausible connection still needs support from the statements we're given.
Working the answers
- A
This runs from lower blood pressure to lower stress. The passage describes stress contributing to blood pressure, and reducing stress helping some people lower it. That doesn't establish that changing blood pressure itself will reduce stress. A switches which change is supposed to produce the other.
- B
'Some' isn't enough to establish 'most.' The passage gives us people whose blood pressure can respond to reduced stress, but doesn't say they make up over half of everyone with high blood pressure. Calling stress a common cause doesn't supply that missing proportion either.
- C
We aren't told that most people who don't exercise regularly become more stressed because of that. They could have other ways to calm their minds. Evidence that exercise can help doesn't establish the condition of the group that doesn't exercise or show that not exercising caused their stress.
- D
The passage does not establish a direct exercise-to-blood-pressure effect. Its described route involves calming the mind and reducing stress, and it doesn't expressly connect all the relevant groups at the blood-pressure endpoint. Exercise might have a direct effect for all we know, but D needs support for that particular claim.
- ECorrect
This stops at reduced stress. Exercise can calm people's minds, and calming the mind is described as reducing stress. E makes the modest claim that exercise can therefore reduce stress for at least some people. We don't need to establish a direct blood-pressure effect or make an unsupported claim about most people with high blood pressure.
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