PrepTest 152, Section 4, Question 4
Warner: Until recently, most competitive swimmers were high(69 more words not shown)
Young responds to Warner's argument(1 more words not shown)
- Aattempting to demonstrate(9 more words not shown)
- Bpresenting a counterexample(12 more words not shown)
- Carguing that a(17 more words not shown)
- Dmaintaining that the(13 more words not shown)
- Eoffering an alternative(7 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
They keep swimming after college. Does that mean better training has kept them fitter?
Maybe they enjoy competing and want to continue. Maybe there is now a way to earn money by swimming. The fact that more people continue doesn't, by itself, show that their training improved or that they stay fit longer than swimmers used to.
What we’re looking for
Young develops the money explanation. Competitive swimming leaves no time for an outside job, but swimmers can now earn a living from the sport itself. Someone who previously would have quit to earn a living can now keep competing. That accounts for the change without relying on improved training. For the method question, that is Young's response: another explanation for the same observation.
Working the answers
- A
Young doesn't argue that swimmers continuing longer is evidence against improved training. The observation could still be consistent with better training. Young's point is that another change could explain it, so Warner hasn't established which explanation is responsible.
- B
Young doesn't supply a particular case that contradicts Warner's evidence. For example, a specific swimmer who continued despite receiving no better training would be a different kind of response. Here, Young accepts the general change in swimming careers and offers a reason it could have occurred.
- C
Young never says improved training is required for swimmers to keep competing. Instead, Young offers a different explanation for their continued participation. Saying training is necessary but not enough would retain training as a requirement, which isn't Young's response.
- D
Young doesn't accuse Warner of assuming the very conclusion Warner is trying to prove. Warner starts with a change in who continues competing and infers a change in training and fitness. Young questions that inference by supplying another possible explanation, not by identifying a repeated conclusion disguised as evidence.
- ECorrect
Both speakers explain why more swimmers now continue beyond their university years. Warner credits training that supposedly keeps swimmers fit longer. Young points to the new opportunity to make a living from swimming. The alternative doesn't have to prove training played no role; it shows why Warner's explanation doesn't automatically follow from the observation.
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