PrepTest 153, Section 2, Question 4
Dog owner: In general, large dogs need less(65 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AAn apartment dweller(16 more words not shown)
- BProviding a dog(15 more words not shown)
- CAt least some(15 more words not shown)
- DOf dogs owned(22 more words not shown)
- EIn general, the(17 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
You might pause at the claim about large dogs. Picture a Chihuahua that tires after a short walk and a Belgian Malinois that still seems ready to run. That would make the generalization sound surprising. But particular dogs or breeds could be exceptions. We can accept the rule we're given and still find a problem in what the owner does with it.
The rule is about intensity. The recommendation is about time.
Suppose a small dog needs five minutes of hard sprinting. A much longer gentle walk could take more of the owner's time without being as intense. So a dog could need harder exercise without necessarily needing a longer exercise session. The apartment dweller's shortage of time wouldn't automatically make that dog's needs harder to meet.
The owner is assuming those two things go together: more intensive exercise requires more time. That connection might sound reasonable, but it hasn't been stated. Without it, we cannot use the large dog's lower intensity requirement to make the time-based recommendation.
What we’re looking for
Now the question asks for a required assumption. We switch from challenging that missing connection to looking for the statement that supplies it.
Working the answers
- A
We're discussing an apartment dweller who wants a dog. Whether people with limited time are generally unlikely to want one doesn't tell us which size would be less troublesome for those who do. 'Unlikely' also doesn't mean nobody in that situation wants a dog. A changes the population we are considering instead of explaining the comparison.
- BCorrect
More intensive exercise takes more time. Now the large dog's lower intensity requirement is connected to the owner's limited schedule. If intensity could instead be packed into a brief session, our five-minute sprint could meet the small dog's need despite the time limit. B rules out that gap in the owner's reasoning.
- C
Perhaps some people with little time should not have a dog at all. But the argument isn't trying to establish that moral judgment. It recommends a large dog over a small one for someone who wants a dog. A claim that some people should have neither does not supply the needed intensity-and-time relationship.
- D
Large apartments and large dogs are different comparisons. Extra living space might affect behavior, but the owner's reasoning is based on exercise needs and time. It doesn't require a rule saying dogs in large apartments are less troublesome.
- E
Exercising more often is different from exercising more intensely. Frequent short, gentle walks could differ from a less frequent hard run in both respects. Saying that greater frequency helps fitness doesn't establish that meeting a small dog's greater intensity requirement takes more time. That's the connection the recommendation needs.
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