PrepTest 154, Section 4, Question 1
One reason swimming immediately after eating is thought(72 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- ASwimming immediately after(4 more words not shown)
- BReduced blood flow(9 more words not shown)
- CThere is no(11 more words not shown)
- DBlood going to(16 more words not shown)
- EBlood going to(17 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
I've heard the warning: don't swim right after eating. If a cramp kept someone from swimming, I can see why that would be dangerous. But does eating actually cause the cramp?
The author says there is no reason to believe it does. Let's hear the support. Cramps are usually caused by fatigue and dehydration, which have nothing to do with eating. Usually? That leaves room for other causes. Showing what causes most cramps doesn't by itself rule out a full stomach causing some of them.
Next comes a possible connection: digestion could reduce blood flow to muscles. Calling that idea disputed doesn't settle it either. A disputed explanation might still be worth considering.
But the final sentence gives us a better response. The author says digestion doesn't divert enough blood to reduce the muscles' supply. If we accept that, this proposed connection between eating and cramps falls apart. Notice how that last fact changes our reaction: we were questioning the dismissal, and now the author has addressed the mechanism we were worried about.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for the overall conclusion. What are all these details meant to support? That there is no reason to believe swimming immediately after eating causes muscle cramps. Identify the point by asking why the author tells us about fatigue, dehydration, and blood flow. Those details defend the claim in the second sentence.
Working the answers
- A
This goes too far. The author challenges one proposed danger: muscle cramps caused by swimming immediately after a meal. That doesn't establish that the activity has no dangers at all. Keep the conclusion tied to the particular concern the argument discusses.
- B
The author leaves open whether reduced blood flow could cause cramps. The final sentence instead says digestion doesn't reduce blood flow to muscles. Those are different claims: a condition might cause a problem even though eating doesn't produce that condition.
- CCorrect
This states the point the rest of the argument defends. The usual causes of cramps are unrelated to eating, and the proposed blood-flow connection doesn't work according to the final premise. The author uses those claims to reject the reason for expecting cramps after a meal.
- D
This is part of the author's reasoning, but it stops before the overall point. The discussion of digestion explains why we shouldn't expect the proposed after-meal cramp problem. Ask what this fact is being used to support; that further claim is the conclusion in C.
- E
This restates the final supporting fact. Being last doesn't make a statement the conclusion. The author tells us blood flow won't be reduced in order to support the earlier claim that there is no reason to expect eating before swimming to cause cramps.
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