PrepTest 155, Section 2, Question 10
Toning shoes—walking shoes with a specially rounded sole—are(46 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(13 more words not shown)
- AToning shoes strengthen(8 more words not shown)
- BMuscles in the(11 more words not shown)
- CMany people find(10 more words not shown)
- DThere is little(9 more words not shown)
- EShoes that strengthen(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What if buying the shoes coincides with walking more?
The research says toning shoes don't give the major leg muscles more exercise than ordinary walking shoes do. At first, we might wonder whether they benefit smaller muscles instead. But then we're told that many people develop stronger major leg muscles after switching. That's the result we need to explain.
The shoes don't have to make each walk more effective for their users to end up doing more exercise overall. Buying a pair might be part of an effort to improve one's fitness. Someone could start taking longer walks or walking more often, and that extra exercise could strengthen the muscles.
What we’re looking for
So the apparent-discrepancy question calls for something connecting the switch to more exercise. My prediction is that these people are walking more after buying the shoes. That lets us accept both facts: the shoes add no special exercise benefit to a comparable walk, yet the people who switch can still get stronger.
Working the answers
- A
This fits the question we briefly considered about smaller muscles, but it misses the result we now need to explain. The passage says the major leg muscles became stronger. Strengthening small muscles in the feet and ankles doesn't explain that change without some further connection.
- B
Adapting to the rounded shape doesn't explain why the major muscles become stronger. The answer doesn't tell us that this quick adaptation involves extra exercise or causes an increase in strength. We're still missing the reason for the improvement.
- CCorrect
The shoes are comfortable, so people walk more. There is the extra exercise. We don't have to attribute the improvement to a special strengthening effect of the rounded sole: more walking can strengthen the major leg muscles even when each walk gives them no more exercise than it would in ordinary shoes. Comfort explains why the switch changes people's behavior.
- D
Avoiding injuries and building stronger muscles are different results. Little evidence of injury doesn't explain the positive change in strength. People could wear a shoe without being injured and still get no stronger.
- E
Marketability might help explain why a company wants to sell shoes advertised as strengthening muscles. It doesn't explain the actual improvement reported here. We need a difference in what happens to the wearers, not a claim about which kind of shoe would be easier to market.
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