June 2007 PrepTest, Section 3, Question 17
By Brandon Beaver | Published October 29, 2024
Type: Necessary Assumption
Difficulty:
Explanations
The author concludes that it’s important to exercise the muscles on opposite sides of the spine equally. Why? Because balanced muscle development is needed to maintain a healthy back.
So the author assumes balanced muscle development requires exercising the muscles on opposite sides of the spine equally.
This is a necessary assumption—something the author must agree with in order to make their conclusion.
A
No, the author doesn’t have to believe well developed muscles on either side of the spine is sufficient to keep the back in alignment—which would still be only one-half healthy back. The author also calls out protecting the spine.
B
Well, yeah. The author has to believe that balanced muscles require exercising the muscles on opposite sides equally. That’s the same thing as saying unequal exercise per side leads to unbalanced development.
C
No, this confuses sufficient for necessary. The argument is about how balanced muscle development is necessary for a healthy back.
D
This consequence—the irreparably damaged bit—was never discussed. Also, this intuitively just seems wrong—why would the author have to believe that unequal exercise would cause irreparable harm?
E
The author never discusses daily exercise, so we don’t know how it would affect any part of this argument.
Passage
When exercising the muscles in one's back, it is important,
Question 17
Which one of the following is an assumption required by the