Logical Reasoning

PT119 · S2 · Q12 Researcher: We studied two groups of

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Researcher: We studied two groups of subjects over a period of six months.

Premises

In a six-month study, an afternoon-exercise group got 33% more deep sleep than a control group.

Afternoon exercise tends to raise body temperature slightly until after bedtime, and this extra heat induces deeper sleep.

Evaluate

The researcher is offering a mechanism: a slight rise in body temperature lasting until after bedtime causes deeper sleep. Anything that produces that same condition (slight body-temperature rise persisting until bedtime) should produce deeper sleep too — even if it is not exercise.

Goal

Find an answer that the mechanism statement directly supports. Be wary of answers that overstate (e.g., "necessary," "best way," "no one"). The right answer should be a modest extension of the mechanism, not a sweeping claim.

12.

The researcher's statements, if true, most strongly support which one of the following?

  1. Regular afternoon exercise is one

    Too Strong

    "Required for adequate deep-sleep" makes afternoon exercise necessary. The stimulus only shows that afternoon exercisers slept more deeply than the control group — not that anyone without afternoon exercise will fail to get adequate deep sleep. The control group still got some deep sleep; we have no reason to think it was inadequate.

    3% picked this

  2. Exercise in the morning is

    Unsupported

    The stimulus says afternoon exercise raises body temperature in a way that lasts until after bedtime. We have no information about morning exercise — whether the body-temperature effect persists until bedtime hours later or fades long before. So we cannot conclude morning exercise is "almost as likely" to be beneficial.

    1% picked this

  3. The best way to get

    Too Strong

    "The best way" claims a superlative. The stimulus identifies one mechanism that works (slight temperature rise) but says nothing about whether it is better than every other approach. Maybe a totally different method produces even more deep sleep. We cannot leap to "best."

    8% picked this

  4. No one in the control

    Too Strong

    "No one in the control group" is an absolute claim about every individual. The stimulus only contrasts averages between the two groups. Some control-group members might have had a body-temperature rise from any number of sources — a hot meal, a warm bath, illness. We cannot rule that out for every single person.

    11% picked this

  5. Correct

    Raising body temperature slightly by

    Why this is right

    The stimulus says that raising body temperature slightly until after bedtime induces deeper sleep — that is the mechanism the researcher offers to explain the exercise study. A warm bath just before bedtime would also raise body temperature slightly going into bedtime, so it should produce the same effect. The hedge ("will likely result") matches the strength of the support. This is a careful, modest extension of the mechanism.

    Skill tested: Most Supported · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    76% picked this

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