PT151 S3 Q22 ExplanationInsurers and doctors are well aware

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Strengthens (mildly)12% picked this

   When they are at home, laborers and office workers tend to spend similar amounts

   When we're looking for potential differences (causal difference-makers) between two groups, any sort of fact we get that controls for some other variable and makes them fair to compare actually strengthens the argument, by ruling out some form of alternate explanation.

   12%
2. B

   No Impact2% picked this

   Insurance companies tend to dislike selling policies to companies whose workers often claim to

   What insurance companies like / dislike is super far removed from our job of assessing this Causal Mystery of why office workers have a higher rate of lower back injuries.

   2%
3. C

   Too Weak44% picked this

   People who regularly do physical work of a type known to place heavy stress on the lower back are encouraged to use techniques that

   This almost provides an alternate explanation for the curious fact. Why do office workers have a higher rate of lower back injuries than people who do back-stressing physical labor? It's not because the crappy office furniture causes more back injuries. It's because people who have back-stressing jobs are encouraged to use techniques that reduce the stress. However, the fact that they're encouraged to use techniques that reduce stress is too weak. We don't know whether these workers actually DO use these techniques. And even if they do use the techniques, a reduced amount of stress on the lower back might still be more stress than office workers endure, so it wouldn't change the overall scenario of the argument much.

   44%
4. D

   Strengthens3% picked this

   Most of the lower-back injuries that office workers suffer occur while they are

   This helps the plausibility of the author's causal story, which blames the back injuries on office furniture and equipment.

   3%
5. E

   Correct38% picked this

   Consistent physical exercise is one of the most effective ways to prevent or recover

   Why this is right

   This almost provides an alternate explanation for the curious fact. Why do office workers have a higher rate of lower back injuries than people who do back-stressing physical labor? It's not because the crappy office furniture causes more back injuries. It's because "regularly doing physical work that places heavy stresses" constitutes "consistent physical exercise", which is one of the most effective ways to prevent a back injury from occurring or to recover from one that does occur. In other words, the disparity in back injuries between office workers and physical laborers isn't because office work does something bad for the back, but rather because physical work does something good for the back.

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

   38%