Chronic back pain is usually caused by a herniated or degenerated spin

I’m not an expert, but I can try my best to tell you what I see. Maybe it will help?

The first thing is to realize that when a question asks you “which of the following is most strongly supported”, the correct answer is not always a 100% must be true inference. The question is asking you for the conclusion that is “most STRONGLY supported.” A subtle difference, but very important.

Usually you can tell what kind of answer you are looking for based on the question stem. For a pure Inference question that requires an answer that must be 100% valid, the question stem will generally be asking you to draw from the passage something that must be categorically true.

This question is not asking for that. We are asked to find the answer that is “most strongly supported” by the facts and premises in the passage.

We are looking for a solid Conclusion that an author would make using the facts provided as supporting evidence. The conclusion should be strongly supported by the facts. It may not be 100% categorically true in all instances based on the statements. I like to think of it as something just beneath that 100% threshold: as strongly supported as possible by the facts.

The prior sentence is the key. The correct answer will tie together all the premises provided in the passage into a logical conclusion. In a pure Inference question, in which we are asked to find the fact that must be 100% valid, the answer can be based on any single line in the passage. As long as the answer must be categorically true, it is correct.


What makes E “strongly supported” by the facts is that we are told that an estimated 1 in 5 over the age of 30 has a hurt back that shows no chronic pain symptoms. Then, we are told if chronic pain later develops it is generally caused by a weakening of the abdominal/spinal muscles, which is itself generally caused by not enough exercise.

Thus, the facts tells us that if chronic pain develops later in life for this group or people, then, in general, insufficient exercise may be the ultimate cause.

For these people over the age of 30 with a hurt back and showing no chronic pain, there should be an effective strategy to prevent the weakening of the abdominal/spinal muscles and it’s corresponding effect of chronic pain: exercising these muscles so there is no deterioration in the first place.

If insufficient exercise is what generally brings about this chronic pain later in life, then we have a strong basis to conclude that SUFFICIENT exercise could be enough to prevent the deterioration of the abdominal/spinal muscles, which itself generally leads to the onset of chronic pain for these hurt people.

Thus, the facts do provide good support for the claim made in answer (E): that there is a strategy that can be effective in delaying the onset of chronic pain (a strategy of sufficient exercise of the core area).

Furthermore, answer E seems to “tie together” the passage into a logical conclusion, which is “strongly supported” by the facts.

There are two issues with C, in my opinion. First, the answer is more along the lines of a fact. It certainly doesn’t seem to “tie in” all the premises in the passage in a way that we can say the passage most strongly supports C.

More importantly, we really don’t have a strong basis (given the premises) to opine on whether people experience any kind of mild or fleeting pain at the time of the initial back injury. The passage is focused on chronic pain: when this chronic pain shows up and the potential causes for it appearing later in life. We can not say whether someone experiences some sort of mild pain when she first damages her back. Maybe she does, maybe she doesn’t.

It took me a while to see the difference between the 2 question types. It’s a subtle difference, but it makes all the difference in the world when answering the question.

Look up a bunch of good “Inference” questions from good sources. Then, look at the different answers for each question stem type. By following this course, only then was I able to see the difference.

Hopefully something was helpful?


Edit: Apologies, I tortured the facts from the passage in my first post. Answering from a phone is probably not the smartest idea.

Again, apologies for the mistake.



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