A high percentage of injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)

Question

A high percentage of injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) occurs in athletes. A sophisticated statistical analysis looked at the number of athletes who suffered an ACL injury, and assigned numerical values to both the nature of the stress that produced the injury and to the resultant level of damage to the ACL. Researchers expected that, controlling for level of injury-causing stress, all athletically inclined individuals would show similar tendency toward ACL injury regardless of the specific sport. A surprising outcome is that, equalizing for injuring-causing stress, it appears that gymnasts have a much higher tendency toward ACL injury than do members of the National Football League (NFL), but this is most likely because _______________

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

A) gymnasts are in general far more flexible than football players.
B) high school and college football players who have a higher tendency to ACL injury are far less likely to advance to the NFL
C) most gymnasts, as those preparing for the Olympics, are amateur athletes, whereas NFL players are professional athletes.
D) forceful contact among football players is part of the game, but is exceedingly rare amongst gymnasts since they do not come in contact with one another.
E) gymnasts are often given credit for inventing new positions or moves, while football players far more regularly follow the typical moves associated with their position.

ashokk138 · Answer

We need to explain why gymnasts have a much higher tendency toward ACL injury than do members of the National Football League (NFL)

A) If gymnasts are more flexible, then they should have less ACL injury
B) This gives a reason why NFL members are less prone to ACL injury. This is the correct Option
C) Compares the two athletes but we do not know about how injury prone they are. 
D) This is the opposite answer, which says why the NFL players might have more injury
E) If gymnasts invent new positions, then they should be more flexible and less prone to Injury. This is opposite.

Hence Option B is the only one which logically explains why NFL members are less prone to ACL injury.

dominicraj · Answer

Hi ashokk138,

IMO as per B the argument is limiting to how the NFL members are taken from school and college. But as per the paragraph the question needs some reasoning at the NFL level.

To tell in other words it is possible that school and college players who got ACL dont make it to NFL but it does not consequently mean that people who join NFL will have low tendency for ACL as well.

What is your take on this.. please share your opinion.

Regards,
Dom

ashokk138 · Answer

Hi ashokk138, IMO as per B the argument is limiting to how the NFL members are taken from school and college. But as per the paragraph the question needs some reasoning at the NFL level. To tell in other words it is possible that school and college players who got ACL dont make it to NFL but it does not consequently mean that people who join NFL will have low tendency for ACL as well. What is your take on this.. please share your opinion. Regards, Dom controlling for level of injury-causing stress => the level of stress causing the injury is going to be same for both the players, and hence based on B, we can definitely explain the paradox. I found a link, which gives some more reasoning on why B is correct. https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/3746/a/63255907 ----- Please give kudos if you like the post

tuanquang269 · Answer

A high percentage of injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) occurs in athletes. A sophisticated statistical analysis looked at the number of athletes who suffered an ACL injury, and assigned numerical values to both the nature of the stress that produced the injury and to the resultant level of damage to the ACL. Researchers expected that, controlling for level of injury-causing stress, all athletically inclined individuals would show similar tendency toward ACL injury regardless of the specific sport. A surprising outcome is that, equalizing for injuring-causing stress, it appears that gymnasts have a much higher tendency toward ACL injury than do members of the National Football League (NFL), but this is most likely because _______________

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

(A) gymnasts are in general far more flexible than football players.

(B) high school and college football players who have a higher tendency to ACL injury are far less likely to advance to the NFL
(C) most gymnasts, as those preparing for the Olympics, are amateur athletes, whereas NFL players are professional athletes.
(D) forceful contact among football players is part of the game, but is exceedingly rare amongst gymnasts since they do not come in contact with one another.
(E) gymnasts are often given credit for inventing new positions or moves, while football players far more regularly follow the typical moves associated with their position.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Topics merged. Please search for questions before posting new threads. Thanks, Mike :-)

Temurkhon · Answer

it is Resolve the Paradox question by essence. Often complete the passage questions is assocoated with Strengthening or Inference type but I would not categorize such questions before reading the stimulus

PathFinder007 · Answer

Hi  mikemcgarry

could you please provide your comments for option C?

what is wrong with option C. was between option B and C.

Thanks

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear PathFinder007 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

We want to find a reason why ACL injuries would be more common in gymnasts than in NFL players. Here's the thing that is very tempting about (C). Ordinarily, we may think of a general "amateur" as someone less fit, less prepared for the activity, than a professional athlete would be. For example, if we compared professional athletes on, say, the Brazil national football team to folks who play amateur football for fun once or twice a month, there is no doubt that the professionals are in considerably better physical shape and are considerably less likely to incur injury than the amateurs are on the same move. These are the general associations with these words. These general associations are not necessarily relevant here. The NFL players are some of the best in the world at American football, and they get paid for it. The motivation for someone playing American football is to get a big contract in the NFL. Anyone who plays American football who was not able to get a professional job was not good enough to quality for such a job. By the way the system is set up, the professionals are considerably more talented than the amateurs. By contrast, as you may know, the rules of the Olympics explicit specify that the Olympics is a competition among amateurs. If a talented young athlete wants to compete in the Olympics, one of the many things that young athlete must do is not join any team or professional organization, because if it she becomes a professional, she is automatically disqualified as Olympic athlete. Thus, the gymnasts that go to the Olympics are the best in the world, but they are amateurs, because of the rules of the Olympics. Therefore, when we compare NFL players to Olympic gymnasts, in either case, we are talking about folks who are among the best in the world at their respective endeavors. In terms of their professional status, though, we are comparing apples and oranges. The NFL players are in an economic system that essentially forces them to become professionals if they want to compete at that high level, whereas the Olympic gymnasts are in a economic system that forces them to remain amateurs. This difference says nothing about their relative skill level. These are simply two different economic systems that do not reflect at all on the relative quality of the athletes. In other words, it is purely an accident of history that these two athletic endeavors have evolved along different lines. NFL players are professionals and Olympic gymnasts are amateurs because of series of political & economic decisions made about the developments of these two athletic activities. This is an economic difference, and has absolutely nothing to do with how good or qualified or physically fit or injury prone the two groups of athletes are compared to each other. This difference is strictly irrelevant to the argument. Choice (C) is strictly irrelevant. The fact that all Olympic athletes are amateurs because the rules of the Olympics require this of its participants---that is the kind of outside, real world knowledge you should have. You don't need to be an expert, but there are commonly known facts about real world events that everyone should know. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

abrakadabra21 · Answer

A high percentage of injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) occurs in athletes. A sophisticated statistical analysis looked at the number of athletes who suffered an ACL injury, and assigned numerical values to both the nature of the stress that produced the injury and to the resultant level of damage to the ACL. Researchers expected that, controlling for level of injury-causing stress, all athletically inclined individuals would show similar tendency toward ACL injury regardless of the specific sport. A surprising outcome is that, equalizing for injuring-causing stress, it appears that gymnasts have a much higher tendency toward ACL injury than do members of the National Football League (NFL), but this is most likely because _______________

80% of injury happens in atheletes. 
1> nature of the stress that produced the injury
2>resultant level of damage to the ACL

Gymnasts suffers more from ACL injury than NFL members
so if 10% out of 80% are NFL members than gymnast will be more than 10% (provided equal injury causing stress)

There may be 2nd factor involved.

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

B) high school and college football players who have a higher tendency to ACL injury are far less likely to advance to the NFL: even if so we don't know anything about gymnast status.
C) most gymnasts, as those preparing for the Olympics, are amateur athletes, whereas NFL players are professional athletes.
if they are anateur atheletes that could be the factor.

E) gymnasts are often given credit for inventing new positions or moves, while football players far more regularly follow the typical moves associated with their position. :- that could be responsible for injury, new moves.

Mangoosh explaination

Gymnast create new positions, but are these new positions or moves more likely to lead to ACL injury than do the standard moves of football players? The passage gives us no information on this point, so this is not an appropriate conclusion. Choice (E) is incorrect.

Who is more likely to have an ACL injury, an amateur athlete or a professional athlete? The passage gives us no information on this point, so this is not an appropriate conclusion. Choice (C) is incorrect.

The credited answer is (B). If football player who have a higher tendency toward ACL injury drop out of football before the professional level, the football players who make it to the NFL will have lower tendencies to suffer ACL injuries. The previous year of playing the sport would provide a "weeding" effect, separating out the folks predisposed to ACL injury. Other athletic activities, such as gymnastics, would not have a similar weeding effect. so this would make the NFL stand out with a lower tendency toward ACL injuries.  But then for B, I would say - The passage gives us no information about gymnast, may be this is true that high school and college Gymnast who have a higher tendency to ACL injury are far less likely to advance to the next level.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear abrakadabra21 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

This is Mike McGarry, the author of this question. To achieve mastery of GMAT CR, you have to have a basic knowledge of the outside world. You don't need detailed knowledge of any topic in the CR, but you need to have the basic person-on-the-street knowledge of the world. Here, the widely common knowledge you need to have is that gymnasts are young, typically children or adolescents. I don't even know how many gymnasts continue into college-age years, but such a gymnast clearly would be older than most---we never see gymnasts that old in the Olympics, for example. There aren't really "leagues" through which they advance because they are starting so young. On the question of outside knowledge, see this blog article: GMAT Critical Reasoning and Outside Knowledge Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

nehajain1234 · Answer

Hi Mike ,

I wasn't able to find the correct detailed link probably because I overlooked. anyway, thanks

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear nehajain1234 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, I am going to chide you. You are studying for the GMAT, presumably because you want to get an MBA and pursue a career in management. One of the most important qualities of a manager is initiative . Initiative means seizing any opportunity, being resourceful and aggressive about digging up any relevant details you can find. It is a powerful posture of taking responsibility for helping one's self as much as one can, of taking as much agency into one's own hands as possible. In this context, consider this post. Your post comes at the end of a long thread in which I already have posted several times, and many other experts have posted as well. Someone also posted a link to the question in the Magoosh product, which will have both a text explanation and a full video explanation: all this is available from this page. Everything you need is already here. You are asking someone else to point you to what is already here. Don't you see? If, when you are a first year manager, you ask your then-supervisor a question of this sort, explain-it-all-to-me, when all the resources are available to you, then you will not impress your supervisor at all: such a question would be a point against any possible promotion. By contrast, the manager who says to his supervisor, " I have already researched all this and found out X, Y, and Z: what else can you tell me? "---that's a go-getter who is impressive and who has a promising future. I could just hand you the answer the way I would to a child, but I respect you far too much to do so. I am far too ambitious for what you can achieve. It's vitally important to practice taking initiative as you prepare for the GMAT: initiative is a skill you want to have mastered by the time you walk into B School. Take initiative. Scour this page for answer to your questions. Explore the links. If you have further questions about what is said here, then that would be an excellent question. See this link: Asking Excellent Questions My friend, I truly wish you the very best. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

mvictor · Answer

I went with E, as it increases the injuring-causing stress...my second best option though was B...

leanhdung · Answer

Thank you for all your sincere replies and advice Mike

Best wish for you!

Skywalker18 · Answer

A high percentage of injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) occurs in athletes. A sophisticated statistical analysis looked at the number of athletes who suffered an ACL injury, and assigned numerical values to both the nature of the stress that produced the injury and to the resultant level of damage to the ACL. Researchers expected that, controlling for level of injury-causing stress, all athletically inclined individuals would show similar tendency toward ACL injury regardless of the specific sport. A surprising outcome is that, equalizing for injuring-causing stress, it appears that gymnasts have a much higher tendency toward ACL injury than do members of the National Football League (NFL), but this is most likely because _______________

Type - explain the situation / paradox
Boil it down - equalizing for injuring-causing stress, it appears that gymnasts have a much higher tendency toward ACL injury than do members of the National Football League (NFL)

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

A) gymnasts are in general far more flexible than football players. - irrelevant - flexibility does not explain the situation
B) high school and college football players who have a higher tendency to ACL injury are far less likely to advance to the NFL - Correct
C) most gymnasts, as those preparing for the Olympics, are amateur athletes, whereas NFL players are professional athletes. - iSWAT 
D) forceful contact among football players is part of the game, but is exceedingly rare amongst gymnasts since they do not come in contact with one another. - Opposite - deepens the paradox
E) gymnasts are often given credit for inventing new positions or moves, while football players far more regularly follow the typical moves associated with their position. - Out of scope - will these new moves cause more injuries -- we are not sure

Answer B

arvind910619 · Answer

Although I got this question wrong .
But a very good question to practice .
Upon further reading got to know my mistake .

Sent from my ONE E1003 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

aragonn · Answer

Official Explanation 
The credited answer is (B). If football players who have a higher tendency toward ACL injury drop out of football before the professional level, the football players who make it to the NFL will have lower tendencies to suffer ACL injuries. The previous year of playing the sport would provide a "weeding" effect, separating out the folks predisposed to ACL injury. Other athletic activities, such as gymnastics, would not have a similar weeding effect. so this would make the NFL stand out with a lower tendency toward ACL injuries.

It's undoubtedly true that "gymnasts are in general far more flexible than football players", but does greater flexibility lead to more or fewer ACL injuries? The passage gives us no information on this point, so this is not an appropriate conclusion. Choice (A) is incorrect.

Who is more likely to have an ACL injury, an amateur athlete or a professional athlete? The passage gives us no information on this point, so this is not an appropriate conclusion. Choice (C) is incorrect.

If football players have more "forceful contact" than do gymnasts, then we would expect more football players to have ACL injuries, but this is the opposite of what the paragraph says. Choice (D) is incorrect.

Gymnast create new positions, but are these new positions or moves more likely to lead to ACL injury than do the standard moves of football players? The passage gives us no information on this point, so this is not an appropriate conclusion. Choice (E) is incorrect.

dcummins · Answer

The situation is that researchers expected all athletes to have a similar tendency for ACL injury, but, paradoxically, they found that gymnasts have a HIGHER tendency toward ACL injury than do NFL players.

Why is this the case?

A- if gymnasts are far more flexible than football players, then you would hope that they would have a lower tendency, so this doesn't explain the situation. Incorrect

B - if the only football players who make the cut into the NFL are those who have a lower tendency for ACL injury, then by selection, we are comparing a group specifically chosen to rule out a specific variable, so naturally this would explain why, ON AVERAGE, these NFL players have a lower tendency for ACL injuries than do gymnasts

C - We don't know enough about how an "average" versus "professional" athlete would impact the tendency. Presumably, each class of athlete still stretches and still performs similar movements in all levels of skill i.e. would a professional gymnast have a lower or higher incidence of ACL injury? We can't assess that. For these reasons, C is out.

D - This doesn't really explain how the ACL tendency is higher. If anything actually, the more contact one has the greater their incidence of injury right?

E - Presumably this answer choice is trying to infer that gymnasts take more risk. But even if that were the case we can't assess the impact of this. What if gymnasts take more risks but they are surrounded by foam mats? What if NFL players follow typical moves, but these typical moves involve spear tackling? That wouldn't serve to explain why the tendency is higher.

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A high percentage of injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)

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