phammanhhiep wrote:
According to some sports historians, professional tennis players develop unique playing styles that result from a combination of the peculiarities of each player's physical attributes and the influence of coaches during their early adaptation to the game. But when the increase in strength and endurance of modem players is discounted, it becomes readily apparent that the playing styles of the current crop of professional tennis players are no different from the styles of players from previous generations. Clearly, there is a universally efficient tennis style to which all professional tennis players conform.
The argument above is most weakened by which of the following statements?
(A) The differences in physical attributes among tennis players are even more pronounced than the sports historians believe.
(B) Few current professional tennis players are familiar with the professional tennis players of fifty years ago.
(C) The increased strength of current tennis players contributes more to the development of individual playing styles than does increased endurance.
(D) All of the early coaches of today's professional tennis players were professional tennis players themselves earlier in their lives.
(E) Weight training and greater attention to diet are the primary factors in the increased strength and stamina of the current generation of professional tennis players.
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OA:
I have struggled to figure out how the explanation in kaplan 800 says that 'there is no difference between the styles of the two generations" is a fact. I only conceive of the statement as an opinion of the author that is based on another statement, i.e. "when the increase in strength and endurance of modem players is discounted". Since I still consider the "no difference" an opinion, I have thought that it has a flaw. Although it does not take into account to the influence of coaches, it concludes there is no difference. Keeping the flaw in mind, I cannot find the OA correct.
Please explain what is the signal that indicates that the statement "no difference..." is a fact, not an opinion.
Dear
phammanhhiep,
I'm happy to respond.
To tell you the truth, I don't think this is the very best question for a few reasons.
In statistical analyses, statisticians are able to control for one variable and, holding that constant, figure out the relationship between two other variables. This is easy to do with any one of a number of statistical software packages. Having said that, I am less than clear on exactly how this would work here. Playing style presumably is not something one could easily quantify, so then we would have to regard it as a value judgment, a mere opinion, as you say. In that cases, "controlling" for physical attributes, i.e. discounting "
the increase in strength and endurance of modem players", would also be the work of human judgment and opinion, an inexact science. I think the argument is trying to create something reminiscent of the exact statistical procedure, and we are left with something far more murky. That's one huge problem with this question.
The logic for their OA is very simple ----- players today play with the same style as was used long ago, but not because it's simply the best style for tennis; instead, players today play this way, because this is what they learned from their coaches, who themselves were tennis players back in the day. The similarity is due to the teacher-student influence, not anything about the inherent value of the playing style itself. I find this hokey simple logic that ignores the other difficulties of the question.
I find
(A) also a very credible answer --- if the difference in physical attributes are more pronounced, then the sports historians wouldn't properly discount them in their analysis, and they would make a big deal in the evaluation of how similar the styles now are to the styles in previous years.
Overall, I don't think it's the best question. Here's a high quality question:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/3418Let me know if you have any further questions.
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test PrepEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)