kntombat wrote:
I sort of agree with what
shades28 has said. Can any expert help us out ?
AndrewN,
carouselambra,
GMATNinja.
Hello,
kntombat. To be honest, I think any of a number of assumptions could be true in this one, but, of course, you have to go by what you see on the screen. The part about (B) that can be enticing is that
trying to lose weight can be associated with
the relentless pursuit of fitness from the first line of the passage. But I had reservations, perhaps because the goal of
fitness may not necessarily be weight loss. Bodybuilders, for instance, seek to gain weight by putting on muscle mass. While such weight gain would figure into a larger—heavier—average adult today than the average adult of thirty years ago, when weightlifting was not as widespread, I cannot say that bodybuilders would be considered
plump, what I think of as a little doughy from the waist on up.
Choice (E) uses probably the most commonly employed over-qualifying word that appears in correct answers to Verbal GMAT™ questions:
significantly. A significantly taller person would logically be one with a potential to pack on more weight. But plumpness? That can enter the picture regardless of height, and we do not know what
significantly may mean—a foot? six inches? four?
In short, I chose (E) as a safer answer, but I was not thinking about a weight-to-height ratio, nor do I think the GMAT™ would require such specialized knowledge of a test-taker (and I am next to positive that the judgmental word
plump or its variants would not appear on the exam). I would suggest treating this question as a curio, nothing more.
Thank you for thinking to ask.
- Andrew
_________________
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