Increases in the occurrence of hearing loss among

Well, it looks as though unraveled beat me to the punch (while I was typing up this response), but I will share my thoughts on the question anyway in an effort to assist you and the larger community. If you read the argument carefully, you will deduce an unstated conclusion that the recommendation will likely fail because the teenagers themselves buy stereo headphones, not their parents, so these teenagers will steer clear of certain stereo headphones that automatically turn off at a certain volume. In other words, if the teenagers prefer to listen to loud music through stereo headphones, they will simply buy stereo headphones that allow them to listen to loud music.


This is an interesting tidbit, but it provides no insight into why the recommendation, if implemented, would likely fail, according to the argument. That is, this information would be true regardless of who was purchasing headphones, and it thus has no bearing on the argument.


Similar to the role of most dangerous in the previous answer choice, we see a comparison here among factors that contribute to hearing loss. But we are interested in supporting the given reason why the recommendation would not significantly reduce the occurrence of hearing loss in teenagers. We have nothing to lean on here.


As laughable as this answer may be—why would the listening preferences of parents affect the argument?—at least it singles out one of the two purchasing groups mentioned in the passage. Sometimes an incorrect answer can turn you on to what to look for elsewhere.


The choice makes all the difference here. It is reasonable to claim that if only some product lines of stereo headphones are produced with a built-in volume check, that if teenagers are aware of the risks of listening to loud music through headphones yet choose to do so anyway, and, finally, that if teenagers are the primary purchasers of their own stereo headphones (the given premise in the argument), the recommendation will probably not result in a significant reduction in the occurrence of hearing loss in teenagers. Everything checks out here.


This answer choice adds more fuel to the fire—multiple headphone manufacturers have plans in the works that fall in the line with the recommendation—but again, we find no reason to get behind the argument. This information has nothing to do with the premise or argument in the last line of the passage.

I hope that, with two responses to your query, yk12, the question makes a little more sense now. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew