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Pre-thinking:

Conclusion: Reinstituting the strict standards once enforced by the United States Olympic Committee against participation by professional athletes in the Olympic Games would be beneficial to all struggling athletes.

Premises on which it is based:
i) This revitalize the Olympic spirit of amateurism.
ii) This would allow amateur athletes to compete fairly for spots on the national team.

Let us examine the answer options.


A. Spectators accustomed to seeing a high level of competition in professional sports will not be satisfied watching amateurs compete in those same sports. If anything, this provides an argument against the conclusion and cannot be an underlying assumption. Eliminate.

B. Enforcement of the former rules would require a large bureaucracy to keep close tabs on amateur athletes1 finances. Same issue as (A). Eliminate.

C. An overly competitive selection process for the Olympic Team makes competition fierce between otherwise friendly athletes. Competition among athletes is not addressed in the argument. We do not know whether this would benefit struggling athletes or not. Eliminate.

D. Athletes who must work outside jobs to support themselves will not be able to concentrate fully on their sports, due to their financial difficulties. While barring professional athletes does appear to make things easier for amateurs, this is irrespective of whether the athletes are currently able to concentrate on their sport or not. This assumption is not required for the conclusion. Eliminate.

E. The old system did not keep many aspiring Olympians from competing because of economic constraints. Correct. If reverting to the old system would "keep many aspiring Olympians from competing because of economic constraints", then it would not be beneficial to struggling athletes and hence negates the conclusion.

Hope this helps.
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Explanation

The argument assumes that allowing professional athletes to participate in the Olympic Games creates an unfair advantage over amateur athletes, and that reinstating the previous standards would promote fairness. Therefore, the correct answer is E, which assumes that the old system did not keep many aspiring Olympians from competing because of economic constraints. If economic constraints were a significant barrier, then excluding professionals would not level the playing field for amateurs. The other options are not relevant to the argument's assumption.

A. Spectators accustomed to seeing a high level of competition in professional sports will not be satisfied watching amateurs compete in those same sports.

This option is discussing the spectator experience and their preferences for the level of competition they expect to see in sports. However, it does not address the argument's assumption that excluding professional athletes would benefit amateur athletes by promoting fairness in competition.

B. Enforcement of the former rules would require a large bureaucracy to keep close tabs on amateur athletes' finances.

This option is discussing the potential challenges of enforcing the former rules against professional athletes' participation in the Olympic Games. However, it does not address the argument's assumption that excluding professional athletes would benefit amateur athletes by promoting fairness in competition.

C. An overly competitive selection process for the Olympic Team makes competition fierce between otherwise friendly athletes.

This option is discussing the intensity of competition in the Olympic Team selection process. However, it does not address the argument's assumption that excluding professional athletes would benefit amateur athletes by promoting fairness in competition.

D. Athletes who must work outside jobs to support themselves will not be able to concentrate fully on their sports due to their financial difficulties.

This option is discussing the potential challenges that amateur athletes who must work outside jobs to support themselves may face in fully concentrating on their sport due to financial difficulties. However, it does not address the argument's assumption that excluding professional athletes would benefit amateur athletes by promoting fairness in competition.

E. The old system did not keep many aspiring Olympians from competing because of economic constraints.

This option directly addresses the argument's assumption that excluding professional athletes would benefit amateur athletes by promoting fairness in competition. The assumption is that the old system did not prevent many aspiring Olympians from competing due to economic constraints, which means excluding professionals would help promote fairness by leveling the playing field for amateurs.

Answer: E
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Option E is: "The old system did not keep many aspiring Olympians from competing because of economic constraints"
Shouldn't the assumption be that the old system prevented them from competing?
If old system did not prevent them from competing due to financial constraints, why was the need of new system?
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