#4 - Dog owner: In general, large dogs need less intensive

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[lsatstudying11]

Hello,

I got this question correct and can see how B must be true, but I was also tempted by E because of the idea of staying fit, which is mentioned only once in the first sentence and then not mentioned again. I am wondering if the second sentence implies that if a dog does not meet intensely exercise as much as it needs (in order to stay fit, as opposed to, for example, the purpose of staying alive) then it is more troublesome? I guess I am wondering whether there are any assumptions surrounding the idea of staying fit. For me, I thought it might be the case that the argument is assuming that if dogs are not exercised to the level of intensity that they need in order to stay fit, then they become more troublesome. However, I am not sure if this is already implied by the second sentence. Thanks so much for your help!

[Adam Tyson]

You're right that there appears to be at least some assumption here about fitness and being troublesome, lsatstudying11. I think it's fair to say that if the dog is not exercised enough to stay fit, it will be more trouble. You're correct that the second sentence already provides that link. But I don't think you can go any further than that. For example, you can't go from there to assuming that they are being troublesome because they are not fit. Maybe exercise is a cause for two different effects that have no causal relationship between themselves? Maybe the lack of sufficient exercise leads not only to the dog not being fit, but also to hormonal changes or emotional problems?

One problem with answer E is that the conclusion of the argument is about the relationship between limited time and how troublesome the dog becomes, and answer E fails to connect to those ideas. Another problem is that the author doesn't have to make any assumptions about how often a dog is exercised, but about how intense that exercise is. Maybe a dog can get more frequent exercise but be less fit than if they had gotten less exercise that was higher in intensity? Maybe one good run is better than three long walks?