#1786

[RebekahS466]

Please help. My brain is having trouble understanding this one.

"Weight training is the most popular method for increasing strength, but my friend Tony greatly increased his strength by doing yoga and changing his diet. This goes to show that just because something is popular, it is not necessarily the best."

Which of the following is mentioned as an opposing point to the main conclusion?

1. Weight training is the most popular method for building strength. ***the right answer***

2. Weight training is a better method than most for increasing strength.

Why is #1 correct?

[ohthatpatrick]

This is perhaps a poorly worded question / correct answer.
I wouldn’t call #1 an opposing point.

The easiest way to get it right is probably just to see that
1. is mentioned
2. is not mentioned

Here’s the argument:
CONC: just because something is popular, it’s not necessarily the best
EVID: Weight training is popular, but Tony used other means to great success.

You kind of need the first clause for the evidence to make sense, so it’s sort of silly that we’re calling it an “opposing point”.

Claim #2 goes against the thrust of the author’s Tony example.

So you were left without a winnable choice:
either pick #2, which is opposing, but not mentioned.
or pick #1, which is mentioned, but not opposing.

Sorry about that one.