Critical Reasoning

In America, children who are given secondhand clothing tend to come from households with more children. This makes sense, but what is unusual is that children who wear secondhand clothing also tend to be injured accidentally more often than children who do not wear secondhand clothing.

Which of the following statements best explains the conclusion drawn above?


(A) Children who wear secondhand clothing tend to have parents who are more concerned about their safety and well-being.

(B) Children who wear clothing that doesn't fit well are more likely to get their sleeves and cuffs caught on playground equipment and have accidents.

(C) Younger children who come from larger families tend to get injured accidentally at high rates because they tend to engage in rough play with their older siblings.

(D) The youngest child, who gets the most secondhand clothing, is also the most likely to have an accidental injury.

(E) Secondhand clothing is nearly indistinguishable from clothing bought new.

OA after discussions.

Hi,

I had trouble solving this question. I couldn't think of such assumption. Anyway, I don't want to answer this as I already know the explanation for this. Let others have a go at this.

Caught between B and C , but chose C . I feel thats in line with the premise.

IMO : C

I will provide my explanation if my answer is correct.

B

C is incorrect because the argument never says which one of the children (younger or elder) wears the second hand clothing. It may so happen that parents buy clothing from outside for elder children. The assumpyion that the younger one wears the second hand is IMO incorrect.

OA plz!!

I expected to see a tryst between C and B. OA as per knewton is C.

Option C looks good here. As this links the ironical statements together. The author says that this is fact that those families have may children. then he states the fact that those who wears the second hand dress get injured more often. Option C explains this.

Option B is also close. But if this is selected you are inferring too much.

The premise is about second-hand clothing.

Now B --> Children who wear clothing that doesn't fit well are more likely to get their sleeves and cuffs caught on playground equipment and have accidents.

While in real life, we do tend to imagine that second hand clothing tends to be loose and does not fit well, in this question that is not part of the premise. The author harps on our ability to instantly connect clothing that does not fit well to second hand clothing. Therein lies the trap.

C --> Younger children who come from larger families tend to get injured accidentally at high rates because they tend to engage in rough play with their older siblings.

The premise clearly says - "Children who are given secondhand clothing tend to come from households with more children." So children who wear second hand clothing may not get injured because of their clothing rather get injured because they tend to fight with their siblings. A very unusual angle perhaps, but as it is based purely on the premises, it is true!

Hope that helps.

IMO C