Self-study
Toning shoes—walking shoes with a specially rounded sole—are popular with fitness enthusiasts. ████████ █████ ████ ███ █████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████ ███████ ██ ██████ █████ ███████ ██ ████ ████████ ████ █████ ██ ██████ ███████ ██ ████████ ███████ ██████ █████████████ ████ ██████ ██████████ █ █████████████ ██ █████ █████ ███ ███████ █████ █████████ ██ ██████ ██████
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Toning shoes don’t exercise leg muscles more than regular shoes, yet many people who switch to toning shoes soon develop stronger leg muscles.
Objective
The correct answer will be a hypothesis that explains a key difference between toning shoes and regular shoes, beyond the actual exercise the shoes afford. This difference likely rests in who wears the shoes. For example, people who switch to toning shoes may also start making a concerted effort to get exercise.
10.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ ███████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██████
a
Toning shoes strengthen █████ █████████ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ███ ███████
We’re concerned with how major leg muscles are strengthened. The benefits of toning shoes for minor muscles aren't relevant unless they have some connection to major muscles, which we don't know.
b
Muscles in the ███ █████ ██ ███ ███████ █████ ██ ██████ █████ ██████ ████████████
It's great that toning shoes are easy to get used to, but that doesn't help us resolve the question of why toning shoes correlate with leg strengthening.
c
Many people find ██████ █████ ██████████ ███████████ ███ ████ ████ ██ █ ███████
True, toning shoes don’t have any real exercise advantage over regular shoes. But people who switch to toning shoes end up walking more, which certainly exercises their leg muscles. This explains how they get a benefit from toning shoes.
d
There is little ████████ ████ ██████ █████ █████ ████████ ██ █████ ████████
Our stimulus says nothing about injuries. We need to know why people who switch to toning shoes get a benefit, and simply saying that they don't cause injuries isn't enough.
e
Shoes that strengthen ███ █████ ███ ███████ ███ ████ ██████████ ████ ████████ ██████
Toning shoes don’t themselves strengthen the major leg muscles. We also aren't concerned with marketing, but with the actual effects of switching shoes. This isn't helpful.