Reducing stress lessens a person's sensitivity to pain. This is the conclusion reached by researchers who played exte...

Skylar on May 24, 2020

@filozinni, happy to help!

The passage's conclusion is that "reducing stress lessens a person's sensitivity to pain." This conclusion is based on a study in which patients who listened to music before and after surgery required less anesthesia and fewer painkillers than those who listened to conversation before and after surgery.

However, we should notice a significant gap in logic. Nothing in the study expressly mentions stress reduction, so how did the researchers reach this as part of the conclusion?

Answer choice (C) fills this gap. It states that "listening to music reduces stress." If music reduces stress, then the use of the study to reach the conclusion makes sense. Moreover, negating the statement in (C) makes the entire argument fall apart. Therefore, (C) is correct.

Does that make sense? Please let us know if you have any other questions!

filozinni on June 3, 2020

Thank you so much @Skylar!