CR 8

A high percentage of injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) occurs in athletes. A sophisticated statistical analysis looked at the number of athletes who suffered an ACL injury, and assigned numerical values to both the nature of the stress that produced the injury and to the resultant level of damage to the ACL. Researchers expected that, controlling for level of injury-causing stress, all athletically inclined individuals would show similar tendency toward ACL injury regardless of the specific sport. A surprising outcome is that, equalizing for injuring-causing stress, it appears that gymnasts have a much higher tendency toward ACL injury than do members of the National Football League (NFL), but this is most likely because _______________

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

A) gymnasts are in general far more flexible than football players.
B) high school and college football players who have a higher tendency to ACL injury are far less likely to advance to the NFL
C) most gymnasts, as those preparing for the Olympics, are amateur athletes, whereas NFL players are professional athletes.
D) forceful contact among football players is part of the game, but is exceedingly rare amongst gymnasts since they do not come in contact with one another.
E) gymnasts are often given credit for inventing new positions or moves, while football players far more regularly follow the typical moves associated with their position.