The most dangerous thing about a concussion is often the second one. The brain remains vulnerable for some time after the first injury, and a second impact during that window can cause damage out of all proportion to its force. This is difficult to act on, because the athlete usually feels ready to return long before the tissue has recovered, and because the pressure to return comes from every direction at once. Protocols that keep a player out for a fixed period regardless of how well they say they feel exist for this reason: the judgment is deliberately taken out of the hands of the person least able to make it.
Which conclusion is best supported by the passage?
Pick an answer
Correct!
Not quite. The correct answer is highlighted.
Correct answer to question 42 (Paragraph Comprehension): An athlete's own sense of readiness is an unreliable guide
Method
The passage says the athlete feels ready before the tissue has recovered and calls that person the least able to judge. The first choice inverts the point: the danger is that a small second impact does large damage.
Updated: November 2026
Raise your AFQT scoreFree for iPhone and Android
