Not even going to bother playing the quote cut and paste game with you. Nobody here suggested that the new user should read the manual from start to finish "Except for YOU". Everyone else merely said read the manual. IE: It's your reference book for the piece of software you just paid good money for. You want to play word games you can play with someone else.

At what point is it safe to assume a new user will know what something common like "A Practice Dummy" is for? We see practice dummies all around us in the real and virtual world. When can we safely assume that people can figure out what they're for? There are practice dummies in art classes, in video games, in commercials (crash test dummy anyone?), football practice fields, CPR classes, need I really go on? Seriously? Why should we not assume that people already have a grasp on the concept of "Practice Dummy"?

As a "Technical Writer" you should also know that there is a point where you should safely be able to assume a user has at least a basic knowlege of the subject you are writing about or they wouldn't have bought the item. You don't see every software manual out there reteaching windows basic commands. Do you still want to tilt at this windmill?