LR Drill Set 8, Question 9
Doctors have long known that high blood-triglyceride levels(52 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(7 more words not shown)
- AHydrogenating vegetable oils(9 more words not shown)
- BPolyunsaturated fatty acids(13 more words not shown)
- CCertain kinds of(13 more words not shown)
- DConsumption of certain(12 more words not shown)
- EBy not eating(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
These margarines interfere with something that helps keep a heart-disease risk factor down. That gives us a possible route from eating them to a higher risk of disease.
Work through it one step at a time. High triglyceride levels increase the risk of heart disease. Adequately metabolizing polyunsaturated fatty acids tends to lower those levels. But the high trans-fat content in certain margarines interferes with that useful process. If you obstruct a process that helps reduce triglycerides, you may leave people with more of the risk you're trying to reduce.
What we’re looking for
For the most-supported answer, I'd predict that consuming these particular products could contribute to heart disease. The connection is indirect, and the passage uses qualified language. We don't need to turn that into a claim that everyone who eats any margarine will develop heart disease.
Working the answers
- A
We know the products made from hydrogenated vegetable oils have a high trans-fat content. We don't know from this passage what the hydrogenation process does to the amount already present in the oil. To infer that the process increases it, we'd need information about the oil before and after that process. A supplies a causal explanation for the high content that the passage itself doesn't establish.
- B
This makes an overall comparison between two kinds of fatty acids as risk factors. The passage describes a particular benefit from adequately metabolizing polyunsaturated fatty acids and a way trans fats interfere with that benefit. It doesn't evaluate every relevant effect of the two kinds of fat or establish their comparative overall risk. D stays closer to the particular chain we can support.
- C
Interfering with a process is different from being required for it. We're told that trans fats can get in the way of metabolizing polyunsaturated fatty acids. We aren't told that some other fat must be present for that metabolism to occur. C turns a hindrance into a necessary ingredient.
- DCorrect
Certain margarines may contribute to heart disease in some people. Their trans fats can interfere with the metabolism that tends to lower triglycerides, and high triglycerides increase heart-disease risk. That is the chain the passage supports. The words “may,” “contributing,” and “some” fit what we know: a possible influence on risk, not an inevitable disease outcome or the only cause of the disease.
- E
Avoiding one possible contributing factor doesn't guarantee avoiding the disease. The passage doesn't say these products are necessary for heart disease to occur or that there are no other causes. A person might avoid these margarines and still develop the disease through another route. E turns a possible risk contribution into a promise of prevention.
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