PrepTest 107, Section 1, Question 8
Nutritionist: Many people claim that simple carbohydrates are(68 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- APeople on low-fat(18 more words not shown)
- BPeople who produce(17 more words not shown)
- CPeople who consume(11 more words not shown)
- DPeople who wish(15 more words not shown)
- EPeople who do(28 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Replacing the calories doesn't tell us whether the replacement is a good idea.
The people described are avoiding fatty foods, and some suggest eating simple carbohydrates instead. I want to know what happens after that substitution. The nutritionist points to insulin: for many people, a high intake of simple carbohydrates stimulates an overproduction of it.
But why should more insulin concern us?
Read the explanation of what it does. When the body needs energy, insulin is involved in processing sugars and starches to provide it. When energy isn't needed, the resulting by-products are stored as fat. That gives us a reason to question treating simple carbohydrates as a harmless replacement for fatty foods.
What we’re looking for
The question asks what the nutritionist's statements most strongly support. We should stay with that account of insulin and fat storage. My initial thought is that we have a reason to avoid the overproduction described. We still need a choice that connects the stated consequences with a relevant goal, rather than assuming every person has the same dietary needs.
Working the answers
- A
The proposed reason is wrong. The passage says insulin helps process sugars and starches to create energy when the body needs it. It doesn't say simple carbohydrates prevent people from maintaining the energy they require. The concern discussed is what happens when energy isn't needed and the by-products are stored as fat.
- B
Being able to produce enough insulin doesn't settle whether someone has a reason to follow a low-fat diet. That diet could have another purpose entirely. The passage does not give a general rule about who should or shouldn't adopt it, and sufficient insulin alone doesn't supply one.
- C
This recommends limiting fatty foods, but the nutritionist's new concern is about replacing those foods with lots of simple carbohydrates. We aren't given a reason that people who eat carbohydrates, as a group, must restrict fat. C shifts the proposed response away from the process described.
- DCorrect
This gives the recommendation a specific goal: avoiding a gain in body fat. The passage supplies a reason for people with that goal to limit foods high in simple carbohydrates, because a high intake can stimulate excess insulin and contribute to the fat-storage process described. D doesn't say everyone must eliminate carbohydrates or that any amount guarantees weight gain. Limiting the intake is a response to the concern the nutritionist raises.
- E
The studies concern the overproduction response in many people. They don't establish what will happen to the weight of people who don't have that response. Those people might lose weight after changing their intake for some other reason. The definite prediction that they will not lose weight goes beyond the evidence.
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