PrepTest 109, Section 4, Question 12
Most adults in country X consume an increasing(29 more words not shown)
The statements above, if true,(14 more words not shown)
- AThey generally consume(12 more words not shown)
- BThey generally eat(12 more words not shown)
- CThey generally have(17 more words not shown)
- DThey tend to(10 more words not shown)
- EThey tend to(6 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
More fat doesn't necessarily mean a fattier diet. The amount can rise while the percentage stays the same, if the person eats more food overall.
Suppose fat supplies 20 percent of someone's daily calories. At 2,000 calories a day, that is 400 calories from fat. At 2,500 calories, it is 500 calories from fat. The share is still 20 percent, but the amount of fat consumed has increased. These are illustrative numbers, not quantities given in the passage.
What we’re looking for
That's how the two statements fit together. Most adults consume more fat as they get older, while nearly everyone's fat percentage stays constant. For the most-supported conclusion, I'd predict that adults in this country generally eat more as they age. We don't need to turn that broad pattern into a claim about every individual.
Working the answers
- A
We haven't compared country X with any other country. Adults elsewhere could eat more fat, less fat or the same amount. The passage compares adults in X with themselves at different ages.
- BCorrect
When the fat amount increases while fat's share of the diet stays fixed, the overall amount eaten must increase too. The numerical example shows why: the same fraction of a larger total is a larger amount.
B preserves the general nature of the information. It says these adults generally eat more later in adulthood, rather than insisting that every person eats more at every possible age.
- C
The passage covers adult life, not childhood. We don't know the fat percentage in children's diets, so we cannot compare it with adults' diets. The fact that an adult's percentage stays stable doesn't tell us what that percentage was before adulthood.
- D
Eating more doesn't require eating a greater variety. Someone could eat larger portions of the same foods every day. The information concerns quantity and percentage, not the number of different foods on the menu.
- E
Food intake alone doesn't establish a change in body weight. We aren't told about activity or other relevant factors. The passage supports an increase in the amount eaten, not a conclusion that these adults lose weight—or a guarantee that they gain it.
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