PrepTest 112, Section 1, Question 9
Raisins are made by drying grapes in the(55 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(16 more words not shown)
- ASince grapes are(22 more words not shown)
- BCaramelized sugar cannot(14 more words not shown)
- CThe body can(21 more words not shown)
- DRaisins, but not(21 more words not shown)
- ERaisins are often(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Where could the extra iron come from?
That is my first reaction. Nothing is added as grapes dry, and the only substance removed is water, which the passage says contains no calories or nutrients. If the iron and calories both stayed the same, drying alone wouldn't change the amount of iron per calorie.
But pause on “per calorie.” The comparison isn't simply how much iron is present. The ratio could rise with the same amount of iron if the calorie count fell. So there are two places to look: more iron, or fewer calories. The first would be difficult to reconcile with nothing being added. Could the caramelization change what counts as a calorie instead?
What we’re looking for
We're asked to explain the higher iron-per-calorie figure, while keeping the stated facts about drying. I don't need to invent iron arriving from the sun. I need an answer that changes the relationship between iron and counted calories. Let's check the choices against that specific comparison.
Working the answers
- A
A handful of small raisins can contain more pieces than a handful of larger grapes. But the question doesn't measure iron per handful or per unit of space. It measures iron per calorie. Packing more pieces together doesn't establish a different ratio between the iron and calories in those pieces.
- BCorrect
This changes the calorie side of the comparison. If caramelized sugar can't be digested, its calories don't count toward the raisins' calorie content. The iron can stay the same while the counted calories decrease.
For a simple hypothetical example, start with 10 units of iron and 10 calories: one unit of iron per calorie. If the iron stays at 10 while counted calories fall to 5, the ratio becomes two units of iron per calorie. We now have more iron per calorie without adding any iron.
That resolves the puzzle. The sugar has changed during drying even though it hasn't been physically removed. The mistake in my initial reaction was treating the lack of added nutrients or removed caloric material as a guarantee that the counted calories stayed unchanged. B supplies the distinction that breaks that assumption.
- C
The speed at which a body absorbs iron doesn't tell us the amount of iron per calorie in the food. The question isn't why one food supplies nutrients faster after it is eaten. It is why the foods have different iron-to-calorie ratios. C changes the measure to absorption speed.
- D
Year-round availability could affect how much of a person's annual diet comes from raisins. It doesn't explain the iron per calorie in a raisin. People could eat more raisins over a year even if grapes and raisins had identical nutritional ratios. The seasonal purchase pattern doesn't solve our puzzle.
- E
Iron from another food isn't iron contained in the raisin. Combining raisins with an iron-rich meal could increase a person's intake, but the stated comparison concerns the two fruits themselves. Adding the rest of the meal to one side changes what is being compared.
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