PrepTest 118, Section 3, Question 9
High blood cholesterol levels are bad for the(36 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(6 more words not shown)
- AMeat and eggs(5 more words not shown)
- BSmall quantities of(11 more words not shown)
- CShellfish has less(9 more words not shown)
- DFoods low in(6 more words not shown)
- EA serving of(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
How much cholesterol are we talking about? Merely saying that shellfish contains cholesterol doesn't tell us how much it contains or how its effect compares with other foods.
The author answers a different part of the concern: shellfish is very low in saturated fat, and saturated fat affects blood cholesterol much more than dietary cholesterol does. I can see why that matters. The effect on blood cholesterol isn't determined just by whether cholesterol appears in the food.
Still, does the low saturated fat actually help? And could something else, such as the food's salt content, matter for the heart? Those are questions, not claims about shellfish. The conclusion is cautious too: shellfish isn't necessarily bad for the heart.
What we’re looking for
For the strengthen question, I'd look for information showing that the low saturated fat works in favor of that conclusion, enough to counter the initial concern about dietary cholesterol. Keep the target on shellfish's effect. We aren't being asked to establish that shellfish is better than beef or eggs.
Working the answers
- A
Meat and eggs having lots of saturated fat doesn't tell us what happens when someone eats shellfish. The argument's conclusion isn't that shellfish has less saturated fat than those foods; it already says shellfish is low in it. We need support for the claimed effect on the heart.
- B
This concerns small quantities of foods high in saturated fat. Shellfish is described as very low in saturated fat. The answer doesn't tell us what follows from the feature the author relies on.
- C
This is tempting because it answers our initial question about how much cholesterol the foods contain. But having less cholesterol than another food doesn't establish that shellfish isn't necessarily bad for the heart. Two foods could contain different amounts and still both have harmful effects. The comparison is not the conclusion we're trying to support.
- DCorrect
Low saturated fat now has a stated effect in the helpful direction: foods low in it promote low blood cholesterol. Shellfish has that property, so D gives the author a reason to think its dietary cholesterol needn't make it bad for the heart.
The original passage says saturated fat affects blood cholesterol strongly. D tells us how low saturated fat bears on the argument's concern. It doesn't establish that every serving of shellfish benefits every person; it supports the narrower conclusion being argued.
- E
Relative serving sizes don't establish the effect of eating shellfish. A smaller portion than meat or poultry could still contain something harmful, and E doesn't tell us the amount or effect of that substance. Once again, a comparison with other foods isn't enough to support the actual conclusion.
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