PrepTest 125, Section 2, Question 4
People who consume a lot of honey tend(24 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(11 more words not shown)
- APeople who eat(13 more words not shown)
- BMany people who(12 more words not shown)
- CPeople's dental hygiene(3 more words not shown)
- DRefined sugars have(10 more words not shown)
- EHoney contains bacteria(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Honey has plenty of sugar, but the people eating a lot of it have fewer cavities. Why aren't they getting the tooth decay we'd expect?
Maybe something about these people helps protect their teeth. Perhaps they're especially careful about dental care. Perhaps they have the resources to see a dentist more often. We don't know that either is true; they're possible explanations for why the sugar doesn't lead to the expected result.
Or maybe honey contains something else that helps teeth. One harmful ingredient doesn't tell us the overall effect of the whole food. There might be a protective ingredient working against the sugar's effect, or something different about how that sugar behaves.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to resolve the apparent conflict. Keep both facts in view: why do heavy honey consumers have fewer cavities even though honey contains a leading cause of tooth decay? We want a fact that makes those two observations fit together.
Working the answers
- A
This is tempting. If honey eaters avoid other sugary foods, maybe they consume less sugar overall. But notice the comparison we just added. A doesn't tell us their total sugar intake is lower than other people's. Someone could eat so much honey that, even without much sugar from other sources, that person's total is still high. We need to explain fewer cavities than others have, and this answer leaves that comparison unresolved.
- B
Dissolving honey in a drink doesn't establish that its sugar stops affecting teeth. The choice gives a way people consume honey, but no reason that this way would protect them from cavities. We'd have to supply the missing protective effect ourselves.
- C
Different people can take different care of their teeth. But which people have the better habits? Our prediction would work if honey consumers tended to have more protective habits than the comparison group. C says only that habits vary. It doesn't connect the favorable habits with the people whose fewer cavities we're trying to explain.
- D
More health problems in general doesn't tell us more tooth decay in particular. Nor does D establish the relevant difference between honey consumers and others. We need an explanation tied to cavities, not merely a broad distinction between categories of sugar.
- ECorrect
Honey has bacteria that inhibit the growth of the bacteria responsible for tooth decay. That gives us the protective effect we were considering. The sugar can still be a risk factor while another part of honey works against the decay process. We don't have to deny either fact in the passage to understand how the honey consumers could have fewer cavities.
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