PrepTest 130, Section 4, Question 20
A recent study confirmed that salt intake tends(59 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(14 more words not shown)
- AStudy participants with(26 more words not shown)
- BSalt intake is(11 more words not shown)
- CFor most people(23 more words not shown)
- DAt the beginning(17 more words not shown)
- EPersons suffering from(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The main result makes sense within the study's findings: salt tends to raise blood pressure, and people with high blood pressure who substantially reduce their salt intake end up with lower pressure.
But some people eat a great deal of salt and maintain very low blood pressure. How does that fit?
What we’re looking for
Perhaps something about those people makes their pressure low despite the salt. A genetic difference could be worth investigating, or perhaps they exercise intensively—imagine someone running marathons while consuming lots of salt. Those are possible directions for an explanation. The question is asking why high salt intake and low blood pressure occur together in this group, even though salt generally pushes pressure up.
Working the answers
- A
A small reduction in salt producing little change in high blood pressure fits the general pattern. It tells us nothing about the people who maintained very low pressure while consuming a great deal of salt. It leaves the surprising group unexplained.
- B
Other dietary factors could affect blood pressure, but B does not tell us which factors apply to the high-salt, low-pressure group or how they keep its pressure low. Merely saying that salt is not the only associated factor does not supply the specific connection we need.
- C
Another dietary change could reduce high blood pressure more effectively than reducing salt. That comparison does not explain why some people already have very low pressure despite high salt intake. C concerns the best remedy for a different group.
- D
This describes the opposite combination: little salt and high blood pressure. It neither explains that combination nor explains our high-salt, low-pressure group. Adding another unusual result does not resolve the one in the passage.
- ECorrect
This gives the connection a different direction: unusually low pressure leads people to crave salt. Their high intake helps keep their pressure from falling still lower.
Salt can therefore raise their pressure without making it high. Imagine a person whose pressure would otherwise be dangerously low. Eating more salt could raise it enough to keep it from dropping too far, while the measured pressure remains very low. That reconciles the unusual group with the general effect found by the study.
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