PrepTest 131, Section 2, Question 8
Though ice cream is an excellent source of(54 more words not shown)
The reasoning above is most(8 more words not shown)
- Afails to produce(7 more words not shown)
- Bfails to consider(10 more words not shown)
- Crelies solely on(10 more words not shown)
- Dpresumes, without providing(14 more words not shown)
- Epresumes, without providing(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Calcium isn't the only thing someone might consider when buying ice cream. A shopper might like its calcium but want less sugar or fat. One possible benefit doesn't erase other concerns: a supposed weight-control benefit wouldn't by itself make smoking a good choice either.
So I can accept that ice cream sales fell and cheddar sales rose without accepting the author's explanation. What if the shoppers weren't thinking about calcium at all? Perhaps cheese became more fashionable while ice cream fell out of favor. Or perhaps people wanted to avoid sugar and bought less ice cream for that reason.
What we’re looking for
The conclusion assigns a particular motive to the changing purchases: people want more calcium and are choosing cheddar as the way to get it. The sales figures don't tell us that. For the flaw, I'd look for the failure to consider other reasons for these changes.
Working the answers
- A
We can accept the farmers' report of a sharp decline. Whether that decline was 30 percent or 40 percent wouldn't establish why people bought less ice cream. The problem is the explanation assigned to the trend, not the absence of a precise percentage verifying it.
- BCorrect
People could be buying less ice cream for reasons unrelated to obtaining calcium from cheddar. Wanting to reduce sugar, for example, would give us another explanation for the decline. The argument doesn't consider such alternatives before concluding that the shift reflects a deliberate choice about calcium intake.
- C
Nothing establishes that the farmers are likely to be biased in a way that undermines these sales reports. And even completely accurate reports wouldn't reveal the shoppers' motives. Attacking the source of the numbers misses the unsupported interpretation of them.
- D
The author calls ice cream an excellent calcium source, not a better source than cheddar. Nor does the argument need to rank ice cream above cheddar to claim that people are choosing the latter. D adds a comparison the reasoning doesn't make.
- E
Choosing cheddar instead of ice cream on more occasions doesn't require never eating ice cream. Someone could eat more cheese and less ice cream while still eating both. The unsupported assumption concerns why purchases changed, not an absolute separation between the two groups of eaters.
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