PrepTest 152, Section 4, Question 7
Nutritionist: Contrary to popular belief, a high-calcium diet(55 more words not shown)
Each of the following, if(7 more words not shown)
- AAstronauts who have(17 more words not shown)
- BCertain medical therapies(13 more words not shown)
- CPopulations in countries(17 more words not shown)
- DArctic peoples, who(16 more words not shown)
- EThe incidence of(10 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
That is a surprising recommendation: less protein and little meat or dairy, rather than lots of calcium, to prevent loss of bone density. I might have questions about why that diet would help, but we need evidence bearing on the nutritionist's claims, not assumptions about nutrition from outside the passage.
There are two requirements to keep track of: the described diet and weight-bearing exercise. The explanation for the exercise is that bones thicken under regular resistance.
What we’re looking for
This is an EXCEPT question. Four answers will support some part of the nutritionist's view; one won't. Examples connecting the recommended diet or weight-bearing activity with healthier bones would help. We don't need every supporting answer to establish the whole recommendation by itself.
Working the answers
- A
Vigorous activity in a weightless environment doesn't supply the ordinary weight-bearing resistance described in the passage. Losing bone density despite being active therefore fits the distinction the nutritionist makes: the kind of activity matters, not just its intensity. A supports the emphasis on weight-bearing exercise.
- BCorrect
These therapies can prevent osteoporosis without a special diet. That challenges the claim that the nutritionist's particular diet is essential. If people can prevent the condition through another route without that diet, the diet isn't a requirement for prevention. B does more than fail to support the view; it gives us a reason to question it.
- C
Low protein consumption occurring alongside low rates of osteoporosis fits the nutritionist's recommendation. It doesn't prove that protein intake explains the difference between countries; other differences might matter too. But the observed pattern is evidence in the direction the nutritionist predicts, so it supports the view.
- D
High calcium consumption alongside a high rate of osteoporosis challenges the idea that consuming lots of calcium prevents the condition. That supports the nutritionist's opening rejection of the popular belief. It needn't also establish the proposed replacement diet to count as support.
- E
Strict vegetarians with low-protein diets have an unusually low incidence of the condition. That gives us another group whose diet and outcome fit the recommendation. As with C, a favorable pattern isn't proof that the diet caused the outcome, but it is supporting evidence. We are looking for the answer that doesn't provide such support.
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