We know that in the US and in Britain, people are drinking wine in more similar quantities now than before. From the info given, that might lead us to think that the incidence of heart disease should be becoming more similar in the two countries, all other factors being equal. There are a lot of potential problems here; it may be, for example, that per capita American wine drinking is increasing only because a few people are drinking a ton more than before - it may not be the case that more Americans are drinking wine. Or it may be that there is some other factor which contributes to heart disease - say exercise, or diet - and while Americans may be lowering their risk of heart disease by drinking more wine than before, they may be increasing their risk by eating worse or exercising less. Or it may be that, for example, people who were never at great risk of heart disease in the US have started drinking wine, or that people who were never at great risk of heart disease in Britain have stopped drinking wine. There are very many potential resolutions to the apparent paradox in the question, so Process of Elimination may be the best approach here. But, if have information about the reasons that wine drinking levels have become more similar in the two countries, that may contribute to an explanation. E tells us that young people in Britain are drinking less than before; presumably younger people are at less risk of heart disease than older people, so this would help to explain why wine drinking levels are more similar but heart disease levels are not.

Looking at other answer choices, A tells us about the causes of heart disease; that's not relevant. B tells us that saturated fat consumption has dropped significantly in both countries. If we knew that the drop was greater in Britain, that might help to resolve the paradox, but we have no comparison between the drops in the two countries, so B doesn't help us to determine why the change in the difference of wine consumption in the two countries has not led to a change in the difference of incidence in heart disease. Similarly, D rules out other factors that might have helped to resolve the paradox, so D does the opposite of what we are looking for. C tells us that wine-drinking is increasing in the US. It doesn't matter whether drinking increased in the US or decreased in Britain; we need to know why this has not had an effect on the difference in incidence of heart disease.
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The above means that either US population has been drinking more red wine or France population has been drinking less wine so that their wine consumption narrowed (the gap in wine consumption b/w the two diminished)
E explains why wine consumption dimished in France (youngsters drink less of it) but why heart diseases are still high(because only middle-aged people are affected). This resolves the paradox at hand

E for me
If consumption of wine by youngsters has declined, it would explain why, despite the overall narrowing of wine consumption b/w US/France, there is no change in the overall heart disease; the decrease of wine consumption affects only younger people who are not affected by heart diseases (only middle-aged people are affected)

Got E too. Agree with Paul's explanation. To add,

"The difference in regular red-wine consumption has been narrowing" may mean two things - US is drinking more wine OR france is drinking less wine. ETS trap would be make us think that the first (US drinking more wine) has happened, but actually it is the second case (E).

Moreover, E, by bringing in "heart disease typically does not manifest itself until middle age" shows that the convergence of heart disease may happen in future, but not immediately.

My explanation

Which of the following, if true, most helps to account for the lack of convergence noted above?

A. Consumption of saturated fats is related more strongly to the growth of fatty deposits on
artery walls, which reduce blood flow to the heart, than it is to heart disease directly. this doesn't tell us about why US heart disease rate is not matching up with heart disease rate of france

B. Over the past 30 years, per-capita consumption of saturated fats has remained essentially
unchanged in the United States but has increased somewhat in France. this statement suggests that heart disease rates of two countries might be going towards convergence. we need to find answer that explains why there is a lack of convergence in heart disease

C. Reports of the health benefits of red wine have led many people in the United States to drink
red wine regularly. in US,wine consumption has increased but nothing mentioned about saturated fat consumption rate increase/decrease which contributes to heart disease so this doesn't explain lack of convergence in heart rates

D. Cigarette smoking, which can also contribute to heart disease, is only slightly more common
in France than in the United States. if cigarette smoking increases somewhat in France, but doesn't tell convincingly about huge impact of heart disease due to increased smoking in France

E. Regular consumption of red wine is declining dramatically among young adults in France, and
heart disease typically does not manifest itself until middle age.[/quote] correct, dramatic reduction of red wine consumption among youths in France means difference in wine consumption is narrowing between two countries but there is no consumption reduction among middle age people in france who are prone to heart disease. This tells why there is a convergence on wine consumption but nothing on heart disease rate

I guess B and E are the likeable choices here.

you're looking for a reason why heart disease rates have NOT gotten closer to each other, even though the rates of red wine consumption have gotten closer to each other.

in this respect, choice (b) is actually the worst possible outcome, because it accomplishes exactly the opposite of this end -- choice (b), if true, would be another reason why the gap WOULD narrow.
i.e., you need a reason that would keep the french heart disease rates lower than the american rates, despite the other evidence; choice (b), on the other hand, is a factor that would actually push the french rate closer to the american rate -- exactly the opposite of what you actually want.

choice (e), on the other hand, is exactly the type of explanation that you are looking for: since the onset of heart disease is delayed, this explanation leads to the conclusion that, for the time being, this change in behavior on the part of young adults will have no effect; it won't start to bring the french heart disease rate closer to the corresponding american rate until those young adults reach middle age.

so should be (e)
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A diet high in saturated fats increases a person's risk of developing heart disease. Regular consumption of red wine reduces that risk. Per-capita consumption of saturated fats is currently about the same in France as in the United States, but there is less heart disease there than in the United States because consumption of red wine is higher in France. The difference in regular red-wine consumption has been narrowing, but no similar convergence in heart-disease rates has occurred.

Diet high in saturated fats increases a person's risk of developing heart disease
Regular consumption of red wine reduces the risk .
Per capita consumption of saturated fats is about the same in France and US , but red wine consumption is higher in France .
Difference in red wine consumption has been decreasing , however no similar convergence in heart-disease rates has occurred.

Paradox -

A. Consumption of saturated fats is related more strongly to the growth of fatty deposits on artery walls, which reduce blood flow to the heart, than it is to heart disease directly. Irrelevant

B. Over the past 30 years, per-capita consumption of saturated fats has remained essentially unchanged in the United States but has increased somewhat in France. Irrelevant

C. Reports of the health benefits of red wine have led many people in the United States to drink red wine regularly. Does not help the resolve the paradox

D. Cigarette smoking, which can also contribute to heart disease, is only slightly more common in France than in the United States.
It does not resolve the paradox , but on the contrary does the opposite .

E. Regular consumption of red wine is declining dramatically among young adults in France, and heart disease typically does not manifest itself until middle age.
Correct - Consumption of red wine is declining among young adults in France but the effects will only manifest when these people are in middle age.

Answer E
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Stem : Resolve paradox. Per capita consumption of wine in France is currently similar to US but heart attack less in France.

Premise 1 : Red wine reduces heart attacks.

The word to note here is per capita. So we don't know who is consuming the wine. It could be a 90 - 10 scenario where 90% of wine is consumed by 10% people.

Looking at the options, only E stands true.

So middle aged folks are drinking wine, young people are not.... This explains why even though per capita consumption of wine is similar to US, heart attacks are less

The difference in regular red-wine consumption has been narrowing, but no similar convergence in heart-disease rates has occurred.

The narrowing difference need not be because of more consumption of Alcohol from USA. It can also be attributed to what has been mentioned in point E ( Regular consumption of red wine is declining dramatically among young adults in France ).

By this, the red wine consumption of middle age people USA has not changed much, but the middle age people in France continue their regular consumption of red wine.

Hence E is correct.

E. Regular consumption of red wine is declining dramatically among young adults in France, and heart disease typically does not manifest itself until middle age.

Conclusion: Difference between the consumption of red wine is decreasing but no such decline is visible in the difference of heart disease cases.
Choice E best helps to account for the lack of convergence noted in the argument. E states that the decline in the difference of the consumption of Red wine is not because people from USA have started drinking more red wine, but it is because of the decline in the consumption of red wine in France. Now, the regular consumption of wine is declining among young adults of France which means that the young adults of France are more prone to heart diseases but it is also given that heart disease doesn’t manifest itself until middle age. This means that the lack of convergence is because the decrease in difference of consumption is among people who don’t show the signs of heart disease. Hence, E is the answer.

why heart diseases are still high " this is wrong statement. Heart disease is unchanged , you should say. Heart disease in Britain is lower than in US. Red wine consumption diminished but heart disease did not increase in Britain. Still unchanged.

Round 1: eliminate all irrelevant choices:
Want I need: answers that are related to wine drinking & heart disease (in U.S. and/or France) b/c these sit at the core of the paradox.
Want I see: only C & E are relevant, and E talked about both, so E is my preferred candidate.
Round 2: use logic:
What I need: one answer that helps me understand "why heart disease rate is still higher in the U.S. than in France?"
What I see: C only worsens the paradox, b/c wine is supposed to help.
--> E it is!
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BrightOutlookJenn DmitryFarber GMATNinja Why is A wrong? Tks!

Hi Will2020

This question is a paradox question - we're trying to find some explanation for the unexpected reality that a smaller difference in red-wine consumption between the US and France has NOT led to a smaller difference in heart-disease rates between the two countries. We need a game-changing new fact, something that tells us "aha! so that's why the heart disease rates are still far apart" - probably some remaining difference between the US and France that we didn't know about yet.

A tells us more about the mechanism for how saturated fats affect heart disease. But there is nothing here that changes the game to explain some difference between the countries: if this is how it works, as far as we know, it works this same way in both countries. Doesn't explain why the heart disease rates aren't closer together.

E gives us what we need - an explanation for why those rates haven't come closer together yet. The young adults in France aren't yet old enough to have an impact on the heart disease rates ... it must be all the older adults (who drank more red wine) who are driving the statistics. In other words, there is a significant lag time (like decades) between changes in red wine statistics and changes in heart disease statistics. So even if the red-wine consumption rates are coming closer together between the two countries, it will probably be decades later when the heart disease stats come together.


Does this help? Let us know.
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A diet high in saturated fats increases a person's risk of developing heart disease. Regular consumption of red wine reduces that risk. Per-capita consumption of saturated fats is currently about the same in France as in the United States, but there is less heart disease there than in the United States because consumption of red wine is higher in France. The difference in regular red-wine consumption has been narrowing, but no similar convergence in heart-disease rates has occurred.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to account for the lack of convergence noted above?


(A) Consumption of saturated fats is related more strongly to the growth of fatty deposits on artery walls, which reduce blood flow to the heart, than it is to heart disease directly.

(B) Over the past 30 years, per-capita consumption of saturated fats has remained essentially unchanged in the United States but has increased somewhat in France.

(C) Reports of the health benefits of red wine have led many people in the United States to drink red wine regularly.

(D) Cigarette smoking, which can also contribute to heart disease, is only slightly more common in France than in the United States.

(E) Regular consumption of red wine is declining dramatically among young adults in France, and heart disease typically does not manifest itself until middle age.[/quote]


Information given in the passage

1) Diet high in saturated fats increases risk of heart disease.

2) Regular consumption of red wine reduces the risk of heart disease.I Red wines.

3) On per ca pita basis French and Americans consume equal quantity of saturated fats

4)Despite consuming equal quantity of saturated fat,French don't succumb to heart disease.

5) The reason is that french consume more red wine than Americans do.

6) Difference in Regular consumption figures of red wine has been narrowing means either the french have reduced the consumption or the Americans have matched the level of consumption,but no converges has occurred in rate of heart disease.it means that no significant change in rate of heart disease noticed in french as well as in Americans.

we have to find a reason for this paradox

A) The given information tells us about how saturated fat disturbs the blood flow. Doesn't help much.Leave

B) the information doesn't help much rather the information forces us to think about the reason for no change in rate of heart disease despite somewhat increased consumption of saturated fat.it means the increased consumption is still insufficient to increase the rate of disease.Leave

C) the given information just tells us the reason for convergence in wine consumption. Doesn't help us to find the reason for no change in rate of disease.Leave

D) The given information tells us that how Beneficial it is consume red wine on regular basis.Leave

E) The given information tells us that why has there not been any change in rate of heart related disease.The effects of change in level of consumption of wine will reflect in future.Keep

Will go with choice E.
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