A study of plague buildup on teeth used three randomly assigned groups of people who brushed their teeth twice a day for a year. People in Group 1 used the same toothbrush all year. People in Group 2 used the same toothbrush all year but sterilized it each month. People in Group 3 used a new, sterile toothbrush each month. At the end of the year, people in Group 1 and 2 had the same amount of plague buildup as each other, while people in Group 3 had less plague buildup.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the relative amounts of plague buildup found in the three groups?
(A) The Buildup of plague on teeth, which brushing twice a day helps to prevent, is accelerated by the growth of
bacteria on toothbrushes that remained unsterilized for more than a month. - WRONG. More than a month is out of the scope of the passage.
(B) The stiffness of the bristles on new toothbrushes, which the mechanical action of brushing
destroys after several months, inhibits the buildup of plague. - CORRECT. Destruction over a 12 month period is more leading to more buildup of bacteria as compared to destruction over a month.
(C) The people who did the study measured the amount of plague buildup by a
new method not usually employed by dentists. - WRONG. Irrelevant.
(D)
Before they joined the study, some of the people in Group 3 had been in the habit of brushing their teeth only once a day. - WRONG. Whatever happened before is useless.
(E) The people in Group 2 and Group 3
brushed their teeth as vigorously as did the people in Group 1. - WRONG. Not a helpful comparison for what we are looking for.
Only A and B are contenders. A being a trap leaves us with B.
Answer B.