Health officials claim that because the foods and beverages mentioned or consumed on many television programs are extremely low in nutritional value watching television has a bad influence on the dietary habits of television viewers.
The claim by health officials depends on the presupposition that
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(A) the eating and drinking habits of people on television programs are designed to mirror the eating and drinking habits of television viewers
Even if the programs are designed to mirror, it is not clear whether the people do get influenced by such programs.
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(B) seeing some foods and beverages being consumed on or hearing them mentioned on television programs increases the likelihood that viewers will consume similar kinds of foods and beverages
Correct - If seeing them/hearing them (people on tv programs about foods and beverages) increases the chances i.e. influence viewers to consume similar food, then the argument holds true.
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(C) the food and beverage industry finances television programs so that the foods and beverages that have recently appeared on the market can be advertised on those programs
finances are not discussed
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(D) television viewers are only interested in the people on television programs who have the same eating and drinking habits as they do
This actually weakens the argument. If people already have same habits as the people on tv programs would mean that tv programs are not influencing their decisions. It just happens to be their trait
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(E) the eating and drinking habits of people on television programs provide health officials with accurate predictions about the foods and beverages that will become popular among television viewers
[/quote]Even if health officials can predict accurately, it is not clear on what the results turn out to be. Hence does not affect the argument as such.
Answer - B