gmihir wrote:
Maize contains the vitamin niacin, but not in a form the body can absorb.Pellagra is a disease that results from niacin deficiency.When maize was introduced into southern Europe from the Americas in the eighteenth century, it quickly became a dietary
staple, and many Europeans who came to subsist primarily on maize developed pellagra.Pellagra was virtually unknown at that time in the Americas, however, even among people who subsisted primarily on maize. Which of the following, if true, best resolves the paradox in the argument above ?
A. Once introduced into southern Europe, maize became popular with landowners because of its high yields relative to other cereal crops.
B.Maize grown in the Americas contained more niacin than maize grown in Europe did.
C.Traditional ways of preparing maize in the Americas convert maize’s niacin into a nutritionally useful form.
D.In southern Europe many of the people who consumed maize also ate niacin-rich foods.
E.Before the discovery of pellagra’s link with niacin, it was widely believed that the disease was an infection that could be transmitted from person to person.
It is much easier to analyze the paradox once you consider each sentence of the argument one-by-one.
"Maize contains the vitamin niacin, but not in a form the body can absorb."
If you map this out... Maize --> Niacin (that cannot be absorbed by humans)
"Pellagra is a disease that results from niacin deficiency."
Pellagra --> Not enough Niacin in the body
If you think about this sentence in the context of the preceding sentence, you can think probably come to the conclusion that people who eat Maize may not prevent the onset of Pellagra because Niacin cannot be absorbed by the human body.
"When maize was introduced into southern Europe from the Americas in the eighteenth century, it quickly became a dietary staple, and many Europeans who came to subsist primarily on maize developed Pellagra."This sentence tells us that many Southern Europeans started to eat maize widely from the 18th century, and started to develop Pellagra! This means that even though Southern Europeans were ingesting more Niacin, it did nothing to prevent Pellagra.
"Pellagra was virtually unknown at that time in the Americas, however, even among people who subsisted primarily on maize."This sentence contains our paradox. Americans have been eating maize all the time but did not know about Pellagra (i.e., they did not develop the disease). This leads us to wonder what possibly the Americans did with their maize so that they were able to absorb more Niacin. Once we figure this out, we can see how they were able to prevent contracting Pellagra.
Now, lets look at the answer choices:
A. Once introduced into southern Europe, maize became popular with landowners because of its high yields relative to other cereal crops.
This helps explain why maize became popular but really does not explain how Americans were able to not develop Pellagra even though they consumed maize for quite some time.B. Maize grown in the Americas contained more niacin than maize grown in Europe did.
One may think how this can help resolve the paradox (i.e., more niacin --> more chances to prevent Pellagra). However, B cannot be the answer because it does nothing to show how the relationship set up in the first sentence of the argument (i.e., the niacin in maize cannot be absorbed by humans) is not true for the Americans.C. Traditional ways of preparing maize in the Americas convert maize’s niacin into a nutritionally useful form.
This definitely helps explain how Americans are able to absorb niacin unlike the Southern Europeans. Traditional maize is converted into a form where niacin is useful for the body.
D. In southern Europe many of the people who consumed maize also ate niacin-rich foods.
This answer choice goes against what the argument states. If Southern Europeans ate other niacin-rich foods, they should have been able to prevent some developments of Pellagra.E. Before the discovery of pellagra’s link with niacin, it was widely believed that the disease was an infection that could be transmitted from person to person.
This answer choice is irrelevant to assessing the argument (how does Pellagra transferring from one person to person help explain why Americans did not develop Pellagra?).Please let me know if you need additional help
Cheers