Several people came down with an illness caused by a type of bacteria

Question

Several people came down with an illness caused by a type of bacteria in seafood. Health officials traced the history of each person who became ill to the same restaurant and date. Careful testing showed that most people who ate seafood at the restaurant on that date had not come in contact with the bacteria in question. Despite this finding, health officials remained confident that contaminated seafood from this restaurant caused the cases of illness.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy indicated above?

(A) Most people are immune to the effects of the bacteria in question.
(B) Those made ill by the bacteria had all been served by a waiter who subsequently became ill.
(C) All and only those who ate contaminated seafood at the restaurant on that date were allergic to the monosodium glutamate in a sauce that they used.
(D) The restaurant in question had recently been given a warning about violations of health regulations.
(E) All and only those who ate a particular seafood dish at the restaurant contracted the illness.

mccraygmat0326 · Answer

I don’t agree with the answer here. I believe the answer is C. If the sauce used on the seafood was the reason everyone was sick, then that would clearly explain why the seafood was the cause of the sickness for the people who did not come into contact with the bacteria. E is vague, it doesn’t explain anything.

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sony1000 · Answer

E explains why only several people contacted the illness and not the majority, because the bacteria was found on particular seafood dish and not on all seafood dishes. As for C it is contradicting because the argument claims tha few people came down with illness caused by bacteria, and not all people that had seafood fell sick and C claims that all people that had seafood were sick due to allergic reaction to MSG. The number of people getting sick do not match. ". Careful testing showed that most people who ate seafood at the restaurant on that date had not come in contact with the bacteria in question".

Doer01 · Answer

Hi  cmccray26 ,
 There are two sides to the argument at hand: Health officials & Test reports.
Both have their respective claims.
 Health officials : Seafood (in-general/all) served was contaminated.
 Test reports :  Most  people who ate seafood at the restaurant on that date had not come in contact with the bacteria in question. 
Question stem asks us to find an option that helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy as much as possible.

(C) All and only those who ate  contaminated seafood  at the restaurant on that date were allergic to the monosodium glutamate in a sauce that they used.
This proves Health officials point to an extent but does nothing to test reports. Plus, what about the people who ate contaminated food but were not allergic to glutamate? second part also weakens the health official's claim.

(E) All and only those who ate a  particular  seafood dish at the restaurant contracted the illness.
This strengthens both claims and clears the air. Only some got sick and the ordered a particular sea food, which was contaminated.

Hope that helps.

Babar28 · Answer

I was stuck between D & E and decided to go with E.

However, can anyone help me with why D is wrong ?

Best regards,
Babar28

Gagan0009 · Answer

Paradox here is that only a specific group of customer came in contact of the bacteria and not all the customers of the restaurant.
Option D doesn't resolve that paradox. 
"The restaurant in question had recently been given a warning about violations of health regulations."
Surely option D gives some indication that restaurant could be the place where they got the bacteria but doesn't explain why only few people came in contact, whereas option E helps us to resolve the paradox.

akela · Answer

PowerScore Complete Question Explanation

Resolve the Paradox-CE. The correct answer choice is (E)

The author of this stimulus provides several facts regarding an outbreak of an illness caused by seafood bacteria, each case of which was traced back to the same restaurant at the same time. The paradox is this:

........................ Most of that restaurant’s seafood diners did not come into contact with the bacteria.

........................ Yet officials remained confident that the source of the bacteria was the restaurant.

The question stem requires us to find the answer choice which is consistent with both of the above premises; it will be the choice which somehow allows the officials to think that the bacteria came from the restaurant, in spite of so many of the restaurant diners’ having been spared exposure.

Answer choice (A): Immunity would not explain the apparent discrepancy between the confidence that the restaurant in question was the source of the bacteria, and the fact that many of the restaurant’s diners were not simply spared from the illness, they did not come into contact with the bacteria.

Answer choice (B): The officials referenced in the stimulus were confident that the restaurant’s contaminated seafood was the source—not a waiter—so this answer choice does nothing to resolve the discrepancy and is incorrect.

Answer choice (C): An allergy to the sauce is irrelevant to the stimulus, given the fact that officials were confident that the source was contaminated seafood, not sauce. This choice does not help to explain the paradox from the stimulus, so it is incorrect.

Answer choice (D): This choice might make it more likely that the restaurant was the source of contamination, but does not explain how the restaurant could be the source without the majority of its diners having been exposed to the bacteria.

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice.  If a particular seafood dish at the restaurant was the source of the bacteria, then it would make that most seafood diners (those who did not have the contaminated dish in particular) would not have come into contact with the bacteria at all. Because this choice resolves the paradox from the stimulus, it is the correct answer choice.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Several people came down with an illness caused by a type of bacteria

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Several people came down with an illness caused by a type of bacteria

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