Health professionals have argued that too much butter in a person's di

Question

Health professionals have argued that too much butter in a person's diet can cause the dangerous overdevelopment in the bloodstream of high-density Lipoproteins that can clog arteries and put that person at risk of a heart attack. In South Korea, however, where per-capita butter consumption is almost non-existent. the incidence of heart attacks is no less than that in countries where butter is commonly served at every meal.

Which of the following statements represents the most reliable conclusion that can be drawn from the information above?

A) Most people, if told of the potential risk of butter consumption, would willingly switch to margarine or some other butter substitute.

B) Despite arguments to the contrary, butter does not have a deleterious effect on the human heart.

C) Koreans avoid butter because they dislike the taste, not because of the health risk.

D) Butter consumption is probably not the only factor that can be linked to the incidence of heart attacks.

E) Other dairy products such as cheese and yogurt pose an equal threat to cardiovascular fitness.

ain8 · Answer

I chose D. Potentially, there are other factors on top of consumption of butter in this context.

Aadarsh121 · Answer

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  lilygranger . Answer choice (B) employs a common trap in overstating a case—note the definitive language in  does not have —when a more reasonable inference would use suggestive language—e.g.,  may ,  could . (In fact, you can see  probably  and  may  in answer choice (D).) This is NOT to say that soft language is always correct or that definitive language is incorrect. In this case, the passage simply does not provide enough information about butter to lead us to the conclusion that it  does not have a deleterious effect on the human heart . Two populations are compared, and only butter consumption is examined. What if Koreans, for instance, ate a lot of beef and pork that  also  led to  the dangerous overdevelopment in the bloodstream of high-density lipoproteins that can clog arteries ? Then, it could be true that the effect,  the incidence of heart attacks , would not be linked to butter consumption, and the true connection might be the consumption of  any  foods, in certain quantities, that produced HDLs in abundance.

Perhaps that makes more sense now. If not, feel free to ask for further guidance. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

VerbalBot · Answer

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Health professionals have argued that too much butter in a person's di

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