Self-study
Recent research indicates that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables by middle-aged people reduces their susceptibility to stroke in later years. ███ ███████████ █████████ ████ ████ ███ ██ ███████ ██████ ███ ██████████ ███ ████ ██ █████ █████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ ████ ███ ██████████ ████ ████ ██████ ██ █████████████ ██ █████ ████ ████ ███████████ ██ ███████ █████████
Summary
Some research shows that increased consumption of fruits and veggies reduces susceptibility to stroke later in life. Researchers think this is because fruits and veggies have a lot of folic acid. Low levels of folic acid are correlated with high levels of homocysteine, which causes blocked arteries.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
High levels of folic acid are correlated with low levels of homocysteine, low arterial blockage, and less likelihood of stroke. (The stimulus told us what low levels of folic acid are correlated with as part of an explanation of a potential causal connection between high folic acid and less susceptibility to stroke.)
13.
Which one of the following ██████████ ██ ████ ████████ █████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██████
a
An increased risk ██ ██████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ █████████████
Antisupported. Low folic acid is correlated with high homocysteine, which blocks arteries. Since researchers suspect that fruits and veggies may lower risk of stroke through folic acid, this means high folic acid should be associated with low homocysteine and low risk of stroke.
b
A decreased risk ██ ██████ ██ ██████████ ████ █████████ ██████ ██ █████ █████
Strongly supported. Researchers think fruits and veggies lower risk of stroke through folic acid. This suggests high folic acid is associated with low homocysteine and lower risk of stroke.
c
An increased propensity ███ ███████ ████████ ██ ██████████ ████ █████████ ██████ ██ █████████████
Antisupported. Low folic acid is correlated with high homocysteine, which blocks arteries. This suggests high folic acid is correlated with lower levels of homocysteine and less likelihood of blocked arteries.
d
A decreased propensity ███ ███████ ████████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ █████
Antisupported. Low folic acid is correlated with high homocysteine, which blocks arteries.
e
Stroke is prevented ██ █████████ ██ █████ ████ ██ ██████████ ██████████ ██ ███████ █ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ █████████████
Antisupported. High homocysteine is associated with greater arterial blockage. So, lower homocysteine is likely better for reducing stroke than is higher homocysteine. To prevent strokes, we want a decline in homocysteine.