Self-paced
In a study of patients who enrolled at a sleep clinic because of insomnia, Support those who inhaled the scent of peppermint before going to bed were more likely to have difficulty falling asleep than were patients who inhaled the scent of bitter orange. █████ ██ ██ █████ ████ ████████ ██████ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ██████ ████ ██████ ████ ███████ ████ █████ █████ ████ ████████ ███ █████ ██ ██████████ █████ ████████ ██████
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that inhaling the scent of peppermint makes insomnia worse. She bases this on the observation that patients with insomnia who inhaled the scent of peppermint before bed were more likely to have difficulty falling asleep than patients who inhaled the scent of bitter orange, which doesn’t help people fall asleep more easily.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that inhaling peppermint directly causes difficulty in falling asleep, without considering alternative explanations and other factors.
She also assumes that the only difference between the two groups is the scent they were exposed to, without considering other possible differences that could influence the outcomes.
She also assumes that the study was conducted properly and that the study’s sample is representative of all insomnia sufferers.
4.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ █████████ ███████ ███ ████████ ██████
a
Several studies have █████ ████ ████████ ███ █████ ██ ██████████ █████ ██ ████ █ ████████ ██████ ██ ██████ ███ ██ ███ ██████ ████ █████████
The study and the author’s conclusion are only addressing the effects of inhaling the scent of peppermint on people who do suffer from insomnia. So the effects on people who do not suffer from insomnia are irrelevant.
b
The patients who ███████ ███ █████ ██ ██████ ██████ █████ ██ ████████ █████████ ████ ██████ █████ ██ ████████ ████ ████ ███ ████████ ███ ███████ ███ █████ ██ ███████████
The author assumes that the only difference between the two groups is the scent they inhaled, but (B) shows that those who inhaled bitter orange already had milder insomnia than those who inhaled peppermint. This weakens the conclusion that peppermint worsens insomnia.
c
Because the scents ██ ██████████ ███ ██████ ██████ ███ ████ ████ ████████████ ██ ███ ███ ████████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ ████ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ██████████ ████ ████ ██ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ████████ ███████ ███████
We don’t know that the patients’ knowledge of the study affected their ability to fall asleep, or why it would have affected one group’s ability but not the other’s. (C) also doesn’t address the author’s conclusion or assumptions.
d
Some of the ████████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ██████ ████ ███ ██████████ ███████ ██████ ████ ████ ████ ███████
The study and conclusion are only about the effects of the scents on falling asleep. Whether patients stayed asleep is not relevant.
e
Several studies have ████████ ████ ██ ████ █████ ████████ ███████ ████████ ██████ ███ ████████████ ██████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ █ ███████ ███████ ████ █████████
This could mean that inhaling certain pleasant scents can make insomnia worse or that it can make it better. We also don’t know what qualifies as a “pleasant scent” here. (E) is simply too vague to apply to the author’s conclusion about this specific study.