Self-study
Few, if any, carbonated beverages contain calcium. ████ ████ ███████ █████ ████████ ███████ ███████████ ███████ ██ █████████ ███ █████████ ████████ ██████ ██████ ██ ███████ █████████████ ████ ███████ ████ ████ █████ ██████████ ██████████████ █████████ ███ █████ █████ ███████ ██ ██████████ █████████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ██ ██████ ████ ██████ █████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ████ ███████ ██████████ ███ ████ █████ ████ ████████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ █████████ ██ ██████ █████ ██ █████████ ███ ███████ ██████████ █████████ ████ ████████ ██ ████████ ███ █████████ ██ ████████ ████████████
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that the correlation observed in teenagers between between broken bones and drinking carbonated beverages with caffeine is due to caffeine consumption. The author supports this hypothesis by the fact that caffeine causes people to excrete a lot of calcium, and calcium deficiency can make bones more brittle.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that the main factor causing the correlation observed in teenagers between broken bones and consumption of carbonated beverages is caffeine consumption. The author also assumes that if teenagers who drink carbonated beverages with caffeine have calcium deficiency, that this is mainly due to the beverages rather than some other cause.
15.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ ███████ ███ █████████
a
Teenagers who drink █████ ██████████ ██ ██████████ █████████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ██ █████ ███████ ██████████ ██ ████████████ █████████ ████ █████ █████████ ███
This provides an alternate explanation for the correlation between broken bones and the beverage consumption. If teens who drink the beverage drink less calcium-rich beverages (ex. milk) than other teens, the disparity in calcium-rich beverages could be the primary causal factor.
Alternate explanation
Alternate explanation
Weaken: Introduce or support an alternate explanation for a phenomenon.
Strengthen: Helps to eliminate an alternate explanation for a phenomenon.
b
Teenagers engage in ███ █████ ██ ██████████ ████ █████ █ ████ ████ ██ ███████ ██████ █████ ████ ████ █████ ████ ████ █████ ███ ███████ ██████ ███
This compares teenagers vs. older people. We want a comparison between teenagers who drink the caffeine-rich carbonated beverages and teenagers who don’t drink the beverages.
Failed alternate explanation
Failed alternate explanation
Weaken Qs: Answers that try to introduce an alternate explanation, but fall short, or try to explain a different phenomenon.
Strengthen Qs: Answers that try to eliminate an alternate explanation, but fall short, or try to eliminate an explanation for a different phenomenon.
c
Some teenagers have ███████ ████████████ ████ ██████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ███ █████████
The author never assumed that calcium deficiency can never be caused by anything else besides caffeine consumption. The author’s theory requires only that caffeine consumption increases the likelihood that a child will have calcium deficiency and broken bones.
Illusory inconsistency
Illusory inconsistency
Answer is attractive because it seems to (but doesn't actually) contradict the premises or conclusion. In other words, it feints an attack on the premises or conclusion. If correlation is present, the answer choice is often merely an outlier datapoint, which is actually entirely consistent with the correlation.
d
Some of the ████ ███████ ██████████ █████████ ███████ ████ ████ ████████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ █████
The correlation and the conclusion do not make any distinction between different kinds of carbonated beverages with caffeine.
e
The more calcium █ ██████ ███████ ██ █ ███████ ████ ██ ███ ██ ███ █████ ███ ████ ███████ ████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ ████████
So, eating more calcium leads to more excretion of calcium. This doesn’t change the fact that eating caffeine causes people to excrete a lot more calcium than they otherwise would.
Failed alternate explanation
Failed alternate explanation
Weaken Qs: Answers that try to introduce an alternate explanation, but fall short, or try to explain a different phenomenon.
Strengthen Qs: Answers that try to eliminate an alternate explanation, but fall short, or try to eliminate an explanation for a different phenomenon.