PT 20 / Section 1 / Question 9

Shownuff

If AC "C" only said "children tend to have more acute tastes: therefore, they zero in on foods with the most distinctive tastes" I would have seen it as being the correct AC right away, but instead this answer goes on to state they get sick more often than adults do? I thought we were not supposed to make assumptions or add things that aren't there when dealing with MSS question types? Although every other AC seemed no good, what popped into my head when looking at AC "C" is how do we know... children become sick more than adults do -where does it state this or is it even allude to it in the stimulus? Any insight would be nice. Thanks!

nye8870

This is actually a strengthen question. We are to use a correct answer choice to bolster the argument. In MSS we are using the stimulus to tease out an inference. The stim tells us a general rule: a person who gets sick after eating a meal will often develop a dislike for the particular portion of the meal that had the most distinctive flavor (even though that particular portion was not the offending food). The stimulus goes on to assert that this phenomenon explains why kids are “especially” likely to develop aversions to some foods. First question I immediately ask is: What is it about kids that would make them “especially” likely…? Why ? - and - As opposed to whom? The stim seems to be missing a premise (the premise that answers that question). Answer choice (C) appears to shed more light on the subject. “Especially likely” because they have more acute taste than adults do. The fact that kids become sick more often is almost like a necessary assumption, because the argument would become weaker if this fact were negated. So to assert that kids get sick more often is to block such an attack against the argument. Back to your original question, this is not a MSS question so we’re not looking to the stimulus to support the answer choice but the exact opposite. So the fact that “more sick” does not appear in the stimulus is just fine.

Shownuff

Not sure why I thought this was MSS rather than Strengthen -I appreciate the clarity. I found your explanation very thorough, and especially when you say "What is it about kids that would make them “especially” likely…? Why ? - and - As opposed to whom?" to be helpful. If I had read the stimulus more actively (especially when it talked about kids being more likely to get sick) I may have understood why AC "C" made sense because it answers the this question with relation to whom. Anyways, thanks for lending a hand with this.

nye8870

Happy to help @Shownuff Have a good one!