Because quitting smoking is very stressful and leads to weight gain, it is difficult to do. The key to quitting, however, may be as simple as replacing an unhealthy activity with a healthy one. In one study, half of those attempting to quit were assigned to a smoking-cessation program alone, and the other half were assigned to the same program plus fifteen weeks of aerobic exercise. At the one-month mark, none in the first group had quit, but 40 percent of those in the second group had not smoked.

A
Regular exercise prevents weight gain.
Aerobic exercise helps stave off one negative consequence of quitting smoking. This supports the idea that picking up exercise helps people quit smoking.
B
Each group in the study included four hundred randomly selected participants.
The study had a solid sample-size. Works for us.
C
Nonsmokers accustomed to regular exercise do not gain weight when they stop exercising.
We don’t care about nonsmokers. We care about how exercise can help smokers quit smoking.
D
Aerobic exercise can stimulate the brain’s production of endorphins, which reduce tension.
Exercise helps diminish tension, which is a negative side effect of quitting smoking. This supports the idea that picking up exercise helps people quit smoking.
E
Of those in the second group in the study, 38 percent had not smoked at the one-year mark.
The people who quit smoking didn’t relapse later on. Thus, exercise was indeed helpful for quitting smoking.

35 comments

All people prefer colors that they can distinguish easily to colors that they have difficulty distinguishing. Infants can easily distinguish bright colors but, unlike adults, have difficulty distinguishing subtle shades. A brightly colored toy for infants sells better than the same toy in subtle shades at the same price.

Summary
All people prefer colors that they can easily distinguish. Infants can easily distinguish bright colors, but have difficulty distinguishing subtle shades. Brightly colored toys for infants sell better than toys in subtle shades at the same price.

Strongly Supported Conclusions
Infant toy sales reflect the preferences of infants.

A
Infants prefer bright primary colors to bright secondary colors.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know from the stimulus whether infants are able to distinguish between primary and secondary colors. We only know that infants are able to distinguish between bright and subtle colors.
B
Color is the most important factor in determining which toys an infant will prefer to play with.
This answer is unsupported. To say that color is the “most important factor” is too strong. Color is an important factor for infants, but we don’t have enough information to conclude that it is the most important factor.
C
Individual infants do not have strong preferences for one particular bright color over other bright colors.
This answer is unsupported. The stimulus addresses the preferences of infants generally. We don’t know about any individual infant’s preferences from the stimulus.
D
The sales of toys for infants reflect the preferences of infants in at least one respect.
This answer is strongly supported. We know that infants prefer bright colors and we know that brightly colored toys sell better. Therefore, it’s likely that this preference for bright colors affects the toy sales for infants.
E
Toy makers study infants to determine what colors the infants can distinguish easily.
This answer is unsupported. Nothing in the stimulus addresses the toy maker’s perspective.

34 comments