Self-study
Support In a recent study of more than 400 North American men and women whose previous heart attack put them at risk for a second heart attack, about half were told to switch to a "Mediterranean-type diet"—one rich in fish, vegetables, olive oil, and grains—while the other half were advised to eat a more traditional "Western" diet but to limit their fat intake. █████ █████████ ███ █████████████ ████ ████ █████████████ ████ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ███ █████ █████ ██ ████ █ ██████ █████ ███████ ███ ███ █████████████ ████ ████████ █ ████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ███ █████ ████ ██ ███ ████████ ████████ ████ █ ████ ███ ███ ████ ██ ██ █████████ ███ ██ ███ ██ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that a diet doesn’t have to be extremely low in fat to protect the heart. She supports this with a study of over 400 people at risk for a second heart attack. Half followed a Mediterranean diet, while the other half followed a low-fat “Western” diet. Those on the Mediterranean diet, which contains a fair amount of fat, were less likely to have a second heart attack.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that a diet that is not low in fat can protect the heart. She also assumes that the study was well-conducted and that the participants actually followed the diets. Additionally, she assumes that there are no relevant differences between the groups other than diet, and that the diet itself, not other factors, reduced the risk of a second heart attack.
Analysis by EleanorRoberts
1.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ ███████████ ███ █████████
a
Research has shown ████ ███████████ ██████ ███ ███ ████ █████ ████ ███ ██ █████████ ██ ██████████ ███ ██████████ ██ █ ██████ █████ ███████
b
Studies suggest that ███ █████ ██ ████ ██ ███ ███ ████████ ██ ███ █████████████ ████ ███ ███████ ███ █████ ███████ ███████████ █████ ███████████ ██ █████ ███████ ███ █████ ██████ ██ █████ ████████
c
The patients who ████████ ███ █████████████ ████ ███████ ███ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████ ███ ████ █████ ███ ██████████ ███ ██████████
d
Many people who ████ ███ █████ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ █████████████ ██ █████ ██ ████████ ███████ ██ ████████ ██ ████████ █████ █████
e
Some cardiologists believe ████ ███ ██████████ ████████ ██ ███ █████████████ ████ █████ ██ ████████ ██ █████ ████ █████ █████████████████ ███████