Q24 - Nuts are high in calories

[smiller]

Question Type:
Explain a Result

Stimulus Breakdown:
If nuts are high in calories, and the more calories one consumes the more likely one is to become overweight, why are people who eat nuts less likely to be overweight?

Answer Anticipation:
Based on the information in the stimulus, we’d expect people who pop Planters Peanuts on a regular basis to be overweight. The surprise ending here is that they’re less likely to be overweight. Maybe nuts contain some substance that prevents people from gaining weight.

Correct answer:
(E)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Irrelevant: Even if choice (A) is true, we haven’t been told anything about physical activity. Choice (A) doesn’t provide enough information for us to know how this relates to the stimulus.

(B) Irrelevant: What is the “sufficiently large quantity” that we’re talking about here? Is this an airline snack-sized package, or the whole family-sized can of Planters in one sitting? That information could drastically change the number of calories in a “sufficiently large quantity” of nuts.

(C) Irrelevant: This answer could help us decide whether a food should be avoided or not, but doesn’t help explain why people who eat nuts regularly are less likely to be overweight.

(D) Irrelevant: This is similar to (B) in that we don’t know the total number of calories being described in this answer. Are people consuming a lot of calories, or a small number? Without knowing this, it’s hard to see how (D) is relevant. Moreover, if both groups consume the same number of calories, we wouldn't expect people in one group to be less likely to be overweight. This doesn't help explain our nut conundrum.

(E) Correct. If eating nuts can reduce hunger, this could explain how eating nuts regularly could reduce the chances of gaining weight.

Takeaway/Pattern:
When evaluating answer choices in Explain a Result questions, pay attention to what is missing from each answer. Appealing incorrect answers might look good at first glance, but might lack important information that is needed to make the answer relevant.

#officialexplanation