Logical reasoning PrepTest 102 · Section 2 · Question 3

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Argument Completion (Must Be True)

Stimulus Summary:
Goal - Lose weight and lower cholesterol
Approach - Limit intake of calories/cholesterol
Effect - Fat cells dump cholesterol into the bloodstream
Conclusion - A person on a low calorie/cholesterol diet __________.

Answer Anticipation:
There are two types of Argument Completion questions—ones that ask you to strengthen an argument by filling in support, and ones that ask you to fill in the conclusion. This one has the blank in a sentence that starts with "Therefore," so it's the latter—we're looking for an answer that's supported by the provided statements. Additionally, it's likely that it'll bring all of the statements from the stimulus together to close things out.

Here, the stimulus is about the effect of going on a certain diet. If people go on a low calorie/cholesterol diet to lose weight and lower cholesterol, it's likely to lead to fat cells decreasing in size, which spill cholesterol into the bloodstream. These individuals are, again, on a low-cholesterol diet, but the stimulus tells us that there is another source of cholesterol to which they'll be subject here.

As such, it's possible that the people on these diets, when they lose weight, will not see cholesterol go down as much as expected, or even stay the same or increase, as the fat cells spill cholesterol into the bloodstream. Let's find an answer that brings the stimulus together by stating that.

Answer Explanation:
This answer matches our anticipation. The stimulus notes an effect of a low calorie/cholesterol diet—weight loss, leading to cholesterol spilling into the bloodstream. As such, it's possible that, at least at first, that blood cholesterol level will rise, as this answer choice states.

Key Takeaway:
Always be sure to note which type of Argument Completion question you're dealing with! They have different base question types that they build off of, requiring different approaches. Here, the question was asking you to find a conclusion based on given premises—which is similar to a Must Be True question. These answers tend to bring all of the information from the premises together, as we saw here.

Incorrect. There's no discussion of people losing weight by means other than cutting calories, so this answer is out of scope.

Incorrect. There's no discussion of a low-calorie, high-cholesterol diet, so this answer is out of scope.

Incorrect. The stimulus notes that people who lose weight by going on such a diet do decrease the size of their fat cells, so this answer is, if anything, contradicted.

Incorrect. Similar to (D), the stimulus establishes that this diet at least can lead to losing weight, so this answer is a bit contradicted.