16Hit1600
Craft and StructureEasy–MediumChallenging an association-based recommendation

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 A nutritionist recommends eating breakfast every day, pointing out that in survey after survey, people who eat breakfast tend to weigh less than people who skip it. Text 2 A researcher notes that in trials where volunteers were assigned at random either to eat breakfast or to skip it, the two groups ended up weighing about the same. Breakfast-eaters in surveys, she suggests, may simply tend to have other healthy habits.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the recommendation in Text 1?

  1. A. By arguing that the survey pattern Text 1 relies on does not show that breakfast itself causes lower weight.Correct
  2. B. By denying that breakfast-eaters tend to weigh less in surveys.
  3. C. By recommending that people skip breakfast to lose weight.
  4. D. By arguing that surveys are more reliable than trials.

Answer: A. By arguing that the survey pattern Text 1 relies on does not show that breakfast itself causes lower weight.

Text 2 accepts the survey pattern but offers trial evidence and an alternative explanation (other healthy habits), which undercuts the causal reading behind the recommendation.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. By denying that breakfast-eaters tend to weigh less in surveys.
Text 2 doesn't deny the survey pattern; it explains it differently.
C. By recommending that people skip breakfast to lose weight.
Text 2 says the groups weighed about the same — it doesn't recommend skipping.
D. By arguing that surveys are more reliable than trials.
Text 2 uses trials to question surveys, not the reverse.

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