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Information and IdeasVery hardInference from a natural experiment with a twist

Information and Ideas practice question

A café added calorie counts to its menu. Sales of the highest-calorie cake fell by a third, but total sales of cake did not change, and the lowest-calorie cake, which had barely sold before, became the best seller. The most reasonable interpretation is that ____

Which choice most logically completes the text?

  1. A. customers kept buying cake but switched toward lower-calorie choices once the counts were shown.Correct
  2. B. customers stopped eating cake.
  3. C. the calorie counts had no effect.
  4. D. the café stopped selling the highest-calorie cake.

Answer: A. customers kept buying cake but switched toward lower-calorie choices once the counts were shown.

Total cake sales unchanged; the mix shifted toward the lighter option.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. customers stopped eating cake.
Total cake sales did not change.
C. the calorie counts had no effect.
The mix changed markedly.
D. the café stopped selling the highest-calorie cake.
Its sales fell by a third; it was still sold.

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