Critical Reasoning

Nandipa wishes to maintain her heart health, strictly follows a plant-based diet and has successfully maintained her blood level of LDL, ''bad'' cholesterol at well within the range considered optimal for heart health. But She is worried that her blood of HDL, ''good'' cholesterol, is lower than is often considered optimal for heart health, and has thus considered consuming foods such as chicken or fish that would increase her blood level of this beneficial substance.

Which of the following, if true , should be most significant for Nandipa in determining whether to add such foods to her diet ?

A. HDL can help to protect against the accumulation of plagues (fatty deposits) in the arteries
B. The benefit of HDL is strictly due to its effect on LDL levels
C. The body produces all of the LDL it needs; so it is unnecessary to consume food containing this form of cholesterol
D. Plant-based diets reduce the sum of both ''good'' and ''bad'' cholesterol
E. There are other good besides chicken or fish that can increase the level of good cholesterol

[spoiler]OA: B [/spoiler]

joealam1 wrote:Nandipa wishes to maintain her heart health, strictly follows a plant-based diet and has successfully maintained her blood level of LDL, ''bad'' cholesterol at well within the range considered optimal for heart health. But She is worried that her blood of HDL, ''good'' cholesterol, is lower than is often considered optimal for heart health, and has thus considered consuming foods such as chicken or fish that would increase her blood level of this beneficial substance.

Which of the following, if true, should be most significant for Nandipa in determining whether to add such foods to her diet ?

A. HDL can help to protect against the accumulation of plagues (fatty deposits) in the arteries
B. The benefit of HDL is strictly due to its effect on LDL levels
C. The body produces all of the LDL it needs; so it is unnecessary to consume food containing this form of cholesterol
D. Plant-based diets reduce the sum of both ''good'' and ''bad'' cholesterol
E. There are other good besides chicken or fish that can increase the level of good cholesterol

[spoiler]OA: B [/spoiler]

Premise: Nandipa has successfully maintained her blood level of LDL by following a plant-based diet.
Conclusion: To maintain her heart health, Nandipa should consume foods such as chicken or fish that would increase her blood level of HDL.

The correct answer must STRENGTHEN or WEAKEN the conclusion that Nandipa should consume foods such as chicken or fish that would increase her blood level of HDL.

B: The benefit of HDL is strictly due to its effect on LDL levels.
Since eating a plant-based diet has already enabled Nandipa to maintain her blood level of LDL -- and the only benefit of HDL is its effect on LDL -- Nandipa does not require any HDL, WEAKENING the conclusion that Nandipa should consume foods such as chicken or fish that would increase her blood level of HDL.

The correct answer is B.

Hi Mitch,

I didn't quite understand the answer choice B).

So in other words B) is saying that HDL effects are driven by the LDL level? So if LDL level is low then all is good, but if LDL level is high then we have some issues. However in both cases, eating chicken or fish won't change anything as LDL is the lead not the HDL and eating chicken or fish don't have any effect on LDL level.

Is the interpretation correct?


As far as i know the correct answer in evaluate questions should provide us with a Yes/No answer, so in this case as is the answer weakens the argument, but its negation doesn't strengthen it.
So we have only a No answer.