Residents of Milatia are known for their longevity. Nutritio

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Residents of Milatia are known for their longevity. Nutritionists maintain that the Milatians can attribute their increased lifespans to their diets. In addition to consuming a diet full of leafy greens, they also have a low intake of saturated fats, which have been implicated in heart disease and atherosclerosis. Therefore, if one wants to have increased longevity, he or she should follow a Milatia based diet.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. Other aspects of the Militians' lifestyle do not affect the observed trend of longevity in Milatia.
B. Adopting another people's eating habits will, in of itself, not confer the same advantages, unless a person incorporates exercise into his or her life.
C. The Milatian lifespan has a relatively uniform distribution, with very few dying young from natural causes.
D. Milatians are the only people in whom there is a perceived link between diet and longevity.
E. All Milatians are known to have a lifespans that are above average.

What's the best approach to determine the answer? Can any experts help?

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Militians

by GMATGuruNY » Fri Feb 23, 2018 5:57 am
ardz24 wrote:Residents of Milatia are known for their longevity. Nutritionists maintain that the Milatians can attribute their increased lifespans to their diets. In addition to consuming a diet full of leafy greens, they also have a low intake of saturated fats, which have been implicated in heart disease and atherosclerosis. Therefore, if one wants to have increased longevity, he or she should follow a Milatia based diet.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. Other aspects of the Militians' lifestyle do not affect the observed trend of longevity in Milatia.
B. Adopting another people's eating habits will, in of itself, not confer the same advantages, unless a person incorporates exercise into his or her life.
C. The Milatian lifespan has a relatively uniform distribution, with very few dying young from natural causes.
D. Milatians are the only people in whom there is a perceived link between diet and longevity.
E. All Milatians are known to have a lifespans that are above average.
Conclusion: Milatians can attribute their increased lifespans to their diets.

Apply the NEGATION TEST.
When the correct answer is negated, the conclusion will be invalidated.

A, negated:
Other aspects of the Militians' lifestyle affect the observed trend of longevity in Milatia.
This negation invalidates the conclusion that Militians live longer because of their diets.
Since the negation of A invalidates the conclusion, A is an ASSUMPTION: a statement that MUST BE TRUE for the conclusion to hold.

The correct answer is A.
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