Q6 - Doctors urge people to reduce

[rfojas11]

I was able to eliminate B, D and E when reading through this question. I chose A because I thought that the statement which is "moderate dietary changes often don't work" did counter the previous sentence about doctors urging people to change their diets to reduce cholesterol levels. Am I reading the question prompt incorrectly?

I think I understand why C is correct, but could someone explain while answer choice A is incorrect?

Thank you in advance!

[ohthatpatrick]

I see the temptation with (A), since the word "but" normally indicates that the current thought is a counterpoint to the previous thought.

In this case, though, it's more nuanced than that.

This author AGREES with doctors, that people could/should reduce their cholesterol levels through dietary changes.

The author's suggestion of a vegetarian diet is a suggestion of a dietary change that could lower cholesterol levels.

So the author definitely doesn't want to COUNTER the claim that dietary changes can reduce cholesterol levels.

The author is really just going into more specific detail about the advice, saying that a moderate change would probably not be enough to reduce cholesterol.

Remember, though, the doctors never said that a moderate change WOULD be enough, so the author's idea does not contradict what the doctors said.

The author's use of 'but' is not that of "I disagree" but rather one of "We could go even further than that ... "

You might be able to guard yourself against the temptation of this answer choice if you think to yourself that these Determine the Function questions are primarily getting you to think in terms of the author's Conc/Prem.

We know the last sentence is the author's conclusion. The 2nd sentence is the author's premise.

The first sentence is really just context (and ammunition for the test writers to create trap answers such as A).

(A) tries to describe the 2nd sentence in relation to a background idea.

(C) tries to describe the 2nd sentence in relation to the author's argument core.

Hence, beyond the fact that (A) is inaccurate in what it says, (C) is going more in the direction of what this question type typically wants you to do: identify the Prem and Conc.

Hope this helps.

[ShehryarB30]

What's wrong with D here?