- Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:00 am
#26429
Complete Question Explanation
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (E)
This stimulus begins with a fairly straightforward assertion: caffeine can be as physically addictive as other psychoactive substances. To support this point, the author then provides a brief list of some presumed symptoms of caffeine withdrawal. Finally, the author says that this is significant because of how many people consume caffeine. In fact, no other psychoactive substance is consumed by more people than caffeine is (note that this does allow for another substance to be consumed as much as caffeine, just not more).
While a precise prephrase does not really present itself here, there are still some useful considerations that will help when evaluating the answer choices. Perhaps most importantly, notice that the stimulus is not terribly precise/absolute when providing information. The word “can” in the first sentence, the fact that no other psychoactive substances are named or compared specifically to caffeine, the “some people” in sentence two, and even the fact that the last sentence allows for other substances to be consumed by as many people as caffeine all speak to the somewhat generalized nature of this stimulus. While this means that a very direct prediction of what the correct answer will say is unlikely, it does allow us to eliminate answer choices that are stronger than this stimulus supports.
Answer choice (A): This is a tricky answer, but it is ultimately incorrect because the last sentence is talking about the number of people who consume caffeine relative to other psychoactive substances, not about the number of people that are addicted to caffeine. So more people could be addicted to another substance, but more people cannot take that other substance (remember, not everyone who consumes caffeine will be addicted to it: if 100 people take caffeine and 80 consume alcohol, it could still be the case that more people are addicted to alcohol).
Answer choice (B): This answer choice simply cannot be known with certainty from the stimulus. Admittedly, a physical addictive to some psychoactive substances (caffeine, for instance) could give rise to certain physical or psychological symptoms for some people, but to conclude that a particular substance will typically give rise to diverse psychological symptoms (implied: for all people) is far too strong.
Answer choice (C): While this answer choice is likely to be true in the real world, because the stimulus only talks about psychoactive substances and addiction to them (in particular caffeine) we cannot conclude anything about substances that are not psychoactive.
Answer choice (D): Again, this answer choice is too strong to be properly concluded. All that can be known from the stimulus is that if one is addicted to caffeine, one may become unusually depressed, drowsy, or even irritable when one is ingesting a lesser amount than normal. To conclude that addiction to all psychoactive substances works in a similar manner, and for all people, is impossible to determine.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. This answer coincides nicely with the last sentence: since as many people consume caffeine as consume any other psychoactive substance, then if alcohol is a psychoactive substance, more people cannot consume alcohol than consume caffeine. Notice too how the wording here is both fairly general (a hypothetical situation, represented by “if”), and allows for them to be consumed by the same number of people (as mentioned above).
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (E)
This stimulus begins with a fairly straightforward assertion: caffeine can be as physically addictive as other psychoactive substances. To support this point, the author then provides a brief list of some presumed symptoms of caffeine withdrawal. Finally, the author says that this is significant because of how many people consume caffeine. In fact, no other psychoactive substance is consumed by more people than caffeine is (note that this does allow for another substance to be consumed as much as caffeine, just not more).
While a precise prephrase does not really present itself here, there are still some useful considerations that will help when evaluating the answer choices. Perhaps most importantly, notice that the stimulus is not terribly precise/absolute when providing information. The word “can” in the first sentence, the fact that no other psychoactive substances are named or compared specifically to caffeine, the “some people” in sentence two, and even the fact that the last sentence allows for other substances to be consumed by as many people as caffeine all speak to the somewhat generalized nature of this stimulus. While this means that a very direct prediction of what the correct answer will say is unlikely, it does allow us to eliminate answer choices that are stronger than this stimulus supports.
Answer choice (A): This is a tricky answer, but it is ultimately incorrect because the last sentence is talking about the number of people who consume caffeine relative to other psychoactive substances, not about the number of people that are addicted to caffeine. So more people could be addicted to another substance, but more people cannot take that other substance (remember, not everyone who consumes caffeine will be addicted to it: if 100 people take caffeine and 80 consume alcohol, it could still be the case that more people are addicted to alcohol).
Answer choice (B): This answer choice simply cannot be known with certainty from the stimulus. Admittedly, a physical addictive to some psychoactive substances (caffeine, for instance) could give rise to certain physical or psychological symptoms for some people, but to conclude that a particular substance will typically give rise to diverse psychological symptoms (implied: for all people) is far too strong.
Answer choice (C): While this answer choice is likely to be true in the real world, because the stimulus only talks about psychoactive substances and addiction to them (in particular caffeine) we cannot conclude anything about substances that are not psychoactive.
Answer choice (D): Again, this answer choice is too strong to be properly concluded. All that can be known from the stimulus is that if one is addicted to caffeine, one may become unusually depressed, drowsy, or even irritable when one is ingesting a lesser amount than normal. To conclude that addiction to all psychoactive substances works in a similar manner, and for all people, is impossible to determine.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. This answer coincides nicely with the last sentence: since as many people consume caffeine as consume any other psychoactive substance, then if alcohol is a psychoactive substance, more people cannot consume alcohol than consume caffeine. Notice too how the wording here is both fairly general (a hypothetical situation, represented by “if”), and allows for them to be consumed by the same number of people (as mentioned above).