Address the Facts

When attempting to resolve the paradox in the stimulus, you must address the
facts of the situation. Many incorrect answers will try to lure you with
reasonable solutions that do not quite meet the stated facts. These answers are
incorrect. The correct answer must conform to the specifics of the stimulus
otherwise how could it resolve or explain the situation?
Please take a moment to complete the following problem:
2. Calories consumed in excess of those with which the body needs to be provided to maintain its weight are normally stored as fat and the body gains weight. Alcoholic beverages are laden with calories. However, those people who regularly drink two or three alcoholic beverages a day and thereby exceed the caloric intake necessary to maintain their weight
do not in general gain weight.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to
resolve the apparent discrepancy?
(A) Some people who regularly drink two or three
alcoholic beverages a day avoid exceeding
the caloric intake necessary to maintain their
weight by decreasing caloric intake from
other sources.
(B) Excess calories consumed by people who
regularly drink two or three alcoholic
beverages a day tend to be dissipated as heat.
(C) Some people who do not drink alcoholic
beverages but who eat high-calorie foods do
not gain weight.
(D) Many people who regularly drink more than
three alcoholic beverages a day do not gain
weight.
(E) Some people who take in fewer calories than
are normally necessary to maintain their
weight do not lose weight.
The paradox in this problem is that alcohol drinkers who surpass the threshold
for calorie intake should gain weight, but they do not. Most people, upon
reading the stimulus, prephrase an answer involving exercise or some other way
to work off the expected weight gain. Unfortunately, a perfect match to this
prephrase does not appear, and instead students are faced with a tricky answer
that preys upon this general idea while at the same time it fails to meet the
circumstances in the stimulus.
Answer choice (A): Read closely! The stimulus specifies that people who
regularly drink two or three alcoholic beverages a day thereby exceed the
necessary caloric intake. This answer, which discusses individuals who avoid
exceeding the caloric intake necessary, therefore addresses a different group of
people from that in the stimulus. Since information about a different group of
people does not explain the situation, this answer is incorrect.
This answer is attractive because it uses the idea of getting rid of or avoiding
calories, but it violates one of the precepts of the stimulus. Remember, you must
look very closely at the circumstances in the stimulus and make sure that the
answer you select matches those circumstances.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer. If the excess calories are
dissipated as heat, then there would be no weight gain. Hence, alcohol drinkers
can consume excess calories and still not gain weight.
Some students object to this answer because the situation seems unrealistic. Can
heat dissipation actually work off dozens if not hundreds of calories? According
to the question stem, yes. Remember, the question stem tells you that each
answer choice should be taken as true. Since this answer choice clearly states
that the excess calories tend to be dissipated, you must accept that as true and
then analyze what effect that would have.
Answer choice (C): The stimulus discusses “people who regularly drink two or
three alcoholic beverages a day and thereby exceed the caloric intake
necessary.” This answer choice addresses a different group of people than those
discussed in the stimulus.
Answer choice (D): The first flaw in this answer is that it simply states that
individuals consuming alcohol do not gain weight but it offers no explanation
for why these people have no weight gain. The second flaw in the problem is
that it addresses the wrong group of people. The stimulus discusses people who
drink two or three alcoholic beverages a day; this answer addresses people who
drink more than three alcoholic beverages a day.
Answer choice (E): Again, this answer discusses a different group of people
than those in the stimulus. The stimulus discusses people who exceed the
necessary caloric intake; this answer addresses people who do not meet the
necessary caloric intake.
Resolve the Paradox Question Review
Each Resolve the Paradox stimulus presents a situation where two ideas or
occurrences contradict each other.
Besides the discrepant or contradictory facts, most Resolve the Paradox stimuli
contain the following features:
1. No conclusion
2. Language of contradiction
The correct answer will actively resolve the paradox—it will allow both sides to
be factually correct and it will either explain how the situation came into being
or add a piece of information that shows how the two ideas or occurrences can
coexist.
Because you are not seeking to disprove one side of the situation, you must
select the answer choice that contains a possible cause of the situation. So,
when examining answers, ask yourself if the answer choice could lead to the
situation in the stimulus. If so, the answer is correct. The following types of
answers are incorrect:
1. Explains only one side of the paradox
If an answer supports or proves only one side of the paradox, that
answer will be incorrect. The correct answer must show how both sides
coexist.
2. Similarities and differences
If the stimulus contains a paradox where two items are similar, then an
answer choice that explains a difference between the two cannot be
correct.
Conversely, if the stimulus contains a paradox where two items are
different, then an answer choice that explains why the two are similar
cannot be correct.
In short, a similarity cannot explain a difference, and a difference cannot
explain a similarity.
When attempting to resolve the problem in the stimulus, you must address the
facts of the situation. Many answers will try to lure you with reasonable
solutions that do not quite meet the stated facts. These answers are incorrect.