Logic Breakdown

Passage Summary: When you eat sugar, it helps a specific chemical called tryptophan get into your brain without competition, where it becomes serotonin; this process is linked to feeling better.

Conclusion: Consuming sugar can significantly improve one's mood by making them feel more relaxed and less anxious.

Reasoning: Sugar triggers insulin, which clears out competing amino acids so that tryptophan can enter the brain and turn into serotonin.

Analysis: The argument builds a biological chain from sugar to serotonin, but it takes a leap at the very end by equating serotonin with mood elevation. To bridge this gap, we must assume that increased serotonin levels actually lead to the feelings of relaxation and reduced anxiety mentioned. Look for an answer that confirms this connection between the chemical result and the emotional state. Without this link, the entire biological process described wouldn't necessarily result in a better mood.

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22.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Correct Answer
D
It supplies the missing bridge: if increasing serotonin promotes relaxation and freedom from anxiety, then the biochemical chain from sugar to serotonin supports the mood-elevation conclusion. Negation test: If increasing serotonin does not promote relaxation or freedom from anxiety, sugars would not play the claimed role—argument destroyed.
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