Q4 - Cooking teacher: Lima beans generally

[sumukh09]

There doesn't seem to be an argument present in the stimulus; it just states a bunch of facts pertaining to the cooking of lima beans. Essentially it says larger beans take a longer time to cook than smaller beans but overcooking should be avoided since it robs the beans of many nutrients and undercooking should be avoided as well since undercooked beans are not completely digestible.

Well, we know that the optimal amount of time depends on the size of the lima bean. We also know that a particular sized lima bean is in danger of being over or under cooked depending on whether more time is needed (for the larger beans) or less time (for the smaller beans).

We're looking for an AC that is most strongly supported by the stimulus.

D) is the correct answer. It says that the pot of lima beans should include lima beans of roughly the same size as each other if they are to yield their full nutritional value. We know this is true because different sized lima beans require different cooking times and there's a danger of over/under cooking depending on the size that leads to a detrimental effect on the nutritional value. For overcooking, it robs the beans of many nutrients. For undercooking, the beans cannot be completely digested so nutrients cannot be absorbed.

[maryadkins]

Well done!

(A) is not supported because while overcooking causes LBs to lose nutrients, plain old cooking doesn't, necessarily.

(B) is nowhere in the stimulus.

(C) and (E) are likewise not supported by text in the argument. If it's not there, knock it out!