People in some rural communities in Italy tend to live well beyond their 90’s and have few health problems such as diabetes or coronary heart disease. They predominantly subsist on a diet of leafy vegetables, farm grown produce, and freshly caught fish; they rarely consume dairy or dairy products. People from these communities, however, often develop health problems and die much younger when they move to cities where they adopt different diets. Though suggestive, these facts do not establish their diet as causative of their longevity, however, because ____________.

People in some rural communities in Italy tend to live well beyond their 90’s and have few health problems such as diabetes or coronary heart disease. They predominantly subsist on a diet of leafy vegetables, farm grown produce, and freshly caught fish; they rarely consume dairy or dairy products. People from these communities, however, often develop health problems and die much younger when they move to cities where they adopt different diets. Though suggestive, these facts do not establish their diet as causative of their longevity, however, because ____________.

Which of the following best completes the reasoning above?

A –  genetic factors could account for their longevity.

B – people eating dairy rich diets and living from birth in cities have much shorter average life expectancy than those who have lived in the rural communities all their lives. 

C – it is possible to follow the diets among rural communities even in cities. 

D – there are changes in other aspects of their lifestyle when such people move to the city.

E – dairy is a necessary source of minerals and nutrients in some rural communities. 

OA : D 

Explanation : The reasoning contends that the reduced life expectancy that people from rural communities experience when they move to cities may not be attributable to their diets. The underlying argument here has an obvious cause and effect fallacy. The obvious inference therefore is that there might be other factors (beside diet) that could be causing the change in life spans.  

A – genetic factors don’t make sense since this would mean that people from rural communities who migrate to cities would continue living as long as they would have (in rural areas). 

B – While this is factually proven in the argument itself, this does not clarify the alternate causes that might be at play in the scenario detailed. 

C – The facts in the argument state that they adopt a different diet, this contradicts the evidence and should therefore be eliminated. 

D – ‘other lifestyle changes’ is a compelling alternate cause and provides enough evidence to complete the reasoning ; this is the correct answer. 

E – This is irrelevant because it does not address the specific case at hand.