Consumer advocate: In our nation, food packages must list the number of calories per food serving. But most of the...
GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions
Consumer advocate: In our nation, food packages must list the number of calories per food serving. But most of the serving sizes used are misleadingly small and should be updated. The serving sizes were set decades ago, when our nation's people typically ate smaller portions than they do today, and, as a result, people eating typical portions today consume more calories than the package labeling appears to indicate that they will. It is time package labeling reflected these changes.
Which of the following is the main point of the consumer advocate's argument?
Passage Analysis:
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
| In our nation, food packages must list the number of calories per food serving. |
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| But most of the serving sizes used are misleadingly small and should be updated. |
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| The serving sizes were set decades ago, when our nation's people typically ate smaller portions than they do today |
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| and, as a result, people eating typical portions today consume more calories than the package labeling appears to indicate that they will |
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| It is time package labeling reflected these changes. |
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Argument Flow:
The advocate starts with a fact about current labeling requirements, then identifies a problem: serving sizes are misleadingly small. Next, they explain why this problem exists (outdated standards from decades ago) and what harm it causes (people consume more calories than they think). Finally, they conclude with a call to update the labels.
Main Conclusion:
Food package serving sizes should be updated to reflect how people actually eat today, so that calorie labeling becomes accurate again.
Logical Structure:
This is a problem-solution argument. The evidence (outdated serving sizes + changed eating habits = misleading calorie counts) supports the conclusion that we need to update package labeling to match current reality.
Prethinking:
Question type:
Main Point - This is asking us to identify the central conclusion or primary message the consumer advocate is trying to convey in their argument
Precision of Claims
The argument makes specific claims about serving sizes being 'misleadingly small', portions being larger 'today' than 'decades ago', and people consuming 'more calories than the package labeling appears to indicate'
Strategy
For main point questions, we need to identify what the author is fundamentally trying to argue. Look at the passage analysis - the advocate starts with background info about calorie labeling requirements, then immediately states their main position that serving sizes are misleadingly small and should be updated. Everything else (the historical context about portion changes, the consequence of calorie miscounting) supports this central claim. The conclusion restates this as 'package labeling should reflect these changes'
This focuses on calories per serving being misleadingly small, but that's not quite right. The advocate isn't saying the calorie counts themselves are wrong - they're saying the serving sizes are misleadingly small, which makes the calorie information misleading. This mischaracterizes the main problem the advocate is highlighting.
This perfectly captures the main point! The advocate explicitly states that serving sizes 'should be updated' and explains that they need to reflect how people actually eat today versus decades ago. The entire argument builds toward this conclusion that we need to increase serving sizes to match current eating habits. This is exactly what the advocate is arguing for.
While this describes one of the consequences mentioned in the argument, it's not the main point. The advocate uses this as supporting evidence to justify why serving sizes should be updated, but the central argument is about what should be done (updating serving sizes), not just describing what's happening now.
This is purely background information that explains why the problem exists. The advocate mentions this historical context to support their main argument, but stating when serving sizes were set is not their primary message - it's just evidence for why change is needed.
This goes beyond what the advocate actually argues. The passage doesn't discuss whether misleading labels cause people to eat more calories than they 'otherwise would' - it just says they consume more calories than they think they're consuming based on the labels. This introduces causation claims not present in the original argument.