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The quality of unrefined olive oil is not actually defined in terms of acidity, yet extensive tests have shown that the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality. The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil's acidity.
If the statements above are all true, which of the following conclusions is best supported by them?
| Passage Statement | Visualization and Linkage |
|---|---|
| "The quality of unrefined olive oil is not actually defined in terms of acidity" | Establishes: Official quality standards exclude acidity Example: Industry quality ratings might use factors like:
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| "yet extensive tests have shown that the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality" | Establishes: Empirical relationship between oleic acid and quality Concrete Example:
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| "The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil's acidity" | Establishes: Oleic acid = acidity measurement Connection:
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| Overall Implication | PARADOX REVEALED:
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Inference: Despite not being part of official quality standards, acidity serves as a reliable indicator of unrefined olive oil quality.
Supporting Logic: Since extensive testing shows that lower oleic acid content correlates with higher quality, and since oleic acid content accurately measures acidity, we can conclude that lower acidity predicts higher quality. This creates a situation where acidity - though excluded from formal quality definitions - actually functions as an effective quality predictor in practice.
Clarification Note: The passage supports that acidity can predict quality, but does not suggest that official quality standards should be changed or that acidity is the only quality indicator.