Mammals cannot digest cellulose

Answer choices

1. A

   Strong: obtain no healthy benefit5% picked this

   Mammals obtain no beneficial health effects from

   In order to support this, we'd have to know that the only way to get healthy benefit from eating cellulose is by digesting it, and we were never told that.

   5%
2. B

   Backwards17% picked this

   If extracts from a type of mushroom slow, reverse, or prevent the growth of cancerous tumors in mammals, then the mushroom is capable

   We know that "if a mushroom can use the cellulose to make B-G's, we might be able to make an extract that would fight tumors". This answer is saying, "If we make a tumor-fighting extract, it must be that the mushroom use cellulose." That's too strong in that direction. There might be other extracts from mushrooms that also fight tumors.

   17%
3. C

   Correct62% picked this

   The greater the degree of branching of beta-glucans, the greater the degree of immune-cell activity

   Why this is right

   This combines two ideas: the more branching, the more anti-tumor activity + the anti-tumor activity isn't killing cancer cells, it's increasing immune-cell activity

   Skill tested: Most Supported · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   62%
4. D

   Unsupported Relationship11% picked this

   Immune-cell activity in mammals does not prevent tumor growth by killing

   We know that the beta-glucan extracts fight cancer by increasing immune-cell activity, not by directly killing cancer cells. But it could still be the case that immune-cells fight cancer by killing cancer cells. Maybe beta-glucans increase immune-cell activity, the immune cells prevent tumor growth by killing cancer cells, and that is the means by which beta-glucans prevent tumor growth (indirectly).

   11%
5. E

   Too Strong4% picked this

   Any organism capable of obtaining glucose from wood can use cellulose

   We only know that some mushrooms can obtain glucose from wood to make beta-glucans. We can't assume that every single organism that can get glucose from wood also has this power to make beta-glucans.

   4%