Peter: Recent evidence suggests that moderate alcohol consumption has certain beneficial effects on health. In partic...

Kenji on April 9, 2020

Wording in answer D

I believe some others have posed the same question, but since hasn't been answered yet, I will post again. I was confused with the wording of "on balance beneficial." If Peter had said that because moderate alcohol consumption has health benefits, and thereby concluded that drinking alcohol is beneficial for health I would have chosen D for an answer. Thank you in advance.

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Victoria on April 9, 2020

Hi @kenken,

Happy to help!

"On balance beneficial" simply means that, considering (or balancing) all the 'goods' and 'bads,' something is beneficial.

Therefore, Peter is concluding that alcohol consumption is beneficial based simply on the evidence that moderate alcohol consumption has certain beneficial effects on health including making your body inhospitable for certain bacteria.

In this way, Peter is drawing a conclusion about alcohol consumption overall from evidence about moderate consumption. This flaw is directly restated by answer choice (D) making it the correct answer.

Hope this is helpful! Please let us know if you have any further questions.