sat suite question viewer
Red velvet cake has been a favorite dessert of many for years, but the recipe’s origins are unclear. A bakery in Dallas, Texas, argued that it created the first recipe for the cake when the bakery opened in the 1860s. The Adams Extract Co., which sells baking products, claims to have created the recipe in the 1930s to help market their red dye. A US hotel and a Canadian department store also publicly stated that the red velvet cake sold in each of their establishments in the 1930s was an original creation, each alleging that it was the recipe author. No clear evidence has emerged to favor one of these claims over the others, however. It thus seems that blank
Which choice most logically completes the text?
Explanation
Choice B is the best answer because it presents the conclusion that most logically completes the text’s discussion of competing claims about the origins of red velvet cake. The text states that the origins of the recipe for red velvet cake "are unclear." The text then presents four different entities that claim to have created the first red velvet cake recipe: a Dallas bakery (1860s), the Adams Extract Co. (1930s), a US hotel (1930s), and a Canadian department store (1930s). Lastly, the text states that "no clear evidence has emerged to favor one of these claims over the others." Given this information, it most logically follows that it’s not possible to determine who baked the first red velvet cake, as there is insufficient evidence to determine which claim, if any, is correct.
Choice A is incorrect because the text doesn’t provide information indicating that red velvet cake existed before the 1860s. According to the text, the earliest claim for creating red velvet cake comes from a bakery in Dallas, Texas, that asserted it developed the first recipe for the cake at the time of the bakery’s opening in the 1860s. There’s no textual support for the conclusion that the cake existed before this earliest claimed date, since the text presents only competing claims starting from the 1860s and extending to the 1930s without evidence of earlier origins. Choice C is incorrect because the text doesn’t support the conclusion that none of the supposed inventors of red velvet cake likely invented the cake. The text states that multiple entities claim to have invented the recipe and that "no clear evidence has emerged to favor one of these claims over the others." This lack of decisive evidence doesn’t logically lead to the conclusion that all the claims are false; it merely indicates that the cake’s true origins can’t be determined with the available evidence. The text leaves open the possibility that one of the claimants could indeed be the actual inventor. Choice D is incorrect because the text provides no basis for concluding that the Dallas bakery is "probably" the inventor of red velvet cake. While the text mentions that this bakery claims to have created the recipe in the 1860s (making it the earliest claim), the text explicitly states that there’s no definitive evidence supporting any of the claims about the cake’s origins over the others. The text presents all claims as equally lacking in definitive supporting evidence.