Video Explanation

Text Explanation

Answers: (B), (D)

The “counterintuitive idea” indicates that the first blank is the opposite of what we would expect: a rise in allergies has resulted from a decreased exposure to germs (we would think that an increase, not a decrease, in germs leads to something bad). Therefore, when it comes to getting rid of germs (“scrub our children’s hands”), we have to be more on guard (D) wary of. To say that you are more aware of something doesn’t imply that you are more or less likely to do it. Therefore, (E) is wrong.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ: Why does "indifferent to" not work for the second blank?

A: The "hygiene hypothesis" is that decreased exposure to germs makes us more vulnerable to allergies. Therefore, it may not be a good idea for us to always wash our hands. In other words, we should be cautious about or wary of advice telling us to wash our hands at every opportunity, because this may make us more susceptible to allergies. 

"Indifferent to" would mean we don't care either way about the advice, so that doesn't fit as well as "wary of" does. It's not strong enough here.

FAQ: What does the "counterintuitive idea" here refer to?

A: Counterintuitive means "contrary to what intuition or common sense would indicate," so we know that the first blank should be something unexpected. Common sense would tell us that a rise in allergies would be due to increased exposure to germs, right? More germs - more chances to cause an allergy. So we would want to chose "increase" for the first blank. However, later we are told that the hypothesis is actually counterintuitive, so rise in allergies is explained by something we would not normally expect. That's why "decrease" fits the first blank. 

Here is another example of a counterintuitive fact: even though kidney stones in our body are made of calcium, if you eat a lot of calcium dense food you will actually lower the chances of getting a kidney stone! That's quite surprising, right? A normal though would be: kidney stones are made of calcium -> eat less calcium, get less stones. However, healthy amounts of calcium are actually necessary and if you have too little calcium in your organism it cause levels of another substance responsible fr stone formation to rise resulting in *more* kidney stones. So less calcium = more stones. It's counterintuitive! :D

So counterintuitive is something that you would expect to be a certain way, but in reality it's the opposite.