Recent studies have demonstrated that smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to develop heart disease. Other studies have established that smokers are more likely than others to drink caffeinated beverages. Therefore, even though drinking caffeinated beverages is not thought to be a cause of heart disease, there is a positive correlation between drinking caffeinated beverages and the development of heart disease.
Question: The argument's reasoning is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that the argument fails to take into account the possibility that
Options:
A. smokers who drink caffeinated beverages are less likely to develop heart disease than are smokers who do not drink caffeinated beverages
B. something else, such as dietary fat intake, may be a more important factor in the development of heart disease than are the factors cited in the argument
C. drinking caffeinated beverages is more strongly correlated with the development of heart disease than is smoking
D. it is only among people who have a hereditary predisposition to heart disease that caffeine consumption is positively correlated with the development of heart disease
E. there is a common cause of both the development of heart disease and behaviors such as drinking caffeinated beverages and smoking
Answer: A