PrepTest 108, Section 2, Question 4
High cholesterol levels are highly correlated with cardiovascular(28 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(15 more words not shown)
- APersons who come(13 more words not shown)
- BThe stress and(18 more words not shown)
- CThe residents of(24 more words not shown)
- DThe residents of(19 more words not shown)
- EOlive oil is(28 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why are these residents escaping the usual pattern? High cholesterol and cardiovascular disease are strongly associated, yet Limone's residents have had high cholesterol for years without developing the disease. The association makes their experience surprising; it doesn't make it impossible.
My first thought is that their diet differs. Imagine comparing people who get much of their cholesterol from fish with people who get it from fast food. Could that difference let both groups have high cholesterol but different risks of heart disease? We'd need evidence for that connection. For now, it's a possibility to investigate, not a fact we know about these foods or this town.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to explain the residents' unusual health. We need a fact that helps us understand why the expected disease hasn't appeared despite their high cholesterol. The dietary difference is one possible direction, not a prediction we have to force an answer to match.
Working the answers
- A
This describes people from long-lived families, but it doesn't establish that Limone's residents come from such families. Without that connection, we have a potentially relevant general fact and no reason to apply it to the people whose health we're explaining.
- B
'Exacerbate' means make worse. The answer says stress and pollution worsen existing cardiovascular disease. Less stress and pollution might therefore prevent an existing case from becoming more severe, but our residents haven't developed the disease at all. That is the difference we need to explain.
- C
The proposed protection applies to very low blood sugar. Limone's residents have normal blood sugar. We cannot take a benefit stated for one level and apply it to a different level just because both concern blood sugar. If the residents had the very low levels described, the choice would make a much stronger connection.
- DCorrect
The residents have an inherited protein that prevents vascular blockage, a cause of cardiovascular disease. That gives these particular people a protective feature that could help explain why their high cholesterol hasn't been accompanied by the usual disease.
This isn't our initial dietary idea. It doesn't need to explain why their cholesterol is high or repeat the word 'cholesterol' to be useful. We already know the level is high. The unresolved question is why they remain free of the disease, and a protection against one of its causes directly addresses that question.
- E
Some parts of Italy use olive oil, but we aren't told that Limone does. Even if we supplied that connection, a food's not contributing to disease doesn't establish that it protects people against disease from other sources. Someone could eat olive oil along with foods that cause problems. E lacks the protective mechanism and direct connection to these residents that D supplies.
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