PrepTest 111, Section 1, Question 3
More women than men suffer from Alzheimer's disease—a(83 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AA decrease in(19 more words not shown)
- BAs one gets(8 more words not shown)
- CWomen who go(18 more words not shown)
- DThe conversion of(10 more words not shown)
- ETestosterone is necessary(7 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Could more women have the disease simply because more women live to the ages when it is most common? That is a plausible first explanation of the numbers, and it is the explanation the passage reports. A higher total doesn't, by itself, tell us that women are more susceptible at a given age. The author then says the lifespan explanation may be wrong, so I want to see what alternative is offered.
The study points to estrogen: giving it after menopause may prevent the disease. That raises another question. How would an estrogen explanation account for the difference between women and men? The passage supplies an answer by saying men's testosterone can be converted into estrogen and remains relatively stable into old age. Within this account, that could help protect men while women's estrogen production decreases.
What we’re looking for
I'd want more information before treating the proposed explanation as established. But the main-conclusion question isn't asking us to establish it. It asks for the point these details support: the familiar lifespan explanation may be wrong. The hormone discussion is the author's reason for considering another explanation.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This captures the challenge to the lifespan explanation and identifies the alternative the author develops. A decrease in estrogen may explain the higher occurrence among women instead.
Notice the word “may.” The argument offers a possible explanation, not proof that lifespan plays no role or that hormones fully explain the difference. A gives the main point along with enough of the proposed alternative to show what the author means.
- B
The passage says the disease is most commonly contracted by elderly people. That is background that makes the lifespan explanation understandable. It isn't the conclusion the later hormone evidence supports. The author is questioning the explanation of the difference between women and men.
- C
The passage doesn't compare women who experience menopause earlier with women who experience it later. That could raise another research question, but it isn't the conclusion stated here. We shouldn't add a new timing comparison to an answer about the author's main point.
- D
This is part of the explanation the author uses to support the main point. If the proposed conversion helps protect men, it helps the estrogen account address the difference between the groups. But the author includes that detail to challenge the lifespan explanation, which D leaves out.
- E
Saying testosterone may help safeguard men doesn't establish that it is required for prevention. The passage doesn't rule out other forms of protection. E both strengthens the claim beyond the text and misses the main comparison the argument is trying to explain.
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