PrepTest 115, Section 4, Question 5
Lactose, a sugar found in milk, aids in(57 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(11 more words not shown)
- APeople living in(13 more words not shown)
- BMilk consumption has(7 more words not shown)
- CThe abundant sunlight(19 more words not shown)
- DConsumption of dairy(10 more words not shown)
- EThe extent to(17 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
If lactose helps the body absorb calcium, and calcium is needed for bone repair, I can see why losing access to lactose might cause a problem. But does lactose have to be the only way to get that calcium absorbed?
The tropical population has two obstacles: milk is scarce, and people lose the ability to absorb lactose. Yet bone repair is no worse than in the nontropical population. Something must make those facts fit together. Perhaps another process does the job that lactose helps with. We don't have to know the biology in advance to look for an alternative route to the same result.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to resolve that apparent puzzle. I'd phrase our target this way: why can these people repair their bones just as well even though they can't rely on lactose in the same way? An answer has to deal with the obstacle, not simply repeat that milk is scarce or explain why lactose absorption differs.
Working the answers
- A
Giving people lactose tablets addresses the shortage of milk, but not their inability to absorb lactose. If that second obstacle remains, changing the delivery method doesn't explain how the lactose helps them absorb calcium. We need a way around both parts of the problem.
- B
A decline in milk consumption in both places doesn't tell us whether the two populations now absorb comparable amounts of calcium. Perhaps the nontropical population still drinks much more milk, or still absorbs lactose more effectively. B gives us a trend without explaining why the tropical population's two disadvantages don't produce worse bone repair.
- CCorrect
Sunlight provides the alternative route we were looking for. It helps the body produce vitamin D, and vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium. The tropical population can therefore get help with calcium absorption despite the problems with lactose.
Keep the steps straight: the answer doesn't say sunlight directly repairs bones. Sunlight leads to vitamin D, which aids calcium absorption, and the passage tells us calcium is required for bone repair. That chain explains how bone repair can remain effective without depending on lactose alone.
- D
A small increase in other dairy products doesn't establish that the lactose problem has been solved. If those products supply lactose, the people still face the difficulty absorbing it. If the answer is supposed to suggest some other helpful substance, it never identifies that substance or tells us how it helps. “Other dairy products” alone doesn't provide the missing explanation.
- E
This helps explain differences in the ability to absorb lactose. It doesn't explain why people who lose that ability still have no greater problem repairing their bones. Learning why an obstacle exists isn't the same as learning how people get around it.
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