PrepTest 117, Section 4, Question 12
Coffee and tea contain methylxanthines, which cause temporary(63 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AMen, but not(9 more words not shown)
- BIn spite of(11 more words not shown)
- CWomen probably drink(9 more words not shown)
- DPrior to undergoing(7 more words not shown)
- EAngioplasty should not(6 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The complicated names don't change the basic chain. Coffee and tea contain a substance that raises production of a hormone. According to the passage, that hormone makes blood cells clump, and the clumping is more pronounced in women.
Angioplasty is the procedure used to clear clogged arteries. It isn't the condition being treated. The author proposes that the stronger clumping helps explain why women face greater risks of complications after the procedure.
Could some other difference explain that risk? Perhaps there is a difference in blood vessels or another factor we haven't been told about. That is a possibility to investigate, not a fact I'm adding. The proposed explanation isn't automatically the only explanation.
What we’re looking for
But the question asks what the information most strongly supports. We should follow the supplied account rather than look for a way to attack it. My initial thought is to connect clumping with complications, or connect the drinks with effects on the blood. The answer might use the whole chain or just part of it; let's see what the choices actually claim.
Working the answers
- A
A smaller effect in men isn't a benefit for men. The passage gives no reason to administer a substance that increases the hormone associated with clumping. It doesn't follow that something potentially troublesome for women should be given to men.
- B
We haven't compared angioplasty with other treatments. It could be effective and still have alternatives. Information about one procedure's complications doesn't establish that it is the only effective option.
- C
A stronger response doesn't mean greater consumption. Women could drink the same amount as men and experience more clumping because the hormone affects them differently. The passage explicitly supplies that difference in response, not a comparison of how much coffee or tea people drink.
- DCorrect
Within the passage's account, avoiding the drinks before the procedure would avoid a temporary increase in the hormone linked to complications. Coffee and tea contain methylxanthines; those increase vasopressin; vasopressin increases clumping, especially in women. That connects the proposed precaution to the stated risk.
This is the best-supported recommendation among the choices. We don't need to turn the author's probable explanation into a certainty, or claim that avoiding the drinks eliminates every possible complication.
- E
A procedure can have risks and still be preferable to leaving the condition untreated. Imagine a treatment with unpleasant side effects that prevents a much worse outcome. Pointing to those side effects alone wouldn't tell us to abandon it. Here we aren't given the comparison between the risks of angioplasty and the risks of leaving clogged arteries untreated. E's blanket rejection goes beyond the evidence.
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