PrepTest 120, Section 2, Question 19
Until recently, biologists were unable to explain the(439 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(9 more words not shown)
- AA new hypothesis(34 more words not shown)
- BA new hypothesis(37 more words not shown)
- CA new hypothesis(29 more words not shown)
- DA new hypothesis(26 more words not shown)
- EA new hypothesis(42 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
We've already predicted the main idea: how a pathogen spreads helps explain how severely it can affect its host. Vectors allow transmission from an immobilized host, and some directly transmitted pathogens can wait outside the host instead. Look for that relationship, including the qualification supplied by the final paragraph.
Working the answers
- A
This turns the exception into the general rule. Some directly transmitted pathogens can survive outside a host for a long time, but rhinoviruses cannot. The general comparison favors greater virulence among vector-borne pathogens.
- B
We aren't told that most pathogens reproduce enough to make their hosts gravely sick or kill them. Nor is the explanation mainly about harmful pathogens eventually becoming harmless. It explains how harmful ones can succeed.
- C
High concentrations are discussed, but that is only part of the explanation. Reproduction must lead to enough transmission into new hosts. The rhinovirus example shows why producing large numbers inside an incapacitated host can fail to produce success.
- D
The opening explicitly says even death-causing pathogens can succeed. Host death isn't an automatic barrier if enough transmission occurs.
- ECorrect
This states the transmission–virulence relationship we predicted, gives the usual vector-versus-direct comparison, and preserves the exception for pathogens that survive outside their hosts. It brings the main explanation and its qualification together.
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