PrepTest 122, Section 2, Question 11
Cholesterol, which is a known factor in coronary(82 more words not shown)
Each of the following, if(5 more words not shown)
- AHDLs, unlike LDLs,(5 more words not shown)
- BPersons who are(25 more words not shown)
- CHDLs are less(8 more words not shown)
- DA high level(10 more words not shown)
- EMen whose level(29 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Maybe HDLs help protect people. But the fact that exercise raises HDL levels doesn't, by itself, tell us what HDLs do.
Exercise could lower the risk of heart disease through some other mechanism, with higher HDL levels simply accompanying it. The same question applies to the comparison between women and men. Women have higher HDL levels and lower risk, but another difference between the groups might explain that lower risk.
The author has evidence of a connection, not a demonstration that HDLs cause the protection. That doesn't make the conclusion false. It tells us what further support would help: show how HDLs reduce risk, or make an alternative explanation less plausible.
What we’re looking for
We're looking for the exception among four strengtheners. Some answers may support the conclusion more directly than others. More evidence of the pattern can still help even if it doesn't prove the causal claim. Find the answer that doesn't support a protective effect.
Working the answers
- A
This supplies a mechanism. Cholesterol is a known factor in heart disease and stroke, and HDLs help the body get rid of it. That explains how HDLs could reduce those risks. Since it strengthens the conclusion, eliminate it.
- B
This adds another example of the pattern: lower HDL levels go along with greater risk. There could be other explanations for that association, so B doesn't prove that HDLs prevent disease. But another group displaying the expected connection is additional support. A strengthener needn't remove every possible doubt.
- CCorrect
Remaining in the bloodstream longer doesn't tell us whether HDLs help prevent heart disease or stroke. If we already knew they were protective, their persistence might matter. But their protective effect is precisely what we're trying to support. C gives us a fact about removing HDLs without establishing what they do while present.
- D
“Mitigates” means reduces or makes less severe. We know LDLs raise health risks, and D tells us that high HDL levels reduce those risks. We can accept that statement as true for this question without demanding another study explaining it. It directly supports the claimed protective effect.
- E
Men with HDL levels like women's also have lower risk than most men. That makes it harder to explain the whole pattern merely by pointing to some difference between women and men. We now see the HDL-risk connection within men too. This doesn't rule out every other cause, but it gives the HDL explanation further support.
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