PrepTest 149, Section 4, Question 22
A recent study revealed that people who follow(49 more words not shown)
The argument is most vulnerable(18 more words not shown)
- APathogenic microorganisms can(7 more words not shown)
- BMany people do(16 more words not shown)
- CNot all diseases(7 more words not shown)
- DPreventing infection by(13 more words not shown)
- EThose most concerned(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Maybe the careful people face more risk to begin with.
My first thought is how much meat they eat. Someone who prepares meat frequently could follow the precautions carefully and still have more opportunities for infection than someone who eats it only occasionally. The second person might be less careful yet face much less exposure. We haven't been told that happens; it's an alternative explanation the comparison needs to address.
What we’re looking for
The study shows more infections among the people who follow the recommendations. The author then blames the recommendations. For the overlooked possibility, I'd look for something else that both goes with careful behavior and explains a higher infection rate. The people might differ before the advice has any effect.
Working the answers
- A
Other foods could carry the same kinds of microorganisms, but that alone doesn't explain why the two groups have different infection rates. Are the careful followers exposed to more of those other foods? A doesn't say. It adds another possible source of infection without connecting it to the observed difference.
- B
We already have a study group that follows the recommendations precisely. Learning that many people do so doesn't explain why they get infected or establish what would happen to them without the precautions. Existence and popularity aren't evidence that the advice causes the higher rate.
- C
Some illnesses may be hard to recognize, but the argument compares infections, not merely obvious symptoms. C doesn't tell us that the study missed more infections in one group than in the other. Without a reason the symptom difference distorts this comparison, it doesn't supply the alternative explanation we need.
- D
An appropriate set of recommendations needn't be the standard set being criticized. Perhaps a different set would prevent infections. D doesn't identify the current advice as effective or explain why its precise followers have more infections than the people who deviate. We shouldn't silently equate 'appropriate' with 'standard.'
- ECorrect
The people most worried about infection are the people most susceptible to it. That gives us a reason more vulnerable people might be especially careful about following the advice. Their higher infection rate could reflect that underlying susceptibility rather than harm caused by the precautions.
This is a different version of the risk difference I first considered. We don't need to assume a particular medical cause, such as a weak immune system. Greater susceptibility is enough to challenge the comparison: the recommendations could reduce these people's risk while leaving it higher than the risk of less vulnerable people.
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