PrepTest 154, Section 3, Question 19
For nearly a century after the discovery in(452 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(13 more words not shown)
- Ato identify future(18 more words not shown)
- Bto answer a(16 more words not shown)
- Cto evaluate the(16 more words not shown)
- Dto offer recommendations(12 more words not shown)
- Eto enumerate the(19 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The final paragraph does two things. First, it explains where the bacteria can remain between epidemics: alive in a dormant state, outside human hosts and undetectable by cultures. Then it raises the question of what wakes them, pointing to a correlation with sea-surface temperature and the possible role of salinity.
What we’re looking for
So our prediction needs both the answer to the original mystery and the next question that answer opens up.
Working the answers
- A
Possible directions for research appear near the end, but the paragraph first supplies the discovery of the dormant state. This answer misses that explanatory work and adds an account of research obstacles that isn't developed here.
- BCorrect
Dormancy answers the earlier question about persistence between outbreaks. The temperature correlation supplies evidence that raises further questions about reactivation. We now have a survival mechanism to investigate, not a complete account of every condition that produces another epidemic.
- C
The preceding paragraph explains and compares detection methods. The final paragraph focuses on what Colwell learned about the bacteria and what remains unknown. It doesn't evaluate how the detection method will affect future research.
- D
The paragraph doesn't recommend future uses of the detection method. Its unresolved question is what awakens the bacteria, not how researchers should apply the test.
- E
Dormancy is introduced in this final paragraph. It isn't a biological phenomenon already described in the preceding paragraph whose effects are now being listed. The sequence of the discussion doesn't match.
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