A certain tropical island received food donations in the form of

Which of the following most logically completes the passage?

A certain tropical island received food donations in the form of powdered milk for distribution to its poorest residents, who were thought to be malnourished. Subsequently, the rate of liver cancers among those islanders increased sharply. The donated milk was probably to blame: recent laboratory research on rats has shown that rats briefly exposed to the substances aflatoxin tend to develop liver cancer when fed casein, a milk protein. This result is relevant because _______.

(A) in the tropics, peanuts, a staple of these island residents, support a mold growth that produces aflatoxin

(B) the liver is more sensitive to carcinogens, of which aflatoxin may be one, than most other bodily organs

(C) casein is not the only protein contained in milk

(D) powdered milk is the most appropriate form in which to send milk to a tropical destination

(E) the people who were given the donated milk had been screened for their ability to digest milk


This result is relevant because _______.
We need to complete the argument by showing why the research on rats is relevant to this context.

The result of the laboratory research- rats briefly exposed to the substances aflatoxin tend to develop liver cancer when fed casein, a milk protein

Option A completes the argument by stating why the result is relevant here.

Research-
Rats>exposed to aflatoxin> when fed casein, a milk protein> develop liver cancer

People in the tropical island-
……> fed milk protein> develop cancer.

For the result of the research to be relevant here, we need to find that people in the tropical island were exposed to aflatoxin.

Option A does that and is correct.

Vishnupriya
GMAT Verbal SME