bkk145 wrote:
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
Thanks to our folks, I think we already had a clear explanation for the correct answer.
I just wanna give it a try, and here what my thinking about this stem:
The argument's information:
- The powdered MILK was DONATED to an island RESIDENTS.
- Since then, the incidence of LIVER CANCER AMONG THESE RESIDENTS has INCREASED.
- A research has shown that RATS suffer from THE SAME LIVER CANCER when they EXPOSED TO AFLATOXIN and FED CASEIN (IN MILK)
- The research result has proved that DONATED MILK is responsible for the LIVER CANCER incidence among island RESIDENTS because _____
We need to strengthen this argument, finding something missing in the case of the RESIDENTS... They consumed milk, which means they took-in CASEIN, so we need to find which source provides them with AFLATOXIN.
(A) Yes. They absorbed AFLATOXIN from peanuts. We have enough hints to make up LIVER CANCER for RESIDENTS.(B) This choice provides very slight hint that AFLATOXIN MAY be one of the factors making up LIVER CANCER, but we do not know whether the RESIDENTS exposed to AFLATOXIN or not. -> out of scope.
(C) The other kinds of protein do not matter here, we only need CASEIN in milk + AFLATOXIN somewhere else -> out of scope
(D) Nothing to do with the types of milk. As long as it is milk, it contains CASEIN -> out of scope
(E) This screening procedure aimed to prove whether the RESIDENTS can fully absorb the milk's nutrition including CASEIN. Still nothing about AFLATOXIN.