A few months ago, the village of Queniborough and its surroundings in

Question

A few months ago, the village of Queniborough and its surroundings in Leicestershire gained dubious distinction as Britain’s hot spot for variant Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), a fatal neurodegenerative condition related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)—better known as mad-cow disease. Out of 95 cases of vCJD reported in Britain since 1995, five occurred there. This clustering of cases has proved a boon to epidemiologists trying to grips with the elusive origin and spread of vCJD. A team of government experts announced what it believes may lie at the heart of the Leicestershire vCJD outbreak: consumption of meat contaminated with BSE-infected brain tissue.

That may be no great surprise, but according to Gerry Bryant, one of the investigators, this is the first clear demonstration of an association between vCJD and BSE through diet. The authorities ruled out blood transfusions, vaccines, and occupational exposure, as the five victims did not share these. However, they found that the victims had all bought meat from a handful of local butchers who either slaughtered cattle in their own back rooms or used small abattoirs nearby. Unlike the large abattoirs employed by supermarkets, these operations practiced “pithing” ramming a rod through an animal’s brain to squash the spinal cord. This rough and ready procedure (which has since been banned) allows bits of the brain to leak out and contaminate other tissues.

Local slaughter houses also regularly removed the brains of beef cattle to sell and used the same knives for other butchery tasks—an obvious source of cross contamination. The study has found that those with the disease were 15 times more likely to have bought and consumed beef from a butcher where such cross-contamination may have occurred than were those living in the same area who did not develop the disease. The link between diet and vCJD will set alarms ringing across Britain. It will also worry people in the rest of Europe. How many more will appear and where is hard to say. As Dr. Will cautions, the Leicestershire findings are an essential step forward in the vCJD study. But, researchers still have more questions than answers when it comes to vCJD.    1 
 1. According to the passage, the epidemiologists:

A. Were very keen to find the origin and spread of disease in Britain
B. Find the bunching of so many cases at one place as an opportunity to locate the origin of the disease 
C. Were also working on determining the relationship between vCJD and BSE
D. Were first to discover vCJD
E. Declare the vCJD as a fatal disease

2 
 2. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. The city of Leicestershire became popular after the discovery of the vCJD
B. In 1995, more than 6% of the cases of vCJD reported in Britain were discovered in Leicestershire
C. Consumption of contaminated meat was the reason behind the spread of vCJD 
D. Connotation between vCJD and BSE through diet was never found before.
E. The victims of vCJD had all bought meat from local butchers who slaughtered cattle in their own back rooms.

3 
 3. All of the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT

A. Blood transfusions and occupational exposure are not the reasons for the spread of vCJD
B. Striking the brain of an animal to crush its spinal cord was banned in Britain before 1995
C. Slaughter houses that used the same apparatus for miscellaneous butchery tasks caused cross-contamination.
D. How many cases of vCJD might appear in the future is not confirmed yet
E. Majority of the questions related to vCJD yet have no answer

4 
 4. The primary purpose of the passage is to:

A. Explain how the bunch of cases of vCJD helped the epidemiologists to find the origin of the disease and that still, some work has needed to be done
B. Explain how the butchers played a massive role in the spread of vCJD in Leicestershire
C. Highlight how the efforts of epidemiologists came fruitful and they found the origin and spread of disease
D. Stress that discovering a disease is not fruitful until and unless the reason behind its spread is found
E. Describe in detail how the drama of spread of vCJD came to an end when epidemiologists found the role played by butchers in the spread of disease

RC Butler 2022  -  Practice Two RC Passages Everyday.   
Passage # 65 Date: 14-Feb-2022
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2022 .  Click here for Details

JairajD · Answer

Can someone explain the reasoning behind the second question's solution and why was option "D" discarded?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Answer option (D) is a trap here. Read the related text from the passage:

That may be no great surprise , but according to Gerry Bryant, one of the investigators, this is the  first  clear  demonstration of an association between vCJD and BSE through diet.

"The first clear demonstration" in the above quoted text shows that there might be some hidden or un-documented cases available of an association between vCJD and BSE through diet, but this time the connection between vCJD and BSE through diet was clear. Hence a possibility was there earlier and there could some existing cases of the same. This choice is an example of a  could be true  answer choice.

Hope it helps

roh1714 · Answer

1. According to the passage, the epidemiologists:
HINT- Out of 95 cases of vCJD reported in Britain since 1995, five occurred there. This clustering of cases has proved a boon to epidemiologists trying to grips with the elusive origin and spread of vCJD.

A. Were very keen to find the origin and spread of disease in Britain- wrong
B. Find the bunching of so many cases at one place as an opportunity to locate the origin of the disease- correct, restatement of the passage
C. Were also working on determining the relationship between vCJD and BSE- wrong 
D. Were first to discover vCJD- wrong 
E. Declare the vCJD as a fatal disease- just nonsense

2. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. The city of Leicestershire became popular after the discovery of the vCJD- nonsense 
B. In 1995, more than 6% of the cases of vCJD reported in Britain were discovered in Leicestershire- wrong
out of 100, 95 were in B and 5 were in L
C. Consumption of contaminated meat was the reason behind the spread of vCJD- correct 
matches with the second para information
D. Connotation between vCJD and BSE through diet was never found before.- wrong
hint: this is the first clear demonstration of an association between vCJD and BSE through diet.
E. The victims of vCJD had all bought meat from local butchers who slaughtered cattle in their own back rooms.- wrong, very extreme

3. All of the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT 
(EXCEPT)!!!!

A. Blood transfusions and occupational exposure are not the reasons for the spread of vCJD- given in para 2 
B. Striking the brain of an animal to crush its spinal cord was banned in Britain before 1995- huge assumption, may or may not be the case- CORRECT
C. Slaughter houses that used the same apparatus for miscellaneous butchery tasks caused cross-contamination- given in para 3
D. How many cases of vCJD might appear in the future is not confirmed yet- given in last part of para 3
E. Majority of the questions related to vCJD yet have no answer- given in last part of para 3

4. The primary purpose of the passage is to:

A. Explain how the bunch of cases of vCJD helped the epidemiologists to find the origin of the disease and that still, some work has needed to be done- Correct
B. Explain how the butchers played a massive role in the spread of vCJD in Leicestershire- wrong
this part of the passage not the whole passage.
C. Highlight how the efforts of epidemiologists came fruitful and they found the origin and spread of disease- wrong
D. Stress that discovering a disease is not fruitful until and unless the reason behind its spread is found- nonsense
E. Describe in detail how the drama of spread of vCJD came to an end when epidemiologists found the role played by butchers in the spread of disease- nonsense

hydr01 · Answer

I still don't think we can know for sure that consumption of contaminated meat was 100% for sure the reason for the outbreak.

Prob2303 · Answer

Hello Sajjad,

Can I get a brief summary of the passage and the OE for Q4?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

4. The primary purpose of the passage is to:

Explanation

A.   This accurately represents the primary purpose of the passage. The passage discusses the clustering of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) cases in the village of Queniborough, Leicestershire, and how this provided epidemiologists with valuable information to understand the origin of the disease. It also mentions that despite the progress made, researchers still have more questions than answers about vCJD.

B.  While the passage does mention the role of local butchers in the spread of vCJD, this is not the primary purpose of the passage. The focus is on how the clustering of cases helped epidemiologists identify the origin of the disease.

C.  This option oversimplifies the passage. While the passage highlights the fruitful efforts of epidemiologists, it also emphasizes that there are still more questions than answers about vCJD.

D.  goes beyond the scope of the passage. The primary emphasis is on discovering the origin of vCJD and understanding its spread, not on the general idea that discovering a disease is not fruitful without understanding its spread.

E.  misrepresents the passage by suggesting that the drama of the spread of vCJD came to an end. The passage does highlight progress in understanding the disease but acknowledges that more questions remain.

Answer: A

JuniqueLid · Answer

How is option A for Q1 simply "wrong". It does align with the passage, whilst not as specific as B in relation to the cluster of cases, A feels more fulsome as it mentioned both "origin and spread" which was what the epidemiologists wanted to find out about. B only mentioned the "origin" but not the "spread". Thx.

miag · Answer

Hi  Sajjad1994 , can you explain why Q-1 a) vs b)? Why is a) wrong? I was confused between a) & b) and couldnt clearly elliminate 1 with solid reasoning..thank you!  GMATNinja

Apoorva800 · Answer

Hello  KarishmaB  I am confused with the same question, would be really helpful if you could explain. Thank you!!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

The following is the text the question is based on:

"  This clustering of cases has proved a boon to epidemiologists trying to grips with the elusive origin and spread of vCJD."

"very keen"  in answer choice A is out of scope of the passage and it make the answer choice an extreme one.

A few months ago, the village of Queniborough and its surroundings in

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A few months ago, the village of Queniborough and its surroundings in

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