A medical article once pointed with great alarm to an increase in

6. The author would reject all the following statements about cause-effect relationships as explanations for the statistics that show an increase in cancer rates EXCEPT that the

Difficulty Level: 700+

Explanation

(A) Ceylonese drink more milk than the English:
This statement suggests that Ceylonese people (people from Sri Lanka) consume more milk than the English. The passage mentions that cancer rates are less frequent in Ceylon, where milk is scarce. While the author doesn't explicitly reject this statement as an explanation, it is not a central argument in the passage. The focus is more on the correlation between milk consumption and cancer rates in different regions.

(B) Swiss produce and consume large quantities of dairy products:
This statement indicates that the Swiss produce and consume significant amounts of dairy products. The passage mentions Switzerland as one of the regions where cancer rates are increasing and highlights the correlation with milk consumption. The author argues that the longer life spans of the population in Switzerland, rather than milk consumption alone, could be a factor in the increased cancer rates. The passage does not explicitly reject this statement as an explanation for the statistics.

(C) Women of New England drink more milk than the women who live in some states of the southern United States:
This statement suggests that women in New England consume more milk than women in certain states in the southern United States. The passage mentions New England as one of the regions where cancer rates are increasing and refers to the correlation between milk consumption and cancer rates. The author does not explicitly reject this statement as an explanation for the statistics.

(D) People of Wisconsin have relatively high life expectancies:
This statement states that people in Wisconsin have relatively high life expectancies. The passage discusses the correlation between longer life spans in certain regions and the increase in cancer rates. However, the author rejects the idea that high cancer rates in those regions are solely due to milk consumption. The passage does explicitly reject this statement as an explanation for the statistics.

(E) People who live in some states of the southern United States have relatively high life expectancies:
This statement suggests that people who live in certain states of the southern United States have relatively high life expectancies. The passage discusses the correlation between longer life spans in certain regions and the increase in cancer rates. While the author does not explicitly reject this statement as an explanation, it is not a central argument in the passage.

To summarize, options (A), (B), (C), and (E) are not explicitly rejected by the author as explanations for the increase in cancer rates. Only option (D) is explicitly rejected as an explanation in the passage.

Answer: D