Mary Mallon, known as "Typhoid Mary" was a typhoid "carrier" who was i

Question

Mary Mallon, known as "Typhoid Mary" was a typhoid "carrier" who was infected with typhoid bacillus for a prolonged period of time. She developed neither typhoid fever nor its symptoms; however, other people could, and did, develop this disease after contact with her.

Which of the following is best supported by the passage?

A. Typhoid fever is not always fatal.
B. Typhoid fever is equally communicable whether the person infected with the  typhoid bacillus  actually had the disease or not.
C. The absence of usual symptoms of typhoid fever is not always a reliable indicator that one does not have typhoid fever.
D. Typhoid fever sometimes occurs even when the  typhoid bacillus  is not present.
E. The  typhoid bacillus  does not always cause typhoid fever.

Source: 800score

d999 · Answer

Fact 1: Mary Mallon, known as "Typhoid Mary" was a typhoid "carrier" who was infected with typhoid bacillus for a prolonged period of time.

Fact 2: She developed neither typhoid fever nor its symptoms; however, other people could, and did, develop this disease after contact with her.

A. Typhoid fever is not always fatal.-  we have no idea about the fatality of the fever 
B. Typhoid fever is equally communicable whether the person infected with the typhoid bacillus actually had the disease or not.-  we only know that Mary was able to spread this disease without having the fever/ symptoms. But there is no mention about the likelihood of a person spreading the disease if he/ she has the fever  
C. The absence of usual symptoms of typhoid fever is not always a reliable indicator that one does not have typhoid fever.-  we only know that Mary had no symptoms and no fever- whether the absence of symptoms usually indicates or does not indicate fever is not mentioned 
D. Typhoid fever sometimes occurs even when the typhoid bacillus is not present.-  we have no idea about this from the argument 
E. The typhoid bacillus does not always cause typhoid fever.-  This is true for Mary.

VEE399 · Answer

I can see that E is apt but why is C wrong???

guddo · Answer

Mary Mallon, known as "Typhoid Mary" was a typhoid "carrier" who was infected with  typhoid bacillus  for a prolonged period of time. She developed neither typhoid fever nor its symptoms; however, other people could, and did, develop this disease after contact with her.
 
 Which of the following is best supported by the passage?

The passage says Mary was infected with  typhoid bacillus  for a long time but did not develop typhoid fever or its symptoms.  So the bacillus can be present without causing the disease in the infected person .

A. Typhoid fever is not always fatal.

This is not supported. The passage does not discuss whether people who develop typhoid fever survive or die.

B. Typhoid fever is equally communicable whether the person infected with the  typhoid bacillus  actually had the disease or not.

This is too strong. The passage shows that a carrier can transmit the disease, but it does not compare communicability rates.

C. The absence of usual symptoms of typhoid fever is not always a reliable indicator that one does not have typhoid fever.

This is not supported. Mary did not have typhoid fever; she was infected with the bacillus and was a carrier. The passage distinguishes infection from the disease itself.

D. Typhoid fever sometimes occurs even when the  typhoid bacillus  is not present.

This is unsupported. The passage gives no case of typhoid fever without the bacillus.

E. The  typhoid bacillus  does not always cause typhoid fever.

This is correct. Mary had the bacillus for a prolonged period but did not develop typhoid fever.

Answer: (E)

Mary Mallon, known as "Typhoid Mary" was a typhoid "carrier" who was i

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Mary Mallon, known as "Typhoid Mary" was a typhoid "carrier" who was i

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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