sayan640 wrote:
gregspirited wrote:
In Rubaria, excellent health care is available to virtually the entire population, whereas very few people in Terland receive adequate medical care. Yet, although the death rate for most diseases is higher in Terland than in Rubaria, the percentage of the male population that dies from prostate cancer is significantly higher in Rubaria than in Terland.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the disparity between the prostate cancer death rate in Rubaria and Terland?
(A) Effective treatment of prostate cancer in its early stages generally requires medical techniques available in Rubaria but not in Terland.
(B) Most men who have prostate cancer are older than the average life expectancy for male inhabitants of Terland.
(C) Being in poor general health does not increase one’s risk of developing prostate cancer.
(D) It is possible to decrease one’s risk of getting prostate cancer by eating certain kinds of foods, and such foods are more readily available in Rubaria than in Terland.
(E) Among men in Rubaria, the death rate from prostate cancer is significantly higher for those who do not take full advantage of Rubaria’s health care system than for those who do.
VeritasKarishma mikemcgarry GMATNinjaCan you please throw some light on option B and E ?
Let's look at each side of the disparity discussed in the passage.
On one hand, we know that "In Rubaria, excellent health care is available to virtually the entire population, whereas very few people in Terland receive adequate medical care." In addition, "the death rate for most diseases is higher in Terland than in Rubaria." This makes sense so far -- Rubaria has excellent healthcare and a lower death rate for most diseases, while Terland has inadequate healthcare and a higher death rate for most diseases.
And here is the other side of the disparity: "the percentage of the male population that dies from prostate cancer is significantly higher in Rubaria than in Terland." So, while "the death rate for most diseases is higher in Terland than in Rubaria," the
opposite is true for prostate cancer.
Our task is to find an answer choice that explains why a higher percentage of men in Rubaria die of prostate cancer, despite the fact they they receive much better healthcare than the men in Terland.
Let's first look at (B):
Quote:
(B) Most men who have prostate cancer are older than the average life expectancy for male inhabitants of Terland.
This tells us that men with prostate cancer are generally very old -- older, in fact, than men are expected to live in Terland. In other words, most men in Terland have
already died off for some other reason before they could develop prostate cancer. In Rubaria, on the other hand, men live to a ripe old age and then develop prostate cancer. This explains why a higher percentage of Rubarian men in die of prostate cancer than do Terlandian men -- they live long enough to contract the disease. Not a very cheerful explanation, but it does explain the disparity in the passage. (B) is the correct answer.
Now look at (E):
Quote:
(E) Among men in Rubaria, the death rate from prostate cancer is significantly higher for those who do not take full advantage of Rubaria’s health care system than for those who do.
This answer choice tells us that men who use the excellent healthcare system in Rubaria have a lower death rate than the men who do not use the healthcare system. This makes sense: the men who receive treatment have better outcomes.
However, we are trying to figure out why the death rate is lower in Terland, a place that does
not have a great healthcare system -- in other words, why men who do
not receive adequate treatment somehow have better outcomes (measured by percentage of men who die of prostate cancer). This answer choice does not explain the disparity at all, so eliminate (E).
I hope that helps!