Bunuel wrote:
In 1918, an influenza pandemic struck the globe, leaving at least 20 million people dead. Some have estimated that the number of people killed during the influenza outbreak might reach upwards of 100 million. This particular strain of influenza occurred during the summer months, an unusual case since most flu outbreaks occur in the fall and winter. What makes the 1918 influenza pandemic so fascinating to scientists, however, is that it struck healthy young adults the hardest and took most of its victims from this demographic, leaving young children and older adults otherwise unscathed.
Which of the following best explains the anomaly between the expected victims and the actual demographic that was struck the hardest during the outbreak?
(A) Because the influenza pandemic occurred during World War I, some have suggested that the soldier deaths were combined with influenza deaths.
(B) Governments were unable to acquire vaccines in time to immunize the general population, leaving many vulnerable to the disease.
(C) The 1918 strain is believed to have created a cytokine storm, in which a virus attacks healthy immune systems far more severely than weak immune systems.
(D) Many of the soldiers who caught influenza were already weakened from their service on the front and could not resist the virus.
(E) It is now believed that the influenza strain was manufactured as a biological weapon to be used on soldiers during World War I.
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
Overview: Question presents information about the devastating influenza outbreak of 1918, an outbreak that according to some records might have killed as many as 100 million people. The author of the passage notes several anomalies that made this particular outbreak of influenza so unusual: (1) it occurred during the summer, and (2) it killed more strong young adults than children and elderly people. The question then asks the student to identify the answer choice that provides the best explanation for the anomaly of the influenza killing so many healthy young adults, when the disease usually strikes the very young and very old the hardest. To select the correct answer, the student must consider each answer choice carefully, in turn. The key to answering this question accurately will be in identifying an answer choice that takes all of the information in the passage and adds something to it that clearly explains the immediate issue without leaving other questions unanswered. The incorrect answer choices will add potentially valuable information but will also leave confusions about the information that has been provided.
The Correct Answer:C Answer choice (C) explains that the type of virus causing the 1918 influenza outbreak is what is believed to have caused the disease to strike the unexpected demographic. Furthermore, answer choice (C) leaves no remaining questions or confusions (except for a possible interest in simply acquiring more information). It explains clearly that the virus has been linked to a specific variety known especially for doing just what the 1918 influenza outbreak did. The reader does not need further information or statistics in order to gauge the explanation in this answer choice; it is clear enough in itself. Answer choice (C), therefore, is correct.
The Incorrect Answers:A Answer choice (A) offers a believable explanation about soldier deaths being combined with influenza deaths, but this does not in itself explain why the virus attacked so many young people. It only suggests that the number of deaths recorded from influenza might be inaccurate due to the war occurring at the same time. What is more, this answer choice leaves the student with a variety of questions about what this really means. Were there more soldier deaths and fewer influenza deaths? Vice versa? Were soldier deaths included among the “healthy young people” who died? This answer choice is too vague to be valid, so it must be incorrect.
B The key phrase in answer choice (B) is “general population.” There is no indication from this answer choice that the governments immunized the young children and the very old but not the healthy young people. The answer choice merely says that the governments were unable to provide vaccines for everyone. Again, answer choice (B) is too vague and leaves too many unanswered questions to be correct, so it may be eliminated.
D Answer choice (D) does offer a possible explanation, except that the passage notes the virus to have attacked “healthy young adults.” If the immune systems of soldiers were already weakened, they would not fall into this category. What is more, there is not enough information about the number of soldiers who were serving or who caught the disease to justify this particular answer choice as the clear explanation for why the disease targeted so many young adults. Answer choice (D) cannot be correct.
E Answer choice (E) sounds good, but it is entirely misleading. Once again, the information about the numbers among soldiers is vague, and the passage itself suggests that there were young children and older adults who caught the disease—just not as many as might be expected. So, it stands to reason that plenty of young adult civilians caught it as well, leaving this answer choice to be largely irrelevant without further information. Answer choice (E) should be eliminated.
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28 Jul 2021, 08:00
25%
(medium)
24%
(02:20)
wrong 
