Erythropoietin, known also as EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that cont

8 mins

1. A - It has to be administered more frequently and in larger doses than is ideal.
2. E - It does not increase the viscosity of blood to a dangerous level.
3. E - needs to be administered frequently.
4. E - Kidneys have some mechanism for monitoring oxygen levels.

A, C , B and A.
1. (A) It has to be administered more frequently and in larger doses than is ideal. << In treating patients, it's an issue mentioned in last paragraph.
2. (C) It increases hemoglobin levels in an athlete more slowly than synthetic EPO does. << both provided similar effect(para 2), but artificial method quickly increases the level(para 3).
3. (B) increases hemoglobin to levels above 15 grams per deciliter. << above 15 too quickly is the cause not above 15.
4. (A) Training at high altitude is safer than using synthetic EPO. << both provides similar effect(para 2), but natural methods do not increases level above 15 as quickly. Thus training at high altitude is safer.

My pick D, C, E, E

1. According to the passage, which one of the following is a challenge in using synthetic EPO to treat patients?

(A) It has to be administered more frequently and in larger doses than is ideal.
(B) It does not increase hematocrit levels as quickly as naturally occurring EPO does.
(C) It has more cardiovascular risk than other treatments.
(D) It is frequently stolen by those seeking performance enhancement.
(E) It can result in dangerously low hematocrit levels.


2. Which of the following can be inferred about training at high altitude?

(A) It is not as effective as synthetic EPO at increasing red blood cells in an athlete.
(B) It does not allow athletes to reach levels of hemoglobin above 15 grams per deciliter.
(C) It increases hemoglobin levels in an athlete more slowly than synthetic EPO does.
(D) It poses no health risks to the athlete.
(E) It does not increase the viscosity of blood to a dangerous level.


3. All of the following are potential risks of synthetic EPO except that it ______ .

(A) can raise hemoglobin levels too quickly.
(B) increases hemoglobin to levels above 15 grams per deciliter.
(C) abruptly increases blood viscosity.
(D) increases the likelihood of cardiac problems.
(E) needs to be administered frequently.


4. Which of the following can properly be inferred from the passage?

(A) Training at high altitude is safer than using synthetic EPO.
(B) A higher percentage of athletes are using performance enhancing drugs than in the past.
(C) NESP is a more effective treatment for raising hematocrit levels than synthetic EPO.
(D) NESP carries fewer risks than synthetic EPO.
(E) Kidneys have some mechanism for monitoring oxygen levels.

I have a question regarding Q4.
In CR we are told that inference is only things that are not explicitly written.
In this question, it's explicitly written that kidneys can detect a lack of oxygen in the bloodstream...
So I chose A.
I would appreciate if someone can address my concern.

I have a doubt regarding the option C, which explains that risk associated with Synthetic EPO is quick change in viscosity and substantial cardiac risk results. The change in viscosity gives us no information as to whether it results in increase or decrease in viscosity. How can we say C is a risk?

souvik101990

3.
"The body cannot properly adjust to the quick change in blood viscosity". This change doesn't indicate any direction. So, how can we say it is increasing?

4.
"Researchers continue to improve the effectiveness of synthetic EPO and even to develop a new glycoprotein—called novel erythropoiesis-stimulating protein (NESP)" doesn't it mean that NESP is more effective than synthetic EPO?

3. It can be increasing or decreasing. But we can infer that when the RBCs increase there will be an increase in viscosity not decrease. Hence we can safely infer that the viscosity increases. Even then if you have a doubt option 2 for the 3rd question only says that the Rbc levels increase by a certain number which is no where stated as risk but how fast one's body reaches that level is . Hence the correct answer will be 2.

4. As you have quoted effectiveness of the EPO is increased but no where it is stated that NESP is more effective in raising RBC levels than EPO. The author only states the advantages which includes longer effect of the injected RBCs and less frequent admission of the NESP.
When we effective it means that the drug has to perform better in increasing the RBCs and this is nowhere implied or mentioned. Hence for these reasons option 3 cannot be inferred.

Having queries reagarding question 3 and 4 -
for question 3- ' The body cannot properly adjust to the quick change in blood viscosity ' --It does not explictly mention whether it decreses or increses the viscsity level , So C may be the ans.
' Still, unlike the natural stimulus that occurs with the release of EPO, any artificial stimulus of red blood cell production has potential risks, as it raises hemoglobin to the desired levels above 15 grams per deciliter far too quickly. ' --Does it give a notion that Synthetic EPO does not do that ?

for question 4 - Why is the answer not D ( need POE )
Why is the answer E

Thanks in advance.

Souvik101990 posted the OEs:

Q3:

While not as difficult as the last two, this question still has its pitfalls. Most of the risks of synthetic EPO are in the third paragraph, but you may have to look in the second. Answer choice A is clearly defined as a risk of synthetic EPO, as you can see from this section: “any artificial stimulus of red blood cell production has potential risks, as it raises hemoglobin to the desired levels above 15 grams per deciliter far too quickly.” Answer choice B is the correct answer, as it is not a risk of synthetic EPO. As you can see from the italicized section above, levels above 15 are “desired,” so this is not a risk. Answer choice C addresses the same issue as answer choice A and is a well-defined risk. The cardiac risk in answer choice D is well defined in the third paragraph. However, the risk associated with answer choice E is harder to find; therefore answer choice E is the common incorrect answer choice on this problem. From the section in the second paragraph “who are unable to maintain the necessary levels without frequent EPO injections” and the section in the third paragraph that references the frequency of injections as a drawback of EPO, it is logical to infer the frequency required is a risk: If patients cannot get injections frequently their health will be compromised.


Q4:

In this problem, there are no hints given in the question stem about where to look. In questions like this, go to the answer choices and examine them individually, finding clues about where to look. Answer choice A is too broad and categorical. You know that one component of high altitude training is safer than the use of synthetic EPO; it raises hemoglobin levels more slowly. But it could be that, overall, high-altitude training is much more dangerous than the use of synthetic EPO. Answer choice B is incorrect for similar reasons. You know that there has been an increase in the use of synthetic EPO by athletes, but you know nothing about other performance-enhancing drugs. Answer choice B goes way beyond the scope of information provided in this passage and is thus incorrect. For answer choice C, you only learn in the passage that NESP eliminates several drawbacks of EPO. You do not know whether it is more effective at raising hematocrit levels. Likewise for answer choice D: You know that NESP corrects several drawbacks of EPO, but you know nothing about its overall risks. It may have many more risks than EPO, but they are simply not discussed in this passage. If you managed to avoid temptation in answer choices A through D, then answer choice E is relatively easy to prove with this sentence in the first paragraph: “When kidneys detect a lack of oxygen flowing through the bloodstream, they secrete this glycoprotein, increasing the production of red blood cells, the body’s primary method of transporting oxygen to tissues and muscles.

1. According to the passage, which one of the following is a challenge in using synthetic EPO to treat patients?

(A) It has to be administered more frequently and in larger doses than is ideal. "Researchers continue to improve the effectiveness of synthetic EPO and even to develop a new glycoprotein—called novel erythropoiesis-stimulating protein (NESP) —which eliminates several drawbacks of EPO in its current form. NESP not only requires smaller doses, but also lasts longer, eliminating the need for frequent and often-painful IV administration" - sums up the point
(B) It does not increase hematocrit levels as quickly as naturally occurring EPO does. the reverse is true: "it raises hemoglobin to the desired levels above 15 grams per deciliter far too quickly"
(C) It has more cardiovascular risk than other treatments. while it does have some drawbacks, we can't compare it all other treatments, about which we don't know from the passage
(D) It is frequently stolen by those seeking performance enhancement. "stolen"? I think this is a stretch
(E) It can result in dangerously low hematocrit levels. "Synthetic EPO is used to boost low hematocrit levels <...>"

2. Which of the following can be inferred about training at high altitude?

(A) It is not as effective as synthetic EPO at increasing red blood cells in an athlete. " Traditionally, athletes have trained at high altitude to achieve a similar natural effect <...>"
(B) It does not allow athletes to reach levels of hemoglobin above 15 grams per deciliter. "EPO raises hemoglobin to the desired levels above 15 grams per deciliter" and "athletes have trained at high altitude to achieve a similar natural effect" let us infer this
(C) It increases hemoglobin levels in an athlete more slowly than synthetic EPO does. "EPO raises hemoglobin to the desired levels above 15 grams per deciliter far too quickly", but increasing it naturally takes time
(D) It poses no health risks to the athlete. too extreme, maybe you can fall off a cliff or something as we're talking about "training at high altitudes" in general terms
(E) It does not increase the viscosity of blood to a dangerous level. not given, maybe it does in some circumstances

3. All of the following are potential risks of synthetic EPO except that it ______ .

(A) can raise hemoglobin levels too quickly. "it raises hemoglobin to the desired levels above 15 grams per deciliter far too quickly <...>"
(B) increases hemoglobin to levels above 15 grams per deciliter. "it raises hemoglobin to the desired levels above 15 grams per deciliter"
(C) abruptly increases blood viscosity. "The body cannot properly adjust to the quick change in blood viscosity <...>"
(D) increases the likelihood of cardiac problems. "<...> substantial cardiac risk results."
(E) needs to be administered frequently. "<...>, eliminating the need for frequent <...>, which can have complications"

4. Which of the following can properly be inferred from the passage?

(A) Training at high altitude is safer than using synthetic EPO. yes, in terms of increasing red blood cells, but not generally - we simply don't know
(B) A higher percentage of athletes are using performance enhancing drugs than in the past. "more and more" doesn't give us much information to infer this - too broad
(C) NESP is a more effective treatment for raising hematocrit levels than synthetic EPO. NESP is in the development phase, and the removal of several drawbacks of EPO doesn't translate to greater effectiveness
(D) NESP carries fewer risks than synthetic EPO. no information about its effects on people is discussed
(E) Kidneys have some mechanism for monitoring oxygen levels. correct: "When the kidneys detect a lack of oxygen flowing through the bloodstream, they secrete this glycoprotein, increasing the production of red blood cells <...>"

3 correct, 1 wrong in 11 minutes. Feel for below

was totally undecided b/n A and C. Although, it felt like A might be wrong.. But didnt realize that (C) can be clearly inferred from paragraph 3.
In absence of less info vs missing info (didnt lookk for 3rd pgph), i drew less conclusive inference

Which of the following can be inferred about training at high altitude?

A) It is not as effective as synthetic EPO at increasing red blood cells in an athlete.
(B) It does not allow athletes to reach levels of hemoglobin above 15 grams per deciliter.
(C) It increases hemoglobin levels in an athlete more slowly than synthetic EPO does.
(D) It poses no health risks to the athlete.
(E) It does not increase the viscosity of blood to a dangerous level.

3 correct, 1 wrong in 11 minutes. Feel for below

was totally undecided b/n A and C. Although, it felt like A might be wrong.. But didnt realize that (C) can be clearly inferred from paragraph 3.
In absence of less info vs missing info (didnt lookk for 3rd pgph), i drew less conclusive inference

Which of the following can be inferred about training at high altitude?

A) It is not as effective as synthetic EPO at increasing red blood cells in an athlete.
(B) It does not allow athletes to reach levels of hemoglobin above 15 grams per deciliter.
(C) It increases hemoglobin levels in an athlete more slowly than synthetic EPO does.
(D) It poses no health risks to the athlete.
(E) It does not increase the viscosity of blood to a dangerous level.

Question 1 - A is wrong. You can not compare the dosages of two different medicines, each having a different mechanism of action. Even if they worked the same way, you still can't compare that. It's like comparing 70 mg of diclofenac to 200 mg of ibuprofen and say that ibuprofen has a higher dosage.

This is just wrong! To infer that EPO is used in higher dosages is just not correct. And again, I notice how GMAT flunks with the answers regarding medicine/pharmacy. The only answer which would work is C.

Dear VeritasKarishma DmitryFarber VeritasPrepBrian,

Why is Q.4 choice D. wrong?

According to the passage:

From the above sentence, how could you possibly interpret that the more effective NESP have THE SAME OR MORE OVERALL RISKS than the less effective synthetic EPO?
Could you please give an example for the scenario that fits such interpretation?

varotkorn First, notice that the sentence you're citing mentions nothing about risks at all, just drawbacks, so it provides zero support for D. The subsequent sentence mentions exactly one risk--the potential for complications due to frequent IV administration. So apparently NESP reduces this one risk, but that's all we really know about it. There could be many other new risks. Perhaps it works faster and therefore raises the cardiac risk even higher. Perhaps it can interact poorly with other drugs. For all we know, it may make you burst into flame or feel a compulsive urge to insult boxing champions. My point is that we simply know nothing about the overall risks.

In general, we can never say "X is more/less than Y" just because one aspect of that difference has been addressed. If jelly beans are lower in fat than almonds, and we know that fat is bad for us, that doesn't allow us to infer that jelly beans are healthier for us than almonds.

6 and a half minutes but I got the last 2 questions wrong. I'm quite confused with the last question. I knew that option E is inferable, but it wasn't the central point of the passage so I went for option D, which is still somewhat inferable from the passage. I understand the OA, but I was under the impression that specifics related to the whole passage outweigh other options like the Kidney related point. This happens often when I narrow the options down to 2, but go for the answer that addresses the issue more broadly discussed in the question.

Any tips on how I should approach it?

 

­Any time you're trying to figure out which answer is preferable or "outweighs" another, you need to find a different approach. The right answer must be right, and the wrong answers must all be wrong. We shouldn't have to consider what the GMAT writers like or what is more important in general terms. In the case of an inference question, unless the question itself prompts us for something relating to the overall point, we are just looking for something provably true. If you know that E is inferable, then you should select that for sure. D isn't "somewhat inferable," because we don't know the risks of NESP. It eliminates one potential source of complications, but it may introduce others.

In any case, while D is a somehwhat broader point than E, we haven't been asked for a broad point, so that should't affect our evaluation. In fact, it's quite common for the right answer to an inference question to be a random, narrow, uninteresting point that just happens to be provable. Answers like that are hard to spot as correct, so they are a good go-to when the writers want a tough one.