Researchers have found that most people's bodies make an enzyme, CYP2A6, that plays a crucial role in eliminating nicotine, the addictive drug in cigarettes, from the body. Smokers whose bodies make the most common form of this enzyme tend to smoke more than those whose bodies make some other form of it. Why? Well, the faster nicotine is eliminated from one's body, the sooner one will crave another cigarette, and ________.
Which one of the following, if true, most effectively completes the explanation above?The passage explains greater smoking by linking it to faster removal of nicotine from the body.
The missing link must show that
the most common form of CYP2A6 removes nicotine especially quickly.
(A) the most common form of CYP2A6 is the one that most rapidly eliminates nicotine from the body
Correct. Smokers with the most common form smoke more, and faster nicotine elimination causes cravings to return sooner. If this common form eliminates nicotine most rapidly, the observed difference in smoking behavior is explained.
(B) most people whose bodies make the rarest form of CYP2A6 do not smoke at all
Incorrect. This concerns the rarest form and does not explain why smokers with the most common form smoke more than smokers with other forms.
(C) if one's body does not make CYP2A6, nicotine will still be eliminated, although very slowly
Incorrect. This concerns people who do not produce CYP2A6, not the difference among smokers who produce different forms of it.
(D) the greater the quantity of CYP2A6 that one's body makes, the faster nicotine will be eliminated
Incorrect. The passage compares different
forms of the enzyme, not different quantities. We are not told that people with the common form produce more CYP2A6.
(E) helping to eliminate nicotine is not the only function that CYP2A6 serves
Incorrect. Other functions of the enzyme do not explain the difference in smoking frequency.
Answer: (A)