One of the most dangerous drugs for pregnant women to consume is

Question

One of the most dangerous drugs for pregnant women to consume is alcohol. Because alcohol is delivered quickly into the blood and passes quickly into the tissues and membranes, the human fetus is particularly vulnerable to its effects. In fact, the negative effects on a fetus are so pronounced that babies born after exposure to alcohol are said to be suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome.

As a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, the alcohol is passed into her bloodstream almost simultaneously. Moreover, because the bloodstream of the fetus is inextricably tied to that of the mother, the alcohol passes directly into the bloodstream of the fetus as well. And, what is more, the concentration of alcohol in the fetus is exactly the same as in the mother. For the mother, this concentration is not a problem because her liver can remove one ounce of alcohol from her system per hour. However, the fetus’s liver is not completely developed. The rate at which it is able to eliminate the alcohol from the blood of the fetus is much slower. Eventually, the alcohol will be returned to the mother’s system by passing across the placenta, but this process is slow. By the time this takes place, major neurological damage may have already occurred.

Research has shown that as little as one drink of alcohol can produce significant, irreversible damage to the fetus. Babies who are born after exposure to alcohol generally exhibit facial distortion, inability to concentrate and difficulty in remembering. Simply speaking, it is imperative that pregnant women avoid alcohol.   1  1. According to the information in the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

(A) There is no time lag in passing of alcohol from the mother to the fetus. 
(B) The fetus’ liver is unable to keep up with the workings of the mothers’ liver. 
(C) The alcohol is eventually passed back from the fetus to the mother. 
(D) Fetal alcohol syndrome can cause irreversible damages to the fetus. 
(E) Alcohol passes from the mother to the fetus through the placenta.

2 
 2. From the information in the passage, in which of the following hypothetical situations could the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome be best avoided?

(A) If the alcohol passed into the mother’s bloodstream slowly over a prolonged duration 
(B) If the alcohol had very low toxicity 
(C) If the mother’s liver were less efficient than it currently is at removing alcohol from the system 
(D) If the fetus’ liver were as efficient at removing alcohol as the mother’s liver is 
(E) If the fetus had a very strong immune system

3 
 3. What is the primary purpose of the second paragraph in the passage?

(A) To recommend that pregnant women completely abstain from alcohol
(B) To highlight the harmful effects of alcohol on infants 
(C) To describe how the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is caused 
(D) To state that a fetus’ liver cannot eliminate waste as quickly as the mothers’ liver can 
(E) To compare the functioning of a mother’ liver with that of a fetus’ liver

dcummins · Answer

Official Explanations

Question 1

Answer: (A)

Explanation: Inferred from the opening lines of para 2. The author has used the words ‘almost simultaneously’ allowing for a gap; albeit a fraction of time. Hence, (A) is the correct answer.

(B) As inferred from para 2; ‘the fetus liver...is much slower’. 
(C) As inferred from para 2; ‘eventually, the alcohol...is slow’. 
(D) As inferred from para 3; ‘research has...the fetus’. 
(E) As inferred from para 2; ‘eventually...is slow’.

Question 2

Answer: (D)

Explanation: The passage clearly states that the problem of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome arises because the fetus’ liver is slower in removing alcohol than the mothers’ liver. If the fetus’ liver were as efficient as the mother’s liver, then this problem would probably never arise. Hence, (D) is the correct answer.

(A) The problem is not how quickly the alcohol is absorbed into the mothers’ bloodstream but how slowly the fetus’ liver eliminates it. 
(B) Toxicity of alcohol is not mentioned in the passage.
(C) If the mothers’ liver were less efficient then damage would probably be caused to the mother as well as to the fetus. 
(E) The passage does not suggest that immunity has anything to do with the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Question 3

Answer (A)

Explanation: The second paragraph is clearly describing the process by which Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is caused.

(B) The passage is concerned with fetuses and not with infants. In any case, the harmful effects are mentioned in the third paragraph. 
(C) states this verbatim and should be the correct answer. (A) This is the purpose of the entire passage and not just of the second paragraph. 
(D) While this is mentioned in the second paragraph, the main purpose is more than just to state this fact. 
(E) Same as D.

NoMatterWhat · Answer

IMO Option E is correct because as per ' the alcohol will be returned to the mother’s system by passing across the placenta' we can conclude alcohol passes from fetus to mother through the placenta; reverse may not be true

Point to eliminate Option A
" Moreover, because the bloodstream of the fetus is inextricably tied to that of the mother, the alcohol passes directly into the bloodstream of the fetus as well. "

IMO: E is better than A

Skywalker18 · Answer

All correct except Q1 in almost 6 mins. Took a lot of time in Q1 as I was unable to eliminate options A and E
1. According to the information in the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

(A) There is no time lag in passing of alcohol from the mother to the fetus. --- I understand that there must be some time lag because of the below-
As a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, the alcohol is passed into her bloodstream almost simultaneously. Moreover, because the bloodstream of the fetus is inextricably tied to that of the mother, the alcohol passes directly into the bloodstream of the fetus as well. 
(E) Alcohol passes from the mother to the fetus through the placenta.

Eventually, the alcohol will be returned to the mother’s system by passing across the placenta, but this process is slow. -- This statement only talks about the return process from fetus’s system to mother's system.  So how can infer that the same organ(placenta) was used to transfer from mother's system to fetus's system?
 
 AjiteshArun  ,  GMATNinja  ,  MagooshExpert  ,  GMATGuruNY  ,  VeritasPrepBrian  ,  MartyTargetTestPrep  ,  DmitryFarber  ,  VeritasKarishma  ,  generis  ,  jennpt  , other experts - please enlighten

KarishmaB · Answer

Yes, we cannot assume that the placenta was used to transfer alcohol from mother to fetus too. But we cannot assume that the placenta was NOT used to transfer alcohol from mother to fetus. We need the option which is "NOT TRUE". About (E), we cannot say whether it is true or false because the passage doesn't say anything about it. We need to infer that the correct option is "NOT TRUE". As per the passage, option (A) is not true. It is false.

Hence (A) is the answer.

Hence (A) is the answer.

Bombsante · Answer

1. According to the information in the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

Carefully read: As a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, the alcohol is passed into her bloodstream  almost  simultaneously. Means not simultaneously actually. Eliminate all other answers except A since all other statements are mentioned in the passage.

(A) There is no time lag in passing of alcohol from the mother to the fetus.
(B) The fetus’ liver is unable to keep up with the workings of the mothers’ liver.
(C) The alcohol is eventually passed back from the fetus to the mother.
(D) Fetal alcohol syndrome can cause irreversible damages to the fetus.
(E) Alcohol passes from the mother to the fetus through the placenta.

Businessconquerer · Answer

Show me where E is present please

Bombsante · Answer

Well If we have to go literal, let us try to find out where is it mentioned in the passage that Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is what the passage is talking about?
If we isolate the information given in the passage on literal terms, it treads on a thin line of asking questions for which information is not explicit in it.

Therefore, if "the alcohol will be returned to the mother’s system by passing across the placenta", it is implicit that it goes to the unborn's system through the same
route though it is not mentioned explicitly in the passage. I guess the debate can be endless on this, the point is what is the take home from the passage and how we can improve our skills to score well on the actual exam...

TheNightKing · Answer

VeritasKarishma  /  Skywalker18

Any one of you can answer this.

I am confused. I understand why E is not the answer because we cannot infer whether the alcohol passes trhough placenta or not. That's fine

But how did we figure out option A is NOT TRUE? From what Skywalker has highlighted, the blood flows directly which also means there is no delay.

Thank you in advance.!

KarishmaB · Answer

"no delay" and "almost simultaneously" are different things. "almost" means there is some lag. So there is "no time lag" is definitely false.

VerbalBot · Answer

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One of the most dangerous drugs for pregnant women to consume is

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