PT154.S3.P3.Q14

PrepTest 154 - Section 3 - Passage 3 - Question 14

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P1

For nearly a century after the discovery in the 1880s that a bacterium, . ██████ █████████ ██████ ████████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ███████ ████ ███ █████ █████ ███ ████ █████████ █████████ ████████ ████ ███ ████████ ██████ ███████ ██████████████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ████ ███ █████████████ █████ █████████ ███

Scientists' belief · Vibrio cholerae (VC), which causes cholara, travels only by human hosts
VC epidemics occur when bacteria spreads through human waste.
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Puzzling phenomenon · VC pops up in places we thought it had been eliminated
And, where does it go in between epidemics?
P2

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Colwell's discovery · Found VC in Chesapeake Bay
Others were skeptical because they thought VC couldn't survive without a human host, and there were no cholera epidemics since 1911.
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Colwell's hypothesis · VC can survive in seawater, and can't always be detected by traditional methods
Traditional methods involved growing bacteria in a petri dish. Perhaps we can't do this with VC.
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Testing Colwell's hypothesis · New detection method finds VC in water
Used this method near New Orleans and in Asia. Method involves an antibody that produces light if VC is present.
P3

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Additional findings · VC can become dormant and stop reproducing
That's why it sometimes can't be cultured. In this dormant state, VC can survive away from humans. We don't know what awakens VC from a dormant state, but it might be changes in seawater temperature or salinity (saltiness).
Passage Style
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
Single position
Show answer
14.

The passage provides information that ██ ████ ███████ ██ █████████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████

a

Why did Colwell ███████ ████ ███ █████ ██████ ██ ███ █████████████ █████████ ███ ██ █████████

Answered. Colwell suspected that V. cholerae lived in the ocean because most historic cholera outbreaks have happened along seacoasts.

90%
b

What other bacteria ███ ███████ ██ ████████ █ ███████ █████ ███████ ██ ████ ██ ██ █████████

Not answered; there’s no discussion of what specific kinds of other bacteria can enter a dormant state.

1%
c

Does ultraviolet light ██ ████ ██ █████████ ████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ███ ████████████ ██ ██ █████████

Not answered; there’s no discussion of the UV light’s effects on reproduction.

1%
d

Is V. cholerae ███████ ██ █████████ ████ ████████ ███

Not answered; there’s no discussion of V. cholerae’s effects on shellfish.

1%
e

How does Colwell ██████ ██ █████████ ███ ██████████ ████ ██████ ██ ████████ ████ █████████

Not answered; there’s no discussion of how Colwell intends to investigate the factors that awaken V. cholerae from dormancy. Although the author discusses Colwell’s belief regarding what awakens V. cholerae, the author doesn’t discuss how Colwell will test this belief or further study V. cholerae.

8%

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