PT116.S4.P4.Q21

PrepTest 116 - Section 4 - Passage 4 - Question 21

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P1

Most scientists who study the physiological effects of alcoholic beverages have assumed that wine, like beer or distilled spirits, is a drink whose only active ingredient is alcohol. ███████ ██ ████ ███████████ █████ ██████████ ████ ██████ ████████████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ██ ████████ ████ █████ █████ ██ █████████ ██████████ ███

Most scientists' view · No meaningful distinction between wine and other alcoholic beverages
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Phenomenon · Health benefits of wine
Obscured by most scientists
P2

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Wine researchers' view · Most scientists' assumption may be flawed
Wine may have other active ingredients besides alcohol
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Elaborate on phenomenon · Alcohol is bad for health, yet wine is linked to health benefits
Alcohol contributes to premature hearth disease by increasing lipid levels in the blood, yet wine lowers the occurence of such disease
P3

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Hypothesis · Wine is linked to specific biochemical mechanisms that reduce risk of heart disease
Moderate wine consumption is correlated with (1) breaking down blood clots, (2) preventing damage from high lipid levels, (3) decreased thickness of innermost walls of blood vessels, and (4) reduced platelet adhesiveness, all of which protect against heart disease
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clarify hypothesis · Wine's benefits are due to compounds found in grapes
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
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21.

In the first paragraph, the ██████ ████ ██████ ██████ ██ ███ █████████████ ██████ ████ ████ ███ █████████ ███████ ██ █████ ██

a

demonstrate that discoveries ██ ███ █████ ██ ███████ █████ ████ ███ ███████ ███████

This isn’t a point that the author makes in the passage. The author isn’t trying to show that modern science often confirms popular beliefs, so this is not the author’s purpose in referencing the centuries-old belief.

10%
b

provide evidence for ███ ██████ ████ ████████ ████ ███████████ ███████████ ███████ ████ ██████████ ██ █████████ █████ ███████

The reference to the centuries-old belief just tells us what people have thought for a long time; it does not provide any evidence that confirms a scientific theory.

6%
c

argue that traditional ███████ ███ ██ ████ █████████ ████ ██████████ ████████ ████ █████████████ ██████ ███████

The author does not make any claims about the relative importance of traditional beliefs compared to scientific evidence. In the sentence in question, the author isn’t trying to say that the centuries-old beliefs are as important as scientific evidence; instead, the author is just demonstrating that the centuries-old beliefs are different from the views of these scientists.

5%
d

suggest that a ██████████ ██████████ ██████████ █████ ██ ████████

This is the author’s purpose for this phrase. By contrasting the views of the scientists, the reference to the centuries-old belief introduces the idea that there’s an alternative way to understand things. This reference to the centuries-held belief primes the reader for the idea that wine may actually have health benefits, which is developed throughout the rest of the passage.

78%
e

refute the argument ████ ███████ ██████ ████ ████ ████ ███████ ███████

The purpose of referencing the centuries-old belief is just to illustrate a view that contrasts with the scientists’ perspective; the author never makes a claim on whether or not science should take cues from popular beliefs, so this isn’t the purpose of this phrase.

1%

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