BTG practice questions: Coffee

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BTG practice questions: Coffee

by arora007 » Tue Feb 08, 2011 12:33 am
The Food and Drug Administration Agency's latest research has just been released. Studies conducted on laboratory rats demonstrate that when pregnant rats are given doses of caffeine equivalent to a human consumption of six cups of coffee per day, the rate of birth defects increases. A spokesperson for the FDA, when asked if the government would require warning labels on products containing caffeine, replied that it would not, because "if the findings of these studies are refuted, the government will lose credibility."

The government's position on requiring warning labels on caffeinated products most strongly suggests which of the following?

A)# concern about imposing a warning that applies only to part of the population
B)# a reluctance to impose a warning when limited consumption may be harmless
C)# doubts about the conclusive nature of the studies
D)# a reluctance to draw conclusions about human birth defects from studies on animals
E)# doubts about the seriousness of the birth defects

[spoiler]C is the correct choice, and B is wrong.
This question is a classic example, as to why one should have a good vocabulary as well when one approaches verbal section. The word "Refuted" was not clear to me, I took refuted as refused and went ahead looking at the choices.
I felt that B was a better choice, obviously I did not have the correct meaning of the stimulus.[/spoiler]
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by mundasingh123 » Tue Feb 08, 2011 6:14 am
What is the OE ?
What is their interpretation of the word "Refuted "
I Seek Explanations Not Answers

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by fitzgerald23 » Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:23 am
I think that this is one where you have to concentrate on what the passage says.

1. The FDA found that caffeine can cause harm
2. The FDA wont issue warnings in the event that the information is proven wrong which will undermine the FDA credibility

What we really need to interpret is statement 2, which is why they wont issue the warning.

A. Incorrect. The amount of the population this effects is never a concern.

B. Incorrect. Are they worried that the warning is not needed because of the amount people consume? No. They have their findings which say it is harmful at a certain consumption level. The warning would only pertain to that level (i.e. a label which says WARNING! More than 6 cups a day may be harmful to pregnant women).

C. Correct. Clearly they are worried that the data is wrong. Their reasoning is that if the findings are proven wrong they will lose their credibility. If they are that worried about the findings being proven wrong it means they are not very confident in their findings.

D. Incorrect. Nowhere do they discuss that the findings could be wrong because it was not tested on humans.

E. Incorrect. The issue is any birth defect not how bad the birth defect is.

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by arora007 » Tue Feb 08, 2011 12:42 pm
fitzgerald23 wrote:
B. Incorrect. Are they worried that the warning is not needed because of the amount people consume? No. They have their findings which say it is harmful at a certain consumption level. The warning would only pertain to that level (i.e. a label which says WARNING! More than 6 cups a day may be harmful to pregnant women).
I guess mentally taking such examples, clears off the mist... Makes sense!!
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