West Africa

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West Africa

by vscid » Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:27 pm
A European doctor who worked in West Africa for two years reported that he never saw a case of appendicitis in the native African population. However, European personnel who came to work in the hospital sometimes developed appendicitis, as did their children, even those born and brought up in West Africa. The doctor also knew that Africans who immigrated to Europe sometimes developed appendicitis in Europe, at rates comparable to those for native Europeans.

What is the best explanation for the observations?

A) The climate of Europe is much more conducive to appendicitis than is that of West Africa.

B) There are genetic differences which make Europeans much more susceptible to appendicitis than Black Africans.

C) Because western-style medicine has been introduced into this part of Africa only recently, the indigenous population has long ago developed a natural resistance to appendicitis.

D) The very high temperatures in the African environment tend to suppress the bacteria which cause appendicitis.

E) Some feature of the common diet of Europeans, something not normally present in the diet of indigenous Africans, is conducive to appendicitis
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by pandeyvineet24 » Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:48 pm
Stumped, but i would have gone with E after 2 mins.

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by pbanavara » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:08 pm
Another vote for E

The question asks us to provide an explanation for the appendicitis cause. Clearly, it's not location dependent, it's not dependent on the race ( both Africans and Europeans have been infected with the disease ) and also it is not genetic.

E provides the right explanation by stating that the European diet contained some element that was conducive for the appendicitis bacteria and this is strengthened by the fact that Africans who went to Europe sometimes developed the disease ( possibly by eating the European diet )
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by moorthy76 » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:13 pm
IMO E
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by Bidisha800 » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:00 pm
(E)
Drill baby drill !

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by logitech » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:52 pm
Bidisha800 wrote:(E)
(W) & (S)
LGTCH
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by yalanand » Thu Jan 15, 2009 11:04 pm
I would go with E too

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by Bidisha800 » Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:57 pm
logitech wrote:
Bidisha800 wrote:(E)
(W) & (S)
(MF)
Drill baby drill !

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by beatthegmat » Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:26 pm
logitech and Bidisha800: please STOP provoking each other! This community is dedicated to learning and we have no room for feuds.

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by vscid » Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:10 am
OA E !
The GMAT is indeed adaptable. Whenever I answer RC, it proficiently 'adapts' itself to mark my 'right' answer 'wrong'.

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by samanthaJ79 » Fri May 13, 2016 3:43 am
I still feel E should be the answer