Maize

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Maize

by gmatmachoman » Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:25 am
Maize contains the vitamin niacin, but not in a form the body can absorb. Pellagra is a
disease that results from niacin deficiency. When maize was introduced into southern
Europe from the Americas in the eighteenth century, it quickly became a dietary staple,
and many Europeans who came to subsist primarily on maize developed pellagra.
Pellagra was virtually unknown at that time in the Americas, however, even among
people who subsisted primarily on maize.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the contrasting incidence of
pellagra described above?

A. Once introduced into southern Europe, maize became popular with landowners
because of its high yields relative to other cereal crops.

B. Maize grown in the Americas contained more niacin than maize grown in Europe
did.
C. Traditional ways of preparing maize in the Americas convert maize's niacin into a
nutritionally useful form.
D. In southern Europe many of the people who consumed maize also ate niacin-rich
foods.
E. Before the discovery of pellagra's link with niacin, it was widely believed that the
disease was an infection that could be transmitted from person to person.

OA after discussions!

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by DanaJ » Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:44 am
To me, C makes the most sense. This is basically an "explain the paradox type of question". If Native Americans have a specific way of cooking maize that makes use of niacin, then the reduced incidence of pellagra is explained.

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by gmatmachoman » Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:08 am
Now I understood wat made u to crack 770 dude..

Awesome!!!

OA is C

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by DanaJ » Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:20 am
:) I'm a "dudette", actually... But thanks anyway! Good luck!

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by kbharadwaj.1987 » Sun Aug 30, 2009 4:31 pm
C. Traditional ways of preparing maize in the Americas convert maize's niacin into a
nutritionally useful form.

Although I completely agree with C, don't you guys think that this answer just resolves one side, isn't it one-sided? Just explains about the Americans, nothing about the Europeans. I hope I'm not speculating anything out of thin air.

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by tanviet » Sun Aug 30, 2009 5:35 pm
I can not understand what is "contrasting incidence" and so do not understand what I have to do.

if the contrasting incidence is that American do not suffer desease while European do, I can answer the question.

the difficulty is in realization of incidence. why gmat offer this type of queston which cover the meaning of question. Normaly the dificulty is in reasoning.

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by DanaJ » Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:47 pm
Verbal will always test your vocabulary as well.
contrasting = different, opposing
incidence = occurance, frequency

kbharadwaj.1987: yeah, I felt the same way too. But that didn't stop me from picking C: I guess it was a combination of process of elimination + reasoning.

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by vikram_k51 » Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:56 pm
Will go with C on this one.Perhaps the Europeans did not convert the food into a nutritionally useful form.

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by viju9162 » Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:59 pm
c fits the bill. In the beginning, author states that Maize contains the vitamin niacin, but not in a form the body can absorb. However, europeans might not have consumed in a definite procedure to avoid pellagra disease.

Hence, "C" clearly mentions by providing contrasting evidence that americans used to convert it in a suitable form. If europeans followed the same procedure, they would have subsided the disease
"Native of" is used for a individual while "Native to" is used for a large group

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by joseph32 » Sun May 15, 2016 9:26 pm
I'd say C but I'm afraid more because of my intuition than any logic.