#17 - Concept Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below! Thank you!

[theamazingrace]

I was stuck between C and E I though both of them were right but when I looked again I found C to be the wrong answer because there was no mention of "chlorinated water systems" in the passage where Colwell tested their hypothesis. Is this right or is there another reason that I over looked.

Thanks

[Adam Tyson]

That's right, Grace! The passage did mention that scientists once believed that cholera passed only through human hosts and their waste, including waste found in unchlorinated water supplies (first paragraph), but there was no discussion of whether the bacterium could survive in chlorinated water. Since that was not mentioned or even alluded to, we can eliminate answer C. The issue in this question is of the bacterium not being culturable, which would mean it is dormant, but still infecting a human who ingests it, which would require it to wake up from its dormant state. That's answer E! Good work there.

[gabelsmith]

Is B incorrect because it is too specific? It seems to be the same as E, but adds a detail that was not mentioned in the passage.

[Robert Carroll]

gabelsmith,

That's exactly why answer choice (B) is incorrect - it's making a more specific and stronger claim than answer choice (E). If cholera can be undetectable by traditional means but still infect someone, then the body of the infected person can reasonably be inferred to be suitable for awakening cholera from dormancy. Is it therefore the same temperature as the ocean? Not necessarily. So answer choice (B) requires us to know something much more specific than answer choice (E). That's why answer choice (B) is incorrect.

Robert Carroll