PT158 S4 Q11 ExplanationIn the past, infants who

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Correct80% picked this

   Boiled cow's milk makes less vitamin C available to infants than does the same amount

   Why this is right

   The passage establishes that infants fed boiled cow's milk developed scurvy (a vitamin C deficiency disease) while breast-fed infants did not. The most direct inference: boiled cow's milk makes less vitamin C available than mother's milk. This explains both observations simultaneously — breast-fed infants received adequate vitamin C and stayed healthy, while infants on boiled cow's milk did not receive enough and developed scurvy. This inference requires minimal additional assumptions. It simply connects the known cause of scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) with the observed difference in outcomes between the two feeding methods. The boiling process likely destroyed vitamin C in the cow's milk, but even without knowing the mechanism, the conclusion about relative vitamin C levels is strongly supported by the evidence.

   Skill tested: Most Supported · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   80%
2. B

   Too Strong10% picked this

   Infants who consume cow's milk that has not been boiled frequently contract potentially

   The passage never discusses how frequently infants consuming unboiled cow's milk contracted fatal infections. The word "frequently" introduces a claim about rate or regularity that the evidence does not support. The passage mentions that doctors advised boiling to prevent gastrointestinal infections, but it does not state how common those infections were among infants drinking unboiled milk, nor does it say the infections were fatal. This answer adds two unsupported intensifiers — "frequently" and "fatal" — going well beyond what the passage establishes.

   10%
3. C

   Contradicted1% picked this

   Mother's milk can cause gastrointestinal infections

   The passage states that breast-fed infants did not contract scurvy — a finding consistent with breast milk being nutritionally adequate. It provides no evidence whatsoever that mother's milk can cause gastrointestinal infections. In fact, the passage implicitly contrasts breast milk favorably against cow's milk: breast-fed infants avoided scurvy, while the boiling needed to make cow's milk safe had the side effect of causing scurvy. Nothing in the passage supports the claim that breast milk itself poses an infection risk.

   1%
4. D

   Out of Scope6% picked this

   When doctors advised that cow's milk fed to infants should be boiled, they did not know that scurvy was

   The passage describes the link between scurvy and vitamin C deficiency, but says nothing about what doctors at the time knew or did not know about this connection. Whether doctors understood the cause of scurvy is a claim about their state of knowledge — a topic the passage simply does not address. On Most Strongly Supported questions, every element of the correct answer must be traceable to the passage's evidence. Claims about historical figures' awareness require evidence about their mental states or documented beliefs, which this passage does not provide.

   6%
5. E

   Too Strong4% picked this

   When doctors advised that cow's milk fed to infants should be boiled, most mothers did

   The passage mentions that infants who were not breast-fed were given cow's milk, but it does not specify what proportion of mothers breast-fed. The word "most" requires data about a majority, which the passage does not provide. The passage's structure — beginning with "infants who were not breast-fed" — tells us some infants were bottle-fed, but nothing about whether this was the common or uncommon situation. On Most Strongly Supported questions, quantifiers like "most" are red flags when the passage provides no proportional data.

   4%