Multiple choice

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows it.

A recent medical journal published a study, which found that athletes who exercised more than five hours per week were more likely than the other athletes to have high levels of chemical compound riboflavin in their blood. High levels of this compound can be one of the first warning signs of skin cancer, which is almost always caused by excessive exposure of the body to water.

Which one of the following, if true, would cast doubt on the study’s conclusion that exercising more than five hours per week increases the odds of contracting skin cancer?

  1. Lack of exercise increases the rate of absorption of many dangerous chemical compounds into the blood stream.

  2. Exercise increases the rate of blood flow through the circulatory system, thereby increasing the rate at which contaminants spread through the body.

  3. Majority of the athletes studied were swimmers.

  4. Athletes contract skin cancer at a significantly higher rate than common people do.

  5. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

This is a causal argument and this choice provides an alternative cause for the increased levels of the chemical linked to skin cancer.

Keep practicing — related questions