Reading comp PrepTest 116 · Section 4 · Question 21

Topic: Science

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Scientists' misconception about wine (no different than other alcohol, only study excessive drinking)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Author's view:
    • Scientists assumed that the only active ingredient in wine was alcohol, so they didn't study it separately from other alcoholic beverages and only focused on excessive drinking (first through last sentences)
  • Comparison, according to the author:
    • Unlike other alcoholic beverages, people have long thought that wine could have health benefits (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "assumed" (first sentence), "study only the excessive or abusive intake" (last sentence), "obscure" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • New evidence challenges misconception about wine (absorbed more slowly, may lower heart disease risk)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Example of alcohol's negative health effects :
    • Alcohol increases lipid levels in the blood, a factor in developing heart disease (second sentence)
  • Definition of "lipids": fats and other substances, including cholesterol (second sentence)
  • Comparisons, according to the author:
    • Alcohol is absorbed more slowly when drinking wine (second sentence)
    • Those who drink wine moderately have a lower risk of death due to heart disease in some European countries (third sentence)
    • The benefits are the same for red and white wines (fourth sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "shown conclusively" (second sentence), "dangerous increases" (second sentence), "a large contributing factor" (second sentence), "much more slowly" (second sentence), "More remarkably" (third sentence), "decreased dramatically" (third sentence), "has shown" (fourth sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Evidence of wine's (or maybe grapes') healthful effects (clot-breaking, thins blood-vessel walls, reduces platelet adhesiveness)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Definition of "endothelial cell reactivity": affects the thickness of the innermost walls of blood vessels (fourth sentence)
  • Definition of "platelet adhesiveness": influences the degree to which platelets cause blood to clot (fourth sentence)
  • List of cause-and-effect relationships (showing that wine can produce healthful effects), according to the author:
    • Wine causes increased activity of a natural clot–breaking compound (first sentence)
    • Wine cause increased levels of certain compounds that may help to prevent damage from high lipid level, and decreases endothelial cell reactivity and platelet adhesiveness (second through fifth sentences)
  • Comparison, according to the author:
    • One study showed that drinking grape juice could also decrease platelet adhesiveness (sixth sentence)
    • This might show that the health benefits of wine come from natural compounds in grapes and are thus not present in other alcoholic beverages (last sentence)
  • Author's attitude: "studies show" (first sentence), "indicate" (second sentence), "may help to prevent" (second sentence), "one of the most important discoveries" (third sentence), "additional important contributing factors" (third sentence), "each linked" (fourth sentence), "appears to have ameliorating effects" (fifth sentence), "demonstrated," (sixth sentence), " "may be the first step in confirming speculation" (last sentence), "may derive" (last sentence)

Main Point: Though previously ignored by scientists, recent studies show that moderate wine consumption may produce significant health benefits.

Correcting the Record: This passage most closely matches a Correcting the Record Meta-Structure.* In such a structure, a common misconception or false belief is described and then corrected.

The passage begins by introducing a misconception: scientists have assumed that wine is the same as other alcoholic beverages and thus neglected to investigate any potential health benefits that it might provide. The second paragraph tells about recent research that challenges this assumption. This new information shows that wine has some important differences (ex: its alcohol is absorbed more slowly). Also, correlations between moderate wine consumption and reduced incidence of heart disease have been observed in Europe. But what, the author asks, could explain these effects of imbibing wine? The final paragraph tells us how. Wine can reduce various contributing factors of heart disease (blood vessel wall thickness, blood clot frequency, etc.). Finally, the author suggests a possible explanation for the observed benefits of wine consumption: there might be health-giving natural compounds in grapes.

In passages that utilize a Correcting the Record Meta-Structure, the main point will be the author's explanation of why the misconception is false. In the passage, the misconception is that wine has no unique health benefits worth investigating. The author thinks this belief is false because wine has been shown to have several qualities that can directly improve one's health. Therefore, we can anticipate a main point that looks something like this: "Though previously ignored by scientists, recent studies show that moderate wine consumption may produce significant health benefits."

*As is the case for many passages that utilize a Critical Meta-Structure, another Meta-Structure from that family — like Criticizing a Viewpoint — could apply to this passage. After all, there is considerable overlap between the Correcting the Record and Criticizing a Viewpoint Meta-Structures. Other Meta-Structures work for this passage, too. The passage may utilize a Question/Answer or Phenomenon/Explanation Meta-Structure (Q/Phenomenon: why does wine appear to have healthful effects? A/Explanation: changes that may be related to compounds found in grapes). We could even classify this as an Importance of Subject Meta-Structure or a Proposing a Hypothesis Meta-Structure.

Cause and Effect: As is often the case for science passages, we get a heavy pour of cause and effect in this passage. This passage outlines many of the ways wine can cause health benefits: it causes a decrease in the risk of heart disease in some European countries (P2, S3), an increase in natural clot-breakers (P3, S1), and a decrease in endothelial cell reactivity and platelet adhesiveness (P3, S5). We also learn of some ways alcohol usually causes bad health: it causes dangerous increases in lipid levels and heart disease (P2, S2). Let's have these relationships highlighted since we're likely to get a question or two about them.

This passage features a clear structure, many minor Meta-Structures, and a fair amount of author’s attitude. That tells us we’re probably going to get a mix of questions from each of the Reading Comp question families — Major Point, Minor Point, Argument Struxture, Tone, and Application.