TEAS 7 Reading Practice Test

Question 1

Passage: Public health officials have recently advised adults to reduce added sodium consumption by replacing canned seasonings with fresh herbs and spices. However, culinary critics and restaurant lobbyists argue that these public health advocates want to ban all seasoned food and force citizens to consume completely tasteless, unseasoned gruel. These critics claim that stripping kitchens of all table salt and forbidding basic culinary traditions is an assault on personal dining freedom that will ruin family gatherings. Consequently, they argue that dietary sodium guidelines should be disregarded because nobody wants to live in a world where flavor is strictly prohibited.

Which logical fallacy do the critics commit in opposing the dietary guidelines?

Accepted Answer

Straw man

Answer

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

Answer

Circular reasoning

Answer

Bandwagon appeal

Question 2

Passage: Dehydration occurs when the body loses more fluids than it takes in, disrupting normal physiological functions. Common clinical signs include dry mucous membranes, dark-colored urine, and decreased skin turgor. Mild dehydration can often be treated by drinking water or oral rehydration solutions containing balanced electrolytes. Water is undoubtedly the most refreshing beverage available on a hot afternoon. In more severe cases, intravenous fluid replacement is administered in a healthcare facility to restore hemodynamic stability quickly.

Which of the following sentences from the passage expresses a subjective viewpoint?

Accepted Answer

Water is undoubtedly the most refreshing beverage available on a hot afternoon.

Answer

Mild dehydration can often be treated by drinking water or oral rehydration solutions containing balanced electrolytes.

Answer

Common clinical signs include dry mucous membranes, dark-colored urine, and decreased skin turgor.

Answer

Dehydration occurs when the body loses more fluids than it takes in, disrupting normal physiological functions.

Question 3

Passage: Postoperative Anticoagulation Monitoring Log. All platelet counts are in ×10³/µL. Patient PT-101: 280 at baseline, 275 on Day 3, 260 on Day 5 and 250 on Day 7. Patient PT-102: 310 at baseline, 290 on Day 3, 195 on Day 5 and 145 on Day 7. Patient PT-103: 220 at baseline, 215 on Day 3, 180 on Day 5 and 160 on Day 7. Patient PT-104: 400 at baseline, 360 on Day 3, 310 on Day 5 and 220 on Day 7. For this data-review exercise, flag any patient whose platelet count decreases by more than 50% from baseline at any recorded time. This exercise does not establish a diagnosis or determine treatment.

According to the monitoring log and the stated rule, which patient should be flagged?

Accepted Answer

PT-102

Answer

PT-101

Answer

PT-104

Answer

PT-103

Question 4

Passage: A community clinic tested an automated text-reminder system for three months. During the preceding three months, it had scheduled 400 daytime appointments, of which 40 were missed, and 100 evening appointments, of which 30 were missed. During the pilot, it scheduled 100 daytime appointments, of which 8 were missed, and 400 evening appointments, of which 112 were missed. A previously planned schedule change shifted appointment availability toward evening hours to accommodate working patients.

At the budget meeting, the scheduling director recommended ending the reminder system. "The number of appointments stayed at 500, but the percentage missed rose from 14% to 24%," she said. "A program intended to improve attendance has instead made it worse."

Another employee noted that many patients praised the reminders. The director responded that patient opinions could not outweigh attendance records. The clinic had not randomly assigned patients to different reminder methods, and its records did not identify why particular patients missed visits. The committee therefore had reliable counts but no direct evidence about the reasons behind individual attendance decisions. Members needed to decide whether the director's comparison adequately supported her recommendation.

Which evaluation best addresses the director's reasoning?

Accepted Answer

The combined rate mixes appointment groups in different proportions, so its increase does not establish that the reminders worsened attendance.

Answer

The separate rates provide a valid measure of the reminders' effect because comparisons within appointment periods account for other changes affecting attendance.

Answer

The evening counts suggest reduced reminder effectiveness, supporting the director's recommendation despite improved attendance among patients with daytime appointments.

Answer

The equal appointment totals make the combined rates directly comparable, supporting the director's use of those rates to evaluate the reminder system.

Question 5

Passage: Nosocomial outbreaks of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae represent a grave challenge in critical care. Carbapenems have traditionally been reserved for serious infections caused or strongly suspected to be caused by bacteria resistant to other treatment options. Genomic surveillance indicates that the resistance gene blaKPC is located on mobile transposable genetic elements within conjugative plasmids. Even when physicians severely restrict the prescription of carbapenems within an intensive care unit, resistance rates often fail to decline as long as third-generation cephalosporins and other beta-lactams are frequently prescribed. The shared plasmid frequently carries co-resistance genes encoding enzymes that neutralize several distinct antibiotic classes simultaneously.

What can be inferred from the passage regarding the persistence of carbapenem resistance despite restricted carbapenem use?

Accepted Answer

Continued exposure to other beta-lactam drugs provides selective pressure that preserves the multi-resistance plasmid.

Answer

Restricting carbapenem use increases the rate at which resistance plasmids transfer between bacteria.

Answer

Continued exposure to cephalosporins causes new chromosomal mutations that account for the persistent carbapenem resistance.

Answer

Restricting carbapenem use favors the movement of the carbapenem-resistance gene from plasmids into bacterial chromosomes.

Question 6

Passage: The rapid proliferation of antimicrobial resistance represents one of the most pressing threats to modern medicine. Decades of overprescribing antibiotics for minor ailments, combined with their extensive use in livestock agriculture, have accelerated the natural selection of resilient pathogens. Bacteria can swiftly trade genetic material across different species, acquiring mechanisms that neutralize standard pharmacological treatments. Without aggressive global stewardship and the development of novel therapeutic classes, common bacterial infections that were once trivial to treat could become recalcitrant and potentially fatal in vulnerable hospital populations.

As used in the passage, which of the following is the best synonym for "proliferation"?

Accepted Answer

expansion

Answer

precise measurement

Answer

gradual decline

Answer

chemical breakdown

Question 7

Passage: A city is comparing reusable and single-use containers for its meal-delivery program. Its environmental model assigns 12 emission units to producing and eventually disposing of one reusable container. Operating the reusable system, including washing and return transportation, adds 0.2 unit per meal served. Producing and disposing of a single-use container accounts for 0.8 unit per meal. Other delivery activities have identical emissions and are excluded from both totals.

A completed pilot tracked every reusable container from its first use until retirement or loss. Across all containers, including those lost early, the average was 18 uses. The report treats the model's emission figures as fixed for this comparison.

The program coordinator argued that the pilot demonstrated lower emissions because each reusable container replaced an average of 18 single-use containers. A critic rejected that conclusion for a different reason: each reusable container had a much larger fixed production-and-disposal footprint. The critic argued that reuse would remain the higher-emission choice as use counts rose.

The council must evaluate both arguments using the complete model, rather than considering only the number of discarded containers or only the fixed footprint of producing and disposing of one container.

Which evaluation best addresses the reasoning in both arguments?

Accepted Answer

The pilot does not demonstrate savings, but the critic overlooks the possibility that higher reuse could offset the reusable container's fixed burden.

Answer

The coordinator's conclusion is supported by the pilot's repeated use of each container, while the critic gives too much weight to the fixed footprint assigned to each container.

Answer

The coordinator's conclusion overlooks the larger fixed burden of reusables, while the critic correctly treats that burden as evidence that expanding the number of uses would not produce savings.

Answer

Both conclusions need further evaluation because the reported average hides differences in individual container use, and those differences are needed to calculate the completed pilot's combined emissions.

Question 8

Passage: During much of the nineteenth century, many physicians attributed infectious disease outbreaks to noxious vapors, a conceptual framework known as miasma theory. Proponents argued that decaying organic matter generated toxic emanations that poisoned atmospheric air, directly sickening urban populations. However, the advent of germ theory led to the repudiation of these longstanding assumptions. Pioneering microbiologists used rigorous microscopic analysis and controlled experiments to demonstrate that microorganisms, not airborne odors, caused many infectious diseases. As germ theory gradually gained acceptance, physicians increasingly rejected explanations based on miasma and adopted infection prevention measures such as sterilization. Sanitation remained important, but explanations of how it prevented disease changed.

As used in the passage, which of the following is the best definition of "repudiation"?

Accepted Answer

Formal rejection or denial

Answer

Independent confirmation

Answer

Detailed experimentation

Answer

Gradual scientific evolution

Question 9

Passage: In a recent documentary titled 'The Global Water Crisis,' the narrator discusses the long-term impacts of drought on agricultural yields in Sub-Saharan Africa. The film uses statistics from previously published government reports and summarizes published analyses by environmental historians to explain why water scarcity is increasing in the region. It presents no original interviews or research findings.

Which of the following best describes the nature of the documentary's information?

Accepted Answer

Secondary, because it interprets and synthesizes external data.

Answer

Tertiary, because it is a collection of bibliographies.

Answer

Primary, because it provides new scientific data.

Answer

Primary, because citing government reports makes it a firsthand account.

Question 10

Passage: At last month's scheduling meeting, a chart showed that most clinic patients had activated their online portal accounts. The result was encouraging: electronic appointment notices can arrive quickly, and many patients appreciate finding their information in one place. It was tempting to treat the activation rate as evidence that printed letters were becoming unnecessary.

An activated account, however, records something a patient did at one point. It does not establish what that patient can access today. A phone may have been replaced, a password forgotten, or an internet connection lost. A patient who successfully opened a message last spring may now depend on a library computer with limited hours.

More portal demonstrations could help some patients. Yet difficulty using the software is not the same as lacking a reliable device or connection. Sending duplicate notices by mail is not automatically preferable, either. Some patients do not want appointment details arriving at a shared address.

The useful measure is not how many accounts exist or how many messages leave the system. It is whether patients receive information in a form they can use. Communication preferences deserve the same periodic attention as other details that can change between visits.

Which proposed staff action would best fulfill the author's purpose in this clinic newsletter passage?

Accepted Answer

Ask patients how they receive messages and offer a practical alternative when needed.

Answer

Expand portal demonstrations so that more patients can use the current electronic messaging system.

Answer

Make duplicate electronic and printed notices the standard approach for routine appointment reminders.

Answer

Use a patient's portal activation status to decide which notice format to provide.

Question 11

Passage: Westbrook Clinic replaced live telephone intake with a callback system. Previously, intake staff usually completed a new patient's registration during the initial call. Under the new system, callers leave a number, and staff return calls when registration appointments become available. Once registration is complete, patients can receive an appointment offer.

The clinic's quarterly report showed a substantial decrease in the median wait for an initial appointment. The report used the same definition as before: time from completed registration to the first appointment offered. Completed visits and physician hours remained approximately unchanged. Local referral organizations also reported recommending the clinic to roughly the same number of people.

A review of telephone records revealed that some prospective patients required repeated callbacks before registration could begin. Staff generally returned calls during business hours, when several callers had said they could not answer personal calls. These callers remained on an open-contact list. Because they had not completed registration, their records did not enter the appointment-wait calculation.

At a board meeting, the clinic director described the shorter reported wait as evidence that patients were obtaining care more quickly. An intake supervisor requested that the next report include the interval between a person's first telephone message and completed registration.

Which inference is best supported by the passage?

Accepted Answer

The shorter reported wait may reflect delays moving outside the measured interval, rather than an equivalent improvement in patients' overall access.

Answer

The shorter reported wait probably reflects declining demand for initial appointments, rather than a meaningful change in how the clinic schedules patients.

Answer

The shorter reported wait probably reflects increased appointment capacity, because the callback system reduced the time physicians spent handling patients' intake calls.

Answer

The stable number of completed visits suggests that the callback system preserved access for new patients, despite delays in reaching some callers.

Question 12

Passage: A community clinic tested a transportation voucher program to reduce missed appointments. During an eight-week pilot, patients could request a voucher covering a round-trip ride to the clinic. The missed-appointment rate fell compared with the preceding eight weeks. At a nearby clinic that did not offer vouchers, the rate remained close to its previous level.

The clinics served patients with broadly similar ages and appointment needs. Both used the same scheduling software and sent the same automated reminders. The pilot clinic's director argued that the unchanged rate at the comparison clinic made the vouchers the most convincing explanation for the improvement.

During the pilot, however, the first clinic also began offering appointments until 8 p.m. twice a week. Previously, both clinics had closed at 5 p.m. The comparison clinic kept its original hours. Several patients told reception staff that evening appointments allowed them to attend without missing work. Others said the vouchers made travel affordable.

The director recommended expanding transportation vouchers throughout the clinic network. In presenting the proposal, she credited the entire improvement in attendance to the vouchers and described the nearby clinic's results as strong support for that conclusion.

Which evaluation of the director's reasoning is most justified?

Accepted Answer

The added evening hours could explain some improvement, so the comparison does not isolate the vouchers' effect.

Answer

The comparison may understate the vouchers' effect because it includes patients who did not request or use transportation assistance during the pilot.

Answer

The stable rate at the second clinic largely rules out explanations other than transportation vouchers for the improvement at the pilot clinic.

Answer

The short observation period suggests that the attendance change mainly reflects patients' temporary interest in a new program rather than improved access.

Question 13

Passage: Direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits promise unprecedented insight into personal ancestry and inherited disease vulnerabilities, wrapped in the appealing rhetoric of patient empowerment. Yet, this democratization of genomic data carries distinct perils. Many consumers receive complex probabilistic risk assessments without the essential context provided by certified genetic counselors. A finding showing a slightly elevated relative risk can trigger unnecessary anxiety, follow-up testing, and unwarranted medical interventions, whereas a negative test might instill a false sense of security regarding lifestyle-driven diseases. Until rigorous pre-test education and mandatory post-test clinical counseling are integrated into direct-to-consumer platforms, these commercial kits remain an ambiguous, potentially hazardous substitute for professional clinical genetics.

Which of the following statements best characterizes the author's point of view concerning direct-to-consumer genetic tests?

Accepted Answer

Commercial genetic tests present meaningful clinical risks when delivered without professional counseling and proper context.

Answer

The personal empowerment these kits provide generally justifies offering them without routine clinical counseling.

Answer

The principal danger of these kits is inaccurate laboratory results that lead consumers to seek inappropriate medical care.

Answer

Pretest education alone would adequately address the potential harms of commercial genetic testing.

Question 14

Passage: The rise of telehealth services has transformed how patients interact with healthcare providers. For individuals living in rural areas, these digital consultations provide a vital link to specialists who may be hundreds of miles away. Although virtual visits cannot replace in-person physical examinations for all conditions, they have significantly reduced the time and cost associated with seeking medical advice.

Which statement best describes the relationship between the ideas in the passage?

Accepted Answer

Telehealth expands access while offering specific limitations.

Answer

Telehealth serves as a specialized tool for rural populations.

Answer

Telehealth provides an alternative to traditional medical costs.

Answer

The benefits of telehealth are overshadowed by its limitations.

Question 15

Passage: A community clinic introduced automated appointment reminders between two consecutive reporting months. Before implementation, it scheduled 400 new-patient visits and 600 follow-up visits. Patients missed 80 of the new-patient visits and 30 of the follow-up visits. During the next month, the clinic scheduled 100 new-patient visits and 900 follow-up visits. Patients missed 25 of the new-patient visits and 54 of the follow-up visits.

The clinic used the same definitions of a missed visit and the same scheduling categories in both months. Each month contained 1,000 scheduled visits. The director noted that the total number of missed visits had fallen from 110 to 79 and argued that the reminders had made patients in both categories more likely to attend.

A board member requested that the clinic compare attendance rates within each category before judging the reminders. The director replied that separating the categories would obscure the program's overall success because the total number of scheduled visits had not changed. The board must decide whether the figures support the director's explanation of the decline, rather than merely showing that the combined count was lower.

Which assessment best evaluates the director's reasoning?

Accepted Answer

The overall decline can result from the changing visit mix even though missed-visit rates increased in both categories.

Answer

The equal monthly totals make the combined decline more reliable than the category rates for showing that reminders improved attendance.

Answer

The larger drop in missed new-patient visits shows that reminders helped that category more than they helped follow-up patients.

Answer

The increased share of follow-up visits suggests that their missed-visit rate decreased enough to offset poorer attendance at new-patient visits.

Question 16

Passage: A manufacturer of noise-absorbing panels claims that three independent reports demonstrate that its product can reduce nighttime rail noise in neighborhoods with different layouts. Its sales brochure cites a company report, an article by a university acoustics professor, and a city transportation summary.

The company report describes a pilot at one freight yard. Over twelve nights, technicians compared sound levels at the same monitoring points with and without temporary panels. Train activity and weather were recorded, and the analysis accounted for those factors. The report found lower measured noise with the panels in place.

The professor obtained the pilot's raw recordings and applied a different statistical method. She reached a similar estimate of the reduction and identified no major calculation errors. She did not collect recordings at another location. The city summary discussed several noise-control options and reproduced the pilot's result, citing the company report and the professor's article. City staff did not conduct additional panel testing.

A purchasing committee considers the professor's review useful, especially because she had no financial connection to the manufacturer. However, members disagree about whether three documents provide three independent demonstrations of performance across different neighborhood settings.

Which revision would best align the manufacturer's argument with the evidence?

Accepted Answer

Describe the sources as support for one pilot, distinguishing an independent check of its analysis from separate demonstrations of performance in other settings.

Answer

Retain the claim of independent demonstrations, since the professor's new analysis and the city's separate publication provide confirmation beyond the company's original report.

Answer

Limit the claim to accurate calculations, since the manufacturer's role in producing the shared recordings makes the reported noise reduction too doubtful to use.

Answer

Emphasize the city summary as evidence of broad effectiveness, since its discussion of several options places the pilot within a wider body of testing.

Question 17

Passage: Sleep deprivation exerts a heavy toll on cognitive processing and emotional regulation. Some studies have found reduced blood flow in the prefrontal cortex following sleep deprivation. Decision-making becomes clouded, and short-term memory retrieval may falter. Clinical sleep studies reveal that people who are sleep-deprived often underestimate their level of impairment, falsely believing they have adapted to resting less. Adequate recovery sleep can help repay accumulated sleep debt. Chronic insufficient sleep is associated with impaired concentration, reduced immune function, and metabolic dysfunction.

Which of the following statements from the passage is expressed literally?

Accepted Answer

Some studies have found reduced blood flow in the prefrontal cortex following sleep deprivation.

Answer

Sleep deprivation exerts a heavy toll on cognitive processing.

Answer

Adequate recovery sleep can help repay accumulated sleep debt.

Answer

Decision-making becomes clouded.

Question 18

Passage: After installing new treatment equipment, a textile plant reported that its discharge no longer violated a city permit. Under the permit, dye concentrations above 8 milligrams per liter may not persist for 30 consecutive minutes.

For one month before the installation and one month afterward, an automatic sampler continuously collected water at a constant rate from the discharge channel. Each day's collected water was mixed into a single sample for laboratory testing. Before the installation, the daily samples measured between 4 and 6 milligrams per liter. Afterward, they measured between 1 and 3 milligrams per liter. The laboratory used the same calibrated instruments and procedures during both periods.

Earlier investigations had also included separate measurements during equipment cleaning, when dye levels sometimes rose sharply. Cleaning continued after the installation, but the new report did not include separate measurements during those periods. The plant's spokesperson argued that the recent samples were especially convincing because they represented entire days rather than isolated moments. A neighborhood group agreed that the lower daily readings were encouraging but questioned whether the report supported the claim about permit compliance.

Which assessment most accurately evaluates the spokesperson's reasoning?

Accepted Answer

The lower daily averages support an improvement in average conditions but do not establish compliance with a limit based on shorter intervals.

Answer

Sampling throughout the day gives stronger evidence of permit compliance than targeted measurements because it includes times when cleaning is not occurring.

Answer

Using the same calibrated procedures supports the claim of compliance because the decline in daily averages indicates that peak concentrations also declined.

Answer

The earlier targeted measurements undermine the apparent improvement because the before-and-after daily results were obtained with methods that measure different conditions.

Question 19

Passage: A county training coordinator proposed replacing an instructor-led emergency response workshop with a shorter video course. The workshop included demonstrations and supervised practice. The video presented the same procedures through narrated explanations and close-up demonstrations, but viewers did not receive individual feedback.

To compare the formats, the county randomly assigned adult volunteers to either the workshop or the video course. Both groups completed the same written test immediately afterward. The questions asked participants to recognize warning signs, select an appropriate response, and identify the correct order of steps. Average scores were nearly identical. On another written test one month later, the groups again performed similarly.

The coordinator argued that the video course would leave participants just as ready to act during an emergency while costing less to deliver. Because participants could watch it at home, the county could also offer it more frequently.

Several instructors supported broader access but questioned whether the test results established equal readiness. They noted that selecting a procedure from a list differs from carrying it out when another person needs help. Before replacing the workshop, the county must decide what additional evidence would best address that concern.

Which additional finding would most directly support the coordinator's claim that video participants would be just as ready to act during an emergency?

Accepted Answer

Participants in the video group perform as well as classroom participants during independently scored emergency simulations conducted one month after training.

Answer

Independent instructors rate the video explanations as accurate and complete as the explanations used during classroom demonstrations of the same emergency response procedures.

Answer

Participants in the video group recall the recommended procedures as well as classroom participants on a written test administered six months after their training.

Answer

More eligible residents register for the video course than for the classroom course when both formats are advertised together and offered at the same price.

Question 20

Passage: Synthetic bone grafts have gained widespread popularity in orthopedic surgery due to their unlimited availability and lack of donor-site morbidity. Admittedly, these engineered biomaterials lack the intrinsic osteoinductive growth factors found in autologous bone grafts, which can sometimes slow initial cellular integration. Nonetheless, recent modifications incorporating bioactive ceramic coatings have markedly improved their integration rates, making them a dependable alternative for routine skeletal reconstruction.

Which transition in the passage signals that the author is acknowledging a limitation before defending the primary subject?

Accepted Answer

Admittedly

Answer

which

Answer

due to

Answer

Nonetheless

Question 21

Passage: When Clara began caring for her aging grandfather, she arrived each morning armed with checklists, medications, and therapeutic exercises. She kept the house immaculate and tracked his vital signs with precision, yet he grew increasingly withdrawn, staring silently out the living room window. One rainy afternoon, feeling exhausted, Clara set aside her notebook, sat beside him on the sofa, and simply held his hand as they listened to the thunder. Her grandfather smiled for the first time in weeks and began sharing memories from his youth. Healing, Clara realized, demanded more than efficient caretaking.

Which of the following best describes the central theme of the passage?

Accepted Answer

Genuine care involves human presence and connection rather than just clinical tasks.

Answer

Caring for a relative helps caregivers appreciate the value of family traditions.

Answer

Effective caregiving depends primarily on maintaining consistent daily routines.

Answer

Listening to family memories helps caregivers improve their practical caregiving skills.

Question 22

Passage: At a community dental clinic, a director tested two appointment-booking methods during separate invitation rounds. In the first round, staff called 200 patients; in the second, 200 patients received access to an online portal. Each invitation offered the same services, appointment availability, and 30-day window for completing a visit. The clinic classified patients as returning if they had previously visited and as new if they had not.

During the telephone round, 40 returning patients were invited, and 32 completed visits. Of the 160 new patients invited, 64 completed visits. During the portal round, 160 returning patients were invited, and 120 completed visits. Of the 40 new patients invited, 14 completed visits. The invitation lists had been prepared before either booking method was selected.

The director reported that the share of invited patients who completed a visit rose substantially with the portal. She argued that the result demonstrated that the portal made patients more likely to complete visits and recommended replacing telephone booking. A staff analyst agreed that the overall completion rate had increased but questioned whether that comparison supported the director's explanation. Neither round included reminders or additional outreach after the initial invitation.

Which evaluation of the director's conclusion is best supported by the results?

Accepted Answer

The higher overall completion rate can be explained by the larger share of returning patients, whose completion rate remained higher even though both patient categories had lower rates.

Answer

The higher overall completion rate supports the portal's effectiveness because the equal total numbers of invited patients make the two rounds comparable despite their different proportions of new and returning patients.

Answer

The portal appears more effective for returning patients because more of them completed visits, although its effect on new patients remains uncertain because fewer were invited.

Answer

The overall improvement likely understates the portal's benefit because its completion rate would have been even higher if it had included the telephone round's patient mix.

Question 23

Passage: A company selling a digital annotation tool funded a four-week classroom trial. Twenty-four ninth-grade classes were randomly assigned either to use the tool or to receive the same reading lessons without it. On a quiz involving unfamiliar passages at the end of the trial, students using the tool earned higher average scores. The researchers did not assess students again after the trial ended.

An education magazine later described the tool as supported by three independent investigations demonstrating lasting gains in reading comprehension. Its article cited the company's research report, a university analysis, and a nonprofit literacy organization's bulletin.

The university analysts had obtained the original trial's student-level data and checked whether the score difference remained after accounting for students' initial reading scores. Their analysis supported the original finding. The nonprofit's bulletin explained the trial in nontechnical language and recommended that schools consider the tool; it reported no additional classroom observations or testing.

The magazine emphasized that the three publications had different authors and institutional affiliations. A school committee reviewing the article agreed that outside scrutiny could be useful, but questioned whether the number of publications justified the article's description of the evidence.

Which evaluation of the magazine's claim is best supported by the passage?

Accepted Answer

The sources support a short-term result from one trial, not independent replications establishing that students retain the benefit over time.

Answer

The nonprofit's endorsement supplies stronger evidence of lasting gains than the original trial because its educational mission gives it less financial incentive to favor the product.

Answer

The university's separate statistical analysis qualifies as an independent replication, although the nonprofit's summary adds little evidence beyond the manufacturer's original report of the classroom trial.

Answer

The trial's random assignment supports the article's claim of lasting gains, although its restriction to ninth-grade classes limits conclusions about whether the tool benefits younger students.

Question 24

Passage: Although artificial intelligence algorithms are aggressively marketed as the ultimate future of diagnostic radiology, thoughtful clinicians recognize these platforms as overhyped computational novelties. Machine learning programs may quickly scan thousands of digital images, but they lack the nuanced contextual judgment that only decades of human clinical experience can provide. When a statistical model inevitably misinterprets an atypical lesion, patient safety is compromised by an unthinking algorithm that cannot defend its reasoning. Entrusting complex diagnoses to automated software is a reckless gamble that trades physician intuition for brittle computer code.

Which statement best reflects the author's underlying bias toward artificial intelligence in radiology?

Accepted Answer

Machine learning systems are fundamentally inferior and pose an inherent threat to clinical judgment.

Answer

Artificial intelligence offers reliable diagnostic support when physicians supervise its use.

Answer

The risks of artificial intelligence arise mainly from how clinicians implement it, rather than from the technology itself.

Answer

The current limitations of artificial intelligence are temporary problems that further technological advances will resolve.

Question 25

Passage: At a meeting about a community flood exhibit, Rosa studied a proposed caption beneath a photograph of evacuation volunteers. It stated that every household had reached shelter before nightfall. Rosa, who had answered telephone calls during the evacuation, said the sentence was accurate. Then she placed a neighborhood roster and a driver's log beside the photograph.

The roster marked two houses as vacant. The driver's log showed that the street had been checked before a store owner called to report people waiting inside those houses. A return trip brought them to shelter. The exhibit committee had planned to display only the photograph and a list of volunteers.

The chair offered to enlarge the volunteers' names. Rosa shook her head and moved the roster closer to the log. A younger committee member worried that the documents would make the evacuation look disorganized. Rosa asked him to cover the log's final entries and read the roster as the driver would have encountered it that morning.

Later, she added the time when dispatch received the store owner's call. Two witnesses disagreed about the return trip's departure time, so she left that space blank and attached both recollections, each labeled with its recording date. She did not alter the original caption.

Which inference about Rosa's purpose is best supported by her actions?

Accepted Answer

She believed a fair account should distinguish what volunteers knew then from what became clear after their decisions.

Answer

She believed giving individual volunteers more visible credit would correct the exhibit's overly simplified account of the evacuation.

Answer

She believed displaying uncertainty would redirect criticism from the volunteers toward the officials who had prepared the neighborhood roster.

Answer

She believed records made during the flood should resolve disagreements between residents who later recalled the evacuation differently.