QUESTION: 29

Polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS (aka Stein-Leventhal disease), is a condition that affects between 6% and 20% of women in the United States. It is a little understood syndrome that often goes undetected and is frequently misdiagnosed. PCOS produces tiny cysts on the surface of a woman’s ovaries. These cysts are undeveloped follicles (eggs) that inexplicably fail to release through the ovarian wall as part of the menstrual cycle. Some researchers believe the eggs fail to release from the ovary because of the presence of male hormones in the blood. However, new research is indicating that PCOS is related to insulin resistance.
Unfortunately, the cysts themselves are only a small part of this syndrome. PCOS can present a variety of symptoms, including hair growth on the face and chest, stubborn acne, hair loss, obesity, irregular menses, infertility, and an increased risk of diabetes. Many of these symptoms impact a woman’s physical appearance and her self-esteem. If left untreated, women suffering from PCOS may experience greater levels of stress and depression. A woman exhibiting any of these symptoms should contact her physician to determine if she has PCOS. Although there is no cure for PCOS, a number of different treatments can stop or reverse many of the symptoms.

According to the passage, many women who have PCOS

are unable to have children.
have an excess of male hormones in their blood.
overreact to the symptoms.
cannot afford proper treatment.
do not even know they have the disease.

Answer(s): E

Explanation:

The second sentence says that PCOS is “little understood” and “often goes undetected and is frequently misdiagnosed.” Thus, many women who have the syndrome do not even know they have it. One symptom of PCOS is infertility, but not all women who have PCOS are infertile, so choice a, is incorrect. The passage tells us that new research has debunked the theory that male hormones in the blood cause the disease, so choice b is incorrect. Nothing in the passage suggests that women who have the syndrome overreact (choice c) or cannot afford treatment (choice d).

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QUESTION: 30

Polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS (aka Stein-Leventhal disease), is a condition that affects between 6% and 20% of women in the United States. It is a little understood syndrome that often goes undetected and is frequently misdiagnosed. PCOS produces tiny cysts on the surface of a woman’s ovaries. These cysts are undeveloped follicles (eggs) that inexplicably fail to release through the ovarian wall as part of the menstrual cycle. Some researchers believe the eggs fail to release from the ovary because of the presence of male hormones in the blood. However, new research is indicating that PCOS is related to insulin resistance.
Unfortunately, the cysts themselves are only a small part of this syndrome. PCOS can present a variety of symptoms, including hair growth on the face and chest, stubborn acne, hair loss, obesity, irregular menses, infertility, and an increased risk of diabetes. Many of these symptoms impact a woman’s physical appearance and her self-esteem. If left untreated, women suffering from PCOS may experience greater levels of stress and depression. A woman exhibiting any of these symptoms should contact her physician to determine if she has PCOS. Although there is no cure for PCOS, a number of different treatments can stop or reverse many of the symptoms.

The passage suggests that the most damaging aspect of misdiagnosed or untreated PCOS is often

infertility caused by the cysts.
health problems caused by weight gain
psychological ailments, including anxiety and depression
skin rashes and acne
the sudden onset of diabetes

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

The second paragraph discusses the symptoms and complications of the disease. Notice how the author lists seven physical symptoms in just one sentence, whereas two full sentences are devoted to psychological issues: the impact of these symptoms on a woman’s self-esteem and the stress and depression caused by the symptoms. Infertility (choice a), obesity and its attendant problems (choice b), and skin rashes and acne (choice d) are all physical symptoms listed in the first sentence of the second paragraph. Choice e is incorrect because the syndrome does not cause the sudden onset of diabetes; it only creates “an increased risk of diabetes.”

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QUESTION: 31

Polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS (aka Stein-Leventhal disease), is a condition that affects between 6% and 20% of women in the United States. It is a little understood syndrome that often goes undetected and is frequently misdiagnosed. PCOS produces tiny cysts on the surface of a woman’s ovaries. These cysts are undeveloped follicles (eggs) that inexplicably fail to release through the ovarian wall as part of the menstrual cycle. Some researchers believe the eggs fail to release from the ovary because of the presence of male hormones in the blood. However, new research is indicating that PCOS is related to insulin resistance.
Unfortunately, the cysts themselves are only a small part of this syndrome. PCOS can present a variety of symptoms, including hair growth on the face and chest, stubborn acne, hair loss, obesity, irregular menses, infertility, and an increased risk of diabetes. Many of these symptoms impact a woman’s physical appearance and her self-esteem. If left untreated, women suffering from PCOS may experience greater levels of stress and depression. A woman exhibiting any of these symptoms should contact her physician to determine if she has PCOS. Although there is no cure for PCOS, a number of different treatments can stop or reverse many of the symptoms

The author implies that PCOS is often misdiagnosed because

doctors often ignore the symptoms.
many symptoms could be symptomatic of many others
insufficient attention is given to women’s healthcare
the symptoms are similar to the symptoms of diabetes.
doctors believe the symptoms are psychosomatic.

Answer(s): B

Explanation:

Because PCOS is “little understood” and because so many varied symptoms could also be symptoms of other ailments, the disease is often misdiagnosed. The passage does not suggest that doctors ignore the symptoms (choice a), that doctors believe the symptoms are psychosomatic (choice e), or that not enough attention is given to women’s health issues (choice c). The symptoms of PCOS symptoms are not compared to the symptoms of diabetes, so choice d is incorrect.

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QUESTION: 32

On May 5th, 1997, the European edition of Business Tech Magazine led with Hoffman’s cover story "Internet Communities: How they’re Shaping Electronic Commerce". This cover story highlights the extent to which the term virtual community has become almost synonymous with various forms of group-CMCs (computer mediated communication), including email-list forums, chat-systems such as IRC, web-based discussion areas and UseNet news-groups. There was no debate in the Business Tech Magazine article as to whether the group-CMC discussions are really 'communities', rather how community as opposed to content can be used to encourage people to return to a particular part of cyberspace for commercial gain. In a similar vein, Simpson and Armstrong in "Internet Gain" argue that ignoring virtual communities would be a great loss of a marketing tool for businesses. They define virtual communities as computer mediated space where there is an integration of content and communication with an emphasis on member-generated content.
Not all virtual community commentators agree with the Spartan position taken by Hoffman. Rheingold, one of the prime popularizes of the term virtual community, provides us with a more emotive definition in his book The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. According to Rheingold, "virtual communities are social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace". Rheingold's definition is extremely popular and has been quoted in many discussions about virtual communities. As discussed below, for social scientists, particularly sociologists, Rheingold's definition raises many issues, especially concerning the notion of community. This is because Rheingold argues via a variety of analogies from the real world such as homesteading that virtual communities are indeed new forms of "community". In fact, Rheingold implies that virtual communities are actually "a kind of ultimate flowering of community".
Moreover, Rheingold maintains that whenever computer mediated communications technology becomes available; people inevitably create communities with it. Rheingold can thus be labeled as a technological determinist as he holds that there is a predictable relationship between technology and people's behavior.
The debate over the validity of Rheingold's position has raised doubts about the existence of virtual communities and the appropriate use of the term. Weinreich claims that the idea of virtual communities must be wrong because community is a collective of kinship networks that share a common geographic region, a common history, and a shared value system, usually rooted in a common religion. In other words, Weinreich rejects the existence of virtual communities because group-CMC discussions cannot possibly meet his definition. In Weinreich's view, anyone with even a basic knowledge of sociology understands that information exchange in no way constitutes a community.

The primary purpose of the passage is to

suggest an alternate definition for the term virtual communities
challenge the validity of group-CMCs in the virtual community
discuss whether group-CMCs constitute real communities
present two opposing hypotheses and presents research and evidence to support them
emphasize the unsuitability of traditional definitions of community in light of the recent establishment of virtual communities on the Net

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

The passage begins by presenting the viewpoint of those that believe that group-CMCs are true communities and continues by presenting an opposing view. D is incorrect because definitions, not hypotheses are discussed in the passage.

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