Victory for the ACT Student Text 15e

R EADING R EVIEW • 151

Thus, the drug surveillance system of the United States is composed of a set of information bases, special studies, and monitoring programs, each contributing in its own way to our knowledge about marketed drugs. The system is decentralized among a number of governmental units and is not administered as a coordinated function. Still, it would be unwise at this time to attempt to unite all of the disparate elements into a comprehensive surveillance program. Instead, the challenge is to improve each part of the system and to take advantage of new online strategies to improve coordination and communication. 65 70 75 1. In line 70, the word disparate most nearly means: A. useless. B. expensive. Ǥ –‡’‘”ƒ”›Ǥ D. unconnected. 2. The author’s primary concern is to discuss: F. methods for testing the effects of new drugs on humans. G. the importance of having accurate information about the effects of drugs. H. procedures for determining the long-term effects of new drugs. J. attempts to curb the abuse of prescription drugs. 3. The author implies that a drug with adverse side effects: A. will not be approved for use by consumers without a doctor’s prescription. B. must wait for approval until lengthy studies prove the effects are not permanent. Ǥ •Š‘—Ž† „‡ —•‡† ‘Ž› ‹ˆ ‹–• –Š‡”ƒ’‡—–‹… value outweighs its adverse effects. D. should be withdrawn from the marketplace pending a government investigation.

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? F. The decentralization of the overall drug surveillance system results in it being completely ineffective in any attempts to provide information about adverse drug effects. G. Drugs with serious adverse side effects are never approved for distribution. H. Some adverse drug effects are discovered during testing because they are very rare. J. Some adverse drug effects cannot be detected prior to approval because they take a long time to develop. The author introduces the example of thalidomide in the last sentence of the second paragraph to show that some: A. drugs do not have the same reactions in humans that they do in animals. B. drug testing procedures are ignored by careless laboratory workers. Ǥ †”—‰• Šƒ˜‡ ‘ –Š‡”ƒ’‡—–‹…˜ƒŽ—‡ ˆ‘” humans. D. drugs have adverse side effects as ™‡ŽŽ ƒ• „‡‡ϐ‹…‹ƒŽ ƒ…–‹‘•Ǥ It can be inferred that the estrogen study mentioned at the end of the third paragraph: F. uncovered long-term side effects of a drug that had already been approved for sale by the Food and Drug Administration. G. discovered potential side effects of a drug that was still awaiting approval for sale by the Food and Drug Administration. H. revealed possible new applications of a drug that had previously been approved for a different treatment. J. is an example of a study that could „‡ ‘”‡ ‡ˆϐ‹…‹‡–Ž›…‘†—…–‡† „› a centralized authority than by volunteer reporting.

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