Something odd w/ Kaplan Verbal Answer?

[Guest swimmer]

I was doing some a passage from the Kaplan Verbal section of the Comperhensive review, on pg. 939, and I am quite confused about one of the questions....

The passage is about blood substitues...

 

Here's the revlevent paragraph:

 

Unlike blood, pFCs are clear oil like liquids, yet they are capable of absorbing quantities of oxygen up to 50% of their volume, enough of an oxygen carrying potential of oxygen-dependant organisms to survive submerged in the liquid for hours by "breathing" it. Although PFCs imitate real blood by effectively absorbing oxygen, scientists are primarily interested in them as constituents of blood substitutes b/c they are safer to use. They do not interact with any chemicals in the body and can be manufactured in near-perfect sterility. The primarily pitfall of PFCs is in their tendency to form globules in plasma that can block circulation. Dissolving PFCs in solution can mitigate globulation; however, this procedure can also seriously curtails the PFC's oxygen capacity.

 

 

The question Im having problems with is this:

 

According to the passage, PFCs are helpful in the synthesis of blood substitues b/c they:

 

I. mimic the oxygen carrying capacity of blood

II. do not react with other body chemicals.

III. breakdown in the blood within several hours.

 

A. I only

B. II only

C. I and II only.

D. II and III only

 

 

The answer according to Kaplan is "C", I and II. I agree that III is excluded (since not mentioned in the passage) and II, because it is said in the paragraph.

 

HOWEVER, I do not agree with "I".

 

The sentence states " Although PFCs imitate real blood by effectively absorbing oxygen"

 

The above doesnt say anything about the oxygen carrying capacity of PFCs compared to blood...it just says PFCs mimics blood since it can absorb oxygen, just like blood.

 

I think that "I" twists what was said in the paragraph.

 

But Kaplan equates the two, and thus, "I" is also a correct choice.

 

Does anyone agree with me?

 

Cheers,

 

Swimmer

[Guest peachy3]

I agree with Kaplan. Are you complaining about the word "capacity" because you are thinking of it as a quantitative description? If you look up capacity in a dictionary, say dictionary.com, you'll see it has both a quantitative meaning (which is, I assume, how you're interpreting it) and a qualitative meaning (i.e. synonym to ability). In which case the two sentences are virtually identical... Do you agree?

[Guest swimmer]

that makes it much more clearer! never thought of capacity as being ability!