Reading Comprehension HESI A2 Practice Test Related

Coffee Consumption During Pregnancy:
The health risks of coffee have long been debated, but a recent study has added another argument against too much coffee consumption. This study looked at the effect of drinking coffee on pregnant women. Conducted by physicians at Kaiser Permanente, the study explored the connection between caffeine and the risk of miscarriage.
This study followed more than 1,000 women who became pregnant within a two-year period. The amount of caffeine they drank was logged, as well as which women experienced a miscarriage. The results, as published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, stated that the risk of miscarriage more than doubled in women who consumed 200 mg or more of caffeine per day—about what is found in two cups of coffee.
Why does caffeine carry this risk? Researchers are not sure, but they theorize that the caffeine restricts blood flow to the placenta. This, in turn, can harm the developing fetus.
Does this mean the physicians will start advising women to quit drinking coffee while pregnant? Yes and no. Some doctors will certainly take this report to heart and encourage their patients to stay away from more than one cup of coffee a day, just as they recommend not drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes. Others are not so convinced and doubt that this single study is enough to overturn the established guidelines of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Instead, they believe that a lot more research needs to be done.

Based on this passage, what can the reader infer about the advice physicians will give their pregnant patients about coffee consumption?

• A. Almost all of them will advise women to stop drinking any caffeine until after the baby is born.
• B. The majority will ignore the study altogether and continue to advise caffeine in moderation as before.
• C. All of them will demand additional research be done before they change what they tell their patients.
• D. Some will continue to make their normal recommendations about caffeine, while others will be more cautious than before.

MRSA:
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a form of the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium that is resistant to antibiotics and, as a result, is very difficult to treat. MRSA now kills more Americans every year than HIV/AIDS, and the rates of infection are rising. Methicillin, an antibiotic introduced in the 1960s, was intended to combat Staphylococcus aureus, which is ubiquitous in hospitals. However, within a year of its introduction, doctors began finding strains of bacteria that had already developed immunity to methicillin. By the 1990s, MRSA had become the leading hospital-acquired skin infection in the United States.
At the same time MRSA started appearing outside of hospitals, different strains of the bacteria emerged, spreading just as quickly and being just as dangerous. In the past 15 years, MRSA bacteria have become ubiquitous not only in hospitals but also in gyms, locker rooms, swimming pools, and other settings with frequent human contact.
Researchers in Ireland are developing technology that may significantly halt the spread of hospital-associated MRSA bacteria. They have created a textile made of nanomaterials 1,000 times smaller than a human hair. These textiles have been shown to halt the spread of infection and can be used for linens, drapes, and upholstery in hospitals. The potential for this technology to reduce instances of hospital-associated MRSA is staggering.
To reduce your risk of community-associated MRSA infection, regularly wash your hands, cover all open wounds with a clean bandage, and avoid sharing personal items like razors or towels.

Which of the following statements is an opinion related to MRSA?

• A. Hand-washing stations are one means of combating MRSA infection.
• B. Not all Staphylococcus bacteria are resistant to antibiotics.
• C. Hospitals in the United States should quickly adopt the use of new germ-fighting textiles.
• D. MRSA infection kills more people in the United States than does HIV/AIDS.

Lifewings Partners:
What do pilots, astronauts, physicians, and risk managers have in common? In this case, they are all part of Lifewings Partners, an organization based in Memphis, Tennessee, dedicated to eliminating mistakes and accidents in medical settings across the United States.
Lifewings Partners highlights the need for vigilance in medical environments. According to the Institute of Health, approximately 98,000 patients die each year in U.S. healthcare settings due to medical errors. Examples of such errors include a man who had the wrong testicle removed in a Los Angeles hospital, a young boy who suffered brain damage from anesthesia during a routine hernia surgery, and a hospital in Rhode Island that performed brain surgery on the wrong side of the brain on three different patients in less than a year.
To combat these issues, Lifewings Partners not only advocates for internal changes in medical procedures and the establishment of checklists but also focuses on patient education. They recommend that consumers research a hospital’s safety record online, discuss safety standards with their doctors, and inquire about facilities with the best safety records.
Founder Steve Harden emphasizes, “Just because a hospital has a great reputation for cutting-edge medicine doesn’t necessarily mean the hospital is the safest place to go for routine procedures.” He warns that some mistakes are too significant and irreversible to risk, underscoring the importance of careful selection and preparation in healthcare settings.

Which statement about Lifewings Partners is a fact?

• A. Everyone should have access to Lifewings.
• B. The people in Lifewings are modern heroes.
• C. Steve Harden was clever to found Lifewings.
• D. Lifewings is based in Memphis, Tennessee.

Life Expectancy in the US:
Where would you expect the United States to rank in life expectancy, the average number of years a person is expected to live? Near the top in the world, right? Well, surprise—we rank number 31, after Costa Rica and right before Cuba. World Health Organization data from 2015 indicate that the average life expectancy worldwide is 71 years—slightly more for females and slightly less for males. In the United States, we beat that average by around eight years. Yet we are several years behind Japan, with a female life expectancy of 86.8 years, or Switzerland, with a male life expectancy of 81.3 years. Even relatively poor European countries, such as Slovenia, Cyprus, and Malta, do better than we do.
There are a number of indicators that lead to our low score among wealthy nations. Those include obesity and its accompanying heart disease and diabetes, car crash deaths, gun violence, and embarrassingly high infant mortality rates. We eat more, drive more, have more guns, and allow poor women to go through pregnancies unattended by regular physicians. There are many other health indicators that separate us from other developed nations, but most correspond to the extreme wealth inequities in the United States.
It is too soon to tell whether an increase in insured Americans will help to turn this distasteful data around. Certainly those nations with universal health care have better numbers than we do. Much of our problem has to do with lifestyles that will not be easy to alter. We continue to build living spaces that are not walkable, to work long hours and drive long distances, to overeat—and we love our Second Amendment right to bear arms. It is difficult to imagine how we will overcome these realities and improve our longevity status.

What is the overall tone of the essay?

• A. Apathetic
• B. Fascinated
• C. Discouraged
• D. Hopeful

Coffee Consumption During Pregnancy:
The health risks of coffee have long been debated, but a recent study has added another argument against too much coffee consumption. This study looked at the effect of drinking coffee on pregnant women. Conducted by physicians at Kaiser Permanente, the study explored the connection between caffeine and the risk of miscarriage.
This study followed more than 1,000 women who became pregnant within a two-year period. The amount of caffeine they drank was logged, as well as which women experienced a miscarriage. The results, as published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, stated that the risk of miscarriage more than doubled in women who consumed 200 mg or more of caffeine per day—about what is found in two cups of coffee.
Why does caffeine carry this risk? Researchers are not sure, but they theorize that the caffeine restricts blood flow to the placenta. This, in turn, can harm the developing fetus.
Does this mean the physicians will start advising women to quit drinking coffee while pregnant? Yes and no. Some doctors will certainly take this report to heart and encourage their patients to stay away from more than one cup of coffee a day, just as they recommend not drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes. Others are not so convinced and doubt that this single study is enough to overturn the established guidelines of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Instead, they believe that a lot more research needs to be done.

What is the meaning of the word overturn in the last paragraph of the passage?

• A. Justify
• B. Invalidate
• C. Support
• D. Review