GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) | Re: *Fresh* Erythropoietin, known also as EPO

1. As for all detail-oriented questions, you must go back and find the necessary information to answer the question. Synthetic EPO is introduced in the second paragraph, but most of the details about how it is used come in the third paragraph. In the second and third sentences of the third paragraph, you learn that NESP eliminates several drawbacks of EPO by requiring smaller doses and less-frequent injections. Therefore, it must be true that large doses and frequent administration are challenges in using EPO (synonymous with drawbacks), so answer choice A is correct. It is easy, however, to miss this information and fall for one of the other choices. For answer choice B, the passage suggests naturally occurring EPO raises levels more slowly, not more quickly, so answer choice B is incorrect. For answer choice C, the common incorrect choice, you know that synthetic EPO has cardiovascular risk, but you do not know how that risk compares to other treatments. The statement in answer choice C may or may not be true, because this inference is far outside the scope of the passage. For answer choice D, while you know that synthetic EPO is used by athletes seeking performance enhancement, you do not know how they obtain that EPO. (Do they steal it or just get it from doctors?) For answer choice E, it is suggested that synthetic EPO helps increase low hematocrit levels, so it would be illogical to conclude that it can result in dangerously low hematocrit levels.