ACOG Updates Menopause Guidance, Expanding Treatment Options for Common Symptoms

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

C2. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What is the article's principal purpose?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To compare national menopause policies across several healthcare systems
   2. To explain expanded options, revised evidence, and treatment restrictions
   3. To argue that hormone therapy should replace nonhormonal medicines
   4. To document the historical development of menopause research
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To explain expanded options, revised evidence, and treatment restrictions

   It explains the guidance's expanded options, evidentiary context, and safety limits.

   The guidance, released Thursday, focuses on matching treatment to particular symptoms rather than presenting menopause care as a single, uniform decision.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What can be inferred from the discussion of the 2002 findings?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The original study examined only nonhormonal treatments
   2. The findings were invalidated by researchers immediately afterward
   3. The participant profile constrained the findings' generalizability
   4. Younger participants faced greater cardiovascular risks
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The participant profile constrained the findings' generalizability

   The article suggests that participant demographics affected the findings' applicability.

   Researchers later identified limitations in that evidence, including the fact that most participants were at least 60 years old.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   In the fourth paragraph, what does “it” refer to?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The final menstrual period
   2. Hormone therapy
   3. Symptomatic menopause
   4. The updated recommendation
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Hormone therapy

   The pronoun refers to hormone therapy mentioned immediately beforehand.

   However, it is not suitable for everyone.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article mention the approvals of Fezolinetant and elinzanetant?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To establish that nonhormonal options are increasingly available
   2. To show that hormone therapy has been withdrawn
   3. To identify medicines approved exclusively for insomnia
   4. To contrast American and international regulatory systems
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To establish that nonhormonal options are increasingly available

   The approvals substantiate the article's account of newer nonhormonal choices.

   ACOG also highlights newer nonhormonal options.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How is the article organized overall?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Chronologically, from menopause's discovery to current practice
   2. By presenting one patient's treatment journey in stages
   3. From general guidance through evidence, restrictions, mechanisms, and context
   4. By ranking treatments according to effectiveness and cost
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   From general guidance through evidence, restrictions, mechanisms, and context

   It moves from revised principles to evidence, eligibility, mechanisms, and prevalence.

   The recommendations note that about two million women begin menopause each year, while symptoms may start years before the final menstrual period.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which detail most directly qualifies the recommendation favoring hormone therapy?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Symptoms may begin before the final menstrual period
   2. Hormone therapy is not suitable for everyone
   3. The average age at menopause is 49.9 years
   4. Some medicines affect sleep-wake cycles
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Hormone therapy is not suitable for everyone

   The article immediately lists circumstances in which hormone therapy should be avoided.

   The guidance lists undiagnosed abnormal genital bleeding, certain gynecologic cancers, blood clots, stroke, heart attack, liver disease, and known or suspected pregnancy among reasons to avoid it.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What relationship does the article establish between estrogen and progestogen?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. They are alternatives used for entirely unrelated symptoms
   2. Estrogen causes cancer, whereas progestogen eliminates it
   3. Estrogen stimulates the lining, and progestogen mitigates a resulting risk
   4. Both regulate body temperature through identical mechanisms
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Estrogen stimulates the lining, and progestogen mitigates a resulting risk

   It presents progestogen as counterbalancing a risk associated with estrogen.

   Estrogen can stimulate the uterine lining, while progestogen helps reduce the resulting risk of endometrial cancer.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What broader development does the article's final paragraph help contextualize?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The demographic importance and variable timing of menopause
   2. The declining use of hormone replacement therapy
   3. The superior efficacy of recently approved medicines
   4. The geographic distribution of gynecologic cancers
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The demographic importance and variable timing of menopause

   The figures place the recommendations within the scale and timing of menopause.

   The average age at menopause is 49.9 years.

What to review next

Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.

Before you practise: a worked example

Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.

The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?

The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.