Pelacarsen sharply lowers a heart-risk marker but fails to prevent cardiovascular complications

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.

   Which statement best captures the article’s central argument?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Lowering Lp(a) substantially did not reduce complications in this trial, underscoring the gap between a marker and an outcome.
   2. The study established that Lp(a) has no connection to heart disease.
   3. The trial showed that healthy habits reliably prevent cardiovascular complications.
   4. Pelacarsen reduced complications, although researchers have not yet quantified the effect.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Lowering Lp(a) substantially did not reduce complications in this trial, underscoring the gap between a marker and an outcome.

   The article distinguishes a biomarker change from a demonstrated health benefit.

   The results underscore a broader challenge in prevention: a promising change in a biological risk marker must still demonstrate that it improves outcomes people experience.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What can reasonably be inferred from the mention of patients whose cholesterol and blood pressure are low?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Healthy habits can eliminate cardiovascular risk for most patients.
   2. Risk may remain even when several commonly recommended measures are in place.
   3. Low cholesterol and blood pressure are usually signs of elevated Lp(a).
   4. The study enrolled only patients who had rejected preventive care.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Risk may remain even when several commonly recommended measures are in place.

   The examples show that conventional risk management may leave residual risk.

   Some people maintain low cholesterol and blood pressure, eat well, keep a healthy weight, and exercise regularly, but still have heart attacks or strokes.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   In the third paragraph, what does “Its marked effect” refer to?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The placebo’s effect on cardiovascular complications
   2. The experimental medicine’s effect on the blood measurement
   3. The participants’ effect on the study design
   4. The drugmaker’s effect on the meeting schedule
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The experimental medicine’s effect on the blood measurement

   The possessive pronoun points back to the medicine under discussion.

   Pelacarsen was compared with a placebo in the study.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article say the results do not establish that Lp(a) is harmless or irrelevant?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The trial assessed pelacarsen in a particular group and over a defined period.
   2. The investigators did not measure Lp(a) levels during the trial.
   3. The study found that Lp(a) levels were unrelated to heart disease.
   4. The participants had no existing cardiovascular disease.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The trial assessed pelacarsen in a particular group and over a defined period.

   A failed intervention does not settle every claim about the marker.

   The results therefore do not establish that Lp(a) is harmless or irrelevant; they show that lowering it with pelacarsen did not protect these participants from cardiovascular complications over the study period.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How does the article organize its explanation of the trial’s significance?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. It presents the trial result, explains residual risk, clarifies interpretation, then considers limitations and implications.
   2. It begins with a treatment recommendation, then disputes the trial’s methods.
   3. It recounts the history of heart disease before describing unrelated research.
   4. It contrasts two drugs and concludes that one is clinically superior.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   It presents the trial result, explains residual risk, clarifies interpretation, then considers limitations and implications.

   It moves from the result to its context, interpretation, limits, and implications.

   That distinction matters.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What role does the estimate of one in five people with elevated Lp(a) play?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. It indicates that elevated Lp(a) may affect a substantial share of the population.
   2. It reports the proportion of trial participants who experienced complications.
   3. It gives the share of patients who received the placebo.
   4. It shows that one in five people will develop heart disease.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   It indicates that elevated Lp(a) may affect a substantial share of the population.

   It conveys how widespread the risk marker may be.

   The protein is common: estimates cited by study leader Steven Nissen put the share of the global population with elevated levels at about one in five.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does the article imply about a marker associated with disease?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. A marker’s predictive value alone does not guarantee that changing it prevents illness.
   2. Any marker associated with disease should be removed from clinical assessment.
   3. A marker becomes clinically useful only after every patient is treated.
   4. Risk identification and disease prevention are interchangeable goals.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   A marker’s predictive value alone does not guarantee that changing it prevents illness.

   Association can identify risk without making reduction an effective intervention.

   A marker associated with disease can help identify risk without necessarily being a treatment target whose reduction prevents illness.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why is the sponsor’s earlier announcement included near the end?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To explain that the sponsor had previously disclosed the trial’s failure without details
   2. To show that the sponsor released the full results before the researchers
   3. To identify the company that independently replicated the study
   4. To suggest that the meeting took place before the trial ended
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To explain that the sponsor had previously disclosed the trial’s failure without details

   It places the detailed findings after an earlier disclosure of the trial outcome.

   Novartis, the drugmaker sponsoring the study, had announced the previous month that the trial had not met its goals, without releasing specifics.

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.