PTE · Reorder Paragraphs

The Discovery of Vitamins

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1

Scurvy and Citrus Trials

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  1. AThis striking outcome demonstrated that dietary deficiencies caused the illness, anticipating the later isolation of ascorbic acid.
  2. BTo investigate the condition, naval doctors conducted controlled dietary trials aboard ships, dividing sick crewmen into treatment groups.
  3. CLong maritime voyages in the eighteenth century were frequently disrupted by scurvy, a fatal wasting disease among sailors.
  4. DPatients given fresh lemons and oranges recovered rapidly, whereas those on standard rations showed no improvement.

Questions 2–5

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2

Beriberi and Polished Rice

  1. AThe protective compound was subsequently extracted and classified as the first identified B vitamin.
  2. BThese animal experiments suggested that the outer husk contained an essential nutrient missing from refined grain.
  3. CIn the late nineteenth century, populations relying heavily on polished white rice frequently suffered from a debilitating nerve disorder known as beriberi.
  4. DCrucially, restoring the discarded rice bran to the birds' feed led to their complete and rapid recovery.
  5. EMedical researchers noticed that domestic fowl fed solely on these polished grains developed identical paralytic symptoms.
3

Rickets and Sunlight

  1. AHowever, clinical trials in the early twentieth century revealed that both cod liver oil and exposure to ultraviolet light cured the ailment.
  2. BScientists soon realised that sunlight stimulated the synthesis of an essential antirachitic substance, which was subsequently named vitamin D.
  3. CEarly health observers initially attributed this bone deformity to poor hygiene, foul air, or inherited weakness.
  4. DDuring the Industrial Revolution, urban children across northern Europe increasingly suffered from rickets, a condition that softened and deformed growing bones.
4

Pellagra and Dietary Factors

  1. ABy supplementing meals with fresh milk, eggs, and lean meat, he eliminated all traces of the illness among inmates.
  2. BThis decisive dietary intervention proved that pellagra was a nutritional deficiency, paving the way for the discovery of niacin.
  3. CIn the early twentieth century, pellagra devastated impoverished communities whose staple diet consisted almost entirely of maize.
  4. DBecause the disease caused severe skin lesions and digestive distress, most contemporary authorities blamed it on an infectious pathogen.
  5. EOne pioneering public health investigator challenged this prevailing theory by testing institutional diets in orphanages and prisons.
5

Accessory Food Factors

  1. AAdding minute quantities of whole milk restored normal growth, indicating the presence of unseen accessory food factors.
  2. BFurther fractionation of such dairy fats eventually yielded the first distinct fat-soluble compound, designated as vitamin A.
  3. CLaboratory experiments disproved this narrow assumption when rodents fed purified mixtures of these four elements failed to grow.
  4. DTraditional nineteenth-century nutritional science assumed that animals required only proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and minerals to thrive.

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