A team led by Dr. Inez Romero recently reported that a new diabetes drug reduced cardiovascular events in older adults by 22 percent. Skeptics have noted that the trial's participants were drawn primarily from a single hospital network in the southwestern United States. Whether the drug will prove similarly effective across more diverse populations remains an open question.
Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the text?
- A
It declares that the drug is ineffective in most populations.
- B
It generalizes the result to all populations.
- C
It defines the term 'cardiovascular event'.
- Dcheck_circle
It articulates the open question about the result's external validity.
Explanation
The sentence frames an open question about whether the result generalizes — a classic external-validity concern. C is correct.