If a person consumes four standard drinks over two hours and then stops drinking, using the average metabolic rate of one standard drink per hour, how many additional hours will it take for them to metabolize the remaining alcohol completely after they stop?

• A. Approximately 4 additional hours because the body must first process residual gastric alcohol before hepatic metabolism begins, doubling the expected time.
• B. Less than 1 hour because metabolic rate accelerates after drinking stops allowing rapid clearance of remaining ethanol.
• C. No additional time because all alcohol would have been eliminated during the 2-hour drinking period by the ADH enzymes in the stomach and liver.
• D. Approximately 2 additional hours.

Answer: (D)