PrepTest 118, Section 4, Question 9
Public health expert: Until recently people believed that(85 more words not shown)
Of the following, which one(11 more words not shown)
- AA medicine that(14 more words not shown)
- BA patient who(13 more words not shown)
- CThere is good(10 more words not shown)
- DNo one who(16 more words not shown)
- ESome previous approaches(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Medicine failing to eliminate every disease-causing microorganism doesn't mean that informing people will do a better job. A treatment could be useful without producing complete victory.
For example, imagine a medical approach prevented 90 percent of cases while an information campaign prevented 10 percent. Those numbers aren't facts about the passage. They show why finding a limitation in medicine doesn't, by itself, settle which strategy deserves more emphasis. I'd want to know what the proposed information campaign can accomplish.
The expert nevertheless recommends putting much more emphasis on teaching people how these diseases spread, with the aim of reducing the number of cases. We aren't asked to prove that recommendation sound. We're asked to identify the conclusion.
What we’re looking for
What change does the expert want? More public-health emphasis on informing people about transmission. The rapid reproduction and drug resistance explain why the expert advocates that change. Keep the recommendation separate from its support, and don't turn “more emphasis” into a demand to abandon medicine.
Working the answers
- A
This is the research finding used to support the recommendation. It explains the expert's concern about relying on an eventual medical victory. The conclusion goes further and proposes a change in public-health strategy.
- B
The passage doesn't say that present methods cannot effectively cure a patient. Failing to eliminate disease-causing microorganisms altogether is different from failing to treat any individual case. B also leaves out the policy recommendation we're trying to identify.
- CCorrect
This is a broad restatement of the recommendation: there is good reason to change public-health policy in a particular way. The specific change is to place much more emphasis on informing people about disease transmission. C doesn't repeat every detail, but it captures the point the research finding is used to support.
- D
Being informed doesn't make someone invulnerable to disease. The expert's stated goal is to minimize cases, not guarantee that every informed person avoids infection. This adds a certainty the argument never claims.
- E
The expert contrasts an earlier belief with current research, but doesn't establish that previous policies simply ignored rapid reproduction. More importantly, a criticism of past approaches isn't the recommendation. We need the proposed shift in emphasis, which C captures.
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