PrepTest 129, Section 3, Question 9
Physician: In comparing our country with two other(56 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(7 more words not shown)
- AThe two countries(16 more words not shown)
- BThe people of(23 more words not shown)
- CSeveral other countries(17 more words not shown)
- DA person in(33 more words not shown)
- EThe physician's country(30 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The countries have similar population sizes, but does that make their prescription counts equally good measures of illness? Countries can resemble each other in one respect while differing in income or access to health care.
The physician also says they face the same dietary, bacterial, and stress-related causes of ulcers. Let's accept that, along with the lower number of prescriptions. The conclusion still changes what we are counting: fewer prescriptions becomes fewer ulcers.
What if people in the physician's country have ulcers but do not get treated? A poor health-care system could leave many sufferers without prescriptions. Then low prescription numbers would reflect a lack of treatment, not a lack of illness.
What we’re looking for
We need to strengthen the argument by addressing that possibility. A very strong answer could say that every ulcer sufferer in each country obtains a prescription. That would make the counts useful indicators of illness. We probably won't need something that absolute, but I'd look for a connection making prescriptions a fair basis for the comparison.
Working the answers
- A
This compares the other two countries with each other. Their ulcer rates could be identical whether the physician's country has a lower, equal, or higher rate. We need support for the physician's comparison of the home country with those countries, especially the move from prescriptions to actual ulcers.
- B
This supplies the very alternative we worried about. People might have ulcers but avoid seeking remedies because of a cultural preference for enduring ailments. That could produce fewer prescriptions without fewer ulcers. B weakens the argument rather than strengthening it.
- C
Other countries' prescription numbers do not settle the comparison with these two particular countries. The conclusion does not claim the physician's country has fewer ulcers than every country, and adding more prescription comparisons still does not connect prescriptions to the number of people suffering.
- DCorrect
An ulcer sufferer has the same likelihood of obtaining a prescription in each of the countries being compared. That directly addresses the possibility that the physician's country has fewer prescriptions simply because its sufferers are less likely to receive treatment.
This need not say everyone gets a prescription. If the same proportion of sufferers obtains prescriptions in each country, comparing the prescription figures becomes a more reasonable way to compare the underlying illness. D supplies the connection our stronger prediction was meant to secure.
- E
Reporting prescriptions accurately is different from ensuring that people with ulcers obtain them. The physician's country might count its prescriptions very well while leaving many sufferers untreated.
Better reporting at home could even mean that the other countries' true prescription numbers are higher than reported, enlarging the difference in prescriptions. But that still does not resolve the central question: are sufferers equally likely to obtain prescriptions? D addresses that missing connection directly.
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