PrepTest 118, Section 2, Question 8
By Brandon Beaver | Published October 29, 2024
Type: Organization
Difficulty:
Explanations
The question asks us how the passage is organized. Make a prediction here—answer it without reading the answer choices.
How was it organized? I'll go first:
Well, we started with a touch of background about medical ethics and particularly the Hippocratic oath, then we heard several scathing criticisms about the oath, then we got a solid argument for maintaining its core while revising and reinterpreting it along its edges.
That's my prediction: we got some background, then some criticisms, then an argument mostly for retention with a touch of revision.
Let's take a look.
A
No, this is a trap. We weren't told the Hippocratic oath was a general principle—if anything, the author calls it the "immutable bedrock" of medical ethics. It's the figurative substructure of medical ethics and contains a great many principles. I can't pick this.
B
Nah, this really only captures the bit about criticism in the first paragraph then mischaracterizes the author's responses in the second. Moving on.
C
No. This is another trap. This had me right up until "partially endorsed..." and beyond. I wouldn't say the author even partially endorses our critics. The author concedes some points that the oath's probably outdated and needs revisiting, but then discusses how physicians practicing the code creates a context for its own sort of internal revision. Can't pick this.
D
Nah, this is way off the mark. This answer choice insinuates the criticism occurs late in the passage when it doesn't—it's one of the very first things we discuss.
E
Yeah, this is the answer. We hear a bit of background about the oath, modern critics needle it, and then the author makes a reasoned endorsement of the oath while simultaneously conceding it needs a bit of work around the edges.
Passage
The moral precepts embodied in the Hippocratic oath, which p
Question 8
Which one of the following most accurately describes the org