PrepTest 118

[lcid:3569] Prep Test 118 LSAT — Reading Comp — S2 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 7-14  .        The moral precepts embodied in the Hippocratic  . oath, which physicians standardly affirm upon  . beginning Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Social Science


Paragraph 1.1 (Lines 1-12)

  • Paragraph note
    • Background
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Hippocratic Oath - Defines medical morality, has seemed impervious to criticism

Paragraph 1.2 (Lines 13-33)

  • Paragraph note
    • Critics against Hippocratic Oath
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of criticisms:
      • 1) Outdated
      • 2) Authoritarian doctors, hurt autonomy and privacy of patient
      • 3) Only individual patient, not overall healthcare system
      • 4) Misses some stuff (human testing, relationship to other healthcare pros)
      • 5) Historical - Might not be by Hippocrates; might not have been accepted

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Author on argument of Critics; Author recommends keeping Oath in some form
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • On Issue #5 - Dismiss it - History doesn’t matter as to whether it’s good
    • On other issues, patients need to know doctors are acting in their interest
    • Author - Hippocratic Oath should retain core value of beneficence, with revision/supplementation/interpretation at peripher
    • Example - “Cutting for stone” updated to allow surgery now that it’s safer

Main Point: Despite recent criticisms against the Hippocratic Oath, its core value of beneficence should be retained, with some revisions, supplementation, and modern interpretation on its periphery.

Key Lines?

Line 13 - A list of criticisms is started (each element is important)

Lines 34-36 - The Author responds to one criticism

Lines 47-52 - The Author’s opinion on what “should” be done with the Hippocratic Oath (main point)

Meta-Structure?

Defense from Critics - This passage falls into a common Meta-Structure, where the Author presents the arguments of Critics against a certain idea and then defends that idea against the Critics. While it’s more common in a Humanities passage that presents criticism of an artist or movement, it can show up concerning other topics, as we see here. The Author spends most of Paragraph 1 bringing up a number of criticisms (5 by our count) of the Hippocratic Oath before spending Paragraph 2 defending the Oath from that criticism. When a passage falls into this Meta-Structure, the main point is either the Author’s central disagreement with the Critics or the Author’s opinion on the central topic, if she states one. Here, she does state an opinion on the Hippocratic Oath - that the “core value of beneficence...should be retained,” with some adaptations at its periphery (Lines 47-52) - so that view should make up the main point, as we stated it above.

List - The Author lists a series of criticisms leveled against the Hippocratic Oath in Paragraph 1, and that takes up a lot of space in the passage. As such, and since it serves as both a separate viewpoint and a central part of the Defense from Critics Meta-Structure, we should expect some questions about this list.

Example - A limited example is raised at the end of the passage to show the type of “update” that the Author believes should be done on the Hippocratic Oath to modernize it.

Last Thoughts?

Two last thoughts.

First, we split up Paragraph 1 into two parts so that we could more easily digest each section. Lines 1-12 don’t have much content that we expect questions to show up from as it’s just background, but the second half of Paragraph 1 features a list of criticisms leveled against the central topic, and so we want to be sure that we’re digesting that as a unified whole.

Second, this passage has a very clear statement of the Author’s main point - it’s an opinion on what “should” be done about the main topic (Lines 47-52). When you have such a clear statement of the Author’s view, you definitely want to focus on it as you work through the questions.

Question prompt

The passage cites which Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Humanities

Strategy Overview

Find the “value at the heart” of the Hippocratic Oath in the passage, then find an answer restating it

Answer Anticipation

If you noted the statement in the passage that most clearly states the Author’s main point - the should statement - then you should be able to quickly identify what the Author identifies as the “value at the heart” of the Hippocratic Oath. If not, you should have started with Paragraph 2, where the Author defends the Oath and, as such, presents core values that should be acceptable even to those who criticize the Oath.That leads us to Lines 47-52, where the Author says that the Oath’s core value is beneficence. She also notes in that sentence that it “does not actually conflict with most reformers’ purposes,” further reinforcing this core value as the one the question stem is referencing. Let’s find an answer that says “beneficence” (which, if you’re uncertain on the meaning, is defined in the prior sentence - pursuing goals that will help the patient in accordance with professional standards, Lines 45-47).

Answer choices

  1. A
    creation of a community Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) This answer doesn’t fully line up with the Author’s viewpoint that the Oath can be updated to account for modern ethics and innovations in stating that it connects doctors of all eras. That said, it’s also not identified as a value at the heart of the Oath!

  2. B
    constant improvement and advancement Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) First, this answer isn’t identified as a core value of the Hippocratic Oath in the passage. Second, while the Author does speak of improvements and advancements in medical science, she never says that such improvements are “constant,” so this answer is too strong.

  3. C
    provision of medical care Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) (Lines 21-24) First, this answer isn’t identified as a core value of the Hippocratic Oath in the passage. Second, the Author notes that some critics believe market forces should determine the distribution of health care, so this answer would be something that presents difficulties to at least some reformers.

  4. D
    physician action for the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem

    (D) (Lines 47-52) The core value of the Hippocratic Oath identified as such by the Author is “beneficence,” which is related in the passage to the patient’s need to know that the doctor is acting in their best interest using the best known practices. This answer reflects that key value, so it’s correct.

  5. E
    observance of established moral Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) (Lines 51-52) First, this answer isn’t identified as a core value of the Hippocratic Oath in the passage. Second, this answer doesn’t line up with the Author’s main point that the Oath should be updated around the periphery to account for changes, including societal ones regarding medical ethics.

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