Logical Reasoning

PT10 · S4 · Q2 A physician who is too thorough

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A physician who is too thorough in conducting a medical checkup is likely to subject the patient to the discomfort and expense of unnecessary tests.

Conclusion (therefore)

It is generally unwise for patients to have medical checkups when they do not feel ill.

Evidence

A physician who is too thorough in conducting a checkup is likely to subject the patient to discomfort and unnecessary tests.

A physician who is not thorough enough may miss serious problems and give a false sense of security.

It is difficult for physicians to judge how thorough they should be.

Evaluate

This is a Recommendation-type argument. The argument suggests that patients should avoid medical checkups unless they feel ill due to potential risks involved with either extreme of thoroughness from physicians.

The author presents the downside of over-thoroughness: unnecessary discomfort and expense, and the downside of insufficient thoroughness: missing serious problems / false sense of security. Given the difficulty for physicians to judge the right level of thoroughness, the author concludes it's generally unwise for asymptomatic patients to seek checkups.

Goal

We'll look for an answer that amplifies the risks associated with excessive checkups or outright questions the usefulness of checkups when a patient is not ill.

2.

Which one of the following, if true, would provide the most support for the conclusion in the passage?

  1. Not all medical tests entail

    No Impact

    This is very weak and works against our purposes. If some medical tests aren't uncomfortable, that diminishes one of the author's downsides (unnecessary tests).

    1% picked this

  2. Correct

    Sometimes, unnecessary medical tests cause

    Why this is right

    This is an unlikely answer because of how weak it is, but it adds to one of the downsides the author brought up, so it does strengthen somewhat (and the other answers do nothing or go the wrong way).

    Skill tested: Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    77% picked this

  3. Some patients refuse to accept

    Opposite (if anything)

    If anything this would weaken by diminishing the danger of a patient leaving with a false sense of security. Diminishing one of the downsides the author presented would weaken the argument.

    3% picked this

  4. The more complete the series

    Opposite (if anything)

    This answer would seem to counter one of the downsides the author presented. She was making unnecessary testing seem like a bad thing, and this answer is sort of affirming that there is some value to having more tests done on you.

    7% picked this

  5. Physicians can eliminate the need

    No Impact

    The ability to eliminate certain tests doesn't address the core issue: the difficulty in determining the appropriate thoroughness of a checkup when patients are asymptomatic. If anything this seems to counter the author's concern that a doctor will order too many tests.

    12% picked this

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