Reading Comprehension

PT122 · S3 · P3 · Q18 Women Doctors

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Surviving sources of information about women doctors in ancient Greece and Rome are fragmentary: some passing mentions by classical authors, scattered references in medical works, and about 40 inscriptions on tombs and monuments.

Topic

Women doctors in ancient Greece and Rome

Framework

Highlight Noteworthy

Main Point

Even though the evidence is fragmentary, there is clear proof that women were working as doctors (not just midwives) in ancient Greece and Rome, and their existence was considered a normal part of society. (Most Valuable Sentence: Towards the end of paragraph 1—)

P1: Fragments of Evidence for Ancient Women Doctors

The author introduces how little concrete information survives about women doctors in antiquity, but emphasizes that the available evidence—including literary references and inscriptions—clearly demonstrates that women worked as what we would now call physicians, long before the modern era.

P2: Social Context — Unremarkable but Real

The scattered nature of the evidence actually shows us something meaningful: women doctors, while not common, were viewed as a regular part of ancient life. Plato's casual mention of female doctors in support of a philosophical point is used to demonstrate that their presence wasn’t considered remarkable.

P3: Their Work Was Not Just Midwifery

The author argues that women doctors weren’t limited to delivering babies. Ancient languages had separate words for “doctor” and “midwife,” and surviving texts and epitaphs credit women with curing diseases and being knowledgeable healers—not just attending births.

18.

Which one of the following most accurately describes the author's attitude toward the sources of information mentioned in the first sentence of the passage?

wary that they might be
Out of Scope
Out of Scope: wary of misinterpretation Word-bait: fragmentary We can't point to any text where the author sounds worried that people might misinterpret the significance of the stuff mentioned in the first sentence. This answer is just trying to entice us by saying the word "fragmentary".
7% picked this
optimistic that with a more
Out of Scope: crucial lingering questions
This starts off somewhat tempting. The author does seem optimistic that we can piece together a picture from these fragments. But where in the passage does it talk about crucial lingering questions? Our author feels pretty settled on the takeaways: there were women doctors in ancient Greece and Rome and people were pretty accepting of it as a normal thing.
13% picked this
hopeful that they will come
Out of Scope: accepted as authentic
The passage is never making it seem like some people don't think these documents are authentic. People might question what inferences we can draw from these documents, but no one was questioning whether the documents themselves were authentic works of ancient authors.
2% picked this
Correct
confident that they are accurate
Why this is right
At first this seems a little over the top strong. "Even from these fragments we can piece together a picture" certainly seems to support that the author is confidence we can do something with this evidence. But "reliable factual inferences"? Is that too strong? Let's research our qualms. The 3rd sentence says, "The evidence (that we're being asked about) shows that in ancient Greece and Rome there were, in fact, female doctors". The author didn't say "the evidence suggests"; she said shows which means she really believes in the legitimacy of this takeaway. And the author literally says "There were, in fact" female doctors, so she is making factual inferences.
Skill tested: Author's Attitude · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
78% picked this
convinced of their appropriateness as
Out of Scope: new methodology
There isn't any talk in the passage of a new historical research methodology.
1% picked this

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