While he had, at best, modest success attracting converts to Christianity, the hospital had fostered tremendous goodwill among the Chinese. It was a bright spot amid the gloomy period of Western-Chinese tension that led to the outbreak of the Opium Wars between Great Britain and China. Forced to flee Canton because of these rising hostilities, Parker returned to the United States to raise money and interest in his operations. In the spring of 1841, he spoke to many religious societies, a few medical bodies, and even the United States Congress, where he preached to members of the House and Senate and lobbied legislators on the need for diplomatic relations with China.
In his talks, Parker described the state of medical and surgical knowledge--or, rather, scientific ignorance--in China. Despite the surgical feats of legendary ancient doctors such as Hua T’o of the third century A.D., surgery did not develop to any great extent in China. Some accounts attribute this to Confucian precepts about the integrity of the body and proscriptions against any form of mutilation or dismemberment; others emphasize the pharmacological tendencies within traditional Chinese medicine and a preference for moxas and other caustic plasters.
Whatever the cause, it was undoubtedly the case that Parker’s surgical practice tapped into a huge unmet need. Almost as soon as he opened his Ophthalmic Hospital in Canton, as it was known in English, he acquired a reputation as a surgeon of such skill that the hospital quickly became a general hospital. Parker and his small staff handled thousands of cases each year, treating more than fifty thousand cases by the 1850s. His hospital became the model for other medical missions, and Parker and his British colleagues formed the Medical Missionary Society of China to coordinate the efforts of all the western hospitals springing up in the trading ports of Asia. Parker earned his reputation performing operations to remove tumors and cataracts--forms of surgery with relatively good odds of success and ones that could be accomplished quickly, important in an era without anesthetics. Because of the absence of surgery in China, a large number of patients were afflicted with mature tumors (typically five to thirty-five years old) of a size seldom seen in Europe or the United States. Parker was able to help these patients in ways previously thought impossible in China. He has thus been credited with bringing Western medicine to the most populous country on Earth.
According to the passage, all of the following are true of Peter Parker EXCEPT
(A) He was skilled as a surgeon.
(B) He believed that the poor deserved quality medical treatment.
(Correct) (C) He felt disdain for the medical practices of nineteenth century China.
(D) He lobbied intensely to bring Western medical knowledge to China.
(E) He did not achieve his missionary goals in China.
Here are the official explanations for why C is "right" and B is "wrong":
(B) In the first paragraph, the passage states that Parker "offered free treatment for both rich and poor," so he must have believe that all deserved quality medical treatment.
(C) CORRECT. While Parker did not feel that that nineteenth century Chinese medical practices were advanced, the passage never mentions an emotion similar to "disdain" in describing Parker's feelings towards these practices.
Here's my issue with this: The passage does state that he offered free treatment for both the rich and poor. That does NOT mean that he believes that the poor "deserve" quality medical treatment in principle. For example, there are many conservatives who believe that healthcare is not a right, and so therefore, nobody "deserves" medical treatment. Thus, he could be offering treatment to the poor for a different reason than the one stated...and it's easy to spot a very plausible ulterior motive, given that he's a pastor on a mission trip: he's trying to convert people and he expands his reach by offering services to the poor, along with the rich. Thus, his choice to offer services to the poor is not necessarily contingent on the belief given in answer B.
Therefore, I chose B for this question. I noticed that disdain is probably too strong of a word to use to describe his attitude toward Chinese medical practices. He definitely doesn't think highly of their practices though, as he refers to them as being tantamount to "scientific ignorance." It might be a bit of a stretch to say he disdains the medical practices; however, I felt that answer B was more correct than answer C.
Thoughts?