Q19

[jrdn_pearl]

i can see where it says "broad scope" in the paragraph. broad scope = general practice, but i went with C because i liked it better. the paragraph said she delivered .....from disease, and savior through her knowledge of medicine. i translated that to mean very effective at treating illness. why is that wrong, doesn't disease=illness?? did anyone else have this problem??

jordan

[noah]

Hi Jordan, I was also down to (C) and (D), but if you look a couple lines up, you'll notice that it states that "Other references provide evidence of a broad scope of practice for women doctors." The quote is offered as an example of this -- not of these doctors having been effective.

Another way to evaluate close answers to this kind of question is to see how the quote ties into the general scale of the passage. Here, it is a rather one-sided scale. The author is discussing evidence that shows the "women doctors were an accepted part of everyday life in ancient Greece and Rome" (as the correct answer to question 14 states). So, the author is not trying to argue that the women doctors were necessarily effective, just that they were around and accepted.

When you're asked what role a quote plays and you're unable to choose between two answers, if looking a bit earlier or later in the paragraph doesn't tip you off to the phrase's role, go for the answer that mentions the overall point of the passage (this even applies to quotes that "concede a minor weakness", as those answer choices will usually outline the overall point as well).

Tell me if that doesn't clear it up.