sondenso wrote:
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. One who is not thorough enough is likely to miss some serious problem and therefore give the patient a false sense of security. It is difficult for physicians to judge exactly how thorough they should be. Therefore, it is generally unwise for patients to have medical checkups when they do not feel ill.
The argument is:
A physican who is too thorough often conducts unnescessary tests to detect any patients' problems.
A physican who is NOT too thorough often miss some serious patients' problems.
Hence, it is unwise for patients to have medical checkups if they don't feel ill.
Which one of the following, if true, would provide the most support for the conclusion in the passage?
(A) Not all medical tests entail significant discomfort.
If not all medical tests are discomfort, then why dont patients take medical tests? This choice weakens the argument. Eliminated.(B) Sometimes unnecessary medical tests cause healthy people to become ill.
Correct. If unnecessary medical tests make false positive result, then it's clear that patients should not take medical checkups because they could become ill and have to take a lot of unnessary medical treatment but in fact they are healthy. This is a serious risk that supports the argument.(C) Some patients refuse to accept a physician’s assurance that the patient is healthy.
Then they are willing to take more medical tests. This means choice C weakens the argument.(D) The more complete the series of tests performed in a medical checkup, the more likely it is that a rare disease, if present, will be discovered.
This choice also weakens the argument. If taking more tests help patients discover more about their health, then why shouldn't they take complete series of medical tests?(E) Physicians can eliminate the need to order certain tests by carefully questioning patients and rejecting some possibilities on that basis.
This choice means that there is no risk for patients to meet physicians and take some medical checks. If there is no risk, then why don't they have medical checkups? Because having medical checkups could help patients make sure that they are healthy or ill.
Hence, this choice weakens the argument. Eliminated.