Since World War II considerable advances have been made in the area

Question

Since World War II considerable advances have been made in the area of health-care services. These include better access to health care (particularly for the poor and minorities), improvements in physical plants, and increased numbers of physicians and other health personnel. All have played a part in the recent improvement in life expectancy. But there is mounting criticism of the large remaining gaps in access, unbridled cost inflation, the further fragmentation of service, excessive indulgence in wasteful high-technology “gadgeteering,” and a breakdown in doctor-patient relationships. In recent years proposed panaceas and new programs, small and large, have proliferated at a feverish pace and disappointments multiply at almost the same rate. This has led to an increased pessimism—“everything has been tried and nothing works”—which sometimes borders on cynicism or even nihilism.

It is true that the automatic “pass through” of rapidly spiraling costs to government and insurance carriers, which was set in a publicized environment of “the richest nation in the world,” produced for a time a sense of unlimited resources and allowed to develop a mood whereby every practitioner and institution could “do his own thing” without undue concern for the “Medical Commons.” The practice of full-cost reimbursement encouraged capital investment and now the industry is overcapitalized. Many cities have hundreds of excess hospital beds; hospitals have proliferated a superabundance of high-technology equipment; and structural ostentation and luxury were the order of the day. In any given day, one-fourth of all community beds are vacant; expensive equipment is underused or, worse, used unnecessarily. Capital investment brings rapidly rising operating costs.

Yet, in part, this  pessimism  derives from expecting too much of health care. It must be realized that care is, for most people, a painful experience, often accompanied by fear and unwelcome results. Although there is vast room for improvement, health care will always retain some unpleasantness and frustration. Moreover, the capacities of medical science are limited. Humpty Dumpty cannot always be put back together again. Too many physicians are reluctant to admit their limitations to patients; too many patients and families are unwilling to accept such realities. Nor is it true that everything has been tried and nothing works, as shown by the prepaid group practice  plans  of the  Kaiser Foundation and at Puget Sound . In the main, however, such undertakings have been drowned by a veritable flood of public and private moneys which have supported and encouraged the continuation of conventional practices and subsidized their shortcomings on a massive, almost unrestricted scale. Except for the most idealistic and dedicated, there were no incentives to seek change or to practice self-restraint or frugality. In this atmosphere, it is not fair to condemn as failures all attempted experiments; it may be more accurate to say many never had a fair trial.   1 
 1. The author implies that the Kaiser Foundation and Puget Sound plans ( Highlighted ) differed from other plans by

A. Encouraging capital investment
B. Requiring physicians to treat the poor
C. Providing incentives for cost control
D. Employing only dedicated and idealistic doctors
E. Relying primarily on public funding

2 
 2. The author mentions all of the following as consequences of full-cost reimbursement EXCEPT

A. Rising operating costs
B. Underused hospital facilities
C. Overcapitalization
D. Overreliance on expensive equipment
E. Lack of services for minorities

3 
 3. The tone of the passage can best be described as

A. Light-hearted and amused
B. Objective but concerned
C. Detached and unconcerned
D. Cautious but sincere
E. Enthusiastic and enlightened

4 
 4. According to the author, the “pessimism” ( Highlighted ) is partly attributable to the fact that

A. There has been little real improvement in health-care services
B. Expectations about health-care services are sometimes unrealistic
C. Large segments of the population find it impossible to get access to health-care services
D. Advances in technology have made health care service unaffordable
E. Doctors are now less concerned with patient care

5 
 5. The author cites the prepaid plans ( Highlighted ) as

A. Counterexamples to the claim that nothing has worked
B. Examples of health-care plans that were over-funded
C. Evidence that health-care services are fragmented
D. Proof of the theory that no plan has been successful
E. Experiments that yielded disappointing results

6 
 6. It can be inferred that the sentence “Humpty Dumpty cannot always be put back together again” means that

A. The cost of health-care services will not decline
B. Some people should not become doctors
C. Medical care is not really essential to good health
D. Illness is often unpleasant and even painful
E. Medical science cannot cure every ill

7 
 7. With which of the following descriptions of the system for the delivery of health-care services would the author most likely agree?

A. It is biased in favor of doctors and against patients.
B. It is highly fragmented and completely ineffective
C. It has not embraced new technology rapidly enough
D. It is generally effective but can be improved
E. It discourages people from seeking medical care

8 
 8. The author’s primary concern is to

A. Criticize physicians and health-care administrators for investing in technologically advanced equipment
B. Examine some problems affecting delivery of health-care services and assess their severity
C. Defend the medical community from charges that health-care has not improved since World War II
D. Analyze the reasons for the health-care industry’s inability to provide quality care to all segments of the population
E. Describe the peculiar economic features of the health-care industry that are the causes of spiralling medical costs

Dhruvnneo · Answer

please explain Q7. i could not find any option correct.

in Q8. i was stuck with option B & E.
E. Describe the peculiar economic features of the health-care industry that are the causes of spiralling medical costs - did not choose this as it is only covering para 2.
B. Examine some problems affecting delivery of health-care services and assess their severity - by using POE i found it matching a bit with my main idea.
 is my understanding correct about these two choices?

devavrat · Answer

Pls explain question 1

I marked the correct option but i want to understand the reasoning behind it

RastogiSarthak99 · Answer

I took 10:38 seconds for the entire passage including the answers. Is that good enough? Hoping for feedback on time management skills since this was an exceptionally large passage with a lot of questions.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hello  devavrat

This is very interesting and logical passage and very good for GMAT practice purpose with one exception of  question #1 , Question number 1 has no logical connection with the passage, it can only be taken correct by the overall feel of the passage after reading the passage completely, i will prefer remove the first question.

Prepaid group practice plans of the Kaiser Foundation and at Puget Sound   is discussed in the passage as a Counterexamples to the claim that everything has been tried and nothing works, no other logic can found in the passage.

Dhruvnneo  your interpretation regarding  question #8  is excellent, indeed it is  main idea  question covering the whole passage.

Here is the explanation of question #7.

Explanation

7. With which of the following descriptions of the system for the delivery of health-care services would the author most likely agree?

Difficulty Level:   650

Explanation

A.  It is biased in favor of doctors and against patients.
Nowhere in the passage a such biasness is discussed. Out

B.  It is highly fragmented and completely ineffective.
This is very extreme answer choice, passage discussed something about fragmentation but wording such that  highly  fragmented and  completely  ineffective make it wrong

C.  It has not embraced new technology rapidly enough
Opposite what is discussed in the passage.

D.  It is generally effective but can be improved
Correct answer

E.  It discourages people from seeking medical care.
It is completely wrong, if someone choose this option keeping pessimism in mind but that pessimism and discouraging people from seeking medical care are very different scenarios.

Answer: D

Hope it helps

unraveled · Answer

Para 1 Summary – Author talks about how health care services has improvement since WWII resulting in increased life expectancy. On the other side it has to face criticism for its meaningless spending on its hi-tech aspects thus straining doctor-patient relationships. The last line gives an insight in author’s take on all of this development to say constructively that all that pessimism is psychological not a reality.

Para 2 Summary – Author mentions that people(any practitioner) could do any anything on his own as if there are unlimited resources but on failing just don’t take responsibility believing whatever costs incurred is up to government or the insurance providers. The concept of “full-cost reimbursement” added fuel to the populating problem leading to the problem of overcapitalization which consequently increased cost without much benefits since most of the resources remained unused. Author’s tone looks positively concerned.

Para 3 Summary – Author here breaks down whatever he/she discussed in above two paragraphs to say that too much of expectation of health care has cause pessimism; he/she talks why, actually health care s required and claims that there is vast scope of improvement. He/she goes into minor but important details - medical science’s limitations and unwillingness of people in accepting realties. He/she refutes that everything has been tried by giving examples of Kaiser Foundation and Puget Sound in which conventional practices are encouraged. He/she finally gives an opinion about health care that neither improvements in medical scence nor people got a fair trial dismissing that everything has been done and pessimism among people is rightfully okay.

Summary – Author right from the start of the passage looks in a positive frame of mind such that he/she writes a critique here and thinks that health care situation is not that dark as it looks and suggests some finer balancing acts.

1. The author implies that the Kaiser Foundation and Puget Sound plans ( Highlighted ) differed from other plans by

Marked E which is wrong. This question requires understanding of passage. After POE finally reached to options A and E and eliminated A since capital investment s the cause o pessimism and other problem. A little careful observation after the highlighted text in para 3 i.e. “supported and encouraged the continuation of conventional practices and subsidized their shortcomings” helps to mark a right answer.

A. Encouraging capital investment
B. Requiring physicians to treat the poor
C. Providing incentives for cost control –  CORRECT. 
D. Employing only dedicated and idealistic doctors
E. Relying primarily on public funding -  WRONG.

2. The author mentions all of the following as consequences of full-cost reimbursement EXCEPT

Everything is mentioned in passage except E.

A. Rising operating costs
B. Underused hospital facilities
C. Overcapitalization
D. Overreliance on expensive equipment
E. Lack of services for minorities –  CORRECT. Refer Para 2.

3. The tone of the passage can best be described as

Marked D which is wrong. After POE let with only B and D and marked D because of word ‘Cautious’.

A. Light-hearted and amused – WRONG. 
B. Objective but concerned –  CORRECT. In every para author looks particular about his/her concerns. 
C. Detached and unconcerned – WRONG. Opposite. 
D. Cautious but sincere –  WRONG. The presence of word ‘sincere’ makes this option wrong. Realized it in an afterthought. 
E. Enthusiastic and enlightened – WRONG.

4. According to the author, the “pessimism” ( Highlighted ) is partly attributable to the fact that

A. There has been little real improvement in health-care services – WRONG. Opposite to what passage mentions.
B. Expectations about health-care services are sometimes unrealistic –  CORRECT. First line para 3 though it creates a little doubt or being so straight forward. 
C. Large segments of the population find it impossible to get access to health-care services – WRONG. It might be true in real life but passage does not mentions it to be the reason behind pessimism.
D. Advances in technology have made health care service unaffordable – WRONG. Similar reasoning as that of option C. 
E. Doctors are now less concerned with patient care - WRONG. Similar reasoning as that of option C.

5. The author cites the prepaid plans ( Highlighted ) as

A. Counterexamples to the claim that nothing has worked –  CORRECT. Author refers to these examples as something which is opposite to pessimism in existence. 
B. Examples of health-care plans that were over-funded – WRONG. Opposite to what the highlighted portions seeks to communicate as put together by author. 
C. Evidence that health-care services are fragmented – WRONG. For reasons similar to that of option B.
D. Proof of the theory that no plan has been successful – WRONG. For reasons similar to that of option B.
E. Experiments that yielded disappointing results – WRONG. Irrelevant.

6. It can be inferred that the sentence “Humpty Dumpty cannot always be put back together again” means that

An understanding of the context in which the sentence is used by author would help to answer correctly. Just before the sentence author raises his concerns on limitation of medical science so that’s most suitable context since that is what is not in man’s control.
 
A. The cost of health-care services will not decline – WRONG. Not the context 
B. Some people should not become doctors – WRONG. Out of scope.
C. Medical care is not really essential to good health – WRONG. Out of scope.
D. Illness is often unpleasant and even painful – WRONG. It’s the closest to being right answer but not. Here author does not says that medical science would reverse the pain and remove the unpleasantness of patients thus does mentions that “too many patients and families are unwilling to accept such realities”.
E. Medical science cannot cure every ill –  CORRECT. As explained above.

7. With which of the following descriptions of the system for the delivery of health-care services would the author most likely agree?

A. It is biased in favor of doctors and against patients. – WRONG. Not claimed by author anywhere in the passage.
B. It is highly fragmented and completely ineffective – WRONG. ‘Completely’ makes this option wrong.
C. It has not embraced new technology rapidly enough – WRONG. Opposite to what author mentions and accepts. 
D. It is generally effective but can be improved –  CORRECT. In para 3 author mentions “vast room for improvement” suggesting this is the right answer. 
E. It discourages people from seeking medical care – WRONG. Author talks about affordability of health care services not that system ‘discourages’ people.

8. The author’s primary concern is to

A. Criticize physicians and health-care administrators for investing in technologically advanced equipment – WRONG. Author’s tone is not biased. 
B. Examine some problems affecting delivery of health-care services and assess their severity –  CORRECT. Author balances things out in the passage and makes suggestions accordingly by giving examples.  
C. Defend the medical community from charges that health-care has not improved since World War II – WRONG. Author does not take any side.
D. Analyze the reasons for the health-care industry’s inability to provide quality care to all segments of the population – WRONG. Out of scope.
E. Describe the peculiar economic features of the health-care industry that are the causes of spiralling medical costs – WRONG. Limited scope covered.

Took 17:35 minutes.

nandeta · Answer

1. The author implies that the Kaiser Foundation and Puget Sound plans (Highlighted) differed from other plans by 
 
 A. Encouraging capital investment 
Wrong. They did the opposite.

B. Requiring physicians to treat the poor 
Wrong. The passage does not discriminates against poor or rich treatment capability.

C. Providing incentives for cost control 
Right. "In recent years proposed panaceas and new programs, small and large, have proliferated at a feverish pace"

D. Employing only dedicated and idealistic doctors 
Wrong. Hospitals are already doing it.

E. Relying primarily on public funding 
Wrong. No mention of public funding.

2. The author mentions all of the following as consequences of full-cost reimbursement EXCEPT

A. Rising operating costs 
Wrong.

B. Underused hospital facilities 
Wrong.

C. Overcapitalization 
Wrong

D. Overreliance on expensive equipment 
Wrong

E. Lack of services for minorities 
Right. No mention of minorities in the passage.

3. The tone of the passage can best be described as

A. Light-hearted and amused 
Wrong. The tone of the passage is quite serious.

B. Objective but concerned 
Right. Facts are being presented and in the last paragraph the author is showing his personal concern.

C. Detached and unconcerned 
Wrong. Detached is true but not unconcerned.

D. Cautious but sincere 
Wrong. The author is not warning us about anything.

E. Enthusiastic and enlightened 
Wrong. Englighted can a good word but enthusiastic is not. The author is not enthusiastic at all.

4. According to the author, the “pessimism” (Highlighted) is partly attributable to the fact that

A. There has been little real improvement in health-care services 
Wrong. In the first paragraph it states that health-care services have improved alot.

B. Expectations about health-care services are sometimes unrealistic 
Right."It must be realized that care is, for most people, a painful experience, often accompanied by fear and unwelcome results"

C. Large segments of the population find it impossible to get access to health-care services 
Wrong. It's opposite. Alot of beds were vacant but not enough patients to use it.

D. Advances in technology have made health care service unaffordable 
Wrong. Advances in technology did not make the health care service unaffordable but the capital influx in health care industry.

E. Doctors are now less concerned with patient care 
Wrong. Nothing like this has been mentioned in the paragraph.

5. The author cites the prepaid plans (Highlighted) as

A. Counterexamples to the claim that nothing has worked 
Right. "Nor is it true that everything has been tried and nothing works"

B. Examples of health-care plans that were over-funded 
Wrong. They were not working despite being over funded!

C. Evidence that health-care services are fragmented 
Wrong. No evidence were presented that health care services were fragmented.

D. Proof of the theory that no plan has been successful 
Wrong. Extremme words "no"

E. Experiments that yielded disappointing results 
Wrong. These were not any experiments but a full fleged plan.

6. It can be inferred that the sentence “Humpty Dumpty cannot always be put back together again” means that

A. The cost of health-care services will not decline 
Wrong.

B. Some people should not become doctors 
Wrong

C. Medical care is not really essential to good health 
Wrong

D. Illness is often unpleasant and even painful 
Wrong

E. Medical science cannot cure every ill 
Right. "Moreover, the capacities of medical science are limited."

7. With which of the following descriptions of the system for the delivery of health-care services would the author most likely agree?

A. It is biased in favor of doctors and against patients. 
Wrong. Very strong words

B. It is highly fragmented and completely ineffective 
Wrong. Very strong words.

C. It has not embraced new technology rapidly enough 
Wrong. Very strong words

D. It is generally effective but can be improved 
Right. Very netural choice to pick.

E. It discourages people from seeking medical care 
Wrong. Very strong words.

8. The author’s primary concern is to

A. Criticize physicians and health-care administrators for investing in technologically advanced equipment 
Wrong. It discusses the problems in health care industry.

B. Examine some problems affecting delivery of health-care services and assess their severity 
Right.

C. Defend the medical community from charges that health-care has not improved since World War II 
Wrong. The passage states that the health-care has improved since world war 2

D. Analyze the reasons for the health-care industry’s inability to provide quality care to all segments of the population 
Wrong. Providing quality to all segments of population was never ever mentioned in the paragraph also.

E. Describe the peculiar economic features of the health-care industry that are the causes of spiralling medical costs 
Wrong. No economic features of the country were discussed.

GMATE1 · Answer

Yes, it is, well done! If you divide the 10:38 by 8 that means on average, you took 80 seconds or 1minute and 20 seconds. For completing the verbal section, you have 65 minutes and 36 questions and therefore on average you have 1min 48seconds. This is if you try to answer all questions (most people do not they will guess a handful to give themselves more time, because you don't need to get every question correct to get a perfect score). Furthermore, RC is usually the question type which takes most people the longest.

With all that said there is a caveat. As this passage has 8 questions but only 1 passage you only had to read one passage for ALL 8 questions an in the exam you may have to read 2 passages for the same number of questions.

But that should not diminish your success! Keep at it and maybe practice some passages with fewer questions and see if you can remain below the avg. time. (In my opinion anything arround 2 min is good for RC, as SC usually takes less time) If you can you are well prepared!

mSKR · Answer

Dear  Sajjad1994

Please share official explanation for Q1.
I still could not zeroed on option C. My mind is still wandering at option A, B and E.

btw, Are questions of series 1000 of some private company or some archive questions of GMAT?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Please read my above response thoroughly, OE is not available, Questions of 1000 RC is a mixture of all the available passages i.e Official GMAT, Official GRE, Official LSAT and some private companies including some unknown (trash) companies, So the quality of the material vary largely from the Official material to some poor third party material.

Thank you

akashjoshi531 · Answer

Rather than selecting the correct answer choice, one can deselect or eliminate the wrong answer choices.

Since World War II considerable advances have been made in the area

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Since World War II considerable advances have been made in the area

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