Surviving sources of information about women doctors in ancient Greece

Question

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
  (5)   inscriptions on tombs and monuments. Yet even from
these fragments we can piece together a picture. The
evidence shows that in ancient Greece and Rome
there were, in fact, female medical personnel who
were the ancient equivalent of what we now call
  (10)   medical doctors. So the history of women in medicine
by no means begins in 1849 with Dr. Elizabeth
Blackwell, the first woman to earn an M.D. in modern 
times, or even in 1321 with Francesca de Romana’s 
licensure to practice general medicine, the earliest
  (15)   known officially recorded occurrence of this sort.

The very nature of the scant evidence tells us
something. There is no list of women doctors in antiquity,
no direct comment on the fact that there were
  (20)   such people. Instead, the scattering of references
to them indicates that, although their numbers were
probably small, women doctors were an unremarkable
part of ancient life. For example, in  The Republic 
(421 B.C.), the earliest known source attesting to the
  (25)   existence of women doctors in Greece, Plato argues
that, for the good of the state, jobs should be
assigned to people on the basis of natural aptitude,
regardless of gender. To support his argument he
offers the example that some women, as well as some
  (30)   men, are skilled in medicine, while others are not.
Here, Plato is not trying to convince people that there
ought to be women doctors. Rather, he is arguing for
an ideal distribution of roles within the state by
pointing to something that everyone could already
  (35)   see—that there were female doctors as well as male.

Moreover, despite evidence that some of these
women doctors treated mainly female patients, their
practice was clearly not limited to midwifery. Both
Greek and Latin have distinct terms for midwife and
  (40)   doctor, and important texts and inscriptions refer to
female practitioners as the latter. Other references
provide evidence of a broad scope of practice for
women doctors. The epitaph for one named Domnina
reads: “You delivered your homeland from disease.”
  (45)   A tribute to another describes her as “savior of all
through her knowledge of medicine.”

Also pointing to a wider medical practice are the
references in various classical medical works to a
great number of women’s writings on medical
  (50)   subjects. Here, too, the very nature of the evidence
tells us something, for Galen, Pliny the elder, and
other ancient writers of encyclopedic medical works
quote the opinions and prescriptions of male and
female doctors indiscriminately, moving from one to
  (55)   the other and back again. As with the male doctors
they cite, these works usually simply give excerpts
from the female authority’s writing without
biographical information or special comment.    1 
 1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

(A) There is a range of textual evidence indicating that the existence and professional activity of women doctors were an accepted part of everyday life in ancient Greece and Rome.
(B) Some scholars in ancient Greece and Rome made little distinction in their writings between learned women and learned men, as can especially be seen in those scholars’ references to medical experts and practitioners.
(C) Although surviving ancient Greek and Roman texts about women doctors contain little biographical or technical data, important inferences can be drawn from the very fact that those texts pointedly comment on the existence of such doctors.
(D) Ancient texts indicate that various women doctors in Greece and Rome were not only practitioners but also researchers who contributed substantially to the development of medical science.
(E) Scholars who have argued that women did not practice medicine until relatively recently are mistaken, insofar as they have misinterpreted textual evidence from ancient Greece and Rome.

2 
 2. Which one of the following does the author mention in the passage?

(A) diseases that were not curable in ancient times but are readily cured by modern medicine
(B) a specialized field of medicine that was not practiced by women in ancient Greece and Rome
(C) a scholar who has argued that Francesca de Romana was the first female doctor in any Western society
(D) the extent to which medical doctors in ancient Greece and Rome were trained and educated
(E) ancient writers whose works refer explicitly to the writings of women

3 
 3. The primary function of the third paragraph of the passage is to

(A) provide additional support for the argument presented in the first paragraph
(B) suggest that the implications of the argument presented in the first paragraph are unnecessarily broad
(C) acknowledge some exceptions to a conclusion defended in the second paragraph
(D) emphasize the historical importance of the arguments presented in the first two paragraphs
(E) describe the sources of evidence that are cited in the first two paragraphs in support of the author’s main conclusion

4 
 4. Which one of the following could most logically be appended to the end of the final paragraph?

(A) So it is only by combining the previously mentioned fragments of ancient writings that historians have been able to construct a fairly complete account of some of these women’s lives.
(B) That there were women doctors apparently seemed unremarkable to these writers who cited their works, just as it did to Plato.
(C) Although the content of each of these excerpts is of limited informative value, the very range of topics that they cover suggests that Plato’s claims about women doctors should be reevaluated.
(D) These texts indicate that during a certain period of ancient Greek and Roman history there were female medical scholars, but it is unclear whether at that time there were also female medical practitioners.
(E) Nevertheless, these writers’ evenhanded treatment of male and female medical researchers must be interpreted partly in light of the conflicting picture of ancient medical practice that emerges from the fragmentary earlier writings.

5 
 5. Which one of the following most accurately describes the author’s attitude toward the sources of information mentioned in lines 1–5?

(A) wary that they might be misinterpreted due to their fragmentary nature
(B) optimistic that with a more complete analysis they will yield answers to some crucial lingering questions
(C) hopeful that they will come to be accepted generally by historians as authentic documents
(D) confident that they are accurate enough to allow for reliable factual inferences
(E) convinced of their appropriateness as test cases for the application of a new historical research methodology

6 
 6. The tribute quoted in lines 45–46 is offered primarily as evidence that at least some women doctors in ancient times were

(A) acknowledged as authorities by other doctors
(B) highly educated
(C) very effective at treating illness
(D) engaged in general medical practice
(E) praised as highly as male doctors

7 
 7. The passage most strongly supports which one of the following inferences about women in ancient Greece and Rome?

(A) Those who became doctors usually practiced medicine for only a short time.
(B) Those who were not doctors were typically expected to practice medicine informally within their own families.
(C) There is no known official record that any of them were licensed to practice general medicine.
(D) There is no reliable evidence that any of them who practiced general medicine also worked as a midwife.
(E) Some of those who practiced medicine were posthumously honored for nonmedical civic accomplishments.

VKat · Answer

Can anyone suggest why option a is correct of question no.1?
I have maked option D.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi VKat

While the author might have been generous enough to give us her conclusion early on, that doesn’t mean we can slack off for the rest of the passage. We’ve still got to be sure we know how the remainder of the passage figures into her argument, and we’ve got to make sure that the correct answer includes the scope of those later paragraphs. The only choice that accurately sums up the scope of the entire passage while still providing a paraphrase of the author’s conclusion is  (A) —the  “range of textual evidence”  in this choice is a crucial component of the author’s main idea.

On the other hand  (D)  distorts the text. The author definitely argues that female medical practitioners rose to the level of doctor, but not necessarily that they were also researchers.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Welcome to GMAT Club!

Explanation

4. Which one of the following could most logically be appended to the end of the final paragraph?

Explanation

You could be forgiven for assuming that this was somehow a Global question. After all, it does ask us to continue the final paragraph of the passage, and most of us are in the habit of placing the conclusion of our arguments somewhere near the end of the passage. But the looser language  (“could most logically be appended”)  suggests that our task is Inference. We’ll do our research in the final paragraph and look for an answer choice that logically continues its argument. We will, however, be careful to make sure that our correct answer stays within the scope of the passage.

Paragraph 4  is focuses on  “references in various classical works to...women’s writings on medical subjects (47–50).”  The important fact about these references, according to the author, is that they are made in the same manner as references to the work of male doctors, without any special distinction on the basis of the gender of the writer. Any continuation of this paragraph should further the author’s argument in the paragraph. Only  (B)  does so, and even takes the extra step of connecting the argument in  paragraph 4  to the similar argument made in  paragraph 2.

(A) ’s strong phrase  “only by”  should make us skeptical, and that skepticism pays off: it contradicts some information in the final paragraph, which says that the references to women’s writing were made  “without biographical information (57–58).”

(C)  and  (D)  are also 180s, but they go further than  (A)  did and contradict the author’s earlier arguments.

(E)  adds an element to the final paragraph that undermines the argument already made, suggesting that there is a  “conflicting picture of ancient medical practice”  rather than evidence for the uniform acceptance of women doctors.

Answer: B

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

Explanation

While the author might have been generous enough to give us her conclusion early on, that doesn’t mean we can slack off for the rest of the passage. We’ve still got to be sure we know how the remainder of the passage figures into her argument, and we’ve got to make sure that the correct answer includes the scope of those later paragraphs. The only choice that accurately sums up the scope of the entire passage while still providing a paraphrase of the author’s conclusion is (A)—the  “range of textual evidence”  in this choice is a crucial component of the author’s main idea.

(B)  focuses on the details about the writings of Pliny the Elder from the final paragraph, making this a classic Faulty Use of Detail wrong answer choice.

(C)  distorts the evidence as cited by the author. She emphasized the fact that ancient writings make no special comment on the existence of female doctors, showing that female doctors were not so rare as to warrant such notice.

(D)  distorts the text. The author definitely argues that female medical practitioners rose to the level of doctor, but not necessarily that they were also researchers.

(E)  Scholars arguing that women did not practice medicine in ancient times do not appear in the passage—if they exist at all, perhaps the author will deal with them in her next article.

Answer: A

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

5. Which one of the following most accurately describes the author’s attitude toward the sources of information mentioned in lines 1–5?

Explanation

In Author’s Attitude questions, ask whether the attitude in question is positive or negative, and to what degree. Each answer choice in this question begins with an adjective, and—much like scanning the verbs in a Purpose question—we can scan the adjectives in an Attitude question. The  “sources of information”  mentioned in  lines 1–5  are  “fragmentary (2),”  but the author argues that  “even from these fragments we can piece together a picture.”  In fact, the information contained in these fragments, and the deductions made based on that information, is the focus of the entire passage. It sounds like the author is assuming that the information we can glean from these bits and pieces is accurate, and that assumption is found in  (D) .

(A)  The author is not  “wary”  of misinterpretation. There is nothing to suggest that the author believes that the fragmentary nature of the information makes it prone to misinterpretation.

(B)  The author is not  “optimistic”  about lingering questions. It is hard to imagine a more complete analysis than the author gives in her work, and the passage doesn’t suggest that there are any  “lingering questions”  left unanswered.

(C)  The author is not  “hopeful”  about the sources’ acceptance. This choice applies more to the author’s attitude towards her own conclusion than to the information she used to arrive at it.

(E)  The author is not  “convinced”  of the sources’  “appropriateness as test cases.”  Additionally, a  “new historical research methodology”  is well outside the scope of the passage.

Answer: D

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

7. The passage most strongly supports which one of the following inferences about women in ancient Greece and Rome?

Explanation

An Inference is something that must be true based on the information in the passage. The support for it will not necessarily be a lengthy citation of evidence or the conclusion of a paragraph. In fact, it is often the case that an Inference is supported by only a single, easily missed reference in the passage. When that is the case, we must carefully research the passage to find the correct answer, using the passage’s scope and Roadmap to guide our research.

(A)  Our research turns up no references to how long women doctors practiced. Eliminate.

(B)  The focus of the passage is squarely on women who were medical doctors—those who were not doctors, and any informal medicine they may have practiced, are outside the scope of the passage. Eliminate.

(C) Lines 13–16  refer to  “Francesca de Romana’s licensure to practice general medicine.”  According to the passage, this took place in 1321, and was  “the earliest known officially recorded occurrence of this sort.”  This means that there must not be any known official records of a licensed female doctor before 1321—so no such records existed for women in ancient Greece and Rome, which is stated almost directly in paragraph 2’s  “There is no list of women doctors in antiquity.” (C)  must be true, and is correct. For the record:

(D)  If anything, paragraph 3’s discussion of the distinction between doctors and midwives suggests that there were some female doctors who acted as midwives, although their practice was not limited to midwifery. Eliminate.

(E)  The only posthumous honors in the passage are the epitaphs in paragraph 3, both of which are for medical—not civic—accomplishments. Eliminate.

Answer: C

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

2. Which one of the following does the author mention in the passage?

Explanation

The answer to this question must be contained in the passage. After all, we’re asked for something that the author mentions. We should take the time to skim through the text to make sure we’ve found the correct answer to this Detail question. This research probably won’t take too long, and it will pay off when we can be certain we’ve got the correct answer before moving on. Our research will lead us to  (E) ; the author mentions in  paragraph 4  that Pliny the Elder and other ancient writers  “quote the opinions and prescriptions of male and female doctors indiscriminately. (53–54)”

(A)  Most people reading this passage can probably think of a few diseases that have become curable only with the advent of modern medicine, but that doesn’t mean that the author of the passage mentions them.

(B) Paragraph 3  mentions evidence that some female doctors treated mainly female patients, but does so in the course of showing  “evidence of a broad scope of practice for women doctors (42–43)”  in ancient times.

(C)  Francesca de Romana is mentioned in paragraph 1 as a candidate for the first female doctor, but a specific scholar advancing her candidacy is nowhere to be found.

(D)  The training of medical doctors in ancient Greece and Rome is outside the scope of the passage.

Answer: E

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Surviving sources of information about women doctors in ancient Greece

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