While courts have long allowed custom-made medical illustrations

Question

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Passage # 356, Date : 27-Sep-2019
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While courts have long allowed custom-made medical illustrations depicting personal injury to be presented as evidence in legal cases, the issue of whether they have a legitimate place in the courtroom is surrounded by ongoing debate and misinformation. Some opponents of their general use argue that while illustrations are sometimes invaluable in presenting the physical details of a personal injury, in all cases except those involving the most unusual injuries, illustrations from medical textbooks can be adequate. Most injuries, such as fractures and whiplash, they say, are rather generic in nature—certain commonly encountered forces act on particular areas of the body in standard ways—so they can be represented by generic illustrations.

Another line of complaint stems from the belief that custom-made illustrations often misrepresent the facts in order to comply with the partisan interests of litigants. Even some lawyers appear to share a version of this view, believing that such illustrations can be used to bolster a weak case. Illustrators are sometimes approached by lawyers who, unable to find medical experts to support their clients’ claims, think that they can replace expert testimony with such deceptive professional illustrations. But this is mistaken. Even if an unscrupulous illustrator could be found, such illustrations would be inadmissible as evidence in the courtroom unless a medical expert were present to testify to their accuracy.

It has also been maintained that custom-made illustrations may subtly distort the issues through the use of emphasis, coloration, and other means, even if they are technically accurate. But professional medical illustrators strive for objective accuracy and avoid devices that have inflammatory potential, sometimes even eschewing the use of color. Unlike illustrations in medical textbooks, which are designed to include the extensive detail required by medical students, custom-made medical illustrations are designed to include only the information that is relevant for those deciding a case. The end user is typically a jury or a judge, for whose benefit the depiction is reduced to the details that are crucial to determining the legally relevant facts. The more complex details often found in textbooks can be deleted so as not to confuse the issue. For example, illustrations of such things as veins and arteries would only get in the way when an illustration is supposed to be used to explain the nature of a bone fracture.

Custom-made medical illustrations, which are based on a plaintiff’s X rays, computerized tomography scans, and medical records and reports, are especially valuable in that they provide visual representations of data whose verbal description would be very complex. Expert testimony by medical professionals often relies heavily on the use of technical terminology, which those who are not specially trained in the field find difficult to translate mentally into visual imagery. Since, for most people, adequate understanding of physical data depends on thinking at least partly in visual terms, the clearly presented visual stimulation provided by custom-made illustrations can be quite instructive.   1 
 1. Which one of the following is most analogous to the role that, according to the author, custom-made medical illustrations play in personal injury cases?

(A) schematic drawings accompanying an engineer’s oral presentation
(B) road maps used by people unfamiliar with an area so that they will not have to get verbal instructions from strangers
(C) children’s drawings that psychologists use to detect wishes and anxieties not apparent in the children’s behavior
(D) a reproduction of a famous painting in an art history textbook
(E) an artist’s preliminary sketches for a painting

2 
 2. Based on the passage, which one of the following is the author most likely to believe about illustrations in medical textbooks?

(A) They tend to rely less on the use of color than do custom-made medical illustrations.
(B) They are inadmissible in a courtroom unless a medical expert is present to testify to their accuracy.
(C) They are in many cases drawn by the same individuals who draw custom-made medical illustrations for courtroom use.
(D) They are believed by most lawyers to be less prone than custom-made medical illustrations to misrepresent the nature of a personal injury.
(E) In many cases they are more apt to confuse jurors than are custom-made medical illustrations.

3 
 3. The passage states that a role of medical experts in relation to custom-made medical illustrations in the courtroom is to

(A) decide which custom-made medical illustrations should be admissible
(B) temper the impact of the illustrations on judges and jurors who are not medical professionals
(C) make medical illustrations understandable to judges and jurors
(D) provide opinions to attorneys as to which illustrations, if any, would be useful
(E) provide their opinions as to the accuracy of the illustrations

4 
 4. According to the passage, one of the ways that medical textbook illustrations differ from custom-made medical illustrations is that

(A) custom-made medical illustrations accurately represent human anatomy, whereas medical textbook illustrations do not
(B) medical textbook illustrations employ color freely, whereas custom-made medical illustrations must avoid color
(C) medical textbook illustrations are objective, while custom-made medical illustrations are subjective
(D) medical textbook illustrations are very detailed, whereas custom-made medical illustrations include only details that are relevant to the case
(E) medical textbook illustrations are readily comprehended by nonmedical audiences, whereas custom-made medical illustrations are not

5 
 5. The author’s attitude toward the testimony of medical experts in personal injury cases is most accurately described as

(A) appreciation of the difficulty involved in explaining medical data to judges and jurors together with skepticism concerning the effectiveness of such testimony
(B) admiration for the experts’ technical knowledge coupled with disdain for the communications skills of medical professionals
(C) acceptance of the accuracy of such testimony accompanied with awareness of the limitations of a presentation that is entirely verbal
(D) respect for the medical profession tempered by apprehension concerning the tendency of medical professionals to try to overwhelm judges and jurors with technical details
(E) respect for expert witnesses combined with intolerance of the use of technical terminology

6 
 6. The author’s primary purpose in the third paragraph is to

(A) argue for a greater use of custom-made medical illustrations in court cases involving personal injury
(B) reply to a variant of the objection to
custom-made medical illustrations raised in the second paragraph
(C) argue against the position that illustrations from medical textbooks are well suited for use in the courtroom
(D) discuss in greater detail why custom-made medical illustrations are controversial
(E) describe the differences between custom-made medical illustrations and illustrations from medical textbooks

Source:   LSAT Official PrepTest 62   ( December 2010 ) 
 Difficulty Level:   700

hero_with_1000_faces · Answer

1. Which one of the following is most analogous to the role that, according to the author, custom-made medical illustrations play in personal injury cases?

Its given in the last para that the  "Expert testimony by medical professionals often relies heavily on the use of technical terminology, which those who are not specially trained in the field find difficult to translate mentally into visual imagery.  Since, for most people, adequate understanding of physical data depends on thinking at least partly in visual terms, the clearly presented visual stimulation provided by custom-made illustrations can be quite instructive ."

A  is  correct , "schematic drawings accompanying an engineer’s oral presentation"

As schematic drawings help engineers in making their presentation much more understandable by the audience.

Q.2. Based on the passage, which one of the following is the author most likely to believe about illustrations in medical textbooks?
 
 "The more complex details often found in textbooks can be deleted so as not to confuse the issue".

Thus "E" is correct, Directly given

Q. 3. The passage states that a role of medical experts in relation to custom-made medical illustrations in the courtroom is to

Even if an unscrupulous illustrator could be found, such illustrations would be inadmissible as evidence in the courtroom unless a medical expert were present to testify to their accuracy.
 E  is correct

Q 4. According to the passage, one of the ways that medical textbook illustrations differ from custom-made medical illustrations is that

D  is correct
 "Unlike illustrations in medical textbooks, which are designed to include the extensive detail required by medical students, custom-made medical illustrations are designed to include only the information that is relevant for those deciding a case."

Q. 5. The author’s attitude toward the testimony of medical experts in personal injury cases is most accurately described as

C is correct:

Given: 1. Expert testimony by medical professionals often relies heavily on the use of technical terminology.
2. Even if an unscrupulous illustrator could be found, such illustrations would be inadmissible as evidence in the courtroom unless a medical expert were present to testify to their accuracy

Q. 6.The author’s primary purpose in the third paragraph is to

MikeScarn · Answer

Explanation for #3 
 
Below is the sentence in the passage that this question is referring to. Last sentence of 2nd paragraph:

Hopefully you were deciding between   (A)   and   (E)

(A)   is  very  close! But is the medical expert really the one   deciding   whether an illustration is " admissible "?

Or are they just deciding the  accuracy  of the illustration? Which, in turn, leads to the decision (by the judge) of what is admissible.

This is exactly what the quoted passage above states.

Generally, I don't like that this answer choice uses the word " opinions ", but the medical expert does "  testify  ", which would be the expert's  opinion .

Answer is  E

hero_with_1000_faces · Answer

SajjadAhmad

I am not very clear about the answer for last question, do you have official answer for this ?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

I don't have OE for this passage please try this reasoning might be possible you get the point.

6. The author’s primary purpose in the third paragraph is to

Difficulty:   Hard

Explanation

In the  second paragraph , the author claims that custom illustrations will be technically accurate. In the  3rd paragraph , he raises a subtler criticism: maybe custom images are biased, even if they’re technically accurate.  Lines   (use of emphasis, coloration, and other means, even if they are technically accurate. But professional medical illustrators strive for objective accuracy and avoid devices that have inflammatory potential, sometimes even eschewing the use of color.)  directly rebut this attack.

Then the paragraph talks about medical textbook illustrations. Why? In light of  question 06 , I now think they’re describing medical textbook images to show that the high level of detail in medical textbooks may actually introduce bias using color, detail, emphasis, etc. Whereas custom images are made solely for the purpose of clarifying the issue at hand. They are less likely to bias judges and juries.

A.  Careful. A  “greater”  use. The author didn’t say we should use more custom images than we do right now. Instead, they’re defending our current usage.

B. CORRECT.  See the explanation above.

C.  I was very tempted by this. The  3rd paragraph  does help show that images from medical textbooks are not well suited to the courtroom. But….that’s not the purpose of the  3rd paragraph . The purpose of the  3rd paragraph  is to show that custom illustrations are not biased, including when compared to medical textbook illustrations.

D.  Nonsense. The third paragraph is an argument. Notice the word  “but” in line 26.

E.  Not quite. The  third paragraph  does do this, but it’s not the purpose. Notice the word  “but”  in  line 26 . The author is disagreeing with  lines 23-26 , and giving their opinion in  lines 26-39 . The  3rd paragraph  not mere description. It is an argument. Did you pick this answer because it was true? That’s not what you’re supposed to be looking for.

Answer: B

Hope it helps

hero_with_1000_faces · Answer

Thank You,  SajjadAhmad

After reading your answer I realized, I was looking at Para  four  and not  3rd Para  .#Facepalm
Your Answer really helped.
Wish I could give you lots of Kudos! Appreciate.

auradediligodo · Answer

Hi everyone,
Solved this one in 15 minutes and got 4/6 correct (first and last one wrong).

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P1

Paragraph one starts with a contrast: the usage of custom made medical illustrations has been allowed for long time but there is lot of misinformation around the debate concerning this usage in courtrooms. A point of view is that custom made medical illustrations are useful just in rare cases when the injury is very peculiar BUT in most cases injuries are quite standard and the illustrations on medical book are more than enough for the courtroom.

Brief summary: Custom made illustrations versus medical book illustrations of injuries in courtrooms

P2

Paragraph 2 gives us another "line of complaint" about the usage of custom made illustrations in courtrooms. Such illustrations could be used to vouch for the case of the people using such evidence and sometimes those people rely on such illustrations because they could not find a medical expert who could support their case. 
The author here says that this is a mistake because in the end the illustrations must be validated in the courtroom by an expert.

Brief summary: another complaint about the usage of CMI

P3

Here we are given another way to render CMI even more subjective: the usage of coloration. BUT we know that medical experts don't like such usage and on the contrary they tend to use as little color as possible when resenting evidence. In addition we know that while illustrations on medical bookstore full of details that are useless for the jury and judge, CMI present only the relevant aspects to the case. One way to solve the problems on illustrations on medical book would be to eliminate all the details when presenting such evidence in court

Brief summary: Usage of coloration and CMI versus MI

P4

Here we know that CMI provide some help used to explain very complex situations. In addition we know that medical experts usually talk in a way that is impossible to understand if who listens is not an expert in that field. Lastly the author says that people in order to learn need some visual aid and consequently CMI can be instructive

Brief summary: The scope of CMI and author point of view about them

Main point

The main point is to analyze the relevance and the debate about the usage of custom made illustrations in courtrooms

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1. Which one of the following is most analogous to the role that, according to the author, custom-made medical illustrations play in personal injury cases?

Pre-thinking

Analogous statement question

So we could use the last paragraph to answer to this question. The author clearly thinks that is important to have some sort of visual aid to teach someone something, especially if that someone is not an expert in the field of discussion

(A)   schematic drawings accompanying an engineer’s oral presentation
 This is a scenario very similar to what we saw in the passage, Id est someone bringing custom (=schematic drawings) evidence from home with the aim of explaining something orally to the judge and jury.

(B) road maps used by people unfamiliar with an area so that they will not have to get verbal instructions from strangers
 Road maps usually are very detailed and specific (more similar to the medical books illustrations). Plus the purpose is about not to talk to strangers which is not parallel to the purpose of custom made illustrations

(C) children’s drawings that psychologists use to detect wishes and anxieties not apparent in the children’s behavior
 Custom made illustrations are not used to explain something hidden, not apparent of the case.

(D) a reproduction of a famous painting in an art history textbook
 Again custom made illustrations are not used to reproduce something

(E) an artist’s preliminary sketches for a painting
 custom made illustrations are nothing like "preliminary". They are conclusive since there won't be illustrations improved.

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2. Based on the passage, which one of the following is the author most likely to believe about illustrations in medical textbooks?

Pre-thinking

Inference question

We know that illustrations on medical books are very detailed and that they would be more useful if they presented only the relevant information to the case

(A) They tend to rely less on the use of color than do custom-made medical illustrations.
 It would be a stretch to infer this statement even if coloration and MBI are very close in P3

(B) They are  inadmissible  in a courtroom unless a medical expert is present to testify to their accuracy.
 This statement is too extreme

(C) They are in many cases drawn by the same individuals who draw custom-made medical illustrations for courtroom use.
 there is no way for us to infer such statement

(D) They are believed by most lawyers to be less prone than custom-made medical illustrations to misrepresent the nature of a personal injury.
 Lawyers are mentioned in P2 while medical illustrations are described in P1 and P3. So there is no way to infer such statement

(E)   In many cases they are more apt to confuse jurors than are custom-made medical illustrations.
 In paragraph 3 we are given that while illustrations coming from medical books often present too much detail, custom made illustrations just present the relevant information. Hence correct

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3. The passage states that a role of medical experts in relation to custom-made medical illustrations in the courtroom is to

Pre-thinking

Detail question

Refer to P2:

" Even if an unscrupulous illustrator could be found, such illustrations would be inadmissible as evidence in the courtroom unless a medical expert were present to testify to their accuracy."

(A)   decide which custom-made medical illustrations should be admissible
 in line with pre-thinking

(B) temper the impact of the illustrations on judges and jurors who are not medical professionals
 Not in line with pre-thinking

(C) make medical illustrations understandable to judges and jurors
 Not in line with pre-thinking

(D) provide opinions to attorneys as to which illustrations, if any, would be useful
 Not in line with pre-thinking

(E) provide their opinions as to the accuracy of the illustrations
 Not in line with pre-thinking

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4. According to the passage, one of the ways that medical textbook illustrations differ from custom-made medical illustrations is that

Pre-thinking

Detail question

Refer to P3:

"Unlike illustrations in medical textbooks, which are designed to include the extensive detail required by medical students, custom-made medical illustrations are designed to include only the information that is relevant for those deciding a case."

(A) custom-made medical illustrations accurately represent human anatomy, whereas medical textbook illustrations do not
 Not in line with pre-thinking

(B) medical textbook illustrations employ color freely, whereas custom-made medical illustrations must avoid color
 Not in line with pre-thinking

(C) medical textbook illustrations are objective, while custom-made medical illustrations are subjective
 Not in line with pre-thinking

(D)   medical textbook illustrations are very detailed, whereas custom-made medical illustrations include only details that are relevant to the case
 in line with pre-thinking

(E) medical textbook illustrations are readily comprehended by nonmedical audiences, whereas custom-made medical illustrations are not
 Not in line with pre-thinking

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5. The author’s attitude toward the testimony of medical experts in personal injury cases is most accurately described as

Pre-thinking

Author's attitude question

In order to answer this question we need to look out for the author opinion about medical experts throughout the passage.

", such illustrations would be inadmissible as evidence in the courtroom unless a medical expert were present to testify to their accuracy." 
From P2 the author seems to think that medical experts are important in order to determine the accuracy of custom made illustrations

"But professional medical illustrators strive for objective accuracy and avoid devices that have inflammatory potential, sometimes even eschewing the use of color."
From paragraph 3 we know that the author thinks that medical experts want to be accurate

So the author thinks that medical experts are important professional figures in the courtroom and that they aim to be as accurate as possible. The author attitude hence is respectful towards medical experts.

(A)   appreciation   of the difficulty involved in explaining medical data to judges and jurors together with   skepticism   concerning the effectiveness of such testimony
 The author does not show appreciation and surely it is not skeptic about the effectiveness (If unsure about "skepticism" refer to the portion in pre-thinking related to P2)

(B)   admiration   for the experts’ technical knowledge coupled with   disdain   for the communications skills of medical professionals
 No admiration and no disdain are shown

(C)   acceptance of the accuracy of such testimony accompanied with awareness of the limitations of a presentation that is entirely verbal
 As stated in the pre-thinking section the author thinks that medical experts are accurate and from last paragraph we also know that since they do not use visual images to aid the process of learning, their presentations show some limitations.

(D) respect for the medical profession tempered by  apprehension concerning the tendency of medical professionals to try to overwhelm judges and jurors  with technical details
 Medical experts do not try to overwhelm judges/jurors

(E) respect for expert witnesses combined with   intolerance   of the use of technical terminology
 the author is not intollerant

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6. The author’s primary purpose in the third paragraph is to

Pre-thinking

Purpose / Partial scope question

In P3 we are given that

custom made illustrations could be rendered even more subjective thanks to the application of coloration,

that medical experts strive for accuracy and hence they don't use coloration,

that medical books illustrations are much more detailed than custom made illustrations, which include only the relevant information to the case,

and that medical books illustrations could be used in a better way if all the useless details were to be eliminated.

We can conclude that the purpose of this passage is to highlight another possible line of complaint while contrasting features of CMI with features of medical books illustrations.

(A) argue for a greater use of custom-made medical illustrations in court cases involving personal injury
 Out of scope

(B)   reply to a variant of the objection to
custom-made medical illustrations raised in the second paragraph
 Let's understand first the sentence at hand:

Reply to a variant of the objection = to reply to a similar objection

raised in the second paragraph: this helps us to identify which is the objection. The objection in the second paragraph talks about custom made illustrations that are not backed by medical experts and are used in courtrooms to vouch in favor of the person who presented such evidence.

Now P3 states that CMI include only the relevant details to the case. This is somehow in contrast to "Another line of complaint stems from the belief that custom-made illustrations often misrepresent the facts".

Hence we can say that the purpose of P3 is to reply to a varian of the obj in P2

(C) argue against the position that illustrations from medical textbooks are well suited for use in the courtroom
 This is not the primary purpose

(D) discuss in greater detail why custom-made medical illustrations are controversial
 nowhere in the passage is stated that such evidence is controversial

(E) describe the differences between custom-made medical illustrations and illustrations from medical textbooks
 It seems to narrow to be the entire scope of the passage

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It is a good day to be alive

RohitSaluja · Answer

Hi  VeritasKarishma   GMATNinja   AndrewN

Can you please help me with question 3. A and E are very close but I am unable to eliminate E, below is my line of reasoning.

Passage states

(A) decide which custom-made medical illustrations should be admissible
(E) provide their opinions as to the accuracy of the illustrations

Now passage states that medical experts testiy on accuracy of illustration and as a result of their testifying illustration can either be admissable or not in court, so isn't this implying that  they are deciding which custom-made medical illustrations should be admissible

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  RohitSaluja . This question illustrates why you need to stick closely to what the passage states, to  not  read between the lines.  MikeScarn  has handily discussed this question above, in  this post , which focuses on answer choices (A) and (E). You have to ask yourself whether the medical expert is actually making a decision on admissibility, and the answer is no. Someone else—perhaps a judge, panel, or jury—would decide on that matter. Expert testimony is simply expert testimony. This is standardized testing at its finest (i.e. its pickiest). Just learn the tendencies and play it safe within your understanding of them when you assess different answer choices. In this case, (A) can be argued against, (E) cannot, so we need to choose the latter.

Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

shauryahanda · Answer

sajjad   VeritasKarishma  and other respected moderators

I do realize that in que 6 - answer is B
But I am still unable to prove why D is wrong

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Read the lines:

But  professional medical illustrators strive for objective accuracy and avoid devices that have inflammatory potential, sometimes even eschewing the use of color.

Notice the word  "but"  here. Although the third paragraph outlines a possible objection to the use of custom-made medical illustrations, its primary purpose is not to discuss why they are controversial, but rather to respond to one particular objection to their use. So D is wrong.

nikitathegreat · Answer

5. The author’s attitude toward the testimony of medical experts in personal injury cases is most accurately described as

(A) appreciation of the difficulty involved in explaining medical data to judges and jurors together with skepticism concerning the effectiveness of such testimony
(B) admiration for the experts’ technical knowledge coupled with disdain for the communications skills of medical professionals
(C) acceptance of the accuracy of such testimony accompanied with awareness of the limitations of a presentation that is entirely verbal
(D) respect for the medical profession tempered by apprehension concerning the tendency of medical professionals to try to overwhelm judges and jurors with technical details
(E) respect for expert witnesses combined with intolerance of the use of technical terminology

GMATNinja  - Option choice D is wrong because the passage doesn't include - respect for the medical profession?
Hence, Option choice C is correct?

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 5 
 
(D) states that medical professionals TRY to overwhelm the judge and jury. That implies a level of intent -- as if they really  want  the judge/jury to be overwhelmed with technical details for some reason.

The author doesn't express this attitude in the passage. S/he mentions that "expert testimony by medical professionals often relies heavily on the use of technical terminology," but doesn't say that these experts WANT the judge and jury to be overwhelmed. The nature of the testimony is just pretty technical, which is why the author says that customized illustrations can be helpful.

I hope that helps!

While courts have long allowed custom-made medical illustrations

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While courts have long allowed custom-made medical illustrations

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