Which one of the following would be most suitable as a title for this passage if it were to appear as an editorial pi...

shunhe on July 14, 2020

Hi @Itzelth-Gamboa,

Thanks for the question! So this is basically a main point question. It’s asking us to give a title to this piece if it were to be an editorial one. And the title is generally understood to encapsulate the main point of this piece. What is that main point? Well, it’s basically that the Hippocratic oath should be retained at its core, but needs some changes at its periphery (see the sentence from lines 47-52). And recall overall what the passage talks about. We’re told about the Hippocratic oath, and then some critics who think that the oath is outdated and its fixed moral rules are incompatible with modern ethics (see lines 13-15). Then, we’re introduced to what the author thinks, which again is that the core is right, even though some things at the periphery need to be changed.

So now take a look at (E) as a potential title. Well, first, it talks about a “Prescription for the Hippocratic Oath,” which (beyond being a nice little medical reference) helps us understand that this piece is going to be about the Hippocratic oath, and something that needs to be done for it (its prescription). Then, we’re presented with two options: a facelift or a major surgery. A facelift changes how a person’s appearance but not anything else deeper about the person; as such, it’s an analog to what the author prefers, which is keeping the core of the Hippocratic oath the same but changing it at its peripheries. A major surgery, on the other hand, is what the critics would prefer, a more major change to both the inside and out. So this title encapsulates most of the big ideas of this piece, and (E) is the right answer.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.