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

Naz on December 16, 2013

In a way, this question stem is similar to a main point question. The most suitable title for a passage would be one that embodied the main point and purpose of it. What is the main point of this passage? The author seems to want to explain to us what the Hippocratic Oath is (1-6), illustrate that there is a lot of criticism for the way it is currently written due to various reasons such as its being outdated (13), to its encouragement of "doctors to adopt an authoritarian stance that depreciates the privacy and autonomy of the patient," (15-17), to its "emphasis on the individual patient without regard for the wider social context," (17-18), and discuss her opinion that the Hippocratic Oath is still a necessary oath that merely needs some modern interpretation and adaptations: "To fulfill that need, the core value of beneficence - which does not actually conflict with most reformers' purposes - should be retained, with adaptations at the oath's periphery by some combination of revision, supplementation, and modern interpretation," (46-52). Thus, the author's point is not to discuss "breaking the hold of ancient ideas on modern medicine," but to discuss modernizing and readapting parts of the text that has received flak from the medical community, while preserving its core values and purpose, (52-61). Therefore, answer choice (E) is a more suitable title for the passage.

Hope that helped! Let us know if you have any other questions!