Set 7: Rhetorical Synthesis (Advanced)
Explanation
PASSAGE
A student is writing about medical overdiagnosis. The student wants to explain how expanding disease definitions can lead to treatment of people who wouldn't have become ill. Notes: - Diagnostic thresholds have lowered for conditions like diabetes and hypertension. - More people now qualify as 'diseased' who would have been 'normal' before. - Many diagnosed individuals would never develop symptoms or complications. - Treatment carries risks: side effects, costs, and psychological burden.
Which choice most effectively uses information from the notes to accomplish the student's goal?
Detailed Answer Explanation
This question asks you to effectively combine information to achieve a goal. The goal is HOW expanding definitions lead to treating people who wouldn't become ill. Lowered thresholds → reclassification → treatment without benefit explains mechanism. The correct synthesis will use relevant details from the notes in a logical, purposeful way. Focus on what the question asks you to accomplish, then choose the answer that best achieves that goal using the provided information. Effective synthesis requires selecting and combining the most relevant information to achieve a specific purpose. Not all provided notes may be equally useful. Focus on what best accomplishes the stated goal while maintaining logical coherence.
Key Evidence:
• "how expanding disease definitions can lead to treatment of people who wouldn't have become ill"
• "Diagnostic thresholds have lowered"
• "qualify as 'diseased' who would have been 'normal'"
• "never develop symptoms"
• "Treatment carries risks"
Why others are wrong: D (Discusses treatment risks but not the overdiagnosis mechanism.), B (Notes threshold change but doesn't explain harm from treating the well.), A (Presents opposite view (early detection benefit); not in notes.).
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