#25 - Global Reference, Must Be True, Except

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (D).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (E):


This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[olafimihan.k]

Hello!

I just want to clarify, the definition of "trade" on line 11, doesn't constitute as a "the specific knowledge on which trades are based? Please explain.

Thanks in advance.

[Adam Tyson]

Thanks for asking, olafimihan.k. The definition of trade, found as you said beginning at line 11, gives us no specific information but only generalities. A trade is a course or pathway, the word refers to a habitual occupation, and it is related to certain crafts or skills. Examples are later referenced, including auto repair and plumbing, but no mention is ever made of any specific knowledge upon which such trades are based. What is it exactly that a tradesman must know, what specific skill must they have, in order to call what they do a trade? What education, training, or experience is required? Surely there must be some - I wouldn't like to think my electrician was just making it up as he went along! - but the passage never talks about them. That's what makes this a correct answer, as it was the only one not found explicitly stated in the passage.

To sum up, a definition based on general statements isn't the same thing as citing specific knowledge about the thing being defined. That word "specific" is crucial here! As always on this test, every word matters.

Keep up the good work!

[PamelaO]

I was between E instead of D. I think I chose E because D seemed to be showing knowledge about what a trade consists of, but I guess it was not specific enough.

E seemed right because although livelihood is mentioned, I didn't think it actually discussed a difference between livelihood and profession.

Can you help explain? Thank you.

[AthenaDalton]

Hi Pamela,

Thanks for your question!

This is a tough one, but answer choice (E) is supported in the passage if you read very closely. The passage discusses the difference between a livelihood and a profession in lines 58-63 ("Professing oneself a professional is an ethical act ... because it promises continuing devotion to a way of life, not merely announces a present preference or way to a livelihood..."). The passage is suggesting -- in very artful language -- that professionals adopt ethical vows such as "rectifying injustices" or "healing the sick" in a way that individuals who are pursuing a livelihood in a non-professional field do not.

There is also an oblique reference to the difference between a profession and a trade in lines 23-28 (discussing the difference between plumbers / auto repairmen and people in the so-called "learned professions").

Answer choice (D) isn't supported by the passage. Although the passage briefly mentions that trades are based on mere technical "know-how," it doesn't ever flesh out the "specific knowledge" that forms the basis of a trade. Trades get relatively little discussion in this passage, and we never find out their origins.

I hope this helps clarify things for you. Good luck studying!

Athena Dalton

[tetsuya0129]

Hi Powerscore Staff,
I wanna know how the author of the passage suggests (A). I found reference from Line 1 - 6 which hardly support "generally treat." Could you please help?
Thanks!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi tetsuya0129!

Check out paragraph 3. There, the passage mentions the "prestige and honor accorded professionals by society," states that "Physicians are not professionals because they are honored" (which suggests that physicians are honored), and also notes that "Their titles and the respect they are shown superficially signify and acknowledge something deeper." Thus, from that third paragraph we know that physicians are honored and shown respect. That gives us an idea of how society generally treats physicians.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[sdb606]

I picked D because I thought the passage equated "profession" with "trade" in the first paragraph and it discussed specific knowledge on which trades (aka professions) are based because it mentions doctors heal the sick, lawyers fix injustices, etc. (par 3). Without mentioning that, I might think only physicians are professionals. I missed this question because I could not define what constitutes "specific knowledge." At what level of specificity does knowledge go from general to specific? Is "healing the sick" general or specific? It's general when it comes to describing what a physician does but specific when describing what distinguishes a physician from a lawyer. So depending on your definition of "specific," D could be right or wrong.

[Jeremy Press]

Hi sdb,

I have a different reading of the first paragraph: I see the author resisting the efforts described in the first sentence "to redefine medicine as a trade rather than as a profession." The author is trying to preserve the notion of medicine as a profession (not a trade), and to explore a little more deeply what it means to be a profession. That's the implication of this question: "Why should physicians (or indeed all sensible people) resist such efforts to give the practice of medicine a new meaning? The author thinks physicians should be resisting these modern efforts to define medicine as a trade. So rather than equating them, the author is actually drawing a rather sharp distinction between them.

Let me know if that helps!