Peter Parker - RC passage

[vijay19839]

In April 1841, medical missionary Reverend Peter Parker, M.D., addressed an enthusiastic audience gathered at a special meeting of the Boston Medical Association. His subject was "the condition and prospects of the hospitals of China." He described his own work at the hospital he had established in the foreign factory district outside the city walls of Canton where he offered free treatment for both rich and poor. At P’u Ai I Yuan (Hospital of Universal Love, as it was known in Chinese) Parker and his colleagues used western surgical techniques as a means to facilitate religious conversion. Medicine, Parker believed, could be the "handmaid of religious truth," and he held regular religious services for his patients.
While he had, at best, modest success attracting converts to Christianity, the hospital had fostered tremendous goodwill among the Chinese. It was a bright spot amid the gloomy period of Western-Chinese tension that led to the outbreak of the Opium Wars between Great Britain and China. Forced to flee Canton because of these rising hostilities, Parker returned to the United States to raise money and interest in his operations. In the spring of 1841, he spoke to many religious societies, a few medical bodies, and even the United States Congress, where he preached to members of the House and Senate and lobbied legislators on the need for diplomatic relations with China.
In his talks, Parker described the state of medical and surgical knowledge--or, rather, scientific ignorance--in China. Despite the surgical feats of legendary ancient doctors such as Hua T’o of the third century A.D., surgery did not develop to any great extent in China. Some accounts attribute this to Confucian precepts about the integrity of the body and proscriptions against any form of mutilation or dismemberment; others emphasize the pharmacological tendencies within traditional Chinese medicine and a preference for moxas and other caustic plasters.
Whatever the cause, it was undoubtedly the case that Parker’s surgical practice tapped into a huge unmet need. Almost as soon as he opened his Ophthalmic Hospital in Canton, as it was known in English, he acquired a reputation as a surgeon of such skill that the hospital quickly became a general hospital. Parker and his small staff handled thousands of cases each year, treating more than fifty thousand cases by the 1850s. His hospital became the model for other medical missions, and Parker and his British colleagues formed the Medical Missionary Society of China to coordinate the efforts of all the western hospitals springing up in the trading ports of Asia. Parker earned his reputation performing operations to remove tumors and cataracts--forms of surgery with relatively good odds of success and ones that could be accomplished quickly, important in an era without anesthetics. Because of the absence of surgery in China, a large number of patients were afflicted with mature tumors (typically five to thirty-five years old) of a size seldom seen in Europe or the United States. Parker was able to help these patients in ways previously thought impossible in China. He has thus been credited with bringing Western medicine to the most populous country on Earth.


According to the passage, all of the following are true of Peter Parker EXCEPT

A) He was skilled as a surgeon.

B) He believed that the poor deserved quality medical treatment.

C) He felt disdain for the medical practices of nineteenth century China.

D) He lobbied intensely to bring Western medical knowledge to China.

E) He did not achieve his missionary goals in China.

OA:- C

I was stuck between C & D choice during the Exam and selected D.

My thought process:- If we read the passage Line Number 33- 36, we have the below text where the author talks about lobbying:-

"House and Senate and lobbied legislators on the need for diplomatic relations with China."

Based on this i felt that he was lobbying for diplomatic relations but Answer choice (D) talks about bringing Western Medical Knowledge to China which was incorrect.


Thanks
Vijay

[jp.jprasanna]

Hi I too have to have the same doubt as the above post and moreover... even B seemed little off..

OPTION B :-

B) He believed that the poor deserved quality medical treatment.

the passage reads

"He described his own work at the hospital he had established in the foreign factory district outside the city walls of Canton where he offered free treatment for both rich and poor."

just because he offered FREE treatment to the poor doesn't mean he believed they deserved it right?. How can we be sure abt his intentions from his actions?

after doing so many CR, I find these details to weigh in so much in choosing the right answers. For example If One says the new Mayor supported the new tax systems, can we infer the mayor believed in the new tax systems? Although he supported the new system, the mayor could have supported for various other reasons such as his party wanted him to so and the like, rather than he himself believing in the system.


Option E says

E) He did not achieve his missionary goals in China.

The second paragraph opens with the statement that Parker "had, at best, modest success attracting converts to Christianity," suggesting that he did not completely achieve his missionary goals but HE DID ACHIEVE IT TO SOME EXTENT (that what modest imply right) then how can we says " HE DID NOT ACHIEVE HIS GOALS"?

Can you please correct my line of reasoning?

Cheers

[tim]

it sounds like you are both applying strict rules that may be useful in interpreting CR problems to RC problems. i think if you look at this problem honestly you'll conclude that there is NO DOUBT that the correct answer is correct. if one answer is obviously correct and another answer could be correct if you really stretch things and create a convoluted interpretation, i think you know which one to choose.. :)

[JbhB682]

Bumping this topic...

A/D/E are straight eliminations for between B and C for me

I dont think i see anywhere written or inferred that Parker believed the poor deserved quality medical treatment ...

In fact i think it can be said the the passage infers indirectly about C ...lines like the following indicate that

please let me know where am i going wrong


--- Parker was able to help these patients in ways previously thought impossible in China

--- Despite the surgical feats of legendary ancient doctors such as Hua T’o of the third century A.D., surgery did not develop to any great extent in China.


what lines indicate B over C

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

We are told that Parker "offered free treatment for both rich and poor" at a hospital called the "Hospital of Universal Love". Sure, it's something of an inference to say that he believed that the poor deserved quality medical treatment (i.e. it's not said directly in the passage), but it's a good inference.

As for answer C, the key word to pay attention to is "disdain" - it shows a very strong attitude. You're right that the passage describes the poor state of medical surgery (but not all medical practices); however, nothing is said about Parker's attitude and it's quite possible that he didn't feel disdain towards it.