GMAT Reading Comprehension- Surviving Sources of Information About Women Doctors in Ancient Greece and Rome are Fragmentary

Reading Passage Question

Surviving sources of information about women doctors in ancient Greece and Rome are fragmentary: some passing mentions by classical authors, scattered references in medical works, and about 40 (5) inscriptions on tombs and monuments. Yet even from these fragments we can piece together a picture. The evidence shows that in ancient Greece and Rome there were, in fact, female medical personnel who were the ancient equivalent of what we now call (10) medical doctors. So the history of women in medicine by no means begins in 1849 with Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to earn an M.D. in modern times, or even in 1321 with Francesca de Romana’s licensure to practice general medicine, the earliest (15) known officially recorded occurrence of this sort.

The very nature of the scant evidence tells us something. There is no list of women doctors in antiquity, no direct comment on the fact that there were (20) such people. Instead, the scattering of references to them indicates that, although their numbers were probably small, women doctors were an unremarkable part of ancient life. For example, in The Republic (421 B.C.), the earliest known source attesting to the (25) existence of women doctors in Greece, Plato argues that, for the good of the state, jobs should be assigned to people on the basis of natural aptitude, regardless of gender. To support his argument he offers the example that some women, as well as some (30) men, are skilled in medicine, while others are not. Here, Plato is not trying to convince people that there ought to be women doctors. Rather, he is arguing for an ideal distribution of roles within the state by pointing to something that everyone could already (35) see—that there were female doctors as well as male. Moreover, despite evidence that some of these women doctors treated mainly female patients, their practice was clearly not limited to midwifery. Both Greek and Latin have distinct terms for midwife and (40) doctor, and important texts and inscriptions refer to female practitioners as the latter. Other references provide evidence of a broad scope of practice for women doctors. The epitaph for one named Domnina reads: “You delivered your homeland from disease.” (45) A tribute to another describes her as “savior of all through her knowledge of medicine.”

Also pointing to a wider medical practice are the references in various classical medical works to a great number of women’s writings on medical (50) subjects. Here, too, the very nature of the evidence tells us something, for Galen, Pliny the elder, and other ancient writers of encyclopedic medical works quote the opinions and prescriptions of male and female doctors indiscriminately, moving from one to (55) the other and back again. As with the male doctors they cite, these works usually simply give excerpts from the female authority’s writing without biographical information or special comment.

“Surviving sources of information about women doctors in ancient Greece and Rome are fragmentary”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

(A) There is a range of textual evidence indicating that the existence and professional activity of women doctors were an accepted part of everyday life in ancient Greece and Rome.
(B) Some scholars in ancient Greece and Rome made little distinction in their writings between learned women and learned men, as can especially be seen in those scholars’ references to medical experts and practitioners.
(C) Although surviving ancient Greek and Roman texts about women doctors contain little biographical or technical data, important inferences can be drawn from the very fact that those texts pointedly comment on the existence of such doctors.
(D) Ancient texts indicate that various women doctors in Greece and Rome were not only practitioners but also researchers who contributed substantially to the development of medical science.
(E) Scholars who have argued that women did not practice medicine until relatively recently are mistaken, insofar as they have misinterpreted textual evidence from ancient Greece and Rome.

2. Which one of the following does the author mention in the passage?

(A) diseases that were not curable in ancient times but are readily cured by modern medicine
(B) a specialized field of medicine that was not practiced by women in ancient Greece and Rome
(C) a scholar who has argued that Francesca de Romana was the first female doctor in any Western society
(D) the extent to which medical doctors in ancient Greece and Rome were trained and educated
(E) ancient writers whose works refer explicitly to the writings of women

3. The primary function of the third paragraph of the passage is to

(A) provide additional support for the argument presented in the first paragraph
(B) suggest that the implications of the argument presented in the first paragraph are unnecessarily broad
(C) acknowledge some exceptions to a conclusion defended in the second paragraph
(D) emphasize the historical importance of the arguments presented in the first two paragraphs
(E) describe the sources of evidence that are cited in the first two paragraphs in support of the author’s main conclusion

4. Which one of the following could most logically be appended to the end of the final paragraph?

(A) So it is only by combining the previously mentioned fragments of ancient writings that historians have been able to construct a fairly complete account of some of these women’s lives.
(B) That there were women doctors apparently seemed unremarkable to these writers who cited their works, just as it did to Plato.
(C) Although the content of each of these excerpts is of limited informative value, the very range of topics that they cover suggests that Plato’s claims about women doctors should be reevaluated.
(D) These texts indicate that during a certain period of ancient Greek and Roman history there were female medical scholars, but it is unclear whether at that time there were also female medical practitioners.
(E) Nevertheless, these writers’ evenhanded treatment of male and female medical researchers must be interpreted partly in light of the conflicting picture of ancient medical practice that emerges from the fragmentary earlier writings.

5. Which one of the following most accurately describes the author’s attitude toward the sources of information mentioned in lines 1–5?

(A) wary that they might be misinterpreted due to their fragmentary nature
(B) optimistic that with a more complete analysis they will yield answers to some crucial lingering questions
(C) hopeful that they will come to be accepted generally by historians as authentic documents
(D) confident that they are accurate enough to allow for reliable factual inferences
(E) convinced of their appropriateness as test cases for the application of a new historical research methodology

6. The tribute quoted in lines 45–46 is offered primarily as evidence that at least some women doctors in ancient times were

(A) acknowledged as authorities by other doctors
(B) highly educated
(C) very effective at treating illness
(D) engaged in general medical practice
(E) praised as highly as male doctors

7. The passage most strongly supports which one of the following inferences about women in ancient Greece and Rome?

(A) Those who became doctors usually practiced medicine for only a short time.
(B) Those who were not doctors were typically expected to practice medicine informally within their own families.
(C) There is no known official record that any of them were licensed to practice general medicine.
(D) There is no reliable evidence that any of them who practiced general medicine also worked as a midwife.
(E) Some of those who practiced medicine were posthumously honored for nonmedical civic accomplishments.

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