MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Question 33: Answer and Explanation
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Question: 33
6. Which of the following is NOT included as evidence of innumeracy among doctors?
- A. Personal experience in the form of an anecdote
- B. Statistics regarding the frequency of death due to heart disease
- C. Recent academic research
- D. A humorous exaggeration of a common experience
Correct Answer: B
Explanation:
B This is a Retrieval/EXCEPT question.
A: No. The author describes a conversation he had with a doctor, which qualifies as a personal anecdote.
B: Yes. The correct answer will contain a statement that is NOT given as an example of innumeracy among doctors. Death due to heart and circulatory disease is mentioned in paragraph 4 as an example of the tendency to "equate the risk from obscure and exotic malady" with the chances of acquiring a common disease. There is no connection made here to risk assessments made by doctors.
C: No. The "recent study" referenced in paragraph 7 is given as an example of doctors' inaccurate risk assessments.
D: No. The author speculates that in order to avoid being idle, doctors seek to have at least eleven people in the waiting room. The author intends this as a humorous exaggeration of the common experience of waiting in a doctor's office-the last sentence of the passage links the example to the issue of innumeracy.