What is the main point of the passage?
Defenders of alternative medicine often point out that many patients report feeling better after treatment. This is not in dispute, but it does not show that the treatment works. Many conditions improve on their own; patients often seek treatment when symptoms are at their worst, so that a recovery would have followed anyway; and the attention of a sympathetic practitioner can itself lift mood. The only way to separate the effect of a remedy from these other factors is a fair trial in which some patients receive it and others do not. Where such trials have been done, most alternative remedies have not outperformed a dummy treatment. That does not make their users foolish. It does mean that confidence should be based on trials and not on testimonials.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Reports of improvement do not establish that a remedy works; fair trials are needed
- Step 1: The author says patient reports are undisputed but insufficient and calls for fair trials.
- Step 2: The only choice consistent with this is "Reports of improvement do not establish that a remedy works; fair trials are needed".
Answer
Reports of improvement do not establish that a remedy works; fair trials are needed.
Why not the others: The author says users are not foolish, claims no harm, and accepts that patients feel better.
Practise more Medicine and belief.
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