reading comprehension section 4 Detailed Explanation And More Example

DIRECTIONS:

Read the fol lowing passages carefully and answer the questions given below them. Certain words are given in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions.

PASSAGE

There is no field of human endeavour that has been so misunderstood as health. While health which connotes well-being and the absence of illness has a low profile, it is illness representing the failure of health which virtually monopolizes attention because of the fear of pain, disability and death. Even Sushruta has warned that this provides the medical practitioner power over the patient which could be misused.

Till recently, patients had implicit faith in their physician whom they loved and respected, not only for his knowledge but also in the total belief that practitioners of this noble profession, guided by ethics, always placed the patient's interest above all other considerations. This rich interpersonal relationship between the physician, patient and family has, barring a few exceptions, prevailed till the recent past, for caring was considered as important as curing. Our indigenous systems of medicine like ayurveda and yoga have been more concerned with the promotion of the health of both the body and mind and with maintaining a harmonious relationship not just with fellow-beings but with nature itself, of which man is an integral part. Healthy practices like cleanliness, proper diet, exercise and meditation are part of our culture which sustains people even in the prevailing conditions of poverty in rural India and in the unhygienic urban slums.

These systems consider disease as an aberration resulting from disturbance of the equilibrium of health, which must be corrected by gentle restoration of this balance through proper diet, medicines and the establishment of mental peace. They also teach the graceful acceptance of old age with its infirmities resulting from the normal degenerative process as well as of death which is inevitable.

This is in marked contrast to the western concept of life as a constant struggle against disease, ageing and death which must be fought and conquered with the knowledge and technology derived from their science: a science which, with its narrow dissective and quantifying approach, has provided us the understanding of the microbial causes of communicable diseases and provided highly effective technology for their prevention, treatment and control. This can rightly be claimed as the greatest contribution of western medicine and justifiably termed as 'high' technology. And yet the contribution of this science in the field of non-communicable diseases is remarkably poor despite the far greater inputs in research and treatment for the problems of ageing like cancer, heart diseases, paralytic strokes and arthritis which are the major problems of affluent societies today.