The Art Of Healing Reading Answers

Jan 25, 2023

The Art Of Healing Reading Answers is an academic reading topic and a detailed study about the healthy lifestyle and medical services of the Tang dynasty. The given IELTS topic has originated from the book named “Cambridge IELTS 10 Student's Book with Answers”. The topic named The Art Of Healing Reading Answers comes with 13 different wide range of questions. Three different types of questions are included in this topic, which are, choose the correct letter, Yes/No/Not Given, and complete the follwing sentences. The candidates should thoroughly read the IELTS reading passage to recognize the synonyms and identify the keywords and answer the questions below. IELTS reading practice papers can be taken into consideration by the candidates in order to score a good score in the reading section, in which similar topics like The Art Of Healing Reading Answers has been included.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

The Art Of Healing Reading Answers

As with so much, the medicine of the Tang dynasty left its European counterpart in the shade. It boasted its own ‘national health service’, and left behind the teachings of the incomparable Sun Simiao

If no further evidence was available of the sophistication of China in the Tang era, then a look at Chinese medicine would be sufficient. At the Western end of the Eurasian continent the Roman empire had vanished, and there was nowhere new to claim the status of the cultural and political center of the world. In fact, for a few centuries, this center happened to be the capital of the Tang empire, and Chinese medicine under the Tang was far ahead of its European counterpart. The organizational context of health and healing was structured to a degree that had no precedence in Chinese history and found no parallel elsewhere.
An Imperial Medical Office had been inherited from previous dynasties: it was immediately restructured and staffed with directors and deputy directors, chief and assistant medical directors, pharmacists and curators of medicinal herb gardens and further personnel. Within the first two decades after consolidating its rule, the Tang administration set up one central and several provincial medical colleges with professors, lecturers, clinical practitioners and pharmacists to train students in one or all of the four departments of medicine, acupuncture, physical therapy and exorcism.
Physicians were given positions in governmental medical service only after passing qualifying examinations. They were remunerated in accordance with the number of cures they had effected during the past year.
In 723 Emperor Xuanzong personally composed a general formulary of prescriptions recommended to him by one of his imperial pharmacists and sent it to all the provincial medical schools. An Arabic traveler, who visited China in 851, noted with surprise that prescriptions from the emperor’s formulary were published on notice boards at crossroads to enhance the welfare of the population.
The government took care to protect the general populace from potentially harmful medical practice. The Tang legal code was the first in China to include laws concerned with harmful and heterodox medical practices. For example, to treat patients for money without adhering to standard procedures was defined as fraud combined with theft and had to be tried in accordance with the legal statutes on theft. If such therapies resulted in the death of a patient, the healer was to be banished for two and a half years. In case a physician purposely failed to practice according to the standards, he was to be tried in accordance with the statutes on premeditated homicide. Even if no harm resulted, he was to be sentenced to sixty strokes with a heavy cane.
In fact, physicians practicing during the Tang era had access to a wealth of pharmaceutical and medical texts, their contents ranging from purely pragmatic advice to highly sophisticated theoretical considerations. Concise descriptions of the position, morphology, and functions of the organs of the human body stood side by side in libraries with books enabling readers to calculate the daily, seasonal and annual climatic conditions of cycles of sixty years and to understand and predict their effects on health.
Several Tang authors wrote large collections of prescriptions, continuing a literary tradition documented since the 2nd century BC. The two most outstanding works to be named here were those by Sun Simiao (581-682?) and Wang Tao (c.670-755). The latter was a librarian who copied more than six thousand formulas, categorized in 1,104 sections, from sixty-five older works and published them under the title Wciitai miyao. Twenty-four sections, for example, were devoted to ophthalmology. They reflect the Indian origin of much Chinese knowledge on ailments of the eye and, in particular, of cataract surgery.
Sun Simiao was the most eminent physician and author not only of the Tang dynasty, but of the entire first millennium AD. He was a broadly educated intellectual and physician; his world view integrated notions of all three of the major currents competing at his time - Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. Sun Simiao gained fame during his lifetime as a clinician (he was summoned to the imperial court at least once) and as author of the Prescriptions Worth Thousands in Gold (Qianjin Fang) and its sequel. In contrast to developments in the 12th century, physicians relied on prescriptions and single substances to treat their patients’ illnesses. The theories of systematic correspondences, characteristic of the acupuncture tradition, had not been extended to cover pharmacology yet.
Sun Simiao rose to the pantheon of Chinese popular Buddhism in about the 13th century. He was revered as paramount Medicine God. He gained this extraordinary position in Chinese collective memory not only because he was an outstanding clinician and writer, but also for his ethical concerns. Sun Simiao was the first Chinese author known to compose an elaborate medical ethical code. Even though based on Buddhist and Confucian values, his deontology is comparable to the Hippocratic Oath. It initiated a debate on the task of medicine, its professional obligations, social position and moral justification that continued until the arrival of Western medicine in the 19th century.
Despite or - more likely - because of its long- lasting affluence and political stability, the Tang dynasty did not add any significantly new ideas to the interpretation of illness, health and healing. Medical thought reflects human anxieties; changes in medical thought always occur in the context of new existential fears or of fundamentally changed social circumstances. Nevertheless, medicine was a most fascinating ingredient of Tang civilization and it left a rich legacy to subsequent centuries.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
The Academic passage ‘The Art Of Healing’ is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test. Read the passage below and answer questions 1 – 13. Beyond the questions, you will find the answers along with the location of the answers in the passage and the keywords that help you find out the answers.

Questions 1-3
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

In the first paragraph, the writer draws particular attention to

Lack of medical knowledge in China prior to the Tang era.
the Western interest in Chinese medicine during the Tang era.
the systematic approach taken to medical issues during the Tang era.
the rivalry between Chinese and Western cultures during the Tang era.

Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: the Tang dynasty did not add any significantly new ideas to the interpretation of illness, health and healing.
Keywords: Health and Healing, Chinese history
Keyword Location: Para A, last line
Explanation: As per the first paragraph the organizational context of health and healing was structured. It was such that no precedence in Chinese history and found no parallel elsewhere. This was a systematic approach taken.

During the Tang era, a government doctor’s annual salary depended upon

The effectiveness of his treatment.
the extent of his medical experience.
the number of people he had successfully trained.
the breadth of his medical expertise.

Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: They were remunerated in accordance with the number of cures they had effected during the past year.
Keywords: remunerated, cures, past year
Keyword Location: Para C, last line
Explanation: Paragraph C states that the physicians were remunerated in accordance with the number of cures they had effected during the past year. This means that the effectiveness of the treatment decided the salary.

Which of the following contravened the law during the Tang era?

a qualified doctor’s refusal to practice
the use of unorthodox medical practices
a patient dying under medical treatment
the receipt of money for medical treatment

Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: Nevertheless, medicine was a most fascinating ingredient of Tang civilization and it left a rich legacy to subsequent centuries.
Keywords: Tang, legal code, China
Keyword Location: Para E, line 2-3
Explanation: As per the author the Tang legal code was the first in China to include laws concerned with harmful and heterodox medical practices. This is mentioned in the 3^rd paragraph of the passage.

Questions 4-10:
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 4-10 on your answer sheet write

YES if the statement agrees with the information
NO if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this in the passage

Academic staff sometimes taught a range of medical subjects during the Tang era.

Answer: YES
Supporting Sentence: Within the first two decades after consolidating its rule, the Tang administration set up one central and several provincial medical colleges with professors, lecturers, clinical practitioners and pharmacists to train students in one or all of the four departments of medicine, acupuncture, physical therapy and exorcism.
Keywords: Tang, administration, exorcism,physical therapy
Keyword Location: Para B, last line
Explanation: The Tang administration set up one central and several provincial medical colleges with professors, lecturers, clinical practitioners and pharmacists. This was in place to train students in one or all of the four departments of medicine, acupuncture, physical therapy and exorcism. This was a huge range of subjects during the era.

The medical knowledge available during the Tang era only benefited the wealthy.

Answer: NO
Supporting Sentence: In 723 Emperor Xuanzong personally composed a general formulary of prescriptions recommended to him by one of his imperial pharmacists and sent it to all the provincial medical schools
Keywords: emperor, welfare, population.
Keyword Location: Para D, last line
Explanation: The author in Paragraph D states that prescriptions from the emperor’s formulary were published on notice boards. This was done at crossroads to enhance the welfare of the population.

Tang citizens were encouraged to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: There is nothing mentioned in the passage which proved the above statement is true or false. Hence, it is not given.

Doctors who behaved in a fraudulent manner were treated in the same way as ordinary criminals during the Tang era.

Answer: YES
Supporting Sentence: In contrast to developments in the 12th century, physicians relied on prescriptions and single substances to treat their patients’ illnesses.
Keywords: patients, fraud, theft
Keyword Location: Para E, Line 3-4
Explanation: To treat patients for money without adhering to standard procedures was defined as fraud. As per the author it was combined with theft and had to be tried in accordance with the legal statutes on theft. Hence, both were treated in same manner.

Medical reference books published during the Tang era covered practical and academic issues.

Answer: YES
Supporting Sentence: In fact, physicians practicing during the Tang era had access to a wealth of pharmaceutical and medical texts.
Keywords: medical texts, pragmatic
Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 1-3
Explanation: The author mentions medical texts, and their contents ranged from purely pragmatic advice to highly sophisticated theoretical considerations. Hence, it covered practical and academical issues.

Waitai miyao contained medical data from the Tang era.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: There is nothing mentioned in the passage which proved the above statement is true or false. Hence, it is not given.

Chinese medical authors are known to have influenced Indian writing.

Answer: NO
Supporting Sentence: The organizational context of health and healing was structured to a degree that had no precedence in Chinese history and found no parallel elsewhere.
Keywords: Chinese, knowledge
Keyword Location: Para G, last line
Explanation: Paragraph G of the passage mentions that authors reflect the Indian origin of much Chinese knowledge on ailments of the eye and, in particular, of cataract surgery. Hence, they have no influence from Indian writing.

Questions 11-13
Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.

The first known medical writing in China dates back to the _____ .

Answer: 2nd Century
Supporting Sentence:Several Tang authors wrote large collections of prescriptions, continuing a literary tradition documented since the 2nd century BC. The two most outstanding works to be named here were those by Sun Simiao (581-682?) and Wang Tao (c.670-755)
Keywords: Tang authors, prescriptions
Keyword Location: Para G, lines 1-3
Explanation: Several Tang authors wrote large collections of prescriptions, continuing a literary tradition documented since the 2nd century BC. This means that the first known writing in China was in 2^nd century

During the Tang era, doctors depended most on _____ and single substances to treat their patients

Answer: Prescriptions
Supporting Sentence: In 723 Emperor Xuanzong personally composed a general formulary of prescriptions recommended to him by one of his imperial pharmacists and sent it to all the provincial medical schools.
Keywords: physicians, prescriptions, single substances
Keyword Location: Para H, Lines 4-6
Explanation: Paragraph H states that in contrast to developments in the 12th century, physicians relied on prescriptions and single substances to treat their patients’ illnesses. Hence the correct answer is prescriptions.

______ is famous for producing a set of medical rules for Chinese physicians.

Answer: Sun Simiao
Supporting Sentence: Sun Simiao was the first Chinese author known to compose an elaborate medical ethical code. Even though based on Buddhist and Confucian values, his deontology is comparable to the Hippocratic Oath.
Keywords: Sun Simiao, Chinese author
Keyword Location: Para I, Lines 3-4
Explanation: The first paragraph of the passage has the answer to the question. Sun Simiao was the first Chinese author known to compose an elaborate medical ethical code. Hence, Sun Simiao is the correct answer.

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