PSAT Writing and Language Practice Question 372
Question: 372
Modern Medicine
Robotic surgery, also known as robot-assisted surgery, is a medical technology in which an advanced robot with arms and small instruments is controlled by a surgeon. This allows the doctor to perform 21 puzzling procedures without having to make significant incisions on 22 patients' bodies. The first surgical robot was created in 1985, but the uses for surgical robots were initially limited. In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration approved the da Vinci system for general laparoscopic surgery. Now, surgical robots have changed the medical 23 industry. They allow doctors to make precise cuts, even from afar.
In the past, a surgeon would have had to make a long cut for most operations. This can result in more blood loss and longer recovery times for patients. With a surgical robot, after he or she makes a tiny cut, a physician 24 have been able to use a camera to see inside the patient. Then, the doctor can use the controls to conduct the surgery with the robot's miniature tools. Since this technology is fairly new, a study was completed in 2018 to determine how doctors are trained to use surgical robots before operating on patients. Of the 71 programs that were surveyed, 99 percent used a robotic simulator, and 25 medical programs used robots in 86 percent of their classes. Furthermore, 26 51 percent of programs used videos as part of their training.
Aside from helping surgeons to make more precise movements, robotic surgery can also allow physicians to conduct surgeries remotely. For example, although an isolated or impoverished region might not have 27 access to an effective local surgeon, if a surgical robot were available it could actually be controlled by a doctor working in another city or even another country. A 2017 study by Dr. Ryan Madder, published in EuroIntervention, showed a 95 percent overall success rate for such surgeries. 28 Surprisingly, the study showed that no patients died or had to have procedures repeated before being discharged from the hospital.
Surgical robots can help doctors to make precise movements in complex procedures. 29 For this reason, they also allow doctors to operate on patients from a distance, which saves on travel time and costs. Since patients sometimes need a surgery right away, surgical robotics is a field 30 while connecting people with life-saving technology.
Correct Answer: C
Explanation:
C
Transitions are changing in the answer choices, so this question is testing consistency of ideas. A transition must be consistent with the relationship between the ideas it connects. The sentence before the transition states that Surgical robots can help doctors to make precise movements in complex procedures, and the sentence that starts with the transition states that surgical robots also allow doctors to operate remotely. These two sentences each discuss a benefit of surgical robots, so the correct transition must indicate that the second sentence is an additional benefit. For this reason implies that the first sentence provides a reason that doctors may operate remotely. This is not true, so eliminate (A). The two sentences agree, so eliminate (B), which contains an opposite-direction transition. As another benefit indicates that the second sentence will contain an additional benefit of robotic surgery. This is true, so keep (C). Thus implies that the second sentence is a conclusion that follows from the first sentence. This is not true, so eliminate (D). The correct answer is (C).