Read the passage about modern attitudes to health and answer the following question: According to the passage, modern medicine is primarily concerned with which group of people?

Introduction / Context:
This reading comprehension question is based on a passage that criticises current attitudes towards health and the way modern medicine operates. The author contrasts the true purpose of health with the exaggerated focus on illness, especially illness that exists mainly in the imagination of patients. You are asked to identify what modern medicine is mainly concerned with according to the writer.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The passage states that health should enable a person to do work and do it well.
• It mentions that modern medicine, including many patients and physicians, pays very little attention to true health.
• It clearly says they pay very much attention to those who imagine they are ill.
• The question asks: "Modern medicine is primarily concerned with" and offers four alternatives.

Concept / Approach:
To answer, you must focus on what the author emphasises, not what you personally believe medicine should do. The key sentence in the passage contrasts "very little attention to health" with "very much attention to those who imagine they are ill." This indicates that the main concern of modern medicine, in the author's critical view, is people with imaginary illness, not the promotion of genuine health or efficiency at work.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Locate the relevant part of the passage that talks about modern medicine. Step 2: Read carefully: it says modern medicine pays little attention to health but a lot of attention to people who imagine they are ill. Step 3: Note that the phrase "those who imagine they are ill" is central to the author's criticism. Step 4: Compare this idea with the given options and match it with "people suffering from imaginary illness." Step 5: Select that option as it directly restates the author's point.

Verification / Alternative check:
Check each incorrect alternative against the passage. Nowhere does the writer praise modern medicine for promoting good health or increasing efficiency in work. In fact, the passage says modern medicine pays "very little attention to health," which rules out those interpretations. The idea that it focuses on real illness is also not highlighted. Instead, the emphasis is on imagined illness, making that the only option consistent with the text.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• promotion of good health: The passage explicitly states that modern medicine pays very little attention to health, so this is opposite to what the author says.
• people suffering from real illness: The focus is not on genuinely sick people but on those who only imagine they are ill.
• increased efficiency in work: Health is described as something that should help work, but modern medicine is not portrayed as working toward this goal.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes answer comprehension questions based on their own expectations about doctors and medicine rather than on what the passage actually states. Another frequent mistake is to choose the most positive sounding option, like "promotion of good health," even when the passage is clearly criticising current practices. Always return to the exact wording of the text to avoid such traps.

Final Answer:
According to the passage, modern medicine is primarily concerned with people suffering from imaginary illness.