Question 140
HardOriginal questionDoctor: So, Mr Iyer. What brings you here?
Mr Iyer: Nothing, really. My daughter made the . She worries.
Doctor: What does she worry about?
Mr Iyer: A little cough. It's nothing. Everybody has a cough in winter.
Doctor: How long have you had it?
Mr Iyer: A few weeks.
Daughter: Since August, Appa.
Mr Iyer: Since August, then. She keeps the calendar in this family.
Doctor: Does it keep you awake at night?
Mr Iyer: Not much. Sometimes.
Daughter: He sleeps in the chair in the drawing room now, so he doesn't wake my mother.
Doctor: I see. Mr Iyer, your daughter was right to bring you. A cough that lasts more than two months a proper look, whatever the season. We'll do a simple test today, and then we'll talk.
Mr Iyer: It really is only a little cough.
Doctor: Then the test will tell us so, and your daughter can stop worrying. , somebody in this room gets good news.
"Either way, somebody in this room gets good news." The doctor says this to
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
If the test is clear, Mr Iyer is proved right; if it finds something, it can be treated, and his daughter's worry is answered.
The doctor frames the test so that both of them can accept it.
Worth noting
The doctor has just said the daughter "was right to bring you", so she is not saying the daughter was wrong.
- Concept
- Recognising a speaker's tactful purpose
- Typical timeTypical
- 55 s
- Your timeYours
- —
Ten questions from Poems and conversations, at your own pace.