Read each detail from the passage and decide whether it explains why Dr. Semmelweis’s ideas about handwashing were not immediately accepted.

Question

Dr. Semmelweis ordered his medical students and junior physicians to wash their hands in a chlorinated lime solution. (explains/does not explain)
Many of Dr. Semmelweis’s colleagues were outraged at the idea that they were to blame for their patients’ deaths. (explains/does not explain)
Dr. Semmelweis refused to publish his findings for thirteen years. (explains/does not explain)
Dr. Semmelweis was not the first physician of his time to suggest that handwashing could prevent the spread of germs. (explains/does not explain)

Answer 1

1. Dr. Semmelweis ordered his medical students and junior physicians to wash their hands in a chlorinated lime solution. (does not explain)

2. Many of Dr. Semmelweis’s colleagues were outraged at the idea that they were to blame for their patients’ deaths. (explains)

3. Dr. Semmelweis refused to publish his findings for thirteen years. (explains)

4. Dr. Semmelweis was not the first physician of his time to suggest that handwashing could prevent the spread of germs. (does not explain)