What does diagnose mean?

[Olla]

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #27 "At the Doctors", question 1

As soon as the doctor looked at her, he was able to ......... the cause of her frequent headaches.

(a) decide
(b) diagnose
(c) define
(d) describe

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #27 "At the Doctors", answer 1

As soon as the doctor looked at her, he was able to diagnose the cause of her frequent headaches.

Correct answer: (b) diagnose
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please explain to me!!!

Olla

[Mister Micawber]

.
Diagnosis is what doctors do.
.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Alan]

Hi,

I assume you want to know the meaning of 'diagnose'. Putting it simply it suggests the you are identifying/finding the cause of of a problem. As you can see from the test sentence it is often used in a medical sense. It can also be used in a general sense, too as in:

The mechanic soon diagnosed the fault in the car engine.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Avec2012]

Hi Alan,

Yes, I know "diagnose" is mostly for a doctor to check the problems. But in this sentence, I still believe "describe" works:

Diagnose: the doctor need to check and find the cause of her problem.
Describe: the doctor has already checked her patient and got the problem of the patient. Now he can describe the problem clearly in words. Usually, once the doctor finds the problem, he will tell the patient what the problem is. So I just believed that "describe" is the right one for this situation.

What's the problem?

[Mister Micawber]

But he hasn't 'already checked the patient and got the problem out'. It reads 'as soon as the doctor looked at her' (= immediately). In any case, the problem wouldn't be described after it had been identified; it is quite the reverse. It is the description of the symptoms which identify and name (not 'describe') the problem.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's