Which statement best captures the essay's argument?

A measure loses its value once people are rewarded for moving it. (The essay defends measurement in general but argues that a measure decays once it becomes a target.)

How does the essay say a clinic judged on waiting times could shorten them?

By seeing the easy cases first (That is the exact example given: the clinic raises its score without improving care.)

What does the line about nobody having to be dishonest suggest?

The problem comes from the incentives, not from bad people. (If each person is 'simply answering what is counted', the fault lies in what is counted, not in anyone's character.)

"Once it becomes a target, it begins to decay." Decay here means

slowly lose its value and usefulness (It follows the image of a tool with a shelf life, so 'decay' describes a measure losing its worth over time.)

When the Measure Becomes the Target: Level 4 Reading Comprehension Questions

A measure is useful precisely because it is a simplification. It stands in for something we care about but cannot count directly, such as health or learning, and it works as long as the people being measured are not trying to move the number.

The trouble begins when the measure becomes the reward. A number that was chosen because it followed the real thing now has value of its own, and there is almost always a cheaper way to raise the number than to improve what it was meant to represent. A clinic judged on waiting times can shorten them by seeing the easy cases first. A school judged on average test scores can quietly discourage its weakest students from sitting the exam. Nobody in either story has to be dishonest; each person is simply answering what is counted.

The lesson is not that measurement is corrupt. Running an institution on impressions is worse. The lesson is that a measure is a tool with a shelf life. Once it becomes a target, it begins to decay, and the honest response is to keep asking what behavior your number is quietly paying for.

Comprehension questions