In this task, you will use your knowledge about language (and common sense) to determine what element the marked number refers to. The numbers are marked with two underlines around them, like: _ number _. Your answer should be chosen from the given text, and should not contain other words.
Q: Joe Miller: The Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination against otherwise qualified handicapped persons who are able to perform the duties required by their employment . Although the ruling did not address the specific issue of HIV and AIDS discrimination ...
Andrew Beckett: Subsequent decisions have held that AIDS is protected as a handicap under law , not only because of the physical limitations it imposes , but because the prejudice surrounding AIDS exacts a social death which precede ... which precedes the physical _ one _ .
Joe Miller: This is the essence of discrimination : formulating opinions about others not based on their individual merits , but rather on their membership in a group with assumed characteristics .
A:
death