#1 - Global Reference, Main Point

[Adam Tyson]

This whole passage is about the author rising to the defense of Wagner, telling us that while modern architecture may "emphasiz(e) practical and technical issues at the expense of aesthetic concerns" and that "cost-efficiency and utility have become the overriding concerns of the modern architect," that's not Wagner's fault, since he was very concerned with aesthetics. The first paragraph really lays out the main thesis of the passage, and the rest is in service of proving that position. That should be our prephrase for the Main Point - "Don't blame Wagner for these functional but ugly buildings."

Answer D is the closest match to that thesis.

Answer A is true - modern architecture has been criticized, as the first paragraph says - but the passage is not devoted to supporting that position. Put another way, the author isn't trying to convince us that modern architecture has been criticized. Instead, she is trying to prove that Wagner is not at fault for those failings. Otherwise, what is the purpose of anything the author wrote after the first two sentences? Surely the rest of the passage should be there to support the Main Point, right?

Beware of answers that are true but wrong. They will state something that IS correct about the passage but which does NOT answer the question asked. No matter how true that answer is, if it doesn't represent the big idea that the author wants to convey, it's not the Main Point!

[DearMargaret]

Can someone please tell me why B is correct? Is it because critics have taken the technological innovations into account?
Thanks！

[Jeff Wren]

Hi Margaret,

Did you mean to ask why Answer B is incorrect? (The correct answer is D.)

Answer B is wrong for a few reasons.

First, the passage doesn't state or imply that the critics failed to take into account the technological innovations and aesthetic features in modern buildings. The point of view of the critics is discussed in the very first sentence of the passage. They criticize modern architecture "for emphasizing practical and technical issues at the expense of aesthetic concerns." The author does not dispute this. Instead, the author replies that based on Otto Wagner's seminal text, "the failures of modern architecture cannot be blamed on the ideals of its founders." In other words, modern architecture may have its problems and the critics may be correct in pointing them out, but it's not Wagner's fault (or the fault of the other founders of modern architecture).

Second, it is the author's response to the critics (i.e. don't blame Wagner), found in the last sentence of paragraph one, that is the main idea of the passage. If you were prephrasing the main idea of the passage, your prephrase really needs to mention Wagner because he is the focus of the passage. Any answer that doesn't mention Wagner is very problematic for a main idea question here.

[DearMargaret]

Yes, I meant to ask why Answer B is incorrect. Sorry for the mistake.

Thank you for your explanations! It really helps!