Emily,
This kind of "hard" law passage is a challenge for many students. You might find your mind glazing over as you try to track the train of thought in the text. However, do not fall into the trap of just spinning your wheels going over and over the same passages in an attempt better to understand the meaning of the text. Instead, attempt to identify the main topic of the passage and get a sense of the organization of the passage.
In this case, it's clear that the expository text in the first paragraph leads to a two-part response in the following two paragraphs. If you wish to clarify the main point right now, you have the ability to do so. If there is an ordinal (first, second, etc.) list, it must list out something. To find out what it's talking about, go right before its beginning.
- "However, their argument is flawed on at least two counts."
Remember VIEWSTAMP. Does this appear to conform to any of the stuff you need to be reading for? I'd say it looks a like like a VIEWpoint, specifically that of the author. We're still unclear what he thinks though, because we don't know what "their argument" is. You will have to return to the preceding text:
- "They assert [...] constitutes a general principle of law."
Well, now you can ask yourself, what's their argument? It's what they assert (the VIEWpoint of these advocates). Put it together and you can come up with a paraphrase of the Main Point:
- The author concludes that governments do not have inherent power to modify its own contracts, and such a power is not a general principle of law.
I understand that this process might be arduous. If you find yourself having a mental meltdown, just keep going. Get into some local questions. One advantage of these dry law passages is they are exceptionally clear. If you read closely, you will be able to find the exact answer to every question. Start with the easier stuff, and try to formulate the main idea through the work you do for these other questions.
