- Tue May 19, 2020 1:07 pm
#75570
Hi yasmineflores!
Happy to explain answer choice (E). First, the question stem asks about what the author is "primarily concerned with," thus a global question about the author's purpose in writing the passage.
Answer (E) is, "counterbalancing different points of view regarding an important topic being addressed by policy makers." The answer choice is written in general terms, so it might be helpful to make it more specific to the passage at hand. Here, there is indeed an "important topic"--e.g., the author notes in line 1 that forests are "among world's most valuable resources" and urges deliberative policy. Additionally, it is an important topic "being addressed by policy makers" (line 10), the precise reason that the author urges deliberation of relevant considerations.
Finally, the author provides "different points of view" about forest preservation and deforestation--e.g., views about forests as producers of oxygen. I understand your concern that "counterbalancing" might not initially seem the best description. However, the passage does proceed by the author providing different viewpoints on the forest preservation/deforestation--importantly, these are not the author's viewpoints but rather are viewpoints raised by others, some of which the author addresses. For example, the author is skeptical of viewpoints emphasizing the importance of forests as producers of oxygen (lines 16-26). The author mentions biodiversity as another reason against deforestation, mentioning that this is often presented as a viewpoint that such biodiversity is important because forests might contain disease-fighting plants, but adding that one might emphasize biodiversity as an intrinsic, moral good (lines 30-40). In these ways, the author not only provides different points of view but also assesses them, rejects some, clarifies others--in other words, counterbalancing these different points of view.
