#1 - Main Point

[alee]

HI guys,

A specific + a general question. Specific question is about Q1 PT 59 Section 4. It's a MP question, but some of these are actually tripping me up lately. I chose A

A: Many difficult problems in computing are naturally parallel

As you know, the correct answer is

C There is currently a paradigm shift occurring in the field of computing toward parallel computing.

What got me is that the 1st and 2nd paragraph mention nothing about the 'paradigm shifting in computing'. I know that this itself does not rule it out from being the MP, but I suppose I became accustomed to seeing (at least part of) the MP mentioned in the 1st paragraph. Is the *correct* way to see the passage as making a point about how difficult problems are naturally parallel, explaining this using the ant analogy, and finally using these two points to suggest why there is a paradigm shift in computing from sequential to parallel computing? Hence paragraphs 1 and 2 present 2 separate points which *prop up* the main point.

My general question is about prephrasing. Do you use it at all when it comes to 'infer' questions? Such as Q3 of this same passage? And how about for very abstract 'is most analogous' questions?

Cheers!

[Steve Stein]

Good question. The test makers do what they can to avoid too much predictability, and this is not the first example of a main point answer dealing with issues discussed in the third paragraph of a passage.

When it comes to Main Point questions, I construct a very general prephrase and "hold on loosely" as I read through the answer choices. If there is a reason to rule out a choice, I will. But otherwise, everything remains a contender and I select the choice that is accurate and best covers the author's main focus.

And if something can be "properly inferred," you can be sure that the passage(s) provide ample evidence.

I hope that's helpful! Let me know whether this clears up that one--thanks!

~Steve

[Meshal Alotaibi]

Hi - I felt C is stating a fact that does not showcase what the author is trying to get at when he / she said it only makes sense to use a computing model that exploits... will perform best - to me this is the MP.

I am aware that answer choices do not really get at that, E is close but it introduces human mind which is not accurate, D talks about the parallel in nature, not exactly an MP, can you please clarify why C is?

[Dana D]

Hey Meshal,

For a lot of main point questions, you can look for a clue about the correct answer by referring to the first paragraph or examining the purpose of the subsequent ones. In this passage, the first paragraph does not necessarily focus on computers, but it is talking about a shift in thinking about how we solve problems.

The second paragraph is an example of how individual aspects work together to create a complex system, and the last paragraph ties both of these ideas together by introducing this idea of parallel problem solving into the computing world.

While it might seem like Answer Choice (C) doesn't get at all the ideas the passage was trying to cover, if you analyze the purposes of the first two paragraphs, you can see they are building up to this idea of the paradigm shift to parallel computing- it is the main point of the passage.