#20 - Main Point

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14512)

The correct answer choice is (C)

You should match your selection to lines 11-18, which give the main point of the passage.

Answer choice (A): This response matches elements of the third paragraph, and the passage structure
indicates that the third paragraph provided an example intended to support the author’s main point.

Some students view this response as refl ecting the author’s conclusions in the last paragraph and
make the erroneous assumption that the last paragraph contains the main point of the passage.
However, as has been discussed, the main point is better refl ected in the fi rst paragraph, and thus this
response is incomplete.

Answer choice (B): This choice is more attractive that (A), but it incorrectly implies that the
aboriginals’ main goal is attaining full ownership of land. The passage presented that issue as an
example of the general diffi culties encountered because of the constitutional language, not as the
main point.

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. The passage generally concerns the
inconsistent, or uncertain, application of constitutional language to the protection of aboriginal
rights.

Answer choice (D): Although the author would agree with this statement, this answer does not
capture the main point of the passage. If anything, this answer seems to imply some degree of
negative intent on the part of the provincial courts, and the author did not mention any political
agenda behind the rulings of those courts.

Answer choice (E): The author would also agree with this answer choice, but this answer does not
capture the main point of the passage. So, even though the idea in this response is discussed in the
last paragraph, this answer does not describe the bulk of the passage and thus cannot describe the
main point.

[lanereuden]

Okay can I get furtherance as to why D is wrong

"If anything, this answer seems to imply some degree of
negative intent on the part of the provincial courts, and the author did not mention any political
agenda behind the rulings of those courts."

This is not true. In line 57, the author denounces the courts calling them excessively conservative.
So to me this question is strange because question C says the rights were left uncertain due to difficulty interpreting...but I feel the main point here is much stronger because the author says they were excessively conservative...that's a much bolder and powerful statement than saying things were just uncertain.

[Adam Tyson]

As used in the passage, lanereuden, "conservative" isn't necessarily a political position. It just means that the decision was based on a narrow interpretation of prior law that does not embrace change. While it's clear that the author thinks the court in that case was mistaken (implied by the use of "excessively"), we cannot go so far as to say that the author is ascribing a political agenda to that court.

More importantly, answer D is too narrow to be the Main Point of the passage overall. The issue of land claims was just one example used to illustrate the broader point that the constitutional reforms have not yet led to clearer and stronger protection of aboriginal rights. What does that issue tell us about the rights related to maintaining traditional customs and practices, or rights regarding self-government?

Even given that answer D is a true statement, it is still just a premise in support of the larger claim expressed in the correct answer. The Main Point of the passage shouldn't support some other point, just like the Main Point in an LR stimulus doesn't support another claim in that stimulus. The Main Point is the big idea, the one getting all the support from the rest of the passage. Answer C is one small idea in support of a broader one here.