#1 - Main Point

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (C).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (D):

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[DorrieN]

Hi! I was having quite a difficult time with this question.

I understand why C is correct, but I also could see A and E being correct. Can you explain why they aren't? Or why C is MORE correct?

[Luke Haqq]

Hi DorrieN!

Happy to address answer choices (A), (E), and (C).

Answer choices (A) and (E) are both too narrow. Being too narrow is often the form that an incorrect answer will take on main point questions. Incorrect answers will often address only part of the passage while failing to account for the function one or more of its paragraphs.

For both (A) and (E), most of the passage isn't about scholarly disagreement but rather is about the "large body of evidence for the routine practice of burning" (lines 16-17). Scholarly disagreement seems confined to the first paragraph. The second and third paragraphs are presenting evidence of the author's views regarding this disagreement--i.e., the author's view that the evidence points to routine controlled burning--rather than these paragraphs being focused on disagreements among scholars.

Answer choice (C) includes what is missing in answer choices (A) and (E). Answer choice (C) states that the main point is: "Although some scholars minimize the scope and importance of the burning of forests engaged in by native populations of North and South America before 1492, evidence of the frequency and impact of such burning is actually quite extensive." The clause making up the first half of the sentence captures the scholarly disagreement in the first paragraph. But the remainder of the sentence also brings in the other two paragraphs, which are providing evidence of controlled burning.

[AJScott2022]

Hello!

I had trouble narrowing down between answer choices A and C. I actually saw these choices as very similar, so I’m still not sure if I am understanding why answer A is incorrect. Could it be due to answer A saying that “native populations had been burning North & South Americans extensively”? I hesitated when I saw this because the passage doesn’t directly state that the native populations were extensively burning forests. Instead the passage says that there is extensive evidence of burning. However, the second paragraph talks about evidence for the routine practice of burning. It also discusses how burning promotes a mosaic quality in the ecosystems in the Americas, with forests in many different stages of development. Based on this I thought that we could infer that this was evidence of extensive burning. So I ultimately chose this answer. Did I make an incorrect inference here? Or is there something else making answer A incorrect?

I ultimately eliminated answer C because it states that “ some scholars minimize the scope and importance”, and the I didn’t see the support in the passage for the part where scholars are minimizing the importance of the burning done by native Americans. The first paragraph states that some scholars maintain that the frequency, extent and impact of the burning was minimal, but I didn’t see that as being the same as the scholars minimizing the importance. Did I read into this distinction too much?

[Amber Thomas]

Hi AJScott!

Let's start by breaking down the passage:

Paragraph One: Forests in the Western Hemisphere had been altered and cultivated by Native populations by means of burning prior to European arrival. However, some researchers argue that the impact of these burnings were minimal.

Paragraph Two: There is a large body of evidence in the geographical record to suggest that burning was a common practice. Other evidence shows that different techniques had different impacts on the environment.

Paragraph Three: Controlled burning created favorable conditions and altered forest compositions to be more homogenous. These homogenous forests were present prior to European arrival in North America.

Now, let's look at Answer Choices A and C:

Answer Choice A: "Despite extensive evidence that native populations had been burning North and South American forests extensively before 1492, some scholars persist in claiming that such burning was either infrequent or the result of natural causes."

Answer Choice C: "Although some scholars minimize the scope and importance of the burning of forests engaged in by native populations of North and South America before 1492, evidence of the frequency and impact of such burning is actually quite extensive."

The key difference between these two answer choices is the way in which they are framed. Both stated that a) there are scholars that these burnings were not as impactful or frequent as the evidence suggests, and b) that there is extensive evidence that Native populations engaged in controlled burnings to cultivated the environment. Answer Choice A puts far too much emphasis on the scholars that disagree about the impact/frequency of the burnings, and centers them in a way that the passage does not. They are only mentioned in Paragraph One, and the way Answer Choice A is worded makes it seems as though these scholars are the bulk of what is discussed in the passage. Answer Choice C presents the main point in a way that much more closely mirrors the structure and argument of the passage, presenting the main focus to be the evidence discussed.

To your point about why you eliminated Answer Choice C, it is not actually a stretch to say that these scholars "minimized" the importance of the burnings in forests by Native populations. They attribute these burnings to the climate, or state that the burnings were less common than suggested by the evidence. This qualifies as minimizing.

I hope this helps!