#20 - Main Point

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14217)

The correct answer choice is (A)

This question asks for the main point of the passage. As discussed above, the author’s main point is
to discuss the Netherlands study, and the conclusion that to speed up the restoration of overfarmed
land, a natural balance in the soil’s microorganisms can work with a diverse mix of native species to
catalyze the process.

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. The passage’s central idea is, as provided in
this answer choice, that a two pronged approach, both aboveground and underground, can speed up
the process of restoring the diversity of plant species.

Answer choice (B): The passage is not primarily focussed on the time and effort necessary to restore
plant diversity; this is not the central idea of the passage.

Answer choice (C): The author does not argue that current agricultural practices need to be modified,
so this choice fails the Fact Test, and certainly cannot be the right answer to this Main Point
question.

Answer choice (D): This choice presents a general belief discussed on line 16 of the passage but it is
not the passage’s central idea.

Answer choice (E): This choice is accurate according to the passage, but it does not represent the
central idea, and thus cannot be the correct answer to this Main Point question.

[15veries]

Hello,
I chose B in this question...I thought main conclusion question should be broad but is this TOO broad? How do we distinguish too broad ones?

[Adam Tyson]

Try this approach, 15 - imagine that someone walked up to you just as you finished reading the passage, and they asked you "what was that passage about?" You're in a bit of a hurry, but you don't want to be rude, so you sum up the passage in one sentence. You want to convey the really important aspects of the passage, so you don't want to just blow the off with "it's about farming" or "it's about soil". What would you say?

Answer B is a blow-off answer that tells almost nothing about what the passage is really about. It's true, sure - the process is difficult and time-consuming - but is that what the author was really trying to convey? Or, was he trying to describe the method that could be used to accelerate the success of the project to be undertaken across Europe to restore farmland to natural conditions?

That's my guideline for determining the best answer for Main Point - does it convey to someone who hasn't read the passage enough information about the guts of the passage and the author's main thrust? Does it really tell them something, or does it just blow them off or, worse, mislead them?

Main Point should be comprehensive, but that isn't the same as being broad. It should cover all the key points in the passage and sum them all up in one sentence, but it should be as broad or as narrow as the passage itself was on the subject. It should be a meaningful answer that conveys as much information as it reasonably can, without straying into minutia.

Take a look at the credited responses to most RC Main Point questions and you'll see that trend throughout, that they are comprehensive but still narrowly tailored to the passage.

Keep pounding!