#1 - Main Point

[ALEXANDERCS]

To whom it may concern,

So lately I been having trouble with Main Points on Reading Comprehension. I had three choices, A, C, and E. However, I picked E. Can you explain why is incorrect and how is A correct. I did not see any references regarding "undermines the feasibility"

Regards,

Alexander

[Adam Tyson]

Here's my brief lecture on how to prephrase the Main Point for any RC passage, Alexander:

Imagine you have just completed reading the passage, quickly but thoroughly, and you suddenly realize that you are late for something important. You gather up your stuff, but as you do your dear, sweet grandmother walks in and asks you what that was that you were just reading so intently.

Now, you love your grandma, and you know it makes her happy when you give her lots of information about what you are doing and where you are going and who your are spending time with. You would never do anything to hurt grandma's feelings, so you aren't going to just blow her off and say "it's about internet legal issues, grandma!" and then run out the door. No, you are going to give her a complete, comprehensive answer, but you are going to do it in one sentence because you really do have to get somewhere. One full sentence that captures everything important about the entire passage, then a quick peck on granny's cheek and you are out of there. Go!

That's the essence of Main Point in RC.

Now, with all that said, let's take a look at the particular problem you had with answer A here. Is there support for "undermines the feasibility"? In other words, it's not practical to try regulating it in the same way we regulate commerce within a single country or region? Sure there is - that's what the passage is all about! How about in the first paragraph, where we read "presenting serious difficulties for traditional approaches to legislation and law enforcement"? A little later we get "jurisdictions cannot control the information and transactions flowing across their borders via the Internet", then "the volume of electronic communications crossing its territorial boundaries is too great to allow for effective control over individual transmissions." The list of quotes goes on and on, all adding up to "this is a big problem that we cannot easily manage." If that isn't about the feasibility of control being undermined, I don't know what it is.

Think about that approach to first prephrase the Main Point, before you even look at the first question, let alone at the answers to that question. Decide for yourself what you would tell Grandma what it was all about, and also about the overall tone of the passage, and only then should you be thinking about starting to work on the questions themselves.

Good luck with that!