#8- Main Point

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14154)

The correct answer choice is (C)

The answer to this question is prephrased in the VIEWSTAMP analysis above.

Answer choice (A): While some secondary substances do operate as natural defenses against
damage and destruction by insects, not all of them do. This answer choice cannot be proven with the
information contained in the passage, and does not provide a summary of its main point.

Answer choice (B): While this answer choice would pass the Fact Test given the information in the
third paragraph, it is not the main point of the passage. Be mindful of Main Point answer choices
drawn exclusively from one particular paragraph, especially if that paragraph is the last one in the
passage. Students often assume, incorrectly, that the final paragraph is most likely to contain the
author’s main point—an assumption frequently exploited by the test-makers.

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice: after describing what secondary substances
are, the author argues that they result from an evolutionary process of interaction between plants
and insects. Although this claim does not directly address the information contained in the third
paragraph, it still provides a better summary of the passage than any of the other four answer
choices.

Answer choice (D): This is an attractive answer choice, as it can be proven by reference to the first
paragraph of the passage. The author does not, however, elaborate on the diversity of secondary
substances or their distribution among plants. While they tend to be similar among closely related
species (lines 11-13), this is not a major point of the passage and is of little importance to the
argument developed in the second and third paragraphs.

Answer choice (E): Although secondary substances did appear as a result of genetic mutations, this
is not why plants have come to participate in a continuing process of competition with plant-eating
insects. Rather, the secondary substances provide the means by which that process occurs.

[lillian]

Powerscore,

I seem to keep missing the mark on main point questions, hard as I may try. This is an example of a type which seems to stump me every time. I picked B, thinking that the main point question should focus more on the conclusion of the passage. In this case I thought that the narrowing of species able to eat a plant was the conclusion. Is there a passage type where conclusion should be emphasized? Should there be specific VIEWSTAMP elements present in each MP answer, or perhaps a requisite number? Am I conflating main point and conclusion?

Gratefully,

Lillian

[Jonathan Evans]

Lillian,

Great question. Let's discuss the main point for a moment.

I understand your confusion or conflation of main point and conclusion. On Logical Reasoning, the terms are used often interchangeably. However, on Reading Comprehension, you need to distinguish between conclusions you might encounter within a passage and the overarching "main point" of the passage.

The main point encompasses the entirety of the passage and the manner in which the author's viewpoint is expressed therein.

Let me put it more simply in the way I get the main point when I read a passage:

First, as I read a passage, I am aggressively getting through the passage. Constantly, I am asking myself, "Okay what did I just read? How does that relate to what came right before it?"

I follow this train of thought throughout the passage.

When I am finished, I pause and ask myself these three questions:

1) What was the passage about?

A: something about plant characteristics

2) More specifically, what was the passage about?

A: about how plants have these "secondary" characteristics that have developed over a long time, has to do with evolution, insects

3) So what does the author think about that?

A: The author thinks that secondary characteristics of plants, their taste and smell etc etc, are things that have developed over a long, long time in part because of plants' evolutionary competition with insects.

The answer to question (3) above is the main point. This is my process to arrive at the main point. Employ it at your own peril! Seriously, reread the section about VIEWSTAMP and how to extract these crucial elements of RC passages. Remember that the main point has to encompass the entire passage and not just some part of it. It is invaluable for answering main point questions and as a process of elimination tool everywhere else.

[bli2016]

Hi, I chose E and am still having trouble understanding why it is wrong. Is it because it is not supported by the passage (I'm thinking the causal relationship between plant mutations and evolutionary competition might be unsupported?), or because it is not the main point of the passage (i.e. the main point is that there are these secondary substances that have developed because of evolutionary competition and not necessary evolutionary competition in itself)?

[Luke Haqq]

Hi bli2016!

You're right on both points. Answer (E) isn't the best answer because it claims the main point is about a causal relationship. That's not something that's supported by the passage, though. (E) is also not ideal because it focuses on the "competition" between plants and insects--to be sure, the passage does mention competition, but that doesn't appear to be what the passage as a whole is about.

Rather, answer (C) is stated in more general terms--for example, that secondary substances "result in large part" from the "interaction" between plants and insects. Stating it in broader terms like "interaction" encompasses a word like "competition," so (C) can recognize that competition was discussed in part of the passage without claiming that that's the passage's main point.

You're right to ask, because in general, you're likely to see answer choices that could be inferred from the passage that show up on a main-point question. However, just because an answer choice is true based on the information in the passage doesn't necessarily make it the main point of the passage. So even if we supposed (E) were true based on the passage, answer (C) would still be the right answer because it also true but does better at reflecting the passage as a whole.