#9 - Must Be True, Point at Issue

[ay514]

Hello,

I am having a hard time understanding why B is a better choice than A. I can see why B would have the authors disagreeing but I can also see a disagreement between the two authors over the statement made in answer choice C. Please help me clear my confusion Thank you!!

[ay514]

Sorry, I meant why B is a better choice than C!

[Dave Killoran]

Answer choice (B) and (C) can both be tough answer choices, and you typically see as many people choose (C) as (B).

Because you can already see why (B) would contain a disagreement, I'll focus on answer choice (C). The question stem is in the Point at Issue style, so you need a statement where one author says, "I agree" and the other author says, "I disagree." With that in mind, isolate passage A and ask yourself what the author of Passage A says about the statement in answer choice (C). The author says nothing really about the topic, and thus the author of Passage A cannot be said to agree or disagree with the statement in answer choice (C). Thus, (C) cannot be the correct answer choice.

The reason (C) is attractive is because the author of Passage B seems to attribute that view to the purple loosestrife control practitioners, and then sets himself/herself up as opposed to that view. However, that doesn't tell you what the author of Passage A actually thinks, and so (C) is wrong.

The key in Point at Issue-type questions is to know what each author would say about the statement in question. If you don't know for sure, the answer choice cannot be correct.

Does that help? Please let me know. Thanks!

[ay514]

Thank you so much! That was really helpful!

[brcibake]

Could you explain why B is wrong? I completely ruled that out.

[Eric Ockert]

Author A speaks of "serious reductions in waterfowl and aquatic furbearer productivity in Lines 11-12. This shows that he would agree that the threat posed by purple loosestrife on them is serious.

Author B, on the other hand, mentions how the threat posed by purple loosestrife on furbearers has been discussed at great length, but goes on to say "none of the species highlighted can be considered threatened in North America" in Lines 55-58. This would show that he disagrees with the claim that the threat is serious.

Since one of these authors (Author A) agrees with answer choice B and one author (Author B) disagrees, you have met the Agree/Disagree Test for Point at Issue questions.

[jupiterlaw]

Answer choice (B) and (C) can both be tough answer choices, and you typically see as many people choose (C) as (B).

Because you can already see why (B) would contain a disagreement, I'll focus on answer choice (C). The question stem is in the Point at Issue style, so you need a statement where one author says, "I agree" and the other author says, "I disagree." With that in mind, isolate passage A and ask yourself what the author of Passage A says about the statement in answer choice (C). The author says nothing really about the topic, and thus the author of Passage A cannot be said to agree or disagree with the statement in answer choice (C). Thus, (C) cannot be the correct answer choice.

The reason (C) is attractive is because the author of Passage B seems to attribute that view to the purple loosestrife control practitioners, and then sets himself/herself up as opposed to that view. However, that doesn't tell you what the author of Passage A actually thinks, and so (C) is wrong.

The key in Point at Issue-type questions is to know what each author would say about the statement in question. If you don't know for sure, the answer choice cannot be correct.

Does that help? Please let me know. Thanks!

Hi,

I was also confused as to why C would be incorrect. This makes a lot more sense! But, I am still confused a little because the answer key's explanation almost seems to be the opposite of what you are saying here.

There they assert that A would likely disagree with the statement and that we cannot assess the attitude of the second author (B). This confuses me even more because I thought for sure we could infer that B would agree with this statement because it is basically paraphrased from Passage B lines 46-50.

Basically, I understand your explanation completely and I see why C is wrong and B is correct, but I am wondering was the answer key's reasoning wrong or am I misunderstanding it?

[Dave Killoran]

I don't have access to the answer key explanation at the moment, but will have it checked it later. Regardless, what I wrote above is accurate, so if you followed that, you're in good shape as far as understanding the problem here!