#1 - Global Reference, Main Point

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[gab1234]

Could you share more about the reasoning behind C being correct and not B. I thought that I understood the passage well; however, I missed two of the questions, so I must have missed a few key points.

Reviewing B, I can see that it does make a statement that is a bit contradictory to the passage, as Chinatown Chinese is not unfamiliar to many native Chinese people since the grammar and core of the language remains intact. C threw me off because it made me think the qualification of the dialect was entirely in question (i.e. Chinatown Chinese is not a new dialect). Any guidance you could share would be helpful. Thank you so much!!!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi gab!

The main point of any passage is closely tied to the author's viewpoint and the passage structure. So let's examine those aspects of this passage to determine the main point.

Structure:

Paragraph 1 gives us the argument of "some linguists" who believe that "Chinatown Chinese" is a distinct dialect and their two primary claims for this: 1) Someone newly arrived from China would have difficulty speaking with Chinese Americans in San Francisco, & 2) Chinese-Americans in San Francisco can speak to one another regardless of their traditional dialects. This isn't the author's viewpoint because it is attributed to "some linguists."

Paragraph 2 is the author's argument for why the first claim of the linguists in the first paragraph does not hold up. The author states: "The supposed language barrier is, therefore, mostly imaginary."

Paragraph 3 is the author's argument for why the second claim of the linguists in the first paragraph does not hold up. The author states: "The second claim—that the sharing of a uniquely Chinese-American vocabulary makes possible communication among Chinese Americans no matter what their basic dialect of Chinese may be—is a misleading oversimplification."

So what is the main point of this passage? What does the author want us to take away from it? In this case, the author follows a familiar argument structure that we often see in LR stimuli--the author starts off with someone else's viewpoint and then argues against it. The author presents the arguments of some linguists (that Chinatown Chinese is a distinct dialect) and then picks apart their claims. LSAT authors want you to agree with them. So the main point of an RC passage is tied to the author's viewpoint. In this case, the author wants you to agree that the arguments of some linguists that Chinatown Chinese is a distinct dialect do not hold up to examination.

All of this gives support for answer choice (C) being the correct answer. "The primary claims supporting the view that Chinatown Chinese is a distinct new dialect do not stand up to close examination" perfectly matches our author's viewpoint and our passage structure.

Answer choice (B) refers only to what is being described in the first paragraph as the viewpoint of some linguists. It has nothing to do with the author's viewpoint and it doesn't take into account the rest of the passage structure.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey