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- Wed Mar 30, 2016 6:44 pm
#22666
Question #8: Main Point. The correct answer choice is (C)
The beauty of Main Point questions is that if you’re reading the stimulus with the proper focus—that is, with an eye to argumentation and its structure—you will have answered the question before you’re even told what the question is. If a conclusion is present you should always be aware of what it is, and that’s the entirety of the task in Main Point.
In this stimulus, we begin with a familiar, or at least common, construct: the attribution of some position, action, or belief to an “outside” (non-author) group. Specifically we’re told that the local news media have long praised Clemens as an honest politician. And in typical fashion the author immediately attempts to discredit that belief/action, in this case by stating that Clemens’ corruption scandal proves the local media wrong.
But so far these are stated as factual, which is to say not arguments. It’s the third sentence where we finally arrive at the author’s opinion: the local media show too much deference toward public figures. That is the conclusion the author is driving at, and the correct answer should reflect it as closely as possible.
And finally to drive the point home we get an anecdote about the local paper’s editor and her admission that her reporters could have exposed the scandal earlier but neglected to follow leads. Why did they neglect to follow leads? Deference, according to the author.
Answer choice (A): This is a premise, and serves as the initial claim that the author uses to demonstrate that the local media shows more respect to public figures than they may deserve.
Answer choice (B): is something with which the author would agree, but it is not the main point of the argument. The argument is about why the media was wrong about Clemens: Clemens is a public figure and the media show too much deference to public figures.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. As noted above, the conclusion here is that the local news media show too much deference to public figures.
Answer choice (D): is another premise. Specifically, it’s designed to further support the idea that the media show too much deference to public figures—if they weren’t inherently reverent they likely would have investigated more thoroughly and uncovered the scandal sooner.
Answer choice (E): is the most attractive wrong answer, but not nearly as close to the main point as (C). The argument is about more than just the local newspaper’s behavior; it’s about local news media in general. And it’s not just that this behavior was typical or indicative of how they treat others, but rather that the treatment itself fits a regrettable pattern of deference.
The beauty of Main Point questions is that if you’re reading the stimulus with the proper focus—that is, with an eye to argumentation and its structure—you will have answered the question before you’re even told what the question is. If a conclusion is present you should always be aware of what it is, and that’s the entirety of the task in Main Point.
In this stimulus, we begin with a familiar, or at least common, construct: the attribution of some position, action, or belief to an “outside” (non-author) group. Specifically we’re told that the local news media have long praised Clemens as an honest politician. And in typical fashion the author immediately attempts to discredit that belief/action, in this case by stating that Clemens’ corruption scandal proves the local media wrong.
But so far these are stated as factual, which is to say not arguments. It’s the third sentence where we finally arrive at the author’s opinion: the local media show too much deference toward public figures. That is the conclusion the author is driving at, and the correct answer should reflect it as closely as possible.
And finally to drive the point home we get an anecdote about the local paper’s editor and her admission that her reporters could have exposed the scandal earlier but neglected to follow leads. Why did they neglect to follow leads? Deference, according to the author.
Answer choice (A): This is a premise, and serves as the initial claim that the author uses to demonstrate that the local media shows more respect to public figures than they may deserve.
Answer choice (B): is something with which the author would agree, but it is not the main point of the argument. The argument is about why the media was wrong about Clemens: Clemens is a public figure and the media show too much deference to public figures.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. As noted above, the conclusion here is that the local news media show too much deference to public figures.
Answer choice (D): is another premise. Specifically, it’s designed to further support the idea that the media show too much deference to public figures—if they weren’t inherently reverent they likely would have investigated more thoroughly and uncovered the scandal sooner.
Answer choice (E): is the most attractive wrong answer, but not nearly as close to the main point as (C). The argument is about more than just the local newspaper’s behavior; it’s about local news media in general. And it’s not just that this behavior was typical or indicative of how they treat others, but rather that the treatment itself fits a regrettable pattern of deference.
