Passage - General Questions

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below! Thanks!

[Sabrina-2021]

I started to being completely lost in this passage after the fist paragraph. Don’t even know what to keep in mind with such a complex science topic buried in such a dense article. Somebody help me please.

[Adam Tyson]

You're in good company there, Sabrina-2021, as this passage was a bit mind-bending. When that happens, regardless of the topic, you should try to focus on some of the key elements of VIEWSTAMP. In particular, focus on the Structure of the passage - how it is organized from beginning to end - and on the Viewpoints presented in the passage, which would be what anyone (the author and the people the author is writing about) thinks, feels, or believes. If you focus on those things and not on the details you will be more likely to get through the passage with a good understanding of the things you really need to know in order to answer the questions. As you've no doubt seen, the questions tend not to be about your understand of the subject matter, but about what the author would agree or disagree with. For most questions you don't need to remember the answer, but only need to know where in the passage to search for the answer. That's where a focus on Structure really pays off!

When the details make your head spin, take a step back and look for indications of viewpoints, and note the structure. It's totally fine to think to yourself "I have no idea what paragraph 1 is actually saying, but I can see that it is describing a controversial new theory." That may be all you really need to know!