#20 - Global Reference, Main Point

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=12412)

The correct answer choice is (A)

This question asks for the main point of the passage regarding a proper explanation of mirror images. In the passage, the author provides the question of how mirrors work, followed by the field-of-sight and front-to-back explanations, and concludes that explaining how mirrors work requires consideration of what they do, and what happens when we look into them.

Answer choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. At the end of the passage, the author specifies that a proper explanation of mirrors must include two elements; specifically, what mirrors do, and what takes place when we look at them.

Answer choice (B): The author of the passage provides two explanations of what mirrors do, taking issue with the second explanation, but the author does not assert that an adequate explanation has yet to be determined. This is not the main point of the passage and thus cannot be the answer to this question.

Answer choice (C): Although the author does discuss physicists’ response to the question of what mirrors do, the author does not state that this issue must be determined by physicists. This choice is not confirmed by the passage and is certainly not the author’s main point.

Answer choice (D): The author does present two different explanations of what mirrors do, but the main point is not to show that a debate exists, but to present two explanations offered by different groups of physicists.

Answer choice (E): Some test takers found this topic to be complicated, but the author does not say or suggest that this is an extremely complicated issue, so this choice should be eliminated from contention.

[mpoulson]

Hello,

Can you provide references which explicitly point out that the answer is A? I couldn't find this in the passage. Thank you.

V/r,

Micah

[Emily Haney-Caron]

Hi Micah,

The main point of the passage is often found in the passage as a whole. However, the last two sentences of the passage come closest to directly pointing to the answer.

[lday4]

Can you go into further detail about what makes A correct? I understand that this is explicitly stated in the last paragraph, but if we're looking at the passage as a whole this seems to make a late arrival. To me the main point should have addressed more of the theories that are mentioned in the passage and take up a majority of the discussion.

Thanks!

[Emily Haney-Caron]

Hi lday,

When trying to identify the main point, rather than ask yourself what took up the majority of the lines, instead it can be helpful to focus on why the author would have bothered to write the piece in the first place, or what he or she wants you to take away with you. Sometimes, that will be what takes up the bulk of the discussion of the passage; in other cases, though, much of the passage will be background needed in order to achieve the author's point of writing the passage, which itself takes up less space. Try re-reading the passage with that in mind and see if it helps.

[lsatstudying11]

Hello!

I had a lot of difficulty with this question. I can see how A would be correct after reviewing it, but I still feel like D is also defensible. Isn't a major part of this passage devoted to the author presenting front-to-back theory and arguing that it is up to date because it has some appeal but it also has some problems? Thanks for your help!

[Robert Carroll]

l,

The front-to-back theory has more than just some problems - the author thinks it's fundamentally mistaken. The author brings up its intuitive appeal not because the author thinks it's right, but just to explain why so many people are taken in by a view that doesn't actually match the facts.

Here are my references for the author's opinion about the front-to-back theory:

Lines 22-23: "it is clearly based on a false premise"

Lines 27-28: "it is quite successful at explaining what a mirror does—to a point"

Line 34: "mirrors are an exception"

Lines 51-53: "If we remove the observer from consideration, we are no longer addressing images and appearances"

To the extent that some people believe this view, they are just mistaken, from the author's perspective. Saying the issue is subject to debate is wrong - there's no debate, from the author's point of view, just some people who persist in a mistake (and others who are right about the other explanation).

Robert Carroll