Q1

[kdeclark]

This question is about Q1, but it's primarily a more general question about these sorts of questions.

I quickly eliminated A, D and E immediately after seeing that they referred specifically to the radio-tracking collars. These collars were definitely part of the story, but only part. So focusing on them as the "main idea" of the passage is a mistake.

But deciding between B and C is a lot more difficult.

C looks like a good answer right away--everything it says is true, and it seems to cover the organization of the passage, which begins by stating that there are questions, goes on to explain how some have been answered, and then presents a few more that seem to come out of the research.

However, B is a lot more specific. It accurately states the reasons for the problems zoologists faced.

Now, rereading the passage I see that B has some problems that should raise a red flag:
1. The passage only raises a couple of (presumably) exemplary questions, while B makes it sound like these were the ONLY reason for the zoologists troubles.
2. B makes it sound as though problems zoologists face regarding the okapi were only problems at the BEGINNING of the 20th century, implying that they have all been solved. Clearly the end of the passage suggests otherwise.

Ok, so if you're down to B and C, B has some explicit PROBLEMS, and so maybe that's a reason to eliminate it. However--and this is the main problem I'm having--C just doesn't seem to capture the MAIN IDEA of the passage, like the question states. Rather, it seems to give the ORGANIZATION of the passage. It seems to me that to truly capture the main idea of a passage you have to give some indication of the arguments given, and to do that you need to summarize at least the most important REASONS for something discussed in the passage, like B does.

So, I guess I have three questions:

1. When a question asks for the main idea, should we just be looking for the most general, accurate description of the passage?

2. If so, should the fact that some element of the passage is missing (as, e.g., the questions from the final paragraph are missing from B) raise a red flag?

3. How is a "main idea" question different from an "organization" question. (I had the same problem Q16 and Q17 from PT 29 S2, which have sequential questions about the "primary purpose" and the "main idea." Nightmare.)

Thanks in advance.

[noah]

This is a great question - and nice work figuring out what's up with (B).

First, to put the final nail in (B)'s coffin.

Now, rereading the passage I see that B has some problems that should raise a red flag:
1. The passage only raises a couple of (presumably) exemplary questions, while B makes it sound like these were the ONLY reason for the zoologists troubles.
2. B makes it sound as though problems zoologists face regarding the okapi were only problems at the BEGINNING of the 20th century, implying that they have all been solved. Clearly the end of the passage suggests otherwise.

These are great catches! Overall, I found (B) to be too narrow. The passage does discuss these problems, but there's a lot of discussion of the discoveries.

Ok, so if you're down to B and C, B has some explicit PROBLEMS, and so maybe that's a reason to eliminate it. However--and this is the main problem I'm having--C just doesn't seem to capture the MAIN IDEA of the passage, like the question states. Rather, it seems to give the ORGANIZATION of the passage. It seems to me that to truly capture the main idea of a passage you have to give some indication of the arguments given, and to do that you need to summarize at least the most important REASONS for something discussed in the passage, like B does.

I get what you're saying, but what would you say is the main idea of this passage? You can't rattle off each point, you have to try to summarize it, and I think (C) does that nicely. All, or most of the various points feed in to (C).

So, I guess I have three questions:

1. When a question asks for the main idea, should we just be looking for the most general, accurate description of the passage?

2. If so, should the fact that some element of the passage is missing (as, e.g., the questions from the final paragraph are missing from B) raise a red flag?

3. How is a "main idea" question different from an "organization" question. (I had the same problem Q16 and Q17 from PT 29 S2, which have sequential questions about the "primary purpose" and the "main idea." Nightmare.)

1. Work wrong-to-right and you should have a good sense of the main idea from reading for the scale. If there's a lot of discussion of a side of the scale, it generally appears in the answer choice.

2. Yes!

3. The correct answer to an organization question can refer to background information, which a main idea will not. Also, a main idea can more easily leave out a "light" side of the scale (i.e. that side didn't get a lot of discussion), but the bar for doing that is a bit higher for an organization question.

Tell me if that helps.

[josephl750]

I get that b is too narrow but c seems inaccurate. I don't see in the passage any problems of related to eating habits mentioned it simply states how they eat, more so, it doesn't say that they realized any thing new about their eating habits because of the new research. their eating habits are mentioned only as an explanation for them not being found till now. the passage does say other questions have arisen but it says so only in reference to their concentration.