"..passage is primarily concerned with assessing:" in RC

[IgosduIkana]

This question is regarding 26-4-14, in a passage about the dying off of bottlenose dolphins.

Is this question asking us for the main point of the reading comprehension passage? Or is it instead asking what the passage assesses at some point of the passage?

I'm not entirely sure - in this instance the the passage doesn't seem to revolve around the correct answer. Also, it does assess the correct answer, but the passage also seems to assess all of the incorrect answers. Any ideas on this?

[rinkrat19]

THe main point of the passage is to assess something. What is it assessing? Not the conclusion that the passage eventually comes to, but the overall issue that it discusses. (Like..."whether or not Smith is an example of postmodernist painter," not the conclusion "no, Smith was not postmodernist.")

[IgosduIkana]

aaah, I see what you're pointing out. So it's not asking for the conclusion of the passage, but rather what the passage is concerning...what a fine, fine distinction. Not the main point of the passage, but what the argument considers on the way to positing its main point.

Thanks for the help!

[Br3v]

yeah, what is the passage talking about. The main point.

DH from velocity put it best when he said for MP RC questions, the answer is usually if you turned to someone and said "I just read a passage about blank"

[Verity]

yeah, what is the passage talking about. The main point.

No, not the main point. The main topic. If I write about whether we should require an individual health care mandate and conclude that we should, my topic (what I'm assessing) is whether we should require an individual health care mandate. My main point is (probably) that we should.

Here's a trick: when you see "this passage is primarily concerned with assessing," follow it with a "whether." That means, "what is the passage about?" not "what does the passage conclude?"

[Br3v]

yeah, what is the passage talking about. The main point.

No, not the main point. The main topic. If I write about whether we should require an individual health care mandate and conclude that we should, my topic (what I'm assessing) is whether we should require an individual health care mandate. My main point is (probably) that we should.

Here's a trick: when you see "this passage is primarily concerned with assessing," follow it with a "whether." That means, "what is the passage about?" not "what does the passage conclude?"

yeah sorry just a vocab issue. The conclusion is certainly the main point, not the main topic. It addresses the issue raised in the main topic.