Verbal Lecture-12
Main idea questions:
As we have discussed earlier that how to read the passage with purpose driven rather than knowledge driven. Each paragraph must be assigned some topic or purpose. When you read all of the purposes of each paragraphs via our written notes, you will become more comfortable to find the main idea of the passage. This is also called as primary purpose of the passage. To understand this, let’s consider the following passage and learn how to answer main idea questions.
Passage:
Only few experiments directly testing the effects of cooking on net energy gained have been published. This small number is especially noteworthy given the abiding interest in calories and the impact of cooking on vitamin concentration and on the physical properties of food such as tenderness. However, thanks to the work of Rachel Carmody, we now have a series of experiments that provide a solid base of evidence proving contrary to popular belief that cooking has no net impact on calorie intake.
Rachel Carmody led a study in which mice were given regular mouse pellets for six days at a time, interrupted by four days of eating sweet potatoes or beef – half the time the sweet potato or meat was presented raw, and half the time cooked; half the time it was also pounded and half the time unpounded. For both meat and sweet potato, Rachel found that the mice gained more weight when the food was cooked than when it was raw. Pounding had very little effect.
Rachel hypothesized that in cooked beef, the muscle proteins, like the sugars in cooked starch, have opened up and allowed digestive enzymes to attack their amino acid chains. Cooking also does this for collagen, a protein that makes meat difficult to chew because it forms the connective tissue wrapped around muscle fibers. Another observation was that the mice had a spontaneous preference for eating cooked meat over raw meat, and their choice made sense, given that they fared better on it.
Further investigation along these lines revealed profound findings that the same food when cooked imparts 25% more calories than when eaten raw. Moreover, the calories obtained from raw foods are more likely to be converted to muscle mass versus fat. Therefore, those wanting to gain weight should eat highly processed and well-cooked meals. Conversely, those wanting to lose weight should do the opposite.
First read this passage by apply the strategies that you have learned in previous lecture of verbal section. So read this passage before we begin the main point analysis. We have already discussed this passage in previous lecture.
If you have read the passage, then let’s summarize what you have written for each paragraphs (know as paragraph summery). The points were given below:
P1: Few studies on cooking impact but thanks to MR RC for giving lot of experimental results.
→ This study is contrast to popular belief.
P2: Explained an experiment and its result.
→ Mice gained more weight with cooked food.
P3: Explained the reason behind the result (Assumption).
→ Cooking changes structure of food.
→ Mice prefer cooked food.
P4: Further investigation.
→ Cooked food has 25% more calories.
→ Conclusion based on these findings.
Your written points must also be similar to these, before proceeding further to main point analysis discussion. Our mental observation of each paragraphs are:
P1: Introduces and admired Mr RC’s for important experiments that disproves popular belief
P2: Describe an experiment and its result.
P3: Continue present results with further detail investigation.
P4: Draw final conclusion based on experiment and its analysis.
As the main point is the summery of individual paragraphs summaries. So let’s combine these four summaries into a single line main summery that show the intent of the entire passage. First let’s combine all boldfaced texts i.e:
Introduces + Describe + Continue present results + Draw final conclusion = To describe or to discuss.
Now, from first three summaries, it show what the author want to describe, i.e. MR RC experiments. And from the last summery, you can extract that after description of the experiment and some of investigation, the author draw a final conclusion. Thus, you can write the main idea in following words:
“To describe Mr RC experiment and summarize its findings.”
Thus, the author’s purpose of writing this passage is “to describe an experiment and summarize its findings”. Note that main point can be specific or general in nature. For instance, if the above main point sentence uses name of Mr RC, it becomes specific; on other hand if it does not use the name, it becomes general. So a correct main point choice can be a specific or a general statement. Also note that the main point is remained within the scope of the passage. Thus, an answer choice, which is outside scope of the passage, is incorrect.
Let’s understand how to get the main point of short passage (technically called as single paragraph passage).
Remember that steps will never change to find the main point of the whole passage, but only you should consider few lines (which depends on your memory power to attain maximum information in your head) as a paragraph and get summery of it. Here, instead of each paragraph, you name it as each section of the passage. And abbreviate it as S, rather than P. For instance, let’s consider the short passage below:
To the untrained eye, consolidation of the livestock market looks like the triumph of economic efficiency; however, in reality, it has devastated rural communities economically and environmentally and is the very definition of unsustainable. Four meatpacking companies currently control 90 percent of all beef processing in the U.S. When you get that kind of market power, abuse becomes rampant, making it impossible for ranchers to get a fair price for their livestock. As an example, a few years back USDA’s Vilsack and Butler proposed new rules to protect smaller producers and to change the balance of power in the producer-processor relationship. The proposal soon came under withering assault from the meatpacking industry i.e. the processors, which commissioned a study designed to prove that the proposal if implemented would cost a ludicrous $14 billion and 104,000 jobs. The USDA was not allowed a fair chance to present the job creation upside – cattle ranching alone has shed 650,000 jobs over the last 30 years, while the number of hog farms dropped by 170,000 between 1992 and 2004, which can only have cost jobs. The meatpackers also convinced Congress to hold a series of hearings packed with pro-Big Ag witnesses, while House Republicans attempted to defund USDA work on the rule entirely. In the end, the USDA, under pressure from all directions, did the dirty work itself and pulled out all the controversial parts of the rule that would have truly leveled the playing field for small producers. Examples such as the above are the reasons why the overall revenue of the ranching industry has declined in the past few decades in spite of higher overall production.
Read this passage before we’ll begin for main point analysis. As I mentioned earlier, apply same strategies while reading and stop after few lines, where you feel comfortable. Let’s draw some points and compare it with your own points for different Sections (S).
To the untrained eye …… fair price of their livestock.
S1: Common view of consolidation is positive, but reality is worse.
As an example …… which can only have cost jobs.
S2: Example
→ A case when few companies misuse their power to discourage small producers and to disturb balance of power.
→ USDA proposed a rule to protect small producers.
→ The USDA proposal criticized by the meatpacking industry – processors
→ Producers started working to prove that proposal will cost too much and will loss jobs.
The meatpackers also …… higher overall production.
S3: Example continue and final result:
→ Provides information of processors success in their pressure on USDA
→ USDA did pressurized and reacted to take the proposal and rule back
→ Conclusion
Main point general summery:
1. Introduces the issue
2. Present and explain the issue with example
3. Using the example, further give negative aspect & conclude
Introduces + Present and explain + conclude = To prove or to describe
To prove downsides of consolidation by few large industries, with examples.
In general speaking,
To prove downsides of a phenomenon with examples.
This is the general form of main point of the short passage above.
Finally, note that the self-analysis also play its role here in identifying the main point of the passage. First you need to make your own point, before going to answer choices. After that you can proceed and check any choice that is similar to your version. And mark it with full confidence and go ahead. That’s what I used and recommend to all people who are weak in RC. Remember that RC is more about strategy rather than skill of reading at speed.