Manhattan GMAT RC Animal Treatment (Short Passage Question)

The Passage : (Reference - Official Guide - No. 7- Reading Comprehension)

Passage: Animal Treatment

Over the course of the eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries, educated Britons
came to embrace the notion that animals must
be treated humanely. By 1822 Parliament had
outlawed certain forms of cruelty to domestic
animals, and by 1824 reformers had founded
the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals.

This growth in humane feelings was
part of a broader embrace of compassionate
ideals. One of the great movements of the age
was abolitionism, but there were many other
such causes. In 1785 a Society for the Relief of
Persons Imprisoned for Small Sums persuaded
Parliament to limit that archaic punishment.
There was also a Society for Bettering the
Condition of the Poor, founded in 1796.
A Philanthropic Society founded in 1788 provided for
abandoned children. Charity schools, schools
of midwifery, and hospitals for the poor were
being endowed. This growth in concern for
human suffering encouraged reformers to reject
animal suffering as well.

Industrialization and the growth of
towns also contributed to the increase in
concern for animals. The people who protested
against cruelty to animals tended to be city
folk who thought of animals as pets rather
than as livestock. It was not just animals, but
all of nature, that came to be seen differently
as Britain industrialized. Nature was no longer
a menacing force that had to be subdued, for
society's "victory" over wilderness was
conspicuous everywhere. A new sensibility, which
viewed animals and wild nature as things to
be respected and preserved, replaced the old
adversarial relationship. Indeed, animals were
to some extent romanticized as emblems of a
bucolic, pre-industrial age.

Questions -
6. What is the Point of this passage? Justify your choice.

Answer (As per Book)
6. The Point here is complicated;
it needs to be synthesized from the main ideas of the second and third paragraphs,
together with some background from the first paragraph.
The main message of the author can be written thus:

18th/19th c. British rejection o f cruelty to animals stems from two factors: (1) broader embrace of
compassion and (2) romanticization of nature by city dwellers.

Thus, you need to note on your Headline list that both factors are part of the Point.


Kindly explain why "Point" has to include the 2 Factors, as mentioned in the Answer by the Book.

Thanks & Regards