DesiGmat wrote:
Hi,
I'm pretty bad in answering "The primary purpose of the passage" type question.
Is there any approach I need to follow to answer such type of question?
Please help.
Thanks
saurabh9gupta wrote:
2.The primary purpose of the passage is to
A. present evidence that several phocids species use the maternal fasting strategy
B. explain why the maternal strategy typically used by phocids is different from the maternal strategy used by otariids
C. argue that zoologists 'current understanding of harbor seals' maternal strategy is incorrect
D. describe an unexpected behavior observed in harbor seals and propose an explanation that may account for the behavior
E. describe evidence concerning the maternal strategy of the harbor seal and suggest that the harbor seal belongs to the otariid rather than to the phocids family
I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of info. in the passage.. took about 10 mins and got 3/4. (the second question got me).
I understand that D is the answer but I selected E. GMATNinja daaghBunuel could you guys plz help?
This passage is supremely good at using technical details to distract us. One really important thing to keep in mind on any GMAT RC passage: you don't need any prior knowledge to nail these passages. If you have no idea what a pinniped or a phocid or a otariid is, no problem -- the passage defines them for you.
So let's break down the purpose of each paragraph and avoid getting bogged down in details whenever we can.
Paragraph 1- There are two kinds of pinnipeds: phocids (let's call them Group P) and otariids (let's call them Group O).
- Group O uses a foraging strategy, while Group P uses a fasting strategy.
- However, recent studies show that harbor seals (which belong to Group P) do forage as well.
What's the purpose of Paragraph 1? To identify how the maternal strategies of Group O and Group P differ, then present the harbor seal as an exception to the strategy of Group P.
Paragraph 2- Harbor seals from Group P might forage because of their small size and rate of fat store depletion.
- There is evidence to support this explanation.
- The behavior of ringed seals (also in Group P) may also support this explanation
What's the purpose of Paragraph 2? To explain why the harbor seal is an exception (their smaller size and high fat depletion rate), and provide evidence to support this explanation.
Now that we've gotten a handle on the structure and meaning of each paragraph, we see that author wrote this passage
to explain how and why harbor seals don't follow the maternal strategies of their group. Let's eliminate answer choices that don't match, and search for the one choice that gets closest to what we've read.
Quote:
A. present evidence that several phocids species use the maternal fasting strategy.
This choice is wrong about
why the author is writing the passage (it's not simply to present evidence). It's also wrong about the author's primary focus (it's not several species from Group P that illustrate that group's strategy, but one species from Group P that deviates from that group's strategy). Eliminate (A).
Quote:
B. explain why the maternal strategy typically used by phocids is different from the maternal strategy used by otariids
This choice only captures a portion of Paragraph 1. We're looking for the purpose of the passage as a whole. Eliminate (B).
Quote:
C. argue that zoologists 'current understanding of harbor seals' maternal strategy is incorrect
The author never argues that zoologists' understanding of harbors seals' strategy is
incorrect. Eliminate (C).
Quote:
D. describe an unexpected behavior observed in harbor seals and propose an explanation that may account for the behavior
This matches our understanding the passage almost exactly. Paragraph 1 tells us the expected behavior, then informs us that harbor seals' behavior is unexpected. Paragraph 2 presents an explanation (size and rate of fat depletion) for harbor seals' behavior. Let's keep (D) around and see if (E) is any better.
Quote:
E. describe evidence concerning the maternal strategy of the harbor seal and suggest that the harbor seal belongs to the otariid rather than to the phocids family
Is the author's main point that the harbor seal
belongs to Group O, not Group P? In other words: Did the author write this passage to tell us that we're putting harbor seals in the wrong group? No. We haven't seen any language from the author suggesting that this is the case. In fact, the author consistently refers to harbor seals and even ringed seals as
phocids, without ever suggesting that they should be categorized differently.
The author structured this passage to help us understand the maternal strategies of Group O and Group P, then explain why harbor seals use a strategy that doesn't match their group's. This is not the same as telling us that harbor seals belong to a different group altogether. That's why we eliminate (E) and keep (D) as the best answer choice.
I hope this helps you foster a seal -- I mean, foster
great reading habits when it comes to identifying the primary purpose!