Clarification of Local Questions

[Marc94]

Hi,

I was wondering, let's say you have a four paragraph passage and you get a local question asking, "What purpose does concept x play in paragraph two?", would you ONLY focus on paragraph two? Or do you have to take into account what was said in the latter paragraphs about the concept?

Paragraph two may say what critics think of x, and then in paragraph three and four, the author refutes their views.

Would the right answer say, "paragraph two introduces what critics think of x?" or "paragraph two's purpose outlines what is to be refuted later on by the author"? I guess these are similar, but I'm just trying to clarify, should I pretend like paragraph three and four hasn't happened yet if the question is specifically about paragraph two?

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Marc,

In this case the the answer would have to reside in paragraph 2, because of the phrasing of the question (see the italics): "What purpose does concept x play in paragraph two?"

That said, in more open-ended questions, the issue you are asking about does happen, and a common trick of the test makers is to refer to an idea in one spot, but then truly explain it elsewhere.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!