#11 - Linguist: Three of the four subfamilies of the

[Administrator]

Please post below with any questions!

[lorettan102]

Is answer choice D wrong because it does not account for the subfamily that migrated?

[Adam Tyson]

Hi there, lorettan! The problem with answer D has nothing to do with the subfamilies, since the stimulus treats all of them as being part of the group of Austronesian languages (and the correct answer, E, does the same thing too). Rather, the problem is that answer D does not describe the main conclusion of the argument but instead describes an intermediate conclusion. That claim, that the language probably originated where it has been spoken the longest, supports the main conclusion, which is that they probably originated in Taiwan and later migrated elsewhere.

When searching for the Main Point, be sure the answer you select is not being used to support anything else. Main Point is selfish - it gets all the support and gives none! Since answer D supports answer E, it simply isn't selfish enough, and so it is not what we are looking for in this case.

Keep up the good work!

[lathlee]

the correct answer E) Austronesian-speaking peoples PROBABLY originated in Taiwan and later migrated to other islands.

The last sentences of this question stem are following: Austronesian-speaking peoples originated in Taiwan and later migrated to other islands.

which is why I didn't select this answer and went with B) cuz Powersocre teaches us frequently incorrect answer types of MP; repeat the portion of question stem, the only difference is the word, PROBABLY, between the conclusion and this answer choice.

I thought the correct answer choice of MP must capture the entire portion of the question stem according to the POWERSCORE.

[Adam Tyson]

But our author is not quite that certain, lathlee, because he says that "these facts suggest that Taiwan is the homeland where Austronesian languages have been spoken longest." He doesn't say they prove it, but only that they suggest that to be the case, and that degree of not-quite-certainty carries over into the main conclusion. Besides, answer B also has a probability element to it, so it's no better than E in that regard.

The main conclusion is whatever the author is ultimately trying to prove, or what his premises all appear to support. You should have prephrased that the last portion of the last sentence, after the word "hence," was the claim that it was all built to support, and then selected the answer that best matched that claim.

[lathlee]

Makes a sense. Thank you