#20 - Global Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below! Thank you!

[snowy]

Can A be ruled out because the passage doesn’t say that humans are UNABLE to survive to survive on raw food, just that they are TYPICALLY unable, with exceptions under unusual circumstances? Or is that too picky?

[Erik Shum]

Hi Snowy,

Good catch!

Absolutely, the passage clearly indicates in the first paragraph that humans are capable of surviving on raw food and answer choice (A) would contradict that.

[hope]

I thought D was supported by 1st para lines 19-22. Is D wrong because it doesn't feature the "biological" component of the passage?

[Adam Tyson]

You've fallen into a classic Reading Comp Main Point trap answer there, hope! Answer D is a perfect example of what we call a "True but Wrong" answer choice, and those are found throughout Reading Comp but especially among the answer choices to Main Point questions.

Answer D is true, and you found the support for it in the passage. But the question didn't ask "which of the following can be inferred based on the information given in the passage." This wasn't just asking what must be true, but what the Main Point of the passage is. That needs to be more than just true - it needs to be comprehensive, and reflect the overall thesis of the passage! The author isn't just trying to get us to believe that cooking has been around a long time, but that there is evidence, including that time span, to indicate that humans have biologically evolved to require a diet of cooked food, despite what might be reasonably expected according to the first paragraph.

Beware of answer choices that are true, but which do not answer the question that you were asked!