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The questions · Lesson 4 of 9

Main point and primary purpose questions

After this lesson, you can predict the answer to a main point or primary purpose question before you look at the choices, using a 5-step topic-to-prediction method.

7 min video, plus notes and 1 practice question below

In this lesson

• Global questions test the passage as a whole: main point, primary purpose, organization, and sometimes best title
• Work a 5-step method on every passage: identify the topic, spot the organizing structure (problem and solution, compare and contrast, cause and effect), mark the key sentences carrying the author's point, paraphrase the main idea in your own words, then predict what a correct answer has to say
• Use your paraphrase as a filter: an answer that restates your prediction in the LSAT's own wording is usually right, one that contradicts it, reverses cause and effect, or ignores half of it, is usually wrong
• Avoid 4 recurring traps: answers that are too narrow, too broad, out of scope, or the opposite of what the passage said
• Budget 2.5 to 3 minutes for your initial read so you have time left to work every question tied to that passage

What global questions actually ask

Global questions test your understanding of the passage as a whole. They show up as main point questions, primary purpose questions, questions about how the passage is organized, and occasionally what title would fit the passage best. Before anything else, when you approach a passage, determine the topic: what is this actually about. It sounds obvious, but people get lost in the details constantly, and if you don't nail the topic, you won't get anything else about the passage right either.

Work a 5-step method: topic, structure, key sentences, paraphrase, prediction

Step 1 is identifying the topic. Step 2 is figuring out how the passage is organized: is it presenting a problem and then a solution, comparing and contrasting 2 ideas, or laying out a cause and effect relationship. Step 3 is spotting the key sentences that summarize the author's opinion or the passage's central thesis, the ones worth marking if you're taking notes. Step 4 is paraphrasing the main idea in your own words, which locks in your understanding before you ever see a question. Step 5 is predicting what the correct answer has to say, so when you hit a main idea question, you already have a target instead of hunting cold through 5 choices.

Take a passage about the impact of remote work on urban development, discussing the shift away from traditional offices and how that shift is influencing city planning and real estate. Step 1: the topic is the influence of remote work on urban development. Step 2: the structure is cause and effect, remote work rising is the cause, changes in city planning and real estate are the effects. Step 3: a sentence like "the rise of remote work is redefining the purpose of urban spaces" is exactly the kind of sentence to mark, since it carries the author's point. Step 4: paraphrase it as something like "remote work is changing urban development, which requires changes in city planning," or shorten it further to an arrow in your notes: remote work leads to change in city planning. Step 5: predict that the correct answer will mention remote work's effect on cities and urban planning.

Use your prediction to eliminate, not just to guess

With that prediction in hand, a main point question with 5 choices gets much faster. A choice claiming remote work has no significant impact on urban areas contradicts the passage directly, so it's out. A choice claiming real estate markets are unaffected also contradicts the passage. A choice claiming traditional offices remain central to urban development quietly ignores remote work's impact, so it's out too, even though it's not as blunt about it. A choice that reverses the relationship, claiming urban development dictates remote work trends instead of the other way around, is a cause-and-effect reversal trap. The choice left standing, that increasing remote work is leading to substantial changes in urban development and city planning, matches your prediction almost word for word. That's your answer.

4 traps that show up in global wrong answers

Watch for answers that are too narrow, zooming in on 1 detail instead of the passage's actual scope, and answers that are too broad, so vague they miss the specific point the passage made. Also watch for choices that are out of scope, introducing information the passage never mentioned, and choices that state the opposite of what the passage actually communicated. LSAT reading comp answers tend to be trickier than a simple true-or-false statement, so read each choice against your prediction, not against your gut feeling about whether it "sounds right."

2 habits that make this method faster

First, read actively. As you move through the passage, keep asking yourself what the point of this paragraph is and what this particular sentence is doing in the passage as a whole, and jot down a brief note on each paragraph's main idea if that helps you retain it. Second, budget your time: spend about 2.5 to 3 minutes on your initial read so you still have enough time left to work every question tied to that passage. If a passage feels dense, don't get pulled into the details. Stay with the big picture, and the questions get easier to handle.

The short version

• Before you read choice A, write your own 1-line prediction for the main point, using the passage's own cause-and-effect or compare-and-contrast shape, not your memory of the details
• When 2 choices both sound plausible, check the scope: 1 that fixates on a single detail the passage used as support is the too-narrow trap, not the actual point
• Log your initial read time. If you're routinely over 3 minutes, that's the number to fix before your next practice set, not the number of questions you missed

Mark lesson 4 complete