As symbols of the freedom of the wilderness, bald eagles have the unique capacity to inspire people and foster in the...

MichelleRod August 17, 2018

Thanks for your question @keilroark1

Unfortunately conclusion indicators do not ALWAYS indicate conclusions. These indicators are a good starting point to look for the conclusion, but you should double-check. The conclusion is always the statement or the implied statement that is supported by every other statement in the passage.In this case, the last sentence in the stimulus is supported by the first two.

Remone-Davis January 18, 2019

I need a more detailed answer

Ravi February 13, 2019

@Remone-Davis,

Happy to help.

The stimulus is basically saying that the conservation of endangered
species is important, but people are pretty apathetic. The argument
suggests that to get more people to care about the conservation of
endangered species, we should focus efforts on the conservation of the
bald eagle. Why? Well, if we focus our efforts on the bald eagle,
which is a symbolic species that engenders sympathy, this will help
bring more attention to the conservation efforts of other species.

The question asks, "Which one of the following is the main point of
the passage as a whole?"

We're looking for the conclusion of the stimulus, and at first it's a
bit hard to pick out. The second sentence is tempting, as it begins
with the word "Clearly," but having a keyword that is sometimes
associated with the conclusion isn't enough; we need to make sure that
the rest of the stimulus is supporting this sentence. How can we tell
which statements are supporting, and which one is being supported?
Let's think back to the overall goal of the argument. The overall goal
is to garner more support for animal conservation. And, if people
don't have sympathy for animals, the support for conservation won't be
there (this is the second sentence of the argument). However, the bald
eagle is an animal that can help us to get more sympathy for animals
in general (this is the first sentence of the stimulus). As a result,
the bald eagle is the animal we should start with for our conservation
efforts (this is the third sentence, and this is what the other two
sentences are working to support).

Now that we've dissected the stimulus and identified its conclusion
(the third sentence), let's look for an answer choice that paraphrases
the third sentence since we know that's the main point of the passage.

(B) says, "The conservation of bald eagles is the first necessary step
in conserving other endangered species."

(B) does a great job of summarizing the conclusion, which is expressed
in the third sentence of the stimulus. The whole point of the passage
is that we must start our conservation efforts with bald eagles to
help secure conservation for other species. This is the conclusion,
and it's our answer choice.

Does this make sense? With questions that ask for the main
point/conclusion, it's important to have properly identified what the
main point of the passage is before going to the answers. That way,
you're just hunting for the answer choice that best paraphrases what
you've identified the main point to be.

Let us know if you have any other questions!