Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Easy

PT116 S4 P4 Q20 Explanation

Wine Effects

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

TopicsMain PointScience

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Passage

Most scientists who study the physiological effects of alcoholic beverages have assumed that wine, like beer or distilled spirits, is a drink whose only active ingredient is alcohol. Because of this assumption, these scientists have rarely investigated the effects of wine as distinct from other forms of alcoholic beverages. Nevertheless, unlike other spirits but also study only the excessive or abusive intake of these beverages—have obscured.

Recently, a small group of researchers has questioned this assumption and investigated the effects of moderate wine consumption. While alcohol has been shown conclusively to have negative physiological effects—for example, alcohol strongly affects the body’s processing of lipids (fats and other substances including cholesterol), causing dangerous increases in the levels of these identical results whether the wine was white or red. What could explain such apparently healthful effects?

For one thing, the studies show increased activity of a natural clot-breaking compound used by doctors to restore blood flow through blocked vessels in victims of heart disease. In addition, the studies of wine drinkers indicate increased levels of certain compounds that may help to prevent damage from high lipid levels. And the concentration of certain natural compounds found in grapes and not present in other alcoholic beverages.

What this question is testing

Main Point

Your task

Capture the passage's overall primary point — the claim everything else supports.

Common trap

Answers that are true but too narrow (a single paragraph) or too broad (beyond the passage's scope).

Winning move

Summarize the whole passage in one sentence first, then match it to a choice.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
20.

Which one of the following most accurately states the author’s main point

Answer choices

  1. Too Narrow: doesn't mention grapes10% picked this

    Because of their assumption that alcohol is the only active ingredient in wine, beer, and distilled spirits, scientists have previously studied these beverages in

    This does a good job of summing up the Old point of view and the author's general feeling that these scientists are missing part of the story. But the main point of the passage is to reveal that missing part of the story: wine is healthy for us because of the grapes!

  2. Wrong Emphasis: not about grapes Contradicted2% picked this

    A new study of moderate wine consumption calls into question the belief that premature heart disease is caused solely by the presence of

    Was the main point of the passage, "It turns out that premature heart disease is not caused solely by the presence of high lipid levels in the bloodstream"? Heavens, no. The main point was, "It turns out that moderate wine consumption has some healthy effect, probably due to the grapes". We can get rid of this answer without closely reading it just by seeing it's not giving us that main deliverable. If we dug into the details, we would see it is also not true to say that this new study is showing that premature heart disease is affected by factors in addition to high lipid levels. That is something that "in the past 20 years researchers have found". That didn't come from the new study.

  3. Too Narrow: absorbed more slowly1% picked this

    Researchers have found that alcohol from moderate wine consumption is absorbed into the bloodstream more slowly than is

    Yes, this is one of the things they found, but it doesn't relate to the big ideas: - there might be some other active ingredient besides alcohol in wine (grape juice) - the compounds from the grapes might be the reason that moderate wine consumption has healthful effects

  4. Opposite Emphasis: yet to prove3% picked this

    Although it has long been held that moderate wine consumption has healthful effects, scientific studies have yet to

    The main clause here is a skeptical sounding, "scientific studies have yet to prove definitively that moderate wine consumption has healthful effects". The author would surely agree with this, because "definitively proving" something is extremely hard, but this main clause has a negative tone that steps away from the idea that moderate wine is good for our health. This whole passage was stepping towards the idea that wine is good for our health, probably because of grapes.

  5. Correct85% picked this

    Wine, unlike other alcoholic beverages, appears to have a number of significant healthful effects that may be tied to certain

    Why this is right

    This shows our NEW idea, "Wine seems to have an active ingredient in addition to alcohol, unlike these other forms of booze, and that is the natural compounds found in grapes". This also sounds like the ANSWER to our question, "The reason wine seems to have healthful benefits is probably because of what's in the grapes".

    Skill tested: Main Point · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

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