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Applying Main Points and Premises
Your ability to dissect Reading Comprehension passages into their Main Point and Premises will allow you to understand
how the content of the passage is put together. Let us examine this passage as an example:
Scientists have hypothesized that disturbing rainforests to gain access to fossil fuels may
alleviate the country’s impending energy crisis. This is nonsense. While fossil fuels may
temporarily alleviate some energy issues, the larger problem of deforestation will not only
exacerbate the energy crisis, but will also create an entirely new set of issues. 
First, find the main point of this passage.
 
Why did the author write this passage? What is her stance on the issue being
discussed? To identify the main point of this passage, it is important to identify the author’s perspective. This is particularly
important in this example, since there are two perspectives expressed: the author’s and the scientists’. 
The main point of the passage is that disturbing the rainforests to gain access to fossil fuels is not a viable solution to
the impending energy crisis. This is the 
author’s
assertion. It is important not to confuse what the scientists are assuming
with what the author is arguing. 

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Then locate the premises.
The author directly responds to the scientists’ claims by stating, “This is nonsense.” She then
goes on to explain why: fossil fuels are a temporary fix and deforestation will only create more issues. These premises
support her argument.
Reading Comprehension Question Tasks 
The Reading Comprehension questions are not meant to test your knowledge or opinion about a particular subject. You
should answer questions based only on the information presented in the passage, and not on any prior knowledge that
you might have of the subject. You might be asked to draw a conclusion or make an inference, but you should do so
based only on what the author actually states or implies.