I have a basic question around the strategy required to approach this type of question:

1) IDENTIFY the Main Point of the Passage.
The answer that elaborates on this main point is usually the correct answer

2) IDENTIFY the answer choice that addresses the ENTIRE passage in one way or the other.
Essentially, if the answer choice address the supporting ideas in almost all the paragraphs)

My question is - is there weightage as to which of these rules take precedence over the other? I know in GMAT that two answer choices - one of each of the types mentioned - would be rare. But hypothetically, if one were stuck in a question that had both these types, which one should he choose?

Any thoughts?

The correct answer will typically do both of these things, but #2 will always be in service to #1. In a sense, #2 is a way of judging whether a particular choice is indeed the main point.

Not all correct main point answers will provide detail about the content of the passage, but you should be able to see how the main point ties the various content of the passage together. On the other hand, if an answer choice touches on the supporting ideas without getting to the main point, it hasn't done its job.

Take, for instance, problem #2 on page 98 of the RC strategy guide (Life on Mars). The correct answer sums up the content of the passage in very general terms. We don't get any specific details, but it accurately describes the content of the passage. (E) is a classic "too narrow" answer, in that it gives specific details without touching on the rest of the passage.

In some cases, the correct answer is so vague that you can't even tell from reading it what the passage is actually about. Look at #1 on pg. 107 (Chaos Theory). The correct answer talks about "complicated aspects of certain physical systems" without mentioning chaos theory, Edward Lorenz, mixing bowls, etc. But it accurately describes what the passage is doing. Notice that most of the other answer choices here are also abstract. This is a more structurally-focused question.

In contrast, #1 on pg. 96 (Televsion's Invention) is a bit more detailed. You can get a strong sense of the content of the passage from reading the correct answer choice. What's important in all these cases is that you can see how each paragraph fits into the overall description in the correct answer choice. The incorrect answer choices generally provide an incorrect description of the content/tone, or focus in on one piece of the passage to the exclusion of the rest.

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Dmitry Farber
Manhattan GMAT Instructor