Q12 - For years scientists have been

[peg_city]

Why is C right and D wrong? They both look good to me....

[gilad.bendheim]

Hi - I'll take a shot.

(C) is clearly correct because the author twice basically says so: "there is no reason to think that these scientists will be any more successful in the future" no matter how much they spend and "the dream...is destined to remain a dream."

(D) on the other hand is incorrect because nowhere in the passage does the author clue us in to what would or would not justify the search. Notice that no recommendation for stopping the search is provided, even though the author is skeptical that it will ever be successful. So any answer choice that gives some sort of imperative would likely be incorrect here (choices (B) and (E) can be excluded for this very reason).

Hope this makes sense!

[jimmy902o]

why is C better than A? C seems a rather big jump from "there is no reason (at present?) to think" to they will never find. I picture it as a scientist talking in the present saying that he do not currently have the technology to find what we need, but is purposely leaving his statement ambiguous so as to leave open the possibility that future scientists with different resources could find such life

I feel like A on the other hand is just the right tone that we want, and it follows from a sentence that begins with "but" which more often then not signals a conclusion, right?

[ysabel.jurado]

It's true that in Main Point questions often times with the word "but," signal a conclusion but in this situation the fact that there has not been any evidence actually supports the last and final sentence - which in turn ends up being the Main Conclusion.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

This question asks us to find the argument's main point. On other questions in LR, we use language cues to help us find the argument's conclusion, though for this question type, they typically are less useful. Not to worry, there are other ways of finding the main point beyond words like "therefore, thus, hence, and so." We can also turn to the rebuttal of a point. "Yet, but, however" can often indicate the direction the author is try to take the argument. I find that it's useful to also consider the kind of claim you're dealing with. Recommendations (indicated by words like "should or ought"), decisions, predications, and hypotheses are also very often conclusions of the argument.

In this case the author predicts that scientists in the future will also not be successful in their search for extraterrestrial life - best expressed in answer choice (C).

Incorrect Answers
(A) is tempting but misinterprets the conclusion. There is a big difference between scientists being unsuccessful in their search for extraterrestrials and extraterrestrials not existing.
(B) is not even an idea within the argument. The author never suggests what should or ought to be the case.
(D) is possibly an extrapolation from the argument, but not contained in the argument. The author doesn't address the issue of whether such funding is justified.
(E) is possibly an extrapolation from the argument, but not contained in the argument. The author doesn't address the issue of whether we should (or should not) spend money on such scientific research equipment.