TEXT STRUCTURE, MAIN PURPOSE & UNDERLINED PURPOSE

In most building demolitions, the building materials are destroyed and 1 Mark for Review
sent to landfills. City officials in Portland, Oregon, wanted to reduce this
waste. The officials passed a law requiring demolition companies to Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
deconstruct some buildings instead. Deconstruction involves carefully A) To explain an effort made by the city of Portland to reduce
taking buildings apart piece by piece. Damage to the materials is avoided demolition waste and some results of that effort
so that they can be reused in new constructions. A 2019 study found that
27 percent of materials from deconstructions in Portland were able to be
B) To discuss laws aimed to reduce demolition waste in Portland and
reused. The remaining materials were processed for recycling instead of
compare them to similar laws in other cities
going to a landfill.

C) To show that popular support for measures that reduce demolition

waste has increased since 2019

D) To argue that building deconstruction is not as effective as other

measures at reducing demolition waste

Genetic studies have led researchers to suggest that turtles are most 2 Mark for Review
closely related to the group that includes modern crocodiles. But studies
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the
of fossils have suggested instead that turtles are most closely related to
text as a whole?
other groups, such as the one that contains modern snakes. However,
many of the fossil studies have relied on incomplete data sets. For a 2022 A) It offers an overview of the tools scientists use to examine fossils.
investigation, biologist Tiago R. Simões and colleagues examined more
than 1,000 reptile fossils collected worldwide. From this large data set,
B) It describes a limitation of some studies about the origin of turtles.
they found clear agreement with the results of the genetic studies.

C) It criticizes a widely held belief about genetic studies of reptiles.

D) It summarizes previous research on the evolution of crocodiles.

The following text is excerpted from The Red Badge of Courage, an 1895 3 Mark for Review
novel by Stephen Crane. In the text, a young Civil War soldier named
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the
Henry reflects in the aftermath of fighting a battle.
text as a whole?
The procession of weary soldiers became a bedraggled train, despondent A) It contrasts Henry's emotional state with that of the other soldiers.
and muttering, marching with churning effort in a trough of liquid brown
mud under a low, wretched sky. Yet the youth smiled, for he saw that the
B) It highlights the physical and emotional toll that the war has taken
world was a world for him, though many discovered it to be made of
on the soldiers.
curses and walking sticks. He had rid himself of the red sickness of battle.
The sultry nightmare was in the past. He had been an animal blistered
and sweating in the heat and pain of war. He turned now with great thirst C) It presents a shift in Henry's perception of the natural world.
to images of tranquil skies, fresh meadows, cool brooks—an existence of
soft and eternal peace. D) It emphasizes Henry’s sense of exhaustion in the aftermath of the
battle.
Historians Tiya Miles and Roy E. Finkenbine have both documented the 4 Mark for Review
assistance Indigenous peoples gave to Black freedom seekers leaving the
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the
South before the US Civil War. Much of the historical evidence of this
text as a whole?
help comes from Indigenous oral traditions and from autobiographies
written by the freedom seekers. One such narrative is Jermain Loguen’s A) It suggests that most historians believe that Neshnabé villagers were
autobiography, which tells about how Neshnabé (Potawatomi) villagers more successful in assisting freedom seekers than other people
offered him food, lodging, and directions during his 1835 journey from were.
Tennessee to Canada.
B) It shows why Loguen decided to write in great detail about his
experiences traveling from Tennessee to Canada in his
autobiography.

C) It provides an example of an autobiography that describes help given

by an Indigenous people to a Black freedom seeker.

D) It argues that autobiographies are particularly important sources of

information about geography in the United States before the Civil
War.

The following text is from the 1884 poem “Solitude” by Ella Wheeler 5 Mark for Review
Wilcox.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A) To explore how people use laughter and song to cope with difficult
Laugh, and the world laughs with you; emotions
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the brave old earth must borrow its mirth,
B) To make the case that it is only through solitude that we can come to
It has troubles enough of its own.
truly appreciate the full range of our emotions
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air;
The echoes rebound to a joyful sound, C) To argue that people should be equally sympathetic toward the
But shrink from voicing care. positive emotions and the negative emotions of others

D) To claim that positive emotions are well-received by the world,

while negative emotions are shunned

The following text is from Holly Goldberg Sloan’s 2017 novel Short. 6 Mark for Review

More than two years ago my parents bought a piano from some people Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
who were moving to Utah. Mom and Dad gave it to my brothers and me A) It suggests that the narrator’s brothers are talented piano players.
for Christmas. I had to act really happy because it was such a big present,
but I pretty much hated the thing from the second it was carried into the
hallway upstairs, which is right next to my bedroom. The piano glared at B) It describes the event that led the narrator’s parents to buy a piano.
me. It was like a songbird in a cage. It wanted to be set free.
C) It explains why the narrator always wanted a piano close to her
bedroom.

D) It establishes how the narrator feels about the piano.

Hiroshi Senju is known worldwide for his paintings of waterfalls. These 7 Mark for Review
paintings are large and tend not to show the entire waterfall. Instead,
Senju focuses on just the point where the falling water reaches the pool Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
below, keeping the top of the waterfall out of view. While Senju’s A) It gives an opinion on an artist and then suggests multiple reasons
paintings are rooted in art movements originating in the United States, why the artist’s work has been largely overlooked.
the artist uses traditional Japanese techniques and materials that make his
work instantly recognizable.
B) It explains a specific painting technique and then provides examples
of artists who use the technique.

C) It describes a famous painting and then compares it to a lesser-

known painting from the same time period.

D) It introduces an artist and then explains some common

characteristics of well-known paintings by that artist.

Jackie Ormes’s Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem (1937–38) was the first 8 Mark for Review
comic strip by a Black woman to appear in a widely read newspaper. The
strip tells the story of Torchy, a young woman who leaves Mississippi to Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
become a performer in New York City. Torchy’s story reflects the A) To give an example of how Ormes presented the experiences of
experience of the Great Migration (1910–1970), when millions of Black Black Americans in her comic strips
Americans left the South in search of opportunities in other parts of the
United States. Torchy Brown thus shows how Ormes used comics to
B) To show how Ormes’s Torchy Brown inspired other Black women to
comment humorously on issues affecting Black Americans, which she
write comic strips in the 1930s
continued to do throughout her career.

C) To claim that several characters in Torchy Brown were based on

people that Ormes knew personally

D) To illustrate how the subjects Ormes addressed in her comic strips

changed over the course of her career

Archeological excavation of Market Street Chinatown, a nineteenth- 9 Mark for Review

century Chinese American community in San Jose, California, provided
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the
the first evidence that Asian food products were imported to the United
text as a whole?
States in the 1800s: bones from a freshwater fish species native to
Southeast Asia. Jinshanzhuang —Hong Kong–based import/export A) It provides information that helps support a claim about a
firms—likely coordinated the fish’s transport from Chinese-operated discovery’s significance that is presented in the following sentence.
fisheries in Vietnam and Malaysia to North American markets. This route
reveals the (often overlooked) multinational dimensions of the trade B) It explains why efforts to determine the country of origin of the
networks linking Chinese diaspora communities. items mentioned in the previous sentence remain inconclusive.

C) It outlines a hypothesis that additional evidence discussed in the

following sentence casts some doubt on.

D) It traces the steps that were taken to locate and recover the objects
that are described in the previous sentence.
In the Here and Now Storybook (1921), educator Lucy Sprague Mitchell 10 Mark for Review
advanced the then controversial idea that books for very young children
should imitate how they use language, since toddlers, who cannot yet Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
grasp narrative or abstract ideas, seek reassurance in verbal repetition and A) The text summarizes an argument about how children’s literature
naming. The most enduring example of this idea is Margaret Wise should be evaluated and then discusses a contrasting view on that
Brown’s 1947 picture book Goodnight Moon, in which a young rabbit subject
names the objects in his room as he drifts off to sleep. Scholars note that
the book’s emphasis on repetition, rhythm, and nonsense rhyme speaks
B) The text outlines a debate between two authors of children’s
directly to Mitchell’s influence.
literature and then traces how that debate shaped theories on early
childhood education.

C) The text lists the literary characteristics that are common to many
classics of children’s literature and then indicates the narrative
subjects that are most appropriate for young children.

D) The text presents a philosophy about what material is most suitable

for children’s literature and then describes a book influenced by that
philosophy.

Using NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Mercedes 11 Mark for Review
López-Morales and colleagues measured the wavelengths of light
traveling through the atmosphere of WASP-39b, an exoplanet, or planet Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
outside our solar system. Different molecules absorb different wavelengths A) It outlines the steps taken in a scientific study, then presents a
of light, and the wavelength measurements showed the presence of hypothesis based on that study.
carbon dioxide (CO₂) in WASP-39b’s atmosphere. This finding not only
offers the first decisive evidence of CO₂ in the atmosphere of an exoplanet
B) It discusses a method used by some researchers, then states why an
but also illustrates the potential for future scientific breakthroughs held by
alternative method is superior to it.
the JWST.

C) It examines how a group of scientists reached a conclusion, then

shows how other scientists have challenged that conclusion.

D) It describes how researchers made a scientific discovery, then

explains the importance of that discovery.

In his novel The Savage Detectives, Chilean author Roberto Bolaño 12 Mark for Review
depicts a group of bohemian poets who are pushing the boundaries of
artistic expression. The novel is loosely based on the Infrarealist poetry Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
movement that Bolaño was a part of in Mexico City in the 1970s. Like A) To argue that The Savage Detectives provides genuine historical
the real-life Infrarealists, the characters in The Savage Detectives are insight despite being fictional.
often in conflict with the mainstream literary establishment. While the
novel is fictional, its resemblance to the real Infrarealist movement offers
B) To examine the conflicts between Infrarealist poets and the
a revealing glimpse into that period of Latin American literary history.
mainstream literary establishment.

C) To explain how poetry evolved throughout the 1970s in Mexico City.

D) To present Roberto Bolaño’s literary achievements and explore his

impact on Latin American literary history.
Many archaeologists assume that large-scale engineering projects in 13 Mark for Review
ancient societies required an elite class to plan and direct the necessary
labor. However, recent discoveries, such as the excavation of an ancient Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
canal near the Gulf Coast of Alabama, have complicated this picture. A) It presents contradictory conclusions drawn by archaeologists, then
Using radiocarbon dating, a team of researchers concluded that the 1.39- evaluates a study that has apparently resolved that contradiction.
kilometer-long canal was most likely constructed between 576 and 650
CE by an Indigenous society that was relatively free of social classes.
B) It describes a common view among archaeologists, then discusses a
recent finding that challenges that view.

C) It outlines a method used in some archaeological fieldwork, then

explains why an alternative method is superior to it.

D) It identifies a gap in scientific research, then presents a strategy used

by some archaeologists to remedy that gap.

The following text is adapted from Charlotte Bronte’s 1847 novel Jane 14 Mark for Review
Eyre. The narrator, Jane, is reflecting on an incident with Mrs. Reed, her
aunt and guardian. Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A) To show the Jane's regret after her outburst against Mrs. Reed.
A child cannot quarrel with its elders, as I had done; cannot give its
furious feelings uncontrolled play, as I had given mine, without
experiencing afterwards the pang of remorse and the chill of reaction. B) To portray Jane as a rebellious and angry child who deserves
Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it punishment.
seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavour, metallic and
corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned. Willingly would C) To explore Jane's complex feelings of love and hate towards Mrs.
I now have gone and asked Mrs. Reed’s pardon; but I knew that was the Reed.
way to make her repulse me with double scorn, thereby re-exciting every
turbulent impulse of my nature. D) To reveal the source of Jane's resentment toward Mrs. Reed.

The following text is adapted from Charles Dickens’s 1854 novel Hard 15 Mark for Review
Times. Coketown is a fictional town in England.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
[Coketown] contained several large streets all very like one another, and A) To explain the limited work opportunities available to the town’s
many small streets still more like one another, inhabited by people equally residents.
like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the
same sound upon the same pavements, to do the same work, and to
B) To emphasize the uniformity of both the town and the people who
whom every day was the same as yesterday and tomorrow, and every year
live there.
the counterpart of the last and the next.

C) To argue that the simplicity of life in the town makes it a pleasant

place to live.

D) To reveal how the predictability of the town makes it easy for people
lose track of time.