SAT Text Structure And Purpose (Easy) - English – Real Collegeboard Practice Questions with Answers and Explanations

Choice A is the best answer. The text provides an overview of Florence Price’s importance by describing her success at the 1932 Wanamaker Foundation Awards, her blending of Black spirituals and classical European Romantic musical traditions, and the recent performances and recordings of her concertos and symphonies by major orchestras. Choice B is incorrect. The text does mention that Price’s compositions have been performed and recorded by major orchestras, but it doesn’t argue that more orchestras should do so. Choice C is incorrect. The text does mention the blending of Black spirituals and classical European Romantic musical traditions, but only briefly, as part of a broader overview of Price’s career. Choice D is incorrect. The text mentions Price’s blending of Black spirituals with classical European Romantic musical traditions, but it doesn’t directly compare Price’s scores with those of classical European composers.

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text, which is to show how Polly reacted to some of Fanny’s other friends. The text describes Polly as being frightened of Fanny’s friends because they seemed “much older and wiser” to her and elaborates that they “talked about things of which” Polly was unfamiliar, uninterested, and shocked. Thus, the main purpose of the text is to describe Polly’s impressions of Fanny’s other friends. Choice B is incorrect because the text does not provide any of the topics Polly discussed with Fanny’s friends, stating only that Polly found the topics unfamiliar, uninteresting, and shocking. Choice C is incorrect because the text says nothing about how Fanny and her other friends first met. Choice D is incorrect because the focus of the text is on Polly’s feelings about Fanny’s other friends, not on the other friends’ feelings about Polly.

Choice B is the best answer because it best states the main purpose of the text. The text begins by briefly stating that San Francisco is known for its murals, then transitions to a discussion of a single collection of murals, which is found on Balmy Alley in the city’s Mission District. The text explains that the murals in this area were originally created in the 1970s, then observes that they have changed over time: as some have faded through the decades, others have been painted in their place. The text ends by emphasizing that these murals are significant because they reflect San Francisco’s artistic spirit and cultural life. Therefore, the text provides an overview of the history and importance of the Balmy Alley murals. Choice A is incorrect. Although it can be inferred from the text that there are murals in other areas of San Francisco besides Balmy Alley, the text doesn’t specifically discuss murals in other areas or compare the murals of Balmy Alley to those in other areas. Choice C is incorrect. By observing that some of the murals of Balmy Alley have been replaced due to fading, the text implies that murals can decay, but it never urges readers to protect this specific collection of murals—or any murals elsewhere in San Francisco, for that matter. Indeed, by describing the ever-changing murals of Balmy Alley as “a living showcase of San Francisco’s artistic spirit,” the text emphasizes the positive aspects of the fact that the original Balmy Alley murals have faded and been replaced with new murals. Choice D is incorrect because the text doesn’t describe the rise of mural painting in San Francisco generally or note when this occurred. The only historical development of the 1970s mentioned in the text is the origin of the murals in a specific area of the city: Balmy Alley in the Mission District.

Choice A is the best answer. The text repeatedly claims that true self-knowledge can’t possibly be achieved, and this rhetorical question emphasizes that point. Choice B is incorrect. The underlined question doesn’t do this. The text never expresses doubts about the value of self- knowledge—rather, the text expresses doubts about the possibility of achieving self-knowledge. Choice C is incorrect. The underlined question doesn’t do this. The text doesn’t provide directions for how to achieve self-knowledge—rather, it claims that true self-knowledge is impossible to achieve. Choice D is incorrect. The underlined question doesn’t do this. The text doesn’t ever define self-knowledge, and popularity isn’t mentioned in the text at all.

Choice A is the best answer. The author first describes a Portland law aimed at reducing demolition waste, and then goes on to explain that 27% of materials from building deconstructions were able to be reused and the rest were recycled. Choice B is incorrect. The text never discusses the popularity of the law. Choice C is incorrect. The text never compares building deconstruction to other measures designed to reduce demolition waste. Choice D is incorrect. The text never mentions laws in cities other than Portland, Oregon.

Choice B is the best answer because it best states the main purpose of the text, which is to establish the narrator’s feelings about the piano. The narrator reveals that she “had to act really happy” about the piano even though she “pretty much hated the thing” as soon as it was placed upstairs near her bedroom. The narrator also describes the piano as glaring at her and compares it to a caged bird that wants to be set free. These details establish the narrator’s feelings about the piano, suggesting that it makes her uneasy. Choice A is incorrect because the text indicates that the narrator hated having the piano upstairs right next to her bedroom, not that she wanted a piano to be close to her bedroom. Choice C is incorrect because the only information provided in the text about the narrator’s brothers is that they were given the piano along with the narrator. Choice D is incorrect because the text does not describe the event that led the narrator’s parents to buy the piano from the people moving to Utah. Instead, the text focuses on the narrator’s feelings about the piano after it was given to her and her brothers.

Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text, which is to explain different ways in which Julius was helpful. The text begins with the narrator stating that Julius was very helpful to him and his wife when they moved to their new residence. The narrator then provides a list of examples to illustrate Julius’s helpfulness. For instance, the narrator states that Julius was familiar with the neighborhood’s roads, which suggests that he was helpful in navigating them, and that Julius helped manage the horses and dogs. The text’s many examples of Julius’s usefulness reinforce just how helpful he was and in how many different ways. Choice A is incorrect because the text doesn’t portray either the narrator’s or his wife’s reaction to their new home. Rather, the text focuses on how Julius was useful to the narrator and his wife in their new home. Choice B is incorrect. Although the text states that Julius was knowledgeable about the soil, this is one of several supporting details that illustrate how helpful Julius was. Moreover, the text merely states that Julius was knowledgeable about soil; it doesn’t provide an example of that knowledge. Choice C is incorrect because there’s nothing in the text to suggest the frequency with which the narrator and Julius hunted and fished together. In fact, it’s unclear from the text whether the narrator and Julius hunted and fished together at all. The text merely indicates that Julius knew the best places to hunt and fish—a detail that supports the text’s main purpose by conveying Julius’s usefulness.

Choice C is the best answer. The text describes how Torchy Brown depicted the experiences of a young Black woman experiencing America’s Great Migration. It further states that Ormes continued to use comics throughout her career to humorously comment on important issues impacting Black Americans. Choice A is incorrect. The text never mentions other Black women comic strip writers. Choice B is incorrect. The text never mentions any changes in the subjects Ormes addressed. Choice D is incorrect. The text never mentions the inspiration for characters in Torchy Brown.

Choice B is the best answer because it most accurately describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole. The first two sentences introduce the idea that soil and rocks can be moved from one location to another by something other than rivers and streams. The underlined sentence then states that the term used by scientists to refer to this process is “aeolian transport.” The discussion that follows explains what aeolian transport is (the movement of small geological materials over potentially great distances by the wind) and describes an example of a study that found that dust particles had been moved by aeolian transport from Australia to Antarctica. Thus, the underlined portion introduces a scientific term that is used in the discussion that follows. Choice A is incorrect because the underlined portion of the text doesn’t present any remarks from Melisa Diaz, nor does it suggest that Diaz and her team encountered difficulties in their study. Instead, the phrase in quotation marks in the underlined portion simply presents a term that is used by scientists to refer to a specific process discussed in the text. Choice C is incorrect because nothing in either the underlined portion or the text as a whole suggests that the findings of the study presented in the text were surprising or unexpected. In fact, the text suggests that Diaz and her team wanted to see if aeolian transport could explain the appearance of certain geological materials in Antarctica, and their findings did indeed confirm the involvement of aeolian transport. Choice D is incorrect. Although the first sentence of the text mentions soil and rocks, which are two different kinds of geological material, the underlined portion doesn’t refer to these materials, nor does it explain the difference between them. Rather, the underlined portion introduces the scientific term “aeolian transport,” which is used in the discussion that follows.

Choice C is the best answer. The first three sentences describe the general situation: these early films have been lost, and we only know about them from small pieces of evidence. The rest of the text offers specific examples of the small pieces of evidence. Choice A is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. The fact that we only know about these lost early films from small pieces of evidence isn’t presented as a “complex problem”—that’s too extreme. And the examples presented are not “unsuccessful attempts” to solve it. If anything, the examples represent a success, because we discovered that these films existed in the first place. Choice B is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. There’s no “debate” presented in the text, so there’s no “side” for the text to support. Choice D is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. The text doesn’t discuss any “differences” between the filmmakers.

Choice A is the best answer. The first sentence introduces Senju as a famous artist, while the next three sentences describe the defining features of his art, such as it only showing part of the waterfall and its origins in US art movements and Japanese techniques. Choice B is incorrect. The text doesn’t provide examples of any other artists who use Senju’s techniques. Choice C is incorrect. The text doesn’t describe any single famous painting or make comparisons between paintings. Choice D is incorrect. The text doesn’t provide an opinion on Senju (just facts), nor does it suggest that his art has been overlooked—in fact, it states that he is “known worldwide.”

Choice C is the best answer because it best describes how the underlined sentence functions in the text as a whole. The text presents information about a map drawn by Blackfoot chief Ac Ko Mok Ki in 1801. The underlined sentence states that the map "demonstrates a vast amount of topographic knowledge" and mentions that it features the "specific names of mountains and rivers" and includes the first-known sketch of the Missouri River’s drainage network. These are all characteristics that indicate that the map was executed with remarkable skill. Thus, the underlined sentence identifies some reasons why the map is impressive. Choice A is incorrect. Though the sentence after the underlined sentence in the text mentions that Ac Ko Mok Ki included information about other tribes on his map, the underlined sentence itself does not address this topic. Choice B is incorrect because nothing in the underlined sentence indicates how Ac Ko Mok Ki became interested in mapmaking, only that his mapmaking skills are impressive. Choice D is incorrect because though the underlined sentence describes several features of the map, it does not specifically describe how the map was used.

Choice D is the best answer. The author first describes an unresolved question: what effect do bank forests have on stream biodiversity? Then the author presents a study that answers the question: bank forests increase stream biodiversity. Choice A is incorrect. This isn’t the main purpose of the text. The text never mentions agricultural yields. Choice B is incorrect. This isn’t the main purpose of the text. The text never mentions other kinds of agricultural environments. Choice C is incorrect. This isn’t the main purpose of the text. The text never mentions any previously held view about how fish in these streams try to avoid predators.

Choice B is the best answer. The sentence mentions that some fossil studies have relied on incomplete data sets, suggesting that these studies are limited in what they can tell us about turtles’ origins. Choice A is incorrect. While the sentence mentions the incompleteness of the data sets studied, it doesn’t mention any tools or techniques used to examine fossils. Choice C is incorrect. The sentence doesn’t mention anything about the evolution of crocodiles. Choice D is incorrect. This sentence doesn’t directly mention or criticize any "widely held belief," and it focuses on a limitation of fossil studies of reptiles, not genetic studies.

Choice A is the best answer. The previous sentence broadly mentions "autobiographies written by the freedom seekers." This sentence identifies Loguen’s autobiography as a specific example. Choice B is incorrect. The sentence never explains why Loguen chose to write about his experiences. Choice C is incorrect. The previous sentence identifies autobiographies as useful sources of historical information about a specific topic, but not for "information about geography." The underlined sentence provides details of one autobiography as an example of a source of information about that specific topic (interactions between Indigenous people and Black freedom seekers). Choice D is incorrect. The text never discusses other specific people who helped freedom seekers, and therefore can’t make a comparison between the Neshnabé and anyone else.

Choice D is the best answer. The text describes how a new discovery expands our understanding of Denisovans. The underlined portion describes what we used to believe about Denisovans, which helps the reader understand the significance of the discovery of the molar: it suggests that they lived in more places than we’d previously thought. Choice A is incorrect. The underlined portion doesn’t do this. Instead, it explains what we used to believe about Denisovans before the discovery—it doesn’t dismiss the new discovery as false. Choice B is incorrect. The underlined portion doesn’t do this. No term is defined here. Choice C is incorrect. The underlined portion doesn’t do this. The text never tells us what the “goal” of the research was, just what its discovery was.

Choice C is the best answer because it most accurately describes how the underlined sentence functions in the text as a whole. The first sentence of the text states that Shakti knows the woods she is walking in well. The next sentence, which is underlined, emphasizes Shakti’s familiarity with, and sense of security within, the woods by describing how the tree branches are friendly and “welcoming,” as they are depicted as extending open arms to her. The remainder of the text also shows that Shakti is comfortable and content in the woods by describing her as “an old friend” of the trees. Thus, the function of the underlined portion is to emphasize Shakti’s sense of belonging in the wooded landscape that she visits. Choice A is incorrect because the text and underlined portion suggest that Shakti is comfortable, not uncomfortable, in her surroundings: the trees around her are described as welcoming and reassuring. Moreover, the underlined portion discusses Shakti’s feelings in the forest, not the river, since she hasn’t reached the river yet. Choice B is incorrect because the text and underlined portion emphasize Shakti’s familiarity with the woods. The trees are inviting, and she feels like “an old friend” to the woods, so she isn’t lost or confused there. Choice D is incorrect because the third sentence uses the phrase “as an old friend” figuratively in reference to Shakti’s sense of familiarity with the landscape, not in reference to her long-standing friendships with other people, and the text and underlined portion never discuss her feelings about such friendships.