Author's Purpose Practice Question #1: Temperature

The next day, the 22

nd
of March, at six in the morning, preparations for departure were begun. The
last gleams of twilight were melting into night. The cold was great; the constellations shown with
wonderful intensity. In the zenith glittered that wondrous Southern Cross the polar bear of Antarctic
regions. The thermometer showed 12 degrees below zero, and when the wind freshened it was most
biting. Flakes of ice increased on the open water. The sea seemed everywhere alike. Numerous
blackish patches spread on the surface, showing the formation of fresh ice. Evidently the southern
basin, frozen during the six winter months, was absolutely inaccessible. What became of the whales in
that time? Doubtless they went beneath the icebergs, seeking more practicable seas. As to the seals
and morses, accustomed to life in a hard climate, they remained on these icy shores.
The author's description of the temperature in lines 43 46 primarily serves to:
A. explain the hardships the boatmen were about to go through.
B. intensify the setting, so the reader can experience the boatmen's difficult journey.
C. compare the differences between boatmen who have experienced hardships and those who haven't.
D. identify the causes of the temperature decrease.
Answer
Author's Purpose Practice Question #2: Social Security
Until the early 1900's, Americans were not extremely concerned about their futures as they became
older. The major source of economic security was farming, and the extended family cared for the
elderly. However, the Industrial Revolution brought an end to this tradition. Farming gave way to
more progressive means of earning a living and family ties became looser; as a result, the family was
not always available to take care of the older generation. The Great Depression of the 1930's
exacerbated these economic security woes. So in 1935, Congress, under the direction of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed into law the Social Security Act. This act created a program intended to
provide continuing income for retired workers at least 65 years old, partially through the collection of
funds from Americans in the work force. Much organization was required to get the program
underway, but the first monthly Social Security checks were issued in 1940. Over the years the Social
Security Program has metamorphosed into benefits not only for workers but also for the disabled and
for survivors of beneficiaries, as well as medical insurance benefits in the form of Medicare.
The author most likely mentions the Depression to:
A. identify the primary purpose for Social Security.
B. criticize FDR's adoption of a program that would run out of money.
C. contrast the effectiveness of the Social Security Program with that of family care.
D. list another factor that contributed to the need for the Social Security Program.
Answer
Author's Purpose Practice Question #3: Gothic Art
The true way of looking at Gothic art is to regard it not as a definite style bound by certain formulas
for the spirit is infinitely various,but rather as the expression of a certain temper, sentiment, and
spirit which inspired the whole method of doing things during the Middle Ages in sculpture and
painting as well as in architecture. It cannot be defined by any of its outward features, for they are
variable, differing at different times and in different places. They are the outward expression of certain
cardinal principles behind them, and though these principles are common to all good styles, Gothic
among them, the result of applying them to the buildings of each age, country, and people will vary as
the circumstances of that country, that age, and that people vary.
The author most likely wrote the passage about Gothic art in order to:
A. suggest that Gothic art is not a style with specific characteristics as much as it is a sentiment from
a particular time.
B. intensify the description of Gothic art's sentiment and spirit.
C. explain the definition of Gothic art as an art form that has no definable characteristics.
D. compare Gothic art to the art of the Middle Ages
Answer
Author's Purpose Practice Question #4: Funeral
The funeral was just stretching on and on that sweaty Sunday in the middle of the summer. I took a
look at my fingers, clammy and swollen from the dizzy heat, and ached to be splashing around in the
creek behind the church. Daddy promised that the rain from Friday would cool everything down, but
the sun just sucked up all that water just the same as it did year after year. All the women, dressed in
black with funny-looking hats, whispered at each other and blew their noses into hankies as they tried
to fan themselves cooler with the paper bulletin old lady Mathers had typed up just for this occasion.
Preacher Tom yammered on and on in his booming voice like it was just another boring Sunday and
no one had even died, while tiny little rivers of sweat made their way down the middle of my back.
Miss Patterson, my favorite Sunday school teacher, whispered cross the aisle to Daddy that Its a
cryin shame, ya know. Daddy shrugged his big old coal-mining shoulders and said, The good Lord
knows whats best. I knew he wasnt really sad because he was a hard-hearted man with no sense
and no decency, like Momma used to say when hed come home smelling like whiskey.
The author most likely used the phrase "tiny little rivers of sweat made their way down the
middle of my back" in order to:
A. contrast the hot interior of the church during the funeral with the coolness of the creek.
B. compare the hot interior of the church during the funeral with the coolness of the creek.
C. identify the main reason the narrator was uncomfortable during the funeral.
D. intensify the description of the heat during the funeral.
Answer


Author's Purpose Practice Question #5: Cold and Warm
Fronts
A warm front is a specific air pressure system where warm air replaces cool air. It is associated with a
low pressure system and usually moves from a southerly direction to the north. A warm front passage
can be depicted by an increase in temperature and humidity (higher dew point temperatures), a
decrease in the air pressure, a wind change to a southerly direction, and the likelihood of precipitation.
A cold front is another specific front which is also associated with a low pressure system, but with
different causes, characteristics and results. During a cold front, cold air replaces warm air instead of
the other way around. A cold front usually moves from a northerly direction downward, wheareas the
warm front moves south to north. A cold front can be depicted by rapidly falling temperatures and
barometric pressure, a wind shift to the north or west, and a moderate chance of precipitation, which
is very different from a warm front! The barometric pressure, after falling, usually rises very sharply
after the passage of a cold front.
The author most likely wrote the passage in order to:
A. list the causes, characteristics, and results of both warm and cold fronts.
B. describe the causes of cold and warm fronts.
C. contrast the causes, characteristics, and results of warm and cold fronts.
D. illustrate the characteristics of both warm and cold fronts, by describing each facet in detail.