Question ID cba8812e

Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: cba8812e
Generally it takes Tule geese about four days to migrate south for the winter. From their summer breeding
grounds in Cook Inlet, Alaska, the birds begin by flying over the Gulf of Alaska, keeping about 100 miles from
the Canadian shore. They pause to rest on the Pacific Ocean, then fly toward Summer Lake, Oregon, before
finally arriving at their winter destination of Sacramento Valley, California. In 2020, however, it took the geese
over twice as long to make their way from Cook Inlet to Sacramento Valley. According to researchers, the
reason was airborne pollutants.

Which choice best states the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It illustrates a change in Tule geese’s usual flight behavior.

B. It suggests an explanation for why Tule geese breed in Alaska.

C. It describes part of the Tule geese’s typical winter migration journey.

D. It compares Tule geese to other birds that migrate south for the winter.
Question ID 401e1856
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 401e1856
Changes to vegetation cover and other human activities influence carbon and nitrogen levels in soil, though
how deep these effects extend is unclear. Hypothesizing that differences in land use lead to differences in
carbon and nitrogen levels that are not restricted to the topsoil layer (0–30 cm deep), Chukwuebuka Okolo
and colleagues sampled soils across multiple land-use types (e.g., grazing land, cropland, forest) within each
of several Ethiopian locations. They found, though, that across land-use types, carbon and nitrogen
decreased to comparably low levels beyond depths of 30 cm.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It describes a phenomenon that scientists do not fully understand, explains a research team’s hypothesis
about that phenomenon, and then describes a finding that led the team to refine the hypothesis.

B. It introduces an unresolved scientific question, presents a research team’s hypothesis pertaining to that
question, and then describes an observation made by the team that conflicts with that hypothesis.

C. It discusses a process that scientists are somewhat unclear about, introduces competing hypotheses
about that process, and then explains how a research team concluded that one of those hypotheses is
likely correct.

D. It explains a hypothesis that has been the subject of scientific debate, discusses how a research team
tested that hypothesis, and then presents data the team collected that validate the hypothesis.
Question ID d995ff9d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: d995ff9d
Historians have argued that a crucial component of the Civil Rights Movement’s success in the 1960s was
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Citizen Education Program (CEP), which invited promising
activists from across the South to its one-week training sessions in Dorchester, Georgia. Led by experienced
organizers such as Dorothy Cotton and Septima Clark, CEP attendees—more than 7,000 in all—participated in
workshops on topics ranging from public speaking to legal doctrine before returning home and using their
newly acquired knowledge to spearhead local civil rights initiatives.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It underscores the extent of the CEP’s impact on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

B. It illustrates the CEP organizers’ efforts to educate participants on a wide variety of topics.

C. It suggests that CEP attendees held a diverse array of opinions about the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference’s political philosophy.

D. It establishes that criticism of the CEP was limited to a few individuals in the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference.
Question ID d1f9725e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: d1f9725e
The people of medieval Europe have traditionally been seen as uninterested in cleanliness and hygiene, but
modern research has shown that this is largely a myth. According to historian Eleanor Janega, most
medieval towns in Europe had at least one public bathhouse, which often offered both full-immersion baths
and—more affordably—steam baths. While such amenities were available mainly to town dwellers, regular
bathing in rivers and streams or daily sponge baths at home were common practices throughout medieval
Europe.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion?

A. It asserts that in medieval Europe steam baths were more popular in rural areas than in urban ones.

B. It describes a limitation of earlier historians’ studies of medieval European bathing habits.

C. It concedes that not all people in medieval Europe had access to public bathhouses.

D. It explains why Janega decided to study the popularity of public bathhouses in medieval Europe.
Question ID bfcbec2d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: bfcbec2d
A number of Indigenous politicians have been elected to the United States Congress since 2000 as members
of the country’s two established political parties. In Canada and several Latin American countries, on the
other hand, Indigenous people have formed their own political parties to advance candidates who will
advocate for the interests of their communities. This movement has been particularly successful in Ecuador,
where Guadalupe Llori, a member of the Indigenous party known as Pachakutik, was elected president of the
National Assembly in 2021.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To trace the history of an Indigenous political movement and speculate about its future development

B. To argue that Indigenous politicians in the United States should form their own political party

C. To highlight two approaches to achieving political representation for Indigenous people

D. To consider how Indigenous politicians in the United States have influenced Indigenous politicians in
Canada and Latin America
Question ID 99022257
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 99022257
Archeological excavation of Market Street Chinatown, a nineteenth-century Chinese American community in
San Jose, California, provided the first evidence that Asian food products were imported to the United States
in the 1800s: bones from a freshwater fish species native to Southeast Asia. Jinshanzhuang—Hong Kong–
based import/export firms—likely coordinated the fish’s transport from Chinese-operated fisheries in Vietnam
and Malaysia to North American markets. This route reveals the (often overlooked) multinational dimensions
of the trade networks linking Chinese diaspora communities.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It explains why efforts to determine the country of origin of the items mentioned in the previous sentence
remain inconclusive.

B. It provides information that helps support a claim about a discovery’s significance that is presented in the
following sentence.

C. It traces the steps that were taken to locate and recover the objects that are described in the previous
sentence.

D. It outlines a hypothesis that additional evidence discussed in the following sentence casts some doubt
on.
Question ID 35bc6898
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 35bc6898
The following text is from the 1924 poem “Cycle” by D’Arcy McNickle, who was a citizen of the Confederated
Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
There shall be new roads wending,
A new beating of the drum—
Men’s eyes shall have fresh seeing,
Grey lives reprise their span—
But under the new sun’s being,
Completing what night began,
There’ll be the same backs bending,
The same sad feet shall drum—
When this night finds its ending
And day shall have come.....

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To consider how the repetitiveness inherent in human life can be both rewarding and challenging

B. To question whether activities completed at one time of day are more memorable than those completed
at another time of day

C. To refute the idea that joy is a more commonly experienced emotion than sadness is

D. To demonstrate how the experiences of individuals relate to the experiences of their communities
Question ID fd7c6d0d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: fd7c6d0d
The following text is from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1910 poem “The Earth’s Entail.”
No matter how we cultivate the land,
Taming the forest and the prairie free;
No matter how we irrigate the sand,
Making the desert blossom at command,
We must always leave the borders of the sea;
The immeasureable reaches
Of the windy wave-wet beaches,
The million-mile-long margin of the sea.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The speaker argues against interfering with nature and then gives evidence supporting this interference.

B. The speaker presents an account of efforts to dominate nature and then cautions that such efforts are
only temporary.

C. The speaker provides examples of an admirable way of approaching nature and then challenges that
approach.

D. The speaker describes attempts to control nature and then offers a reminder that not all nature is
controllable.
Question ID da17503b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: da17503b
Space scientists Anna-Lisa Paul, Stephen M. Elardo, and Robert Ferl planted seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana in
samples of lunar regolith—the surface material of the Moon—and, serving as a control group, in terrestrial
soil. They found that while all the seeds germinated, the roots of the regolith-grown plants were stunted
compared with those in the control group. Moreover, unlike the plants in the control group, the regolith-grown
plants exhibited red pigmentation, reduced leaf size, and inhibited growth rates—indicators of stress that
were corroborated by postharvest molecular analysis.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It describes an experiment that addressed an unresolved question about the extent to which lunar regolith
resembles terrestrial soils.

B. It compares two distinct methods of assessing indicators of stress in plants grown in a simulated lunar
environment.

C. It presents evidence in support of the hypothesis that seed germination in lunar habitats is an
unattainable goal.

D. It discusses the findings of a study that evaluated the effects of exposing a plant species to lunar soil
conditions.
Question ID 6a9bf335
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 6a9bf335
Studying late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artifacts from an agricultural and domestic site in
Texas, archaeologist Ayana O. Flewellen found that Black women employed as farm workers utilized hook-
and-eye closures to fasten their clothes at the waist, giving themselves a silhouette similar to the one that
was popular in contemporary fashion and typically achieved through more restrictive garments such as
corsets. Flewellen argues that this sartorial practice shows that these women balanced hegemonic ideals of
femininity with the requirements of their physically demanding occupation.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To describe an unexpected discovery that altered a researcher’s view of how rapidly fashions among
Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas changed during the period

B. To discuss research that investigated the ways in which Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and
early twentieth-century Texas used fashion practices to resist traditional gender ideals

C. To evaluate a scholarly work that offers explanations for the impact of urban fashion ideals on Black
female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas

D. To summarize the findings of a study that explored factors influencing a fashion practice among Black
female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas
Question ID 44bce45e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 44bce45e
For his 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies, Beverly Glenn-Copeland wrote songs grounded in traditional soul
and folk music, then accompanied them with futuristic synthesizer arrangements featuring ambient sounds
and complex rhythms. The result was so strange, so unprecedented, that the album attracted little attention
when first released. In recent years, however, a younger generation of musicians has embraced the stylistic
experimentation of Keyboard Fantasies. Alternative R&B musicians Blood Orange and Moses Sumney, among
other contemporary recording artists, cite the album as an influence.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It urges contemporary musicians to adopt the unique sound of Keyboard Fantasies.

B. It responds to criticism of Keyboard Fantasies by some younger musicians.

C. It offers examples of younger musicians whose work has been impacted by Keyboard Fantasies.

D. It contrasts Keyboard Fantasies with the recordings of two younger musicians.

Question ID 950d740f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 950d740f
The following text is adapted from Aphra Behn’s 1689 novel The Lucky Mistake. Atlante and Rinaldo are
neighbors who have been secretly exchanging letters through Charlot, Atlante’s sister.
[Atlante] gave this letter to Charlot; who immediately ran into the balcony with it, where she still found
Rinaldo in a melancholy posture, leaning his head on his hand: She showed him the letter, but was afraid to
toss it to him, for fear it might fall to the ground; so he ran and fetched a long cane, which he cleft at one
end, and held it while she put the letter into the cleft, and stayed not to hear what he said to it. But never
was man so transported with joy, as he was at the reading of this letter; it gives him new wounds; for to the
generous, nothing obliges love so much as love.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It describes the delivery of a letter, and then portrays a character’s happiness at reading that letter.

B. It establishes that a character is desperate to receive a letter, and then explains why another character has
not yet written that letter.

C. It presents a character’s concerns about delivering a letter, and then details the contents of that letter.

D. It reveals the inspiration behind a character’s letter, and then emphasizes the excitement that another
character feels upon receiving that letter.
Question ID 674aae7d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 674aae7d
Astronomers are confident that the star Betelgeuse will eventually consume all the helium in its core and
explode in a supernova. They are much less confident, however, about when this will happen, since that
depends on internal characteristics of Betelgeuse that are largely unknown. Astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry
Nance and colleagues recently investigated whether acoustic waves in the star could be used to determine
internal stellar states but concluded that this method could not sufficiently reveal Betelgeuse’s internal
characteristics to allow its evolutionary state to be firmly fixed.

Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It describes a serious limitation of the method used by Nance and colleagues.

B. It presents the central finding reported by Nance and colleagues.

C. It identifies the problem that Nance and colleagues attempted to solve but did not.

D. It explains how the work of Nance and colleagues was received by others in the field.
Question ID 83e4ea9a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 83e4ea9a
According to Indian economist and sociologist Radhakamal Mukerjee (1889–1968), the Eurocentric
concepts that informed early twentieth-century social scientific methods—for example, the idea that all social
relations are reducible to struggles between individuals—had little relevance for India. Making the social
sciences more responsive to Indians’ needs, Mukerjee argued, required constructing analytical categories
informed by India’s cultural and ecological circumstances. Mukerjee thus proposed the communalist “Indian
village” as the ideal model on which to base Indian economic and social policy.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The text recounts Mukerjee’s early training in the social scientific disciplines and then lists social policies
whose implementation Mukerjee oversaw.

B. The text mentions some of Mukerjee’s economic theories and then traces their impact on other Indian
social scientists of the twentieth century.

C. The text presents Mukerjee’s critique of the social sciences and then provides an example of his attempts
to address issues he identified in his critique.

D. The text explains an influential economic theory and then demonstrates how that theory was more
important to Mukerjee’s work than other social scientists have acknowledged.
Question ID 306f6d2a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 306f6d2a
The following text is adapted from Herman Melville’s 1855 novel Israel Potter. Israel is a young man
wandering through New England during the late eighteenth century.

He hired himself out for three months; at the end of that time to receive for his wages two hundred acres
of land lying in New Hampshire. [...] His employer proving false to the contract in the matter of the land,
and there being no law in the country to force him to fulfil it, Israel—who, however brave-hearted, and
even much of a dare-devil upon a pinch, seems nevertheless to have evinced, throughout many parts of
his career, a singular patience and mildness—was obliged to look round for other means of livelihood
than clearing out a farm for himself in the wilderness.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It implies that Israel treasures a particular characteristic of his personality when that characteristic should
usually be regarded as a flaw.

B. It suggests that if not for a certain aspect of his character, Israel might not have been as easily thwarted
in his ambition to establish a farm.

C. It shows why Israel would not have been able to undertake the enormous amount of labor necessary to
run a farm even if he had owned the necessary property.

D. It explains why, when the situation requires it, Israel is able to undertake courageous acts that others
would generally avoid.
Question ID c89da8bc
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: c89da8bc
According to historian Vicki L. Ruiz, Mexican American women made crucial contributions to the labor
movement during World War II. At the time, food processing companies entered into contracts to supply
United States armed forces with canned goods. Increased production quotas conferred greater bargaining
power on the companies’ employees, many of whom were Mexican American women: employees insisted on
more favorable benefits, and employers, who were anxious to fulfill the contracts, complied. Thus, labor
activism became a platform for Mexican American women to assert their agency.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It elaborates on a claim about labor relations in a particular industry made earlier in the text.

B. It offers an example of a trend in the World War II–era economy discussed earlier in the text.

C. It notes a possible exception to the historical narrative of labor activism sketched earlier in the text.

D. It provides further details about the identities of the workers discussed earlier in the text.
Question ID 939f1fe8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 939f1fe8
In Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park, an almost imperceptible smile from potential suitor Henry Crawford
causes the protagonist Fanny Price to blush; her embarrassment grows when she suspects that he is aware
of it. This moment—in which Fanny not only infers Henry’s mental state through his gestures, but also infers
that he is drawing inferences about her mental state—illustrates what literary scholar George Butte calls
“deep intersubjectivity,” a technique for representing interactions between consciousnesses through which
Austen’s novels derive much of their social and psychological drama.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It states a claim about Austen’s skill at representing psychological complexity that is reinforced by an
example presented in the following sentence.

B. It advances an interpretation of an Austen protagonist who is contrasted with protagonists from other
Austen novels cited in the following sentence.

C. It describes a recurring theme in Austen’s novels that is the focus of a literary scholar’s analysis
summarized in the following sentence.

D. It provides a synopsis of an interaction in an Austen novel that illustrates a literary concept discussed in
the following sentence.
Question ID 815b354f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 815b354f
Using NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Mercedes López-Morales and colleagues
measured the wavelengths of light traveling through the atmosphere of WASP-39b, an exoplanet, or planet
outside our solar system. Different molecules absorb different wavelengths of light, and the wavelength
measurements showed the presence of 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 but also illustrates the
potential for future scientific breakthroughs held by the JWST.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It discusses a method used by some researchers, then states why an alternative method is superior to it.

B. It describes how researchers made a scientific discovery, then explains the importance of that discovery.

C. It outlines the steps taken in a scientific study, then presents a hypothesis based on that study.

D. It examines how a group of scientists reached a conclusion, then shows how other scientists have
challenged that conclusion.
Question ID e07e1984
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: e07e1984
The following text is from Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 1913 poem “The Poet and His Song.”

A song is but a little thing,

And yet what joy it is to sing!
In hours of toil it gives me zest,
And when at eve I long for rest;
When cows come home along the bars,
And in the fold I hear the bell,
As Night, the shepherd, herds his stars,
I sing my song, and all is well.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To convey how engaging in song makes the speaker feel

B. To compare the speaker to a singing shepherd

C. To portray the speaker’s excitement about farming

D. To describe the pieces of music the speaker enjoys hearing

Question ID 7ec676d1
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 7ec676d1
The following text is from Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre. Jane, the narrator, works as a governess
at Thornfield Hall.
I went on with my day’s business tranquilly; but ever and anon vague suggestions kept wandering across
my brain of reasons why I should quit Thornfield; and I kept involuntarily framing advertisements and
pondering conjectures about new situations: these thoughts I did not think to check; they might germinate
and bear fruit if they could.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To convey a contrast between Jane’s outward calmness and internal restlessness

B. To emphasize Jane’s loyalty to the people she works for at Thornfield Hall

C. To demonstrate that Jane finds her situation both challenging and deeply fulfilling

D. To describe Jane’s determination to secure employment outside of Thornfield Hall

Question ID 720b79de
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 720b79de
In the Here and Now Storybook (1921), educator Lucy Sprague Mitchell advanced the then controversial idea
that books for very young children should imitate how they use language, since toddlers, who cannot yet
grasp narrative or abstract ideas, seek reassurance in verbal repetition and naming. The most enduring
example of this idea is Margaret Wise Brown’s 1947 picture book Goodnight Moon, in which a young rabbit
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 directly to Mitchell’s influence.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The text outlines a debate between two authors of children’s literature and then traces how that debate
shaped theories on early childhood education.

B. The text summarizes an argument about how children’s literature should be evaluated and then discusses
a contrasting view on that subject.

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.
Question ID cc00a8cf
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: cc00a8cf
Works of moral philosophy, such as Plato’s Republic or Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, are partly concerned
with how to live a morally good life. But philosopher Jonathan Barnes argues that works that present a
method of living such a life without also supplying a motive are inherently useful only to those already
wishing to be morally good—those with no desire for moral goodness will not choose to follow their rules.
However, some works of moral philosophy attempt to describe what constitutes a morally good life while
also proposing reasons for living one.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It provides a characterization about a field of thought by noting two works in it and then details a way in
which some works in that field are more comprehensive than others.

B. It mentions two renowned works and then claims that despite their popularity it is impossible for these
works to serve the purpose their authors intended.

C. It summarizes the history of a field of thought by discussing two works and then proposes a topic of
further research for specialists in that field.

D. It describes two influential works and then explains why one is more widely read than the other.
Question ID 380dee07
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 380dee07
The following text is from Charlotte Forten Grimké’s 1888 poem “At Newport.”
Oh, deep delight to watch the gladsome waves
Exultant leap upon the rugged rocks;
Ever repulsed, yet ever rushing on—
Filled with a life that will not know defeat;
To see the glorious hues of sky and sea.
The distant snowy sails, glide spirit like,
Into an unknown world, to feel the sweet
Enchantment of the sea thrill all the soul,
Clearing the clouded brain, making the heart
Leap joyous as it own bright, singing waves!

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It portrays the surroundings as an imposing and intimidating scene.

B. It characterizes the sea’s waves as a relentless and enduring force.

C. It conveys the speaker’s ambivalence about the natural world.

D. It draws a contrast between the sea’s waves and the speaker’s thoughts.
Question ID 4e8b863b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 4e8b863b
Asteroid 6478 Gault has experienced intermittent mass loss since at least 2013, but in contrast to some
other asteroids with repeated mass-loss episodes, 6478 Gault has not lost mass at its perihelion (the closest
point of its orbit to the Sun), and thus the loss is not attributable to solar energy–driven ice vaporization. And
as Jane X. Luu et al. point out, the singular nature of impact ejection makes it untenable as an account of
multiple loss episodes of similar duration over several years. Instead, Luu et al. are likely correct that 6478
Gault is shedding mass due to rotational instability.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It presents a scientific observation, describes a contrast between that observation and other
observations, and then explains why those other observations should not be considered credible.

B. It describes an astronomical finding, discusses competing theories about that finding that the author
regards as flawed, and then describes new evidence that supports an alternative theory.

C. It introduces a natural phenomenon, refutes two potential explanations for that phenomenon, and then
presents a third explanation for that phenomenon that the author regards as plausible.

D. It discusses a physical process, evaluates possible causes of that process, and then states that a
persuasive account of the process has yet to be put forward.
Question ID 4c27795c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 4c27795c
“How lifelike are they?” Many computer animators prioritize this question as they strive to create ever more
realistic environments and lighting. Generally, while characters in computer-animated films appear highly
exaggerated, environments and lighting are carefully engineered to mimic reality. But some animators, such
as Pixar’s Sanjay Patel, are focused on a different question. Rather than asking first whether the
environments and lighting they’re creating are convincingly lifelike, Patel and others are asking whether these
elements reflect their films’ unique stories.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a whole?
A. It reflects a primary goal that many computer animators have for certain components of the animations
they produce.

B. It represents a concern of computer animators who are more interested in creating unique backgrounds
and lighting effects than realistic ones.

C. It conveys the uncertainty among many computer animators about how to create realistic animations
using current technology.

D. It illustrates a reaction that audiences typically have to the appearance of characters created by computer
animators.
Question ID 50698bf8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 50698bf8
A study by Dr. Paul Hanel and colleagues concluded that people are more likely to behave politely when
listening to ideas they disagree with if they think about values before they engage in a discussion. Study
participants were assigned to one of two groups. The experimental group spent a few minutes writing about
one of their personal values before they had a group discussion on a controversial topic. And the control
group spent a few minutes writing about a drink (tea, milk, etc.) before their group discussion on that topic.
Hanel and colleagues found that the experimental group’s discussion was more civil than the control group’s
discussion was.

Which choice best describes the main purpose of the text?

A. To describe a widely held belief and how a study’s results support that belief

B. To argue that researchers were surprised by the results of a certain study

C. To suggest ways to improve a certain study’s experimental design

D. To explain a study’s conclusion and how a research team arrived at that conclusion
Question ID e816527e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: e816527e
Today composer Scott Joplin is mainly celebrated for his catchy ragtime pieces “Maple Leaf Rag” and “The
Entertainer.” However, by overlooking his less famous works, listeners will miss the full range of Joplin’s
creativity. For instance, his waltz “Pleasant Moments” and his opera Treemonisha skillfully blend ragtime and
classical music. These masterpieces deserve as much fame as Joplin’s biggest hits.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To describe the similarities and differences between ragtime music and opera

B. To argue that more attention should be given to Joplin’s lesser-known works

C. To encourage music lovers to listen to music by many different composers

D. To explain how Joplin learned to compose and perform ragtime music

Question ID 5b71d7b1
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 5b71d7b1
In 1973, poet Miguel Algarín started inviting other writers who, like him, were Nuyorican—a term for New
Yorkers of Puerto Rican heritage—to gather in his apartment to present their work. The gatherings were so
well attended that Algarín soon had to rent space in a cafe to accommodate them. Thus, the Nuyorican Poets
Cafe was born. Moving to a permanent location in 1981, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its original
scope beyond the written word, hosting art exhibitions and musical performances as well. Half a century
since its inception, it continues to foster emerging Nuyorican talent.

Which choice best describes the overall purpose of the text?

A. To explain what motivated Algarín to found the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

B. To situate the Nuyorican Poets Cafe within the cultural life of New York as a whole

C. To discuss why the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its scope to include art and music

D. To provide an overview of the founding and mission of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe
Question ID a0d54459
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: a0d54459
The following text is adapted from Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 1902 novel The Sport of the Gods. Joe and some
of his family members have recently moved to New York City.

[Joe] was wild with enthusiasm and with a desire to be a part of all that the metropolis meant. In the
evening he saw the young fellows passing by dressed in their spruce clothes, and he wondered with a
sort of envy where they could be going. Back home there had been no place much worth going to, except
church and one or two people’s houses.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It illustrates a character’s reaction to a new environment.

B. It explains why a character has traveled to a city.

C. It compares a character’s thoughts about an event at two different times of day.

D. It presents a character feeling regret over leaving home.

Question ID 3bb49e6e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 3bb49e6e
The following text is adapted from Gwendolyn Bennett’s 1926 poem “Street Lamps in Early Spring.”
Night wears a garment
All velvet soft, all violet blue...
And over her face she draws a veil
As shimmering fine as floating dew...
And here and there
In the black of her hair
The subtle hands of Night
Move slowly with their gem-starred light.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It presents alternating descriptions of night in a rural area and in a city.

B. It sketches an image of nightfall, then an image of sunrise.

C. It makes an extended comparison of night to a human being.

D. It portrays how night changes from one season of the year to the next.
Question ID 042d162c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 042d162c
The following text is adapted from Susan Glaspell’s 1912 short story “‘Out There.’” An elderly shop owner is
looking at a picture that he recently acquired and hopes to sell.
It did seem that the picture failed to fit in with the rest of the shop. A persuasive young fellow who claimed
he was closing out his stock let the old man have it for what he called a song. It was only a little out-of-the-
way store which subsisted chiefly on the framing of pictures. The old man looked around at his views of
the city, his pictures of cats and dogs, his flaming bits of landscape. “Don’t belong in here,” he fumed.
And yet the old man was secretly proud of his acquisition. There was a hidden dignity in his scowling as he
shuffled about pondering the least ridiculous place for the picture.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To reveal the shop owner’s conflicted feelings about the new picture

B. To convey the shop owner’s resentment of the person he got the new picture from

C. To describe the items that the shop owner most highly prizes

D. To explain differences between the new picture and other pictures in the shop
Question ID d6b84972
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: d6b84972
The following text is from Joseph Conrad’s 1907 novel The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale. Mr. Verloc is
navigating the London streets on his way to a meeting.
Before reaching Knightsbridge, Mr. Verloc took a turn to the left out of the busy main thoroughfare,
uproarious with the traffic of swaying omnibuses and trotting vans, in the almost silent, swift flow of
hansoms [horse-drawn carriages]. Under his hat, worn with a slight backward tilt, his hair had been carefully
brushed into respectful sleekness; for his business was with an Embassy. And Mr. Verloc, steady like a rock—
a soft kind of rock—marched now along a street which could with every propriety be described as private.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined phrase in the text as a whole?
A. It qualifies an earlier description of Mr. Verloc.

B. It emphasizes an internal struggle Mr. Verloc experiences.

C. It contrasts Mr. Verloc with his surroundings.

D. It reveals a private opinion Mr. Verloc holds.

Question ID a05fe244
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: a05fe244
The 1967 release of Harold Cruse’s book The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual isolated him from almost all
other scholars and activists of the American Civil Rights Movement—though many of those thinkers
disagreed with each other, he nonetheless found ways to disagree with them all. He thought that activists
who believed that Black people such as himself should culturally assimilate were naïve. But he also sharply
criticized Black nationalists such as Marcus Garvey who wanted to establish independent, self-contained
Black economies and societies, even though Cruse himself identified as a Black nationalist.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It describes a direction that Cruse felt the Civil Rights Movement ought to take.

B. It indicates that Cruse’s reputation as a persistent antagonist of other scholars is undeserved.

C. It describes a controversy that Cruse’s work caused within the Black nationalist movement.

D. It helps explain Cruse’s position with respect to the community of civil rights thinkers.
Question ID a7038ee7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: a7038ee7
Yawn contagion occurs when one individual yawns in response to another’s yawn. Studies of this behavior in
primates have focused on populations in captivity, but biologist Elisabetta Palagi and her colleagues have
shown that it can occur in wild primate populations as well. In their study, which focused on a wild population
of gelada monkeys (Theropithecus gelada) in Ethiopia, the researchers further reported that yawn contagion
most commonly occurred in males and across different social groups instead of within a single social group.

Which choice best describes the function of the first sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It defines a phenomenon that is discussed in the text.

B. It introduces a problem that is examined in the text.

C. It makes a claim that is challenged in the text.

D. It presents a hypothesis that is evaluated in the text.

Question ID 86cd2c78
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 86cd2c78
The following text is from Walt Whitman’s 1860 poem “Calamus 24.”
I HEAR it is charged against me that I seek to destroy institutions;
But really I am neither for nor against institutions
(What indeed have I in common with them?—Or what with the destruction of them?),
Only I will establish in the Mannahatta [Manhattan] and in every city of These States, inland and seaboard,
And in the fields and woods, and above every keel [ship] little or large, that dents the water,
Without edifices, or rules, or trustees, or any argument,
The institution of the dear love of comrades.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The speaker questions an increasingly prevalent attitude, then summarizes his worldview.

B. The speaker regrets his isolation from others, then predicts a profound change in society.

C. The speaker concedes his personal shortcomings, then boasts of his many achievements.

D. The speaker addresses a criticism leveled against him, then announces a grand ambition of his.
Question ID 0a9b75f3
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 0a9b75f3
The following text is adapted from Herman Melville’s 1857 novel The Confidence-Man. Humphry Davy was a
prominent British chemist and inventor.

Years ago, a grave American savant, being in London, observed at an evening party there, a certain
coxcombical fellow, as he thought, an absurd ribbon in his lapel, and full of smart [banter], whisking
about to the admiration of as many as were disposed to admire. Great was the savant’s disdain; but,
chancing ere long to find himself in a corner with the jackanapes, got into conversation with him, when
he was somewhat ill-prepared for the good sense of the jackanapes, but was altogether thrown aback,
upon subsequently being [informed that he was] no less a personage than Sir Humphry Davy.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It portrays the thoughts of a character who is embarrassed about his own behavior.

B. It presents an account of a misunderstanding.

C. It offers a short history of how a person came to be famous.

D. It explains why one character dislikes another.

Question ID 1b68b809
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 1b68b809
In the late 1800s, Spanish-language newspapers flourished in cities across Texas. San Antonio alone
produced eleven newspapers in Spanish between 1890 and 1900. But El Paso surpassed all other cities in
the state. This city produced twenty-two newspapers in Spanish during that period. El Paso is located on the
border with Mexico and has always had a large population of Spanish speakers. Thus, it is unsurprising that
this city became such a rich site for Spanish-language journalism.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To compare Spanish-language newspapers published in Texas today with ones published there during the
late 1800s

B. To explain that Spanish-language newspapers thrived in Texas and especially in El Paso during the late
1800s

C. To argue that Spanish-language newspapers published in El Paso influenced the ones published in San
Antonio during the late 1800s

D. To explain why Spanish-language newspapers published in Texas were so popular in Mexico during the
late 1800s
Question ID 014ae202
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 014ae202
The following text is adapted from Charles Dickens’s 1854 novel Hard Times. Coketown is a fictional town in
England.
[Coketown] contained several large streets all very like one another, and many small streets still more like one
another, inhabited by people equally 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 whom every day was the same as
yesterday and tomorrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To emphasize the uniformity of both the town and the people who live there

B. To explain the limited work opportunities available to the town’s residents

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

D. To argue that the simplicity of life in the town makes it a pleasant place to live
Question ID 61f51c7e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 61f51c7e
Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth. Mary Beth Wilhelm and other astrobiologists
search for life, or its remains, in this harsh place because the desert closely mirrors the extreme environment
on Mars. The algae and bacteria found in Atacama’s driest regions may offer clues about Martian life. By
studying how these and other microorganisms survive such extreme conditions on Earth, Wilhelm’s team
hopes to determine whether similar life might have existed on Mars and to develop the best tools to look for
evidence of it.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. To contrast the conditions in the Atacama Desert with those on Mars

B. To explain why many life-forms cannot survive in the Atacama Desert

C. To indicate why astrobiologists choose to conduct research in the Atacama Desert

D. To describe certain limitations to conducting scientific study in the Atacama Desert

Question ID d3fe0b12
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: d3fe0b12
The following text is adapted from Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto’s 1925 memoir A Daughter of the Samurai. As a
young woman, Sugimoto moved from feudal Japan to the United States.

The standards of my own and my adopted country differed so widely in some ways, and my love for both
lands was so sincere, that sometimes I had an odd feeling of standing upon a cloud in space, and gazing
with measuring eyes upon two separate worlds. At first I was continually trying to explain, by Japanese
standards, all the queer things that came every day before my surprised eyes; for no one seemed to
know the origin or significance of even the most familiar customs, nor why they existed and were
followed.

Which choice best describes the main purpose of the text?

A. To convey the narrator’s experience of observing and making sense of differences between two cultures
she embraces

B. To establish the narrator’s hope of forming connections with new companions by sharing customs she
learned as a child

C. To reveal the narrator’s recognition that she is hesitant to ask questions about certain aspects of a culture
she is newly encountering

D. To emphasize the narrator’s wonder at discovering that the physical distance between two countries is
greater than she had expected
Question ID a5307779
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: a5307779
Several studies have found negligible electoral consequences for governments that impose fiscal austerity
measures, yet some European governments recently suffered electorally due to their austerity programs.
Evelyne Huebscher and colleagues attribute this incongruity to governments’ tendency—not followed in the
recent European cases—to implement austerity programs strategically to avoid electoral costs (e.g., setting
spending cuts to take effect only after the next election), which has obscured the inherent political risks of
austerity measures in the election data scholars have examined.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It explains a discrepancy between what has been observed in study settings and what has been observed
in real-world settings that the text goes on to assert is attributable to the studies not using real-world
data.

B. It identifies a conflict between research findings and recent events that the text goes on to suggest is a
consequence of a complicating factor in the data used to generate those findings.

C. It presents a long-standing divergence in research findings that the text goes on to say is due to different
groups of researchers using data that derive from different electoral circumstances.

D. It describes a recent exception to a general pattern in research findings that the text goes on to explain is
a result of researchers underestimating the significance of inconsistencies in the data they’ve analyzed.
Question ID 06346bcd
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 06346bcd
Some studies have suggested that posture can influence cognition, but we should not overstate this
phenomenon. A case in point: In a 2014 study, Megan O’Brien and Alaa Ahmed had subjects stand or sit
while making risky simulated economic decisions. Standing is more physically unstable and cognitively
demanding than sitting; accordingly, O’Brien and Ahmed hypothesized that standing subjects would display
more risk aversion during the decision-making tasks than sitting subjects did, since they would want to avoid
further feelings of discomfort and complicated risk evaluations. But O’Brien and Ahmed actually found no
difference in the groups’ performance.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It argues that research findings about the effects of posture on cognition are often misunderstood, as in
the case of O’Brien and Ahmed’s study.

B. It presents the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to critique the methods and results reported in previous
studies of the effects of posture on cognition.

C. It explains a significant problem in the emerging understanding of posture’s effects on cognition and how
O’Brien and Ahmed tried to solve that problem.

D. It discusses the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to illustrate why caution is needed when making claims
about the effects of posture on cognition.
Question ID 52aa1317
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 52aa1317
Raymond Antrobus, an accomplished poet and writer of prose, recently released his debut spoken word
poetry album, The First Time I Wore Hearing Aids, in collaboration with producer Ian Brennan. The album
contains both autobiographical and reflective pieces combining Antrobus’s spoken words with Brennan’s
fragmented audio elements and pieces of music to convey how people who are deaf may experience sound,
both its presence and absence. Some critics suggest that the album questions the function of sound in the
world, highlighting that the experience of sound is multifaceted.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It introduces a collaborative spoken word poetry project, details the approach taken to produce the work,
and then provides an example of critique the album received upon release.

B. It mentions a collection of spoken word poems, distinguishes one poem as being an exemplar on the
album, and then offers a summary of the subject matter of the whole collection.

C. It summarizes the efforts to produce a collection of spoken word poems, presents biographies of two
people who worked on the album, and speculates about the meaning behind the poetry.

D. It connects two artists to the same spoken word poetry project, explains the extent of their collaboration
on each poem, and then provides an overview of the technique used to produce the work.
Question ID 333f6512
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 333f6512
The following text is from the 1923 poem “Black Finger” by Angelina Weld Grimké, a Black American writer. A
cypress is a type of evergreen tree.
I have just seen a most beautiful thing,
Slim and still,
Against a gold, gold sky,
A straight black cypress,
Sensitive,
Exquisite,
A black finger
Pointing upwards.
Why, beautiful still finger, are you black?
And why are you pointing upwards?

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The speaker assesses a natural phenomenon, then questions the accuracy of her assessment.

B. The speaker describes a distinctive sight in nature, then ponders what meaning to attribute to that sight.

C. The speaker presents an outdoor scene, then considers a human behavior occurring within that scene.

D. The speaker examines her surroundings, then speculates about their influence on her emotional state.
Question ID b5c5b387
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: b5c5b387
The following text is adapted from Louise Erdrich’s 2020 novel The Night Watchman. Louis Pipestone is
collecting signatures for a petition from fellow members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa on the
tribe’s reservation in North Dakota.

Louis Pipestone tended the petition like a garden. He kept it with him at all times. In town, his eyes
sharpened when he noticed a tribal member who hadn’t yet signed. Wherever they were—at the gas
pump, mercantile [general store], at Henry’s [Café], on the road, or outside the clinic and hospital—Louis
cornered them. If they were waiting for a baby to be born, he’d have them sign. If they were laughing, if
they were arguing. If they were taking a child home from school, they signed.
©2020 by Louise Erdrich

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To suggest that some tribal members refuse to sign the petition because they dislike Louis Pipestone

B. To show that attitudes toward the petition within the tribal community change over time

C. To demonstrate that most tribal members are enthusiastic about signing the petition

D. To portray Louis Pipestone’s strong commitment to collecting signatures for the petition
Question ID f318de52
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: f318de52
The following text is from the 1895 poem “Marshlands” by Emily Pauline Johnson, a Kanienkahagen
(Mohawk) writer also known as Tekahionwake.

Among the wild rice in the still lagoon,

In monotone the lizard shrills his tune.
The wild goose, homing, seeks a sheltering,
Where rushes grow, and oozing lichens cling.
Late cranes with heavy wing, and lazy flight,
Sail up the silence with the nearing night.
And like a spirit, swathed in some soft veil,
Steals twilight and its shadows o’er the swale.
Hushed lie the sedges, and the vapours creep,
Thick, grey and humid, while the marshes sleep.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It names animal species found in a place, then names plant species there.

B. It sketches a setting by presenting a series of images of nature.

C. It makes an extended comparison of nature to human emotions.

D. It identifies a location, then refers to a person living there.

Question ID f3a51fa6
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: f3a51fa6
Horizontal gene transfer occurs when an organism of one species acquires genetic material from an
organism of another species through nonreproductive means. The genetic material can then be transferred
“vertically” in the second species—that is, through reproductive inheritance. Scientist Atma Ivancevic and her
team have hypothesized infection by invertebrate parasites as a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer
between vertebrate species: while feeding, a parasite could acquire a gene from one host, then relocate to a
host from a different vertebrate species and transfer the gene to it in turn.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It explains why parasites are less susceptible to horizontal gene transfer than their hosts are.

B. It clarifies why some genes are more likely to be transferred horizontally than others are.

C. It contrasts how horizontal gene transfer occurs among vertebrates with how it occurs among
invertebrates.

D. It describes a means by which horizontal gene transfer might occur among vertebrates.
Question ID 43aa094b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 43aa094b
Scholarly accounts of the Chicano movement—a movement that advocated for the social, political, and
cultural empowerment of Mexican Americans and reached its zenith in the 1960s and 1970s—tend to focus
on the most militant, outspoken figures in the movement, making it seem uniformly radical. Geographer Juan
Herrera has shown, however, that if we shift our focus toward the way the movement manifested in
comparatively low-profile neighborhood institutions and projects, we see participants espousing an array of
political orientations and approaches to community activism.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It presents a trend in scholarship on the Chicano movement that the text claims has been reevaluated by
researchers in light of Herrera’s work on the movement’s participants.

B. It identifies an aspect of the Chicano movement that the text implies was overemphasized by scholars
due to their own political orientations.

C. It describes a common approach to studying the Chicano movement that, according to the text, obscures
the ideological diversity of the movement’s participants.

D. It summarizes the conventional method for analyzing the Chicano movement, which the text suggests
creates a misleading impression of the effectiveness of neighborhood institutions and projects.
Question ID 95195865
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 95195865
By combining Indigenous and classical music, Cree composer and cellist Cris Derksen creates works that
reflect the diverse cultural landscape of Canada. For her album Orchestral Powwow, Derksen composed new
songs in the style of traditional powwow music that were accompanied by classical arrangements played by
an orchestra. But where an orchestra would normally follow the directions of a conductor, the musicians on
Orchestral Powwow are led by the beat of a powwow drum.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To examine how Derksen’s musical compositions blend cultures

B. To argue that Derksen should be recognized for creating a new style of music

C. To describe the difficulties Derksen encountered when producing her album

D. To establish a contrast between Derksen’s classical training and her Cree heritage
Question ID f7ed26a4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: f7ed26a4
In 2020, rap artist and professor A.D. Carson published the first peer-reviewed rap album about his
experiences with Black masculinity called “i used to love to dream.” Typically in peer review, experts evaluate
scholarly articles prior to publication. For Carson’s album, dubbed a “mixtap/e/ssay,” peer review involved
both scholars and rap artists. In combining elements of a mixtape album with scholarly essays that connect
Carson’s lyrics to historical and contemporary contexts for listeners both inside and outside academia,
Carson’s album helped redefine how scholarship is created and shared.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To compare the relative public impact of scholarly articles and albums

B. To capture one scholar’s opinion of a new rap album

C. To explain why a certain rap album is particularly innovative

D. To describe how each step of the peer review process unfolds

Question ID d7048b13
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: d7048b13
The field of study called affective neuroscience seeks instinctive, physiological causes for feelings such as
pleasure or displeasure. Because these sensations are linked to a chemical component (for example, the
release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain when one receives or expects a reward), they can be
said to have a partly physiological basis. These processes have been described in mammals, but Jingnan
Huang and his colleagues have recently observed that some behaviors of honeybees (such as foraging) are
also motivated by a dopamine-based signaling process.

What choice best describes the main purpose of the text?

A. It describes an experimental method of measuring the strength of physiological responses in humans.

B. It illustrates processes by which certain insects can express how they are feeling.

C. It summarizes a finding suggesting that some mechanisms in the brains of certain insects resemble
mechanisms in mammalian brains.

D. It presents research showing that certain insects and mammals behave similarly when there is a
possibility of a reward for their actions.
Question ID 5cf1663b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 5cf1663b
The following text is from Annie Dillard’s 1987 autobiographical novel An American Childhood. The narrator is
a young girl living in Pittsburgh.

I walked. My mother had given me the freedom of the streets as soon as I could say our telephone
number. I walked and memorized the neighborhood. I made a mental map and located myself upon it. At
night in bed I rehearsed the small world’s scheme and set challenges: Find the store using backyards
only. Imagine a route from the school to my friend’s house.
©1987 by Annie Dillard

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It describes the narrator trying to memorize her telephone number.

B. It provides examples of what the narrator thinks about at night.

C. It gives directions to the narrator’s favorite local store.

D. It portrays the narrator’s relationship with her mother.

Question ID 5405400f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 5405400f
The following text is from Herman Melville’s 1854 novel The Lightning-rod Man.
The stranger still stood in the exact middle of the cottage, where he had first planted himself. His singularity
impelled a closer scrutiny. A lean, gloomy figure. Hair dark and lank, mattedly streaked over his brow. His
sunken pitfalls of eyes were ringed by indigo halos, and played with an innocuous sort of lightning: the gleam
without the bolt. The whole man was dripping. He stood in a puddle on the bare oak floor: his strange
walking-stick vertically resting at his side.

Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It elaborates on the previous sentence’s description of the character.

B. It introduces the setting that is described in the sentences that follow.

C. It establishes a contrast with the description in the previous sentence.

D. It sets up the character description presented in the sentences that follow.

Question ID e2aebe0a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: e2aebe0a
Early in the Great Migration of 1910–1970, which involved the mass migration of Black people from the
southern to the northern United States, political activist and Chicago Defender writer Fannie Barrier Williams
was instrumental in helping other Black women establish themselves in the North. Many women hoped for
better employment opportunities in the North because, in the South, they faced much competition for
domestic employment and men tended to get agricultural work. To aid with this transition, Barrier Williams
helped secure job placement in the North for many women before they even began their journey.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To introduce and illustrate Barrier Williams’s integral role in supporting other Black women as their
circumstances changed during part of the Great Migration

B. To establish that Barrier Williams used her professional connections to arrange employment for other
Black women, including jobs with the Chicago Defender

C. To demonstrate that the factors that motivated the start of the Great Migration were different for Black
women than they were for Black men

D. To provide an overview of the employment challenges faced by Black women in the agricultural and
domestic spheres in the southern United States
Question ID 3fcc2cee
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 3fcc2cee
The following text is from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables. Anne, an eleven-year-
old girl, has come to live on a farm with a woman named Marilla in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Anne reveled in the world of color about her.

“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous
boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from
September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several
thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.”
“Messy things,” said Marilla, whose aesthetic sense was not noticeably developed. “You clutter up your
room entirely too much with out-of-doors stuff, Anne. Bedrooms were made to sleep in.”

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To demonstrate that Anne has a newly developed appreciation of nature

B. To describe an argument that Anne and Marilla often have

C. To emphasize Marilla’s disapproval of how Anne has decorated her room

D. To show that Anne and Marilla have very different personalities

Question ID bf2915a9
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: bf2915a9
Mathematician Claude Shannon is widely regarded as a foundational figure in information theory. His most
important paper, “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” published in 1948 when he was employed at
Bell Labs, utilized a concept called a “binary digit” (shortened to “bit”) to measure the amount of information
in any signal and determine the fastest rate at which information could be transmitted while still being
reliably decipherable. Robert Gallagher, one of Shannon’s colleagues, said that the bit was “[Shannon’s]
discovery, and from it the whole communications revolution has sprung.”

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It presents a theoretical concept, illustrates how the name of the concept has changed, and shows how
the name has entered common usage.

B. It introduces a respected researcher, describes an aspect of his work, and suggests why the work is
historically significant.

C. It names the company where an important mathematician worked, details the mathematician’s career at
the company, and provides an example of the recognition he received there.

D. It mentions a paper, offers a summary of the paper’s findings, and presents a researcher’s commentary on
the paper.
Question ID 672d26e8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 672d26e8
When ancient oak planks were unearthed during subway construction in Rome, Mauro Bernabei and his team
examined the growth rings in the wood to determine where these planks came from. By comparing the
growth rings on the planks to records of similar rings in oaks from Europe, the team could trace the wood to
the Jura region of France, hundreds of kilometers from Rome. Because timber could only have been
transported from distant Jura to Rome by boat, the team’s findings suggest the complexity of Roman trade
routes.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It presents a conclusion about Roman trade routes based on the team’s findings.

B. It questions how the team was able to conclude that the planks were used to build a boat.

C. It explains why the planks were made from oak rather than a different kind of wood.

D. It describes common methods used in Roman subway construction.

Question ID a1b07d88
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: a1b07d88
The mimosa tree evolved in East Asia, where the beetle Bruchidius terrenus preys on its seeds. In 1785,
mimosa trees were introduced to North America, far from any B. terrenus. But evolutionary links between
predators and their prey can persist across centuries and continents. Around 2001, B. terrenus was
introduced in southeastern North America near where botanist Shu-Mei Chang and colleagues had been
monitoring mimosa trees. Within a year, 93 percent of the trees had been attacked by the beetles.

Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It states the hypothesis that Chang and colleagues had set out to investigate using mimosa trees and B.
terrenus.

B. It presents a generalization that is exemplified by the discussion of the mimosa trees and B. terrenus.

C. It provides context that clarifies why the species mentioned spread to new locations.

D. It offers an alternative explanation for the findings of Chang and colleagues.

Question ID 7d1c8a2b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 7d1c8a2b
Musician Joni Mitchell, who is also a painter, uses images she creates for her album covers to emphasize
ideas expressed in her music. For the cover of her album Turbulent Indigo (1994), Mitchell painted a striking
self-portrait that closely resembles Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889). The image
calls attention to the album’s title song, in which Mitchell sings about the legacy of the postimpressionist
painter. In that song, Mitchell also hints that she feels a strong artistic connection to Van Gogh—an idea that
is reinforced by her imagery on the cover.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It presents a claim about Mitchell, then gives an example supporting that claim.

B. It discusses Van Gogh’s influence on Mitchell, then considers Mitchell’s influence on other artists.

C. It describes a similarity between two artists, then notes a difference between them.

D. It describes the songs on Turbulent Indigo, then explains how they relate to the album’s cover.
Question ID cd920288
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: cd920288
The following text is from Edith Wharton’s 1905 novel The House of Mirth. Lily Bart and a companion are
walking through a park.
Lily had no real intimacy with nature, but she had a passion for the appropriate and could be keenly
sensitive to a scene which was the fitting background of her own sensations. The landscape outspread
below her seemed an enlargement of her present mood, and she found something of herself in its
calmness, its breadth, its long free reaches. On the nearer slopes the sugar-maples wavered like pyres of
light; lower down was a massing of grey orchards, and here and there the lingering green of an oak-grove.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It creates a detailed image of the physical setting of the scene.

B. It establishes that a character is experiencing an internal conflict.

C. It makes an assertion that the next sentence then expands on.

D. It illustrates an idea that is introduced in the previous sentence.

Question ID cd742fda
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: cd742fda
Michelene Pesantubbee, a historian and citizen of the Choctaw Nation, has identified a dilemma inherent to
research on the status of women in her tribe during the 1600s and 1700s: the primary sources from that era,
travel narratives and other accounts by male European colonizers, underestimate the degree of power
conferred on Choctaw women by their traditional roles in political, civic, and ceremonial life. Pesantubbee
argues that the Choctaw oral tradition and findings from archaeological sites in the tribe’s homeland
supplement the written record by providing crucial insights into those roles.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It details the shortcomings of certain historical sources, then argues that research should avoid those
sources altogether.

B. It describes a problem that arises in research on a particular topic, then sketches a historian’s approach to
addressing that problem.

C. It lists the advantages of a particular research method, then acknowledges a historian’s criticism of that
method.

D. It characterizes a particular topic as especially challenging to research, then suggests a related topic for
historians to pursue instead.
Question ID f242d54d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: f242d54d
Many archaeologists assume that large-scale engineering projects in ancient societies required an elite class
to plan and direct the necessary labor. However, recent discoveries, such as the excavation of an ancient
canal near the Gulf Coast of Alabama, have complicated this picture. Using radiocarbon dating, a team of
researchers concluded that the 1.39-kilometer-long canal was most likely constructed between 576 and 650
CE by an Indigenous society that was relatively free of social classes.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It describes a common view among archaeologists, then discusses a recent finding that challenges that
view.

B. It outlines a method used in some archaeological fieldwork, then explains why an alternative method is
superior to it.

C. It presents contradictory conclusions drawn by archaeologists, then evaluates a study that has apparently
resolved that contradiction.

D. It identifies a gap in scientific research, then presents a strategy used by some archaeologists to remedy
that gap.
Question ID 4cebc520
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 4cebc520
Researchers have long hypothesized that woolly mammoths were hunted to extinction in North America by
humans using spears with grooved tips known as Clovis points. One anthropologist set out to test this
hypothesis. Using a mechanical spear-thrower, he launched spears with Clovis points into mounds of clay—
substitutes for the animals’ large bodies. The projectiles generally penetrated only a few inches into the clay,
an amount insufficient to have harmed most woolly mammoths. This led the anthropologist to conclude that
hunters using spears with Clovis points likely weren’t the principal drivers of the extinction.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To argue for the significance of new findings amid an ongoing debate among researchers

B. To discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the method used in an experiment

C. To summarize two competing hypotheses and a major finding associated with each one

D. To describe an experiment whose results cast doubt on an established hypothesis

Question ID 9fa95c2c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 9fa95c2c
The following text is from Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1899 short story “Martha’s Lady.” Martha is employed by Miss
Pyne as a maid.
Miss Pyne sat by the window watching, in her best dress, looking stately and calm; she seldom went out
now, and it was almost time for the carriage. Martha was just coming in from the garden with the
strawberries, and with more flowers in her apron. It was a bright cool evening in June, the golden robins
sang in the elms, and the sun was going down behind the apple-trees at the foot of the garden. The
beautiful old house stood wide open to the long-expected guest.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To convey the worries brought about by a new guest

B. To describe how the characters have changed over time

C. To contrast the activity indoors with the stillness outside

D. To depict the setting as the characters await a visitor’s arrival

Question ID fb052096
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: fb052096
Part of the Atacama Desert in Peru has surprisingly rich plant life despite receiving almost no rainfall.
Moisture from winter fog sustains plants once they’re growing, but the soil’s tough crust makes it hard for
seeds to germinate in the first place. Local birds that dig nests in the ground seem to be of help: they churn
the soil, exposing buried seeds to moisture and nutrients. Indeed, in 2016 Cristina Rengifo Faiffer found that
mounds of soil dug up by birds were far more fertile and supported more seedlings than soil in undisturbed
areas.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It elaborates on the idea that the top layer of Atacama Desert soil forms a tough crust.

B. It describes the process by which seeds are deposited into Atacama Desert soil.

C. It identifies the reason particular bird species dig nests in Atacama Desert soil.

D. It explains how certain birds promote seed germination in Atacama Desert soil.
Question ID c82fd5ce
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: c82fd5ce
On painter William H. Johnson’s return to the United States in 1938 after a decade in Europe, his style
underwent an abrupt transformation. Turning away from landscapes painted in an expressionist style—a
style that often involves using fluid, distorted shapes and thick, textured brushstrokes to express the artist’s
subjective experience of reality—Johnson began painting portraits of Black Americans in a bold new way.
Evocative of African sculpture and American and Scandinavian folk art, these portraits feature flat,
deliberately oversimplified figures in a vibrant but limited color palette.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It elaborates on the previous sentence’s statement about a transitional moment in Johnson’s artistic
career.

B. It provides information about Johnson’s travels in support of a claim about his artistic influences, which is
advanced in the following sentence.

C. It recounts a moment in Johnson’s personal life that enabled the success of his subsequent career, which
is summarized in the following sentence.

D. It presents evidence that calls into question the previous sentence’s characterization of Johnson’s artistic
development.
Question ID 75de8012
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 75de8012
Very little is known about the role nocturnal insects, such as moths, play in flower pollination because it is
difficult to monitor insects at night. To address this problem, a team of scientists used time-lapse cameras to
record pollinator visits to red clover all day and night. The recordings showed that while most pollinator visits
were by bumblebees, one-third of visits were by moths. Additionally, flowers that were visited by both moths
and bees produced more seeds than flowers that were only visited by bees.

Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence?

A. To describe an approach a team of scientists used to study pollinators

B. To question a claim scientists make about pollinators

C. To explain why moths prefer red clover to other flowers

D. To announce an unexpected research finding about red clover

Question ID 9f04b826
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 9f04b826
A study by a team including finance professor Madhu Veeraraghavan suggests that exposure to sunshine
during the workday can lead to overly optimistic behavior. Using data spanning from 1994 to 2010 for a set
of US companies, the team compared over 29,000 annual earnings forecasts to the actual earnings later
reported by those companies. The team found that the greater the exposure to sunshine at work in the two
weeks before a manager submitted an earnings forecast, the more the manager’s forecast exceeded what
the company actually earned that year.

Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. To summarize the results of the team’s analysis

B. To present a specific example that illustrates the study’s findings

C. To explain part of the methodology used in the team’s study

D. To call out a challenge the team faced in conducting its analysis

Question ID 5378c224
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: 5378c224
In 1154, Muhammad al-Idrisi completed a collection of maps of the lands known to medieval Arabic and
European scholars. This collection was titled Al-Kitāb al-Rujārī (The Book of Roger), after the Norman king
Roger II who hired him to create it. To create the collection, al-Idrisi consulted Arabic and Greek maps and
interviewed travelers about the lands they visited. He included these travelers’ stories alongside the map
illustrations.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To discuss the benefits of studying mapmaking

B. To explain how travelers created maps

C. To describe a collection of medieval maps and how it was created

D. To compare medieval Arabic and Greek mapmaking techniques

Question ID 77b9ccd9
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 77b9ccd9
The following text is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston’s 1921 short story “John Redding Goes to Sea.” John
is a child who lives in a town in the woods.
Perhaps ten-year-old John was puzzling to the folk there in the Florida woods for he was an imaginative
child and fond of day-dreams. The St. John River flowed a scarce three hundred feet from his back door.
On its banks at this point grow numerous palms, luxuriant magnolias and bay trees. On the bosom of the
stream float millions of delicately colored hyacinths. [John Redding] loved to wander down to the water’s
edge, and, casting in dry twigs, watch them sail away down stream to Jacksonville, the sea, the wide world
and [he] wanted to follow them.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It provides an extended description of a location that John likes to visit.

B. It reveals that some residents of John’s town are confused by his behavior.

C. It illustrates the uniqueness of John’s imagination compared to the imaginations of other children.

D. It suggests that John longs to experience a larger life outside the Florida woods.
Question ID dd55c580
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: dd55c580
The following text is from Betty Smith’s 1943 novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Francie, a young girl, visits the
library often.

Francie thought that all the books in the world were in that library and she had a plan about reading all
the books in the world. She was reading a book a day in alphabetical order and not skipping the dry
ones. She remembered that the first author had been Abbott. She had been reading a book a day for a
long time now and she was still in the B’s. Already she had read about bees and buffaloes, Bermuda
vacations and Byzantine architecture. For all her enthusiasm, she had to admit that some of the B’s had
been hard going. But Francie was a reader.
©1947 by Betty Smith

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To illustrate Francie’s enjoyment of an unusual topic

B. To explain why Francie prefers reading over other activities

C. To portray Francie’s determination to meet a goal

D. To describe a book that Francie greatly admires

Question ID f78b6c18
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: f78b6c18
The following text is adapted from Jane Austen’s 1814 novel Mansfield Park. The speaker, Tom, is
considering staging a play at home with a group of his friends and family.
We mean nothing but a little amusement among ourselves, just to vary the scene, and exercise our powers
in something new. We want no audience, no publicity. We may be trusted, I think, in choosing some play
most perfectly unexceptionable; and I can conceive no greater harm or danger to any of us in conversing in
the elegant written language of some respectable author than in chattering in words of our own.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To offer Tom’s assurance that the play will be inoffensive and involve only a small number of people

B. To clarify that the play will not be performed in the manner Tom had originally intended

C. To elaborate on the idea that the people around Tom lack the skills to successfully stage a play

D. To assert that Tom believes the group performing the play will be able to successfully promote it
Question ID 9555ec64
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Hard
Purpose

ID: 9555ec64
The following text is adapted from Indian Boyhood, a 1902 memoir by Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman), a
Santee Dakota writer. In the text, Ohiyesa recalls how the women in his tribe harvested maple syrup during
his childhood.
Now the women began to test the trees—moving leisurely among them, axe in hand, and striking a single
quick blow, to see if the sap would appear. The trees, like people, have their individual characters; some
were ready to yield up their life-blood, while others were more reluctant. Now one of the birchen basins was
set under each tree, and a hardwood chip driven deep into the cut which the axe had made. From the
corners of this chip—at first drop by drop, then more freely—the sap trickled into the little dishes.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It portrays the range of personality traits displayed by the women as they work.

B. It foregrounds the beneficial relationship between humans and maple trees.

C. It demonstrates how human behavior can be influenced by the natural environment.

D. It elaborates on an aspect of the maple trees that the women evaluate.

Question ID b2b791a3
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and Medium
Purpose

ID: b2b791a3
Industrial activity is often assumed to be a threat to wildlife, but that isn’t always so. Consider the silver-
studded blue butterfly (Plebejus argus): as forest growth has reduced grasslands in northern Germany, many
of these butterflies have left meadow habitats and are now thriving in active limestone quarries. In a survey
of multiple active quarries and patches of maintained grassland, an ecologist found silver-studded blue
butterflies in 100% of the quarries but only 57% of the grassland patches. Moreover, butterfly populations in
the quarries were four times larger than those in the meadows.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It challenges a common assumption about the species under investigation in the research referred to in
the text.

B. It introduces discussion of a specific example that supports the general claim made in the previous
sentence.

C. It suggests that a certain species should be included in additional studies like the one mentioned later in
the text.

D. It provides a definition for an unfamiliar term that is central to the main argument in the text.