1
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
2
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.
3
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.
4
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.
5
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.
6
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
7
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.
8
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
9
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.
10
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.
11
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
12
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.
13
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.
14
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
15
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.
16
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.
17
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.
18
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
19
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.
20
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.
21
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.
22
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
23
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.
24
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.
25
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
26
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.
27
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.
28
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
29
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.
30
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.
31
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.
