SAT OwlQuestion bank / Text Structure and Purpose
The following text is from an 1898 short story by Henry Lisle.
It had rained for nine days. The creek behind the Morgan farm, usually so thin a child could step across it, had risen over its banks and spread into the lower pasture. The cows stood bunched on the hill, and the chickens would not leave the barn. On the tenth morning the rain stopped, and Sarah Morgan stepped onto the porch to find the whole valley shining under a clean, astonishing sun.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
It compares two different farms in the same valley.
It explains the causes of a flood and proposes ways to prevent future floods.
It describes a long period of bad weather and then a sudden change.
It presents a character's memories of her childhood on a farm.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
Most of the passage describes nine days of rain and its effects on the farm. The final sentence shifts to the tenth morning, when the rain stops and the sun appears. Choice C describes this structure.
Choice B goes too far; the text describes the flooding but never proposes ways to prevent it.
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