SAT OwlQuestion bank / Text Structure and Purpose
In popular accounts, the Dutch "tulip mania" of the 1630s was a frenzy in which ordinary people sold their homes to buy single bulbs and were ruined when prices collapsed in 1637. Historian Anneke Visser examined court records and legal documents from the period and found few traces of such ruin. The buyers were mostly well-off merchants and craftsmen, and she could identify almost no one who went bankrupt because of tulips. The story of widespread disaster, Visser argues, spread largely through moralizing pamphlets published after the crash.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
It describes a historical event and then explains why tulip prices rose so high.
It presents a familiar account of an episode, reports evidence that challenges it, and suggests where the account came from.
It compares two historians' views of an episode and then argues that neither is convincing.
It describes the effects of a market crash and then recommends ways to prevent similar crashes.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
The text opens with the popular story of tulip mania, then gives Visser's evidence that few people were ruined, and ends with her view that the story came from moralizing pamphlets. That matches choice B.
Choice D echoes the crash in the text, but the text questions the reported effects of the crash and makes no recommendations.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. The text never explains why prices rose. It questions the story of widespread ruin.
- C. Only one historian, Visser, is discussed, and the text doesn't reject her view.
- D. The text challenges the reported effects of the crash and offers no recommendations.
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