16Hit1600
Craft and StructureVery hardFunction of a concession in an argument about translation

Craft and Structure practice question

Machine translation has become good enough for menus and train timetables, and for those it is a gift. It is fair to say that most travellers now need no phrasebook. But a poem is not a timetable. Where a sentence's meaning lives in its rhythm and its silences, the machine, which sees only the words, produces something accurate and dead.

Which choice best describes the function of the sentence "It is fair to say that most travellers now need no phrasebook" in the text as a whole?

  1. A. It grants the strength of machine translation for practical purposes before the author turns to its limits.Correct
  2. B. It argues that machine translation is adequate for poetry.
  3. C. It introduces the author's main claim.
  4. D. It criticises travellers who rely on phrasebooks.

Answer: A. It grants the strength of machine translation for practical purposes before the author turns to its limits.

A concession before the 'but'.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. It argues that machine translation is adequate for poetry.
The passage says the opposite about poetry.
C. It introduces the author's main claim.
The main claim follows the 'but'.
D. It criticises travellers who rely on phrasebooks.
No criticism of travellers.

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