Craft and StructureEasyPurpose of a sentence in a history text
Craft and Structure practice question
Conditions on the 1914 Antarctic expedition were brutal from the start. Pack ice seized the ship within months and slowly crushed its hull, forcing the crew onto the floating ice. Their eventual escape, after more than a year, is still studied as a feat of leadership.
Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the text as a whole?
- A. It gives an example of the harsh conditions the previous sentence mentions.Correct
- B. It introduces a new topic unrelated to the expedition.
- C. It explains why the expedition was organized.
- D. It summarizes the outcome of the voyage.
Answer: A. It gives an example of the harsh conditions the previous sentence mentions.
The first sentence says conditions were brutal; the second sentence (about ice crushing the ship) is a concrete example of that brutality.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. It introduces a new topic unrelated to the expedition.
- The crushed ship is part of the expedition story, not a new topic.
- C. It explains why the expedition was organized.
- The sentence describes what happened during the voyage, not its motives.
- D. It summarizes the outcome of the voyage.
- It describes one disaster en route, not the voyage's final outcome — which the text says came later.
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