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Craft and StructureEasy–MediumFunction of a sentence turning a fact into a use

Craft and Structure practice question

Lichens grow astonishingly slowly, some at less than a millimetre a year. That slowness makes them useful: by measuring a lichen on a gravestone of known date, researchers work out its growth rate, and can then date other rock surfaces from the lichens growing on them.

Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence?

  1. A. It presents the slow growth described in the first sentence as something useful.Correct
  2. B. It disputes the claim that lichens grow slowly.
  3. C. It explains why lichens grow so slowly.
  4. D. It describes how lichens reproduce.

Answer: A. It presents the slow growth described in the first sentence as something useful.

'That slowness makes them useful' turns the first sentence's fact into a tool, then shows the tool in use.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. It disputes the claim that lichens grow slowly.
The second sentence accepts the slowness and builds on it.
C. It explains why lichens grow so slowly.
No cause of the slow growth is given.
D. It describes how lichens reproduce.
Reproduction isn't mentioned.

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