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Craft and StructureVery hardFunction of a final sentence that reframes success

Craft and Structure practice question

The city planted ten thousand trees in a single year and announced the figure proudly. Five years on, a survey found that fewer than half had survived: most had been planted in summer, in compacted soil, and never watered. The number that matters, it turns out, is not how many trees you plant but how many you keep.

Which choice best describes the function of the final sentence?

  1. A. It draws a lesson from the survey that reframes what should count as success.Correct
  2. B. It praises the city's planting programme.
  3. C. It explains how newly planted trees should be watered.
  4. D. It reports the exact number of trees that survived.

Answer: A. It draws a lesson from the survey that reframes what should count as success.

After the proud figure and the survey, the last sentence replaces one measure of success (planted) with another (kept).

Why the other answers are wrong

B. It praises the city's planting programme.
The sentence undercuts the proud announcement.
C. It explains how newly planted trees should be watered.
Watering is mentioned as a failure, not explained.
D. It reports the exact number of trees that survived.
'Fewer than half' is in the second sentence, and the last gives no number.

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