Craft and StructureHardMain purpose of a critique of a phrase
Craft and Structure practice question
'Room temperature' is a phrase recipe writers use as if it named a temperature. It doesn't. A kitchen in a hot climate may sit at thirty degrees; a stone farmhouse in winter, at twelve. Butter 'at room temperature' is soft in one and rigid in the other, and a recipe that depends on it will fail in one of them without either cook doing anything wrong.
What is the main purpose of the text?
- A. To show that a common cooking instruction is too vague to be reliable.Correct
- B. To argue that recipes should give times instead of temperatures.
- C. To explain how butter softens as it warms.
- D. To praise recipe writers for their precision.
Answer: A. To show that a common cooking instruction is too vague to be reliable.
'It doesn't' name a temperature, and the butter example shows the consequence. The text exposes the vagueness.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. To argue that recipes should give times instead of temperatures.
- No alternative instruction is proposed.
- C. To explain how butter softens as it warms.
- Butter is an example, not the topic.
- D. To praise recipe writers for their precision.
- The text faults the writers' imprecision.
More Craft and Structure questions
- Hard
What is the main purpose of the text? - Hard
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined final sentence in the text as a whole? - Hard
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text? - Hard
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word? - Hard
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word? - Hard
What is the main purpose of the text?
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