16Hit1600
Craft and StructureEasy–MediumText structure and purpose: function of a paragraph

Craft and Structure practice question

Engineers protect buildings from earthquakes with a technique called base isolation. Instead of anchoring a structure directly to the ground, workers insert flexible bearings—usually layered pads of rubber and steel—between the building and its foundation. When the ground lurches sideways, the bearings absorb much of the motion, so the building above sways gently rather than shaking apart. The Salt Lake City and County Building offers a clear illustration. In the late 1980s, crews tunneled beneath the 1894 sandstone landmark, cut its walls free of the foundation, and slid 447 rubber-and-steel bearings into the gap. The building now rests on those pads, able to shift more than a foot in any direction while its masonry stays intact.

Which choice best describes the function of the second paragraph in the text as a whole?

  1. A. It presents a specific case that shows how the method described in the first paragraph is put into practice.Correct
  2. B. It identifies a drawback of the method described in the first paragraph.
  3. C. It traces the historical development of the method described in the first paragraph.
  4. D. It compares the method described in the first paragraph with a competing method.

Answer: A. It presents a specific case that shows how the method described in the first paragraph is put into practice.

The first paragraph explains base isolation in general terms; the second paragraph ("offers a clear illustration") walks through one building's retrofit, showing the general method in action. (B) encodes the common assumption that a second paragraph must complicate or qualify the first—but nothing in the paragraph presents a disadvantage; the retrofit is described as successful. (C) mistakes the presence of dates (1894, the late 1980s) for a historical narrative; the paragraph recounts a single project rather than the technique's evolution. (D) assumes a contrast structure, but only one method appears anywhere in the text.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. It identifies a drawback of the method described in the first paragraph.
This assumes a second paragraph must complicate the first, but the retrofit is described as a success—shifting a foot while the masonry stays intact—with no disadvantage mentioned.
C. It traces the historical development of the method described in the first paragraph.
The dates (1894, the late 1980s) belong to one building's story; the paragraph recounts a single project rather than tracing how base isolation developed.
D. It compares the method described in the first paragraph with a competing method.
A contrast would require a second method, and base isolation is the only technique mentioned anywhere in the text.

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