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Craft and StructureHardMain purpose of a text

Craft and Structure practice question

Highlighting a textbook feels productive, but research on study habits tells a different story. Students who highlight recall little more than those who simply read the same pages. The act is passive: it marks a passage without requiring the reader to reconstruct it. Techniques that demand retrieval — closing the book and writing down what one remembers — produce markedly stronger recall.

What is the main purpose of the text?

  1. A. To explain why a popular study technique is less effective than it seems and to point to a better one.Correct
  2. B. To describe the history of how students have marked their textbooks.
  3. C. To argue that students should spend more hours reading.
  4. D. To compare the quality of two different textbooks.

Answer: A. To explain why a popular study technique is less effective than it seems and to point to a better one.

The text sets up highlighting as feeling productive, shows with research that it barely helps, explains why, and ends by recommending retrieval techniques instead. Every part serves that purpose.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. To describe the history of how students have marked their textbooks.
Nothing in the text is historical. It reports research findings and explains them.
C. To argue that students should spend more hours reading.
The text doesn't ask for more reading time; it asks for a different kind of studying — retrieval rather than highlighting.
D. To compare the quality of two different textbooks.
No textbooks are compared. The comparison is between study techniques.

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