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Craft and StructureEasy–MediumFunction of a sentence

Craft and Structure practice question

Lichens are not single organisms. Each one is a partnership: a fungus provides the structure and gathers water, while an alga or a bacterium living inside it makes food by photosynthesis. This arrangement lets lichens grow on bare rock, where neither partner could survive on its own.

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

  1. A. It explains what a lichen is made of, following the first sentence's statement of what it is not.Correct
  2. B. It gives an example of a particular species of lichen.
  3. C. It contrasts lichens with fungi.
  4. D. It describes the places where lichens are found.

Answer: A. It explains what a lichen is made of, following the first sentence's statement of what it is not.

The first sentence says what a lichen isn't; the second says what it is — two partners and what each does. The third sentence then draws a consequence.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. It gives an example of a particular species of lichen.
No particular species is named; the sentence describes lichens in general.
C. It contrasts lichens with fungi.
A fungus is one PART of a lichen in this sentence, not something lichens are contrasted with.
D. It describes the places where lichens are found.
Where lichens grow is the subject of the THIRD sentence.

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