ACT Preparation / Unit 17 ACT 1616 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
The Purpose of a Passage
The idea
A purpose question is answered in three steps. First, decide what the author mainly does: inform, explain, argue, describe, or tell a story. Second, find the target: what the author does this to, the topic in the passage's own terms. Third, choose the answer with the right verb and the right target; a correct verb on the wrong topic, or the right topic with the wrong verb, fails.
In practice
Worked example: an invented passage describes the history of a town's water tower, then urges readers to oppose its demolition. Its purpose: to argue for preserving the tower. "To explain how water towers work" has the wrong verb and the wrong target; "to describe the town's history" names part of the passage but not its aim.
Where people slip
When a passage informs and then argues, its purpose is the aim the information serves, here the argument.
Your place on the trail
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