Nelson-Denny Reading Test Reading Comprehension: Determining Author's Purpose 4 â Questions and Answers
Question 1: A passage about deforestation opens with a story about a child losing her home due to flooding caused by clear-cutting, then shifts to statistics and policy recommendations. The author's OVERALL purpose is to:
- Entertain readers with an emotional story
- Inform readers about deforestation statistics
- Persuade readers to support anti-deforestation policies (Correct answer)
- Explain the relationship between trees and flooding
Correct answer: Persuade readers to support anti-deforestation policies
Using an emotional anecdote as a hook followed by statistics and policy recommendations is a classic persuasive structure.
Question 2: An author can have MORE THAN ONE purpose in a single passage. Which combination is MOST COMMON in nonfiction writing?
- Entertain and make up facts
- Inform and persuade simultaneously (Correct answer)
- Persuade and confuse the reader
- Entertain with no informational content
Correct answer: Inform and persuade simultaneously
Many nonfiction passages both inform readers with facts and use those facts to persuade readers toward a particular viewpoint.
Question 3: A satirical news article exaggerates a politician's policy positions to make them seem absurd. The author's PRIMARY purpose is to:
- Inform readers about the politician's actual positions
- Persuade readers to vote against the politician
- Entertain readers while criticizing political policies through humor (Correct answer)
- Explain how satire works as a literary device
Correct answer: Entertain readers while criticizing political policies through humor
Satire uses exaggeration and humor primarily to entertain while making a critical commentary, with persuasion as a secondary purpose.
Question 4: When determining an author's purpose, which strategy is MOST RELIABLE?
- Focus only on the title of the passage
- Consider the intended audience, tone, and type of evidence used (Correct answer)
- Assume all nonfiction is written to inform
- Look only at the first and last sentences
Correct answer: Consider the intended audience, tone, and type of evidence used
A comprehensive analysis of audience, tone, and evidence type provides the most accurate picture of an author's purpose.
Question 5: A cookbook author writes: 'This recipe will change your lifeâthe rich, buttery flavors melt in your mouth and transport you to a Parisian cafĂ©.' What is the author's purpose in using this language?
- To inform readers about French culinary history
- To persuade readers to make and enjoy the recipe (Correct answer)
- To entertain with a fictional travel story
- To explain the scientific chemistry of cooking butter
Correct answer: To persuade readers to make and enjoy the recipe
Sensory and aspirational language in a cookbook is designed to persuade readers that the recipe is worth trying.
Question 6: A museum placard describes the historical significance, artistic techniques, and cultural context of a painting. The author's purpose is MOST LIKELY to:
- Persuade visitors to buy prints of the painting
- Entertain visitors with fictional stories about the artist
- Inform visitors about the painting's background and meaning (Correct answer)
- Argue that the painting is the artist's best work
Correct answer: Inform visitors about the painting's background and meaning
Museum placards provide factual contextâhistorical, artistic, and culturalâto help visitors understand an artwork, making information the primary purpose.
Question 7: An author writes a biography of a famous scientist that focuses heavily on her struggles against gender discrimination. The author's purpose BEYOND informing about the scientist's life is MOST LIKELY to:
- Entertain readers with a dramatic story
- Persuade readers to reflect on gender inequality in science (Correct answer)
- Explain how scientific discoveries are made
- Describe the historical era when the scientist lived
Correct answer: Persuade readers to reflect on gender inequality in science
Emphasizing a scientist's personal struggles against discrimination, beyond the facts of her life, signals a persuasive intent to highlight and critique social injustice.
Nelson-Denny Reading Test Reading Comprehension: Determining Author's Purpose 4
A passage about deforestation opens with a story about a child losing her home due to flooding caused by clear-cutting, then shifts to statistics and policy recommendations.
The author's OVERALL purpose is to: