TOEFL Reading: Rhetorical Purpose Questions Questions and Answers 3

Question 1

A TOEFL Reading passage about the history of science discusses how scientists initially rejected Wegener's theory of continental drift.
The author describes the community's skepticism in detail.
The rhetorical purpose is most likely to:

Accepted Answer

Illustrate how established scientific paradigms can impede the acceptance of revolutionary theories

Answer

Argue that scientists are always resistant to new ideas

Answer

Provide a biography of Alfred Wegener's professional struggles

Answer

Compare Wegener's theory to modern plate tectonics

Question 2

In a TOEFL Reading passage, a paragraph opens with: "Consider the following scenario: a forest fire devastates an old-growth forest." The rhetorical purpose of this sentence is to:

Accepted Answer

Introduce a hypothetical scenario to help readers engage with and understand the concept being discussed

Answer

State the author's main thesis about forest management

Answer

Describe a real historical forest fire as evidence

Answer

Define the term "old-growth forest" for the reader

Question 3

A passage about industrial agriculture states: "Critics of this approach argue that monoculture farming depletes soil nutrients and increases vulnerability to pests." The rhetorical purpose of this sentence is to:

Accepted Answer

Introduce a counterargument that the author will then address or refute

Answer

Present the author's personal view on industrial agriculture

Answer

Summarize the overall argument of the passage

Answer

Provide statistical data about soil depletion rates

Question 4

In a passage on language acquisition, the author writes a paragraph describing how infants babble before producing recognizable words. The question asks why the author describes infant babbling. The most likely purpose is:

Accepted Answer

To illustrate the developmental progression from prelinguistic vocalization to language—supporting a claim about how language acquisition occurs in stages

Answer

To define the term "babbling" for readers unfamiliar with linguistics

Answer

To argue that babbling delays are a sign of developmental problems

Answer

To compare babbling in human infants with vocalizations in other primates

Question 5

A passage on economics discusses "creative destruction"—the process by which new industries replace obsolete ones. The author then describes how the automobile industry replaced the horse-drawn carriage industry. The rhetorical purpose of this historical example is to:

Accepted Answer

Demonstrate creative destruction in action using a well-known historical case that readers can easily understand

Answer

Argue that horse-drawn carriages were inferior products

Answer

Compare the economic impact of the automobile with modern digital disruption

Answer

Provide a timeline of transportation technology development

Question 6

A TOEFL Reading passage includes the sentence: "Importantly, this mechanism is not unique to mammals; similar processes have been observed in insects and even single-celled organisms." The word "importantly" signals that this sentence:

Accepted Answer

Emphasizes a significant extension of the preceding claim—broadening its scope to multiple organism types

Answer

Introduces an exception that undermines the preceding argument

Answer

Provides a definition of the mechanism described earlier

Answer

Signals a transition to a discussion of a different topic