Question 130·Easy·Text Structure and Purpose
Cities often feel much hotter than surrounding areas in summer, a phenomenon called the urban heat island effect. In my city, transit officials and urban foresters are collaborating to plant tall, broad-canopied trees along bus routes, especially at stops without shade. The idea is simple: shade reduces heat exposure for riders while cooling nearby sidewalks and buildings. To decide where to begin, the team maps which stops have the highest afternoon temperatures and schedules plantings there first.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
For text-structure questions, first separate the passage into chunks (often sentence by sentence) and ask what each chunk is doing (introducing a problem, giving background, defining a term, proposing a solution, comparing options, telling a history, etc.). Then briefly summarize that pattern in your own words and match it to the answer choice that describes the same pattern, eliminating any choices that require features you do not actually see in the text (such as multiple solutions, a timeline, or classification into categories). Focus on the role of each part of the passage rather than getting lost in the details.
Hints
Focus on the first sentence
Ask yourself: is the first sentence mainly giving background, defining something, stating a problem, or comparing two things?
Check what changes after the first sentence
Look closely at the second and third sentences. Do they continue to define a term, present multiple options, tell a history, or lay out one specific course of action?
Look for comparison or chronology
Does the passage ever compare two different solutions or trace how an idea changes over time? If not, you can rule out choices that require those features.
Examine what is said about trees
Are trees being sorted into different categories, or are they being described as part of a single plan being put into action?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the first part of the passage does
Look at the first sentence: "Cities often feel much hotter than surrounding areas in summer, a phenomenon called the urban heat island effect." This sentence introduces a situation that is negative for city residents: cities feel hotter than nearby areas. It also names this problem ("urban heat island effect"), but the overall role is to set up an issue related to heat in cities.
Identify what the rest of the passage does
The next sentences describe actions being taken: transit officials and urban foresters are planting tall, broad-canopy trees along bus routes, focusing on the hottest, least-shaded stops. The passage explains why they are doing this (to reduce heat exposure and cool sidewalks and buildings) and how they are deciding where to start (mapping the hottest stops and planting there first). This is a concrete, focused plan aimed at addressing the heat problem introduced earlier.
Match the observed structure to the answer choices in general terms
From Steps 1 and 2, the structure is:
- First: introduce a city heat issue that affects residents.
- Then: describe one specific plan (tree planting along certain bus stops) designed to address that issue.
Compare this to the answer choices:
- One choice talks about a problem followed by a plan to solve it.
- Another mentions two competing solutions and their pros/cons (which would require comparison of two plans).
- Another mentions a scientific concept developing over time (which would require a timeline or history).
- Another mentions defining a term and then using it to classify different kinds of trees (which would require sorting trees into types). Only one of these general patterns fits what we actually see in the passage.
Select the answer that best fits the passage’s structure
Because the passage first highlights a heat-related issue faced by city residents and then explains one targeted tree-planting plan meant to address that issue, the structure is best described by choice A: "It identifies a problem affecting city residents and then describes a targeted plan intended to solve that problem."