Question 134·Medium·Text Structure and Purpose
The passage is adapted from a memoir about learning to bake.
I had always been content to buy bread from the corner bakery, the way my parents did, until an idle Saturday tempted me into the kitchen. Flour, water, salt—nothing more exotic than a short list of pantry staples. What could be simpler? Or so I thought. Over the next six hours I discovered how obstinate dough can be: refusing to rise, cracking where it should gleam, burning on the outside while staying damp within.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the passage as a whole?
For function-of-a-sentence questions, first reread just the target sentence, then read one or two sentences before and after it to see how the story or argument shifts. Ask what the sentence is doing (introducing a belief, signaling a contrast, giving an example, summarizing a point, etc.), then eliminate answer choices that add elements not in the text (like new characters or scientific detail) or that place the sentence at the wrong moment (e.g., calling it a summary when it appears at the beginning). Match the remaining choice to your own simple paraphrase of the sentence’s role.
Hints
Look closely at what the narrator is thinking
Reread the sentence just before and including the underlined one. How does the narrator seem to feel about the difficulty of baking at that moment?
Compare before and after the underlined sentence
Read the sentences immediately after the underlined question. Do they show success, step-by-step explanation, guidance from someone else, or problems and surprises?
Think about placement in the paragraph
Is the underlined sentence at the beginning, middle, or end of the experience? Does it sound like a prediction, an explanation of process, an introduction of a new character, or a final takeaway?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the underlined sentence in context
Focus on the underlined sentence: "What could be simpler?" and the line just before it: "Flour, water, salt—nothing more exotic than a short list of pantry staples." Together, these show the narrator looking at a few basic ingredients and reacting with confidence or casualness, as if this task will not be difficult.
Notice what happens immediately after
Right after the underlined sentence, the narrator says: "Or so I thought. Over the next six hours I discovered how obstinate dough can be: refusing to rise, cracking where it should gleam, burning on the outside while staying damp within." This shift shows that the narrator’s earlier thought was mistaken; the sentence sets up a contrast between expectation (easy) and reality (very hard).
Decide what role that sentence plays in the passage
Because the underlined sentence comes before the long description of failures, it is not summarizing the experience; instead, it introduces the narrator’s mindset before things go wrong. It captures an initial, overly simple view of baking that the rest of the paragraph will overturn.
Match this role to the best answer choice
The only choice that correctly describes this function is A) It highlights the narrator’s initial assumption that baking bread will be easy. The sentence shows the narrator’s starting belief that bread-making is simple, which is then contradicted by the difficulties that follow.