Question 139·Easy·Text Structure and Purpose
City officials in Larkton aim to reduce summer heat on downtown sidewalks. Previous efforts, such as installing misting stations, proved too costly to maintain. A local planning team now proposes planting rows of drought-tolerant trees along the main avenue, arguing that increased shade will lower ground temperatures. Before presenting their proposal to the city council, the planners reviewed three years of temperature readings from sensors placed along the avenue. The readings showed that stretches without tree cover were consistently warmer than similar streets lined with mature trees.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?
For SAT questions about the function of a sentence, first read the whole paragraph so you understand the main goal of the passage, then reread the specific sentence and the one immediately after it. Ask: What new information or step does this sentence add—background, evidence, contrast, result, or prediction? Put the sentence into your own words, then eliminate answer choices that mention content not in the sentence (like different topics or time frames) or that give a purpose that doesn’t fit the flow of ideas. Match the remaining choice to the role you identified, not just to repeated words.
Hints
Focus on what the bolded sentence literally describes
Ignore the answer choices at first. What action are the planners taking in the bolded sentence, and when are they doing it?
Look at the sentence right after the bolded one
How does the sentence after the bolded sentence relate to the data that was reviewed? Does it show a result, a problem, or a prediction?
Eliminate choices that mention the wrong topic or time
Ask yourself: Does the bolded sentence talk about problems with trees, old misting stations, or specific future temperature changes? Cross out any options that require the sentence to be doing those things.
Step-by-step Explanation
Restate what the bolded sentence actually says
The bolded sentence says that before presenting their proposal, the planners "reviewed three years of temperature readings from sensors placed along the avenue." In other words, it describes an action the planners took: they examined data collected over time from temperature sensors on the avenue.
Connect the bolded sentence to the planners’ overall goal
Earlier in the passage, we learn the planners are proposing to plant drought-tolerant trees to reduce sidewalk heat by increasing shade. Right after the bolded sentence, the passage tells us what the readings showed: areas without trees were warmer than similar streets with mature trees. Together, these two sentences show that the planners looked at data and then found a pattern that supports their idea about shade and temperature.
Decide the general function of the sentence
Function questions ask what role a sentence plays in the paragraph. Here, the bolded sentence does not add a new problem, describe tree drawbacks, or make a prediction. Instead, it sets up the fact that the planners took a specific step to examine evidence (temperature readings) before presenting their proposal. The following sentence then gives the result of that evidence review.
Match that function to the best answer choice
The answer choice that best matches this role—describing the planners’ step of reviewing temperature data to back up their idea—is: “It outlines the evidence-gathering step that supports the team’s proposal.”