Question 154·Easy·Text Structure and Purpose
The following text is from a personal reflection.
Grandma’s kitchen clock is eight minutes fast, and she won’t change it. “Keeps us honest,” she says. We all pretend not to know, but the hurry it creates is real: toast is chewed quicker, shoes tied on the run. When I got my first job, I set my phone two minutes fast. It’s a small lie, sure, but it turns drifting into doing. The clock’s trick is less about time and more about attention.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
For main-purpose questions, first quickly paraphrase the whole passage in one sentence: what the author is mainly doing (telling a story, explaining an effect, arguing a point, or giving instructions). Then scan the answer choices and eliminate any that introduce ideas not in the text (like conflicts, moral judgments, or procedures) or that misidentify the type of writing. Finally, choose the option that best matches both the overall focus and the tone, rather than getting distracted by single words or small details.
Hints
Restate the passage in your own words
Briefly say to yourself what happens in the passage: What does Grandma do with the clock, and what does the narrator later do with their phone?
Notice the narrator’s attitude
Is the narrator criticizing the fast clock, praising it, or simply explaining how it affects them? Look closely at phrases like “Keeps us honest” and “turns drifting into doing.”
Think about the type of writing this is
Ask yourself: Is this a story about a fight, an argument about right and wrong, a set of instructions, or a reflection on a habit and its effect?
Match the general purpose, not small details
Look for the answer that captures what the whole passage is doing overall, not just one word or phrase you recognize.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what is happening in the passage
First, summarize the passage in your own words. The narrator describes Grandma’s kitchen clock being eight minutes fast and how that makes everyone rush a bit (eating toast quickly, tying shoes on the run). Then the narrator copies the idea later by setting their own phone two minutes fast when they get a job. The narrator calls this a “small lie” that changes “drifting into doing,” and says the trick is “more about attention” than about time itself.
Identify the overall focus and tone
Ask: Is the narrator criticizing this habit, praising it, or just neutrally describing it?
The tone is positive or approving: Grandma says it “keeps us honest,” and the narrator says it turns “drifting into doing.” This shows the narrator thinks the slightly fast clock is useful, not harmful or controversial. Also notice that the passage isn’t giving step-by-step directions or telling a long story with conflict and resolution; instead, it reflects on how this little time trick affects behavior.
Check each choice against what the passage actually does
Now compare the general purpose you identified with each answer choice:
- One choice suggests the passage is making a moral argument about right and wrong.
- One suggests a story about a fight and a broken clock.
- One suggests it is an instruction manual.
- One suggests it is explaining the effect of a minor timekeeping habit on the narrator.
Think: Which of these matches a short, positive reflection about how a slightly fast clock changes how people act?
Match the best-fitting purpose to the passage
Eliminate the choices that clearly do not match:
- The passage never mentions ethics, arguments, or that setting clocks ahead is wrong.
- There is no disagreement or broken clock.
- There are no steps telling you how to set a clock.
What remains is the choice that says the passage’s main purpose is to explain how a small timekeeping habit helps the narrator stay punctual, which fits the description of Grandma’s fast clock and the narrator’s fast phone helping them move from “drifting” to “doing.”