Question 22·Easy·Text Structure and Purpose
Researchers studying urban noise examined whether songbirds change their calls near busy roads. Over several weeks, they recorded the same species in quiet parks and along highways. The recordings showed that birds sang at higher pitches and earlier in the morning near traffic. The researchers suggest these adjustments help the birds be heard over background noise.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
For main-purpose questions, first quickly summarize the passage in your own words in 5–7 words (for example, “describes study on birds near roads”). Then decide what type of writing it is: reporting research, arguing a viewpoint, giving instructions, or telling a story. Use that decision to eliminate any answer whose purpose type doesn’t match. Finally, choose the remaining option that best captures both the topic (who/what it’s about) and the author’s goal (why they wrote it), being careful not to pick answers that add motivations or purposes not supported by the text.
Hints
Check the first and last sentences
Look at what the first sentence sets up (what topic is introduced) and what the last sentence does (how the passage wraps up). Ask yourself: Is it introducing research, giving instructions, arguing a point, or telling a story?
Look at the verbs and tone
Notice words like examined, recorded, showed, and suggest. Do these sound more like scientific reporting, personal storytelling, giving advice, or making a strong argument?
Eliminate purposes that don’t fit the content
Ask: Does the passage tell me what I should do, give me step-by-step directions, or describe someone’s personal trip? Cross out any answer that describes a purpose you don’t actually see in the passage.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the passage is mainly about
Read the passage and ask: What is the central topic? The text describes researchers studying urban noise and songbirds changing their calls near busy roads. Everything in the passage connects to that research situation.
Notice the type of information given
Look at the verbs and details: examined whether songbirds change their calls, they recorded, the recordings showed, the researchers suggest. These phrases show the methods (what the researchers did) and the results and interpretation (what they found and think it means). The tone is factual and scientific, not emotional or story-like.
Decide what the author is trying to do overall
Because the passage explains what the researchers did, what they observed, and why they think it matters (birds adjusting to be heard over noise), the author’s goal is to present the outcomes of this study, not to give instructions, tell a personal story, or argue for a policy.
Match that purpose to the best choice
Now compare that overall purpose with the answer choices: one choice clearly describes presenting the results of a study about how urban noise affects bird songs, while the others focus on banning cars, teaching bird identification, or telling a naturalist’s personal story. The choice that matches the passage’s purpose is “To report findings from a study on how urban noise influences bird songs.”