DSAT R&W Practice Question-Craft and Structure-Text Structure and Purpose-Hard

DSAT R&W Practice Question-Craft and Structure-Text Structure and Purpose-Hard is part of Craft and Structure : This section evaluates skills in understanding advanced academic vocabulary words from the context they are used in, analyzing an author’s rhetorical (persuasive writing) techniques and purpose, and synthesizing key ideas by making connections between multiple related texts on a topic.

Weightage : 20%

Subtopic: Cross-Text Connections

DSAT R&W – Exam Style Practice Questions – All Topics

Question Hard

Text
Asteroid 6478 Gault has experienced intermittent mass loss since at least 2013, but in contrast to some other asteroids with repeated mass-loss episodes, 6478 Gault has not lost mass at its perihelion (the closest point of its orbit to the Sun), and thus the loss is not attributable to solar energy driven ice vaporization. And as Jane X. Luu et al. point out, the singular nature of impact ejection makes it untenable as an account of multiple loss episodes of similar duration over several years. Instead, Luu et al. are likely correct that 6478 Gault is shedding mass due to rotational instability.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A) It discusses a physical process, evaluates possible causes of that process, and then states that a persuasive account of the process has yet to be put forward.

B) It describes an astronomical finding, discusses competing theories about that finding that the author regards as flawed, and then describes new evidence that supports an alternative theory.

C) It presents a scientific observation, describes a contrast between that observation and other observations, and then explains why those other observations should not be considered credible.

D) It introduces a natural phenomenon, refutes two potential explanations for that phenomenon, and then presents a third explanation for that phenomenon that the author regards as plausible.

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: D

The text follows this clear three-part structure:

Introduces phenomenon: Intermittent mass loss in asteroid 6478 Gault
Refutes explanations:
- Rules out solar-driven ice vaporization (no perihelion mass loss)
- Rejects impact ejection (can’t explain multiple similar episodes)
Endorses alternative: Rotational instability as the likely cause

Why D is correct:
It accurately captures all three structural elements and their relationships.

Question Hard

Text
San Francisco has high pedestrian traffic, but simply replicating a feature of San Francisco associated with walkability—e.g., its high density of storefronts—may be insufficient to induce increased walking in other cities. As urbanist Mariela Alfonzo argues, our understanding of individuals’ decision-making about whether to walk is insufficiently robust: some studies emphasize the role of demographic characteristics, others the role of public transit availability, and so on, but walking decisions are made in complex contexts in which multiple conditions and needs inform individuals’ choices.

Which choice best describes the function of the references to “demographic characteristics” and “public transit availability” in the text as a whole?

A) They illustrate factors that researchers believe people consider when making walking decisions in most contexts but that the text argues are unique to walking decisions made by people in San Francisco.

B) They represent factors that have been identified as important influences on walking decisions but that the text suggests are merely some of the many factors that may contribute to people’s decision-making about walking.

C) They are examples of factors that studies suggest are important in people’s decision-making about walking but that the text claims most people rarely consider when making walking decisions.

D) They identify factors that Alfonzo argues have been overemphasized in studies of decision-making about walking but that the text asserts are relevant to most people’s walking decisions.

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: B

The text uses these examples to:

Acknowledge they are valid factors identified by studies (“some studies emphasize…”)
Show they represent only part of a more complex picture (“but walking decisions are made in complex contexts…”)

Why B is correct:
It captures both that these are legitimate factors and that they’re just some among many influences.

Question Hard

Text
The Clouds is a 423 BCE play by Aristophanes, originally written in ancient Greek. At the time, professional intellectuals called sophists taught customers rhetorical techniques to use in public speaking, along with providing instruction in other subjects. In the play, Aristophanes satirizes sophists as teaching students how to be persuasive without regard for what is morally good, as seen when the character ______.

Which choice most effectively uses a quotation from a translation of The Clouds to illustrate the claim?

A) Socrates, a sophist, says that he studies astronomy while in a basket hanging a few feet off the ground because “I should not have rightly discovered things celestial if I had not suspended the intellect, and mixed the thought in a subtle form with its kindred air.”

B) Strepsiades encourages his son to learn to be a sophist, saying, “Reform your habits as quickly as possible, and go and learn what I advise.”

C) Socrates, a sophist, says to a customer, “You straightaway forget whatever you learn. For what now was the first thing you were taught? Tell me.”

D) Strepsiades hires a sophist to teach his son and says to the sophist, “But see that he learns those two styles of argument; the better, whatever it may be; and the worse, which, by maintaining what is unjust, overturns the better. If not both, at any rate the unjust one by all means.”

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: D

Option D best illustrates Aristophanes’ satire of sophists teaching immoral rhetoric because it:

Explicitly mentions learning arguments that “maintain what is unjust”
Shows preference for the “unjust” argument style over the “better” one
Demonstrates the practical amorality (“by all means”) that characterizes the satire

The other options don’t show this moral indifference: A shows absurd scientific methods, B shows motivation for learning, and C shows poor teaching methods.

Question Hard

Which choice most effectively uses a quotation from a translation of The Clouds to illustrate the claim?

B) Strepsiades encourages his son to learn to be a sophist, saying, “Reform your habits as quickly as possible, and go and learn what I advise.”

C) Socrates, a sophist, says to a customer, “You straightaway forget whatever you learn. For what now was the first thing you were taught? Tell me.”

D) Strepsiades hires a sophist to teach his son and says to the sophist, “But see that he learns those two [styles of argument]; the better, whatever it may be; and the worse, which, by maintaining what is unjust, overturns the better. If not both, at any rate the unjust one by all means.”

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: D

Option D best illustrates Aristophanes’ satire by showing:

Explicit prioritization of “the unjust” argument style
Moral indifference (“overturns the better”)
Practical amorality (“at any rate the unjust one by all means”)

The other options show different aspects: A demonstrates absurdity but not morality, B shows motivation not methods, and C critiques memory not ethics.

Question Hard

Text
Joseph Andrews is a 1742 novel by Henry Fielding. The narrator of the novel occasionally comments directly on the craft of writing, in one comment drawing a comparison to elucidate an authorial decision apparent in the novel:

Which quotation from Joseph Andrews most effectively illustrates the claim?

A) “But as it often happens that the best men are but little known, and consequently cannot extend the usefulness of their example a great way; the writer may be called in aid to spread their history further, and to present the available pictures to those who have not the happiness of knowing the originals.”

B) “I will dismiss this chapter with the following observation: that it becomes an author generally to divide a book, as it does a butcher to join his meat, for such assistance is of great help to both the reader and the carver. And now, having indulged at what’s little, I will endeavour to indulge the curiosity of my reader, who is no doubt impatient to know what he will find in the subsequent chapters of this book.”

C) “There are certain mysteries or secrets in all trades, from the highest to the lowest, from that of prime-ministering to this of authoring, which are seldom discovered unless to members of the same calling. Among those used by us gentlemen of the latter occupation, I take this of dividing our works into books and chapters to be none of the least considerable.”

D) “It will doubtless seem extremely odd to many readers, that Mrs. Slipslop, who had lived several years in the same house with Fanny, should, in a short separation, utterly forget her. And indeed the truth is, that she remembered her very well. As we would not willingly, therefore, that anything should appear unnatural in this our history, we will endeavour to explain the reasons of her conduct.”

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: B

Option B best illustrates the narrator’s commentary on writing craft by:

Directly comparing literary structure (“divide a book”) to a butcher’s craft (“join his meat”)
Explicitly discussing authorial decisions about chapter organization
Addressing reader expectations – a key element of narrative craft

The other options discuss different aspects: A focuses on moral exemplars, C on trade secrets generally, and D on character behavior explanations.

Question Hard

Text
Many contemporary Indigenous painters practice a specifically Indigenous mode of abstraction; for example, Linda Lomahaftewa often assembles compositions out of motifs common in the ceramics and other traditional arts of the Hopi Tribe. In contrast, the prominent Indigenous practitioners of abstract painting during the mid-twentieth century, such as the Kiowa artist T.C. Cannon, typically aligned their compositional strategies with Abstract Expressionism—a school of painting dominated by European American artists—instead of with traditionally nonrepresentational forms of Indigenous art. Thus, in the case of Cannon’s generation, the identification of an abstract painting as Indigenous art tends to ______.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A) depend not on stylistic details but instead on an awareness of the artist’s identity.

B) place a greater emphasis on the artist’s biography than on the aesthetic merit of the painting.

C) obscure the Indigenous origins of certain motifs associated with Abstract Expressionism.

D) deny the extent to which cultural identity influences an artist’s work.

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: A

The text contrasts contemporary Indigenous abstraction (using traditional motifs) with mid-century Indigenous artists who used mainstream Abstract Expressionist styles. Since Cannon’s work didn’t use distinctive Indigenous styles, identifying it as Indigenous art would primarily depend on knowing the artist’s background (Option A). The other options misinterpret the text: B incorrectly mentions biography vs. aesthetics, C discusses motif origins which aren’t mentioned, and D contradicts the text’s focus on cultural identity.

Question Hard

Text
In addition to its deployment of dialect and other cultural signifiers, the literature of the US South is characterized by its adaptation of established fiction genres to Southern contexts. Mark Twain derived his episodic narrative structures and roguish heroes from the picaresque novel, and William Faulkner realized the decadent aristocrat, the imperiled heroine, and other character types of the Gothic novel as rural Southerners who were more contingent, more caught in the net of societal relations and history than the fantastical figures of the Gothic had been. Some of the region’s poets, such as James Dickey, have shown even greater dexterity by adapting these sources in an altogether different literary form.

Which quotation from a literary scholar would most directly illustrate the text’s claim about Southern poets?

A) “What is the disturbed, and disturbing, speaker of Dickey’s best poems if not a stock character of the Gothic novel, refracted through the speech and ethos of the South and conditioned by the structures of lyric poetry?”

B) “The Gothic genre emerged in England and Ireland in the 1700s and was later naturalized to the cultural landscape of the Northeastern US, as in the novels of Nathaniel Hawthorne, which Dickey had almost certainly read.”

C) “With its rural settings and rustic characters, Dickey’s poems suggest the influence of the genre of pastoral fiction, yet Dickey may have instead obtained these elements from pastoral poetry, which preceded its namesake in fiction,”

D) “When Dickey invokes one genre of poetry and, within the space of a few lines, abandons it for another genre of poetry, what can we infer from this gesture if not the poet’s fascination with genre per se, as well as his discomfort with it?”

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: A

Option A directly illustrates the text’s claim by showing how Dickey adapted Gothic novel elements (mentioned in the passage) into lyric poetry, while refracting them through Southern culture. The other options either discuss unrelated genres (C, D) or focus on geographic origins rather than adaptation (B).

Question Hard

Text
Historians have argued that a crucial component of the Civil Rights Movement’s success in the 1960s was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Citizen Education Program (CEP), which invited promising activists from across the South to its one-week training sessions in Dorchester, Georgia. Led by experienced organizers such as Dorothy Cotton and Septima Clark, CEP attendees—more than 7,000 in all—participated in workshops on topics ranging from public speaking to legal doctrine before returning home and using their newly acquired knowledge to spearhead local civil rights initiatives.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?

A) It suggests that CEP attendees held a diverse array of opinions about the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s political philosophy.

B) It establishes that criticism of the CEP was limited to a few individuals in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

C) It underscores the extent of the CEP’s impact on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

D) It illustrates the CEP organizers’ efforts to educate participants on a wide variety of topics.

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: C

The underlined portion, mentioning over 7,000 attendees and their role in spearheading local initiatives, emphasizes the widespread participation and influence of the CEP, highlighting its significant impact on the Civil Rights Movement.

Option A: It suggests that CEP attendees held a diverse array of opinions (incorrect, no mention of diverse opinions)

Option B: It establishes that criticism of the CEP was limited to a few individuals (incorrect, no mention of criticism)

Option C: It underscores the extent of the CEP’s impact on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s (correct, reflects the scale and effect)

Option D: It illustrates the CEP organizers’ efforts to educate participants on a wide variety of topics (incorrect, focuses on impact, not education variety)

Question Hard

Text 1
In 2015 Floriana Lai and colleagues published a study concluding that ocean acidification has a strong effect on the behavior of Gasterosteus aculeatus, a species of fish. However, Lai and colleagues’ study relied on a mean sample size of only 12 fish. In a 2022 review of various scientists’ conclusions about the impacts of ocean acidification on fish behavior, Jeff C. Clements and colleagues caution that relying on such a relatively small sample size can increase the potential for biased analysis. Such analysis, in turn, can contribute to reports of exaggerated effects.

Text 2 (Question)
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A) To explain how the behavior of a fish species has changed over time

B) To discuss an aspect of ocean acidification that is frequently overlooked

C) To present a debate between two research teams about a cause of ocean acidification

D) To note a potential concern about the findings of a scientific study

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: D

The text highlights a study on ocean acidification’s effect on fish behavior and a subsequent review cautioning about the small sample size leading to potential bias, indicating the main purpose is to note a concern about the study’s findings.

Option A: To explain how the behavior of a fish species has changed over time (incorrect, focuses on change over time, not the purpose)

Option B: To discuss an aspect of ocean acidification that is frequently overlooked (incorrect, not about overlooked aspects)

Option C: To present a debate between two research teams about a cause of ocean acidification (incorrect, no debate presented)

Option D: To note a potential concern about the findings of a scientific study (correct, aligns with the caution about sample size bias)

Question Hard

Text 1
Despite stated claims of global inequality performed in the 2020s focus on a few countries in North America and are due to limited data availability. Researchers would later expand gaining after new access to administrative records in nations in South America, such as Brazil, and Eastern Europe, such as…

(Question)
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A) validate

B) presuppose

C) categorize

D) illustrate

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: C

The text discusses expanding research to new regions, suggesting a need to organize or classify data. “Categorize” fits logically and precisely.

Option A: validate (incorrect, implies confirmation, not organization)

Option B: presuppose (incorrect, implies assumption, not action)

Option C: categorize (correct, fits context of organizing new data)

Option D: illustrate (incorrect, implies showing, not organizing)

Question Hard

The field of study called affective neuroscience seeks instinctive, physiological causes for feelings such as pleasure or displeasure. Because these sensations are linked to a chemical component (for example, the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain when one receives or expects a reward), they can be said to have a partly physiological basis. These processes have been described in mammals, but Jingnan Huang and his colleagues have recently observed that some behaviors of honeybees (such as foraging) are also motivated by a dopamine-based signaling process.

What choice best describes the main purpose of the text?

A) It describes an experimental method of measuring the strength of physiological responses in humans.

B) It illustrates processes by which certain insects can express how they are feeling.

C) It summarizes a finding suggesting that some mechanisms in the brains of certain insects resemble mechanisms in mammalian brains.

D) It presents research showing that certain insects and mammals behave similarly when there is a possibility of a reward for their actions.

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: C

The text outlines dopamine-related processes in mammals and a similar finding in honeybees, suggesting brain mechanism similarities.

Option A: No experimental method described (incorrect).

Option B: No expression of feelings by insects (incorrect).

Option C: Matches summary of brain mechanism resemblance (correct).

Option D: Focuses on behavior similarity, not just reward (incorrect).

Question Hard

Studying late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artifacts from an agricultural and domestic site in Texas, archaeologist Ayana O. Flewellen found that Black women employed as farm workers utilized hook-and-eye closures to fasten their clothes at the waist, giving themselves a silhouette similar to the one that was popular in contemporary fashion and typically achieved through more restrictive garments such as corsets. Flewellen argues that this sartorial practice shows that these women balanced hegemonic ideals of femininity with the requirements of their physically demanding occupation.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A) To describe an unexpected discovery that altered a researcherʼs view of how rapidly fashions among Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas changed during the period

B) To discuss research that investigated the ways in which Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas used fashion practices to resist traditional gender ideals

C) To evaluate a scholarly work that offers explanations for the impact of urban fashion ideals on Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas

D) To summarize the findings of a study that explored factors influencing a fashion practice among Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas

▶️ Answer/Explanation

Solution

Ans: D

The text summarizes Flewellen’s findings on how Black female farmworkers’ fashion practices balanced femininity ideals with work demands.

Option A: No mention of rapid fashion change or altered view (incorrect).

Option B: Focus is on balancing, not resisting gender ideals (incorrect).

Option C: No evaluation or focus on urban fashion (incorrect).

Option D: Matches summary of study findings (correct).

DSAT R&W Practice Question-Craft and Structure-Text Structure and Purpose-Hard | New Syllabus

DSAT R&W Practice Question-Craft and Structure-Text Structure and Purpose-Hard

DSAT R&W Practice Question-Craft and Structure-Text Structure and Purpose-Hard

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