AP English Language · Style

Which revision to Sentence 3 most clearly expresses both the writer's recommendation and the constraint that the next sentence addresses?

Draft: preserving ordinary records

1Local archives naturally collect documents connected to major institutions and public events. [Sentence 1] City council minutes, election records, and photographs of landmark buildings can tell future researchers a great deal about a community.

2[Sentence 2] Yet a town's daily life also leaves behind evidence that rarely looks important at the moment it is created. Restaurant menus record prices and changing tastes. Bus schedules show which neighborhoods were connected and how often. Flyers reveal which concerts, meetings, language classes, and services residents could actually find. Even a handwritten notice taped to a shop window can preserve information that no formal report contains.

3[Sentence 3] Because such materials are temporary, archives should establish simple procedures for collecting a small, representative sample of them. The collection does not need every receipt or every flyer. Selection is part of archival work. A rotating set of neighborhood businesses, transit routes, community organizations, and public notices could provide a record broad enough to be useful without overwhelming storage systems.

4[Sentence 4] Future historians will still need official records, but those records become more informative when they can be read beside the traces of ordinary routines.

Original draft written for this examination.
Which revision to Sentence 3 most clearly expresses both the writer's recommendation and the constraint that the next sentence addresses?

Answer and explanation

Answer: B: Because these records vanish easily, local archives should preserve a deliberately limited and representative sample of them.

Sentence 3 should state the recommendation, give the reason, and prepare the next sentence's point about selecting a sample. Choice B does all three: records vanish easily, so archives should keep a deliberately limited, representative sample. Choice A is tempting because it gives a reason, but it is repetitive and never sets up the selection problem. Choice C is hedged and states no clear claim. Choice D is wordy and vague about both the action to take and the principle of selective collection, so the sentence that follows would have nothing to develop.

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