SAT Reading & Writing · Text Structure and Purpose
Before widespread vaccination, the United States recorded hundreds of thousands of measles cases annually. Following the introduction and…
Before widespread vaccination, the United States recorded hundreds of thousands of measles cases annually. Following the introduction and expansion of measles vaccination programs, endemic transmission within the country was declared eliminated in 2000. However, imported cases from other countries can still spark local outbreaks in communities where vaccination coverage has gaps.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
Answer and explanation
Answer: B: To trace a public health achievement while clarifying what "elimination" does and does not guarantee going forward
The passage moves from describing a major historical improvement, to naming the specific achievement (elimination), to precisely qualifying what that achievement means going forward, still-possible outbreaks from imported cases in under-vaccinated pockets. B captures that full arc. A contradicts the passage's clear description of a major public health success. C overstates "elimination" into an absolute, permanent guarantee the passage explicitly denies by mentioning ongoing outbreak risk. D mischaracterizes a factual clarification as a criticism, which the passage doesn't frame as blame.
More Text Structure and Purpose questions
- Question 18For over a century, the standard account of a particular insect's mating call held that its pitch…
- Question 19A school newsletter article begins by describing a common problem many students face: forgetting…
- Question 44For most of the twentieth century, a particular species of deep-sea fish was known only from a…
- Question 45A music historian's article opens by describing the immediate, largely negative reception of a…
- Question 68A city government's initial traffic study concluded that a proposed highway expansion would reduce…
- Question 90A widely cited economic model predicted that a particular trade policy would reduce domestic…
Learn the method behind questions like this one
The SAT Reading & Writing course teaches each tested skill through lessons, step-by-step solutions to sample problems, the complete study guide and full-length practice tests.