SAT #13 Reading (Question 21)

Question

The main purpose of the passage is to [...]?

Answer 1

Answer Choice B is the correct answer because the Passage primarily concerns the process and conclusion of a single study meant to support the idea mentioned in the introduction, that “plants have developed a subterranean internet, which they use to raise the alarm when danger threatens.” This most closely matches Answer Choice B, which says that the main purpose of the passage is to “describe an experiment whose results support a particular conclusion.” Answer Choice A is incorrect because the finding of the study isn’t presented as addressing an ongoing problem. Answer Choice C is incorrect because the Passage doesn’t tell us that the methodology of the research study “revolutionizes a process,” and doesn’t give it much attention in general. Answer Choice D is incorrect because the scientific study outlined doesn’t “undermine a popular theory.”

How to solve this? The Question asks, “The main purpose of the passage is to [...]?” To solve this, we should have a general understanding of the Passage and identify specific sentences that tell us about the main point of the passage. In general, the Passage can outlined like this: 

1. introduction of a new study — shows a kind of “internet” of plants, communication using fungi. (paragraph 1)
2. the origin of the experiment — Dr. Johnson wanting to know whether messages spread from plant to plant (paragraph 2)
3. the setup of the experiment (paragraphs 3-5)
4. the data collection process (paragraph 6)
5. the main finding of the study — (paragraph 7)
6. another important finding of the study (paragraph 8)
7. a final conclusion (paragraph 9)

Specifically, we can look at the title of the Passage, which only says, “Beans’ Talk,” and doesn’t provide us with much. The introduction, however, introduces the idea of an “internet” of plants, saying, “The idea that plants have developed a subterranean internet, which they use to raise the alarm when danger threatens, sounds like science fiction.” The following sentence begins with the word “But,” an important indicator on the Reading Test, and introduces a study that reinforces the first claim about an internet of plants. The Passage then proceeds to outline the process and conclusions of that study. At this point, we should look at the answer choices.

Answer Choice A says that the purpose of the passage is to “discuss a finding that addresses an ongoing problem.” [...].