Humanities
Author’s Purpose WS #3
2 pts. per correct answer
80 total points possible
Directions: Read the following examples and decide what the author’s purpose is. Write your
answer on the line provided.
1. _______________ It was a beautiful morning in Austin, Texas. The sun was just rising in the sky.
Juan couldn't wait to find his fishing pole and call his friend Sammy to go fishing. They had a great
time on these early morning fishing trips. They took their dogs with them and the dogs would swim
in the lake while they fished. It was so funny to watch those dogs paddle around the lake.
2. _______________ The Slim-O-Matic will help you lose pounds and inches from your body in only
one month. This amazing machine helps you to exercise correctly. If you buy now, you will also
receive an easy video to show you the proper way to exercise. Send $75.99 and begin exercising
today.
3. _______________ The Underground Railroad was a secret organization that helped slaves
escape to freedom. Many slaves were able to escape because of the conductors and
stationmasters. The northern states were free states and slaves were free once they arrived in the
north. Secret codes and signals were used to identify the conductors and stationmasters.
4. _______________ Guitar Hero is the best of all of the Wii games. When you play Guitar Hero,
you feel like a real rock star. This game is much more fun than any others. When you choose a
Wii game, make sure that you choose Guitar Hero.
5. _______________ Leah and her brother, Jesse were playing with the water hose outside one
day. Jesse was hiding from Leah so she wouldn't squirt him with the water hose. The back door
opened and Leah pointed the water hose toward the door. It was Mom and she was soaking wet!
6. _______________ Our family stayed in a lodge near the active volcano, Arenal, in Costa Rica.
Just after dark, we heard a noise that sounded like very loud thunder. When we looked at the
volcano, a big puff of gray smoke came out of the top. Then it looked like bright orange fireworks
flying out of the volcano. Streams of orange liquid oozed down the side of the volcano. We knew
that must be lava. We could also hear the sound of large boulders rolling down the sides of the
mountain
7. _______________ The giant panda is a bear like animal that has thick white fur with black
markings on its ears, limbs, shoulders, and around its eyes. The giant panda feeds on bamboo
forests at high altitudes in western China. It also eats bulbs, roots, eggs, and some small
mammals. The cubs are born in late winter. The giant panda is an endangered species and is
protected by the Chinese government.
8. _______________ It was a glorious morning in Alabama. The sun was shining through the trees.
Alan couldn't wait to find his fishing pole and call his friend Sam to go fishing. They had a great
time on these early morning fishing trips. They took their dogs with them and the dogs would swim
in the lake while they fished. It was so funny to watch those dogs paddle around the lake.
9. _______________ The easy Chopper 3 will chop your vegetables for you in about 30 seconds. It
is easy to use and you can use any vegetable. The cost is $ 29.95. Order yours today!
10. _______________ Rosie had the best time making her valentine cards for her classmates. She
used red and white paper, heart stickers, markers and anything else she could find. It was great.
Her friends are planning a valentine party on Feb. 14th at school. The one she made for her best
friend is funny. Funny valentines are nice to get.
11. _______________ Abraham Lincoln's birthday is on Feb. 12th. He was a great President of the
United States. He was our 16th President. He is remembered for freeing the slaves.
12. _______________ Judy Glen's amazing Wrinkle Remover cream will make you look younger in
thirty days or less. This remarkable cream has special ingredients to make your wrinkles
disappear. The cost for a thirty day supply is $ 25.99. Send your check to P.O. Box 00002,
Shelton, CA 74836
13. _______________ Thomas was not happy one little bit. His sister, Susan was making honor roll
again. His parents would allow her to do anything she wanted to do. Thomas was not making
honor roll this time and he was not going to be allowed to do all the things he wanted to do. Poor
Thomas! He would just have to study harder and get back on the honor roll.
14. _______________ Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was born on February 7, 1867 in Pepin,
Wisconsin to Charles and Caroline Ingalls. She met and married Almanzo James Wilder in 1885.
She published many books based on her travels to the west. Her writing became the basis for the
“Little House" series She died in 1957.
15. _______________ HAMSTERS FOR SALE: Braxton Pet Store, Northwood Mall: We have a large
selection of hamsters for sale this week. They are interesting pets and you will enjoy having one.
They are only $ 17.99 this week. Come and buy yours today!
16. _______________ Calligraphy is a form of handwriting. A special pen must be used. Letters are
formed using up and down strokes. Old documents are usually written in this form. Diplomas,
certificates and other awards are written in calligraphy. It is an interesting form of handwriting.
17. _______________ Katina and her brother, Jess were playing with the water hose outside one
day. Jess was hiding from Katina so she wouldn't squirt him with the water. The back door opened
and Katina pointed the water hose toward the door. It was Mom and she was dripping wet!
Writing
Most of us think (erroneously) that writers just sit down and churn out a wonderful essay, story or
poem in one sitting in a flash of genius and inspiration. This is not true. Experienced writers use the
writing process from start to finish to help them write a clear document. If you do not reflect on your
composition in stages and make changes as you develop it, you will not see all the problems or error
in it. Don't try to write an essay or story just once and leave the room. That's a mistake made by
novice writers and will be glaringly obvious to an experienced reader. Stay and look through your
work. Reflect upon what you've composed. Even better, use a writing process where you prewrite and
plan, write a rough draft, organize ideas, edit and proofread. Your writing will suffer the consequences
of poor craftsmanship
19. _____The author most likely wrote the paragraph in order to:
A. explain the writing process to someone who has rarely experienced it.
B. suggest that new writers use the writing process to craft their work.
C. identify the components of the writing process and the best way to incorporate into a
composition.
D. compare the writing of a novice writer with that of an experienced writer.
Poor Child
On a highway, behind the gate of a vast garden, at the end of which could be discerned the white
hues of a pretty manor house bathed in sunlight, was a beautiful, fresh child, clad in those country
clothes that are so coquettish. Luxury, freedom from cares, the habitual sight of richest make such
children so pretty that one is tempted to consider them molded of a different substance from the
children of mediocrity and poverty. Beside him, lying on the grass, was a splendid toy, as fresh as its
owner, varnished, gilded, clad in a crimson cloak and covered with plumes and glass beads. But the
child was taking no notice of his favorite toy, and this is what he was looking at: On the other side of
the gate, out on the roadway, among the nettles and thistles, was another child, dirty, sickly, soiled
with soot, one of those pariah-kids in whom an impartial eye would discover beauty, as the eye of a
connoisseur can divine an ideal painting underneath a layer of tarnish, if only the repugnant patina of
poverty were washed away. - From "The Poor Child's Toy" by Charles Baudelaire
20. _____The author most likely mentions the physical appearance of the impoverished child
in the last paragraph in order to:
A. identify the cause of the child's poverty.
B. intensify the reader's sympathetic reaction toward the child.
C. criticize a social upbringing that would allow a child to suffer in such a way.
D. contrast the poverty of the second child with the privilege of the first.
Technology
The high-tech world of clocks and schedules, computers and programs was supposed to free us from
a life of toil and deprivation, yet with each passing day the human race becomes more enslaved,
exploited, and victimized. Millions starve while a few live in splendor. The human race remains
divided from itself and severed from the natural world that is its primordial community. We now
orchestrate an artificial time world, zipping along the electronic circuits of silicon chips, a time world
utterly alien from the time a fruit takes to ripen, or a tide takes to receded. We have sped ourselves
out of the time world of nature and into a fabricated time world where experience can only be
simulated but no longer savored. Our weekly routines and work lives are punctuated with artificial
rhythms, the unholy union of perspective and power. And with each new electric dawn and dusk, we
grow further apart from each other, more isolated and alone, more in control and less self-assured. From "Time Wars" by Jeremy Rifkin
21. _____The author's first paragraph primarily serves to:
A. identify the primary methods humans use to organize their lives.
B. criticize technology because it causes humans to turn from the natural world.
C. illustrate the ways in which humans are exploited by technology.
D. describe how humans have split from the natural world and have embraced technology.
Shipwrecks
When most people think of a shipwreck, they imagine the remains of a huge wooden or metal boat
crashed along the bottom of the ocean. Fish swim in and out of the mangled boat's hull, and coral
and seaweed cling to its sides. Meanwhile, divers with scuba gear and cameras paddle their way into
the depths to explore inside the long-forgotten vessel. They might find anything from old pottery to
rusty cannons to pirate gold, but one thing is certain: the deep cold water has swallowed up the ship
and kept it secret for a very long time. Surprisingly, though, water is not always a necessary element
in shipwreck explorations. Few people realize that many important shipwrecks can be found on land.
Trading skiffs, warships, and pirate galleons alike have been found buried deep in riverbeds, hilltops,
and cornfields throughout the world.
22. _____ The author most likely composed these two paragraphs in order to:
A. inform the reader about surprising places shipwrecks have been found.
B. describe what a person would find if he or she visited a shipwreck.
C. compare the similarities between a water-found shipwreck and a land-found shipwreck.
D. intensify the discovery of a shipwreck by surprising the reader with a new location for finding
them.
Nutrition
Each time a person opens his or her mouth to eat, he or she makes a nutritional decision. These
selections make a definitive difference in how an individual looks, feels, and performs at work or play.
When a good assortment of food like fresh fruits, leafy vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins is
selected and eaten, the consequences are likely to be desirable levels for health and energy to allow
one to be as active as needed. Conversely, when choices consist of processed foods like packaged
cookies, crackers, and sodas, items filled with sugars, hydrogenated fats, chemicals and
preservatives – all of which can be harmful in large quantities – the consequences can be poor health
or limited energy or both. Studies of American diets, particularly the diets of the very young, reveal
unsatisfactory dietary habits as evidenced by the numbers of overweight and out-of-shape young
children. Parents, who are supposed to be masters of their children's dietary habits, often leave
nutritional choices to their children, who are not informed enough to make healthy decisions. If
anyone is to blame for the childhood obesity crisis in the United States today, it is the parents who
allow their children to eat nutritionally bankrupt foods.
23. _____ The author most likely uses the phrase "filled with sugars, hydrogenated fats,
chemicals and preservatives – all of which can be harmful in large quantities" in order to:
A. criticize the growing obesity crisis in the United States.
B. contrast poor choices in children in the United States with healthy choices.
C. identify the leading chemicals in processed foods so people know what to avoid.
D. intensify the negative reaction to processed foods.
Temperature
The next day, the 22nd of March, at six in the morning, preparations for departure were begun. The
last gleams of twilight were melting into night. The cold was great; the constellations shown with
wonderful intensity. In the zenith glittered that wondrous Southern Cross – the polar bear of Antarctic
regions. The thermometer showed 12 degrees below zero, and when the wind freshened it was most
biting. Flakes of ice increased on the open water. The sea seemed everywhere alike. Numerous
blackish patches spread on the surface, showing the formation of fresh ice. Evidently the southern
basin, frozen during the six winter months, was absolutely inaccessible. What became of the whales
in that time? Doubtless they went beneath the icebergs, seeking more practicable seas. As to the
seals and morses, accustomed to life in a hard climate, they remained on these icy shores.
24. _____The author's description of the temperature in lines 43 – 46 primarily serves to:
A. explain the hardships the boatmen were about to go through.
B. intensify the setting, so the reader can experience the boatmen's difficult journey.
C. compare the differences between boatmen who have experienced hardships and those who
haven't.
D. identify the causes of the temperature decrease.
Social Security
Until the early 1900's, Americans were not extremely concerned about their futures as they became
older. The major source of economic security was farming, and the extended family cared for the
elderly. However, the Industrial Revolution brought an end to this tradition. Farming gave way to more
progressive means of earning a living and family ties became looser; as a result, the family was not
always available to take care of the older generation. The great Depression of the 1930's exacerbated
these economic security woes. So in 1935, Congress, under the direction of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, signed into law the Social Security Act. This act created a program intended to provide
continuing income for retired workers at least 65 years old, partially through the collection of funds
from Americans in the work force. Much organization was required to get the program underway, but
the first monthly Social Security checks were issued in 1940. Over the years the Social Security
Program has metamorphosed into benefits not only for workers but also for the disabled and for
survivors of beneficiaries, as well as medical insurance benefits in the form of Medicare.
25. _____ The author most likely mentions the Depression to:
A. identify the primary purpose for Social Security.
B. criticize FDR's adoption of a program that would run out of money.
C. contrast the effectiveness of the Social Security Program with that of family care.
D. list another factor that contributed to the need for the Social Security Program.
Gothic Art
The true way of looking at Gothic art is to regard it not as a definite style bound by certain
formulas—for the spirit is infinitely various,—but rather as the expression of a certain temper,
sentiment,
and spirit which inspired the whole method of doing things during the Middle Ages in sculpture and
painting as well as in architecture. It cannot be defined by any of its outward features, for they are
variable, differing at different times and in different places. They are the outward expression of certain
cardinal principles behind them, and though these principles are common to all good styles, Gothic
among them, the result of applying them to the buildings of each age, country, and people will vary as
the circumstances of that country, that age, and that people vary.
26. _____ The author most likely wrote the passage about Gothic art in order to:
A. suggest that Gothic art is not a style with specific characteristics as much as it is a
sentiment from
a particular time.
B. intensify the description of Gothic art's sentiment and spirit.
C. explain the definition of Gothic art as an art form that has no definable characteristics.
D. compare Gothic art to the art of the Middle Ages
Funeral
The funeral was just stretching on and on that sweaty Sunday in the middle of the summer. I took
a look at my fingers, clammy and swollen from the dizzy heat, and ached to be splashing around in
the creek behind the church. Daddy promised that the rain from Friday would cool everything down,
but the sun just sucked up all that water just the same as it did year after year. All the women,
dressed in black with funny-looking hats, whispered at each other and blew their noses into hankies
as they tried to fan themselves cooler with the paper bulletin old lady Mathers had typed up just for
this occasion. Preacher Tom yammered on and on in his booming voice like it was just another boring
Sunday and no one had even died, while tiny little rivers of sweat made their way down the middle of
my back. Miss Patterson, my favorite Sunday school teacher, whispered ‘cross the aisle to Daddy
that “It’s a cryin’ shame, ya know.” Daddy shrugged his big old coal-mining shoulders and said, “The
good Lord knows what’s best.” I knew he wasn’t really sad because he was a “hard-hearted man with
no sense and no decency,” like Momma used to say when he’d come home smelling like whiskey.
27 _____ The author most likely used the phrase "tiny little rivers of sweat made their way
down the middle of my back" in order to:
A. contrast the hot interior of the church during the funeral with the coolness of the creek.
B. compare the hot interior of the church during the funeral with the coolness of the creek.
C. identify the main reason the narrator was uncomfortable during the funeral.
D. intensify the description of the heat during the funeral.
Cold and Warm Fronts
A warm front is a specific air pressure system where warm air replaces cool air. It is associated with a
low pressure system and usually moves from a southerly direction to the north. A warm front passage
can be depicted by an increase in temperature and humidity (higher dew point temperatures), a
decrease in the air pressure, a wind change to a southerly direction, and the likelihood of
precipitation. A cold front is another specific front which is also associated with a low pressure
system, but with different causes, characteristics, and results. During a cold front, cold air replaces
warm air instead of the other way around. A cold front usually moves from a northerly direction
downward, whereas the warm front moves south to north. A cold front can be depicted by rapidly
falling temperatures and barometric pressure, a wind shift to the north or west, and a moderate
chance of precipitation, which is very different from a warm front! The barometric pressure, after
falling, usually rises very sharply after the passage of a cold front.
28. _____ The author most likely wrote the passage in order to:
A. list the causes, characteristics, and results of both warm and cold fronts.
B. describe the causes of cold and warm fronts.
C. contrast the causes, characteristics, and results of warm and cold fronts.
D. illustrate the characteristics of both warm and cold fronts, by describing each facet in detail.
_______________29. A book containing knock-knock jokes?
_______________30. A book containing several fairytales?
_______________31. A book about the benefits of having a pet?
_______________32. A book about how dogs are better than cats?
_______________33. A book containing information about the history of the United States of
America?
_______________34. A book with information about the digestive system?
_______________35. A book saying that everyone should buy blue cars?
_______________36. A book containing the best jokes?
_______________37. A book with facts about all the Presidents of the United States?
_______________38.A book about why New York is the best city to live in?