Text Structure and Purpose
核心知识
Text Structure and Purpose questions ask you to figure out why the author wrote something and how the pieces of a passage fit together — not what the passage says, but what each part is doing.
深入理解
Every sentence in a passage has a job. Some sentences make a claim. Others give evidence, offer a counterpoint, or define a term. On the SAT, you'll be asked to name that job — and the trick is that students often confuse what a sentence says with why it's there.
The key shift is reading like an architect instead of a reader. Instead of absorbing information, you're asking: what role does this piece play in the larger structure? Is it setting up an argument? Providing a specific example? Qualifying a broad claim?
These questions come in a few flavors. Some ask about the purpose of the whole passage. Others zoom in on a single sentence and ask what function it serves. Still others ask you to identify the organizational pattern — cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution — that holds the passage together.
The most reliable strategy: read the passage once for meaning, then re-read the underlined or referenced portion asking "what is this doing for the argument?" The correct answer almost always describes the function (introduces, qualifies, supports, contrasts) rather than restating the content.