Digital SAT Function & Purpose Questions

1. The following text is adapted from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden (1911). Mary has just begun exploring the grounds of Misselthwaite Manor.Mary had never thought the world could contain so many bare, twisting branches and so wide a stretch of gray-brown earth. Yet as she walked farther, she began to hear birds in the hedges and to notice green points pushing up through the soil. What had seemed dead at first now looked as if it were quietly waking.Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

2. The following text is adapted from an 1873 report by naturalist Anton de Bary about lichens.For many years, lichens were treated as simple plants. De Bary and other researchers, however, observed that a lichen is not a single organism but a partnership between a fungus and an alga. This finding forced botanists to reconsider the way living things were classified.Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

3. The following text is adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (1868). Jo has been asked to behave more formally at a social gathering.Jo tried to sit still and speak softly, but every few minutes she forgot herself and laughed too loudly or answered too quickly. She knew that Aunt March disapproved. Still, the more Jo was expected to act unlike herself, the more impossible the task became.Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

4. The following text discusses the invention of the stethoscope by René Laennec in 1816.When examining patients, Laennec sometimes found it awkward or impractical to place his ear directly against the chest, which was then a common diagnostic method. Inspired by the way sound travels through wood, he rolled a sheet of paper into a tube and used it to listen to a patient’s heartbeat. From that simple experiment came an instrument that transformed medical practice.Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

5. The following text is adapted from Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899).Edna had gone down to the shore expecting only a brief walk. The sea was quiet, the air warm, and the beach nearly empty. For the first time that day, she felt not restless but attentive, as if the world had paused long enough for her to hear herself think.Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?