Passage Cracking the Code
Cracking the Code
(1) Computer code is part of every electronic interaction, from video games to home thermostats to vehicle GPS systems. (2) Code is a language that computers can interpret, and programmers use it to instruct computers to perform different tasks, such as finding, sorting, or calculating data. (3) People who code have to learn this language. (4) They can construct programs that will perform detailed tasks. (5) The programs can also perform complex tasks.
(6) A coding language uses letters, numbers, and symbols that are arranged in a way that makes sense to a computer. (7) The code that makes up a program tells a computer how to process information. (8) Studying a coding language involves learning the rules for combining phrases and instructions so that they are recognizable to the computer. (9) Once a person understands coding rules, the possibilities for applying them are infinite.
(10) Coding skills are becoming important in many occupational fields. (11) For example, code can be used to create programs to track, analyze, and predict changes in the stock market. (12) Code can also be designed to help doctors track and monitor a patient’s health. (13) Jobs that require coding skills are typically higher paying, offering salaries that are up to as much as $22,000 a year more than jobs that do not require coding knowledge.
(14) People have a variety of opportunities to learn how to code. (15) In some schools, young people can study computer science and coding just as they study foreign languages. (16) Computer science teachers can use websites and apps that employ games designed to help everyone understand how code works. (17) Even high school students who do not take computer science can learn coding by attending coding workshops and online classes or by watching tutorials online. (18) After studying the basics of coding, some students may become interested in learning how to create programs, such as games and apps.
(19) The late Steve Jobs, a pioneer in computer technology, once said, “Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer . . . because it teaches you how to think.” (20) Learning to code can seem challenging, but one does not need to become an expert programmer to reap the benefits of understanding this language.
Question
Which revision of sentence 10 provides the best transition to the argument in the third paragraph (sentences 10–13)?
- ALearning a coding language may be difficult, but coding skills are becoming important in many occupational fields.
- BLearning a coding language is useful because coding skills are becoming important in many occupational fields.
- CEmployers in most industries realize that people with coding skills can demand higher salaries in many occupational fields.
- DEven though programming is its own unique field, coding skills are becoming important in many occupational fields.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks for the best revision of sentence 10 to provide a transition to the argument in the third paragraph.
A. Incorrect. Some readers may choose this option because the second paragraph does discuss the complexities of coding; however, it does not discuss the difficulties of learning coding. The third paragraph demonstrates some of the complex ways coding is used in specific fields but does not illustrate how difficult learning coding may be.
B. CORRECT. This sentence provides the best revision of the transition sentence. The second paragraph ends with “the possibilities for applying them are infinite” (sentence 9), which supports the idea that people in “many occupational fields” (sentence 10) can benefit from having coding skills. The third paragraph illustrates this idea by providing specific examples of occupations that benefit from coding (stock market traders and doctors).
C. Incorrect. While sentence 13 suggests that employers recognize the value of coding skills, sentences 11 and 12 give examples of different industries that employ people who know how to code. The transition sentence should introduce the idea that coding skills are valuable to potential employees.
D. Incorrect. Some readers may choose this option because the second paragraph provides a brief definition of coding—“A coding language uses letters, numbers, and symbols that are arranged in a way that makes sense to a computer” (sentence 6)—which shows how this element of programming works, but the second paragraph does not specifically discuss what makes the field of computer programming unique. The third paragraph discusses how coding can be used in a variety of occupational fields (sentence 10).
Question analysis
This transitions question asks which revision of sentence 10, the opening sentence of the third paragraph of “Cracking the Code,” would best lead into that paragraph’s argument. Students must link the second paragraph, on how coding languages work, to the third, on coding in fields such as stock trading and medicine, and judge four versions that each begin differently.
- NYS standards
- 7W1d transitions in arguments
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 transition questions often ask for one connecting word. This one asks for a whole topic sentence, so students must sum up two paragraphs and see how they connect, though the passage’s plain language keeps it within typical grade 7 work.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- How sentences fit together moderate
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 10, 357 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 84 words.
- Students, last 30 days
- Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)
Why it is hard
Three of the four versions end with the original sentence 10, so the choice lies entirely in the opening words and the link they claim. A concession about difficulty sounds like a natural essay move, and sentence 20 even calls coding challenging, but nothing in paragraphs 2 or 3 sets difficulty against importance. Students who first name the real link between the paragraphs, that coding knowledge is worth having because many fields need it, can test each opening against that.
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
The new opening must look back to paragraph 2, which ends on the “infinite” possibilities of knowing coding rules, and ahead to the stock-market and medical examples, so two paragraphs have to be tracked at once. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The concession version shares the key’s first words, “Learning a coding language,” and its whole closing clause; only the middle differs, “may be difficult, but” against “is useful because.” (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Sum up paragraph 2 and paragraph 3 in a few words each, then test every version of sentence 10 against both summaries, paying close attention to what its opening words claim.
Traps
- Wrong transition: A connecting word or phrase that signals the wrong relationship, such as contrast where the idea continues.
- Off the point: Adds or keeps something that does not support the paragraph's or the passage's focus, or an introduction or conclusion that misses the main point.
The wrong answers, classified
A Wrong transition (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Borrows sentence 20’s point that coding “can seem challenging” and sets it against importance with “but,” though neither paragraph 2 nor paragraph 3 raises difficulty, so the contrast connects nothing.
C Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Picks up sentence 13’s higher salaries and speaks for employers, so the opening covers only the paragraph’s last point and gives no link back to paragraph 2 on coding languages.
D Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Takes paragraph 2’s technical account of code as proof that programming is “its own unique field,” an idea the passage never develops, and sets it against wider use with “Even though.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for the best transition. A transition links one part of a piece of writing to the next, like a bridge. Sentence 10 opens the third paragraph. A good opening looks back at paragraph 2 and points ahead to paragraph 3. So first sum up both paragraphs.
Sum up paragraphs 2 and 3
Paragraph 2 explains that learning a coding language means learning its rules. It ends with sentence 9: “Once a person understands coding rules, the possibilities for applying them are infinite.” Infinite means without end. Paragraph 3 then gives examples of uses: tracking the stock market and helping doctors watch a patient’s health. Sentence 13 adds that coding jobs usually pay more.
Name the link between them
Paragraph 2 is about learning the language. Paragraph 3 shows why that learning pays off: many kinds of jobs use it. So the bridge should say that learning a coding language is worth it, because so many jobs need coding. “Occupational fields” are types of jobs.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. “May be difficult, but” sets up a contrast about how hard coding is. Neither paragraph talks about that.
- B fits. “Learning a coding language” looks back at paragraph 2. “Because” gives the reason it is useful, and paragraph 3 then shows that reason with examples.
- C does not fit. It is only about higher salaries, the last point in paragraph 3. It doesn’t link back to paragraph 2.
- D does not fit. The passage never says programming is “its own unique field.” That contrast connects to nothing.
Choose the answer
Watch out: A starts with the same words as B. Admitting that something is hard also sounds like a good essay move. Sentence 20 even says coding “can seem challenging.” But that comes at the very end, and paragraphs 2 and 3 never mention it. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong answer. It shares B’s first words and its whole ending. Only the middle is different. A sets difficulty against importance, but neither paragraph is about difficulty. B tells why learning the language from paragraph 2 matters. Then paragraph 3 backs that up with examples of jobs.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Cracking the Code” as printed (page 40)
