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 sentence would best follow sentence 13 and support the ideas in the third paragraph (sentences 10–13)?
- AExperienced programmers, software engineers, and system administrators at large companies can earn well over $100,000 a year.
- BHospitals, physicians’ offices, and pharmaceutical companies are frequently looking to hire people who code to help with a variety of tasks.
- CMany companies are eager to hire employees who have experience in a specific industry as well as knowledge of basic coding.
- DAccording to a report from a job market analytics firm, almost half of today’s jobs paying more than $58,000 a year call for some level of coding ability.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which sentence would best follow sentence 13 and support the ideas in the third paragraph.
A. Incorrect. While this sentence provides an example of a high salary, which is mentioned in the paragraph (sentence 13), the reference to “Experienced programmers, software engineers, and system administrators at large companies” focuses on specific occupations that may use coding, as opposed to the range of diverse occupations discussed in the third paragraph.
B. Incorrect. While sentence 12 does mention coding skills in the medical field as an example, the information provided in this answer supports only that idea and not the other ideas expressed in the third paragraph.
C. Incorrect. This sentence generally discusses employers looking for two things: “experience in a specific industry” and “knowledge of basic coding.” The third paragraph, however, discusses the possibilities of using coding skills in a variety of occupations. The words “experience in a specific industry” do not connect to the idea the paragraph develops.
D. CORRECT. This sentence provides specific evidence of the job market favoring potential employees who have coding ability. It supports what is stated in sentence 13, that “jobs that require coding skills are typically higher paying.”
Question analysis
This supporting-details question asks which sentence would best follow sentence 13 of “Cracking the Code,” which says jobs requiring coding skills tend to pay more, and support the ideas of the third paragraph. All four options are plausible facts about coding and work, from salaries to hiring, so students must judge which one backs up the paragraph as a whole.
- NYS standards
- 7W1b supporting claims with evidence
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Choosing relevant evidence for a claim is grade 7 argument work. Here all four options are believable facts about coding and jobs, and the best one must fit both sentence 13 and the paragraph’s larger point, a finer judgment than usual.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- How sentences fit together moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 10, 357 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 100 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
The paragraph makes two claims, that coding matters in many fields and that coding jobs pay more, and the best addition must serve both while following the sentence about pay. The $100,000 figure is the main trap, since it seems to back the pay claim but turns attention to computing careers, the opposite of the paragraph’s point. The hospital and industry-experience options each touch one idea of the paragraph and drift away from the rest.
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
All four options are believable facts about coding and work, two of them with salary figures, so each must be tested against sentence 13’s pay comparison and sentence 10’s claim about many fields. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
The added sentence comes right after sentence 13, so it should carry on the point that coding jobs pay more while still serving the paragraph’s opening claim that coding matters in many occupations. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
Seeing why the job-market statistic fits takes a step of reasoning: if almost half of jobs paying over $58,000 call for coding, coding is both widespread and tied to better pay. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Restate sentence 10 and sentence 13 in your own words, then ask of each option whether it is evidence for what those two sentences claim, not just a fact on the same topic.
Traps
- 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 Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Matches sentence 13’s talk of pay with a striking salary, but it turns to computing careers such as software engineering instead of the many fields the paragraph describes, and compares nothing.
B Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Extends sentence 12’s point about doctors to hospitals and drug companies, but it backs only the medical example and says nothing about pay, so it does not build on sentence 13.
C Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Sees support for coding’s value in companies wanting “knowledge of basic coding,” but the sentence adds a second demand, experience in one industry, which the paragraph never discusses.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need a sentence to add after sentence 13. It must support the third paragraph. To support means to give evidence: facts that back up a point. So first find the paragraph’s points. Then test each choice against them.
Find the paragraph’s two points
Sentence 10 says “Coding skills are becoming important in many occupational fields.” That means many kinds of jobs. Sentences 11 and 12 give examples: the stock market and doctors. Sentence 13 says “Jobs that require coding skills are typically higher paying.” So the paragraph makes two points. Coding matters in many kinds of jobs. And jobs that need coding tend to pay more.
Test each choice against both points
- A gives a big salary. But it names only computer jobs, like programmers and software engineers. The paragraph is about coding in many other fields.
- B is only about hospitals and drug companies. It repeats the doctor example and says nothing about pay.
- C brings in a new idea: “experience in a specific industry.” The paragraph never talks about that, and C says nothing about pay.
- D says “almost half of today’s jobs paying more than $58,000 a year call for some level of coding ability.”
See why D supports both points
D is about jobs that pay well, so it backs up sentence 13 on pay. It also says almost half of those jobs need some coding. Half of all well-paying jobs covers many kinds of work, not just computer jobs. That backs up sentence 10. D also names where its facts come from, a report, which makes it stronger evidence.
Choose the answer
Watch out: A is the most tempting. Its $100,000 salary seems to match sentence 13. But of course computer experts need coding. That doesn’t show that coding matters in other fields. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong answer, since it talks about high pay. But it is about programmers and other computer jobs. The paragraph’s point is that coding helps in many fields beyond computers. D shows that almost half of all well-paying jobs call for some coding. It supports both the pay and the many fields.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Cracking the Code” as printed (page 40)
