Passage The Local Library
The Local Library
(1) According to a 2015 survey, more than two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone, which means that obtaining information or communicating with people is easier than ever before. (2) With the swipe of a finger, the tap of an icon, or a verbal command, people have instant access to articles, blogs, news, and social networking websites. (3) Even with all these immediately available sources of information, one of the best resources for many members of the community also happens to be one of the oldest. (4) The public library is a great place for people to get information.
(5) The public library serves a truly critical role in promoting community. (6) With the explosion of digital media in recent years, people in different locations can now communicate almost instantaneously. (7) And yet many people complain of feeling more isolated and alone than ever before. (8) The library stands in a rare position to help community members meet this universal need for human connection and companionship.
(9) Furthermore, libraries provide certain amenities, such as access to the Internet, for free to all people. (10) A student who does not have a computer at home can research and type a paper for school. (11) Similarly, an unemployed adult without access to the Internet can make use of library resources to find job opportunities. (12) The free items that are found at the library can help people get a lot done.
(13) Public libraries also offer a variety of resources to community members. (14) One important resource is the local librarian, who does far more than check out books and collect fines. (15) Other library resources include free or low-cost tutoring and training programs. (16) Additionally, lectures, book groups, and town meetings promote critical thinking and community engagement. (17) A typical librarian holds a master’s degree and can help library patrons navigate through the flood of information available in print and on the Internet.
(18) The hallmark of a public library is that its materials and services are accessible to all. (19) The library connects people to a network of information and resources and is an important part of a community.
Question
Which revision of sentence 12 best maintains the formal style established in the passage?
- AThe free resources available at the library can help people accomplish many tasks.
- BAll the free materials you can get at the library can help you do many different tasks.
- CEverything that is free at the library can help people work on a lot of different things.
- DThe free resources you can find at the library can help you do whatever you need to do.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks for the revision of sentence 12 that best maintains the formal style established in the passage.
Option A correctly maintains the formal style by using “people” instead of “you” and the more formal language “resources available” and “accomplish many tasks.”
Option B is incorrect because it uses second person, directly addressing the reader, which is informal.
Option C is incorrect because, even though it does not use second person, it uses informal language like “work on” and “things.”
Option D is incorrect because it uses the informal phrase “whatever you need to do” in addition to informally addressing the reader through the use of second person.
Question analysis
This style question asks students to revise a casual sentence about the free items at a public library so it fits the essay’s formal tone. Students compare four rewrites for word choice and for the way each one speaks to the reader. It tests whether students can hear the difference between conversational and academic writing.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Keeping a formal style is introduced in grade 6 writing, and this item tests it in one sentence with clear signals of casual language. Typical grade 7 style work asks for subtler choices of precise, content-specific words.
- Estimated difficulty
- Routine: one familiar step, little to misread.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 341 words; question and choices: about grade 8, 78 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
Sentence 12, with “free items” and “get a lot done,” sounds casual next to the essay’s survey figures and phrases like “certain amenities,” and two of the rewrites slip into addressing the reader as “you.” Most students hear that at once. The one rewrite that avoids “you” but stays vague is where careful readers can still be caught, since they stop checking once the pronoun test is passed.
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
The rewrite saying free things “can help people work on a lot of different things” matches the right one’s “can help people accomplish many tasks” in structure and pronoun; only the casual wording separates them. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Something you must already know minor Working it out
Students must already know the conventions of formal writing: no second-person “you,” and precise wording such as “accomplish many tasks” instead of “get a lot done.” (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Reread a sentence or two around sentence 12 to hear the essay’s voice, then check each rewrite for whom it addresses and for casual or vague wording.
Traps
- Wordy, vague or informal: A revision is grammatical but wordy, imprecise or too casual for the passage.
The wrong answers, classified
B Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Sounds tidy and keeps the idea, but speaks to the reader directly with “you can get” and “help you,” second person that the essay’s formal voice never uses.
C Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Passes the pronoun test by using “people,” but keeps the vague, casual wording “everything that is free” and “a lot of different things.”
D Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Is drawn by the formal-sounding “resources” it shares with the right rewrite, overlooking the second person and the chatty “whatever you need to do.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need to rewrite sentence 12 so it sounds formal, like the rest of the essay. Formal style is the careful way you would write a school report.
Learn the signs of formal style
Formal writing follows two simple rules.
- It does not talk to the reader as “you.” Talking to “you” is called second person.
- It uses exact words, not casual ones like a lot, stuff or things.
Casual: You can get tons of stuff there.
Formal: Visitors can find many useful materials there.Find the problem in sentence 12
Sentence 12 says: “The free items that are found at the library can help people get a lot done.” The phrase “get a lot done” is casual. The rest of the essay uses careful words like “amenities” and “resources.” It never says “you.”
Check each choice
- A is right. It uses “people,” not “you.” It uses exact words: “resources available” and “accomplish many tasks.”
- B is wrong. It says “you can get” and “help you.” That talks to the reader.
- C is wrong. It uses “people,” but it keeps casual words: “everything” and “a lot of different things.”
- D is wrong. It uses “you” and the chatty “whatever you need to do.”
Watch out: C passes the “you” test, so it looks safe. But its words are still casual.
Choose the answer
To accomplish a task means to get it done. A says the same thing as sentence 12, but in formal words. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer. Like A, it uses “people” and says the free things “can help.” The difference is the last few words. “Work on a lot of different things” is vague and casual. “Accomplish many tasks” is exact and formal, so A matches the essay’s style.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “The Local Library” as printed (page 120)
