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Difficulty: MediumEstablishing Introductions and Thesis Statements

The following is an excerpt from a passage about the history of timekeeping in the United States.

[1]
____________________________. Before the late nineteenth century, towns and cities across the United States set their clocks by the sun, resulting in thousands of local times. For instance, noon in Chicago was several minutes different from noon in Milwaukee. This localized timekeeping caused massive confusion for the rapidly expanding railroad network, which required precise timetables to prevent train collisions and coordinate schedules.

[2]
To solve this problem, railroad companies implemented a system of four standard time zones in November 1883. Despite initial resistance from local governments that preferred "God's time," the efficiency of the railroad zones quickly won over the public, eventually leading Congress to pass the Standard Time Act of 1918.

Which choice most effectively introduces the paragraph and establishes the primary focus of the passage?

  1. A
    Standard time zones, which are now taken for granted by travelers, is crucial for coordinating modern global communication.
  2. B
    As railroads expanded across the country during the nineteenth century, they create a web of tracks that unified the nation.
  3. The transition to a standardized time system was driven primarily by the practical needs of the railroad industry.Answer
  4. D
    Many local governments resisted standardizing time; because they preferred to maintain their own civic pride.

Answer

The transition to a standardized time system was driven primarily by the practical needs of the railroad industry.
The correct choice stating that the transition to standardized time was driven by the railroad industry's practical needs is grammatically correct and sets up the primary focus of the passage. It introduces the main topics discussed: standardizing time (which is the subject of the paragraph's first sentence) and the railroad industry's role (which is explained in the rest of the first paragraph and the second paragraph).

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the main idea and structure of the passage.
The first paragraph discusses how local times based on the sun caused confusion for the expanding railroad network. The second paragraph describes how railroads implemented standard time zones to solve this problem.
An effective introduction must establish the primary focus of the entire passage, which is how the railroad industry led the standardization of time.
2
Evaluate the options for grammatical correctness.
Three options contain grammatical errors: one has a subject-verb agreement issue ('time zones... is'), one has a tense shift ('expanded... create'), and one has a semicolon separating a dependent clause ('time; because').
All ACT English choices must be grammatically correct.
3
Identify the grammatically correct option that best establishes the topic.
The option mentioning that the transition was driven by the practical needs of the railroad industry is grammatically correct and directly sets up both key themes of the passage: the standardized time system and the railroad industry.
This sentence logically transitions into the details about local sun-based times and railroad timetables.

Key Concept

Establishing an effective introduction or thesis statement requires selecting a sentence that is grammatically correct and introduces the main themes developed in the passage.
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Topics

Establishing Introductions and Thesis Statements

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