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Difficulty: MediumPart-to-Whole Rhetorical Function

In the 1920s, researchers at the Hawthorne Works telephone factory near Chicago conducted studies to determine if altering workplace illumination levels would affect worker productivity. They observed that productivity increased not only when lighting was improved but also when it was dimmed. This perplexing finding led the researchers to conclude that the workers were not responding to physical changes in their environment. Instead, the temporary increase in output was driven by the psychological effect of receiving attention from the observers. This phenomenon, now known as the Hawthorne Effect, remains a foundational concept in industrial psychology.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

  1. It reports a specific observation that serves as the foundation for the explanation introduced later in the passage.Answer
  2. B
    It states the overarching conclusion of the study that the passage as a whole seeks to defend.
  3. C
    It details the physical changes in illumination that the factory owners implemented prior to the study.
  4. D
    It outlines a theoretical hypothesis that the researchers rejected before gathering evidence.

Answer

It reports a specific observation that serves as the foundation for the explanation introduced later in the passage.
The correct option is correct because the underlined sentence describes the specific finding—that productivity increased under both improved and dimmed lighting—which serves as the empirical basis for the researchers' subsequent conclusion that productivity was driven by psychological rather than physical factors.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the passage structure and identify the role of each sentence.
The first sentence introduces the study's setup. The second (underlined) sentence reports a specific outcome: productivity increased in both brighter and dimmer conditions. The subsequent sentences explain this outcome as a psychological reaction (the Hawthorne Effect) rather than a physical one.
Understanding the logical progression of the passage is necessary to determine how the underlined part relates to the whole.
2
Evaluate how the underlined sentence functions in relation to the sentences that follow it.
The underlined sentence presents the unexpected finding that directly prompts and forms the basis for the explanation (the Hawthorne Effect) detailed in the rest of the passage.
This establishes the logical connection between the part (the observation) and the whole (the development of the explanation).

Key Concept

Part-to-Whole Rhetorical Function
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Topics

Part-to-Whole Rhetorical Function

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