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Difficulty: MediumPrimary Purpose of the Whole Text

Prior to the widespread adoption of the electric telegraph in the mid-nineteenth century, newspaper articles in the United States typically followed a chronological narrative style, rich with descriptive detail and authorial commentary. However, because early telegraph transmissions were both costly and prone to frequent service interruptions, reporters using the technology were forced to compress their stories, transmitting the most critical facts first. This technological limitation gave rise to the "inverted pyramid" format of journalism, which prioritizes the who, what, where, and when in the opening paragraph. Although some contemporary critics argued that this shift stripped news writing of its literary merit, the efficiency and clarity of the inverted pyramid style ultimately established it as the dominant convention of modern news reporting.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

  1. A
    To argue that the electric telegraph was the most significant invention of the nineteenth century.
  2. B
    To detail the specific technological flaws and transmission failures of early electric telegraphs.
  3. To explain how a technological development led to a fundamental change in journalistic writing style.Answer
  4. D
    To contrast the literary merit of mid-nineteenth-century news reporting with that of modern journalism.

Answer

To explain how a technological development led to a fundamental change in journalistic writing style.
The correct answer identifies the primary objective of the text. The passage describes how the technological constraints of the electric telegraph (such as transmission costs and line interruptions) prompted reporters to change how they structured their articles, giving rise to the modern 'inverted pyramid' format. Thus, the text as a whole serves to explain how this technological development shaped journalistic style.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the structure of the passage.
The passage establishes a baseline (pre-telegraph chronological news), introduces a technological constraint (costly and unreliable telegraph lines), explains the resulting change (inverted pyramid structure), and describes the final outcome (the new style becoming the modern standard).
Understanding the structural flow of the text helps identify what the author is trying to achieve overall.
2
Distinguish between the primary purpose and supporting details.
Details about telegraph costs, transmission failures, and critics' opinions are present to support the main narrative of how news writing evolved, not to stand as the main focus themselves.
This prevents selecting choices that focus too narrowly on single parts of the text.
3
Evaluate the choices against the overall focus of the passage.
The option stating that the purpose is to explain how a technological development led to a change in journalistic style directly summarizes the transition from chronological writing to the inverted pyramid format caused by the telegraph.
This confirms the correct option represents the whole text rather than a single section.

Key Concept

Identifying the primary purpose of a passage as a whole by distinguishing main arguments from supporting details.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Primary Purpose of the Whole Text

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