Text Structure and Purpose

SAT Reading and Writing· difficulty 4/5

Discussions of historical climate change often focus on temperature averages. Climatologist Hannah Berg argues that this focus obscures the most consequential changes for societies of the past: shifts in the seasonality and reliability of rainfall, which had far greater effects on agricultural success than modest swings in mean temperature.

Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the text?

  • A

    It restates the conventional focus introduced in the first sentence.

  • B

    It redirects attention from temperature averages to rainfall variability as the more consequential variable.

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  • C

    It defines the term 'mean temperature'.

  • D

    It refutes the existence of historical climate change.

Explanation

Berg redirects the spotlight from temperature to rainfall reliability. B captures this redirective move.

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