Let's practice what you have learned about text structures. Look at these three examples and see if you can identify the organizational pattern in each one. As you read, ask yourself, what is this about? What clues do you see to help you figure out the text structure that is used? Answer the question associated with each passage, and read the feedback carefully.
What organizational style does this passage use?
- comparative
- chronological
- problem and solution
- cause and effect
The transition tag first is your best clue to this organizational pattern.
The transition tag first is your best clue to this organizational pattern.
The transition tag first is your best clue to this organizational pattern.
The transition tag first is your best clue to this organizational pattern.
What organizational pattern does this passage use?
- comparative
- problem and solution
- descriptive
- cause and effect
This excerpt includes details that help readers imagine the topic.
This excerpt includes details that help readers imagine the topic.
This excerpt includes details that help readers imagine the topic.
This excerpt includes details that help readers imagine the topic.
What organizational pattern does this passage use?
- chronological
- descriptive
- cause and effect
- problem-solution
This excerpt explains the damage done to Mt. Everest by tourism and suggests a way to fix the damage.
This excerpt explains the damage done to Mt. Everest by tourism and suggests a way to fix the damage.
This excerpt explains the damage done to Mt. Everest by tourism and suggests a way to fix the damage.
This excerpt explains the damage done to Mt. Everest by tourism and suggests a way to fix the damage.
Summary
Questions answered correctly:
Questions answered incorrectly:
from A Brief History of Mapmaking
Mapmaking, or cartography, has come a long way since early humans first scratched out the shapes of hills and rivers on cave walls. How did we get from primitive cave paintings to digital satellite maps? Geographical exploration, scientific progress, and new technology all have played important roles in our progress.
Mapmaking in the Middle East
People first began to measure and record land distances in ancient Egypt and Babylonia (now known as Iraq). These cultures developed the first techniques for determining the distances and angles between points on the earth. With the help of these measurements, ancient Egyptians and Babylonians were able to draw more accurate maps than ever before. A papyrus map from around 1160 BCE shows a detailed network of roads linking mountains east of the Nile River to the Egyptian mainland.
from Fireworks—Not Just the 4th of July
KER-BOOM! Is there anyone who doesn't love the sight and sound of fireworks on a warm summer night, as they fill the sky with eruptions of vibrant color and glorious pyrotechnics? Fireworks are a big part of many American celebrations, most notably Independence Day and New Year's Eve. But while these thunderous explosions of light and sound may seem as American as apple pie and baseball, their origins can be traced all the way to the other side of the world, to a time that predates the United States by almost two thousand years.
Save Mount Everest
The sheer number of people passing through the area each year is wreaking environmental havoc, too. Forests are suffering deforestation as more and more trees are cut down to provide fuel for climbing camps. Small villages along the path to the base camp can’t support the hundreds of extra people traveling through.
And then there is the trash–tons and tons of trash. It is piling up faster than it can be removed from the mountain. Environmental groups who have been working to clean up the mountain have reported finding empty oxygen bottles, abandoned tents, litter, human waste, and even parts of a crashed helicopter.
By closing the mountain to commercial climbing enterprises for five to ten years, proponents argue, the country of Nepal would have the time to build an infrastructure to support future climbing teams, including better roads, housing, and wastewater treatment facilities. During the closure, teams would be able to clear the mountain of trash without having more added to the mess, and the base camp could be cleared of the litter that hundreds of climbers have left behind each year.
