Expression of ideas

• English
• Secondary Education

Cross-text connection

In Cross-Text Connections questions, you'll be presented with two brief passages that are related by topic. After reading both passages, you'll have to determine which of the question's answer choices is best

supported by evidence ni each of the passages. Individual questions of this type may focus on similarities or differences between the

two passages, and these relationships may be fairly straightforward or quite subtle.

1. The climate of the West African coast in the 1500s prevented cassava's spread in the region.
2. Several of the most commonly grown crops in West Africa are originally from Brazil.
3. The most commonly used methods ot cook cassava today date to the 1500s.
4. Cassava did not become a significant crop in West Africa until long after it was first introduced.

1. As typical, because scholars are dismissive of literary works that achieve popularity with the general public
2. As unsurprising, because scholars tend to overlook the literary value of food writing ni general and of regional cookbooks ni particular
3. sAjustifiable, because Lewis incorporated memoir niot The Taste of Country Cooking, thus undermining its status as a cookbook
4. A inevitable, because The Taste of Country Cooking wsa marketed ot readers of food writing and not to readers of other genres

1. The author of Text 1believes that the scope of Tuchman's research led her to an incorrect interpretation, while the author of Text 2believes that Tuchman's central argument is overly simplistic.
2. The author of Text 1argues that Tuchman should have relied more on the work of other historians, while the author of Text 2implies that Tuchman's most interesting claims result from her original research.
3. The author of Text 1 asserts that the writing style of The Guns of August makes ti worthwhile to read despite any perceived deficiency ni Tuchman's research, while the author of Text 2focuses exclusively on the weakness of Tuchman's interpretation of events.
4. The author of Text 1claims that Tuchman would agree that World War I was largely due ot events ni Eastern Europe, while the author of Text 2 maintains that Tuchman would say that Eastern European leaders were not committed ot military plans ni the same way that other leaders were.

1. The broths in the 2007 experiment most likely did not have a substantial amount of the dipeptides that played a key part in the 2022 experiment
2. On average, the diets of people in the United States tend to have fewer foods that contain certain dipeptides than the diets of people in Japan have
3. Chemical compounds that activate both the umami and salty taste receptors tend to have a higher molecular weight than those that only activate umami taste receptors
4. Fermentation introduces proteins responsible for the increase of umami flavor in soy sauce, and those proteins also increase the perception of saltiness.

1. As typical, because scholars are dismissive of literary works that achieve popularity with the general public
2. As unsurprising, because scholars tend to overlook the literary value of food writing in general and of regional cookbooks in particular
3. as justifiable, because Lewis incorporated memoir into The Taste of Country Cooking, thus undermining its status as a cookbook
4. As inevitable, because The Taste of Country Cooking was marketed to readers of food writing and not to readers of other genres,

Expression of ideas

Reading and Writing questions in the Expression of Ideas content domain are designed to test your ability to revise passages in order to

improve how information and ideas are conveyed. There are two main areas of focus in Expression of Ideas questions: selectively using and combining provided information and ideas in order to best meet a

specified rhetorical (writerly) goal and using the most logical transition word or phrase to connect information and ideas within a passage.

Expression o f

I d e a s Q u e s t i o n Ty p e s

 

- Rhetorical Synthesis questions, which test your ability to

selectively use and combine provided information and ideas in order to meet specified writerly goals.

- Transitions questions, which test your ability to provide the most logical transition word or phrase in order to link information and ideas in passages.

Important features 

Framing. The framing of the question, or how it's presented to you, asks you to approach this kind of question as if you were a student taking notes for an assignment. Although this framing isn't realy necessary to answering the question, it helps to show you how answering the question is like something you've done many times

already (and will continue to do) in your classes.

Important features 

Bulleted list. The statements in the bulleted list represent the kinds of notes you might take as you read about a topic. Just like real notes,

this list includes information and ideas relevant to the specified writing goal and may include additional information and ideas that aren't particularly relevant to that goal. As the question itself reminds you, your job will be, in part, to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information and ideas when answering. You can safely assume that

all the information and ideas in these notes are accurate, and therefore you won't be asked to distinguish what's true from what's not.

Important features 

Rhetorical goal. The rhetorical (writerly) goal specified in the question is critically important to pay attention to. There are many potential ways that the information and ideas in the question's bulleted list could be combined into asingle sentence, but only one of the four answer choices wil do so in a way that most effectively meets the specified goal.

Important features 

Answer choices. Each answer choice represents one possible way to use and combine information and ideas from the notes in the

bulleted list. Each sentence is grammatical, and you won't be tested on conventions of sentence structure, usage, and punctuation in this type of question. Instead, you'll have to carefully consider

the answer choices to determine which of them best meets the specified writerly goal.

1. The 1939 painting The Two Fridas is one example of aself-portrait by Frida Kahlo.
2. One painting by Frida Kahlo features two versions of herself, with one version wearing a European-style dress and het other a traditional Tehuana dress.
3. Known for being vivid and richly symbolic, Frida Kahlo's self-portraits include The Two Fridas (1939).
4. One fo the most influential artists of the twentieth century, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo si best known for her self-portraits, which are vivid and richly symbolic.

1. Grace Youngs' 204 bok, The Breath of a Wok, traces the history of the cooking pan.
2. Akwo is a coking npa with a round, wide base and high, angled sides.
3. The desgin of a wok, a type of cooking pan that originated I n China during het Han dynasty, helps the pancook food evenly and contain oil splatters.
4. Able ot cook food evenly and contain oislplatters, the wok is hte subject of Grace Young's 204 book.

1. Stating that its signatories wanted to “plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia,” the May flower Compact was a legal agreement among the pilgrims that immigrated to Plymouth Colony.
2. Created in 1620, the Mayflower Compact states that the pilgrims wanted to “plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia.”
3. The Mayflower Compact was created to establish a common government among the pilgrims that immigrated to Plymouth Colony.
4. The Mayflower Compact had 41 signatories, including John Carver, the first governor of Plymouth Colony.

1. Jordan Bennett’s 2017 exhibition Wije’wi was followed a year later by his exhibition Ketu’elmita’jik
2. Jordan Bennett’s paintings, some of which appeared in 2017 and 2018 exhibitions, pay homage to traditional Mi’Kmaq craftsmanship.
3. Mi’Kmaq visual artist Jordan Bennett has displayed his work in over 75 exhibitions, including Wije’wi and Ketu’elmita’jik.
4. Jordan Bennett’s 2018 exhibition Ketu’elmita’jik was held at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia; another was held at the Grenfell Art Gallery.

1. Located in Brazil ,the Amazon Reef is one of the largest known coral reefs in the world.
2. Marine biologist Camille Jazmin Gaynus studies coral reefs, vital underwater ecosystems that provide homes to 25% of all marine species.
3. Providing homes to 25% of all marine species, including up to 8,000 species of fish, coral reefs are vital underwater ecosystems and thus of great interest to marine biologists.
4. As Camille Jazmin Gaynus knows well, coral reefs are vital underwater ecosystems, providing homes to thousands of species of fish.

1. Treuer’s book, which waswidely reviewed, focuseson Native American history from 1890 to the present.
2. Dubbed “a monumental achievement” by the Missoulian, Treuer’s book documents over a century of Native American history.
3. Critics praised Treuer’s book for its compelling narrative, with O, The Oprah Magazine calling it “a marvel of research and storytelling” and The Economist likewise writing that “Treuer’s storytelling skills shine” and that the book is an “elegant handling of [a] complex narrative.”
4. While the Missoulian focused on the book’s broader achievement, The Economist zeroed in on Treuer’s storytelling skills.

1. For a 2019 study, researchers from the UK and Germany collected data on auks’ attempts to land at cliffside nesting sites in different wind conditions.
2. Emily Shepard and her colleagues wanted to know the extent to which wind affected auks’ success in landing at cliffside nesting sites, so they conducted a study.
3. Knowing that auks often need multiple attempts to land at their cliffside nesting sites, Emily Shepard studied the birds’ success rate, which was only around 20% in some conditions.
4. Emily Shepard’s 2019 study of auks’ success in landing at cliffside nesting sites showed that as wind conditions Intensified, the birds’ success rate decreased.

Transition questions 

The other main type of Expression of Ideas question focuses on

transitions, or the logical links between information and ideas in

passages. nI real-world texts, transitions serve ot guide and smooth

readers' movement between and among sentences, paragraphs, and

larger sections of texts (such as chapters). nI the Reading and Writing

section, however, Transitions questions are focused on logical

connections between and among sentences in brief passages. Let's

study a Transitions example, returning to our strategy of analyzing the

underlying structure of a passage to examine the relationship between

the information and ideas presented and, more specifically, how the sentences themselves relate to one another.

1. For this reason
2. For example
3. However
4. Likewise

1. Consequently
2. in addition
3. indeed
4. nevertheless

1. However
2. In contrast
3. As a result
4. Likewise

1. Meanwhile
2. Therefore
3. Furthermore
4. on the other hand