Use Syntactical Structures Strategically Practice Test

Read the following excerpt from a school-board op-ed about smartphone restrictions. In one semester at Lincoln High, administrators recorded 312 phone-related disruptions, and teachers reported that “quick checks” often became five-minute detours. The author argues that a campus-wide phone ban during class is not punitive but protective: it creates a default of attention rather than a constant negotiation. Not because teenagers are uniquely irresponsible, not because teachers crave control, not because technology is evil—but because learning requires sustained, undivided presence.

The author's use of the bolded sentence structure primarily serves to…

Read the following excerpt from a letter to the editor about local journalism and answer the question.

When the last newsroom downtown shrank to two reporters, we didn’t just lose articles; we lost witnesses. City council meetings still happen, contracts still get signed, and zoning decisions still reshape neighborhoods, but fewer people are paid to sit through the hours and translate them for the rest of us. Social media fills the gap with outrage, not verification, because outrage is cheap and verification is slow. No reporter, no records request; no records request, no documents; no documents, no accountability. It is tempting to call this “the new normal,” yet the normal we should want is scrutiny. Subscribing is not charity. It is civic maintenance.

The author's use of the bolded sentence structure primarily serves to…