Improving Paragraphs
Passage:
- (1) In the last fifty years, computers in many forms have become increasingly accessible. (2) For example, today the calculator is regarded as an essential tool for basic calculations by students and business people. (3) Word processing is considered indispensable by most writers, researchers, and office workers. (4) In addition, many families use computers to organize information, to balance budgets, and to provide entertainment.
Question: Which of the following would be the most suitable sentence to insert immediately after sentence 1?
- (A) The race is on to produce the "ultimate" computer.
- (B) I have found the computer somewhat difficult to learn to operate.
- (C) Many people are understandably intimidated by computers.
- (D) They are now so common that they have a profound effect on daily life. CORRECT ANSWER
- (E) Modern telephones belong to the family of computers.
Explanation:
This question asks you to recognize that sentence (1) does not adequately introduce the examples described in sentences (2), (3), and (4). The examples do more than illustrate how "increasingly accessible" computers have become; they point out how indispensable and widespread the use of computers has become. The only choice that expresses this idea is choice (D). The correct paragraph reads:
- In the last fifty years, computers in many forms have become increasingly accessible. They are now so common that they have a profound effect on daily life. For example, today the calculator is regarded as an essential tool for basic calculations by students and businesspeople. Word processing is considered indispensable by most writers, researchers, and office workers. In addition, many families use computers to organize information, to balance budgets, and to provide entertainment.