Question

read the passage from sugar changed the world. indians were supposed to work seven hours each day, and to be paid a set fee for each day’s work. but the planters instead preferred to pay by the “task”—they insisted that they wouldn’t pay a worker until he had completed a specific job. of course the owner would pick a job that took much more than seven hours, so a worker’s day stretched from sunup to sundown. bechu showed that this was illegal and unfair. “there are lots of indentured men who work by time and have drivers at their backs all day long.” yet, even then, they “do not earn” the amount specified in their contracts. several planters wrote back to the paper, furious at the suggestion that they were cheating the coolies. the letters were black with rage—at the indian who dared to speak up and question the ethics of englishmen. when a commission was convened in 1897 to investigate the what is the authors’ purpose in this passage? ○ to inform the reader about the daily routines and tasks of workers on the sugar plantations ○ to inform the reader about bechu’s role in proving that the plantation owners’ tactics were illegal ○ to inform the reader that certain jobs on the plantation took too long to be finished in one day ○ to inform the reader that bechu was powerless over his bosses, despite sharing his evidence

Explanation:

The passage describes how plantation owners used a "task" - based payment system to make workers work longer hours, and Bechu showed this was illegal. The key here is to identify the authors' purpose. Option A is incorrect as the passage isn't mainly about daily routines. Option C is wrong because the focus isn't on jobs taking too long. Option D is incorrect as Bechu was not powerless in showing the illegality (he proved it). Option B correctly states that the authors want to inform about Bechu's role in proving the plantation owners' tactics were illegal.

Answer:

B. to inform the reader about Bechu’s role in proving that the plantation owners’ tactics were illegal