Question

three years ago (or is it four? i know father’s one spasm of sociability was in 1931) a stepmother was presented to us. we were surprised. she is a famous artists’ model who claims to have been christened topaz even if this is true there is no law to make a woman stick to a name like that. she is very beautiful, with masses of hair so fair that it is almost white, and a quite extraordinary pallor. she uses no makeup, not even powder. there are two paintings of her in the tate gallery: one by macmorris, called topaz in jade, in which she wears a magnificent jade necklace; and one by h. j. allardy which shows her on an old horsehair covered sofa. this is called composition; but as allardy has painted her even paler than she is, decomposition would suit it better. actually, there is nothing unhealthy about topaz’s pallor; it simply makes her look as if she belonged to some new race. she has a very deep voice that is, she puts one on; it is part of an arty pose, which includes painting and lute playing. but her kindness is perfectly genuine and so is her cooking. i am very, very fond of her. it is nice to have written that just as she appears on the kitchen stairs. she is wearing her ancient orange tea gown. her pale, straight hair is flowing down her back to her waist. she paused on the top step and said ah, girls... with three velvety inflections on each word.

1. which text structure does the author use in the passage? *

10 points
a cause and effect
b descriptive
c problem solution
d compare and contrast

Explanation:

The passage focuses on describing the stepmother (Topaz), including her appearance (hair, pallor), her roles (artist's model), related paintings, her voice, kindness, cooking, and a scene of her on the kitchen stairs. It does not emphasize cause - effect relationships, problem - solution, or comparing/contrasting different things, so the text structure is descriptive.

Answer:

B. descriptive