In Praxis Core Reading, some questions will ask you to analyze the personal approach that an author takes to his or her writing. You will be asked about the author’s decisions and methods. These questions on the art of writing are referred to as craft questions in the official Study Companion for the Praxis Core Reading test.
There are two varieties of craft question on the Core Reading exam. One type of question focuses on the author’s opinion—judgements the author is making about the subject matter. The other kind of craft question examines the author’s attitude, or the emotions that authors feel regarding the ideas they write about.
In this post, we’ll look at a practice Core Reading passage, followed by two practice craft questions, one author opinion question and one author attitude question.
Passage
Daylight Saving’s Time (DST), was originally introduced in the nineteenth century. The goal of DST was to save money on lighting costs by changing the clocks so that workers always labored during daylight hours. At its inception, DST was an answer to the world’s newfound need for punctuality and efficiency. Today, however, many problems arise from this practice of moving timetables an hour forward in the spring and an hour back in the fall.
In twenty-first century commuting situations, this policy can cause traffic accidents. The University of Colorado-Boulder found that car accidents spike in late March, after clocks are set one hour forward for spring Daylight Savings Time. The reason appears to be poor sleep. Hard working commuters have trouble recovering from the lost hour of sleep that comes with the time change, and they are less alert as they drive to work.
DST practices can also lead to scheduling problems for multinational companies. Not all countries observe Daylight Savings Time. As a result, the time differences between international business offices is not consistent over the course of a year. For example, Lima has the same clock time as Chicago from March to November. But from December through February, it is one hour later in Peru than it is in Illinois. These differences create a lot of confusion. Missed phone appointments and hastily rescheduled conference calls are very common when some parts of the world make a DST clock change while other parts do not.
Core Reading practice question: author opinion
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It can be inferred that the author of this passage views the nineteenth century “goal of DST” as
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A) ill-conceived, but beneficial in the long run
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B) interesting, but impractical
C) not cost efficient, because it failed to reduce the use of lighting
D) outdated and in need of reconsideration
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E) useful in some countries, but not in others
Core Reading practice question: author attitude
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The author’s attitude toward the modern benefits of Daylights Savings Time can best be described as one of
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A) optimism
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B) outrage
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C) skepticism
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D) embarrassment
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E) uncertainty
Answer key
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1) D
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2) C
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