Identify and Describe Writer/Speaker Practice Test

Read the following excerpt and answer the question.

In my lab, we don’t get to call a result “promising” unless it survives replication. That is why I’m uneasy watching supplement companies borrow the language of clinical science to sell certainty. The ads cite “studies,” but rarely mention that the sample sizes are tiny, the outcomes are self-reported, and the funding comes from the manufacturer. In the meta-analysis my team published last year, the average effect of the most popular “brain boost” ingredient was statistically indistinguishable from placebo once publication bias was corrected. None of this means nutrition is irrelevant; it means the evidence is more modest than the marketing. If lawmakers want to protect consumers, they should require clearer labeling, pre-market disclosure of adverse events, and penalties for claims that imply disease treatment without FDA approval. The public deserves skepticism that is rigorous, not cynical.

The passage suggests that the writer is…

Read the following excerpt and answer the question.

As the city’s lead civil engineer for stormwater, I’m used to being blamed for rain. After last summer’s flood, residents demanded we “fix the drains,” as if water politely disappears when a pipe is widened. Our own gauges show the problem is not merely capacity but pavement: in the Maple–King corridor, impervious surface has increased 31% since 2005, while peak rainfall events have become both heavier and more frequent. We can keep digging bigger tunnels, but that is the most expensive way to chase a moving target. Green infrastructure—bioswales, permeable sidewalks, tree trenches—costs less per block and reduces runoff where it starts. Critics call it “beautification,” yet the pilot on 8th Street cut ponding complaints by half and lowered maintenance calls. If council wants fewer basement floods, it should treat soil and trees as infrastructure, not decoration.

The passage suggests that the writer is…