Author's Main Point Practice Test

In 2009, chef and writer Akiko Sato reflected in Broth and Memory: My grandmother insisted that miso soup should be made “by ear,” meaning you listen for the simmer that never quite becomes a boil. At first I dismissed this as superstition, preferring thermometers and timers, but then I noticed that the same batch tasted harsher when I rushed it. The difference wasn’t mystical: gentler heat kept the aromatics from turning bitter, and the tofu stayed intact instead of crumbling. I still measure when teaching beginners, yet I now understand the phrase as a lesson about attention, not about rejecting tools.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

In 1995, historian Mei Takahashi wrote in Maps That Persuade: A wartime government published a map showing enemy territory as a dark stain creeping toward the capital. At first glance the map seems like a neutral report of geography. Takahashi points out, however, that the cartographer enlarged certain regions, omitted distances between cities, and used arrows that implied inevitable invasion. She notes that readers later cited the map as evidence that rationing and censorship were necessary. Takahashi concludes that the map’s persuasive power came not from new facts but from design choices that shaped how citizens imagined threat.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?