The following text is adapted from Charles Chesnutt’s 1899 short story “Mars Jeems’s Nightmare.” The narrator and his wife
have recently moved to the southern United States, and Julius is their carriage driver.
Julius [was] very useful when we moved to our new residence. He had a thorough knowledge of the neighborhood, was
familiar with the roads and the watercourses, knew the qualities of the various soils and what they would produce, and
where the best hunting and ﬁshing were to be had. He was a marvelous hand in the management of horses and dogs.
To compare the narrator’s reaction to a new home with his wife’s reaction
To give an example of Julius’s knowledge about soil
To show that the narrator and Julius often hunt and ﬁsh together
To explain different ways in which Julius was helpful
Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text, which is to explain different
ways in which Julius was helpful. The text begins with the narrator stating that Julius was very helpful to him and his wife
when they moved to their new residence. The narrator then provides a list of examples to illustrate Julius’s helpfulness. For
instance, the narrator states that Julius was familiar with the neighborhood’s roads, which suggests that he was helpful in
navigating them, and that Julius helped manage the horses and dogs. The text’s many examples of Julius’s usefulness
reinforce just how helpful he was and in how many different ways.
Choice A is incorrect because the text doesn’t portray either the narrator’s or his wife’s reaction to their new home. Rather,
the text focuses on how Julius was useful to the narrator and his wife in their new home. Choice B is incorrect. Although the
text states that Julius was knowledgeable about the soil, this is one of several supporting details that illustrate how helpful
Julius was. Moreover, the text merely states that Julius was knowledgeable about soil; it doesn’t provide an example of that
knowledge. Choice C is incorrect because there’s nothing in the text to suggest the frequency with which the narrator and
Julius hunted and ﬁshed together. In fact, it’s unclear from the text whether the narrator and Julius hunted and ﬁshed
together at all. The text merely indicates that Julius knew the best places to hunt and ﬁsh—a detail that supports the text’s
main purpose by conveying Julius’s usefulness.