IXL | Identify and analyze text structures

Read the text.

A program in Mexico tried to get people to use less electricity. This program had mixed results. The program paid people to replace old refrigerators and air conditioners with new ones. The new machines used less power. So, the new refrigerators led to less electricity use. However, since the new air conditioners worked better than the old air conditioners, people used them more. For this reason, people actually used more electricity with the new air conditioners.

Which text structure does the text use?

cause-effect

descriptive

sequential

ref_doc_title.

Learn with an example

question

Read the text.

Electric cars may seem like a new invention, but they're not. The first electric car was built in 1837! Around fifty years later, a French scientist designed a better kind of battery, and electric cars became popular. By the early 1900s, many cities had electric taxis and streetcars. Then, around the 1920s, gas became cheaper than it was before. Gas-powered cars started to take over. It wasn't until the 1990s that many people began to think about electric cars again.

Which text structure does the text use?

descriptive

compare-contrast

sequential

key idea

Writers can organize their ideas in different ways. These ways of organizing writing are called text

structures.

Different text structures are good for different kinds of tasks. When you can tell how a text is organized, it can help you understand the author's purpose for writing it.

Text structure	Where you might find it	Words and phrases to look for
A descriptive structure tells you a list of details about an object, scene, or topic.	a paragraph about what Tyrannosaurus Rex looked like	large, small, old, new, rough, smooth, near, far, many, few
A sequential structure tells you about events that happen in a certain order.	a recipe for how to make a blueberry pie	first, second, next, before, during, until, after, then, finally
A cause-effect structure shows the causes and the effects, or results, of an event.	an essay about how recycling helps the environment	because, since, due to, reason, led to, as a result, so
A problem-solution structure explains a problem and offers possible solutions.	an article about ways to get more people to vote	issue, question, puzzle, answer, suggest, solve, fix
A compare-contrast structure shows how two (or more) things are the same or different.	a chapter about the differences between whales and sharks	like, too, both, same, common, as well as, unlike, on the other hand, while, instead, different, however

solution

This text uses a sequential structure.

In the text, certain words and phrases help to organize ideas in a sequential structure. Notice the words

later,

then,

and

until,

plus clear times and dates like in

1837,

by the early

1900s,

and the

1990s:

Electric cars may seem like a new invention, but they're not. The first electric car was built in

1837!

Around fifty years

later,

a French scientist designed a better kind of battery, and electric cars became popular. By the early

1900s,

many cities had electric taxis and streetcars.

Then,

around the 1920s, gas became cheaper than it was before. Gas-powered cars started to take over. It wasn't until the 1990s that many people began to think about electric cars again.

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Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

F.1Determine the order of events in informational texts

F.2Compare and contrast in informational texts

F.3Match causes and effects in informational texts

F.4Match problems with their solutions

L.6Identify and analyze text structures

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