Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it that a visitor who knows nothing can look again with more attention. Forty words is a common limit. What the label cannot do is explain how the object came to be in this room, and that silence is rarely accidental. An object acquired in the nineteenth century may have been bought, excavated, given, or taken, and the four are not always distinguishable in the records that survive. Curators who have tried to add this history to labels report a practical difficulty: the sentence that would be honest is longer than the sentence that fits, and a shortened version reads as either an accusation or an excuse. Some museums have moved the account off the label and onto a screen beside it, where length is cheap. Others argue that a visitor who does not seek out the screen learns nothing, and that the label itself is the only text most people read. The disagreement is not about whether the history matters. It is about how much of it a reader will accept standing up." What is the main purpose of this passage?

Setting out why the history of how an object was acquired is hard to put on a label, and what museums disagree about as a result.

Criticizing curators for deliberately concealing where objects came from.

Arguing that museums should return objects acquired in the nineteenth century.

Describing the rules that govern how long a museum label may be.

Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it that a visitor who knows nothing can look again with more attention. Forty words is a common limit. What the label cannot do is explain how the object came to be in this room, and that silence is rarely accidental. An object acquired in the nineteenth century may have been bought, excavated, given, or taken, and the four are not always distinguishable in the records that survive. Curators who have tried to add this history to labels report a practical difficulty: the sentence that would be honest is longer than the sentence that fits, and a shortened version reads as either an accusation or an excuse. Some museums have moved the account off the label and onto a screen beside it, where length is cheap. Others argue that a visitor who does not seek out the screen learns nothing, and that the label itself is the only text most people read. The disagreement is not about whether the history matters. It is about how much of it a reader will accept standing up." According to the passage, what must a museum label do?

Name the object, place it in time, and say enough that an uninformed visitor looks again more closely.

Persuade the visitor that the object deserves its place in the room.

Record which curator selected the object for display.

Explain the object's full history of ownership in under forty words.

Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it that a visitor who knows nothing can look again with more attention. Forty words is a common limit. What the label cannot do is explain how the object came to be in this room, and that silence is rarely accidental. An object acquired in the nineteenth century may have been bought, excavated, given, or taken, and the four are not always distinguishable in the records that survive. Curators who have tried to add this history to labels report a practical difficulty: the sentence that would be honest is longer than the sentence that fits, and a shortened version reads as either an accusation or an excuse. Some museums have moved the account off the label and onto a screen beside it, where length is cheap. Others argue that a visitor who does not seek out the screen learns nothing, and that the label itself is the only text most people read. The disagreement is not about whether the history matters. It is about how much of it a reader will accept standing up." Why are the four ways an object may have been acquired hard to tell apart?

The surviving records do not always distinguish between them.

The four words meant the same thing in the nineteenth century.

Curators disagree about what each of the four words means.

Museums have chosen not to publish their acquisition records.

Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it that a visitor who knows nothing can look again with more attention. Forty words is a common limit. What the label cannot do is explain how the object came to be in this room, and that silence is rarely accidental. An object acquired in the nineteenth century may have been bought, excavated, given, or taken, and the four are not always distinguishable in the records that survive. Curators who have tried to add this history to labels report a practical difficulty: the sentence that would be honest is longer than the sentence that fits, and a shortened version reads as either an accusation or an excuse. Some museums have moved the account off the label and onto a screen beside it, where length is cheap. Others argue that a visitor who does not seek out the screen learns nothing, and that the label itself is the only text most people read. The disagreement is not about whether the history matters. It is about how much of it a reader will accept standing up." What does the phrase about a shortened version reading as an accusation or an excuse suggest?

Visitors resent any mention of how objects were acquired.

Curators are not permitted to write about acquisition at all.

A short account is always less accurate than a long one.

Cutting the account short tends to make it take a side rather than inform.

Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it that a visitor who knows nothing can look again with more attention. Forty words is a common limit. What the label cannot do is explain how the object came to be in this room, and that silence is rarely accidental. An object acquired in the nineteenth century may have been bought, excavated, given, or taken, and the four are not always distinguishable in the records that survive. Curators who have tried to add this history to labels report a practical difficulty: the sentence that would be honest is longer than the sentence that fits, and a shortened version reads as either an accusation or an excuse. Some museums have moved the account off the label and onto a screen beside it, where length is cheap. Others argue that a visitor who does not seek out the screen learns nothing, and that the label itself is the only text most people read. The disagreement is not about whether the history matters. It is about how much of it a reader will accept standing up." Why does the passage mention that on a screen "length is cheap"?

To show that the account is not worth the cost of a longer label.

To argue that screens are less expensive for museums to install than printed labels.

To give the reason some museums moved the account off the label, where space is the binding constraint.

To suggest that visitors prefer reading from screens.

Purpose, detail, inference, reference and the difference between two positions, on a short argumentative passage. Test your knowledge with this…10 questions • ZestlySample questions:• Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it…• Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it…• Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it…• Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it…• Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it…• Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it…• Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it…• Passage: "A museum label is a small piece of writing with a large job. It must name the object, place it in time, and say enough about it…Want to check what you know — or test someone else?Create your own quiz

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