Question

After carefully reading through the following excerpt from "Hidden Figures," answer the question.

Human computers were meticulous and detail-obsessed number crunchers. They would make the necessary calculations for all aspects of flight and design. Sine and cosine, trajectories, curves, fluid dynamics, etc. Everything electronic calculators can do now they had to do by hand. They used tables, graphs, mechanical adding machines, and their minds. One human computer would be responsible for thousands of calculations per day.
What organizational structure is used here?

A. Description
B. Comparison/contrast
C. Problem/solution
D. Sequence

Answer 1

The correct answer is “B. Comparison/contrast.”

This one is a bit tricky because when we read the excerpt we read through descriptions of the types of calculations made. However, being described first are what the human computers and electronic calculators have in common (a comparison). What follows is a description of the differences (a contrast) in how the calculations were made. With that in mind, it can be determined that the organizational structure of this excerpt is that of the comparison/contrast.