Read the following passage carefully and answer the question given below:…
2023
Read the following passage carefully and answer the question given below:
Firefighters are often asked to speak to school and community groups about the importance of fire safety, particularly fire prevention and detection. Because smoke detectors reduce the risk of dying in a fire by half, firefighters often provide audiences with information on how to install these protective devices in their homes.
Specifically, they tell them these things: A smoke detector should be placed on each floor of a home. While sleeping people are in particular danger of an emergent fire, and there must be a detector outside each sleeping area. A good site for a detector would be a hallway that runs between living spaces and bedrooms.
Because of the dead-air space that might be missed by turbulent hot air bouncing around above a fire, smoke detectors should be installed either on the ceiling at least four inches from the nearest wall, or high on a wall at least four, but no further than twelve inches from the ceiling.
Detectors should not be mounted near windows, exterior doors, or other places where drafts might direct the smoke away from the unit. Nor should they be placed in kitchens and garages, where cooking and gas fumes are likely to cause false alarms.
What is the main focus of this passage?
Answer: B. The proper installation of home smoke detectors — ConceptA passage’s main focus is the broad idea developed across most of its sentences. The best focus must cover the central discussion without being broader…
- A.
How firefighters carry out their responsibilities
- B.
The proper installation of home smoke detectors
- C.
The detection of dead-air space on walls and ceiling
- D.
How smoke detectors prevent fires in homes
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept
A passage’s main focus is the broad idea developed across most of its sentences.
The best focus must cover the central discussion without being broader than the passage, narrower than one supporting detail, or based on a different cause-and-effect claim.
Application
The passage first introduces firefighters’ public-safety talks, then repeatedly explains where household smoke detectors should be placed: on each floor, outside sleeping areas, at specified distances from walls or ceilings, and away from drafts, kitchens, and garages. These details all develop guidance for installing smoke detectors at home.
Contrast
How firefighters carry out their responsibilities is too broad because the passage discusses only one outreach role, not their full range of duties.
Detecting dead-air space is too narrow because dead-air space appears only as the reason for one mounting-distance precaution.
How smoke detectors prevent fires changes the mechanism: detectors warn of smoke and reduce the risk of death; they do not stop ignition.
Cross-check
A sentence-by-sentence outline is dominated by placement and mounting instructions, so the proper installation of home smoke detectors is the main focus.