Astronomers believe that the star Betelgeuse will eventually use up all the helium in its core and explode in a supernova. They have very low self-confidence, however, about when this will happen since that depends on internal characteristics of Betelgeuse that are largely unknown.

Astrophysicist James Webb and colleagues recently investigated whether acoustic waves in the star could be used to determine internal stellar states but concluded that this method could not sufficiently reveal Betelgeuse’s interior characteristics to firmly establish its evolutionary status.

Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the overall structure of the text?

A short passage helps to draw a conclusion from the given passage.

The details and facts help to draw the main idea of the passage.

Can you summarize what you’ve understood in the above steps?

Choice A is incorrect because the second sentence introduces the general problem Webb and colleagues hoped to solve, not the central discovery they ultimately reported.

It presents the central discovery reported by Webb and colleagues.

Choice B is incorrect because the second sentence introduces the general problem Webb and colleagues hoped to solve, not a harsh restriction of how they tried to solve it.

It describes a harsh restriction of the method used by Webb and colleagues.

Choice C is incorrect because the second sentence doesn’t indicate how other astronomers or astrophysicists responded to the work done by Webb and colleagues; the text doesn’t address this information at all.

It explains to Webb and colleagues how the work is received by others in the field.

Choice D is the best answer because it best describes how the second sentence functions in the text as a whole. The first sentence establishes something astronomers believe with some certainty and the second sentence then introduces a problem. Thus, the function of the second sentence is to identify the problem that Webb and colleagues attempted to solve but didn’t.

It identifies the problem that Webb and colleagues attempted to solve but did not.

Correct sentence

The function of the second sentence in the overall structure of the text identifies the problem that Webb and colleagues attempted to solve but did not.

Option

D

Can you summarize what you’ve understood in the above steps?