WILL GIVE Read the excerpt from the the informational essay “Everybody Jump” from What If? by Randall Munroe. The article explores what would happen if everyone on Earth stood close together and jumped at the same time. Based on your understanding of text structure, sort the statements as incomplete or complete thinking.

Rhode Island’s half-million cars are commandeered. Moments later, I-95, I-195, and I-295 become the sites of the largest traffic jam in the history of the planet. Most of the cars are engulfed by the crowds, but a lucky few get out and begin wandering the abandoned road network.

Some make it past New York or Boston before running out of fuel. Since the electricity is probably not on at this point, rather than find a working gas pump, it’s easier to just abandon the car and steal the new one. Who can stop you? All the cops are in Rhode Island.

The edge of the crowd spreads outward into southern Massachusetts and Connecticut. Any two people who meet are unlikely to have a language in common, and almost nobody knows the area. The state becomes a patchwork chaos of coalescing and collapsing social hierarchies. Violence is common. Everybody is hungry and thirsty. Grocery stores are emptied. Fresh water is hard to come by and there’s no efficient system for distributing it.

Within weeks, Rhode Island is a graveyard of billions. (paragraphs 23–26)
Available Options ( 6 of 6 )
The second paragraph has two text structures. In first sentence, the word “before” signals chronological order. The word “since” signals a problem-and-solution text structure.

In the second paragraph, the signal word “before” makes me think that the author is using chronological text structure.

The third paragraph uses cause-and-effect text structure. It describes some of the consequences of having the entire planet’s population jump simultaneously in close proximity.

The words “moments later” signal that the text structure in the first paragraph is chronological order.

In the first paragraph, the author describes the events happening over time.

The third paragraph uses cause-and-effect text structure.

Some of the cells in this chart are editable.
Incomplete Thinking
Complete Thinking