Read this excerpt from “Collision Course.” I also didn’t have words like sprawling. What I had was “bolshoy” – big in Russian. That’s what this school was: spread out like a miniature town with its own buildings, streets, alleys, athletic fields, and parking lots. And everything was neatly trimmed, freshly scrubbed, or otherwise perfect. It did not resemble any school I’d ever seen in the ten years I’d been in school in the United States. There was no graffiti, no peeling paint or linoleum, no flickering fluorescent lights, no plywood covering broken windows, and no metal detector at the entrance.

What is the author’s purpose in this excerpt?

to encourage readers to appreciate schools that are well-maintained
to lighten the mood by using humorous details
to create sympathy for the author regarding his past schools
to provide a vivid image of the author’s school settings