Author's Purpose

Contrary to most people’s belief, high-school students should not work part time; such work hinders their academic performance and does not give them any skills that will be useful in later life. Moreover, they may spend their earnings on alcohol or drugs.

• Inform

• Persuade

• Entertain

About 15 percent of Americans—including millions of children—lack health insurance. Many of the uninsured work full-time but still can’t afford insurance. Uninsured Americans tend to live with more illness and die at a younger age than those who are insured. A truly just and compassionate government would make adequate health care available to every citizen.

• Inform

• Persuade

• Entertain

I’m not big on the great outdoors. My idea of roughing it is having to park at the far end of a store’s parking lot and then walk from there to the store.

• Inform

• Persuade

• Entertain

In the United States, the most popular breakfast is cold or hot cereal. Two-thirds of Americans also snack on cereal. Twenty-nine percent even periodically eat cereal for dinner.

• Inform

• Persuade

• Entertain

Overweight and obesity have become a national epidemic in America. These conditions pose a huge risk to health. Americans need to eat less and exercise more, and they need to start now. This is a public health issue that cannot be ignored.

• Inform

• Persuade

• Entertain

Built of stones or mud bricks, the ancient Egyptian pyramids have four sides, each facing a point of the compass. The entrance is in the northern wall. Deep below is a tomb containing an Egyptian ruler’s mummified body.

• Inform

• Persuade

• Entertain

When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.

• Inform

• Persuade

• Entertain

Some sharks are millions of times more sensitive to electricity than humans are. They can detect electricity equivalent to that of a 1.5-volt flashlight battery 900 miles away. Able to perceive the faintest electrical pulses, some sharks can find smaller fishes hidden in sand by sensing their heartbeats.

• Inform

• Persuade

• Entertain

An 1870 amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that the right to vote cannot be denied on the basis of a person’s race. A 1920 amendment states the same with regard to a person’s sex. Those amendments represent centuries of struggle for racial equality and women’s rights. If you’re a U.S. citizen who doesn’t bother to vote, you’re failing to make use of a precious right still denied to many people throughout the world. Become informed, and vote!

• Inform

• Persuade

• Entertain

The sign posted in a business office read: “If you don't think the dead come back to life, you should see this place at 5:00 P.M.”

• Inform

• Persuade

• Entertain