Question

Read this introduction to an informative essay about the Secret Service.

Part of the executive branch, the Secret Service was created by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1865. At the time, it belonged to the Department of Treasury and protected US currency. Since then, the role of the Secret Service has grown and changed. Now part of the US Department of Homeland Security, the Secret Service protects government leaders as well as the nation’s currency.

Which statement could be added to the introduction as the writer revises the essay?

The Secret Service stopped an assassination attempt on the life of President Truman in 1950.
A nationwide network run by the Secret Service works to stop attacks on financial institutions.
President Lincoln created the Secret Service to investigate and prevent the practice of counterfeiting.
Other countries around the world have counterparts to the Secret Service that function in different ways.

Answer 1

President Lincoln created the Secret Service to investigate and prevent the practice of counterfeiting.

Reason: this sentence directly supports and expands the introduction’s point about the agency’s original role protecting U.S. currency. The other choices are either too specific (the Truman attempt), about a different aspect better suited to a later paragraph (the nationwide financial network), or off-topic for an opening (other countries’ counterparts).