Question

Then chance stepped in. In 1798, Napoleon went to Egypt to protect its trade interests. In addition to an army, he brought along Egyptian scholars who were charged with copying the inscriptions and studying the architecture.

The following year, the French bolstered their defenses by rebuilding a fort in the town of Rosetta. In the midst of the fortification, the Rosetta Stone was discovered. Ironically, this large stone tablet was found not by one of the scholars but by a soldier. Luckily, he recognized that the inscriptions must have value. Militarily, Napoleon's Egyptian campaign was a disaster—the British decimated the French navy—but historically, it was of long-lasting importance.

Which best describes the primary structure of this excerpt?

problem and solution
chronological order
list form
comparison and contrast

Answer 1

chronological order

The paragraph recounts events in sequence (1798, "the following year," the discovery, and its aftermath), so its primary structure is chronological.