Question

Which statement best summarizes the claim and purpose of the previous passage from Sugar Changed the World?

The authors’ purpose is to inform readers of how advances in sugar production helped improve working conditions for many laborers.
The authors’ purpose is to entertain readers with anecdotes about sugar production that show how sugar affected several world wars.
The authors’ purpose is to persuade readers to agree that sugar production sparked the exploration of North America and other parts of the world.
The authors’ purpose is to persuade readers that sugar production created a system that relied on slavery, but

Answer 1

The best choice is the fourth option.

Completed: "The authors’ purpose is to persuade readers that sugar production created a system that relied on slavery, but also reshaped global economies, societies, and patterns of colonization."

Why: the passage argues that the demand for sugar drove the development of plantation systems and the transatlantic slave trade and traces the broad economic and social effects of that system—so its main claim is persuasive (about sugar causing a slavery-based system) and its purpose is to show the wide-ranging consequences.