Teach your child to ask why each part of a text is there, not only what it says.
Practice test 1 is free. No card needed.
An author's purpose question asks why the writer wrote a text, or one part of it, the way they did. Children in Year 5 now meet them in the ASET on 6 March 2027.
Checked by the SelectiveReady team on 12 October 2026 · Updated 27 October 2026 · How we check facts
Independent. Not affiliated with the WA Department of Education.
It asks about reasons: why the text was written, why it opens the way it does, or how its parts build a case. The answer names a job, such as to inform, to persuade or to invite.
These three are ours, on one community text about a Fix-It Café, where volunteers help people mend broken things. They move from the whole text, to its opening, to how it's built.
Each shows the answer and the working. Read them together and ask your child what the text wants the reader to do by the end. Here, that ending is the strongest clue to the purpose.
Last month, Dimitri Papadakis carried a silent radio into the Waratah Street Community Hall. It had belonged to his grandmother, and it had not made a sound in ten years. Forty minutes later, a retired electrician named Gwen had found the problem, one loose wire, and the radio was playing the cricket. "I nearly cried," Dimitri said. "I thought it was gone for good."
Scenes like this happen on the first Saturday of every month at our Fix-It Café. Volunteers with all kinds of skills, from sewing and woodwork to electronics and bicycle maintenance, set up at long tables, and anyone in the community can bring along something broken. There is no charge. The volunteers do not fix the item and hand it back; they work alongside its owner, explaining what went wrong and how it can be put right, so that people leave with new skills as well as a working kettle or a mended jacket.
Every item repaired is an item that does not end up in landfill. In its first year, our Fix-It Café saved more than 900 items from the tip, from lamps and kettles to school bags and wobbly chairs. That is more than 900 things nobody had to buy again.
But the Fix-It Café is about more than objects. Many visitors stay for a cup of tea and a chat long after their repair is finished. For some of our older residents, it is the busiest morning of their month.
We are always looking for new volunteers. You don't need to be an expert: if you can sew on a button or patch a bike tyre, we would love to have you. Come along on the first Saturday of next month, from 9 am to noon. Bring something broken, bring a friend, or bring your skills.
What is the main purpose of this text?
Answer: C
Answer: C
Look at where the text ends up: the last paragraph invites readers to come along and volunteer, with the date and time. Everything before builds the case. Option A is tempting because the text opens with a radio, but it never explains how the repair was done.
Why does the writer begin with the story of Dimitri's radio?
Answer: A
Answer: A
Ask what the story does for the reader before any facts are given. One person's treasured radio, fixed in forty minutes, makes the Fix-It Café feel real and worthwhile. Option D is tempting because Gwen is named, but she is mentioned only once, and the story is about what the café achieves.
Which best describes how the writer builds the case for the Fix-It Café?
Answer: D
Answer: D
Track what each paragraph does in turn: Dimitri's story, then repairs and new skills, then less landfill, then company and friendship, then an invitation. Only D matches that order. A covers only paragraph three. B is wrong because the writer asks for volunteers, not donations, and C puts the story in the wrong place.
The texts can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama, with diagrams, tables, charts or maps. Each kind can do a different job, so ask what this one wants from its reader.
Start at the end, then work back through each paragraph's job. The question is always why, not what, so each step asks what a part does for the reader.
The last paragraph can show the purpose. Here it invites readers to come along and volunteer.
An opening story, a fact or a question each has a job. This opening story makes the café feel real.
A word each is enough: story, skills, landfill, friendship, invitation.
For a question about how the text is built, pick the option with every part in the right order.
These traps come from the worked questions above. Look at them once you have read all three together, and ask which part of the text each wrong option leans on.
The opening isn't the purpose: the text starts with a broken radio, but it never explains how to fix one.
A name isn't the point: Gwen the electrician is mentioned once. The story is there to show what the café can do.
Right parts, wrong pattern: the writer asks for volunteers, not donations, and the story comes first. One wrong part rules out an option.
Everyday texts all have a purpose, so you don't need special material. Ask why a sign, an ad or a school note was written.
Three worked explanations show the method. A full Reading Comprehension test, 35 questions in 35 minutes, shows whether your child spots the purpose in every kind of text.
Practice test 1 is free, and the results by skill show whether purpose questions are costing marks. For more, see our ASET reading sample questions and the guide to ASET Reading.
They help, but your child can answer without them. Being able to say what the text wants its reader to think or do is what counts.
Year 6 children in Perth metro, Bunbury and Albany sit it on 6 March 2027. Dates for regional WA and interstate sittings are on the ASET dates page.
Practice test 1 marks every answer and shows results by skill: what your child already does well and the three skills to work on next.
Practise for the real test
Practice test 1 is free. Then packs from A$109 for 12 months, or A$9 a week, per exam.