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SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from George Eliot, Silas Marner.
Originally published in 1861. Silas was a weaver and a
notorious miser, but then the gold he had hoarded was
stolen. Shortly after, Silas adopted a young child, Eppie, the
daughter of an impoverished woman who had died
suddenly.
Unlike the gold which needed nothing, and must
be worshipped in close-locked solitude—which was
hidden away from the daylight, was deaf to the song
of birds, and started to no human tones—Eppie was a
creature of endless claims and ever-growing desires,
seeking and loving sunshine, and living sounds, and
living movements; making trial of everything, with
trust in new joy, and stirring the human kindness in
all eyes that looked on her. The gold had kept his
thoughts in an ever-repeated circle, leading to
nothing beyond itself; but Eppie was an object
compacted of changes and hopes that forced his
thoughts onward, and carried them far away from
their old eager pacing towards the same blank
limit—carried them away to the new things that
would come with the coming years, when Eppie
would have learned to understand how her father
Silas cared for her; and made him look for images of
that time in the ties and charities that bound together
the families of his neighbors. The gold had asked that
he should sit weaving longer and longer, deafened
and blinded more and more to all things except the
monotony of his loom and the repetition of his web;
but Eppie called him away from his weaving, and
made him think all its pauses a holiday, reawakening
his senses with her fresh life, even to the old
winter-flies that came crawling forth in the early
spring sunshine, and warming him into joy because
she had joy.
And when the sunshine grew strong and lasting,
so that the buttercups were thick in the meadows,
Silas might be seen in the sunny mid-day, or in the
late afternoon when the shadows were lengthening
under the hedgerows, strolling out with uncovered
head to carry Eppie beyond the Stone-pits to where
the flowers grew, till they reached some favorite bank
where he could sit down, while Eppie toddled to
pluck the flowers, and make remarks to the winged
things that murmured happily above the bright
petals, calling “Dad-dad’s” attention continually by
bringing him the flowers. Then she would turn her
ear to some sudden bird-note, and Silas learned to
please her by making signs of hushed stillness, that
they might listen for the note to come again: so that
when it came, she set up her small back and laughed
with gurgling triumph. Sitting on the banks in this
way, Silas began to look for the once familiar herbs
again; and as the leaves, with their unchanged outline
and markings, lay on his palm, there was a sense of
crowding remembrances from which he turned away
timidly, taking refuge in Eppie’s little world, that lay
lightly on his enfeebled spirit.
As the child’s mind was growing into knowledge,
his mind was growing into memory: as her life
unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow
prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually
into full consciousness.
It was an influence which must gather force with
every new year: the tones that stirred Silas’ heart
grew articulate, and called for more distinct answers;
shapes and sounds grew clearer for Eppie’s eyes and
ears, and there was more that “Dad-dad” was
imperatively required to notice and account for.
Also, by the time Eppie was three years old, she
developed a fine capacity for mischief, and for
devising ingenious ways of being troublesome, which
found much exercise, not only for Silas’ patience, but
for his watchfulness and penetration. Sorely was poor
Silas puzzled on such occasions by the incompatible
demands of love.
Question 3:
Which statement best describes a technique the narrator uses to represent Silas’s character before he adopted Eppie?
A) The narrator emphasizes Silas’s former obsession with wealth by depicting his gold as requiring certain behaviors on his part.
B) The narrator underscores Silas’s former greed by describing his gold as seeming to reproduce on its own.
C) The narrator hints at Silas’s former antisocial attitude by contrasting his present behavior toward his neighbors with his past behavior toward them.
D) The narrator demonstrates Silas’s former lack of self-awareness by implying that he is unable to recall life before Eppie.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_7-question_3 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from George Eliot, Silas Marner.
Originally published in 1861. Silas was a weaver and a
notorious miser, but then the gold he had hoarded was
stolen. Shortly after, Silas adopted a young child, Eppie, the
daughter of an impoverished woman who had died
suddenly.
Unlike the gold which needed nothing, and must
be worshipped in close-locked solitude—which was
hidden away from the daylight, was deaf to the song
of birds, and started to no human tones—Eppie was a
creature of endless claims and ever-growing desires,
seeking and loving sunshine, and living sounds, and
living movements; making trial of everything, with
trust in new joy, and stirring the human kindness in
all eyes that looked on her. The gold had kept his
thoughts in an ever-repeated circle, leading to
nothing beyond itself; but Eppie was an object
compacted of changes and hopes that forced his
thoughts onward, and carried them far away from
their old eager pacing towards the same blank
limit—carried them away to the new things that
would come with the coming years, when Eppie
would have learned to understand how her father
Silas cared for her; and made him look for images of
that time in the ties and charities that bound together
the families of his neighbors. The gold had asked that
he should sit weaving longer and longer, deafened
and blinded more and more to all things except the
monotony of his loom and the repetition of his web;
but Eppie called him away from his weaving, and
made him think all its pauses a holiday, reawakening
his senses with her fresh life, even to the old
winter-flies that came crawling forth in the early
spring sunshine, and warming him into joy because
she had joy.
And when the sunshine grew strong and lasting,
so that the buttercups were thick in the meadows,
Silas might be seen in the sunny mid-day, or in the
late afternoon when the shadows were lengthening
under the hedgerows, strolling out with uncovered
head to carry Eppie beyond the Stone-pits to where
the flowers grew, till they reached some favorite bank
where he could sit down, while Eppie toddled to
pluck the flowers, and make remarks to the winged
things that murmured happily above the bright
petals, calling “Dad-dad’s” attention continually by
bringing him the flowers. Then she would turn her
ear to some sudden bird-note, and Silas learned to
please her by making signs of hushed stillness, that
they might listen for the note to come again: so that
when it came, she set up her small back and laughed
with gurgling triumph. Sitting on the banks in this
way, Silas began to look for the once familiar herbs
again; and as the leaves, with their unchanged outline
and markings, lay on his palm, there was a sense of
crowding remembrances from which he turned away
timidly, taking refuge in Eppie’s little world, that lay
lightly on his enfeebled spirit.
As the child’s mind was growing into knowledge,
his mind was growing into memory: as her life
unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow
prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually
into full consciousness.
It was an influence which must gather force with
every new year: the tones that stirred Silas’ heart
grew articulate, and called for more distinct answers;
shapes and sounds grew clearer for Eppie’s eyes and
ears, and there was more that “Dad-dad” was
imperatively required to notice and account for.
Also, by the time Eppie was three years old, she
developed a fine capacity for mischief, and for
devising ingenious ways of being troublesome, which
found much exercise, not only for Silas’ patience, but
for his watchfulness and penetration. Sorely was poor
Silas puzzled on such occasions by the incompatible
demands of love.
Question 10:
As used in line 65, “fine” most nearly means
A) acceptable.
B) delicate.
C) ornate.
D) keen.
Answer: | D | true | sat-practice_7-question_10 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from George Eliot, Silas Marner.
Originally published in 1861. Silas was a weaver and a
notorious miser, but then the gold he had hoarded was
stolen. Shortly after, Silas adopted a young child, Eppie, the
daughter of an impoverished woman who had died
suddenly.
Unlike the gold which needed nothing, and must
be worshipped in close-locked solitude—which was
hidden away from the daylight, was deaf to the song
of birds, and started to no human tones—Eppie was a
creature of endless claims and ever-growing desires,
seeking and loving sunshine, and living sounds, and
living movements; making trial of everything, with
trust in new joy, and stirring the human kindness in
all eyes that looked on her. The gold had kept his
thoughts in an ever-repeated circle, leading to
nothing beyond itself; but Eppie was an object
compacted of changes and hopes that forced his
thoughts onward, and carried them far away from
their old eager pacing towards the same blank
limit—carried them away to the new things that
would come with the coming years, when Eppie
would have learned to understand how her father
Silas cared for her; and made him look for images of
that time in the ties and charities that bound together
the families of his neighbors. The gold had asked that
he should sit weaving longer and longer, deafened
and blinded more and more to all things except the
monotony of his loom and the repetition of his web;
but Eppie called him away from his weaving, and
made him think all its pauses a holiday, reawakening
his senses with her fresh life, even to the old
winter-flies that came crawling forth in the early
spring sunshine, and warming him into joy because
she had joy.
And when the sunshine grew strong and lasting,
so that the buttercups were thick in the meadows,
Silas might be seen in the sunny mid-day, or in the
late afternoon when the shadows were lengthening
under the hedgerows, strolling out with uncovered
head to carry Eppie beyond the Stone-pits to where
the flowers grew, till they reached some favorite bank
where he could sit down, while Eppie toddled to
pluck the flowers, and make remarks to the winged
things that murmured happily above the bright
petals, calling “Dad-dad’s” attention continually by
bringing him the flowers. Then she would turn her
ear to some sudden bird-note, and Silas learned to
please her by making signs of hushed stillness, that
they might listen for the note to come again: so that
when it came, she set up her small back and laughed
with gurgling triumph. Sitting on the banks in this
way, Silas began to look for the once familiar herbs
again; and as the leaves, with their unchanged outline
and markings, lay on his palm, there was a sense of
crowding remembrances from which he turned away
timidly, taking refuge in Eppie’s little world, that lay
lightly on his enfeebled spirit.
As the child’s mind was growing into knowledge,
his mind was growing into memory: as her life
unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow
prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually
into full consciousness.
It was an influence which must gather force with
every new year: the tones that stirred Silas’ heart
grew articulate, and called for more distinct answers;
shapes and sounds grew clearer for Eppie’s eyes and
ears, and there was more that “Dad-dad” was
imperatively required to notice and account for.
Also, by the time Eppie was three years old, she
developed a fine capacity for mischief, and for
devising ingenious ways of being troublesome, which
found much exercise, not only for Silas’ patience, but
for his watchfulness and penetration. Sorely was poor
Silas puzzled on such occasions by the incompatible
demands of love.
Question 7:
What function does the second paragraph (lines 30-52) serve in the passage as a whole?
A) It presents the particular moment at which Silas realized that Eppie was changing him.
B) It highlights Silas’s love for Eppie by depicting the sacrifices that he makes for her.
C) It illustrates the effect that Eppie has on Silas by describing the interaction between them.
D) It reveals a significant alteration in the relationship between Silas and Eppie.
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_7-question_7 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from George Eliot, Silas Marner.
Originally published in 1861. Silas was a weaver and a
notorious miser, but then the gold he had hoarded was
stolen. Shortly after, Silas adopted a young child, Eppie, the
daughter of an impoverished woman who had died
suddenly.
Unlike the gold which needed nothing, and must
be worshipped in close-locked solitude—which was
hidden away from the daylight, was deaf to the song
of birds, and started to no human tones—Eppie was a
creature of endless claims and ever-growing desires,
seeking and loving sunshine, and living sounds, and
living movements; making trial of everything, with
trust in new joy, and stirring the human kindness in
all eyes that looked on her. The gold had kept his
thoughts in an ever-repeated circle, leading to
nothing beyond itself; but Eppie was an object
compacted of changes and hopes that forced his
thoughts onward, and carried them far away from
their old eager pacing towards the same blank
limit—carried them away to the new things that
would come with the coming years, when Eppie
would have learned to understand how her father
Silas cared for her; and made him look for images of
that time in the ties and charities that bound together
the families of his neighbors. The gold had asked that
he should sit weaving longer and longer, deafened
and blinded more and more to all things except the
monotony of his loom and the repetition of his web;
but Eppie called him away from his weaving, and
made him think all its pauses a holiday, reawakening
his senses with her fresh life, even to the old
winter-flies that came crawling forth in the early
spring sunshine, and warming him into joy because
she had joy.
And when the sunshine grew strong and lasting,
so that the buttercups were thick in the meadows,
Silas might be seen in the sunny mid-day, or in the
late afternoon when the shadows were lengthening
under the hedgerows, strolling out with uncovered
head to carry Eppie beyond the Stone-pits to where
the flowers grew, till they reached some favorite bank
where he could sit down, while Eppie toddled to
pluck the flowers, and make remarks to the winged
things that murmured happily above the bright
petals, calling “Dad-dad’s” attention continually by
bringing him the flowers. Then she would turn her
ear to some sudden bird-note, and Silas learned to
please her by making signs of hushed stillness, that
they might listen for the note to come again: so that
when it came, she set up her small back and laughed
with gurgling triumph. Sitting on the banks in this
way, Silas began to look for the once familiar herbs
again; and as the leaves, with their unchanged outline
and markings, lay on his palm, there was a sense of
crowding remembrances from which he turned away
timidly, taking refuge in Eppie’s little world, that lay
lightly on his enfeebled spirit.
As the child’s mind was growing into knowledge,
his mind was growing into memory: as her life
unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow
prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually
into full consciousness.
It was an influence which must gather force with
every new year: the tones that stirred Silas’ heart
grew articulate, and called for more distinct answers;
shapes and sounds grew clearer for Eppie’s eyes and
ears, and there was more that “Dad-dad” was
imperatively required to notice and account for.
Also, by the time Eppie was three years old, she
developed a fine capacity for mischief, and for
devising ingenious ways of being troublesome, which
found much exercise, not only for Silas’ patience, but
for his watchfulness and penetration. Sorely was poor
Silas puzzled on such occasions by the incompatible
demands of love.
Question 1:
Which choice best describes a major theme of the passage?
A) The corrupting influence of a materialistic society
B) The moral purity of young children
C) The bittersweet brevity of childhood naïveté
D) The restorative power of parental love
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_7-question_1 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from George Eliot, Silas Marner.
Originally published in 1861. Silas was a weaver and a
notorious miser, but then the gold he had hoarded was
stolen. Shortly after, Silas adopted a young child, Eppie, the
daughter of an impoverished woman who had died
suddenly.
Unlike the gold which needed nothing, and must
be worshipped in close-locked solitude—which was
hidden away from the daylight, was deaf to the song
of birds, and started to no human tones—Eppie was a
creature of endless claims and ever-growing desires,
seeking and loving sunshine, and living sounds, and
living movements; making trial of everything, with
trust in new joy, and stirring the human kindness in
all eyes that looked on her. The gold had kept his
thoughts in an ever-repeated circle, leading to
nothing beyond itself; but Eppie was an object
compacted of changes and hopes that forced his
thoughts onward, and carried them far away from
their old eager pacing towards the same blank
limit—carried them away to the new things that
would come with the coming years, when Eppie
would have learned to understand how her father
Silas cared for her; and made him look for images of
that time in the ties and charities that bound together
the families of his neighbors. The gold had asked that
he should sit weaving longer and longer, deafened
and blinded more and more to all things except the
monotony of his loom and the repetition of his web;
but Eppie called him away from his weaving, and
made him think all its pauses a holiday, reawakening
his senses with her fresh life, even to the old
winter-flies that came crawling forth in the early
spring sunshine, and warming him into joy because
she had joy.
And when the sunshine grew strong and lasting,
so that the buttercups were thick in the meadows,
Silas might be seen in the sunny mid-day, or in the
late afternoon when the shadows were lengthening
under the hedgerows, strolling out with uncovered
head to carry Eppie beyond the Stone-pits to where
the flowers grew, till they reached some favorite bank
where he could sit down, while Eppie toddled to
pluck the flowers, and make remarks to the winged
things that murmured happily above the bright
petals, calling “Dad-dad’s” attention continually by
bringing him the flowers. Then she would turn her
ear to some sudden bird-note, and Silas learned to
please her by making signs of hushed stillness, that
they might listen for the note to come again: so that
when it came, she set up her small back and laughed
with gurgling triumph. Sitting on the banks in this
way, Silas began to look for the once familiar herbs
again; and as the leaves, with their unchanged outline
and markings, lay on his palm, there was a sense of
crowding remembrances from which he turned away
timidly, taking refuge in Eppie’s little world, that lay
lightly on his enfeebled spirit.
As the child’s mind was growing into knowledge,
his mind was growing into memory: as her life
unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow
prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually
into full consciousness.
It was an influence which must gather force with
every new year: the tones that stirred Silas’ heart
grew articulate, and called for more distinct answers;
shapes and sounds grew clearer for Eppie’s eyes and
ears, and there was more that “Dad-dad” was
imperatively required to notice and account for.
Also, by the time Eppie was three years old, she
developed a fine capacity for mischief, and for
devising ingenious ways of being troublesome, which
found much exercise, not only for Silas’ patience, but
for his watchfulness and penetration. Sorely was poor
Silas puzzled on such occasions by the incompatible
demands of love.
Question 4:
The narrator uses the phrase “making trial of everything” (line 7) to present Eppie as
A) friendly.
B) curious.
C) disobedient.
D) judgmental.
Answer: | B | true | sat-practice_7-question_4 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from George Eliot, Silas Marner.
Originally published in 1861. Silas was a weaver and a
notorious miser, but then the gold he had hoarded was
stolen. Shortly after, Silas adopted a young child, Eppie, the
daughter of an impoverished woman who had died
suddenly.
Unlike the gold which needed nothing, and must
be worshipped in close-locked solitude—which was
hidden away from the daylight, was deaf to the song
of birds, and started to no human tones—Eppie was a
creature of endless claims and ever-growing desires,
seeking and loving sunshine, and living sounds, and
living movements; making trial of everything, with
trust in new joy, and stirring the human kindness in
all eyes that looked on her. The gold had kept his
thoughts in an ever-repeated circle, leading to
nothing beyond itself; but Eppie was an object
compacted of changes and hopes that forced his
thoughts onward, and carried them far away from
their old eager pacing towards the same blank
limit—carried them away to the new things that
would come with the coming years, when Eppie
would have learned to understand how her father
Silas cared for her; and made him look for images of
that time in the ties and charities that bound together
the families of his neighbors. The gold had asked that
he should sit weaving longer and longer, deafened
and blinded more and more to all things except the
monotony of his loom and the repetition of his web;
but Eppie called him away from his weaving, and
made him think all its pauses a holiday, reawakening
his senses with her fresh life, even to the old
winter-flies that came crawling forth in the early
spring sunshine, and warming him into joy because
she had joy.
And when the sunshine grew strong and lasting,
so that the buttercups were thick in the meadows,
Silas might be seen in the sunny mid-day, or in the
late afternoon when the shadows were lengthening
under the hedgerows, strolling out with uncovered
head to carry Eppie beyond the Stone-pits to where
the flowers grew, till they reached some favorite bank
where he could sit down, while Eppie toddled to
pluck the flowers, and make remarks to the winged
things that murmured happily above the bright
petals, calling “Dad-dad’s” attention continually by
bringing him the flowers. Then she would turn her
ear to some sudden bird-note, and Silas learned to
please her by making signs of hushed stillness, that
they might listen for the note to come again: so that
when it came, she set up her small back and laughed
with gurgling triumph. Sitting on the banks in this
way, Silas began to look for the once familiar herbs
again; and as the leaves, with their unchanged outline
and markings, lay on his palm, there was a sense of
crowding remembrances from which he turned away
timidly, taking refuge in Eppie’s little world, that lay
lightly on his enfeebled spirit.
As the child’s mind was growing into knowledge,
his mind was growing into memory: as her life
unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow
prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually
into full consciousness.
It was an influence which must gather force with
every new year: the tones that stirred Silas’ heart
grew articulate, and called for more distinct answers;
shapes and sounds grew clearer for Eppie’s eyes and
ears, and there was more that “Dad-dad” was
imperatively required to notice and account for.
Also, by the time Eppie was three years old, she
developed a fine capacity for mischief, and for
devising ingenious ways of being troublesome, which
found much exercise, not only for Silas’ patience, but
for his watchfulness and penetration. Sorely was poor
Silas puzzled on such occasions by the incompatible
demands of love.
Question 2:
As compared with Silas’s gold, Eppie is portrayed as having more
A) vitality.
B) durability.
C) protection.
D) selfsufficiency.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_7-question_2 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from George Eliot, Silas Marner.
Originally published in 1861. Silas was a weaver and a
notorious miser, but then the gold he had hoarded was
stolen. Shortly after, Silas adopted a young child, Eppie, the
daughter of an impoverished woman who had died
suddenly.
Unlike the gold which needed nothing, and must
be worshipped in close-locked solitude—which was
hidden away from the daylight, was deaf to the song
of birds, and started to no human tones—Eppie was a
creature of endless claims and ever-growing desires,
seeking and loving sunshine, and living sounds, and
living movements; making trial of everything, with
trust in new joy, and stirring the human kindness in
all eyes that looked on her. The gold had kept his
thoughts in an ever-repeated circle, leading to
nothing beyond itself; but Eppie was an object
compacted of changes and hopes that forced his
thoughts onward, and carried them far away from
their old eager pacing towards the same blank
limit—carried them away to the new things that
would come with the coming years, when Eppie
would have learned to understand how her father
Silas cared for her; and made him look for images of
that time in the ties and charities that bound together
the families of his neighbors. The gold had asked that
he should sit weaving longer and longer, deafened
and blinded more and more to all things except the
monotony of his loom and the repetition of his web;
but Eppie called him away from his weaving, and
made him think all its pauses a holiday, reawakening
his senses with her fresh life, even to the old
winter-flies that came crawling forth in the early
spring sunshine, and warming him into joy because
she had joy.
And when the sunshine grew strong and lasting,
so that the buttercups were thick in the meadows,
Silas might be seen in the sunny mid-day, or in the
late afternoon when the shadows were lengthening
under the hedgerows, strolling out with uncovered
head to carry Eppie beyond the Stone-pits to where
the flowers grew, till they reached some favorite bank
where he could sit down, while Eppie toddled to
pluck the flowers, and make remarks to the winged
things that murmured happily above the bright
petals, calling “Dad-dad’s” attention continually by
bringing him the flowers. Then she would turn her
ear to some sudden bird-note, and Silas learned to
please her by making signs of hushed stillness, that
they might listen for the note to come again: so that
when it came, she set up her small back and laughed
with gurgling triumph. Sitting on the banks in this
way, Silas began to look for the once familiar herbs
again; and as the leaves, with their unchanged outline
and markings, lay on his palm, there was a sense of
crowding remembrances from which he turned away
timidly, taking refuge in Eppie’s little world, that lay
lightly on his enfeebled spirit.
As the child’s mind was growing into knowledge,
his mind was growing into memory: as her life
unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow
prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually
into full consciousness.
It was an influence which must gather force with
every new year: the tones that stirred Silas’ heart
grew articulate, and called for more distinct answers;
shapes and sounds grew clearer for Eppie’s eyes and
ears, and there was more that “Dad-dad” was
imperatively required to notice and account for.
Also, by the time Eppie was three years old, she
developed a fine capacity for mischief, and for
devising ingenious ways of being troublesome, which
found much exercise, not only for Silas’ patience, but
for his watchfulness and penetration. Sorely was poor
Silas puzzled on such occasions by the incompatible
demands of love.
Question 5:
According to the narrator, one consequence of Silas adopting Eppie is that he
A) has renounced all desire for money.
B) better understands his place in nature.
C) seems more accepting of help from others.
D) looks forward to a different kind of future.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_7-question_5 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from George Eliot, Silas Marner.
Originally published in 1861. Silas was a weaver and a
notorious miser, but then the gold he had hoarded was
stolen. Shortly after, Silas adopted a young child, Eppie, the
daughter of an impoverished woman who had died
suddenly.
Unlike the gold which needed nothing, and must
be worshipped in close-locked solitude—which was
hidden away from the daylight, was deaf to the song
of birds, and started to no human tones—Eppie was a
creature of endless claims and ever-growing desires,
seeking and loving sunshine, and living sounds, and
living movements; making trial of everything, with
trust in new joy, and stirring the human kindness in
all eyes that looked on her. The gold had kept his
thoughts in an ever-repeated circle, leading to
nothing beyond itself; but Eppie was an object
compacted of changes and hopes that forced his
thoughts onward, and carried them far away from
their old eager pacing towards the same blank
limit—carried them away to the new things that
would come with the coming years, when Eppie
would have learned to understand how her father
Silas cared for her; and made him look for images of
that time in the ties and charities that bound together
the families of his neighbors. The gold had asked that
he should sit weaving longer and longer, deafened
and blinded more and more to all things except the
monotony of his loom and the repetition of his web;
but Eppie called him away from his weaving, and
made him think all its pauses a holiday, reawakening
his senses with her fresh life, even to the old
winter-flies that came crawling forth in the early
spring sunshine, and warming him into joy because
she had joy.
And when the sunshine grew strong and lasting,
so that the buttercups were thick in the meadows,
Silas might be seen in the sunny mid-day, or in the
late afternoon when the shadows were lengthening
under the hedgerows, strolling out with uncovered
head to carry Eppie beyond the Stone-pits to where
the flowers grew, till they reached some favorite bank
where he could sit down, while Eppie toddled to
pluck the flowers, and make remarks to the winged
things that murmured happily above the bright
petals, calling “Dad-dad’s” attention continually by
bringing him the flowers. Then she would turn her
ear to some sudden bird-note, and Silas learned to
please her by making signs of hushed stillness, that
they might listen for the note to come again: so that
when it came, she set up her small back and laughed
with gurgling triumph. Sitting on the banks in this
way, Silas began to look for the once familiar herbs
again; and as the leaves, with their unchanged outline
and markings, lay on his palm, there was a sense of
crowding remembrances from which he turned away
timidly, taking refuge in Eppie’s little world, that lay
lightly on his enfeebled spirit.
As the child’s mind was growing into knowledge,
his mind was growing into memory: as her life
unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in a cold narrow
prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually
into full consciousness.
It was an influence which must gather force with
every new year: the tones that stirred Silas’ heart
grew articulate, and called for more distinct answers;
shapes and sounds grew clearer for Eppie’s eyes and
ears, and there was more that “Dad-dad” was
imperatively required to notice and account for.
Also, by the time Eppie was three years old, she
developed a fine capacity for mischief, and for
devising ingenious ways of being troublesome, which
found much exercise, not only for Silas’ patience, but
for his watchfulness and penetration. Sorely was poor
Silas puzzled on such occasions by the incompatible
demands of love.
Question 8:
In describing the relationship between Eppie and Silas, the narrator draws a connection between Eppie’s
A) physical vulnerability and Silas’s emotional fragility.
B) expanding awareness and Silas’s increasing engagement with life.
C) boundless energy and Silas’s insatiable desire for wealth.
D) physical growth and Silas’s painful perception of his own mortality
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_7-question_8 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from David Rotman, “How
Technology Is Destroying Jobs.” ©2013 by MIT Technology
Review.
MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and
Andrew McAfee have argued that impressive
advances in computer technology—from improved
industrial robotics to automated translation
services—are largely behind the sluggish
employment growth of the last 10 to 15 years. Even
more ominous for workers, they foresee dismal
prospects for many types of jobs as these powerful
new technologies are increasingly adopted not only
in manufacturing, clerical, and retail work but in
professions such as law, financial services, education,
and medicine.
That robots, automation, and software can replace
people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked
in automotive manufacturing or as a travel agent. But
Brynjolfsson and McAfee’s claim is more troubling
and controversial. They believe that rapid
technological change has been destroying jobs faster
than it is creating them, contributing to the
stagnation of median income and the growth of
inequality in the United States. And, they suspect,
something similar is happening in other
technologically advanced countries.
As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a
chart that only an economist could love. In
economics, productivity—the amount of economic
value created for a given unit of input, such as an
hour of labor—is a crucial indicator of growth and
wealth creation. It is a measure of progress. On the
chart Brynjolfsson likes to show, separate lines
represent productivity and total employment in the
United States. For years after World War II, the
two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in
jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. The
pattern is clear: as businesses generated more value
from their workers, the country as a whole became
richer, which fueled more economic activity and
created even more jobs. Then, beginning in 2000, the
lines diverge; productivity continues to rise robustly,
but employment suddenly wilts. By 2011, a
significant gap appears between the two lines,
showing economic growth with no parallel increase
in job creation. Brynjolfsson and McAfee call it the
“great decoupling.” And Brynjolfsson says he is
confident that technology is behind both the healthy
growth in productivity and the weak growth in jobs.
It’s a startling assertion because it threatens the
faith that many economists place in technological
progress. Brynjolfsson and McAfee still believe that
technology boosts productivity and makes societies
wealthier, but they think that it can also have a dark
side: technological progress is eliminating the need
for many types of jobs and leaving the typical worker
worse off than before. Brynjolfsson can point to a
second chart indicating that median income is failing
to rise even as the gross domestic product soars. “It’s
the great paradox of our era,” he says. “Productivity
is at record levels, innovation has never been faster,
and yet at the same time, we have a falling median
income and we have fewer jobs. People are falling
behind because technology is advancing so fast and
our skills and organizations aren’t keeping up.”
While technological changes can be painful for
workers whose skills no longer match the needs of
employers, Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist,
says that no historical pattern shows these shifts
leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended
period. Katz has done extensive research on how
technological advances have affected jobs over the
last few centuries—describing, for example, how
highly skilled artisans in the mid-19th century were
displaced by lower-skilled workers in factories.
While it can take decades for workers to acquire the
expertise needed for new types of employment, he
says, “we never have run out of jobs. There is no
long-term trend of eliminating work for people. Over
the long term, employment rates are fairly
stable. People have always been able to create new
jobs. People come up with new things to do.”
Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is
something different about today’s digital
technologies—something that could affect an even
broader range of work. The question, he says, is
whether economic history will serve as a useful
guide. Will the job disruptions caused by technology
be temporary as the workforce adapts, or will we see
a science-fiction scenario in which automated
processes and robots with superhuman skills take
over a broad swath of human tasks? Though Katz
expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely
a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough,
who knows what will happen?”
Question 14:
The primary purpose of lines 26-28 (“the amount...labor”) is to
A) describe a process.
B) highlight a dilemma.
C) clarify a claim.
D) explain a term.
Answer: | D | true | sat-practice_7-question_14 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from David Rotman, “How
Technology Is Destroying Jobs.” ©2013 by MIT Technology
Review.
MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and
Andrew McAfee have argued that impressive
advances in computer technology—from improved
industrial robotics to automated translation
services—are largely behind the sluggish
employment growth of the last 10 to 15 years. Even
more ominous for workers, they foresee dismal
prospects for many types of jobs as these powerful
new technologies are increasingly adopted not only
in manufacturing, clerical, and retail work but in
professions such as law, financial services, education,
and medicine.
That robots, automation, and software can replace
people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked
in automotive manufacturing or as a travel agent. But
Brynjolfsson and McAfee’s claim is more troubling
and controversial. They believe that rapid
technological change has been destroying jobs faster
than it is creating them, contributing to the
stagnation of median income and the growth of
inequality in the United States. And, they suspect,
something similar is happening in other
technologically advanced countries.
As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a
chart that only an economist could love. In
economics, productivity—the amount of economic
value created for a given unit of input, such as an
hour of labor—is a crucial indicator of growth and
wealth creation. It is a measure of progress. On the
chart Brynjolfsson likes to show, separate lines
represent productivity and total employment in the
United States. For years after World War II, the
two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in
jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. The
pattern is clear: as businesses generated more value
from their workers, the country as a whole became
richer, which fueled more economic activity and
created even more jobs. Then, beginning in 2000, the
lines diverge; productivity continues to rise robustly,
but employment suddenly wilts. By 2011, a
significant gap appears between the two lines,
showing economic growth with no parallel increase
in job creation. Brynjolfsson and McAfee call it the
“great decoupling.” And Brynjolfsson says he is
confident that technology is behind both the healthy
growth in productivity and the weak growth in jobs.
It’s a startling assertion because it threatens the
faith that many economists place in technological
progress. Brynjolfsson and McAfee still believe that
technology boosts productivity and makes societies
wealthier, but they think that it can also have a dark
side: technological progress is eliminating the need
for many types of jobs and leaving the typical worker
worse off than before. Brynjolfsson can point to a
second chart indicating that median income is failing
to rise even as the gross domestic product soars. “It’s
the great paradox of our era,” he says. “Productivity
is at record levels, innovation has never been faster,
and yet at the same time, we have a falling median
income and we have fewer jobs. People are falling
behind because technology is advancing so fast and
our skills and organizations aren’t keeping up.”
While technological changes can be painful for
workers whose skills no longer match the needs of
employers, Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist,
says that no historical pattern shows these shifts
leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended
period. Katz has done extensive research on how
technological advances have affected jobs over the
last few centuries—describing, for example, how
highly skilled artisans in the mid-19th century were
displaced by lower-skilled workers in factories.
While it can take decades for workers to acquire the
expertise needed for new types of employment, he
says, “we never have run out of jobs. There is no
long-term trend of eliminating work for people. Over
the long term, employment rates are fairly
stable. People have always been able to create new
jobs. People come up with new things to do.”
Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is
something different about today’s digital
technologies—something that could affect an even
broader range of work. The question, he says, is
whether economic history will serve as a useful
guide. Will the job disruptions caused by technology
be temporary as the workforce adapts, or will we see
a science-fiction scenario in which automated
processes and robots with superhuman skills take
over a broad swath of human tasks? Though Katz
expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely
a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough,
who knows what will happen?”
Question 12:
According to Brynjolfsson and McAfee, advancements in technology since approximately the year 2000 have resulted in
A) low job growth in the United States.
B) global workplace changes.
C) more skilled laborers in the United States.
D) no global creation of new jobs.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_7-question_12 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from David Rotman, “How
Technology Is Destroying Jobs.” ©2013 by MIT Technology
Review.
MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and
Andrew McAfee have argued that impressive
advances in computer technology—from improved
industrial robotics to automated translation
services—are largely behind the sluggish
employment growth of the last 10 to 15 years. Even
more ominous for workers, they foresee dismal
prospects for many types of jobs as these powerful
new technologies are increasingly adopted not only
in manufacturing, clerical, and retail work but in
professions such as law, financial services, education,
and medicine.
That robots, automation, and software can replace
people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked
in automotive manufacturing or as a travel agent. But
Brynjolfsson and McAfee’s claim is more troubling
and controversial. They believe that rapid
technological change has been destroying jobs faster
than it is creating them, contributing to the
stagnation of median income and the growth of
inequality in the United States. And, they suspect,
something similar is happening in other
technologically advanced countries.
As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a
chart that only an economist could love. In
economics, productivity—the amount of economic
value created for a given unit of input, such as an
hour of labor—is a crucial indicator of growth and
wealth creation. It is a measure of progress. On the
chart Brynjolfsson likes to show, separate lines
represent productivity and total employment in the
United States. For years after World War II, the
two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in
jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. The
pattern is clear: as businesses generated more value
from their workers, the country as a whole became
richer, which fueled more economic activity and
created even more jobs. Then, beginning in 2000, the
lines diverge; productivity continues to rise robustly,
but employment suddenly wilts. By 2011, a
significant gap appears between the two lines,
showing economic growth with no parallel increase
in job creation. Brynjolfsson and McAfee call it the
“great decoupling.” And Brynjolfsson says he is
confident that technology is behind both the healthy
growth in productivity and the weak growth in jobs.
It’s a startling assertion because it threatens the
faith that many economists place in technological
progress. Brynjolfsson and McAfee still believe that
technology boosts productivity and makes societies
wealthier, but they think that it can also have a dark
side: technological progress is eliminating the need
for many types of jobs and leaving the typical worker
worse off than before. Brynjolfsson can point to a
second chart indicating that median income is failing
to rise even as the gross domestic product soars. “It’s
the great paradox of our era,” he says. “Productivity
is at record levels, innovation has never been faster,
and yet at the same time, we have a falling median
income and we have fewer jobs. People are falling
behind because technology is advancing so fast and
our skills and organizations aren’t keeping up.”
While technological changes can be painful for
workers whose skills no longer match the needs of
employers, Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist,
says that no historical pattern shows these shifts
leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended
period. Katz has done extensive research on how
technological advances have affected jobs over the
last few centuries—describing, for example, how
highly skilled artisans in the mid-19th century were
displaced by lower-skilled workers in factories.
While it can take decades for workers to acquire the
expertise needed for new types of employment, he
says, “we never have run out of jobs. There is no
long-term trend of eliminating work for people. Over
the long term, employment rates are fairly
stable. People have always been able to create new
jobs. People come up with new things to do.”
Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is
something different about today’s digital
technologies—something that could affect an even
broader range of work. The question, he says, is
whether economic history will serve as a useful
guide. Will the job disruptions caused by technology
be temporary as the workforce adapts, or will we see
a science-fiction scenario in which automated
processes and robots with superhuman skills take
over a broad swath of human tasks? Though Katz
expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely
a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough,
who knows what will happen?”
Question 15:
As used in line 35, “clear” most nearly means
A) pure.
B) keen.
C) untroubled.
D) unmistakable.
Answer: | D | true | sat-practice_7-question_15 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from David Rotman, “How
Technology Is Destroying Jobs.” ©2013 by MIT Technology
Review.
MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and
Andrew McAfee have argued that impressive
advances in computer technology—from improved
industrial robotics to automated translation
services—are largely behind the sluggish
employment growth of the last 10 to 15 years. Even
more ominous for workers, they foresee dismal
prospects for many types of jobs as these powerful
new technologies are increasingly adopted not only
in manufacturing, clerical, and retail work but in
professions such as law, financial services, education,
and medicine.
That robots, automation, and software can replace
people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked
in automotive manufacturing or as a travel agent. But
Brynjolfsson and McAfee’s claim is more troubling
and controversial. They believe that rapid
technological change has been destroying jobs faster
than it is creating them, contributing to the
stagnation of median income and the growth of
inequality in the United States. And, they suspect,
something similar is happening in other
technologically advanced countries.
As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a
chart that only an economist could love. In
economics, productivity—the amount of economic
value created for a given unit of input, such as an
hour of labor—is a crucial indicator of growth and
wealth creation. It is a measure of progress. On the
chart Brynjolfsson likes to show, separate lines
represent productivity and total employment in the
United States. For years after World War II, the
two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in
jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. The
pattern is clear: as businesses generated more value
from their workers, the country as a whole became
richer, which fueled more economic activity and
created even more jobs. Then, beginning in 2000, the
lines diverge; productivity continues to rise robustly,
but employment suddenly wilts. By 2011, a
significant gap appears between the two lines,
showing economic growth with no parallel increase
in job creation. Brynjolfsson and McAfee call it the
“great decoupling.” And Brynjolfsson says he is
confident that technology is behind both the healthy
growth in productivity and the weak growth in jobs.
It’s a startling assertion because it threatens the
faith that many economists place in technological
progress. Brynjolfsson and McAfee still believe that
technology boosts productivity and makes societies
wealthier, but they think that it can also have a dark
side: technological progress is eliminating the need
for many types of jobs and leaving the typical worker
worse off than before. Brynjolfsson can point to a
second chart indicating that median income is failing
to rise even as the gross domestic product soars. “It’s
the great paradox of our era,” he says. “Productivity
is at record levels, innovation has never been faster,
and yet at the same time, we have a falling median
income and we have fewer jobs. People are falling
behind because technology is advancing so fast and
our skills and organizations aren’t keeping up.”
While technological changes can be painful for
workers whose skills no longer match the needs of
employers, Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist,
says that no historical pattern shows these shifts
leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended
period. Katz has done extensive research on how
technological advances have affected jobs over the
last few centuries—describing, for example, how
highly skilled artisans in the mid-19th century were
displaced by lower-skilled workers in factories.
While it can take decades for workers to acquire the
expertise needed for new types of employment, he
says, “we never have run out of jobs. There is no
long-term trend of eliminating work for people. Over
the long term, employment rates are fairly
stable. People have always been able to create new
jobs. People come up with new things to do.”
Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is
something different about today’s digital
technologies—something that could affect an even
broader range of work. The question, he says, is
whether economic history will serve as a useful
guide. Will the job disruptions caused by technology
be temporary as the workforce adapts, or will we see
a science-fiction scenario in which automated
processes and robots with superhuman skills take
over a broad swath of human tasks? Though Katz
expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely
a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough,
who knows what will happen?”
Question 16:
Which of the following best characterizes Katz’s attitude toward “today’s digital technologies” (lines 81-82)?
A) He is alarmed about countries’ increasing reliance on them.
B) He is unconcerned about their effect on the economy.
C) He is uncertain how they might affect job growth.
D) He is optimistic that they will spur job creation to a degree not seen since the mid-nineteenth century.
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_7-question_16 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from David Rotman, “How
Technology Is Destroying Jobs.” ©2013 by MIT Technology
Review.
MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and
Andrew McAfee have argued that impressive
advances in computer technology—from improved
industrial robotics to automated translation
services—are largely behind the sluggish
employment growth of the last 10 to 15 years. Even
more ominous for workers, they foresee dismal
prospects for many types of jobs as these powerful
new technologies are increasingly adopted not only
in manufacturing, clerical, and retail work but in
professions such as law, financial services, education,
and medicine.
That robots, automation, and software can replace
people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked
in automotive manufacturing or as a travel agent. But
Brynjolfsson and McAfee’s claim is more troubling
and controversial. They believe that rapid
technological change has been destroying jobs faster
than it is creating them, contributing to the
stagnation of median income and the growth of
inequality in the United States. And, they suspect,
something similar is happening in other
technologically advanced countries.
As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a
chart that only an economist could love. In
economics, productivity—the amount of economic
value created for a given unit of input, such as an
hour of labor—is a crucial indicator of growth and
wealth creation. It is a measure of progress. On the
chart Brynjolfsson likes to show, separate lines
represent productivity and total employment in the
United States. For years after World War II, the
two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in
jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. The
pattern is clear: as businesses generated more value
from their workers, the country as a whole became
richer, which fueled more economic activity and
created even more jobs. Then, beginning in 2000, the
lines diverge; productivity continues to rise robustly,
but employment suddenly wilts. By 2011, a
significant gap appears between the two lines,
showing economic growth with no parallel increase
in job creation. Brynjolfsson and McAfee call it the
“great decoupling.” And Brynjolfsson says he is
confident that technology is behind both the healthy
growth in productivity and the weak growth in jobs.
It’s a startling assertion because it threatens the
faith that many economists place in technological
progress. Brynjolfsson and McAfee still believe that
technology boosts productivity and makes societies
wealthier, but they think that it can also have a dark
side: technological progress is eliminating the need
for many types of jobs and leaving the typical worker
worse off than before. Brynjolfsson can point to a
second chart indicating that median income is failing
to rise even as the gross domestic product soars. “It’s
the great paradox of our era,” he says. “Productivity
is at record levels, innovation has never been faster,
and yet at the same time, we have a falling median
income and we have fewer jobs. People are falling
behind because technology is advancing so fast and
our skills and organizations aren’t keeping up.”
While technological changes can be painful for
workers whose skills no longer match the needs of
employers, Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist,
says that no historical pattern shows these shifts
leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended
period. Katz has done extensive research on how
technological advances have affected jobs over the
last few centuries—describing, for example, how
highly skilled artisans in the mid-19th century were
displaced by lower-skilled workers in factories.
While it can take decades for workers to acquire the
expertise needed for new types of employment, he
says, “we never have run out of jobs. There is no
long-term trend of eliminating work for people. Over
the long term, employment rates are fairly
stable. People have always been able to create new
jobs. People come up with new things to do.”
Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is
something different about today’s digital
technologies—something that could affect an even
broader range of work. The question, he says, is
whether economic history will serve as a useful
guide. Will the job disruptions caused by technology
be temporary as the workforce adapts, or will we see
a science-fiction scenario in which automated
processes and robots with superhuman skills take
over a broad swath of human tasks? Though Katz
expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely
a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough,
who knows what will happen?”
Question 11:
The main purpose of the passage is to
A) examine the role of technology in workers’ lives during the last century.
B) advocate for better technology to enhance workplace conditions.
C) argue for changes in how technology is deployed in the workplace.
D) assess the impact of advancements in technology on overall job growth.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_7-question_11 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from David Rotman, “How
Technology Is Destroying Jobs.” ©2013 by MIT Technology
Review.
MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and
Andrew McAfee have argued that impressive
advances in computer technology—from improved
industrial robotics to automated translation
services—are largely behind the sluggish
employment growth of the last 10 to 15 years. Even
more ominous for workers, they foresee dismal
prospects for many types of jobs as these powerful
new technologies are increasingly adopted not only
in manufacturing, clerical, and retail work but in
professions such as law, financial services, education,
and medicine.
That robots, automation, and software can replace
people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked
in automotive manufacturing or as a travel agent. But
Brynjolfsson and McAfee’s claim is more troubling
and controversial. They believe that rapid
technological change has been destroying jobs faster
than it is creating them, contributing to the
stagnation of median income and the growth of
inequality in the United States. And, they suspect,
something similar is happening in other
technologically advanced countries.
As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a
chart that only an economist could love. In
economics, productivity—the amount of economic
value created for a given unit of input, such as an
hour of labor—is a crucial indicator of growth and
wealth creation. It is a measure of progress. On the
chart Brynjolfsson likes to show, separate lines
represent productivity and total employment in the
United States. For years after World War II, the
two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in
jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. The
pattern is clear: as businesses generated more value
from their workers, the country as a whole became
richer, which fueled more economic activity and
created even more jobs. Then, beginning in 2000, the
lines diverge; productivity continues to rise robustly,
but employment suddenly wilts. By 2011, a
significant gap appears between the two lines,
showing economic growth with no parallel increase
in job creation. Brynjolfsson and McAfee call it the
“great decoupling.” And Brynjolfsson says he is
confident that technology is behind both the healthy
growth in productivity and the weak growth in jobs.
It’s a startling assertion because it threatens the
faith that many economists place in technological
progress. Brynjolfsson and McAfee still believe that
technology boosts productivity and makes societies
wealthier, but they think that it can also have a dark
side: technological progress is eliminating the need
for many types of jobs and leaving the typical worker
worse off than before. Brynjolfsson can point to a
second chart indicating that median income is failing
to rise even as the gross domestic product soars. “It’s
the great paradox of our era,” he says. “Productivity
is at record levels, innovation has never been faster,
and yet at the same time, we have a falling median
income and we have fewer jobs. People are falling
behind because technology is advancing so fast and
our skills and organizations aren’t keeping up.”
While technological changes can be painful for
workers whose skills no longer match the needs of
employers, Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist,
says that no historical pattern shows these shifts
leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended
period. Katz has done extensive research on how
technological advances have affected jobs over the
last few centuries—describing, for example, how
highly skilled artisans in the mid-19th century were
displaced by lower-skilled workers in factories.
While it can take decades for workers to acquire the
expertise needed for new types of employment, he
says, “we never have run out of jobs. There is no
long-term trend of eliminating work for people. Over
the long term, employment rates are fairly
stable. People have always been able to create new
jobs. People come up with new things to do.”
Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is
something different about today’s digital
technologies—something that could affect an even
broader range of work. The question, he says, is
whether economic history will serve as a useful
guide. Will the job disruptions caused by technology
be temporary as the workforce adapts, or will we see
a science-fiction scenario in which automated
processes and robots with superhuman skills take
over a broad swath of human tasks? Though Katz
expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely
a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough,
who knows what will happen?”
Question 18:
As used in line 83, “range” most nearly means
A) region.
B) scope.
C) distance.
D) position.
Answer: | B | true | sat-practice_7-question_18 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Patricia Waldron, “Why Birds
Fly in a V Formation.” ©2014 by American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
Anyone watching the autumn sky knows that
migrating birds fly in a V formation, but scientists
have long debated why. A new study of ibises finds
that these big-winged birds carefully position their
wingtips and sync their flapping, presumably to catch
the preceding bird’s updraft—and save energy
during flight.
There are two reasons birds might fly in a
V formation: It may make flight easier, or they’re
simply following the leader. Squadrons of planes can
save fuel by flying in a V formation, and many
scientists suspect that migrating birds do the same.
Models that treated flapping birds like fixed-wing
airplanes estimate that they save energy by drafting
off each other, but currents created by airplanes are
far more stable than the oscillating eddies coming off
of a bird. “Air gets pretty unpredictable behind a
flapping wing,” says James Usherwood, a locomotor
biomechanist at the Royal Veterinary College at the
University of London in Hatfield, where the research
took place.
The study, published in Nature, took advantage of
an existing project to reintroduce endangered
northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) to Europe.
Scientists used a microlight plane to show
hand-raised birds their ancestral migration route
from Austria to Italy. A flock of 14 juveniles carried
data loggers specially built by Usherwood and his lab.
The device’s GPS determined each bird’s flight
position to within 30 cm, and an accelerometer
showed the timing of the wing flaps.
Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the
birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to
the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats
to catch the uplifting eddies. When a bird flew
directly behind another, the timing of the flapping
reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the
downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body.
“We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood
says, considering that the feat requires careful
flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbors.
“Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought
of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and
down.”
The findings likely apply to other long-winged
birds, such as pelicans, storks, and geese, Usherwood
says. Smaller birds create more complex wakes that
would make drafting too difficult. The researchers
did not attempt to calculate the bird’s energy savings
because the necessary physiological measurements
would be too invasive for an endangered species.
Previous studies estimate that birds can use
20 percent to 30 percent less energy while
flying in a V.
“From a behavioral perspective it’s really a
breakthrough,” says David Lentink, a mechanical
engineer at Stanford University in Palo Alto,
California, who was not involved in the work.
“Showing that birds care about syncing their wing
beats is definitely an important insight that we didn’t
have before.”
Scientists do not know how the birds find
that aerodynamic sweet spot, but they suspect that
the animals align themselves either by sight or
by sensing air currents through their feathers.
Alternatively, they may move around until they find
the location with the least resistance. In future
studies, the researchers will switch to more common
birds, such as pigeons or geese. They plan to
investigate how the animals decide who sets the
course and the pace, and whether a mistake made by
the leader can ripple through the rest of the flock to
cause traffic jams.
“It’s a pretty impressive piece of work as it is, but
it does suggest that there’s a lot more to learn,”
says Ty Hedrick, a biologist at the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who studies flight
aerodynamics in birds and insects. However they do
it, he says, “birds are awfully good hang-glider
pilots.”
Question 30:
The author uses the phrase “aerodynamic sweet spot” in line 63 most likely to
A) describe how the proper structural design of an airplane helps to save fuel.
B) show that flying can be an exhilarating experience.
C) describe the birds’ synchronized wing movement.
D) suggest that a certain position in a V formation has the least amount of wind resistance.
Answer: | D | true | sat-practice_7-question_30 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Patricia Waldron, “Why Birds
Fly in a V Formation.” ©2014 by American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
Anyone watching the autumn sky knows that
migrating birds fly in a V formation, but scientists
have long debated why. A new study of ibises finds
that these big-winged birds carefully position their
wingtips and sync their flapping, presumably to catch
the preceding bird’s updraft—and save energy
during flight.
There are two reasons birds might fly in a
V formation: It may make flight easier, or they’re
simply following the leader. Squadrons of planes can
save fuel by flying in a V formation, and many
scientists suspect that migrating birds do the same.
Models that treated flapping birds like fixed-wing
airplanes estimate that they save energy by drafting
off each other, but currents created by airplanes are
far more stable than the oscillating eddies coming off
of a bird. “Air gets pretty unpredictable behind a
flapping wing,” says James Usherwood, a locomotor
biomechanist at the Royal Veterinary College at the
University of London in Hatfield, where the research
took place.
The study, published in Nature, took advantage of
an existing project to reintroduce endangered
northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) to Europe.
Scientists used a microlight plane to show
hand-raised birds their ancestral migration route
from Austria to Italy. A flock of 14 juveniles carried
data loggers specially built by Usherwood and his lab.
The device’s GPS determined each bird’s flight
position to within 30 cm, and an accelerometer
showed the timing of the wing flaps.
Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the
birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to
the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats
to catch the uplifting eddies. When a bird flew
directly behind another, the timing of the flapping
reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the
downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body.
“We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood
says, considering that the feat requires careful
flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbors.
“Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought
of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and
down.”
The findings likely apply to other long-winged
birds, such as pelicans, storks, and geese, Usherwood
says. Smaller birds create more complex wakes that
would make drafting too difficult. The researchers
did not attempt to calculate the bird’s energy savings
because the necessary physiological measurements
would be too invasive for an endangered species.
Previous studies estimate that birds can use
20 percent to 30 percent less energy while
flying in a V.
“From a behavioral perspective it’s really a
breakthrough,” says David Lentink, a mechanical
engineer at Stanford University in Palo Alto,
California, who was not involved in the work.
“Showing that birds care about syncing their wing
beats is definitely an important insight that we didn’t
have before.”
Scientists do not know how the birds find
that aerodynamic sweet spot, but they suspect that
the animals align themselves either by sight or
by sensing air currents through their feathers.
Alternatively, they may move around until they find
the location with the least resistance. In future
studies, the researchers will switch to more common
birds, such as pigeons or geese. They plan to
investigate how the animals decide who sets the
course and the pace, and whether a mistake made by
the leader can ripple through the rest of the flock to
cause traffic jams.
“It’s a pretty impressive piece of work as it is, but
it does suggest that there’s a lot more to learn,”
says Ty Hedrick, a biologist at the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who studies flight
aerodynamics in birds and insects. However they do
it, he says, “birds are awfully good hang-glider
pilots.”
Question 24:
What can reasonably be inferred about the reason Usherwood used northern bald ibises as the subjects of his study?
A) The ibises were well acquainted with their migration route.
B) Usherwood knew the ibises were familiar with carrying data loggers during migration.
C) The ibises have a body design that is similar to that of a modern airplane.
D) The ibises were easily accessible for Usherwood and his team to track and observe.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_7-question_24 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Patricia Waldron, “Why Birds
Fly in a V Formation.” ©2014 by American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
Anyone watching the autumn sky knows that
migrating birds fly in a V formation, but scientists
have long debated why. A new study of ibises finds
that these big-winged birds carefully position their
wingtips and sync their flapping, presumably to catch
the preceding bird’s updraft—and save energy
during flight.
There are two reasons birds might fly in a
V formation: It may make flight easier, or they’re
simply following the leader. Squadrons of planes can
save fuel by flying in a V formation, and many
scientists suspect that migrating birds do the same.
Models that treated flapping birds like fixed-wing
airplanes estimate that they save energy by drafting
off each other, but currents created by airplanes are
far more stable than the oscillating eddies coming off
of a bird. “Air gets pretty unpredictable behind a
flapping wing,” says James Usherwood, a locomotor
biomechanist at the Royal Veterinary College at the
University of London in Hatfield, where the research
took place.
The study, published in Nature, took advantage of
an existing project to reintroduce endangered
northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) to Europe.
Scientists used a microlight plane to show
hand-raised birds their ancestral migration route
from Austria to Italy. A flock of 14 juveniles carried
data loggers specially built by Usherwood and his lab.
The device’s GPS determined each bird’s flight
position to within 30 cm, and an accelerometer
showed the timing of the wing flaps.
Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the
birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to
the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats
to catch the uplifting eddies. When a bird flew
directly behind another, the timing of the flapping
reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the
downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body.
“We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood
says, considering that the feat requires careful
flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbors.
“Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought
of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and
down.”
The findings likely apply to other long-winged
birds, such as pelicans, storks, and geese, Usherwood
says. Smaller birds create more complex wakes that
would make drafting too difficult. The researchers
did not attempt to calculate the bird’s energy savings
because the necessary physiological measurements
would be too invasive for an endangered species.
Previous studies estimate that birds can use
20 percent to 30 percent less energy while
flying in a V.
“From a behavioral perspective it’s really a
breakthrough,” says David Lentink, a mechanical
engineer at Stanford University in Palo Alto,
California, who was not involved in the work.
“Showing that birds care about syncing their wing
beats is definitely an important insight that we didn’t
have before.”
Scientists do not know how the birds find
that aerodynamic sweet spot, but they suspect that
the animals align themselves either by sight or
by sensing air currents through their feathers.
Alternatively, they may move around until they find
the location with the least resistance. In future
studies, the researchers will switch to more common
birds, such as pigeons or geese. They plan to
investigate how the animals decide who sets the
course and the pace, and whether a mistake made by
the leader can ripple through the rest of the flock to
cause traffic jams.
“It’s a pretty impressive piece of work as it is, but
it does suggest that there’s a lot more to learn,”
says Ty Hedrick, a biologist at the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who studies flight
aerodynamics in birds and insects. However they do
it, he says, “birds are awfully good hang-glider
pilots.”
Question 22:
The main purpose of the passage is to
A) describe how squadrons of planes can save fuel by flying in a V formation.
B) discuss the effects of downdrafts on birds and airplanes.
C) explain research conducted to study why some birds fly in a V formation.
D) illustrate how birds sense air currents through their feathers.
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_7-question_22 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Patricia Waldron, “Why Birds
Fly in a V Formation.” ©2014 by American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
Anyone watching the autumn sky knows that
migrating birds fly in a V formation, but scientists
have long debated why. A new study of ibises finds
that these big-winged birds carefully position their
wingtips and sync their flapping, presumably to catch
the preceding bird’s updraft—and save energy
during flight.
There are two reasons birds might fly in a
V formation: It may make flight easier, or they’re
simply following the leader. Squadrons of planes can
save fuel by flying in a V formation, and many
scientists suspect that migrating birds do the same.
Models that treated flapping birds like fixed-wing
airplanes estimate that they save energy by drafting
off each other, but currents created by airplanes are
far more stable than the oscillating eddies coming off
of a bird. “Air gets pretty unpredictable behind a
flapping wing,” says James Usherwood, a locomotor
biomechanist at the Royal Veterinary College at the
University of London in Hatfield, where the research
took place.
The study, published in Nature, took advantage of
an existing project to reintroduce endangered
northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) to Europe.
Scientists used a microlight plane to show
hand-raised birds their ancestral migration route
from Austria to Italy. A flock of 14 juveniles carried
data loggers specially built by Usherwood and his lab.
The device’s GPS determined each bird’s flight
position to within 30 cm, and an accelerometer
showed the timing of the wing flaps.
Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the
birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to
the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats
to catch the uplifting eddies. When a bird flew
directly behind another, the timing of the flapping
reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the
downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body.
“We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood
says, considering that the feat requires careful
flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbors.
“Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought
of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and
down.”
The findings likely apply to other long-winged
birds, such as pelicans, storks, and geese, Usherwood
says. Smaller birds create more complex wakes that
would make drafting too difficult. The researchers
did not attempt to calculate the bird’s energy savings
because the necessary physiological measurements
would be too invasive for an endangered species.
Previous studies estimate that birds can use
20 percent to 30 percent less energy while
flying in a V.
“From a behavioral perspective it’s really a
breakthrough,” says David Lentink, a mechanical
engineer at Stanford University in Palo Alto,
California, who was not involved in the work.
“Showing that birds care about syncing their wing
beats is definitely an important insight that we didn’t
have before.”
Scientists do not know how the birds find
that aerodynamic sweet spot, but they suspect that
the animals align themselves either by sight or
by sensing air currents through their feathers.
Alternatively, they may move around until they find
the location with the least resistance. In future
studies, the researchers will switch to more common
birds, such as pigeons or geese. They plan to
investigate how the animals decide who sets the
course and the pace, and whether a mistake made by
the leader can ripple through the rest of the flock to
cause traffic jams.
“It’s a pretty impressive piece of work as it is, but
it does suggest that there’s a lot more to learn,”
says Ty Hedrick, a biologist at the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who studies flight
aerodynamics in birds and insects. However they do
it, he says, “birds are awfully good hang-glider
pilots.”
Question 29:
What is a main idea of the seventh paragraph (lines 62-73)?
A) Different types of hierarchies exist in each flock of birds.
B) Mistakes can happen when long-winged birds create a V formation.
C) Future research will help scientists to better understand V formations.
D) Long-winged birds watch the lead bird closely to keep a V formation intact.
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_7-question_29 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Patricia Waldron, “Why Birds
Fly in a V Formation.” ©2014 by American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
Anyone watching the autumn sky knows that
migrating birds fly in a V formation, but scientists
have long debated why. A new study of ibises finds
that these big-winged birds carefully position their
wingtips and sync their flapping, presumably to catch
the preceding bird’s updraft—and save energy
during flight.
There are two reasons birds might fly in a
V formation: It may make flight easier, or they’re
simply following the leader. Squadrons of planes can
save fuel by flying in a V formation, and many
scientists suspect that migrating birds do the same.
Models that treated flapping birds like fixed-wing
airplanes estimate that they save energy by drafting
off each other, but currents created by airplanes are
far more stable than the oscillating eddies coming off
of a bird. “Air gets pretty unpredictable behind a
flapping wing,” says James Usherwood, a locomotor
biomechanist at the Royal Veterinary College at the
University of London in Hatfield, where the research
took place.
The study, published in Nature, took advantage of
an existing project to reintroduce endangered
northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) to Europe.
Scientists used a microlight plane to show
hand-raised birds their ancestral migration route
from Austria to Italy. A flock of 14 juveniles carried
data loggers specially built by Usherwood and his lab.
The device’s GPS determined each bird’s flight
position to within 30 cm, and an accelerometer
showed the timing of the wing flaps.
Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the
birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to
the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats
to catch the uplifting eddies. When a bird flew
directly behind another, the timing of the flapping
reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the
downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body.
“We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood
says, considering that the feat requires careful
flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbors.
“Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought
of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and
down.”
The findings likely apply to other long-winged
birds, such as pelicans, storks, and geese, Usherwood
says. Smaller birds create more complex wakes that
would make drafting too difficult. The researchers
did not attempt to calculate the bird’s energy savings
because the necessary physiological measurements
would be too invasive for an endangered species.
Previous studies estimate that birds can use
20 percent to 30 percent less energy while
flying in a V.
“From a behavioral perspective it’s really a
breakthrough,” says David Lentink, a mechanical
engineer at Stanford University in Palo Alto,
California, who was not involved in the work.
“Showing that birds care about syncing their wing
beats is definitely an important insight that we didn’t
have before.”
Scientists do not know how the birds find
that aerodynamic sweet spot, but they suspect that
the animals align themselves either by sight or
by sensing air currents through their feathers.
Alternatively, they may move around until they find
the location with the least resistance. In future
studies, the researchers will switch to more common
birds, such as pigeons or geese. They plan to
investigate how the animals decide who sets the
course and the pace, and whether a mistake made by
the leader can ripple through the rest of the flock to
cause traffic jams.
“It’s a pretty impressive piece of work as it is, but
it does suggest that there’s a lot more to learn,”
says Ty Hedrick, a biologist at the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who studies flight
aerodynamics in birds and insects. However they do
it, he says, “birds are awfully good hang-glider
pilots.”
Question 27:
What does the author imply about pelicans, storks, and geese flying in a V formation?
A) They communicate with each other in the same way as do ibises.
B) They have the same migration routes as those of ibises.
C) They create a similar wake to that of ibises.
D) They expend more energy than do ibises.
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_7-question_27 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Patricia Waldron, “Why Birds
Fly in a V Formation.” ©2014 by American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
Anyone watching the autumn sky knows that
migrating birds fly in a V formation, but scientists
have long debated why. A new study of ibises finds
that these big-winged birds carefully position their
wingtips and sync their flapping, presumably to catch
the preceding bird’s updraft—and save energy
during flight.
There are two reasons birds might fly in a
V formation: It may make flight easier, or they’re
simply following the leader. Squadrons of planes can
save fuel by flying in a V formation, and many
scientists suspect that migrating birds do the same.
Models that treated flapping birds like fixed-wing
airplanes estimate that they save energy by drafting
off each other, but currents created by airplanes are
far more stable than the oscillating eddies coming off
of a bird. “Air gets pretty unpredictable behind a
flapping wing,” says James Usherwood, a locomotor
biomechanist at the Royal Veterinary College at the
University of London in Hatfield, where the research
took place.
The study, published in Nature, took advantage of
an existing project to reintroduce endangered
northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) to Europe.
Scientists used a microlight plane to show
hand-raised birds their ancestral migration route
from Austria to Italy. A flock of 14 juveniles carried
data loggers specially built by Usherwood and his lab.
The device’s GPS determined each bird’s flight
position to within 30 cm, and an accelerometer
showed the timing of the wing flaps.
Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the
birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to
the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats
to catch the uplifting eddies. When a bird flew
directly behind another, the timing of the flapping
reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the
downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body.
“We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood
says, considering that the feat requires careful
flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbors.
“Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought
of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and
down.”
The findings likely apply to other long-winged
birds, such as pelicans, storks, and geese, Usherwood
says. Smaller birds create more complex wakes that
would make drafting too difficult. The researchers
did not attempt to calculate the bird’s energy savings
because the necessary physiological measurements
would be too invasive for an endangered species.
Previous studies estimate that birds can use
20 percent to 30 percent less energy while
flying in a V.
“From a behavioral perspective it’s really a
breakthrough,” says David Lentink, a mechanical
engineer at Stanford University in Palo Alto,
California, who was not involved in the work.
“Showing that birds care about syncing their wing
beats is definitely an important insight that we didn’t
have before.”
Scientists do not know how the birds find
that aerodynamic sweet spot, but they suspect that
the animals align themselves either by sight or
by sensing air currents through their feathers.
Alternatively, they may move around until they find
the location with the least resistance. In future
studies, the researchers will switch to more common
birds, such as pigeons or geese. They plan to
investigate how the animals decide who sets the
course and the pace, and whether a mistake made by
the leader can ripple through the rest of the flock to
cause traffic jams.
“It’s a pretty impressive piece of work as it is, but
it does suggest that there’s a lot more to learn,”
says Ty Hedrick, a biologist at the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who studies flight
aerodynamics in birds and insects. However they do
it, he says, “birds are awfully good hang-glider
pilots.”
Question 26:
What is the most likely reason the author includes the 30 cm measurement in line 30?
A) To demonstrate the accuracy with which the data loggers collected the data
B) To present recorded data about how far an ibis flies between successive wing flaps
C) To provide the wingspan length of a juvenile ibis
D) To show how far behind the microlight plane each ibis flew
Answer: | A | true | sat-practice_7-question_26 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Patricia Waldron, “Why Birds
Fly in a V Formation.” ©2014 by American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
Anyone watching the autumn sky knows that
migrating birds fly in a V formation, but scientists
have long debated why. A new study of ibises finds
that these big-winged birds carefully position their
wingtips and sync their flapping, presumably to catch
the preceding bird’s updraft—and save energy
during flight.
There are two reasons birds might fly in a
V formation: It may make flight easier, or they’re
simply following the leader. Squadrons of planes can
save fuel by flying in a V formation, and many
scientists suspect that migrating birds do the same.
Models that treated flapping birds like fixed-wing
airplanes estimate that they save energy by drafting
off each other, but currents created by airplanes are
far more stable than the oscillating eddies coming off
of a bird. “Air gets pretty unpredictable behind a
flapping wing,” says James Usherwood, a locomotor
biomechanist at the Royal Veterinary College at the
University of London in Hatfield, where the research
took place.
The study, published in Nature, took advantage of
an existing project to reintroduce endangered
northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) to Europe.
Scientists used a microlight plane to show
hand-raised birds their ancestral migration route
from Austria to Italy. A flock of 14 juveniles carried
data loggers specially built by Usherwood and his lab.
The device’s GPS determined each bird’s flight
position to within 30 cm, and an accelerometer
showed the timing of the wing flaps.
Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the
birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to
the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats
to catch the uplifting eddies. When a bird flew
directly behind another, the timing of the flapping
reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the
downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body.
“We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood
says, considering that the feat requires careful
flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbors.
“Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought
of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and
down.”
The findings likely apply to other long-winged
birds, such as pelicans, storks, and geese, Usherwood
says. Smaller birds create more complex wakes that
would make drafting too difficult. The researchers
did not attempt to calculate the bird’s energy savings
because the necessary physiological measurements
would be too invasive for an endangered species.
Previous studies estimate that birds can use
20 percent to 30 percent less energy while
flying in a V.
“From a behavioral perspective it’s really a
breakthrough,” says David Lentink, a mechanical
engineer at Stanford University in Palo Alto,
California, who was not involved in the work.
“Showing that birds care about syncing their wing
beats is definitely an important insight that we didn’t
have before.”
Scientists do not know how the birds find
that aerodynamic sweet spot, but they suspect that
the animals align themselves either by sight or
by sensing air currents through their feathers.
Alternatively, they may move around until they find
the location with the least resistance. In future
studies, the researchers will switch to more common
birds, such as pigeons or geese. They plan to
investigate how the animals decide who sets the
course and the pace, and whether a mistake made by
the leader can ripple through the rest of the flock to
cause traffic jams.
“It’s a pretty impressive piece of work as it is, but
it does suggest that there’s a lot more to learn,”
says Ty Hedrick, a biologist at the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who studies flight
aerodynamics in birds and insects. However they do
it, he says, “birds are awfully good hang-glider
pilots.”
Question 31:
As used in line 72, “ripple” most nearly means
A) fluctuate.
B) spread.
C) wave.
D) undulate.
Answer: | B | true | sat-practice_7-question_31 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Patricia Waldron, “Why Birds
Fly in a V Formation.” ©2014 by American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
Anyone watching the autumn sky knows that
migrating birds fly in a V formation, but scientists
have long debated why. A new study of ibises finds
that these big-winged birds carefully position their
wingtips and sync their flapping, presumably to catch
the preceding bird’s updraft—and save energy
during flight.
There are two reasons birds might fly in a
V formation: It may make flight easier, or they’re
simply following the leader. Squadrons of planes can
save fuel by flying in a V formation, and many
scientists suspect that migrating birds do the same.
Models that treated flapping birds like fixed-wing
airplanes estimate that they save energy by drafting
off each other, but currents created by airplanes are
far more stable than the oscillating eddies coming off
of a bird. “Air gets pretty unpredictable behind a
flapping wing,” says James Usherwood, a locomotor
biomechanist at the Royal Veterinary College at the
University of London in Hatfield, where the research
took place.
The study, published in Nature, took advantage of
an existing project to reintroduce endangered
northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) to Europe.
Scientists used a microlight plane to show
hand-raised birds their ancestral migration route
from Austria to Italy. A flock of 14 juveniles carried
data loggers specially built by Usherwood and his lab.
The device’s GPS determined each bird’s flight
position to within 30 cm, and an accelerometer
showed the timing of the wing flaps.
Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the
birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to
the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats
to catch the uplifting eddies. When a bird flew
directly behind another, the timing of the flapping
reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the
downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body.
“We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood
says, considering that the feat requires careful
flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbors.
“Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought
of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and
down.”
The findings likely apply to other long-winged
birds, such as pelicans, storks, and geese, Usherwood
says. Smaller birds create more complex wakes that
would make drafting too difficult. The researchers
did not attempt to calculate the bird’s energy savings
because the necessary physiological measurements
would be too invasive for an endangered species.
Previous studies estimate that birds can use
20 percent to 30 percent less energy while
flying in a V.
“From a behavioral perspective it’s really a
breakthrough,” says David Lentink, a mechanical
engineer at Stanford University in Palo Alto,
California, who was not involved in the work.
“Showing that birds care about syncing their wing
beats is definitely an important insight that we didn’t
have before.”
Scientists do not know how the birds find
that aerodynamic sweet spot, but they suspect that
the animals align themselves either by sight or
by sensing air currents through their feathers.
Alternatively, they may move around until they find
the location with the least resistance. In future
studies, the researchers will switch to more common
birds, such as pigeons or geese. They plan to
investigate how the animals decide who sets the
course and the pace, and whether a mistake made by
the leader can ripple through the rest of the flock to
cause traffic jams.
“It’s a pretty impressive piece of work as it is, but
it does suggest that there’s a lot more to learn,”
says Ty Hedrick, a biologist at the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who studies flight
aerodynamics in birds and insects. However they do
it, he says, “birds are awfully good hang-glider
pilots.”
Question 23:
The author includes the quotation “Air gets pretty unpredictable behind a flapping wing” (lines 17-18) to
A) explain that the current created by a bird differs from that of an airplane.
B) stress the amount of control exerted by birds flying in a V formation.
C) indicate that wind movement is continuously changing.
D) emphasize that the flapping of a bird’s wings is powerful.
Answer: | A | true | sat-practice_7-question_23 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy
in America, Volume 2. Originally published in 1840. Passage 2
is adapted from Harriet Taylor Mill, “Enfranchisement of
Women.” Originally published in 1851. As United States and
European societies grew increasingly democratic during the
nineteenth century, debates arose about whether freedoms
enjoyed by men should be extended to women as well.
Passage 1
I have shown how democracy destroys or
modifies the different inequalities which originate in
society; but is this all? or does it not ultimately affect
that great inequality of man and woman which has
seemed, up to the present day, to be eternally based
in human nature? I believe that the social changes
which bring nearer to the same level the father and
son, the master and servant, and superiors and
inferiors generally speaking, will raise woman and
make her more and more the equal of man. But here,
more than ever, I feel the necessity of making myself
clearly understood; for there is no subject on which
the coarse and lawless fancies of our age have taken a
freer range.
There are people in Europe who, confounding
together the different characteristics of the sexes,
would make of man and woman beings not only
equal but alike. They would give to both the same
functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant
to both the same rights; they would mix them in all
things—their occupations, their pleasures, their
business. It may readily be conceived, that by thus
attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both
are degraded; and from so preposterous a medley of
the works of nature nothing could ever result but
weak men and disorderly women.
It is not thus that the Americans understand that
species of democratic equality which may be
established between the sexes. They admit, that as
nature has appointed such wide differences between
the physical and moral constitution of man and
woman, her manifest design was to give a distinct
employment to their various faculties; and they hold
that improvement does not consist in making beings
so dissimilar do pretty nearly the same things, but in
getting each of them to fulfill their respective tasks in
the best possible manner. The Americans have
applied to the sexes the great principle of political
economy which governs the manufactures of our age,
by carefully dividing the duties of man from those of
woman, in order that the great work of society may
be the better carried on.
Passage 2
As society was constituted until the last few
generations, inequality was its very basis; association
grounded on equal rights scarcely existed; to be
equals was to be enemies; two persons could hardly
coöperate in anything, or meet in any amicable
relation, without the law’s appointing that one of
them should be the superior of the other.
Mankind have outgrown this state, and all things
now tend to substitute, as the general principle of
human relations, a just equality, instead of the
dominion of the strongest. But of all relations, that
between men and women, being the nearest and
most intimate, and connected with the greatest
number of strong emotions, was sure to be the last to
throw off the old rule, and receive the new; for,
in proportion to the strength of a feeling is the
tenacity with which it clings to the forms and
circumstances with which it has even accidentally
become associated....
. . . The proper sphere for all human beings is the
largest and highest which they are able to attain to.
What this is, cannot be ascertained without complete
liberty of choice. . . . Let every occupation be open to
all, without favor or discouragement to any, and
employments will fall into the hands of those men or
women who are found by experience to be most
capable of worthily exercising them. There need be
no fear that women will take out of the hands of men
any occupation which men perform better than they.
Each individual will prove his or her capacities, in the
only way in which capacities can be proved,—by
trial; and the world will have the benefit of the best
faculties of all its inhabitants. But to interfere
beforehand by an arbitrary limit, and declare that
whatever be the genius, talent, energy, or force of
mind, of an individual of a certain sex or class, those
faculties shall not be exerted, or shall be exerted only
in some few of the many modes in which others are
permitted to use theirs, is not only an injustice to the
individual, and a detriment to society, which loses
what it can ill spare, but is also the most effectual way
of providing that, in the sex or class so fettered, the
qualities which are not permitted to be exercised
shall not exist.
Question 36:
In Passage 2, Mill most strongly suggests that gender roles are resistant to change because they
A) have long served as the basis for the formal organization of society.
B) are matters of deeply entrenched tradition.
C) can be influenced by legislative reforms only indirectly.
D) benefit the groups and institutions currently in power.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_7-question_36 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy
in America, Volume 2. Originally published in 1840. Passage 2
is adapted from Harriet Taylor Mill, “Enfranchisement of
Women.” Originally published in 1851. As United States and
European societies grew increasingly democratic during the
nineteenth century, debates arose about whether freedoms
enjoyed by men should be extended to women as well.
Passage 1
I have shown how democracy destroys or
modifies the different inequalities which originate in
society; but is this all? or does it not ultimately affect
that great inequality of man and woman which has
seemed, up to the present day, to be eternally based
in human nature? I believe that the social changes
which bring nearer to the same level the father and
son, the master and servant, and superiors and
inferiors generally speaking, will raise woman and
make her more and more the equal of man. But here,
more than ever, I feel the necessity of making myself
clearly understood; for there is no subject on which
the coarse and lawless fancies of our age have taken a
freer range.
There are people in Europe who, confounding
together the different characteristics of the sexes,
would make of man and woman beings not only
equal but alike. They would give to both the same
functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant
to both the same rights; they would mix them in all
things—their occupations, their pleasures, their
business. It may readily be conceived, that by thus
attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both
are degraded; and from so preposterous a medley of
the works of nature nothing could ever result but
weak men and disorderly women.
It is not thus that the Americans understand that
species of democratic equality which may be
established between the sexes. They admit, that as
nature has appointed such wide differences between
the physical and moral constitution of man and
woman, her manifest design was to give a distinct
employment to their various faculties; and they hold
that improvement does not consist in making beings
so dissimilar do pretty nearly the same things, but in
getting each of them to fulfill their respective tasks in
the best possible manner. The Americans have
applied to the sexes the great principle of political
economy which governs the manufactures of our age,
by carefully dividing the duties of man from those of
woman, in order that the great work of society may
be the better carried on.
Passage 2
As society was constituted until the last few
generations, inequality was its very basis; association
grounded on equal rights scarcely existed; to be
equals was to be enemies; two persons could hardly
coöperate in anything, or meet in any amicable
relation, without the law’s appointing that one of
them should be the superior of the other.
Mankind have outgrown this state, and all things
now tend to substitute, as the general principle of
human relations, a just equality, instead of the
dominion of the strongest. But of all relations, that
between men and women, being the nearest and
most intimate, and connected with the greatest
number of strong emotions, was sure to be the last to
throw off the old rule, and receive the new; for,
in proportion to the strength of a feeling is the
tenacity with which it clings to the forms and
circumstances with which it has even accidentally
become associated....
. . . The proper sphere for all human beings is the
largest and highest which they are able to attain to.
What this is, cannot be ascertained without complete
liberty of choice. . . . Let every occupation be open to
all, without favor or discouragement to any, and
employments will fall into the hands of those men or
women who are found by experience to be most
capable of worthily exercising them. There need be
no fear that women will take out of the hands of men
any occupation which men perform better than they.
Each individual will prove his or her capacities, in the
only way in which capacities can be proved,—by
trial; and the world will have the benefit of the best
faculties of all its inhabitants. But to interfere
beforehand by an arbitrary limit, and declare that
whatever be the genius, talent, energy, or force of
mind, of an individual of a certain sex or class, those
faculties shall not be exerted, or shall be exerted only
in some few of the many modes in which others are
permitted to use theirs, is not only an injustice to the
individual, and a detriment to society, which loses
what it can ill spare, but is also the most effectual way
of providing that, in the sex or class so fettered, the
qualities which are not permitted to be exercised
shall not exist.
Question 39:
Tocqueville in Passage 1 would most likely characterize the position taken by Mill in lines 65-69 in Passage 2 (“Let... them”) as
A) less radical about gender roles than it might initially seem.
B) persuasive in the abstract but difficult to implement in practice.
C) ill-advised but consistent with a view held by some other advocates of gender equality.
D) compatible with economic progress in the United States but not in Europe.
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_7-question_39 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy
in America, Volume 2. Originally published in 1840. Passage 2
is adapted from Harriet Taylor Mill, “Enfranchisement of
Women.” Originally published in 1851. As United States and
European societies grew increasingly democratic during the
nineteenth century, debates arose about whether freedoms
enjoyed by men should be extended to women as well.
Passage 1
I have shown how democracy destroys or
modifies the different inequalities which originate in
society; but is this all? or does it not ultimately affect
that great inequality of man and woman which has
seemed, up to the present day, to be eternally based
in human nature? I believe that the social changes
which bring nearer to the same level the father and
son, the master and servant, and superiors and
inferiors generally speaking, will raise woman and
make her more and more the equal of man. But here,
more than ever, I feel the necessity of making myself
clearly understood; for there is no subject on which
the coarse and lawless fancies of our age have taken a
freer range.
There are people in Europe who, confounding
together the different characteristics of the sexes,
would make of man and woman beings not only
equal but alike. They would give to both the same
functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant
to both the same rights; they would mix them in all
things—their occupations, their pleasures, their
business. It may readily be conceived, that by thus
attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both
are degraded; and from so preposterous a medley of
the works of nature nothing could ever result but
weak men and disorderly women.
It is not thus that the Americans understand that
species of democratic equality which may be
established between the sexes. They admit, that as
nature has appointed such wide differences between
the physical and moral constitution of man and
woman, her manifest design was to give a distinct
employment to their various faculties; and they hold
that improvement does not consist in making beings
so dissimilar do pretty nearly the same things, but in
getting each of them to fulfill their respective tasks in
the best possible manner. The Americans have
applied to the sexes the great principle of political
economy which governs the manufactures of our age,
by carefully dividing the duties of man from those of
woman, in order that the great work of society may
be the better carried on.
Passage 2
As society was constituted until the last few
generations, inequality was its very basis; association
grounded on equal rights scarcely existed; to be
equals was to be enemies; two persons could hardly
coöperate in anything, or meet in any amicable
relation, without the law’s appointing that one of
them should be the superior of the other.
Mankind have outgrown this state, and all things
now tend to substitute, as the general principle of
human relations, a just equality, instead of the
dominion of the strongest. But of all relations, that
between men and women, being the nearest and
most intimate, and connected with the greatest
number of strong emotions, was sure to be the last to
throw off the old rule, and receive the new; for,
in proportion to the strength of a feeling is the
tenacity with which it clings to the forms and
circumstances with which it has even accidentally
become associated....
. . . The proper sphere for all human beings is the
largest and highest which they are able to attain to.
What this is, cannot be ascertained without complete
liberty of choice. . . . Let every occupation be open to
all, without favor or discouragement to any, and
employments will fall into the hands of those men or
women who are found by experience to be most
capable of worthily exercising them. There need be
no fear that women will take out of the hands of men
any occupation which men perform better than they.
Each individual will prove his or her capacities, in the
only way in which capacities can be proved,—by
trial; and the world will have the benefit of the best
faculties of all its inhabitants. But to interfere
beforehand by an arbitrary limit, and declare that
whatever be the genius, talent, energy, or force of
mind, of an individual of a certain sex or class, those
faculties shall not be exerted, or shall be exerted only
in some few of the many modes in which others are
permitted to use theirs, is not only an injustice to the
individual, and a detriment to society, which loses
what it can ill spare, but is also the most effectual way
of providing that, in the sex or class so fettered, the
qualities which are not permitted to be exercised
shall not exist.
Question 35:
As used in line 53, “dominion” most nearly means
A) omnipotence.
B) supremacy.
C) ownership.
D) territory
Answer: | B | true | sat-practice_7-question_35 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy
in America, Volume 2. Originally published in 1840. Passage 2
is adapted from Harriet Taylor Mill, “Enfranchisement of
Women.” Originally published in 1851. As United States and
European societies grew increasingly democratic during the
nineteenth century, debates arose about whether freedoms
enjoyed by men should be extended to women as well.
Passage 1
I have shown how democracy destroys or
modifies the different inequalities which originate in
society; but is this all? or does it not ultimately affect
that great inequality of man and woman which has
seemed, up to the present day, to be eternally based
in human nature? I believe that the social changes
which bring nearer to the same level the father and
son, the master and servant, and superiors and
inferiors generally speaking, will raise woman and
make her more and more the equal of man. But here,
more than ever, I feel the necessity of making myself
clearly understood; for there is no subject on which
the coarse and lawless fancies of our age have taken a
freer range.
There are people in Europe who, confounding
together the different characteristics of the sexes,
would make of man and woman beings not only
equal but alike. They would give to both the same
functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant
to both the same rights; they would mix them in all
things—their occupations, their pleasures, their
business. It may readily be conceived, that by thus
attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both
are degraded; and from so preposterous a medley of
the works of nature nothing could ever result but
weak men and disorderly women.
It is not thus that the Americans understand that
species of democratic equality which may be
established between the sexes. They admit, that as
nature has appointed such wide differences between
the physical and moral constitution of man and
woman, her manifest design was to give a distinct
employment to their various faculties; and they hold
that improvement does not consist in making beings
so dissimilar do pretty nearly the same things, but in
getting each of them to fulfill their respective tasks in
the best possible manner. The Americans have
applied to the sexes the great principle of political
economy which governs the manufactures of our age,
by carefully dividing the duties of man from those of
woman, in order that the great work of society may
be the better carried on.
Passage 2
As society was constituted until the last few
generations, inequality was its very basis; association
grounded on equal rights scarcely existed; to be
equals was to be enemies; two persons could hardly
coöperate in anything, or meet in any amicable
relation, without the law’s appointing that one of
them should be the superior of the other.
Mankind have outgrown this state, and all things
now tend to substitute, as the general principle of
human relations, a just equality, instead of the
dominion of the strongest. But of all relations, that
between men and women, being the nearest and
most intimate, and connected with the greatest
number of strong emotions, was sure to be the last to
throw off the old rule, and receive the new; for,
in proportion to the strength of a feeling is the
tenacity with which it clings to the forms and
circumstances with which it has even accidentally
become associated....
. . . The proper sphere for all human beings is the
largest and highest which they are able to attain to.
What this is, cannot be ascertained without complete
liberty of choice. . . . Let every occupation be open to
all, without favor or discouragement to any, and
employments will fall into the hands of those men or
women who are found by experience to be most
capable of worthily exercising them. There need be
no fear that women will take out of the hands of men
any occupation which men perform better than they.
Each individual will prove his or her capacities, in the
only way in which capacities can be proved,—by
trial; and the world will have the benefit of the best
faculties of all its inhabitants. But to interfere
beforehand by an arbitrary limit, and declare that
whatever be the genius, talent, energy, or force of
mind, of an individual of a certain sex or class, those
faculties shall not be exerted, or shall be exerted only
in some few of the many modes in which others are
permitted to use theirs, is not only an injustice to the
individual, and a detriment to society, which loses
what it can ill spare, but is also the most effectual way
of providing that, in the sex or class so fettered, the
qualities which are not permitted to be exercised
shall not exist.
Question 40:
Which choice best describes the ways that the two authors conceive of the individual’s proper position in society?
A) Tocqueville believes that an individual’s position should be defined in important ways by that individual’s sex, while Mill believes that an individual’s abilities should be the determining factor.
B) Tocqueville believes that an individual’s economic class should determine that individual’s position, while Mill believes that class is not a legitimate consideration.
C) Tocqueville believes that an individual’s temperament should determine that individual’s position, while Mill believes that temperament should not be a factor in an individual’s position.
D) Tocqueville believes that an individual’s position should be determined by what is most beneficial to society, while Mill believes it should be determined by what an individual finds most rewarding.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_7-question_40 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy
in America, Volume 2. Originally published in 1840. Passage 2
is adapted from Harriet Taylor Mill, “Enfranchisement of
Women.” Originally published in 1851. As United States and
European societies grew increasingly democratic during the
nineteenth century, debates arose about whether freedoms
enjoyed by men should be extended to women as well.
Passage 1
I have shown how democracy destroys or
modifies the different inequalities which originate in
society; but is this all? or does it not ultimately affect
that great inequality of man and woman which has
seemed, up to the present day, to be eternally based
in human nature? I believe that the social changes
which bring nearer to the same level the father and
son, the master and servant, and superiors and
inferiors generally speaking, will raise woman and
make her more and more the equal of man. But here,
more than ever, I feel the necessity of making myself
clearly understood; for there is no subject on which
the coarse and lawless fancies of our age have taken a
freer range.
There are people in Europe who, confounding
together the different characteristics of the sexes,
would make of man and woman beings not only
equal but alike. They would give to both the same
functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant
to both the same rights; they would mix them in all
things—their occupations, their pleasures, their
business. It may readily be conceived, that by thus
attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both
are degraded; and from so preposterous a medley of
the works of nature nothing could ever result but
weak men and disorderly women.
It is not thus that the Americans understand that
species of democratic equality which may be
established between the sexes. They admit, that as
nature has appointed such wide differences between
the physical and moral constitution of man and
woman, her manifest design was to give a distinct
employment to their various faculties; and they hold
that improvement does not consist in making beings
so dissimilar do pretty nearly the same things, but in
getting each of them to fulfill their respective tasks in
the best possible manner. The Americans have
applied to the sexes the great principle of political
economy which governs the manufactures of our age,
by carefully dividing the duties of man from those of
woman, in order that the great work of society may
be the better carried on.
Passage 2
As society was constituted until the last few
generations, inequality was its very basis; association
grounded on equal rights scarcely existed; to be
equals was to be enemies; two persons could hardly
coöperate in anything, or meet in any amicable
relation, without the law’s appointing that one of
them should be the superior of the other.
Mankind have outgrown this state, and all things
now tend to substitute, as the general principle of
human relations, a just equality, instead of the
dominion of the strongest. But of all relations, that
between men and women, being the nearest and
most intimate, and connected with the greatest
number of strong emotions, was sure to be the last to
throw off the old rule, and receive the new; for,
in proportion to the strength of a feeling is the
tenacity with which it clings to the forms and
circumstances with which it has even accidentally
become associated....
. . . The proper sphere for all human beings is the
largest and highest which they are able to attain to.
What this is, cannot be ascertained without complete
liberty of choice. . . . Let every occupation be open to
all, without favor or discouragement to any, and
employments will fall into the hands of those men or
women who are found by experience to be most
capable of worthily exercising them. There need be
no fear that women will take out of the hands of men
any occupation which men perform better than they.
Each individual will prove his or her capacities, in the
only way in which capacities can be proved,—by
trial; and the world will have the benefit of the best
faculties of all its inhabitants. But to interfere
beforehand by an arbitrary limit, and declare that
whatever be the genius, talent, energy, or force of
mind, of an individual of a certain sex or class, those
faculties shall not be exerted, or shall be exerted only
in some few of the many modes in which others are
permitted to use theirs, is not only an injustice to the
individual, and a detriment to society, which loses
what it can ill spare, but is also the most effectual way
of providing that, in the sex or class so fettered, the
qualities which are not permitted to be exercised
shall not exist.
Question 38:
Both authors would most likely agree that the changes in gender roles that they describe would be
A) part of a broad social shift toward greater equality.
B) unlikely to provide benefits that outweigh their costs.
C) inevitable given the economic advantages of gender equality.
D) at odds with the principles of American democracy.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_7-question_38 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy
in America, Volume 2. Originally published in 1840. Passage 2
is adapted from Harriet Taylor Mill, “Enfranchisement of
Women.” Originally published in 1851. As United States and
European societies grew increasingly democratic during the
nineteenth century, debates arose about whether freedoms
enjoyed by men should be extended to women as well.
Passage 1
I have shown how democracy destroys or
modifies the different inequalities which originate in
society; but is this all? or does it not ultimately affect
that great inequality of man and woman which has
seemed, up to the present day, to be eternally based
in human nature? I believe that the social changes
which bring nearer to the same level the father and
son, the master and servant, and superiors and
inferiors generally speaking, will raise woman and
make her more and more the equal of man. But here,
more than ever, I feel the necessity of making myself
clearly understood; for there is no subject on which
the coarse and lawless fancies of our age have taken a
freer range.
There are people in Europe who, confounding
together the different characteristics of the sexes,
would make of man and woman beings not only
equal but alike. They would give to both the same
functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant
to both the same rights; they would mix them in all
things—their occupations, their pleasures, their
business. It may readily be conceived, that by thus
attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both
are degraded; and from so preposterous a medley of
the works of nature nothing could ever result but
weak men and disorderly women.
It is not thus that the Americans understand that
species of democratic equality which may be
established between the sexes. They admit, that as
nature has appointed such wide differences between
the physical and moral constitution of man and
woman, her manifest design was to give a distinct
employment to their various faculties; and they hold
that improvement does not consist in making beings
so dissimilar do pretty nearly the same things, but in
getting each of them to fulfill their respective tasks in
the best possible manner. The Americans have
applied to the sexes the great principle of political
economy which governs the manufactures of our age,
by carefully dividing the duties of man from those of
woman, in order that the great work of society may
be the better carried on.
Passage 2
As society was constituted until the last few
generations, inequality was its very basis; association
grounded on equal rights scarcely existed; to be
equals was to be enemies; two persons could hardly
coöperate in anything, or meet in any amicable
relation, without the law’s appointing that one of
them should be the superior of the other.
Mankind have outgrown this state, and all things
now tend to substitute, as the general principle of
human relations, a just equality, instead of the
dominion of the strongest. But of all relations, that
between men and women, being the nearest and
most intimate, and connected with the greatest
number of strong emotions, was sure to be the last to
throw off the old rule, and receive the new; for,
in proportion to the strength of a feeling is the
tenacity with which it clings to the forms and
circumstances with which it has even accidentally
become associated....
. . . The proper sphere for all human beings is the
largest and highest which they are able to attain to.
What this is, cannot be ascertained without complete
liberty of choice. . . . Let every occupation be open to
all, without favor or discouragement to any, and
employments will fall into the hands of those men or
women who are found by experience to be most
capable of worthily exercising them. There need be
no fear that women will take out of the hands of men
any occupation which men perform better than they.
Each individual will prove his or her capacities, in the
only way in which capacities can be proved,—by
trial; and the world will have the benefit of the best
faculties of all its inhabitants. But to interfere
beforehand by an arbitrary limit, and declare that
whatever be the genius, talent, energy, or force of
mind, of an individual of a certain sex or class, those
faculties shall not be exerted, or shall be exerted only
in some few of the many modes in which others are
permitted to use theirs, is not only an injustice to the
individual, and a detriment to society, which loses
what it can ill spare, but is also the most effectual way
of providing that, in the sex or class so fettered, the
qualities which are not permitted to be exercised
shall not exist.
Question 33:
In Passage 1, Tocqueville implies that treatment of men and women as identical in nature would have which consequence?
A) Neither sex would feel oppressed.
B) Both sexes would be greatly harmed.
C) Men would try to reclaim their lost authority.
D) Men and women would have privileges they do not need.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_7-question_33 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy
in America, Volume 2. Originally published in 1840. Passage 2
is adapted from Harriet Taylor Mill, “Enfranchisement of
Women.” Originally published in 1851. As United States and
European societies grew increasingly democratic during the
nineteenth century, debates arose about whether freedoms
enjoyed by men should be extended to women as well.
Passage 1
I have shown how democracy destroys or
modifies the different inequalities which originate in
society; but is this all? or does it not ultimately affect
that great inequality of man and woman which has
seemed, up to the present day, to be eternally based
in human nature? I believe that the social changes
which bring nearer to the same level the father and
son, the master and servant, and superiors and
inferiors generally speaking, will raise woman and
make her more and more the equal of man. But here,
more than ever, I feel the necessity of making myself
clearly understood; for there is no subject on which
the coarse and lawless fancies of our age have taken a
freer range.
There are people in Europe who, confounding
together the different characteristics of the sexes,
would make of man and woman beings not only
equal but alike. They would give to both the same
functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant
to both the same rights; they would mix them in all
things—their occupations, their pleasures, their
business. It may readily be conceived, that by thus
attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both
are degraded; and from so preposterous a medley of
the works of nature nothing could ever result but
weak men and disorderly women.
It is not thus that the Americans understand that
species of democratic equality which may be
established between the sexes. They admit, that as
nature has appointed such wide differences between
the physical and moral constitution of man and
woman, her manifest design was to give a distinct
employment to their various faculties; and they hold
that improvement does not consist in making beings
so dissimilar do pretty nearly the same things, but in
getting each of them to fulfill their respective tasks in
the best possible manner. The Americans have
applied to the sexes the great principle of political
economy which governs the manufactures of our age,
by carefully dividing the duties of man from those of
woman, in order that the great work of society may
be the better carried on.
Passage 2
As society was constituted until the last few
generations, inequality was its very basis; association
grounded on equal rights scarcely existed; to be
equals was to be enemies; two persons could hardly
coöperate in anything, or meet in any amicable
relation, without the law’s appointing that one of
them should be the superior of the other.
Mankind have outgrown this state, and all things
now tend to substitute, as the general principle of
human relations, a just equality, instead of the
dominion of the strongest. But of all relations, that
between men and women, being the nearest and
most intimate, and connected with the greatest
number of strong emotions, was sure to be the last to
throw off the old rule, and receive the new; for,
in proportion to the strength of a feeling is the
tenacity with which it clings to the forms and
circumstances with which it has even accidentally
become associated....
. . . The proper sphere for all human beings is the
largest and highest which they are able to attain to.
What this is, cannot be ascertained without complete
liberty of choice. . . . Let every occupation be open to
all, without favor or discouragement to any, and
employments will fall into the hands of those men or
women who are found by experience to be most
capable of worthily exercising them. There need be
no fear that women will take out of the hands of men
any occupation which men perform better than they.
Each individual will prove his or her capacities, in the
only way in which capacities can be proved,—by
trial; and the world will have the benefit of the best
faculties of all its inhabitants. But to interfere
beforehand by an arbitrary limit, and declare that
whatever be the genius, talent, energy, or force of
mind, of an individual of a certain sex or class, those
faculties shall not be exerted, or shall be exerted only
in some few of the many modes in which others are
permitted to use theirs, is not only an injustice to the
individual, and a detriment to society, which loses
what it can ill spare, but is also the most effectual way
of providing that, in the sex or class so fettered, the
qualities which are not permitted to be exercised
shall not exist.
Question 41:
Based on Passage 2, Mill would most likely say that the application of the “great principle of political economy” (lines 38-39, Passage 1) to gender roles has which effect?
A) It prevents many men and women from developing to their full potential.
B) It makes it difficult for men and women to sympathize with each other.
C) It unintentionally furthers the cause of gender equality.
D) It guarantees that women take occupations that men are better suited to perform.
Answer: | A | true | sat-practice_7-question_41 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy
in America, Volume 2. Originally published in 1840. Passage 2
is adapted from Harriet Taylor Mill, “Enfranchisement of
Women.” Originally published in 1851. As United States and
European societies grew increasingly democratic during the
nineteenth century, debates arose about whether freedoms
enjoyed by men should be extended to women as well.
Passage 1
I have shown how democracy destroys or
modifies the different inequalities which originate in
society; but is this all? or does it not ultimately affect
that great inequality of man and woman which has
seemed, up to the present day, to be eternally based
in human nature? I believe that the social changes
which bring nearer to the same level the father and
son, the master and servant, and superiors and
inferiors generally speaking, will raise woman and
make her more and more the equal of man. But here,
more than ever, I feel the necessity of making myself
clearly understood; for there is no subject on which
the coarse and lawless fancies of our age have taken a
freer range.
There are people in Europe who, confounding
together the different characteristics of the sexes,
would make of man and woman beings not only
equal but alike. They would give to both the same
functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant
to both the same rights; they would mix them in all
things—their occupations, their pleasures, their
business. It may readily be conceived, that by thus
attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both
are degraded; and from so preposterous a medley of
the works of nature nothing could ever result but
weak men and disorderly women.
It is not thus that the Americans understand that
species of democratic equality which may be
established between the sexes. They admit, that as
nature has appointed such wide differences between
the physical and moral constitution of man and
woman, her manifest design was to give a distinct
employment to their various faculties; and they hold
that improvement does not consist in making beings
so dissimilar do pretty nearly the same things, but in
getting each of them to fulfill their respective tasks in
the best possible manner. The Americans have
applied to the sexes the great principle of political
economy which governs the manufactures of our age,
by carefully dividing the duties of man from those of
woman, in order that the great work of society may
be the better carried on.
Passage 2
As society was constituted until the last few
generations, inequality was its very basis; association
grounded on equal rights scarcely existed; to be
equals was to be enemies; two persons could hardly
coöperate in anything, or meet in any amicable
relation, without the law’s appointing that one of
them should be the superior of the other.
Mankind have outgrown this state, and all things
now tend to substitute, as the general principle of
human relations, a just equality, instead of the
dominion of the strongest. But of all relations, that
between men and women, being the nearest and
most intimate, and connected with the greatest
number of strong emotions, was sure to be the last to
throw off the old rule, and receive the new; for,
in proportion to the strength of a feeling is the
tenacity with which it clings to the forms and
circumstances with which it has even accidentally
become associated....
. . . The proper sphere for all human beings is the
largest and highest which they are able to attain to.
What this is, cannot be ascertained without complete
liberty of choice. . . . Let every occupation be open to
all, without favor or discouragement to any, and
employments will fall into the hands of those men or
women who are found by experience to be most
capable of worthily exercising them. There need be
no fear that women will take out of the hands of men
any occupation which men perform better than they.
Each individual will prove his or her capacities, in the
only way in which capacities can be proved,—by
trial; and the world will have the benefit of the best
faculties of all its inhabitants. But to interfere
beforehand by an arbitrary limit, and declare that
whatever be the genius, talent, energy, or force of
mind, of an individual of a certain sex or class, those
faculties shall not be exerted, or shall be exerted only
in some few of the many modes in which others are
permitted to use theirs, is not only an injustice to the
individual, and a detriment to society, which loses
what it can ill spare, but is also the most effectual way
of providing that, in the sex or class so fettered, the
qualities which are not permitted to be exercised
shall not exist.
Question 32:
As used in line 9, “raise” most nearly means
A) increase.
B) cultivate.
C) nurture.
D) elevate.
Answer: | D | true | sat-practice_7-question_32 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Brian Greene, “How the Higgs
Boson Was Found.” ©2013 by Smithsonian Institution. The
Higgs boson is an elementary particle associated with the
Higgs field. Experiments conducted in 2012–2013
tentatively confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson and
thus of the Higgs field.
Nearly a half-century ago, Peter Higgs and a
handful of other physicists were trying to understand
the origin of a basic physical feature: mass. You can
think of mass as an object’s heft or, a little more
precisely, as the resistance it offers to having its
motion changed. Push on a freight train (or a
feather) to increase its speed, and the resistance you
feel reflects its mass. At a microscopic level, the
freight train’s mass comes from its constituent
molecules and atoms, which are themselves built
from fundamental particles, electrons and quarks.
But where do the masses of these and other
fundamental particles come from?
When physicists in the 1960s modeled the
behavior of these particles using equations rooted in
quantum physics, they encountered a puzzle. If they
imagined that the particles were all massless, then
each term in the equations clicked into a perfectly
symmetric pattern, like the tips of a perfect
snowflake. And this symmetry was not just
mathematically elegant. It explained patterns evident
in the experimental data. But—and here’s the
puzzle—physicists knew that the particles did have
mass, and when they modified the equations to
account for this fact, the mathematical harmony was
spoiled. The equations became complex and
unwieldy and, worse still, inconsistent.
What to do? Here’s the idea put forward by Higgs.
Don’t shove the particles’ masses down the throat of
the beautiful equations. Instead, keep the equations
pristine and symmetric, but consider them operating
within a peculiar environment. Imagine that all of
space is uniformly filled with an invisible
substance—now called the Higgs field—that exerts a
drag force on particles when they accelerate through
it. Push on a fundamental particle in an effort to
increase its speed and, according to Higgs, you would
feel this drag force as a resistance. Justifiably, you
would interpret the resistance as the particle’s mass.
For a mental toehold, think of a ping-pong ball
submerged in water. When you push on the
ping-pong ball, it will feel much more massive than it
does outside of water. Its interaction with the watery
environment has the effect of endowing it with mass.
So with particles submerged in the Higgs field.
In 1964, Higgs submitted a paper to a prominent
physics journal in which he formulated this idea
mathematically. The paper was rejected. Not because
it contained a technical error, but because the
premise of an invisible something permeating space,
interacting with particles to provide their mass, well,
it all just seemed like heaps of overwrought
speculation. The editors of the journal deemed it “of
no obvious relevance to physics.”
But Higgs persevered (and his revised paper
appeared later that year in another journal), and
physicists who took the time to study the proposal
gradually realized that his idea was a stroke of genius,
one that allowed them to have their cake and eat it
too. In Higgs’s scheme, the fundamental equations
can retain their pristine form because the dirty work
of providing the particles’ masses is relegated to the
environment.
While I wasn’t around to witness the initial
rejection of Higgs’s proposal in 1964 (well, I was
around, but only barely), I can attest that by the
mid-1980s, the assessment had changed. The physics
community had, for the most part, fully bought into
the idea that there was a Higgs field permeating
space. In fact, in a graduate course I took that
covered what’s known as the Standard Model of
Particle Physics (the quantum equations physicists
have assembled to describe the particles of matter
and the dominant forces by which they influence
each other), the professor presented the Higgs field
with such certainty that for a long while I had no idea
it had yet to be established experimentally.
On occasion, that happens in physics. Mathematical
equations can sometimes tell such a convincing tale,
they can seemingly radiate reality so strongly, that
they become entrenched in the vernacular of
working physicists, even before there’s data to
confirm them.
Question 48:
Which statement best describes the technique the author uses to advance the main point of the last paragraph?
A) He recounts a personal experience to illustrate a characteristic of the discipline of physics.
B) He describes his own education to show how physics has changed during his career.
C) He provides autobiographical details to demonstrate how Higgs’s theory was confirmed.
D) He contrasts the status of Higgs’s theory at two time periods to reveal how the details of the theory evolved.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_7-question_48 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Brian Greene, “How the Higgs
Boson Was Found.” ©2013 by Smithsonian Institution. The
Higgs boson is an elementary particle associated with the
Higgs field. Experiments conducted in 2012–2013
tentatively confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson and
thus of the Higgs field.
Nearly a half-century ago, Peter Higgs and a
handful of other physicists were trying to understand
the origin of a basic physical feature: mass. You can
think of mass as an object’s heft or, a little more
precisely, as the resistance it offers to having its
motion changed. Push on a freight train (or a
feather) to increase its speed, and the resistance you
feel reflects its mass. At a microscopic level, the
freight train’s mass comes from its constituent
molecules and atoms, which are themselves built
from fundamental particles, electrons and quarks.
But where do the masses of these and other
fundamental particles come from?
When physicists in the 1960s modeled the
behavior of these particles using equations rooted in
quantum physics, they encountered a puzzle. If they
imagined that the particles were all massless, then
each term in the equations clicked into a perfectly
symmetric pattern, like the tips of a perfect
snowflake. And this symmetry was not just
mathematically elegant. It explained patterns evident
in the experimental data. But—and here’s the
puzzle—physicists knew that the particles did have
mass, and when they modified the equations to
account for this fact, the mathematical harmony was
spoiled. The equations became complex and
unwieldy and, worse still, inconsistent.
What to do? Here’s the idea put forward by Higgs.
Don’t shove the particles’ masses down the throat of
the beautiful equations. Instead, keep the equations
pristine and symmetric, but consider them operating
within a peculiar environment. Imagine that all of
space is uniformly filled with an invisible
substance—now called the Higgs field—that exerts a
drag force on particles when they accelerate through
it. Push on a fundamental particle in an effort to
increase its speed and, according to Higgs, you would
feel this drag force as a resistance. Justifiably, you
would interpret the resistance as the particle’s mass.
For a mental toehold, think of a ping-pong ball
submerged in water. When you push on the
ping-pong ball, it will feel much more massive than it
does outside of water. Its interaction with the watery
environment has the effect of endowing it with mass.
So with particles submerged in the Higgs field.
In 1964, Higgs submitted a paper to a prominent
physics journal in which he formulated this idea
mathematically. The paper was rejected. Not because
it contained a technical error, but because the
premise of an invisible something permeating space,
interacting with particles to provide their mass, well,
it all just seemed like heaps of overwrought
speculation. The editors of the journal deemed it “of
no obvious relevance to physics.”
But Higgs persevered (and his revised paper
appeared later that year in another journal), and
physicists who took the time to study the proposal
gradually realized that his idea was a stroke of genius,
one that allowed them to have their cake and eat it
too. In Higgs’s scheme, the fundamental equations
can retain their pristine form because the dirty work
of providing the particles’ masses is relegated to the
environment.
While I wasn’t around to witness the initial
rejection of Higgs’s proposal in 1964 (well, I was
around, but only barely), I can attest that by the
mid-1980s, the assessment had changed. The physics
community had, for the most part, fully bought into
the idea that there was a Higgs field permeating
space. In fact, in a graduate course I took that
covered what’s known as the Standard Model of
Particle Physics (the quantum equations physicists
have assembled to describe the particles of matter
and the dominant forces by which they influence
each other), the professor presented the Higgs field
with such certainty that for a long while I had no idea
it had yet to be established experimentally.
On occasion, that happens in physics. Mathematical
equations can sometimes tell such a convincing tale,
they can seemingly radiate reality so strongly, that
they become entrenched in the vernacular of
working physicists, even before there’s data to
confirm them.
Question 49:
As used in line 77, “established” most nearly means
A) validated.
B) founded.
C) introduced.
D) enacted.
Answer: | A | true | sat-practice_7-question_49 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Brian Greene, “How the Higgs
Boson Was Found.” ©2013 by Smithsonian Institution. The
Higgs boson is an elementary particle associated with the
Higgs field. Experiments conducted in 2012–2013
tentatively confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson and
thus of the Higgs field.
Nearly a half-century ago, Peter Higgs and a
handful of other physicists were trying to understand
the origin of a basic physical feature: mass. You can
think of mass as an object’s heft or, a little more
precisely, as the resistance it offers to having its
motion changed. Push on a freight train (or a
feather) to increase its speed, and the resistance you
feel reflects its mass. At a microscopic level, the
freight train’s mass comes from its constituent
molecules and atoms, which are themselves built
from fundamental particles, electrons and quarks.
But where do the masses of these and other
fundamental particles come from?
When physicists in the 1960s modeled the
behavior of these particles using equations rooted in
quantum physics, they encountered a puzzle. If they
imagined that the particles were all massless, then
each term in the equations clicked into a perfectly
symmetric pattern, like the tips of a perfect
snowflake. And this symmetry was not just
mathematically elegant. It explained patterns evident
in the experimental data. But—and here’s the
puzzle—physicists knew that the particles did have
mass, and when they modified the equations to
account for this fact, the mathematical harmony was
spoiled. The equations became complex and
unwieldy and, worse still, inconsistent.
What to do? Here’s the idea put forward by Higgs.
Don’t shove the particles’ masses down the throat of
the beautiful equations. Instead, keep the equations
pristine and symmetric, but consider them operating
within a peculiar environment. Imagine that all of
space is uniformly filled with an invisible
substance—now called the Higgs field—that exerts a
drag force on particles when they accelerate through
it. Push on a fundamental particle in an effort to
increase its speed and, according to Higgs, you would
feel this drag force as a resistance. Justifiably, you
would interpret the resistance as the particle’s mass.
For a mental toehold, think of a ping-pong ball
submerged in water. When you push on the
ping-pong ball, it will feel much more massive than it
does outside of water. Its interaction with the watery
environment has the effect of endowing it with mass.
So with particles submerged in the Higgs field.
In 1964, Higgs submitted a paper to a prominent
physics journal in which he formulated this idea
mathematically. The paper was rejected. Not because
it contained a technical error, but because the
premise of an invisible something permeating space,
interacting with particles to provide their mass, well,
it all just seemed like heaps of overwrought
speculation. The editors of the journal deemed it “of
no obvious relevance to physics.”
But Higgs persevered (and his revised paper
appeared later that year in another journal), and
physicists who took the time to study the proposal
gradually realized that his idea was a stroke of genius,
one that allowed them to have their cake and eat it
too. In Higgs’s scheme, the fundamental equations
can retain their pristine form because the dirty work
of providing the particles’ masses is relegated to the
environment.
While I wasn’t around to witness the initial
rejection of Higgs’s proposal in 1964 (well, I was
around, but only barely), I can attest that by the
mid-1980s, the assessment had changed. The physics
community had, for the most part, fully bought into
the idea that there was a Higgs field permeating
space. In fact, in a graduate course I took that
covered what’s known as the Standard Model of
Particle Physics (the quantum equations physicists
have assembled to describe the particles of matter
and the dominant forces by which they influence
each other), the professor presented the Higgs field
with such certainty that for a long while I had no idea
it had yet to be established experimentally.
On occasion, that happens in physics. Mathematical
equations can sometimes tell such a convincing tale,
they can seemingly radiate reality so strongly, that
they become entrenched in the vernacular of
working physicists, even before there’s data to
confirm them.
Question 46:
The author notes that one reason Higgs’s theory gained acceptance was that it
A) let scientists accept two conditions that had previously seemed irreconcilable.
B) introduced an innovative approach that could be applied to additional problems.
C) answered a question that earlier scientists had not even raised.
D) explained why two distinct phenomena were being misinterpreted as one phenomenon.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_7-question_46 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Brian Greene, “How the Higgs
Boson Was Found.” ©2013 by Smithsonian Institution. The
Higgs boson is an elementary particle associated with the
Higgs field. Experiments conducted in 2012–2013
tentatively confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson and
thus of the Higgs field.
Nearly a half-century ago, Peter Higgs and a
handful of other physicists were trying to understand
the origin of a basic physical feature: mass. You can
think of mass as an object’s heft or, a little more
precisely, as the resistance it offers to having its
motion changed. Push on a freight train (or a
feather) to increase its speed, and the resistance you
feel reflects its mass. At a microscopic level, the
freight train’s mass comes from its constituent
molecules and atoms, which are themselves built
from fundamental particles, electrons and quarks.
But where do the masses of these and other
fundamental particles come from?
When physicists in the 1960s modeled the
behavior of these particles using equations rooted in
quantum physics, they encountered a puzzle. If they
imagined that the particles were all massless, then
each term in the equations clicked into a perfectly
symmetric pattern, like the tips of a perfect
snowflake. And this symmetry was not just
mathematically elegant. It explained patterns evident
in the experimental data. But—and here’s the
puzzle—physicists knew that the particles did have
mass, and when they modified the equations to
account for this fact, the mathematical harmony was
spoiled. The equations became complex and
unwieldy and, worse still, inconsistent.
What to do? Here’s the idea put forward by Higgs.
Don’t shove the particles’ masses down the throat of
the beautiful equations. Instead, keep the equations
pristine and symmetric, but consider them operating
within a peculiar environment. Imagine that all of
space is uniformly filled with an invisible
substance—now called the Higgs field—that exerts a
drag force on particles when they accelerate through
it. Push on a fundamental particle in an effort to
increase its speed and, according to Higgs, you would
feel this drag force as a resistance. Justifiably, you
would interpret the resistance as the particle’s mass.
For a mental toehold, think of a ping-pong ball
submerged in water. When you push on the
ping-pong ball, it will feel much more massive than it
does outside of water. Its interaction with the watery
environment has the effect of endowing it with mass.
So with particles submerged in the Higgs field.
In 1964, Higgs submitted a paper to a prominent
physics journal in which he formulated this idea
mathematically. The paper was rejected. Not because
it contained a technical error, but because the
premise of an invisible something permeating space,
interacting with particles to provide their mass, well,
it all just seemed like heaps of overwrought
speculation. The editors of the journal deemed it “of
no obvious relevance to physics.”
But Higgs persevered (and his revised paper
appeared later that year in another journal), and
physicists who took the time to study the proposal
gradually realized that his idea was a stroke of genius,
one that allowed them to have their cake and eat it
too. In Higgs’s scheme, the fundamental equations
can retain their pristine form because the dirty work
of providing the particles’ masses is relegated to the
environment.
While I wasn’t around to witness the initial
rejection of Higgs’s proposal in 1964 (well, I was
around, but only barely), I can attest that by the
mid-1980s, the assessment had changed. The physics
community had, for the most part, fully bought into
the idea that there was a Higgs field permeating
space. In fact, in a graduate course I took that
covered what’s known as the Standard Model of
Particle Physics (the quantum equations physicists
have assembled to describe the particles of matter
and the dominant forces by which they influence
each other), the professor presented the Higgs field
with such certainty that for a long while I had no idea
it had yet to be established experimentally.
On occasion, that happens in physics. Mathematical
equations can sometimes tell such a convincing tale,
they can seemingly radiate reality so strongly, that
they become entrenched in the vernacular of
working physicists, even before there’s data to
confirm them.
Question 42:
Over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts from
A) a technical account of the Higgs field to a description of it aimed at a broad audience.
B) a review of Higgs’s work to a contextualization of that work within Higgs’s era.
C) an explanation of the Higgs field to a discussion of the response to Higgs’s theory.
D) an analysis of the Higgs field to a suggestion of future discoveries that might build upon it.
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_7-question_42 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Brian Greene, “How the Higgs
Boson Was Found.” ©2013 by Smithsonian Institution. The
Higgs boson is an elementary particle associated with the
Higgs field. Experiments conducted in 2012–2013
tentatively confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson and
thus of the Higgs field.
Nearly a half-century ago, Peter Higgs and a
handful of other physicists were trying to understand
the origin of a basic physical feature: mass. You can
think of mass as an object’s heft or, a little more
precisely, as the resistance it offers to having its
motion changed. Push on a freight train (or a
feather) to increase its speed, and the resistance you
feel reflects its mass. At a microscopic level, the
freight train’s mass comes from its constituent
molecules and atoms, which are themselves built
from fundamental particles, electrons and quarks.
But where do the masses of these and other
fundamental particles come from?
When physicists in the 1960s modeled the
behavior of these particles using equations rooted in
quantum physics, they encountered a puzzle. If they
imagined that the particles were all massless, then
each term in the equations clicked into a perfectly
symmetric pattern, like the tips of a perfect
snowflake. And this symmetry was not just
mathematically elegant. It explained patterns evident
in the experimental data. But—and here’s the
puzzle—physicists knew that the particles did have
mass, and when they modified the equations to
account for this fact, the mathematical harmony was
spoiled. The equations became complex and
unwieldy and, worse still, inconsistent.
What to do? Here’s the idea put forward by Higgs.
Don’t shove the particles’ masses down the throat of
the beautiful equations. Instead, keep the equations
pristine and symmetric, but consider them operating
within a peculiar environment. Imagine that all of
space is uniformly filled with an invisible
substance—now called the Higgs field—that exerts a
drag force on particles when they accelerate through
it. Push on a fundamental particle in an effort to
increase its speed and, according to Higgs, you would
feel this drag force as a resistance. Justifiably, you
would interpret the resistance as the particle’s mass.
For a mental toehold, think of a ping-pong ball
submerged in water. When you push on the
ping-pong ball, it will feel much more massive than it
does outside of water. Its interaction with the watery
environment has the effect of endowing it with mass.
So with particles submerged in the Higgs field.
In 1964, Higgs submitted a paper to a prominent
physics journal in which he formulated this idea
mathematically. The paper was rejected. Not because
it contained a technical error, but because the
premise of an invisible something permeating space,
interacting with particles to provide their mass, well,
it all just seemed like heaps of overwrought
speculation. The editors of the journal deemed it “of
no obvious relevance to physics.”
But Higgs persevered (and his revised paper
appeared later that year in another journal), and
physicists who took the time to study the proposal
gradually realized that his idea was a stroke of genius,
one that allowed them to have their cake and eat it
too. In Higgs’s scheme, the fundamental equations
can retain their pristine form because the dirty work
of providing the particles’ masses is relegated to the
environment.
While I wasn’t around to witness the initial
rejection of Higgs’s proposal in 1964 (well, I was
around, but only barely), I can attest that by the
mid-1980s, the assessment had changed. The physics
community had, for the most part, fully bought into
the idea that there was a Higgs field permeating
space. In fact, in a graduate course I took that
covered what’s known as the Standard Model of
Particle Physics (the quantum equations physicists
have assembled to describe the particles of matter
and the dominant forces by which they influence
each other), the professor presented the Higgs field
with such certainty that for a long while I had no idea
it had yet to be established experimentally.
On occasion, that happens in physics. Mathematical
equations can sometimes tell such a convincing tale,
they can seemingly radiate reality so strongly, that
they become entrenched in the vernacular of
working physicists, even before there’s data to
confirm them.
Question 44:
The author most strongly suggests that the reason the scientific community initially rejected Higgs’s idea was that the idea
A) addressed a problem unnoticed by other physicists.
B) only worked if the equations were flawless.
C) rendered accepted theories in physics obsolete.
D) appeared to have little empirical basis.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_7-question_44 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Brian Greene, “How the Higgs
Boson Was Found.” ©2013 by Smithsonian Institution. The
Higgs boson is an elementary particle associated with the
Higgs field. Experiments conducted in 2012–2013
tentatively confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson and
thus of the Higgs field.
Nearly a half-century ago, Peter Higgs and a
handful of other physicists were trying to understand
the origin of a basic physical feature: mass. You can
think of mass as an object’s heft or, a little more
precisely, as the resistance it offers to having its
motion changed. Push on a freight train (or a
feather) to increase its speed, and the resistance you
feel reflects its mass. At a microscopic level, the
freight train’s mass comes from its constituent
molecules and atoms, which are themselves built
from fundamental particles, electrons and quarks.
But where do the masses of these and other
fundamental particles come from?
When physicists in the 1960s modeled the
behavior of these particles using equations rooted in
quantum physics, they encountered a puzzle. If they
imagined that the particles were all massless, then
each term in the equations clicked into a perfectly
symmetric pattern, like the tips of a perfect
snowflake. And this symmetry was not just
mathematically elegant. It explained patterns evident
in the experimental data. But—and here’s the
puzzle—physicists knew that the particles did have
mass, and when they modified the equations to
account for this fact, the mathematical harmony was
spoiled. The equations became complex and
unwieldy and, worse still, inconsistent.
What to do? Here’s the idea put forward by Higgs.
Don’t shove the particles’ masses down the throat of
the beautiful equations. Instead, keep the equations
pristine and symmetric, but consider them operating
within a peculiar environment. Imagine that all of
space is uniformly filled with an invisible
substance—now called the Higgs field—that exerts a
drag force on particles when they accelerate through
it. Push on a fundamental particle in an effort to
increase its speed and, according to Higgs, you would
feel this drag force as a resistance. Justifiably, you
would interpret the resistance as the particle’s mass.
For a mental toehold, think of a ping-pong ball
submerged in water. When you push on the
ping-pong ball, it will feel much more massive than it
does outside of water. Its interaction with the watery
environment has the effect of endowing it with mass.
So with particles submerged in the Higgs field.
In 1964, Higgs submitted a paper to a prominent
physics journal in which he formulated this idea
mathematically. The paper was rejected. Not because
it contained a technical error, but because the
premise of an invisible something permeating space,
interacting with particles to provide their mass, well,
it all just seemed like heaps of overwrought
speculation. The editors of the journal deemed it “of
no obvious relevance to physics.”
But Higgs persevered (and his revised paper
appeared later that year in another journal), and
physicists who took the time to study the proposal
gradually realized that his idea was a stroke of genius,
one that allowed them to have their cake and eat it
too. In Higgs’s scheme, the fundamental equations
can retain their pristine form because the dirty work
of providing the particles’ masses is relegated to the
environment.
While I wasn’t around to witness the initial
rejection of Higgs’s proposal in 1964 (well, I was
around, but only barely), I can attest that by the
mid-1980s, the assessment had changed. The physics
community had, for the most part, fully bought into
the idea that there was a Higgs field permeating
space. In fact, in a graduate course I took that
covered what’s known as the Standard Model of
Particle Physics (the quantum equations physicists
have assembled to describe the particles of matter
and the dominant forces by which they influence
each other), the professor presented the Higgs field
with such certainty that for a long while I had no idea
it had yet to be established experimentally.
On occasion, that happens in physics. Mathematical
equations can sometimes tell such a convincing tale,
they can seemingly radiate reality so strongly, that
they become entrenched in the vernacular of
working physicists, even before there’s data to
confirm them.
Question 43:
The main purpose of the analogy of the ping-pong ball (line 40) is to
A) popularize a little-known fact.
B) contrast competing scientific theories.
C) criticize a widely accepted explanation.
D) clarify an abstract concept.
Answer: | D | true | sat-practice_7-question_43 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel’s Game.
©2008 by Dragonworks, S.L. Translation ©2009 by
Lucia Graves. The narrator, a writer, recalls his childhood in
early twentieth-century Barcelona.
Even then my only friends were made of paper
and ink. At school I had learned to read and write
long before the other children. Where my school
friends saw notches of ink on incomprehensible
pages, I saw light, streets, and people. Words and the
mystery of their hidden science fascinated me, and I
saw in them a key with which I could unlock a
boundless world, a safe haven from that home, those
streets, and those troubled days in which even I
could sense that only a limited fortune awaited me.
My father didn’t like to see books in the house.
There was something about them—apart from the
letters he could not decipher—that offended him.
He used to tell me that as soon as I was ten he would
send me off to work and that I’d better get rid of all
my scatterbrained ideas if I didn’t want to end up a
loser, a nobody. I used to hide my books under the
mattress and wait for him to go out or fall asleep so
that I could read. Once he caught me reading at night
and flew into a rage. He tore the book from my
hands and flung it out of the window.
“If I catch you wasting electricity again, reading
all this nonsense, you’ll be sorry.”
My father was not a miser and, despite the
hardships we suffered, whenever he could he gave me
a few coins so that I could buy myself some treats like
the other children. He was convinced that I spent
them on licorice sticks, sunflower seeds, or sweets,
but I would keep them in a coffee tin under the bed,
and when I’d collected four or five reales I’d secretly
rush out to buy myself a book.
My favorite place in the whole city was the
Sempere & Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It
smelled of old paper and dust and it was my
sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit
on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to
my heart’s content. He hardly ever allowed me to pay
for the books he placed in my hands, but when he
wasn’t looking I’d leave the coins I’d managed to
collect on the counter before I left. It was only small
change—if I’d had to buy a book with that pittance, I
would probably have been able to afford only a
booklet of cigarette papers. When it was time for me
to leave, I would do so dragging my feet, a weight on
my soul. If it had been up to me, I would have stayed
there forever.
One Christmas Sempere gave me the best gift I
have ever received. It was an old volume, read and
experienced to the full.
“Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens,” I read
on the cover.
I was aware that Sempere knew a few authors who
frequented his establishment and, judging by the care
with which he handled the volume, I thought
perhaps this Mr. Dickens was one of them.
“A friend of yours?”
“A lifelong friend. And from now on, he’s your
friend too.”
That afternoon I took my new friend home,
hidden under my clothes so that my father wouldn’t
see it. It was a rainy winter, with days as gray as lead,
and I read Great Expectations about nine times,
partly because I had no other book at hand, partly
because I did not think there could be a better one in
the whole world and I was beginning to suspect that
Mr. Dickens had written it just for me. Soon I was
convinced that I didn’t want to do anything else in
life but learn to do what Mr. Dickens had done.
Question 3:
With which of the following statements about his father would the narrator most likely agree?
A) He lacked affection for the narrator.
B) He disliked any unnecessary use of money.
C) He would not have approved of Sempere’s gift.
D) He objected to the writings of Charles Dickens.
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_8-question_3 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel’s Game.
©2008 by Dragonworks, S.L. Translation ©2009 by
Lucia Graves. The narrator, a writer, recalls his childhood in
early twentieth-century Barcelona.
Even then my only friends were made of paper
and ink. At school I had learned to read and write
long before the other children. Where my school
friends saw notches of ink on incomprehensible
pages, I saw light, streets, and people. Words and the
mystery of their hidden science fascinated me, and I
saw in them a key with which I could unlock a
boundless world, a safe haven from that home, those
streets, and those troubled days in which even I
could sense that only a limited fortune awaited me.
My father didn’t like to see books in the house.
There was something about them—apart from the
letters he could not decipher—that offended him.
He used to tell me that as soon as I was ten he would
send me off to work and that I’d better get rid of all
my scatterbrained ideas if I didn’t want to end up a
loser, a nobody. I used to hide my books under the
mattress and wait for him to go out or fall asleep so
that I could read. Once he caught me reading at night
and flew into a rage. He tore the book from my
hands and flung it out of the window.
“If I catch you wasting electricity again, reading
all this nonsense, you’ll be sorry.”
My father was not a miser and, despite the
hardships we suffered, whenever he could he gave me
a few coins so that I could buy myself some treats like
the other children. He was convinced that I spent
them on licorice sticks, sunflower seeds, or sweets,
but I would keep them in a coffee tin under the bed,
and when I’d collected four or five reales I’d secretly
rush out to buy myself a book.
My favorite place in the whole city was the
Sempere & Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It
smelled of old paper and dust and it was my
sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit
on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to
my heart’s content. He hardly ever allowed me to pay
for the books he placed in my hands, but when he
wasn’t looking I’d leave the coins I’d managed to
collect on the counter before I left. It was only small
change—if I’d had to buy a book with that pittance, I
would probably have been able to afford only a
booklet of cigarette papers. When it was time for me
to leave, I would do so dragging my feet, a weight on
my soul. If it had been up to me, I would have stayed
there forever.
One Christmas Sempere gave me the best gift I
have ever received. It was an old volume, read and
experienced to the full.
“Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens,” I read
on the cover.
I was aware that Sempere knew a few authors who
frequented his establishment and, judging by the care
with which he handled the volume, I thought
perhaps this Mr. Dickens was one of them.
“A friend of yours?”
“A lifelong friend. And from now on, he’s your
friend too.”
That afternoon I took my new friend home,
hidden under my clothes so that my father wouldn’t
see it. It was a rainy winter, with days as gray as lead,
and I read Great Expectations about nine times,
partly because I had no other book at hand, partly
because I did not think there could be a better one in
the whole world and I was beginning to suspect that
Mr. Dickens had written it just for me. Soon I was
convinced that I didn’t want to do anything else in
life but learn to do what Mr. Dickens had done.
Question 1:
Over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts from a
A) general discussion of the narrator’s love of reading to a portrayal of an influential incident.
B) depiction of the narrator’s father to an examination of an author with whom the narrator becomes enchanted.
C) symbolic representation of a skill the narrator possesses to an example of its application.
D) tale about the hardships of the narrator’s childhood to an analysis of the effects of those hardships.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_8-question_1 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel’s Game.
©2008 by Dragonworks, S.L. Translation ©2009 by
Lucia Graves. The narrator, a writer, recalls his childhood in
early twentieth-century Barcelona.
Even then my only friends were made of paper
and ink. At school I had learned to read and write
long before the other children. Where my school
friends saw notches of ink on incomprehensible
pages, I saw light, streets, and people. Words and the
mystery of their hidden science fascinated me, and I
saw in them a key with which I could unlock a
boundless world, a safe haven from that home, those
streets, and those troubled days in which even I
could sense that only a limited fortune awaited me.
My father didn’t like to see books in the house.
There was something about them—apart from the
letters he could not decipher—that offended him.
He used to tell me that as soon as I was ten he would
send me off to work and that I’d better get rid of all
my scatterbrained ideas if I didn’t want to end up a
loser, a nobody. I used to hide my books under the
mattress and wait for him to go out or fall asleep so
that I could read. Once he caught me reading at night
and flew into a rage. He tore the book from my
hands and flung it out of the window.
“If I catch you wasting electricity again, reading
all this nonsense, you’ll be sorry.”
My father was not a miser and, despite the
hardships we suffered, whenever he could he gave me
a few coins so that I could buy myself some treats like
the other children. He was convinced that I spent
them on licorice sticks, sunflower seeds, or sweets,
but I would keep them in a coffee tin under the bed,
and when I’d collected four or five reales I’d secretly
rush out to buy myself a book.
My favorite place in the whole city was the
Sempere & Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It
smelled of old paper and dust and it was my
sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit
on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to
my heart’s content. He hardly ever allowed me to pay
for the books he placed in my hands, but when he
wasn’t looking I’d leave the coins I’d managed to
collect on the counter before I left. It was only small
change—if I’d had to buy a book with that pittance, I
would probably have been able to afford only a
booklet of cigarette papers. When it was time for me
to leave, I would do so dragging my feet, a weight on
my soul. If it had been up to me, I would have stayed
there forever.
One Christmas Sempere gave me the best gift I
have ever received. It was an old volume, read and
experienced to the full.
“Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens,” I read
on the cover.
I was aware that Sempere knew a few authors who
frequented his establishment and, judging by the care
with which he handled the volume, I thought
perhaps this Mr. Dickens was one of them.
“A friend of yours?”
“A lifelong friend. And from now on, he’s your
friend too.”
That afternoon I took my new friend home,
hidden under my clothes so that my father wouldn’t
see it. It was a rainy winter, with days as gray as lead,
and I read Great Expectations about nine times,
partly because I had no other book at hand, partly
because I did not think there could be a better one in
the whole world and I was beginning to suspect that
Mr. Dickens had written it just for me. Soon I was
convinced that I didn’t want to do anything else in
life but learn to do what Mr. Dickens had done.
Question 2:
The main purpose of lines 1-10 (“Even... awaited me”) is to
A) introduce the characters who play a part in the narrator’s story.
B) list the difficult conditions the narrator endured in childhood.
C) describe the passion that drives the actions the narrator recounts.
D) depict the narrator’s aspirations before he met Sempere.
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_8-question_2 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel’s Game.
©2008 by Dragonworks, S.L. Translation ©2009 by
Lucia Graves. The narrator, a writer, recalls his childhood in
early twentieth-century Barcelona.
Even then my only friends were made of paper
and ink. At school I had learned to read and write
long before the other children. Where my school
friends saw notches of ink on incomprehensible
pages, I saw light, streets, and people. Words and the
mystery of their hidden science fascinated me, and I
saw in them a key with which I could unlock a
boundless world, a safe haven from that home, those
streets, and those troubled days in which even I
could sense that only a limited fortune awaited me.
My father didn’t like to see books in the house.
There was something about them—apart from the
letters he could not decipher—that offended him.
He used to tell me that as soon as I was ten he would
send me off to work and that I’d better get rid of all
my scatterbrained ideas if I didn’t want to end up a
loser, a nobody. I used to hide my books under the
mattress and wait for him to go out or fall asleep so
that I could read. Once he caught me reading at night
and flew into a rage. He tore the book from my
hands and flung it out of the window.
“If I catch you wasting electricity again, reading
all this nonsense, you’ll be sorry.”
My father was not a miser and, despite the
hardships we suffered, whenever he could he gave me
a few coins so that I could buy myself some treats like
the other children. He was convinced that I spent
them on licorice sticks, sunflower seeds, or sweets,
but I would keep them in a coffee tin under the bed,
and when I’d collected four or five reales I’d secretly
rush out to buy myself a book.
My favorite place in the whole city was the
Sempere & Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It
smelled of old paper and dust and it was my
sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit
on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to
my heart’s content. He hardly ever allowed me to pay
for the books he placed in my hands, but when he
wasn’t looking I’d leave the coins I’d managed to
collect on the counter before I left. It was only small
change—if I’d had to buy a book with that pittance, I
would probably have been able to afford only a
booklet of cigarette papers. When it was time for me
to leave, I would do so dragging my feet, a weight on
my soul. If it had been up to me, I would have stayed
there forever.
One Christmas Sempere gave me the best gift I
have ever received. It was an old volume, read and
experienced to the full.
“Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens,” I read
on the cover.
I was aware that Sempere knew a few authors who
frequented his establishment and, judging by the care
with which he handled the volume, I thought
perhaps this Mr. Dickens was one of them.
“A friend of yours?”
“A lifelong friend. And from now on, he’s your
friend too.”
That afternoon I took my new friend home,
hidden under my clothes so that my father wouldn’t
see it. It was a rainy winter, with days as gray as lead,
and I read Great Expectations about nine times,
partly because I had no other book at hand, partly
because I did not think there could be a better one in
the whole world and I was beginning to suspect that
Mr. Dickens had written it just for me. Soon I was
convinced that I didn’t want to do anything else in
life but learn to do what Mr. Dickens had done.
Question 7:
The narrator indicates that he pays Sempere
A) less than Sempere expects him to pay for the books.
B) nothing, because Sempere won’t take his money.
C) the money he makes selling sweets to the other children.
D) much less for the books than they are worth.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_8-question_7 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel’s Game.
©2008 by Dragonworks, S.L. Translation ©2009 by
Lucia Graves. The narrator, a writer, recalls his childhood in
early twentieth-century Barcelona.
Even then my only friends were made of paper
and ink. At school I had learned to read and write
long before the other children. Where my school
friends saw notches of ink on incomprehensible
pages, I saw light, streets, and people. Words and the
mystery of their hidden science fascinated me, and I
saw in them a key with which I could unlock a
boundless world, a safe haven from that home, those
streets, and those troubled days in which even I
could sense that only a limited fortune awaited me.
My father didn’t like to see books in the house.
There was something about them—apart from the
letters he could not decipher—that offended him.
He used to tell me that as soon as I was ten he would
send me off to work and that I’d better get rid of all
my scatterbrained ideas if I didn’t want to end up a
loser, a nobody. I used to hide my books under the
mattress and wait for him to go out or fall asleep so
that I could read. Once he caught me reading at night
and flew into a rage. He tore the book from my
hands and flung it out of the window.
“If I catch you wasting electricity again, reading
all this nonsense, you’ll be sorry.”
My father was not a miser and, despite the
hardships we suffered, whenever he could he gave me
a few coins so that I could buy myself some treats like
the other children. He was convinced that I spent
them on licorice sticks, sunflower seeds, or sweets,
but I would keep them in a coffee tin under the bed,
and when I’d collected four or five reales I’d secretly
rush out to buy myself a book.
My favorite place in the whole city was the
Sempere & Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It
smelled of old paper and dust and it was my
sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit
on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to
my heart’s content. He hardly ever allowed me to pay
for the books he placed in my hands, but when he
wasn’t looking I’d leave the coins I’d managed to
collect on the counter before I left. It was only small
change—if I’d had to buy a book with that pittance, I
would probably have been able to afford only a
booklet of cigarette papers. When it was time for me
to leave, I would do so dragging my feet, a weight on
my soul. If it had been up to me, I would have stayed
there forever.
One Christmas Sempere gave me the best gift I
have ever received. It was an old volume, read and
experienced to the full.
“Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens,” I read
on the cover.
I was aware that Sempere knew a few authors who
frequented his establishment and, judging by the care
with which he handled the volume, I thought
perhaps this Mr. Dickens was one of them.
“A friend of yours?”
“A lifelong friend. And from now on, he’s your
friend too.”
That afternoon I took my new friend home,
hidden under my clothes so that my father wouldn’t
see it. It was a rainy winter, with days as gray as lead,
and I read Great Expectations about nine times,
partly because I had no other book at hand, partly
because I did not think there could be a better one in
the whole world and I was beginning to suspect that
Mr. Dickens had written it just for me. Soon I was
convinced that I didn’t want to do anything else in
life but learn to do what Mr. Dickens had done.
Question 8:
As used in line 44, “weight” most nearly means
A) bulk.
B) burden.
C) force.
D) clout.
Answer: | B | true | sat-practice_8-question_8 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel’s Game.
©2008 by Dragonworks, S.L. Translation ©2009 by
Lucia Graves. The narrator, a writer, recalls his childhood in
early twentieth-century Barcelona.
Even then my only friends were made of paper
and ink. At school I had learned to read and write
long before the other children. Where my school
friends saw notches of ink on incomprehensible
pages, I saw light, streets, and people. Words and the
mystery of their hidden science fascinated me, and I
saw in them a key with which I could unlock a
boundless world, a safe haven from that home, those
streets, and those troubled days in which even I
could sense that only a limited fortune awaited me.
My father didn’t like to see books in the house.
There was something about them—apart from the
letters he could not decipher—that offended him.
He used to tell me that as soon as I was ten he would
send me off to work and that I’d better get rid of all
my scatterbrained ideas if I didn’t want to end up a
loser, a nobody. I used to hide my books under the
mattress and wait for him to go out or fall asleep so
that I could read. Once he caught me reading at night
and flew into a rage. He tore the book from my
hands and flung it out of the window.
“If I catch you wasting electricity again, reading
all this nonsense, you’ll be sorry.”
My father was not a miser and, despite the
hardships we suffered, whenever he could he gave me
a few coins so that I could buy myself some treats like
the other children. He was convinced that I spent
them on licorice sticks, sunflower seeds, or sweets,
but I would keep them in a coffee tin under the bed,
and when I’d collected four or five reales I’d secretly
rush out to buy myself a book.
My favorite place in the whole city was the
Sempere & Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It
smelled of old paper and dust and it was my
sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit
on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to
my heart’s content. He hardly ever allowed me to pay
for the books he placed in my hands, but when he
wasn’t looking I’d leave the coins I’d managed to
collect on the counter before I left. It was only small
change—if I’d had to buy a book with that pittance, I
would probably have been able to afford only a
booklet of cigarette papers. When it was time for me
to leave, I would do so dragging my feet, a weight on
my soul. If it had been up to me, I would have stayed
there forever.
One Christmas Sempere gave me the best gift I
have ever received. It was an old volume, read and
experienced to the full.
“Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens,” I read
on the cover.
I was aware that Sempere knew a few authors who
frequented his establishment and, judging by the care
with which he handled the volume, I thought
perhaps this Mr. Dickens was one of them.
“A friend of yours?”
“A lifelong friend. And from now on, he’s your
friend too.”
That afternoon I took my new friend home,
hidden under my clothes so that my father wouldn’t
see it. It was a rainy winter, with days as gray as lead,
and I read Great Expectations about nine times,
partly because I had no other book at hand, partly
because I did not think there could be a better one in
the whole world and I was beginning to suspect that
Mr. Dickens had written it just for me. Soon I was
convinced that I didn’t want to do anything else in
life but learn to do what Mr. Dickens had done.
Question 10:
Which statement best characterizes the relationship between Sempere and Charles Dickens?
A) Sempere models his own writing after Dickens’s style.
B) Sempere is an avid admirer of Dickens’s work.
C) Sempere feels a personal connection to details of Dickens’s biography.
D) Sempere considers himself to be Dickens’s most appreciative reader.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_8-question_10 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel’s Game.
©2008 by Dragonworks, S.L. Translation ©2009 by
Lucia Graves. The narrator, a writer, recalls his childhood in
early twentieth-century Barcelona.
Even then my only friends were made of paper
and ink. At school I had learned to read and write
long before the other children. Where my school
friends saw notches of ink on incomprehensible
pages, I saw light, streets, and people. Words and the
mystery of their hidden science fascinated me, and I
saw in them a key with which I could unlock a
boundless world, a safe haven from that home, those
streets, and those troubled days in which even I
could sense that only a limited fortune awaited me.
My father didn’t like to see books in the house.
There was something about them—apart from the
letters he could not decipher—that offended him.
He used to tell me that as soon as I was ten he would
send me off to work and that I’d better get rid of all
my scatterbrained ideas if I didn’t want to end up a
loser, a nobody. I used to hide my books under the
mattress and wait for him to go out or fall asleep so
that I could read. Once he caught me reading at night
and flew into a rage. He tore the book from my
hands and flung it out of the window.
“If I catch you wasting electricity again, reading
all this nonsense, you’ll be sorry.”
My father was not a miser and, despite the
hardships we suffered, whenever he could he gave me
a few coins so that I could buy myself some treats like
the other children. He was convinced that I spent
them on licorice sticks, sunflower seeds, or sweets,
but I would keep them in a coffee tin under the bed,
and when I’d collected four or five reales I’d secretly
rush out to buy myself a book.
My favorite place in the whole city was the
Sempere & Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It
smelled of old paper and dust and it was my
sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit
on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to
my heart’s content. He hardly ever allowed me to pay
for the books he placed in my hands, but when he
wasn’t looking I’d leave the coins I’d managed to
collect on the counter before I left. It was only small
change—if I’d had to buy a book with that pittance, I
would probably have been able to afford only a
booklet of cigarette papers. When it was time for me
to leave, I would do so dragging my feet, a weight on
my soul. If it had been up to me, I would have stayed
there forever.
One Christmas Sempere gave me the best gift I
have ever received. It was an old volume, read and
experienced to the full.
“Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens,” I read
on the cover.
I was aware that Sempere knew a few authors who
frequented his establishment and, judging by the care
with which he handled the volume, I thought
perhaps this Mr. Dickens was one of them.
“A friend of yours?”
“A lifelong friend. And from now on, he’s your
friend too.”
That afternoon I took my new friend home,
hidden under my clothes so that my father wouldn’t
see it. It was a rainy winter, with days as gray as lead,
and I read Great Expectations about nine times,
partly because I had no other book at hand, partly
because I did not think there could be a better one in
the whole world and I was beginning to suspect that
Mr. Dickens had written it just for me. Soon I was
convinced that I didn’t want to do anything else in
life but learn to do what Mr. Dickens had done.
Question 9:
The word “friend” is used twice in lines 57-58 to
A) underline the importance of the narrator’s connection to Sempere.
B) stress how friendships helped the narrator deal with his difficult home situation.
C) emphasize the emotional connection Sempere feels to reading.
D) imply that the narrator’s sentiments caused him to make an irrational decision.
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_8-question_9 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel’s Game.
©2008 by Dragonworks, S.L. Translation ©2009 by
Lucia Graves. The narrator, a writer, recalls his childhood in
early twentieth-century Barcelona.
Even then my only friends were made of paper
and ink. At school I had learned to read and write
long before the other children. Where my school
friends saw notches of ink on incomprehensible
pages, I saw light, streets, and people. Words and the
mystery of their hidden science fascinated me, and I
saw in them a key with which I could unlock a
boundless world, a safe haven from that home, those
streets, and those troubled days in which even I
could sense that only a limited fortune awaited me.
My father didn’t like to see books in the house.
There was something about them—apart from the
letters he could not decipher—that offended him.
He used to tell me that as soon as I was ten he would
send me off to work and that I’d better get rid of all
my scatterbrained ideas if I didn’t want to end up a
loser, a nobody. I used to hide my books under the
mattress and wait for him to go out or fall asleep so
that I could read. Once he caught me reading at night
and flew into a rage. He tore the book from my
hands and flung it out of the window.
“If I catch you wasting electricity again, reading
all this nonsense, you’ll be sorry.”
My father was not a miser and, despite the
hardships we suffered, whenever he could he gave me
a few coins so that I could buy myself some treats like
the other children. He was convinced that I spent
them on licorice sticks, sunflower seeds, or sweets,
but I would keep them in a coffee tin under the bed,
and when I’d collected four or five reales I’d secretly
rush out to buy myself a book.
My favorite place in the whole city was the
Sempere & Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It
smelled of old paper and dust and it was my
sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit
on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to
my heart’s content. He hardly ever allowed me to pay
for the books he placed in my hands, but when he
wasn’t looking I’d leave the coins I’d managed to
collect on the counter before I left. It was only small
change—if I’d had to buy a book with that pittance, I
would probably have been able to afford only a
booklet of cigarette papers. When it was time for me
to leave, I would do so dragging my feet, a weight on
my soul. If it had been up to me, I would have stayed
there forever.
One Christmas Sempere gave me the best gift I
have ever received. It was an old volume, read and
experienced to the full.
“Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens,” I read
on the cover.
I was aware that Sempere knew a few authors who
frequented his establishment and, judging by the care
with which he handled the volume, I thought
perhaps this Mr. Dickens was one of them.
“A friend of yours?”
“A lifelong friend. And from now on, he’s your
friend too.”
That afternoon I took my new friend home,
hidden under my clothes so that my father wouldn’t
see it. It was a rainy winter, with days as gray as lead,
and I read Great Expectations about nine times,
partly because I had no other book at hand, partly
because I did not think there could be a better one in
the whole world and I was beginning to suspect that
Mr. Dickens had written it just for me. Soon I was
convinced that I didn’t want to do anything else in
life but learn to do what Mr. Dickens had done.
Question 5:
It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that the main reason that the narrator considers Great Expectations to be the best gift he ever received is because
A) reading the book convinced him that he wanted to be a writer.
B) he’d only ever been given sweets and snacks as gifts in the past.
C) the gift meant that Sempere held him in high regard.
D) Sempere was a friend of the book’s author.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_8-question_5 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Jeffrey Mervis, “Why Null
Results Rarely See the Light of Day.” ©2014 by American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
The question of what to do with null
results—when researchers fail to see an effect that
should be detectable—has long been hotly debated
among those conducting medical trials, where the
results can have a big impact on lives and corporate
bottom lines. More recently, the debate has spread to
the social and behavioral sciences, which also have
the potential to sway public and social policy.
There were little hard data, however, on how often or
why null results were squelched. “Yes, it’s true that
null results are not as exciting,” political scientist
Gary King of Harvard University says. “But I suspect
another reason they are rarely published is that there
are many, many ways to produce null results by
messing up. So they are much harder to interpret.”
In a recent study, Stanford political economist
Neil Malhotra and two of his graduate students
examined every study since 2002 that was funded by
a competitive grants program called TESS
(Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences).
TESS allows scientists to order up Internet-based
surveys of a representative sample of US adults to test
a particular hypothesis (for example, whether voters
tend to favor legislators who boast of bringing federal
dollars to their districts over those who tout a focus
on policy matters).
Malhotra’s team tracked down working papers
from most of the experiments that weren’t published,
and for the rest asked grantees what had happened to
their results. In their e-mailed responses, some
scientists cited deeper problems with a study or more
pressing matters—but many also believed the
journals just wouldn’t be interested. “The
unfortunate reality of the publishing world [is] that
null effects do not tell a clear story,” said one
scientist. Said another, “Never published, definitely
disappointed to not see any major effects.”
Their answers suggest to Malhotra that rescuing
findings from the file drawer will require a shift in
expectations. “What needs to change is the
culture—the author’s belief about what will happen if
the research is written up,” he says.
Not unexpectedly, the statistical strength of the
findings made a huge difference in whether they
were ever published. Overall, 42% of the experiments
produced statistically significant results. Of those,
62% were ultimately published, compared with 21%
of the null results. However, the Stanford team was
surprised that researchers didn’t even write up
65% of the experiments that yielded a null finding.
Scientists not involved in the study praise its
“clever” design. “It’s a very important paper” that
“starts to put numbers on things we want to
understand,” says economist Edward Miguel of the
University of California, Berkeley.
He and others note that the bias against null
studies can waste time and money when researchers
devise new studies replicating strategies already
found to be ineffective. Worse, if researchers publish
significant results from similar experiments in the
future, they could look stronger than they should
because the earlier null studies are ignored. Even
more troubling to Malhotra was the fact that two
scientists whose initial studies “didn’t work out”
went on to publish results based on a smaller sample.
“The non-TESS version of the same study, in which
we used a student sample, did yield fruit,” noted one
investigator.
A registry for data generated by all experiments
would address these problems, the authors argue.
They say it should also include a “preanalysis” plan,
that is, a detailed description of what the scientist
hopes to achieve and how the data will be analyzed.
Such plans would help deter researchers from
tweaking their analyses after the data are collected in
search of more publishable results.
Question 16:
Based on the passage, to which of the following hypothetical situations would Malhotra most strongly object?
A) A research team refuses to publish null results in anything less than a top journal.
B) A research team excludes the portion of data that produced null results when reporting its results in a journal.
C) A research team unknowingly repeats a study that produced null results for another research team.
D) A research team performs a follow-up study that expands the scope of an initial study that produced null results.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_8-question_16 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Jeffrey Mervis, “Why Null
Results Rarely See the Light of Day.” ©2014 by American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
The question of what to do with null
results—when researchers fail to see an effect that
should be detectable—has long been hotly debated
among those conducting medical trials, where the
results can have a big impact on lives and corporate
bottom lines. More recently, the debate has spread to
the social and behavioral sciences, which also have
the potential to sway public and social policy.
There were little hard data, however, on how often or
why null results were squelched. “Yes, it’s true that
null results are not as exciting,” political scientist
Gary King of Harvard University says. “But I suspect
another reason they are rarely published is that there
are many, many ways to produce null results by
messing up. So they are much harder to interpret.”
In a recent study, Stanford political economist
Neil Malhotra and two of his graduate students
examined every study since 2002 that was funded by
a competitive grants program called TESS
(Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences).
TESS allows scientists to order up Internet-based
surveys of a representative sample of US adults to test
a particular hypothesis (for example, whether voters
tend to favor legislators who boast of bringing federal
dollars to their districts over those who tout a focus
on policy matters).
Malhotra’s team tracked down working papers
from most of the experiments that weren’t published,
and for the rest asked grantees what had happened to
their results. In their e-mailed responses, some
scientists cited deeper problems with a study or more
pressing matters—but many also believed the
journals just wouldn’t be interested. “The
unfortunate reality of the publishing world [is] that
null effects do not tell a clear story,” said one
scientist. Said another, “Never published, definitely
disappointed to not see any major effects.”
Their answers suggest to Malhotra that rescuing
findings from the file drawer will require a shift in
expectations. “What needs to change is the
culture—the author’s belief about what will happen if
the research is written up,” he says.
Not unexpectedly, the statistical strength of the
findings made a huge difference in whether they
were ever published. Overall, 42% of the experiments
produced statistically significant results. Of those,
62% were ultimately published, compared with 21%
of the null results. However, the Stanford team was
surprised that researchers didn’t even write up
65% of the experiments that yielded a null finding.
Scientists not involved in the study praise its
“clever” design. “It’s a very important paper” that
“starts to put numbers on things we want to
understand,” says economist Edward Miguel of the
University of California, Berkeley.
He and others note that the bias against null
studies can waste time and money when researchers
devise new studies replicating strategies already
found to be ineffective. Worse, if researchers publish
significant results from similar experiments in the
future, they could look stronger than they should
because the earlier null studies are ignored. Even
more troubling to Malhotra was the fact that two
scientists whose initial studies “didn’t work out”
went on to publish results based on a smaller sample.
“The non-TESS version of the same study, in which
we used a student sample, did yield fruit,” noted one
investigator.
A registry for data generated by all experiments
would address these problems, the authors argue.
They say it should also include a “preanalysis” plan,
that is, a detailed description of what the scientist
hopes to achieve and how the data will be analyzed.
Such plans would help deter researchers from
tweaking their analyses after the data are collected in
search of more publishable results.
Question 18:
The last paragraph serves mainly to
A) propose a future research project to deal with some of the shortcomings of current publishing practices noted in the passage.
B) introduce a possible solution to problems discussed in the passage regarding the reporting of social science studies.
C) summarize the findings of a study about experimental results explained in the passage.
D) reinforce the importance of reexamining the results of all social science trials.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_8-question_18 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Jeffrey Mervis, “Why Null
Results Rarely See the Light of Day.” ©2014 by American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
The question of what to do with null
results—when researchers fail to see an effect that
should be detectable—has long been hotly debated
among those conducting medical trials, where the
results can have a big impact on lives and corporate
bottom lines. More recently, the debate has spread to
the social and behavioral sciences, which also have
the potential to sway public and social policy.
There were little hard data, however, on how often or
why null results were squelched. “Yes, it’s true that
null results are not as exciting,” political scientist
Gary King of Harvard University says. “But I suspect
another reason they are rarely published is that there
are many, many ways to produce null results by
messing up. So they are much harder to interpret.”
In a recent study, Stanford political economist
Neil Malhotra and two of his graduate students
examined every study since 2002 that was funded by
a competitive grants program called TESS
(Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences).
TESS allows scientists to order up Internet-based
surveys of a representative sample of US adults to test
a particular hypothesis (for example, whether voters
tend to favor legislators who boast of bringing federal
dollars to their districts over those who tout a focus
on policy matters).
Malhotra’s team tracked down working papers
from most of the experiments that weren’t published,
and for the rest asked grantees what had happened to
their results. In their e-mailed responses, some
scientists cited deeper problems with a study or more
pressing matters—but many also believed the
journals just wouldn’t be interested. “The
unfortunate reality of the publishing world [is] that
null effects do not tell a clear story,” said one
scientist. Said another, “Never published, definitely
disappointed to not see any major effects.”
Their answers suggest to Malhotra that rescuing
findings from the file drawer will require a shift in
expectations. “What needs to change is the
culture—the author’s belief about what will happen if
the research is written up,” he says.
Not unexpectedly, the statistical strength of the
findings made a huge difference in whether they
were ever published. Overall, 42% of the experiments
produced statistically significant results. Of those,
62% were ultimately published, compared with 21%
of the null results. However, the Stanford team was
surprised that researchers didn’t even write up
65% of the experiments that yielded a null finding.
Scientists not involved in the study praise its
“clever” design. “It’s a very important paper” that
“starts to put numbers on things we want to
understand,” says economist Edward Miguel of the
University of California, Berkeley.
He and others note that the bias against null
studies can waste time and money when researchers
devise new studies replicating strategies already
found to be ineffective. Worse, if researchers publish
significant results from similar experiments in the
future, they could look stronger than they should
because the earlier null studies are ignored. Even
more troubling to Malhotra was the fact that two
scientists whose initial studies “didn’t work out”
went on to publish results based on a smaller sample.
“The non-TESS version of the same study, in which
we used a student sample, did yield fruit,” noted one
investigator.
A registry for data generated by all experiments
would address these problems, the authors argue.
They say it should also include a “preanalysis” plan,
that is, a detailed description of what the scientist
hopes to achieve and how the data will be analyzed.
Such plans would help deter researchers from
tweaking their analyses after the data are collected in
search of more publishable results.
Question 12:
As used in line 21, “allows” most nearly means
A) admits.
B) tolerates.
C) grants.
D) enables.
Answer: | D | true | sat-practice_8-question_12 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Jeffrey Mervis, “Why Null
Results Rarely See the Light of Day.” ©2014 by American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
The question of what to do with null
results—when researchers fail to see an effect that
should be detectable—has long been hotly debated
among those conducting medical trials, where the
results can have a big impact on lives and corporate
bottom lines. More recently, the debate has spread to
the social and behavioral sciences, which also have
the potential to sway public and social policy.
There were little hard data, however, on how often or
why null results were squelched. “Yes, it’s true that
null results are not as exciting,” political scientist
Gary King of Harvard University says. “But I suspect
another reason they are rarely published is that there
are many, many ways to produce null results by
messing up. So they are much harder to interpret.”
In a recent study, Stanford political economist
Neil Malhotra and two of his graduate students
examined every study since 2002 that was funded by
a competitive grants program called TESS
(Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences).
TESS allows scientists to order up Internet-based
surveys of a representative sample of US adults to test
a particular hypothesis (for example, whether voters
tend to favor legislators who boast of bringing federal
dollars to their districts over those who tout a focus
on policy matters).
Malhotra’s team tracked down working papers
from most of the experiments that weren’t published,
and for the rest asked grantees what had happened to
their results. In their e-mailed responses, some
scientists cited deeper problems with a study or more
pressing matters—but many also believed the
journals just wouldn’t be interested. “The
unfortunate reality of the publishing world [is] that
null effects do not tell a clear story,” said one
scientist. Said another, “Never published, definitely
disappointed to not see any major effects.”
Their answers suggest to Malhotra that rescuing
findings from the file drawer will require a shift in
expectations. “What needs to change is the
culture—the author’s belief about what will happen if
the research is written up,” he says.
Not unexpectedly, the statistical strength of the
findings made a huge difference in whether they
were ever published. Overall, 42% of the experiments
produced statistically significant results. Of those,
62% were ultimately published, compared with 21%
of the null results. However, the Stanford team was
surprised that researchers didn’t even write up
65% of the experiments that yielded a null finding.
Scientists not involved in the study praise its
“clever” design. “It’s a very important paper” that
“starts to put numbers on things we want to
understand,” says economist Edward Miguel of the
University of California, Berkeley.
He and others note that the bias against null
studies can waste time and money when researchers
devise new studies replicating strategies already
found to be ineffective. Worse, if researchers publish
significant results from similar experiments in the
future, they could look stronger than they should
because the earlier null studies are ignored. Even
more troubling to Malhotra was the fact that two
scientists whose initial studies “didn’t work out”
went on to publish results based on a smaller sample.
“The non-TESS version of the same study, in which
we used a student sample, did yield fruit,” noted one
investigator.
A registry for data generated by all experiments
would address these problems, the authors argue.
They say it should also include a “preanalysis” plan,
that is, a detailed description of what the scientist
hopes to achieve and how the data will be analyzed.
Such plans would help deter researchers from
tweaking their analyses after the data are collected in
search of more publishable results.
Question 14:
The passage indicates that a problem with failing to document null results is that
A) the results of related studies will be misleading.
B) researchers may overlook promising areas of study.
C) mistakes in the collection of null results may be overlooked.
D) the bias against null results will be disregarded.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_8-question_14 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Jeffrey Mervis, “Why Null
Results Rarely See the Light of Day.” ©2014 by American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
The question of what to do with null
results—when researchers fail to see an effect that
should be detectable—has long been hotly debated
among those conducting medical trials, where the
results can have a big impact on lives and corporate
bottom lines. More recently, the debate has spread to
the social and behavioral sciences, which also have
the potential to sway public and social policy.
There were little hard data, however, on how often or
why null results were squelched. “Yes, it’s true that
null results are not as exciting,” political scientist
Gary King of Harvard University says. “But I suspect
another reason they are rarely published is that there
are many, many ways to produce null results by
messing up. So they are much harder to interpret.”
In a recent study, Stanford political economist
Neil Malhotra and two of his graduate students
examined every study since 2002 that was funded by
a competitive grants program called TESS
(Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences).
TESS allows scientists to order up Internet-based
surveys of a representative sample of US adults to test
a particular hypothesis (for example, whether voters
tend to favor legislators who boast of bringing federal
dollars to their districts over those who tout a focus
on policy matters).
Malhotra’s team tracked down working papers
from most of the experiments that weren’t published,
and for the rest asked grantees what had happened to
their results. In their e-mailed responses, some
scientists cited deeper problems with a study or more
pressing matters—but many also believed the
journals just wouldn’t be interested. “The
unfortunate reality of the publishing world [is] that
null effects do not tell a clear story,” said one
scientist. Said another, “Never published, definitely
disappointed to not see any major effects.”
Their answers suggest to Malhotra that rescuing
findings from the file drawer will require a shift in
expectations. “What needs to change is the
culture—the author’s belief about what will happen if
the research is written up,” he says.
Not unexpectedly, the statistical strength of the
findings made a huge difference in whether they
were ever published. Overall, 42% of the experiments
produced statistically significant results. Of those,
62% were ultimately published, compared with 21%
of the null results. However, the Stanford team was
surprised that researchers didn’t even write up
65% of the experiments that yielded a null finding.
Scientists not involved in the study praise its
“clever” design. “It’s a very important paper” that
“starts to put numbers on things we want to
understand,” says economist Edward Miguel of the
University of California, Berkeley.
He and others note that the bias against null
studies can waste time and money when researchers
devise new studies replicating strategies already
found to be ineffective. Worse, if researchers publish
significant results from similar experiments in the
future, they could look stronger than they should
because the earlier null studies are ignored. Even
more troubling to Malhotra was the fact that two
scientists whose initial studies “didn’t work out”
went on to publish results based on a smaller sample.
“The non-TESS version of the same study, in which
we used a student sample, did yield fruit,” noted one
investigator.
A registry for data generated by all experiments
would address these problems, the authors argue.
They say it should also include a “preanalysis” plan,
that is, a detailed description of what the scientist
hopes to achieve and how the data will be analyzed.
Such plans would help deter researchers from
tweaking their analyses after the data are collected in
search of more publishable results.
Question 11:
The passage primarily serves to
A) discuss recent findings concerning scientific studies and dispute a widely held belief about the publication of social science research.
B) explain a common practice in the reporting of research studies and summarize a study that provides support for a change to that practice.
C) describe the shortcomings in current approaches to medical trials and recommend the implementation of a government database.
D) provide context as part of a call for stricter controls on social science research and challenge publishers to alter their mindsets.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_8-question_11 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Jeffrey Mervis, “Why Null
Results Rarely See the Light of Day.” ©2014 by American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
The question of what to do with null
results—when researchers fail to see an effect that
should be detectable—has long been hotly debated
among those conducting medical trials, where the
results can have a big impact on lives and corporate
bottom lines. More recently, the debate has spread to
the social and behavioral sciences, which also have
the potential to sway public and social policy.
There were little hard data, however, on how often or
why null results were squelched. “Yes, it’s true that
null results are not as exciting,” political scientist
Gary King of Harvard University says. “But I suspect
another reason they are rarely published is that there
are many, many ways to produce null results by
messing up. So they are much harder to interpret.”
In a recent study, Stanford political economist
Neil Malhotra and two of his graduate students
examined every study since 2002 that was funded by
a competitive grants program called TESS
(Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences).
TESS allows scientists to order up Internet-based
surveys of a representative sample of US adults to test
a particular hypothesis (for example, whether voters
tend to favor legislators who boast of bringing federal
dollars to their districts over those who tout a focus
on policy matters).
Malhotra’s team tracked down working papers
from most of the experiments that weren’t published,
and for the rest asked grantees what had happened to
their results. In their e-mailed responses, some
scientists cited deeper problems with a study or more
pressing matters—but many also believed the
journals just wouldn’t be interested. “The
unfortunate reality of the publishing world [is] that
null effects do not tell a clear story,” said one
scientist. Said another, “Never published, definitely
disappointed to not see any major effects.”
Their answers suggest to Malhotra that rescuing
findings from the file drawer will require a shift in
expectations. “What needs to change is the
culture—the author’s belief about what will happen if
the research is written up,” he says.
Not unexpectedly, the statistical strength of the
findings made a huge difference in whether they
were ever published. Overall, 42% of the experiments
produced statistically significant results. Of those,
62% were ultimately published, compared with 21%
of the null results. However, the Stanford team was
surprised that researchers didn’t even write up
65% of the experiments that yielded a null finding.
Scientists not involved in the study praise its
“clever” design. “It’s a very important paper” that
“starts to put numbers on things we want to
understand,” says economist Edward Miguel of the
University of California, Berkeley.
He and others note that the bias against null
studies can waste time and money when researchers
devise new studies replicating strategies already
found to be ineffective. Worse, if researchers publish
significant results from similar experiments in the
future, they could look stronger than they should
because the earlier null studies are ignored. Even
more troubling to Malhotra was the fact that two
scientists whose initial studies “didn’t work out”
went on to publish results based on a smaller sample.
“The non-TESS version of the same study, in which
we used a student sample, did yield fruit,” noted one
investigator.
A registry for data generated by all experiments
would address these problems, the authors argue.
They say it should also include a “preanalysis” plan,
that is, a detailed description of what the scientist
hopes to achieve and how the data will be analyzed.
Such plans would help deter researchers from
tweaking their analyses after the data are collected in
search of more publishable results.
Question 13:
As used in line 43, “strength” most nearly means
A) attribution.
B) exertion.
C) toughness.
D) significance.
Answer: | D | true | sat-practice_8-question_13 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Rachel Ehrenberg, “Salt
Stretches in Nanoworld.” ©2009 by Society for Science & the
Public. The “nanoworld” is the world observed on a scale
one billionth that of ordinary human experience.
Inflexible old salt becomes a softy in the
nanoworld, stretching like taffy to more than twice
its length, researchers report. The findings may lead
to new approaches for making nanowires that could
end up in solar cells or electronic circuits. The work
also suggests that these ultra-tiny salt wires may
already exist in sea spray and large underground salt
deposits.
“We think nanowires are special and go to great
lengths to make them,” says study coauthor
Nathan Moore of Sandia National Laboratories in
Albuquerque. “Maybe they are more common than
we think.”
Metals such as gold or lead, in which bonding
angles are loosey-goosey, can stretch out at
temperatures well below their melting points.
But scientists don’t expect this superplasticity in a
rigid, crystalline material like salt, Moore says.
This unusual behavior highlights that different
forces rule the nanoworld, says theoretical physicist
Krzysztof Kempa of Boston College. “Forget about
gravity. It plays no role,” he says. Surface tension and
electrostatic forces are much more important at this
scale.
Moore and his colleagues discovered salt’s
stretchiness accidently. They were investigating how
water sticks to a surface such as salt and created a
super-dry salt sample for testing. After cleaving a
chunk of salt about the size of a sugar cube with a
razor, the scientists guided a microscope that detects
forces toward the surface. When the tip was far away
there was no measured force, but within about seven
nanometers a very strong attraction rapidly
developed between the diamond tip of the
microscope and the salt. The salt actually stretched
out to glom on to the microscope tip. Using an
electron microscope to see what was happening, the
researchers observed the nanowires.
The initial attraction between the tip and salt
might be due to electrostatic forces, perhaps good old
van der Waals interactions, the researchers
speculate. Several mechanisms might lead to the
elasticity, including the excessive surface tension
found in the nanoworld (the same tension that allows
a water strider to skim the surface of a pond).
The surface tension is so strong that as the
microscope pulls away from the salt, the salt
stretches, Kempa says. “The inside has no choice but
to rearrange the atoms, rather than break,” he says.
This bizarre behavior is actually mirrored in the
macroworld, the researchers say. Huge underground
deposits of salt can bend like plastic, but water is
believed to play a role at these scales. Perhaps salty
nanowires are present in these deposits as well.
“Sodium chloride is everywhere—in the air, in
our bodies,” Moore says. “This may change our view
of things, of what’s happening at the nanoscale.”
The work also suggests new techniques for
making nanowires, which are often created through
nano-imprinting techniques, Kempa says. “We
invoke the intuition of the macroworld,” he says.
“Maybe instead of stamping [nanowires] we should
be nano-pulling them.”
Question 22:
One central idea of the passage is that
A) sometimes materials behave contrary to expectations.
B) systems can be described in terms of inputs and outputs.
C) models of materials have both strengths and weaknesses.
D) properties of systems differ from the properties of their parts.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_8-question_22 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Rachel Ehrenberg, “Salt
Stretches in Nanoworld.” ©2009 by Society for Science & the
Public. The “nanoworld” is the world observed on a scale
one billionth that of ordinary human experience.
Inflexible old salt becomes a softy in the
nanoworld, stretching like taffy to more than twice
its length, researchers report. The findings may lead
to new approaches for making nanowires that could
end up in solar cells or electronic circuits. The work
also suggests that these ultra-tiny salt wires may
already exist in sea spray and large underground salt
deposits.
“We think nanowires are special and go to great
lengths to make them,” says study coauthor
Nathan Moore of Sandia National Laboratories in
Albuquerque. “Maybe they are more common than
we think.”
Metals such as gold or lead, in which bonding
angles are loosey-goosey, can stretch out at
temperatures well below their melting points.
But scientists don’t expect this superplasticity in a
rigid, crystalline material like salt, Moore says.
This unusual behavior highlights that different
forces rule the nanoworld, says theoretical physicist
Krzysztof Kempa of Boston College. “Forget about
gravity. It plays no role,” he says. Surface tension and
electrostatic forces are much more important at this
scale.
Moore and his colleagues discovered salt’s
stretchiness accidently. They were investigating how
water sticks to a surface such as salt and created a
super-dry salt sample for testing. After cleaving a
chunk of salt about the size of a sugar cube with a
razor, the scientists guided a microscope that detects
forces toward the surface. When the tip was far away
there was no measured force, but within about seven
nanometers a very strong attraction rapidly
developed between the diamond tip of the
microscope and the salt. The salt actually stretched
out to glom on to the microscope tip. Using an
electron microscope to see what was happening, the
researchers observed the nanowires.
The initial attraction between the tip and salt
might be due to electrostatic forces, perhaps good old
van der Waals interactions, the researchers
speculate. Several mechanisms might lead to the
elasticity, including the excessive surface tension
found in the nanoworld (the same tension that allows
a water strider to skim the surface of a pond).
The surface tension is so strong that as the
microscope pulls away from the salt, the salt
stretches, Kempa says. “The inside has no choice but
to rearrange the atoms, rather than break,” he says.
This bizarre behavior is actually mirrored in the
macroworld, the researchers say. Huge underground
deposits of salt can bend like plastic, but water is
believed to play a role at these scales. Perhaps salty
nanowires are present in these deposits as well.
“Sodium chloride is everywhere—in the air, in
our bodies,” Moore says. “This may change our view
of things, of what’s happening at the nanoscale.”
The work also suggests new techniques for
making nanowires, which are often created through
nano-imprinting techniques, Kempa says. “We
invoke the intuition of the macroworld,” he says.
“Maybe instead of stamping [nanowires] we should
be nano-pulling them.”
Question 23:
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the passage?
A) A list of several ways in which salt’s properties differ from researchers’ expectations
B) A presentation of a hypothesis regarding salt behavior, description of an associated experiment, and explanation of why the results weaken the hypothesis
C) A description of two salt crystal experiments, the apparent disagreement in their results, and the resolution by more sensitive equipment
D) An introduction to an interesting salt property, description of its discovery, and speculation regarding its application
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_8-question_23 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Rachel Ehrenberg, “Salt
Stretches in Nanoworld.” ©2009 by Society for Science & the
Public. The “nanoworld” is the world observed on a scale
one billionth that of ordinary human experience.
Inflexible old salt becomes a softy in the
nanoworld, stretching like taffy to more than twice
its length, researchers report. The findings may lead
to new approaches for making nanowires that could
end up in solar cells or electronic circuits. The work
also suggests that these ultra-tiny salt wires may
already exist in sea spray and large underground salt
deposits.
“We think nanowires are special and go to great
lengths to make them,” says study coauthor
Nathan Moore of Sandia National Laboratories in
Albuquerque. “Maybe they are more common than
we think.”
Metals such as gold or lead, in which bonding
angles are loosey-goosey, can stretch out at
temperatures well below their melting points.
But scientists don’t expect this superplasticity in a
rigid, crystalline material like salt, Moore says.
This unusual behavior highlights that different
forces rule the nanoworld, says theoretical physicist
Krzysztof Kempa of Boston College. “Forget about
gravity. It plays no role,” he says. Surface tension and
electrostatic forces are much more important at this
scale.
Moore and his colleagues discovered salt’s
stretchiness accidently. They were investigating how
water sticks to a surface such as salt and created a
super-dry salt sample for testing. After cleaving a
chunk of salt about the size of a sugar cube with a
razor, the scientists guided a microscope that detects
forces toward the surface. When the tip was far away
there was no measured force, but within about seven
nanometers a very strong attraction rapidly
developed between the diamond tip of the
microscope and the salt. The salt actually stretched
out to glom on to the microscope tip. Using an
electron microscope to see what was happening, the
researchers observed the nanowires.
The initial attraction between the tip and salt
might be due to electrostatic forces, perhaps good old
van der Waals interactions, the researchers
speculate. Several mechanisms might lead to the
elasticity, including the excessive surface tension
found in the nanoworld (the same tension that allows
a water strider to skim the surface of a pond).
The surface tension is so strong that as the
microscope pulls away from the salt, the salt
stretches, Kempa says. “The inside has no choice but
to rearrange the atoms, rather than break,” he says.
This bizarre behavior is actually mirrored in the
macroworld, the researchers say. Huge underground
deposits of salt can bend like plastic, but water is
believed to play a role at these scales. Perhaps salty
nanowires are present in these deposits as well.
“Sodium chloride is everywhere—in the air, in
our bodies,” Moore says. “This may change our view
of things, of what’s happening at the nanoscale.”
The work also suggests new techniques for
making nanowires, which are often created through
nano-imprinting techniques, Kempa says. “We
invoke the intuition of the macroworld,” he says.
“Maybe instead of stamping [nanowires] we should
be nano-pulling them.”
Question 27:
As used in line 42, “lead to” most nearly means
A) guide to.
B) result in.
C) point toward.
D) start with.
Answer: | B | true | sat-practice_8-question_27 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Rachel Ehrenberg, “Salt
Stretches in Nanoworld.” ©2009 by Society for Science & the
Public. The “nanoworld” is the world observed on a scale
one billionth that of ordinary human experience.
Inflexible old salt becomes a softy in the
nanoworld, stretching like taffy to more than twice
its length, researchers report. The findings may lead
to new approaches for making nanowires that could
end up in solar cells or electronic circuits. The work
also suggests that these ultra-tiny salt wires may
already exist in sea spray and large underground salt
deposits.
“We think nanowires are special and go to great
lengths to make them,” says study coauthor
Nathan Moore of Sandia National Laboratories in
Albuquerque. “Maybe they are more common than
we think.”
Metals such as gold or lead, in which bonding
angles are loosey-goosey, can stretch out at
temperatures well below their melting points.
But scientists don’t expect this superplasticity in a
rigid, crystalline material like salt, Moore says.
This unusual behavior highlights that different
forces rule the nanoworld, says theoretical physicist
Krzysztof Kempa of Boston College. “Forget about
gravity. It plays no role,” he says. Surface tension and
electrostatic forces are much more important at this
scale.
Moore and his colleagues discovered salt’s
stretchiness accidently. They were investigating how
water sticks to a surface such as salt and created a
super-dry salt sample for testing. After cleaving a
chunk of salt about the size of a sugar cube with a
razor, the scientists guided a microscope that detects
forces toward the surface. When the tip was far away
there was no measured force, but within about seven
nanometers a very strong attraction rapidly
developed between the diamond tip of the
microscope and the salt. The salt actually stretched
out to glom on to the microscope tip. Using an
electron microscope to see what was happening, the
researchers observed the nanowires.
The initial attraction between the tip and salt
might be due to electrostatic forces, perhaps good old
van der Waals interactions, the researchers
speculate. Several mechanisms might lead to the
elasticity, including the excessive surface tension
found in the nanoworld (the same tension that allows
a water strider to skim the surface of a pond).
The surface tension is so strong that as the
microscope pulls away from the salt, the salt
stretches, Kempa says. “The inside has no choice but
to rearrange the atoms, rather than break,” he says.
This bizarre behavior is actually mirrored in the
macroworld, the researchers say. Huge underground
deposits of salt can bend like plastic, but water is
believed to play a role at these scales. Perhaps salty
nanowires are present in these deposits as well.
“Sodium chloride is everywhere—in the air, in
our bodies,” Moore says. “This may change our view
of things, of what’s happening at the nanoscale.”
The work also suggests new techniques for
making nanowires, which are often created through
nano-imprinting techniques, Kempa says. “We
invoke the intuition of the macroworld,” he says.
“Maybe instead of stamping [nanowires] we should
be nano-pulling them.”
Question 28:
Based on the passage, which choice best describes the relationship between salt behavior in the nanoworld and in the macroworld?
A) In both the nanoworld and the macroworld, salt can be flexible.
B) Salt flexibility is expected in the nanoworld but is surprising in the macroworld.
C) Salt nanowires were initially observed in the nanoworld and later observed in the macroworld.
D) In the nanoworld, salt’s interactions with water lead to very different properties than they do in the macroworld.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_8-question_28 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Rachel Ehrenberg, “Salt
Stretches in Nanoworld.” ©2009 by Society for Science & the
Public. The “nanoworld” is the world observed on a scale
one billionth that of ordinary human experience.
Inflexible old salt becomes a softy in the
nanoworld, stretching like taffy to more than twice
its length, researchers report. The findings may lead
to new approaches for making nanowires that could
end up in solar cells or electronic circuits. The work
also suggests that these ultra-tiny salt wires may
already exist in sea spray and large underground salt
deposits.
“We think nanowires are special and go to great
lengths to make them,” says study coauthor
Nathan Moore of Sandia National Laboratories in
Albuquerque. “Maybe they are more common than
we think.”
Metals such as gold or lead, in which bonding
angles are loosey-goosey, can stretch out at
temperatures well below their melting points.
But scientists don’t expect this superplasticity in a
rigid, crystalline material like salt, Moore says.
This unusual behavior highlights that different
forces rule the nanoworld, says theoretical physicist
Krzysztof Kempa of Boston College. “Forget about
gravity. It plays no role,” he says. Surface tension and
electrostatic forces are much more important at this
scale.
Moore and his colleagues discovered salt’s
stretchiness accidently. They were investigating how
water sticks to a surface such as salt and created a
super-dry salt sample for testing. After cleaving a
chunk of salt about the size of a sugar cube with a
razor, the scientists guided a microscope that detects
forces toward the surface. When the tip was far away
there was no measured force, but within about seven
nanometers a very strong attraction rapidly
developed between the diamond tip of the
microscope and the salt. The salt actually stretched
out to glom on to the microscope tip. Using an
electron microscope to see what was happening, the
researchers observed the nanowires.
The initial attraction between the tip and salt
might be due to electrostatic forces, perhaps good old
van der Waals interactions, the researchers
speculate. Several mechanisms might lead to the
elasticity, including the excessive surface tension
found in the nanoworld (the same tension that allows
a water strider to skim the surface of a pond).
The surface tension is so strong that as the
microscope pulls away from the salt, the salt
stretches, Kempa says. “The inside has no choice but
to rearrange the atoms, rather than break,” he says.
This bizarre behavior is actually mirrored in the
macroworld, the researchers say. Huge underground
deposits of salt can bend like plastic, but water is
believed to play a role at these scales. Perhaps salty
nanowires are present in these deposits as well.
“Sodium chloride is everywhere—in the air, in
our bodies,” Moore says. “This may change our view
of things, of what’s happening at the nanoscale.”
The work also suggests new techniques for
making nanowires, which are often created through
nano-imprinting techniques, Kempa says. “We
invoke the intuition of the macroworld,” he says.
“Maybe instead of stamping [nanowires] we should
be nano-pulling them.”
Question 25:
As used in line 20, “rule” most nearly means
A) mark.
B) control.
C) declare.
D) restrain.
Answer: | B | true | sat-practice_8-question_25 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Rachel Ehrenberg, “Salt
Stretches in Nanoworld.” ©2009 by Society for Science & the
Public. The “nanoworld” is the world observed on a scale
one billionth that of ordinary human experience.
Inflexible old salt becomes a softy in the
nanoworld, stretching like taffy to more than twice
its length, researchers report. The findings may lead
to new approaches for making nanowires that could
end up in solar cells or electronic circuits. The work
also suggests that these ultra-tiny salt wires may
already exist in sea spray and large underground salt
deposits.
“We think nanowires are special and go to great
lengths to make them,” says study coauthor
Nathan Moore of Sandia National Laboratories in
Albuquerque. “Maybe they are more common than
we think.”
Metals such as gold or lead, in which bonding
angles are loosey-goosey, can stretch out at
temperatures well below their melting points.
But scientists don’t expect this superplasticity in a
rigid, crystalline material like salt, Moore says.
This unusual behavior highlights that different
forces rule the nanoworld, says theoretical physicist
Krzysztof Kempa of Boston College. “Forget about
gravity. It plays no role,” he says. Surface tension and
electrostatic forces are much more important at this
scale.
Moore and his colleagues discovered salt’s
stretchiness accidently. They were investigating how
water sticks to a surface such as salt and created a
super-dry salt sample for testing. After cleaving a
chunk of salt about the size of a sugar cube with a
razor, the scientists guided a microscope that detects
forces toward the surface. When the tip was far away
there was no measured force, but within about seven
nanometers a very strong attraction rapidly
developed between the diamond tip of the
microscope and the salt. The salt actually stretched
out to glom on to the microscope tip. Using an
electron microscope to see what was happening, the
researchers observed the nanowires.
The initial attraction between the tip and salt
might be due to electrostatic forces, perhaps good old
van der Waals interactions, the researchers
speculate. Several mechanisms might lead to the
elasticity, including the excessive surface tension
found in the nanoworld (the same tension that allows
a water strider to skim the surface of a pond).
The surface tension is so strong that as the
microscope pulls away from the salt, the salt
stretches, Kempa says. “The inside has no choice but
to rearrange the atoms, rather than break,” he says.
This bizarre behavior is actually mirrored in the
macroworld, the researchers say. Huge underground
deposits of salt can bend like plastic, but water is
believed to play a role at these scales. Perhaps salty
nanowires are present in these deposits as well.
“Sodium chloride is everywhere—in the air, in
our bodies,” Moore says. “This may change our view
of things, of what’s happening at the nanoscale.”
The work also suggests new techniques for
making nanowires, which are often created through
nano-imprinting techniques, Kempa says. “We
invoke the intuition of the macroworld,” he says.
“Maybe instead of stamping [nanowires] we should
be nano-pulling them.”
Question 26:
According to the passage, researchers have identified which mechanism as potentially responsible for the initial attraction between the microscope tip and the salt?
A) Gravity
B) Nano-imprinting
C) Surface tension
D) Van der Waals interactions
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_8-question_26 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
These passages are adapted from the Lincoln‑Douglas
debates. Passage 1 is from a statement by Stephen Douglas.
Passage 2 is from a statement by Abraham Lincoln. Douglas
and Lincoln engaged in a series of debates while competing
for a US Senate seat in 1858.
Passage 1
Mr. Lincoln likens that bond of the Federal
Constitution, joining Free and Slave States together,
to a house divided against itself, and says that it is
contrary to the law of God, and cannot stand.
When did he learn, and by what authority does he
proclaim, that this Government is contrary to the law
of God and cannot stand? It has stood thus divided
into Free and Slave States from its organization up to
this day. During that period we have increased from
four millions to thirty millions of people; we have
extended our territory from the Mississippi to the
Pacific Ocean; we have acquired the Floridas and
Texas, and other territory sufficient to double our
geographical extent; we have increased in population,
in wealth, and in power beyond any example on
earth; we have risen from a weak and feeble power to
become the terror and admiration of the civilized
world; and all this has been done under a
Constitution which Mr. Lincoln, in substance, says is
in violation of the law of God; and under a Union
divided into Free and Slave States, which Mr. Lincoln
thinks, because of such division, cannot stand.
Surely, Mr. Lincoln is a wiser man than those who
framed the Government....
I now come back to the question, why cannot this
Union exist forever, divided into Free and Slave
States, as our fathers made it? It can thus exist if each
State will carry out the principles upon which our
institutions were founded; to wit, the right of each
State to do as it pleases, without meddling with its
neighbors. Just act upon that great principle, and this
Union will not only live forever, but it will extend
and expand until it covers the whole continent, and
makes this confederacy one grand, ocean-bound
Republic. We must bear in mind that we are yet a
young nation, growing with a rapidity unequalled in
the history of the world, that our national increase is
great, and that the emigration from the old world is
increasing, requiring us to expand and acquire new
territory from time to time, in order to give our
people land to live upon. If we live upon the principle
of State rights and State sovereignty, each State
regulating its own affairs and minding its own
business, we can go on and extend indefinitely, just
as fast and as far as we need the territory....
Passage 2
In complaining of what I said in my speech at
Springfield, in which he says I accepted my
nomination for the Senatorship . . . he again quotes
that portion in which I said that “a house divided
against itself cannot stand.” Let me say a word in
regard to that matter. He tries to persuade us that
there must be a variety in the different institutions of
the States of the Union; that that variety necessarily
proceeds from the variety of soil, climate, of the face
of the country, and the difference in the natural
features of the States. I agree to all that. Have these
very matters ever produced any difficulty among us?
Not at all. Have we ever had any quarrel over the fact
that they have laws in Louisiana designed to regulate
the commerce that springs from the production of
sugar? Or because we have a different class relative to
the production of flour in this State? Have they
produced any differences? Not at all. They are the
very cements of this Union. They don’t make the
house a “house divided against itself.” They are the
props that hold up the house and sustain the Union.
But has it been so with this element of slavery?
Have we not always had quarrels and difficulties over
it? And when will we cease to have quarrels over it?
Like causes produce like effects. It is worth while to
observe that we have generally had comparative
peace upon the slavery question, and that there has
been no cause for alarm until it was excited by the
effort to spread it into new territory. Whenever it has
been limited to its present bounds, and there has
been no effort to spread it, there has been peace. All
the trouble and convulsion has proceeded from
efforts to spread it over more territory. It was thus at
the date of the Missouri Compromise. It was so again
with the annexation of Texas; so with the territory
acquired by the Mexican War; and it is so now.
Whenever there has been an effort to spread it there
has been agitation and resistance. . . . Do you think
that the nature of man will be changed, that the same
causes that produced agitation at one time will not
have the same effect at another?
Question 36:
Based on Passage 2, Lincoln would be most likely to agree with which claim about the controversy over slavery?
A) It can be ended only if Northern states act unilaterally to abolish slavery throughout the United States.
B) It would abate if attempts to introduce slavery to regions where it is not practiced were abandoned.
C) It has been exacerbated by the ambiguity of laws regulating the holding of slaves.
D) It is fueled in part by differences in religion and social values from state to state.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_8-question_36 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
These passages are adapted from the Lincoln‑Douglas
debates. Passage 1 is from a statement by Stephen Douglas.
Passage 2 is from a statement by Abraham Lincoln. Douglas
and Lincoln engaged in a series of debates while competing
for a US Senate seat in 1858.
Passage 1
Mr. Lincoln likens that bond of the Federal
Constitution, joining Free and Slave States together,
to a house divided against itself, and says that it is
contrary to the law of God, and cannot stand.
When did he learn, and by what authority does he
proclaim, that this Government is contrary to the law
of God and cannot stand? It has stood thus divided
into Free and Slave States from its organization up to
this day. During that period we have increased from
four millions to thirty millions of people; we have
extended our territory from the Mississippi to the
Pacific Ocean; we have acquired the Floridas and
Texas, and other territory sufficient to double our
geographical extent; we have increased in population,
in wealth, and in power beyond any example on
earth; we have risen from a weak and feeble power to
become the terror and admiration of the civilized
world; and all this has been done under a
Constitution which Mr. Lincoln, in substance, says is
in violation of the law of God; and under a Union
divided into Free and Slave States, which Mr. Lincoln
thinks, because of such division, cannot stand.
Surely, Mr. Lincoln is a wiser man than those who
framed the Government....
I now come back to the question, why cannot this
Union exist forever, divided into Free and Slave
States, as our fathers made it? It can thus exist if each
State will carry out the principles upon which our
institutions were founded; to wit, the right of each
State to do as it pleases, without meddling with its
neighbors. Just act upon that great principle, and this
Union will not only live forever, but it will extend
and expand until it covers the whole continent, and
makes this confederacy one grand, ocean-bound
Republic. We must bear in mind that we are yet a
young nation, growing with a rapidity unequalled in
the history of the world, that our national increase is
great, and that the emigration from the old world is
increasing, requiring us to expand and acquire new
territory from time to time, in order to give our
people land to live upon. If we live upon the principle
of State rights and State sovereignty, each State
regulating its own affairs and minding its own
business, we can go on and extend indefinitely, just
as fast and as far as we need the territory....
Passage 2
In complaining of what I said in my speech at
Springfield, in which he says I accepted my
nomination for the Senatorship . . . he again quotes
that portion in which I said that “a house divided
against itself cannot stand.” Let me say a word in
regard to that matter. He tries to persuade us that
there must be a variety in the different institutions of
the States of the Union; that that variety necessarily
proceeds from the variety of soil, climate, of the face
of the country, and the difference in the natural
features of the States. I agree to all that. Have these
very matters ever produced any difficulty among us?
Not at all. Have we ever had any quarrel over the fact
that they have laws in Louisiana designed to regulate
the commerce that springs from the production of
sugar? Or because we have a different class relative to
the production of flour in this State? Have they
produced any differences? Not at all. They are the
very cements of this Union. They don’t make the
house a “house divided against itself.” They are the
props that hold up the house and sustain the Union.
But has it been so with this element of slavery?
Have we not always had quarrels and difficulties over
it? And when will we cease to have quarrels over it?
Like causes produce like effects. It is worth while to
observe that we have generally had comparative
peace upon the slavery question, and that there has
been no cause for alarm until it was excited by the
effort to spread it into new territory. Whenever it has
been limited to its present bounds, and there has
been no effort to spread it, there has been peace. All
the trouble and convulsion has proceeded from
efforts to spread it over more territory. It was thus at
the date of the Missouri Compromise. It was so again
with the annexation of Texas; so with the territory
acquired by the Mexican War; and it is so now.
Whenever there has been an effort to spread it there
has been agitation and resistance. . . . Do you think
that the nature of man will be changed, that the same
causes that produced agitation at one time will not
have the same effect at another?
Question 35:
As used in line 67, “element” most nearly means
A) ingredient.
B) environment.
C) factor.
D) quality.
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_8-question_35 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
These passages are adapted from the Lincoln‑Douglas
debates. Passage 1 is from a statement by Stephen Douglas.
Passage 2 is from a statement by Abraham Lincoln. Douglas
and Lincoln engaged in a series of debates while competing
for a US Senate seat in 1858.
Passage 1
Mr. Lincoln likens that bond of the Federal
Constitution, joining Free and Slave States together,
to a house divided against itself, and says that it is
contrary to the law of God, and cannot stand.
When did he learn, and by what authority does he
proclaim, that this Government is contrary to the law
of God and cannot stand? It has stood thus divided
into Free and Slave States from its organization up to
this day. During that period we have increased from
four millions to thirty millions of people; we have
extended our territory from the Mississippi to the
Pacific Ocean; we have acquired the Floridas and
Texas, and other territory sufficient to double our
geographical extent; we have increased in population,
in wealth, and in power beyond any example on
earth; we have risen from a weak and feeble power to
become the terror and admiration of the civilized
world; and all this has been done under a
Constitution which Mr. Lincoln, in substance, says is
in violation of the law of God; and under a Union
divided into Free and Slave States, which Mr. Lincoln
thinks, because of such division, cannot stand.
Surely, Mr. Lincoln is a wiser man than those who
framed the Government....
I now come back to the question, why cannot this
Union exist forever, divided into Free and Slave
States, as our fathers made it? It can thus exist if each
State will carry out the principles upon which our
institutions were founded; to wit, the right of each
State to do as it pleases, without meddling with its
neighbors. Just act upon that great principle, and this
Union will not only live forever, but it will extend
and expand until it covers the whole continent, and
makes this confederacy one grand, ocean-bound
Republic. We must bear in mind that we are yet a
young nation, growing with a rapidity unequalled in
the history of the world, that our national increase is
great, and that the emigration from the old world is
increasing, requiring us to expand and acquire new
territory from time to time, in order to give our
people land to live upon. If we live upon the principle
of State rights and State sovereignty, each State
regulating its own affairs and minding its own
business, we can go on and extend indefinitely, just
as fast and as far as we need the territory....
Passage 2
In complaining of what I said in my speech at
Springfield, in which he says I accepted my
nomination for the Senatorship . . . he again quotes
that portion in which I said that “a house divided
against itself cannot stand.” Let me say a word in
regard to that matter. He tries to persuade us that
there must be a variety in the different institutions of
the States of the Union; that that variety necessarily
proceeds from the variety of soil, climate, of the face
of the country, and the difference in the natural
features of the States. I agree to all that. Have these
very matters ever produced any difficulty among us?
Not at all. Have we ever had any quarrel over the fact
that they have laws in Louisiana designed to regulate
the commerce that springs from the production of
sugar? Or because we have a different class relative to
the production of flour in this State? Have they
produced any differences? Not at all. They are the
very cements of this Union. They don’t make the
house a “house divided against itself.” They are the
props that hold up the house and sustain the Union.
But has it been so with this element of slavery?
Have we not always had quarrels and difficulties over
it? And when will we cease to have quarrels over it?
Like causes produce like effects. It is worth while to
observe that we have generally had comparative
peace upon the slavery question, and that there has
been no cause for alarm until it was excited by the
effort to spread it into new territory. Whenever it has
been limited to its present bounds, and there has
been no effort to spread it, there has been peace. All
the trouble and convulsion has proceeded from
efforts to spread it over more territory. It was thus at
the date of the Missouri Compromise. It was so again
with the annexation of Texas; so with the territory
acquired by the Mexican War; and it is so now.
Whenever there has been an effort to spread it there
has been agitation and resistance. . . . Do you think
that the nature of man will be changed, that the same
causes that produced agitation at one time will not
have the same effect at another?
Question 40:
Both passages discuss the issue of slavery in relationship to
A) the expansion of the Union.
B) questions of morality.
C) religious toleration.
D) laws regulating commerce.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_8-question_40 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
These passages are adapted from the Lincoln‑Douglas
debates. Passage 1 is from a statement by Stephen Douglas.
Passage 2 is from a statement by Abraham Lincoln. Douglas
and Lincoln engaged in a series of debates while competing
for a US Senate seat in 1858.
Passage 1
Mr. Lincoln likens that bond of the Federal
Constitution, joining Free and Slave States together,
to a house divided against itself, and says that it is
contrary to the law of God, and cannot stand.
When did he learn, and by what authority does he
proclaim, that this Government is contrary to the law
of God and cannot stand? It has stood thus divided
into Free and Slave States from its organization up to
this day. During that period we have increased from
four millions to thirty millions of people; we have
extended our territory from the Mississippi to the
Pacific Ocean; we have acquired the Floridas and
Texas, and other territory sufficient to double our
geographical extent; we have increased in population,
in wealth, and in power beyond any example on
earth; we have risen from a weak and feeble power to
become the terror and admiration of the civilized
world; and all this has been done under a
Constitution which Mr. Lincoln, in substance, says is
in violation of the law of God; and under a Union
divided into Free and Slave States, which Mr. Lincoln
thinks, because of such division, cannot stand.
Surely, Mr. Lincoln is a wiser man than those who
framed the Government....
I now come back to the question, why cannot this
Union exist forever, divided into Free and Slave
States, as our fathers made it? It can thus exist if each
State will carry out the principles upon which our
institutions were founded; to wit, the right of each
State to do as it pleases, without meddling with its
neighbors. Just act upon that great principle, and this
Union will not only live forever, but it will extend
and expand until it covers the whole continent, and
makes this confederacy one grand, ocean-bound
Republic. We must bear in mind that we are yet a
young nation, growing with a rapidity unequalled in
the history of the world, that our national increase is
great, and that the emigration from the old world is
increasing, requiring us to expand and acquire new
territory from time to time, in order to give our
people land to live upon. If we live upon the principle
of State rights and State sovereignty, each State
regulating its own affairs and minding its own
business, we can go on and extend indefinitely, just
as fast and as far as we need the territory....
Passage 2
In complaining of what I said in my speech at
Springfield, in which he says I accepted my
nomination for the Senatorship . . . he again quotes
that portion in which I said that “a house divided
against itself cannot stand.” Let me say a word in
regard to that matter. He tries to persuade us that
there must be a variety in the different institutions of
the States of the Union; that that variety necessarily
proceeds from the variety of soil, climate, of the face
of the country, and the difference in the natural
features of the States. I agree to all that. Have these
very matters ever produced any difficulty among us?
Not at all. Have we ever had any quarrel over the fact
that they have laws in Louisiana designed to regulate
the commerce that springs from the production of
sugar? Or because we have a different class relative to
the production of flour in this State? Have they
produced any differences? Not at all. They are the
very cements of this Union. They don’t make the
house a “house divided against itself.” They are the
props that hold up the house and sustain the Union.
But has it been so with this element of slavery?
Have we not always had quarrels and difficulties over
it? And when will we cease to have quarrels over it?
Like causes produce like effects. It is worth while to
observe that we have generally had comparative
peace upon the slavery question, and that there has
been no cause for alarm until it was excited by the
effort to spread it into new territory. Whenever it has
been limited to its present bounds, and there has
been no effort to spread it, there has been peace. All
the trouble and convulsion has proceeded from
efforts to spread it over more territory. It was thus at
the date of the Missouri Compromise. It was so again
with the annexation of Texas; so with the territory
acquired by the Mexican War; and it is so now.
Whenever there has been an effort to spread it there
has been agitation and resistance. . . . Do you think
that the nature of man will be changed, that the same
causes that produced agitation at one time will not
have the same effect at another?
Question 39:
Which choice identifies a central tension between the two passages?
A) Douglas proposes changes to federal policies on slavery, but Lincoln argues that such changes would enjoy no popular support.
B) Douglas expresses concerns about the economic impact of abolition, but Lincoln dismisses those concerns as irrelevant.
C) Douglas criticizes Lincoln for finding fault with the Constitution, and Lincoln argues that this criticism misrepresents his position.
D) Douglas offers an interpretation of federal law that conflicts with Lincoln’s, and Lincoln implies that Douglas’s interpretation is poorly reasoned.
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_8-question_39 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
These passages are adapted from the Lincoln‑Douglas
debates. Passage 1 is from a statement by Stephen Douglas.
Passage 2 is from a statement by Abraham Lincoln. Douglas
and Lincoln engaged in a series of debates while competing
for a US Senate seat in 1858.
Passage 1
Mr. Lincoln likens that bond of the Federal
Constitution, joining Free and Slave States together,
to a house divided against itself, and says that it is
contrary to the law of God, and cannot stand.
When did he learn, and by what authority does he
proclaim, that this Government is contrary to the law
of God and cannot stand? It has stood thus divided
into Free and Slave States from its organization up to
this day. During that period we have increased from
four millions to thirty millions of people; we have
extended our territory from the Mississippi to the
Pacific Ocean; we have acquired the Floridas and
Texas, and other territory sufficient to double our
geographical extent; we have increased in population,
in wealth, and in power beyond any example on
earth; we have risen from a weak and feeble power to
become the terror and admiration of the civilized
world; and all this has been done under a
Constitution which Mr. Lincoln, in substance, says is
in violation of the law of God; and under a Union
divided into Free and Slave States, which Mr. Lincoln
thinks, because of such division, cannot stand.
Surely, Mr. Lincoln is a wiser man than those who
framed the Government....
I now come back to the question, why cannot this
Union exist forever, divided into Free and Slave
States, as our fathers made it? It can thus exist if each
State will carry out the principles upon which our
institutions were founded; to wit, the right of each
State to do as it pleases, without meddling with its
neighbors. Just act upon that great principle, and this
Union will not only live forever, but it will extend
and expand until it covers the whole continent, and
makes this confederacy one grand, ocean-bound
Republic. We must bear in mind that we are yet a
young nation, growing with a rapidity unequalled in
the history of the world, that our national increase is
great, and that the emigration from the old world is
increasing, requiring us to expand and acquire new
territory from time to time, in order to give our
people land to live upon. If we live upon the principle
of State rights and State sovereignty, each State
regulating its own affairs and minding its own
business, we can go on and extend indefinitely, just
as fast and as far as we need the territory....
Passage 2
In complaining of what I said in my speech at
Springfield, in which he says I accepted my
nomination for the Senatorship . . . he again quotes
that portion in which I said that “a house divided
against itself cannot stand.” Let me say a word in
regard to that matter. He tries to persuade us that
there must be a variety in the different institutions of
the States of the Union; that that variety necessarily
proceeds from the variety of soil, climate, of the face
of the country, and the difference in the natural
features of the States. I agree to all that. Have these
very matters ever produced any difficulty among us?
Not at all. Have we ever had any quarrel over the fact
that they have laws in Louisiana designed to regulate
the commerce that springs from the production of
sugar? Or because we have a different class relative to
the production of flour in this State? Have they
produced any differences? Not at all. They are the
very cements of this Union. They don’t make the
house a “house divided against itself.” They are the
props that hold up the house and sustain the Union.
But has it been so with this element of slavery?
Have we not always had quarrels and difficulties over
it? And when will we cease to have quarrels over it?
Like causes produce like effects. It is worth while to
observe that we have generally had comparative
peace upon the slavery question, and that there has
been no cause for alarm until it was excited by the
effort to spread it into new territory. Whenever it has
been limited to its present bounds, and there has
been no effort to spread it, there has been peace. All
the trouble and convulsion has proceeded from
efforts to spread it over more territory. It was thus at
the date of the Missouri Compromise. It was so again
with the annexation of Texas; so with the territory
acquired by the Mexican War; and it is so now.
Whenever there has been an effort to spread it there
has been agitation and resistance. . . . Do you think
that the nature of man will be changed, that the same
causes that produced agitation at one time will not
have the same effect at another?
Question 33:
What does Passage 1 suggest about the US government’s provisions for the institution of slavery, as framed in the Constitution?
A) They included no means for reconciling differences between free states and slave states.
B) They anticipated the Union’s expansion into western territories.
C) They provided a good basic structure that does not need to be changed.
D) They were founded on an assumption that slavery was necessary for economic growth.
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_8-question_33 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
These passages are adapted from the Lincoln‑Douglas
debates. Passage 1 is from a statement by Stephen Douglas.
Passage 2 is from a statement by Abraham Lincoln. Douglas
and Lincoln engaged in a series of debates while competing
for a US Senate seat in 1858.
Passage 1
Mr. Lincoln likens that bond of the Federal
Constitution, joining Free and Slave States together,
to a house divided against itself, and says that it is
contrary to the law of God, and cannot stand.
When did he learn, and by what authority does he
proclaim, that this Government is contrary to the law
of God and cannot stand? It has stood thus divided
into Free and Slave States from its organization up to
this day. During that period we have increased from
four millions to thirty millions of people; we have
extended our territory from the Mississippi to the
Pacific Ocean; we have acquired the Floridas and
Texas, and other territory sufficient to double our
geographical extent; we have increased in population,
in wealth, and in power beyond any example on
earth; we have risen from a weak and feeble power to
become the terror and admiration of the civilized
world; and all this has been done under a
Constitution which Mr. Lincoln, in substance, says is
in violation of the law of God; and under a Union
divided into Free and Slave States, which Mr. Lincoln
thinks, because of such division, cannot stand.
Surely, Mr. Lincoln is a wiser man than those who
framed the Government....
I now come back to the question, why cannot this
Union exist forever, divided into Free and Slave
States, as our fathers made it? It can thus exist if each
State will carry out the principles upon which our
institutions were founded; to wit, the right of each
State to do as it pleases, without meddling with its
neighbors. Just act upon that great principle, and this
Union will not only live forever, but it will extend
and expand until it covers the whole continent, and
makes this confederacy one grand, ocean-bound
Republic. We must bear in mind that we are yet a
young nation, growing with a rapidity unequalled in
the history of the world, that our national increase is
great, and that the emigration from the old world is
increasing, requiring us to expand and acquire new
territory from time to time, in order to give our
people land to live upon. If we live upon the principle
of State rights and State sovereignty, each State
regulating its own affairs and minding its own
business, we can go on and extend indefinitely, just
as fast and as far as we need the territory....
Passage 2
In complaining of what I said in my speech at
Springfield, in which he says I accepted my
nomination for the Senatorship . . . he again quotes
that portion in which I said that “a house divided
against itself cannot stand.” Let me say a word in
regard to that matter. He tries to persuade us that
there must be a variety in the different institutions of
the States of the Union; that that variety necessarily
proceeds from the variety of soil, climate, of the face
of the country, and the difference in the natural
features of the States. I agree to all that. Have these
very matters ever produced any difficulty among us?
Not at all. Have we ever had any quarrel over the fact
that they have laws in Louisiana designed to regulate
the commerce that springs from the production of
sugar? Or because we have a different class relative to
the production of flour in this State? Have they
produced any differences? Not at all. They are the
very cements of this Union. They don’t make the
house a “house divided against itself.” They are the
props that hold up the house and sustain the Union.
But has it been so with this element of slavery?
Have we not always had quarrels and difficulties over
it? And when will we cease to have quarrels over it?
Like causes produce like effects. It is worth while to
observe that we have generally had comparative
peace upon the slavery question, and that there has
been no cause for alarm until it was excited by the
effort to spread it into new territory. Whenever it has
been limited to its present bounds, and there has
been no effort to spread it, there has been peace. All
the trouble and convulsion has proceeded from
efforts to spread it over more territory. It was thus at
the date of the Missouri Compromise. It was so again
with the annexation of Texas; so with the territory
acquired by the Mexican War; and it is so now.
Whenever there has been an effort to spread it there
has been agitation and resistance. . . . Do you think
that the nature of man will be changed, that the same
causes that produced agitation at one time will not
have the same effect at another?
Question 38:
As used in line 84, “nature” most nearly means
A) force.
B) simplicity.
C) world.
D) character.
Answer: | D | true | sat-practice_8-question_38 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
These passages are adapted from the Lincoln‑Douglas
debates. Passage 1 is from a statement by Stephen Douglas.
Passage 2 is from a statement by Abraham Lincoln. Douglas
and Lincoln engaged in a series of debates while competing
for a US Senate seat in 1858.
Passage 1
Mr. Lincoln likens that bond of the Federal
Constitution, joining Free and Slave States together,
to a house divided against itself, and says that it is
contrary to the law of God, and cannot stand.
When did he learn, and by what authority does he
proclaim, that this Government is contrary to the law
of God and cannot stand? It has stood thus divided
into Free and Slave States from its organization up to
this day. During that period we have increased from
four millions to thirty millions of people; we have
extended our territory from the Mississippi to the
Pacific Ocean; we have acquired the Floridas and
Texas, and other territory sufficient to double our
geographical extent; we have increased in population,
in wealth, and in power beyond any example on
earth; we have risen from a weak and feeble power to
become the terror and admiration of the civilized
world; and all this has been done under a
Constitution which Mr. Lincoln, in substance, says is
in violation of the law of God; and under a Union
divided into Free and Slave States, which Mr. Lincoln
thinks, because of such division, cannot stand.
Surely, Mr. Lincoln is a wiser man than those who
framed the Government....
I now come back to the question, why cannot this
Union exist forever, divided into Free and Slave
States, as our fathers made it? It can thus exist if each
State will carry out the principles upon which our
institutions were founded; to wit, the right of each
State to do as it pleases, without meddling with its
neighbors. Just act upon that great principle, and this
Union will not only live forever, but it will extend
and expand until it covers the whole continent, and
makes this confederacy one grand, ocean-bound
Republic. We must bear in mind that we are yet a
young nation, growing with a rapidity unequalled in
the history of the world, that our national increase is
great, and that the emigration from the old world is
increasing, requiring us to expand and acquire new
territory from time to time, in order to give our
people land to live upon. If we live upon the principle
of State rights and State sovereignty, each State
regulating its own affairs and minding its own
business, we can go on and extend indefinitely, just
as fast and as far as we need the territory....
Passage 2
In complaining of what I said in my speech at
Springfield, in which he says I accepted my
nomination for the Senatorship . . . he again quotes
that portion in which I said that “a house divided
against itself cannot stand.” Let me say a word in
regard to that matter. He tries to persuade us that
there must be a variety in the different institutions of
the States of the Union; that that variety necessarily
proceeds from the variety of soil, climate, of the face
of the country, and the difference in the natural
features of the States. I agree to all that. Have these
very matters ever produced any difficulty among us?
Not at all. Have we ever had any quarrel over the fact
that they have laws in Louisiana designed to regulate
the commerce that springs from the production of
sugar? Or because we have a different class relative to
the production of flour in this State? Have they
produced any differences? Not at all. They are the
very cements of this Union. They don’t make the
house a “house divided against itself.” They are the
props that hold up the house and sustain the Union.
But has it been so with this element of slavery?
Have we not always had quarrels and difficulties over
it? And when will we cease to have quarrels over it?
Like causes produce like effects. It is worth while to
observe that we have generally had comparative
peace upon the slavery question, and that there has
been no cause for alarm until it was excited by the
effort to spread it into new territory. Whenever it has
been limited to its present bounds, and there has
been no effort to spread it, there has been peace. All
the trouble and convulsion has proceeded from
efforts to spread it over more territory. It was thus at
the date of the Missouri Compromise. It was so again
with the annexation of Texas; so with the territory
acquired by the Mexican War; and it is so now.
Whenever there has been an effort to spread it there
has been agitation and resistance. . . . Do you think
that the nature of man will be changed, that the same
causes that produced agitation at one time will not
have the same effect at another?
Question 41:
In the context of each passage as a whole, the questions in lines 25-27 of Passage 1 and lines 67-69 of Passage 2 primarily function to help each speaker
A) cast doubt on the other’s sincerity.
B) criticize the other’s methods.
C) reproach the other’s actions.
D) undermine the other’s argument.
Answer: | D | true | sat-practice_8-question_41 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
These passages are adapted from the Lincoln‑Douglas
debates. Passage 1 is from a statement by Stephen Douglas.
Passage 2 is from a statement by Abraham Lincoln. Douglas
and Lincoln engaged in a series of debates while competing
for a US Senate seat in 1858.
Passage 1
Mr. Lincoln likens that bond of the Federal
Constitution, joining Free and Slave States together,
to a house divided against itself, and says that it is
contrary to the law of God, and cannot stand.
When did he learn, and by what authority does he
proclaim, that this Government is contrary to the law
of God and cannot stand? It has stood thus divided
into Free and Slave States from its organization up to
this day. During that period we have increased from
four millions to thirty millions of people; we have
extended our territory from the Mississippi to the
Pacific Ocean; we have acquired the Floridas and
Texas, and other territory sufficient to double our
geographical extent; we have increased in population,
in wealth, and in power beyond any example on
earth; we have risen from a weak and feeble power to
become the terror and admiration of the civilized
world; and all this has been done under a
Constitution which Mr. Lincoln, in substance, says is
in violation of the law of God; and under a Union
divided into Free and Slave States, which Mr. Lincoln
thinks, because of such division, cannot stand.
Surely, Mr. Lincoln is a wiser man than those who
framed the Government....
I now come back to the question, why cannot this
Union exist forever, divided into Free and Slave
States, as our fathers made it? It can thus exist if each
State will carry out the principles upon which our
institutions were founded; to wit, the right of each
State to do as it pleases, without meddling with its
neighbors. Just act upon that great principle, and this
Union will not only live forever, but it will extend
and expand until it covers the whole continent, and
makes this confederacy one grand, ocean-bound
Republic. We must bear in mind that we are yet a
young nation, growing with a rapidity unequalled in
the history of the world, that our national increase is
great, and that the emigration from the old world is
increasing, requiring us to expand and acquire new
territory from time to time, in order to give our
people land to live upon. If we live upon the principle
of State rights and State sovereignty, each State
regulating its own affairs and minding its own
business, we can go on and extend indefinitely, just
as fast and as far as we need the territory....
Passage 2
In complaining of what I said in my speech at
Springfield, in which he says I accepted my
nomination for the Senatorship . . . he again quotes
that portion in which I said that “a house divided
against itself cannot stand.” Let me say a word in
regard to that matter. He tries to persuade us that
there must be a variety in the different institutions of
the States of the Union; that that variety necessarily
proceeds from the variety of soil, climate, of the face
of the country, and the difference in the natural
features of the States. I agree to all that. Have these
very matters ever produced any difficulty among us?
Not at all. Have we ever had any quarrel over the fact
that they have laws in Louisiana designed to regulate
the commerce that springs from the production of
sugar? Or because we have a different class relative to
the production of flour in this State? Have they
produced any differences? Not at all. They are the
very cements of this Union. They don’t make the
house a “house divided against itself.” They are the
props that hold up the house and sustain the Union.
But has it been so with this element of slavery?
Have we not always had quarrels and difficulties over
it? And when will we cease to have quarrels over it?
Like causes produce like effects. It is worth while to
observe that we have generally had comparative
peace upon the slavery question, and that there has
been no cause for alarm until it was excited by the
effort to spread it into new territory. Whenever it has
been limited to its present bounds, and there has
been no effort to spread it, there has been peace. All
the trouble and convulsion has proceeded from
efforts to spread it over more territory. It was thus at
the date of the Missouri Compromise. It was so again
with the annexation of Texas; so with the territory
acquired by the Mexican War; and it is so now.
Whenever there has been an effort to spread it there
has been agitation and resistance. . . . Do you think
that the nature of man will be changed, that the same
causes that produced agitation at one time will not
have the same effect at another?
Question 32:
In the first paragraph of Passage 1, the main purpose of Douglas’s discussion of the growth of the territory and population of the United States is to
A) provide context for Douglas’s defense of continued expansion.
B) suggest that the division into free and slave states does not endanger the Union.
C) imply that Lincoln is unaware of basic facts concerning the country.
D) account for the image of the United States as powerful and admirable.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_8-question_32 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Daniel Chamovitz, What a
Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. ©2012 by
Daniel Chamovitz
The Venus flytrap [Dionaea muscipula] needs to
know when an ideal meal is crawling across its leaves.
Closing its trap requires a huge expense of energy,
and reopening the trap can take several hours, so
Dionaea only wants to spring closed when it’s sure
that the dawdling insect visiting its surface is large
enough to be worth its time. The large black hairs on
their lobes allow the Venus flytraps to literally feel
their prey, and they act as triggers that spring the
trap closed when the proper prey makes its way
across the trap. If the insect touches just one hair, the
trap will not spring shut; but a large enough bug will
likely touch two hairs within about twenty seconds,
and that signal springs the Venus flytrap into action.
We can look at this system as analogous to
short-term memory. First, the flytrap encodes the
information (forms the memory) that something (it
doesn’t know what) has touched one of its hairs.
Then it stores this information for a number of
seconds (retains the memory) and finally retrieves
this information (recalls the memory) once a second
hair is touched. If a small ant takes a while to get
from one hair to the next, the trap will have forgotten
the first touch by the time the ant brushes up against
the next hair. In other words, it loses the storage of
the information, doesn’t close, and the ant
happily meanders on. How does the plant encode
and store the information from the unassuming
bug’s encounter with the first hair? How does it
remember the first touch in order to react upon the
second?
Scientists have been puzzled by these questions
ever since John Burdon-Sanderson’s early report on
the physiology of the Venus flytrap in 1882. A
century later, Dieter Hodick and Andreas Sievers at
the University of Bonn in Germany proposed that
the flytrap stored information regarding how many
hairs have been touched in the electric charge of its
leaf. Their model is quite elegant in its simplicity.
In their studies, they discovered that touching a
trigger hair on the Venus flytrap causes an electric
action potential [a temporary reversal in the
electrical polarity of a cell membrane] that
induces calcium channels to open in the trap (this
coupling of action potentials and the opening of
calcium channels is similar to the processes that
occur during communication between human
neurons), thus causing a rapid increase in the
concentration of calcium ions.
They proposed that the trap requires a relatively
high concentration of calcium in order to close
and that a single action potential from just one
trigger hair being touched does not reach this level.
Therefore, a second hair needs to be stimulated to
push the calcium concentration over this threshold
and spring the trap. The encoding of the information
requires maintaining a high enough level of calcium
so that a second increase (triggered by touching the
second hair) pushes the total concentration of
calcium over the threshold. As the calcium ion
concentrations dissipate over time, if the second
touch and potential don’t happen quickly, the final
concentration after the second trigger won’t be high
enough to close the trap, and the memory is lost.
Subsequent research supports this model.
Alexander Volkov and his colleagues at Oakwood
University in Alabama first demonstrated that it is
indeed electricity that causes the Venus flytrap to
close. To test the model they rigged up very fine
electrodes and applied an electrical current to the
open lobes of the trap. This made the trap close
without any direct touch to its trigger hairs (while
they didn’t measure calcium levels, the current
likely led to increases). When they modified this
experiment by altering the amount of electrical
current, Volkov could determine the exact electrical
charge needed for the trap to close. As long as
fourteen microcoulombs—a tiny bit more than the
static electricity generated by rubbing two balloons
together—flowed between the two electrodes, the
trap closed. This could come as one large burst or as
a series of smaller charges within twenty seconds. If it
took longer than twenty seconds to accumulate the
total charge, the trap would remain open.
Question 48:
Which choice describes a scenario in which Hodick and Sievers’s model predicts that a Venus flytrap will NOT close around an insect?
A) A large insect’s second contact with the plant’s trigger hairs results in a total calcium ion concentration above the trap’s threshold.
B) A large insect makes contact with a second trigger hair after a period of inactivity during which calcium ion concentrations have diminished appreciably.
C) A large insect’s contact with the plant’s trigger hairs causes calcium channels to open in the trap.
D) A large insect’s contact with a second trigger hair occurs within ten seconds of its contact with the first trigger hair.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_8-question_48 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Daniel Chamovitz, What a
Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. ©2012 by
Daniel Chamovitz
The Venus flytrap [Dionaea muscipula] needs to
know when an ideal meal is crawling across its leaves.
Closing its trap requires a huge expense of energy,
and reopening the trap can take several hours, so
Dionaea only wants to spring closed when it’s sure
that the dawdling insect visiting its surface is large
enough to be worth its time. The large black hairs on
their lobes allow the Venus flytraps to literally feel
their prey, and they act as triggers that spring the
trap closed when the proper prey makes its way
across the trap. If the insect touches just one hair, the
trap will not spring shut; but a large enough bug will
likely touch two hairs within about twenty seconds,
and that signal springs the Venus flytrap into action.
We can look at this system as analogous to
short-term memory. First, the flytrap encodes the
information (forms the memory) that something (it
doesn’t know what) has touched one of its hairs.
Then it stores this information for a number of
seconds (retains the memory) and finally retrieves
this information (recalls the memory) once a second
hair is touched. If a small ant takes a while to get
from one hair to the next, the trap will have forgotten
the first touch by the time the ant brushes up against
the next hair. In other words, it loses the storage of
the information, doesn’t close, and the ant
happily meanders on. How does the plant encode
and store the information from the unassuming
bug’s encounter with the first hair? How does it
remember the first touch in order to react upon the
second?
Scientists have been puzzled by these questions
ever since John Burdon-Sanderson’s early report on
the physiology of the Venus flytrap in 1882. A
century later, Dieter Hodick and Andreas Sievers at
the University of Bonn in Germany proposed that
the flytrap stored information regarding how many
hairs have been touched in the electric charge of its
leaf. Their model is quite elegant in its simplicity.
In their studies, they discovered that touching a
trigger hair on the Venus flytrap causes an electric
action potential [a temporary reversal in the
electrical polarity of a cell membrane] that
induces calcium channels to open in the trap (this
coupling of action potentials and the opening of
calcium channels is similar to the processes that
occur during communication between human
neurons), thus causing a rapid increase in the
concentration of calcium ions.
They proposed that the trap requires a relatively
high concentration of calcium in order to close
and that a single action potential from just one
trigger hair being touched does not reach this level.
Therefore, a second hair needs to be stimulated to
push the calcium concentration over this threshold
and spring the trap. The encoding of the information
requires maintaining a high enough level of calcium
so that a second increase (triggered by touching the
second hair) pushes the total concentration of
calcium over the threshold. As the calcium ion
concentrations dissipate over time, if the second
touch and potential don’t happen quickly, the final
concentration after the second trigger won’t be high
enough to close the trap, and the memory is lost.
Subsequent research supports this model.
Alexander Volkov and his colleagues at Oakwood
University in Alabama first demonstrated that it is
indeed electricity that causes the Venus flytrap to
close. To test the model they rigged up very fine
electrodes and applied an electrical current to the
open lobes of the trap. This made the trap close
without any direct touch to its trigger hairs (while
they didn’t measure calcium levels, the current
likely led to increases). When they modified this
experiment by altering the amount of electrical
current, Volkov could determine the exact electrical
charge needed for the trap to close. As long as
fourteen microcoulombs—a tiny bit more than the
static electricity generated by rubbing two balloons
together—flowed between the two electrodes, the
trap closed. This could come as one large burst or as
a series of smaller charges within twenty seconds. If it
took longer than twenty seconds to accumulate the
total charge, the trap would remain open.
Question 52:
Based on the passage, in studying the Venus flytrap, Volkov and his colleagues made the most extensive use of which type of evidence?
A) Mathematical models to predict the electrical charge required to close the Venus flytrap
B) Analysis of data collected from previous researchers’ work involving the Venus flytrap’s response to electricity
C) Information obtained from monitoring the Venus flytrap’s response to varying amounts of electrical current
D) Published theories of scientists who developed earlier models of the Venus flytrap
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_8-question_52 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Daniel Chamovitz, What a
Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. ©2012 by
Daniel Chamovitz
The Venus flytrap [Dionaea muscipula] needs to
know when an ideal meal is crawling across its leaves.
Closing its trap requires a huge expense of energy,
and reopening the trap can take several hours, so
Dionaea only wants to spring closed when it’s sure
that the dawdling insect visiting its surface is large
enough to be worth its time. The large black hairs on
their lobes allow the Venus flytraps to literally feel
their prey, and they act as triggers that spring the
trap closed when the proper prey makes its way
across the trap. If the insect touches just one hair, the
trap will not spring shut; but a large enough bug will
likely touch two hairs within about twenty seconds,
and that signal springs the Venus flytrap into action.
We can look at this system as analogous to
short-term memory. First, the flytrap encodes the
information (forms the memory) that something (it
doesn’t know what) has touched one of its hairs.
Then it stores this information for a number of
seconds (retains the memory) and finally retrieves
this information (recalls the memory) once a second
hair is touched. If a small ant takes a while to get
from one hair to the next, the trap will have forgotten
the first touch by the time the ant brushes up against
the next hair. In other words, it loses the storage of
the information, doesn’t close, and the ant
happily meanders on. How does the plant encode
and store the information from the unassuming
bug’s encounter with the first hair? How does it
remember the first touch in order to react upon the
second?
Scientists have been puzzled by these questions
ever since John Burdon-Sanderson’s early report on
the physiology of the Venus flytrap in 1882. A
century later, Dieter Hodick and Andreas Sievers at
the University of Bonn in Germany proposed that
the flytrap stored information regarding how many
hairs have been touched in the electric charge of its
leaf. Their model is quite elegant in its simplicity.
In their studies, they discovered that touching a
trigger hair on the Venus flytrap causes an electric
action potential [a temporary reversal in the
electrical polarity of a cell membrane] that
induces calcium channels to open in the trap (this
coupling of action potentials and the opening of
calcium channels is similar to the processes that
occur during communication between human
neurons), thus causing a rapid increase in the
concentration of calcium ions.
They proposed that the trap requires a relatively
high concentration of calcium in order to close
and that a single action potential from just one
trigger hair being touched does not reach this level.
Therefore, a second hair needs to be stimulated to
push the calcium concentration over this threshold
and spring the trap. The encoding of the information
requires maintaining a high enough level of calcium
so that a second increase (triggered by touching the
second hair) pushes the total concentration of
calcium over the threshold. As the calcium ion
concentrations dissipate over time, if the second
touch and potential don’t happen quickly, the final
concentration after the second trigger won’t be high
enough to close the trap, and the memory is lost.
Subsequent research supports this model.
Alexander Volkov and his colleagues at Oakwood
University in Alabama first demonstrated that it is
indeed electricity that causes the Venus flytrap to
close. To test the model they rigged up very fine
electrodes and applied an electrical current to the
open lobes of the trap. This made the trap close
without any direct touch to its trigger hairs (while
they didn’t measure calcium levels, the current
likely led to increases). When they modified this
experiment by altering the amount of electrical
current, Volkov could determine the exact electrical
charge needed for the trap to close. As long as
fourteen microcoulombs—a tiny bit more than the
static electricity generated by rubbing two balloons
together—flowed between the two electrodes, the
trap closed. This could come as one large burst or as
a series of smaller charges within twenty seconds. If it
took longer than twenty seconds to accumulate the
total charge, the trap would remain open.
Question 47:
According to the passage, which statement best explains why the Venus flytrap requires a second trigger hair to be touched within a short amount of time in order for its trap to close?
A) The second trigger produces an electrical charge that reverses the charge produced by the first trigger.
B) The second trigger stabilizes the surge of calcium ions created by the first trigger.
C) The second trigger prompts the calcium channels to open.
D) The second trigger provides a necessary supplement to the calcium concentration released by the first trigger.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_8-question_47 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Daniel Chamovitz, What a
Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. ©2012 by
Daniel Chamovitz
The Venus flytrap [Dionaea muscipula] needs to
know when an ideal meal is crawling across its leaves.
Closing its trap requires a huge expense of energy,
and reopening the trap can take several hours, so
Dionaea only wants to spring closed when it’s sure
that the dawdling insect visiting its surface is large
enough to be worth its time. The large black hairs on
their lobes allow the Venus flytraps to literally feel
their prey, and they act as triggers that spring the
trap closed when the proper prey makes its way
across the trap. If the insect touches just one hair, the
trap will not spring shut; but a large enough bug will
likely touch two hairs within about twenty seconds,
and that signal springs the Venus flytrap into action.
We can look at this system as analogous to
short-term memory. First, the flytrap encodes the
information (forms the memory) that something (it
doesn’t know what) has touched one of its hairs.
Then it stores this information for a number of
seconds (retains the memory) and finally retrieves
this information (recalls the memory) once a second
hair is touched. If a small ant takes a while to get
from one hair to the next, the trap will have forgotten
the first touch by the time the ant brushes up against
the next hair. In other words, it loses the storage of
the information, doesn’t close, and the ant
happily meanders on. How does the plant encode
and store the information from the unassuming
bug’s encounter with the first hair? How does it
remember the first touch in order to react upon the
second?
Scientists have been puzzled by these questions
ever since John Burdon-Sanderson’s early report on
the physiology of the Venus flytrap in 1882. A
century later, Dieter Hodick and Andreas Sievers at
the University of Bonn in Germany proposed that
the flytrap stored information regarding how many
hairs have been touched in the electric charge of its
leaf. Their model is quite elegant in its simplicity.
In their studies, they discovered that touching a
trigger hair on the Venus flytrap causes an electric
action potential [a temporary reversal in the
electrical polarity of a cell membrane] that
induces calcium channels to open in the trap (this
coupling of action potentials and the opening of
calcium channels is similar to the processes that
occur during communication between human
neurons), thus causing a rapid increase in the
concentration of calcium ions.
They proposed that the trap requires a relatively
high concentration of calcium in order to close
and that a single action potential from just one
trigger hair being touched does not reach this level.
Therefore, a second hair needs to be stimulated to
push the calcium concentration over this threshold
and spring the trap. The encoding of the information
requires maintaining a high enough level of calcium
so that a second increase (triggered by touching the
second hair) pushes the total concentration of
calcium over the threshold. As the calcium ion
concentrations dissipate over time, if the second
touch and potential don’t happen quickly, the final
concentration after the second trigger won’t be high
enough to close the trap, and the memory is lost.
Subsequent research supports this model.
Alexander Volkov and his colleagues at Oakwood
University in Alabama first demonstrated that it is
indeed electricity that causes the Venus flytrap to
close. To test the model they rigged up very fine
electrodes and applied an electrical current to the
open lobes of the trap. This made the trap close
without any direct touch to its trigger hairs (while
they didn’t measure calcium levels, the current
likely led to increases). When they modified this
experiment by altering the amount of electrical
current, Volkov could determine the exact electrical
charge needed for the trap to close. As long as
fourteen microcoulombs—a tiny bit more than the
static electricity generated by rubbing two balloons
together—flowed between the two electrodes, the
trap closed. This could come as one large burst or as
a series of smaller charges within twenty seconds. If it
took longer than twenty seconds to accumulate the
total charge, the trap would remain open.
Question 49:
As used in line 67, “demonstrated” most nearly means
A) protested.
B) established.
C) performed.
D) argued.
Answer: | B | true | sat-practice_8-question_49 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Daniel Chamovitz, What a
Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. ©2012 by
Daniel Chamovitz
The Venus flytrap [Dionaea muscipula] needs to
know when an ideal meal is crawling across its leaves.
Closing its trap requires a huge expense of energy,
and reopening the trap can take several hours, so
Dionaea only wants to spring closed when it’s sure
that the dawdling insect visiting its surface is large
enough to be worth its time. The large black hairs on
their lobes allow the Venus flytraps to literally feel
their prey, and they act as triggers that spring the
trap closed when the proper prey makes its way
across the trap. If the insect touches just one hair, the
trap will not spring shut; but a large enough bug will
likely touch two hairs within about twenty seconds,
and that signal springs the Venus flytrap into action.
We can look at this system as analogous to
short-term memory. First, the flytrap encodes the
information (forms the memory) that something (it
doesn’t know what) has touched one of its hairs.
Then it stores this information for a number of
seconds (retains the memory) and finally retrieves
this information (recalls the memory) once a second
hair is touched. If a small ant takes a while to get
from one hair to the next, the trap will have forgotten
the first touch by the time the ant brushes up against
the next hair. In other words, it loses the storage of
the information, doesn’t close, and the ant
happily meanders on. How does the plant encode
and store the information from the unassuming
bug’s encounter with the first hair? How does it
remember the first touch in order to react upon the
second?
Scientists have been puzzled by these questions
ever since John Burdon-Sanderson’s early report on
the physiology of the Venus flytrap in 1882. A
century later, Dieter Hodick and Andreas Sievers at
the University of Bonn in Germany proposed that
the flytrap stored information regarding how many
hairs have been touched in the electric charge of its
leaf. Their model is quite elegant in its simplicity.
In their studies, they discovered that touching a
trigger hair on the Venus flytrap causes an electric
action potential [a temporary reversal in the
electrical polarity of a cell membrane] that
induces calcium channels to open in the trap (this
coupling of action potentials and the opening of
calcium channels is similar to the processes that
occur during communication between human
neurons), thus causing a rapid increase in the
concentration of calcium ions.
They proposed that the trap requires a relatively
high concentration of calcium in order to close
and that a single action potential from just one
trigger hair being touched does not reach this level.
Therefore, a second hair needs to be stimulated to
push the calcium concentration over this threshold
and spring the trap. The encoding of the information
requires maintaining a high enough level of calcium
so that a second increase (triggered by touching the
second hair) pushes the total concentration of
calcium over the threshold. As the calcium ion
concentrations dissipate over time, if the second
touch and potential don’t happen quickly, the final
concentration after the second trigger won’t be high
enough to close the trap, and the memory is lost.
Subsequent research supports this model.
Alexander Volkov and his colleagues at Oakwood
University in Alabama first demonstrated that it is
indeed electricity that causes the Venus flytrap to
close. To test the model they rigged up very fine
electrodes and applied an electrical current to the
open lobes of the trap. This made the trap close
without any direct touch to its trigger hairs (while
they didn’t measure calcium levels, the current
likely led to increases). When they modified this
experiment by altering the amount of electrical
current, Volkov could determine the exact electrical
charge needed for the trap to close. As long as
fourteen microcoulombs—a tiny bit more than the
static electricity generated by rubbing two balloons
together—flowed between the two electrodes, the
trap closed. This could come as one large burst or as
a series of smaller charges within twenty seconds. If it
took longer than twenty seconds to accumulate the
total charge, the trap would remain open.
Question 42:
The primary purpose of the passage is to
A) discuss findings that offer a scientific explanation for the Venus flytrap’s closing action.
B) present research that suggests that the Venus flytrap’s predatory behavior is both complex and unique among plants.
C) identify the process by which the Venus flytrap’s closing action has evolved.
D) provide a brief overview of the Venus flytrap and its predatory behavior.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_8-question_42 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Daniel Chamovitz, What a
Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. ©2012 by
Daniel Chamovitz
The Venus flytrap [Dionaea muscipula] needs to
know when an ideal meal is crawling across its leaves.
Closing its trap requires a huge expense of energy,
and reopening the trap can take several hours, so
Dionaea only wants to spring closed when it’s sure
that the dawdling insect visiting its surface is large
enough to be worth its time. The large black hairs on
their lobes allow the Venus flytraps to literally feel
their prey, and they act as triggers that spring the
trap closed when the proper prey makes its way
across the trap. If the insect touches just one hair, the
trap will not spring shut; but a large enough bug will
likely touch two hairs within about twenty seconds,
and that signal springs the Venus flytrap into action.
We can look at this system as analogous to
short-term memory. First, the flytrap encodes the
information (forms the memory) that something (it
doesn’t know what) has touched one of its hairs.
Then it stores this information for a number of
seconds (retains the memory) and finally retrieves
this information (recalls the memory) once a second
hair is touched. If a small ant takes a while to get
from one hair to the next, the trap will have forgotten
the first touch by the time the ant brushes up against
the next hair. In other words, it loses the storage of
the information, doesn’t close, and the ant
happily meanders on. How does the plant encode
and store the information from the unassuming
bug’s encounter with the first hair? How does it
remember the first touch in order to react upon the
second?
Scientists have been puzzled by these questions
ever since John Burdon-Sanderson’s early report on
the physiology of the Venus flytrap in 1882. A
century later, Dieter Hodick and Andreas Sievers at
the University of Bonn in Germany proposed that
the flytrap stored information regarding how many
hairs have been touched in the electric charge of its
leaf. Their model is quite elegant in its simplicity.
In their studies, they discovered that touching a
trigger hair on the Venus flytrap causes an electric
action potential [a temporary reversal in the
electrical polarity of a cell membrane] that
induces calcium channels to open in the trap (this
coupling of action potentials and the opening of
calcium channels is similar to the processes that
occur during communication between human
neurons), thus causing a rapid increase in the
concentration of calcium ions.
They proposed that the trap requires a relatively
high concentration of calcium in order to close
and that a single action potential from just one
trigger hair being touched does not reach this level.
Therefore, a second hair needs to be stimulated to
push the calcium concentration over this threshold
and spring the trap. The encoding of the information
requires maintaining a high enough level of calcium
so that a second increase (triggered by touching the
second hair) pushes the total concentration of
calcium over the threshold. As the calcium ion
concentrations dissipate over time, if the second
touch and potential don’t happen quickly, the final
concentration after the second trigger won’t be high
enough to close the trap, and the memory is lost.
Subsequent research supports this model.
Alexander Volkov and his colleagues at Oakwood
University in Alabama first demonstrated that it is
indeed electricity that causes the Venus flytrap to
close. To test the model they rigged up very fine
electrodes and applied an electrical current to the
open lobes of the trap. This made the trap close
without any direct touch to its trigger hairs (while
they didn’t measure calcium levels, the current
likely led to increases). When they modified this
experiment by altering the amount of electrical
current, Volkov could determine the exact electrical
charge needed for the trap to close. As long as
fourteen microcoulombs—a tiny bit more than the
static electricity generated by rubbing two balloons
together—flowed between the two electrodes, the
trap closed. This could come as one large burst or as
a series of smaller charges within twenty seconds. If it
took longer than twenty seconds to accumulate the
total charge, the trap would remain open.
Question 50:
Based on the passage, what potential criticism might be made of Volkov’s testing of Hodick and Sievers’s model?
A) Volkov’s understanding of Hodick and Sievers’s model was incorrect.
B) Volkov’s measurements did not corroborate a central element of Hodick and Sievers’s model.
C) Volkov’s direct application of an electrical current would have been objectionable to Hodick and Sievers.
D) Volkov’s technology was not available to Hodick and Sievers.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_8-question_50 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Daniel Chamovitz, What a
Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. ©2012 by
Daniel Chamovitz
The Venus flytrap [Dionaea muscipula] needs to
know when an ideal meal is crawling across its leaves.
Closing its trap requires a huge expense of energy,
and reopening the trap can take several hours, so
Dionaea only wants to spring closed when it’s sure
that the dawdling insect visiting its surface is large
enough to be worth its time. The large black hairs on
their lobes allow the Venus flytraps to literally feel
their prey, and they act as triggers that spring the
trap closed when the proper prey makes its way
across the trap. If the insect touches just one hair, the
trap will not spring shut; but a large enough bug will
likely touch two hairs within about twenty seconds,
and that signal springs the Venus flytrap into action.
We can look at this system as analogous to
short-term memory. First, the flytrap encodes the
information (forms the memory) that something (it
doesn’t know what) has touched one of its hairs.
Then it stores this information for a number of
seconds (retains the memory) and finally retrieves
this information (recalls the memory) once a second
hair is touched. If a small ant takes a while to get
from one hair to the next, the trap will have forgotten
the first touch by the time the ant brushes up against
the next hair. In other words, it loses the storage of
the information, doesn’t close, and the ant
happily meanders on. How does the plant encode
and store the information from the unassuming
bug’s encounter with the first hair? How does it
remember the first touch in order to react upon the
second?
Scientists have been puzzled by these questions
ever since John Burdon-Sanderson’s early report on
the physiology of the Venus flytrap in 1882. A
century later, Dieter Hodick and Andreas Sievers at
the University of Bonn in Germany proposed that
the flytrap stored information regarding how many
hairs have been touched in the electric charge of its
leaf. Their model is quite elegant in its simplicity.
In their studies, they discovered that touching a
trigger hair on the Venus flytrap causes an electric
action potential [a temporary reversal in the
electrical polarity of a cell membrane] that
induces calcium channels to open in the trap (this
coupling of action potentials and the opening of
calcium channels is similar to the processes that
occur during communication between human
neurons), thus causing a rapid increase in the
concentration of calcium ions.
They proposed that the trap requires a relatively
high concentration of calcium in order to close
and that a single action potential from just one
trigger hair being touched does not reach this level.
Therefore, a second hair needs to be stimulated to
push the calcium concentration over this threshold
and spring the trap. The encoding of the information
requires maintaining a high enough level of calcium
so that a second increase (triggered by touching the
second hair) pushes the total concentration of
calcium over the threshold. As the calcium ion
concentrations dissipate over time, if the second
touch and potential don’t happen quickly, the final
concentration after the second trigger won’t be high
enough to close the trap, and the memory is lost.
Subsequent research supports this model.
Alexander Volkov and his colleagues at Oakwood
University in Alabama first demonstrated that it is
indeed electricity that causes the Venus flytrap to
close. To test the model they rigged up very fine
electrodes and applied an electrical current to the
open lobes of the trap. This made the trap close
without any direct touch to its trigger hairs (while
they didn’t measure calcium levels, the current
likely led to increases). When they modified this
experiment by altering the amount of electrical
current, Volkov could determine the exact electrical
charge needed for the trap to close. As long as
fourteen microcoulombs—a tiny bit more than the
static electricity generated by rubbing two balloons
together—flowed between the two electrodes, the
trap closed. This could come as one large burst or as
a series of smaller charges within twenty seconds. If it
took longer than twenty seconds to accumulate the
total charge, the trap would remain open.
Question 46:
In the second paragraph (lines 15-31), the discussion of short-term memory primarily functions to
A) clarify an explanation of what prompts the Venus flytrap to close.
B) advance a controversial hypothesis about the function of electric charges found in the leaf of the Venus flytrap.
C) stress the distinction between the strategies of the Venus flytrap and the strategies of human beings.
D) emphasize the Venus flytrap’s capacity for retaining detailed information about its prey.
Answer: | A | true | sat-practice_8-question_46 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Daniel Chamovitz, What a
Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. ©2012 by
Daniel Chamovitz
The Venus flytrap [Dionaea muscipula] needs to
know when an ideal meal is crawling across its leaves.
Closing its trap requires a huge expense of energy,
and reopening the trap can take several hours, so
Dionaea only wants to spring closed when it’s sure
that the dawdling insect visiting its surface is large
enough to be worth its time. The large black hairs on
their lobes allow the Venus flytraps to literally feel
their prey, and they act as triggers that spring the
trap closed when the proper prey makes its way
across the trap. If the insect touches just one hair, the
trap will not spring shut; but a large enough bug will
likely touch two hairs within about twenty seconds,
and that signal springs the Venus flytrap into action.
We can look at this system as analogous to
short-term memory. First, the flytrap encodes the
information (forms the memory) that something (it
doesn’t know what) has touched one of its hairs.
Then it stores this information for a number of
seconds (retains the memory) and finally retrieves
this information (recalls the memory) once a second
hair is touched. If a small ant takes a while to get
from one hair to the next, the trap will have forgotten
the first touch by the time the ant brushes up against
the next hair. In other words, it loses the storage of
the information, doesn’t close, and the ant
happily meanders on. How does the plant encode
and store the information from the unassuming
bug’s encounter with the first hair? How does it
remember the first touch in order to react upon the
second?
Scientists have been puzzled by these questions
ever since John Burdon-Sanderson’s early report on
the physiology of the Venus flytrap in 1882. A
century later, Dieter Hodick and Andreas Sievers at
the University of Bonn in Germany proposed that
the flytrap stored information regarding how many
hairs have been touched in the electric charge of its
leaf. Their model is quite elegant in its simplicity.
In their studies, they discovered that touching a
trigger hair on the Venus flytrap causes an electric
action potential [a temporary reversal in the
electrical polarity of a cell membrane] that
induces calcium channels to open in the trap (this
coupling of action potentials and the opening of
calcium channels is similar to the processes that
occur during communication between human
neurons), thus causing a rapid increase in the
concentration of calcium ions.
They proposed that the trap requires a relatively
high concentration of calcium in order to close
and that a single action potential from just one
trigger hair being touched does not reach this level.
Therefore, a second hair needs to be stimulated to
push the calcium concentration over this threshold
and spring the trap. The encoding of the information
requires maintaining a high enough level of calcium
so that a second increase (triggered by touching the
second hair) pushes the total concentration of
calcium over the threshold. As the calcium ion
concentrations dissipate over time, if the second
touch and potential don’t happen quickly, the final
concentration after the second trigger won’t be high
enough to close the trap, and the memory is lost.
Subsequent research supports this model.
Alexander Volkov and his colleagues at Oakwood
University in Alabama first demonstrated that it is
indeed electricity that causes the Venus flytrap to
close. To test the model they rigged up very fine
electrodes and applied an electrical current to the
open lobes of the trap. This made the trap close
without any direct touch to its trigger hairs (while
they didn’t measure calcium levels, the current
likely led to increases). When they modified this
experiment by altering the amount of electrical
current, Volkov could determine the exact electrical
charge needed for the trap to close. As long as
fourteen microcoulombs—a tiny bit more than the
static electricity generated by rubbing two balloons
together—flowed between the two electrodes, the
trap closed. This could come as one large burst or as
a series of smaller charges within twenty seconds. If it
took longer than twenty seconds to accumulate the
total charge, the trap would remain open.
Question 43:
Based on the passage, a significant advantage of the Venus flytrap’s requirement for multiple triggers is that it
A) enables the plant to identify the species of its prey.
B) conserves the plant’s calcium reserves.
C) safeguards the plant’s energy supply.
D) prevents the plant from closing before capturing its prey.
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_8-question_43 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Daniel Chamovitz, What a
Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. ©2012 by
Daniel Chamovitz
The Venus flytrap [Dionaea muscipula] needs to
know when an ideal meal is crawling across its leaves.
Closing its trap requires a huge expense of energy,
and reopening the trap can take several hours, so
Dionaea only wants to spring closed when it’s sure
that the dawdling insect visiting its surface is large
enough to be worth its time. The large black hairs on
their lobes allow the Venus flytraps to literally feel
their prey, and they act as triggers that spring the
trap closed when the proper prey makes its way
across the trap. If the insect touches just one hair, the
trap will not spring shut; but a large enough bug will
likely touch two hairs within about twenty seconds,
and that signal springs the Venus flytrap into action.
We can look at this system as analogous to
short-term memory. First, the flytrap encodes the
information (forms the memory) that something (it
doesn’t know what) has touched one of its hairs.
Then it stores this information for a number of
seconds (retains the memory) and finally retrieves
this information (recalls the memory) once a second
hair is touched. If a small ant takes a while to get
from one hair to the next, the trap will have forgotten
the first touch by the time the ant brushes up against
the next hair. In other words, it loses the storage of
the information, doesn’t close, and the ant
happily meanders on. How does the plant encode
and store the information from the unassuming
bug’s encounter with the first hair? How does it
remember the first touch in order to react upon the
second?
Scientists have been puzzled by these questions
ever since John Burdon-Sanderson’s early report on
the physiology of the Venus flytrap in 1882. A
century later, Dieter Hodick and Andreas Sievers at
the University of Bonn in Germany proposed that
the flytrap stored information regarding how many
hairs have been touched in the electric charge of its
leaf. Their model is quite elegant in its simplicity.
In their studies, they discovered that touching a
trigger hair on the Venus flytrap causes an electric
action potential [a temporary reversal in the
electrical polarity of a cell membrane] that
induces calcium channels to open in the trap (this
coupling of action potentials and the opening of
calcium channels is similar to the processes that
occur during communication between human
neurons), thus causing a rapid increase in the
concentration of calcium ions.
They proposed that the trap requires a relatively
high concentration of calcium in order to close
and that a single action potential from just one
trigger hair being touched does not reach this level.
Therefore, a second hair needs to be stimulated to
push the calcium concentration over this threshold
and spring the trap. The encoding of the information
requires maintaining a high enough level of calcium
so that a second increase (triggered by touching the
second hair) pushes the total concentration of
calcium over the threshold. As the calcium ion
concentrations dissipate over time, if the second
touch and potential don’t happen quickly, the final
concentration after the second trigger won’t be high
enough to close the trap, and the memory is lost.
Subsequent research supports this model.
Alexander Volkov and his colleagues at Oakwood
University in Alabama first demonstrated that it is
indeed electricity that causes the Venus flytrap to
close. To test the model they rigged up very fine
electrodes and applied an electrical current to the
open lobes of the trap. This made the trap close
without any direct touch to its trigger hairs (while
they didn’t measure calcium levels, the current
likely led to increases). When they modified this
experiment by altering the amount of electrical
current, Volkov could determine the exact electrical
charge needed for the trap to close. As long as
fourteen microcoulombs—a tiny bit more than the
static electricity generated by rubbing two balloons
together—flowed between the two electrodes, the
trap closed. This could come as one large burst or as
a series of smaller charges within twenty seconds. If it
took longer than twenty seconds to accumulate the
total charge, the trap would remain open.
Question 45:
The use of the phrases “dawdling insect” (line 6), “happily meanders” (line 27), and “unassuming bug’s encounter” (lines 28-29) in the first two paragraphs establishes a tone that is
A) academic.
B) melodramatic.
C) informal.
D) mocking.
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_8-question_45 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor,
originally published in 1857.
No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.
Question 3:
During the course of the first paragraph, the narrator’s focus shifts from
A) recollection of past confidence to acknowledgment of present self-doubt.
B) reflection on his expectations of life as a tradesman to his desire for another job.
C) generalization about job dissatisfaction to the specifics of his own situation.
D) evaluation of factors making him unhappy to identification of alternatives.
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_2-question_3 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor,
originally published in 1857.
No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.
Question 1:
Which choice best summarizes the passage?
A) A character describes his dislike for his new job and considers the reasons why.
B) Two characters employed in the same office become increasingly competitive.
C) A young man regrets privately a choice that he defends publicly.
D) A new employee experiences optimism, then frustration, and finally despair.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_2-question_1 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor,
originally published in 1857.
No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.
Question 9:
The passage indicates that, after a long day of work, the narrator sometimes found his living quarters to be
A) treacherous.
B) dreary.
C) predictable.
D) intolerable.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_2-question_9 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor,
originally published in 1857.
No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.
Question 4:
The references to “shade” and “darkness” at the end of the first paragraph mainly have which effect?
A) They evoke the narrator’s sense of dismay.
B) They reflect the narrator’s sinister thoughts.
C) They capture the narrator’s fear of confinement.
D) They reveal the narrator’s longing for rest.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_2-question_4 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor,
originally published in 1857.
No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.
Question 2:
The main purpose of the opening sentence of the passage is to
A) establish the narrator’s perspective on a controversy.
B) provide context useful in understanding the narrator’s emotional state.
C) offer a symbolic representation of Edward Crimsworth’s plight.
D) contrast the narrator’s good intentions with his malicious conduct.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_2-question_2 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor,
originally published in 1857.
No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.
Question 5:
The passage indicates that Edward Crimsworth’s behavior was mainly caused by his
A) impatience with the narrator’s high spirits.
B) scorn of the narrator’s humble background.
C) indignation at the narrator’s rash actions.
D) jealousy of the narrator’s apparent superiority.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_2-question_5 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor,
originally published in 1857.
No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.
Question 8:
At the end of the second paragraph, the comparisons of abstract qualities to a lynx and a snake mainly have the effect of
A) contrasting two hypothetical courses of action.
B) conveying the ferocity of a resolution.
C) suggesting the likelihood of an altercation.
D) illustrating the nature of an adversarial relationship.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_2-question_8 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is from Charlotte Brontë, The Professor,
originally published in 1857.
No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a
mistake in the choice of his profession, and every
man, worthy of the name, will row long against wind
and tide before he allows himself to cry out, “I am
baffled!” and submits to be floated passively back to
land. From the first week of my residence in X—
felt my occupation irksome. The thing itself—the
work of copying and translating business-letters—
was a dry and tedious task enough, but had that been
all, I should long have borne with the nuisance; I am
not of an impatient nature, and influenced by the
double desire of getting my living and justifying to
myself and others the resolution I had taken to
become a tradesman, I should have endured in
silence the rust and cramp of my best faculties; I
should not have whispered, even inwardly, that I
longed for liberty; I should have pent in every sigh by
which my heart might have ventured to intimate its
distress under the closeness, smoke, monotony, and
joyless tumult of Bigben Close, and its panting desire
for freer and fresher scenes; I should have set up the
image of Duty, the fetish of Perseverance, in my
small bedroom at Mrs. King’s lodgings, and they two
should have been my household gods, from which
my darling, my cherished-in-secret, Imagination, the
tender and the mighty, should never, either by
softness or strength, have severed me. But this was
not all; the antipathy which had sprung up between
myself and my employer striking deeper root and
spreading denser shade daily, excluded me from
every glimpse of the sunshine of life; and I began to
feel like a plant growing in humid darkness out of the
slimy walls of a well.
Antipathy is the only word which can express the
feeling Edward Crimsworth had for me—a feeling, in
a great measure, involuntary, and which was liable to
be excited by every, the most trifling movement,
look, or word of mine. My southern accent annoyed
him; the degree of education evinced in my language
irritated him; my punctuality, industry, and
accuracy, fixed his dislike, and gave it the high
flavour and poignant relish of envy; he feared that I
too should one day make a successful tradesman.
Had I been in anything inferior to him, he would not
have hated me so thoroughly, but I knew all that he
knew, and, what was worse, he suspected that I kept
the padlock of silence on mental wealth in which he
was no sharer. If he could have once placed me in a
ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have
forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three
faculties—Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling
and prying as was Edward’s malignity, it could never
baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.
Day by day did his malice watch my tact, hoping it
would sleep, and prepared to steal snake-like on its
slumber; but tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps.
I had received my first quarter’s wages, and was
returning to my lodgings, possessed heart and soul
with the pleasant feeling that the master who had
paid me grudged every penny of that hard‑earned
pittance—(I had long ceased to regard
Mr. Crimsworth as my brother—he was a hard,
grinding master; he wished to be an inexorable
tyrant: that was all). Thoughts, not varied but strong,
occupied my mind; two voices spoke within me;
again and again they uttered the same monotonous
phrases. One said: “William, your life is intolerable.”
The other: “What can you do to alter it?” I walked
fast, for it was a cold, frosty night in January; as I
approached my lodgings, I turned from a general
view of my affairs to the particular speculation as to
whether my fire would be out; looking towards the
window of my sitting-room, I saw no cheering red
gleam.
Question 6:
The passage indicates that when the narrator began working for Edward Crimsworth, he viewed Crimsworth as a
A) harmless rival.
B) sympathetic ally.
C) perceptive judge.
D) demanding mentor.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_2-question_6 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Iain King, “Can Economics Be
Ethical?” ©2013 by Prospect Publishing.
Recent debates about the economy have
rediscovered the question, “is that right?”, where
“right” means more than just profits or efficiency.
Some argue that because the free markets allow
for personal choice, they are already ethical. Others
have accepted the ethical critique and embraced
corporate social responsibility. But before we can
label any market outcome as “immoral,” or sneer at
economists who try to put a price on being ethical,
we need to be clear on what we are talking about.
There are different views on where ethics should
apply when someone makes an economic decision.
Consider Adam Smith, widely regarded as the
founder of modern economics. He was a moral
philosopher who believed sympathy for others was
the basis for ethics (we would call it empathy
nowadays). But one of his key insights in The Wealth
of Nations was that acting on this empathy could be
counter-productive—he observed people becoming
better off when they put their own empathy aside,
and interacted in a self-interested way. Smith justifies
selfish behavior by the outcome. Whenever planners
use cost-benefit analysis to justify a new railway line,
or someone retrains to boost his or her earning
power, or a shopper buys one to get one free, they are
using the same approach: empathizing with
someone, and seeking an outcome that makes that
person as well off as possible—although the person
they are empathizing with may be themselves in the
future.
Instead of judging consequences, Aristotle
said ethics was about having the right
character—displaying virtues like courage and
honesty. It is a view put into practice whenever
business leaders are chosen for their good character.
But it is a hard philosophy to teach—just how much
loyalty should you show to a manufacturer that keeps
losing money? Show too little and you’re a “greed is
good” corporate raider; too much and you’re wasting
money on unproductive capital. Aristotle thought
there was a golden mean between the two extremes,
and finding it was a matter of fine judgment. But if
ethics is about character, it’s not clear what those
characteristics should be.
There is yet another approach: instead of rooting
ethics in character or the consequences of actions, we
can focus on our actions themselves. From this
perspective some things are right, some wrong—we
should buy fair trade goods, we shouldn’t tell lies in
advertisements. Ethics becomes a list of
commandments, a catalog of “dos” and “don’ts.”
When a finance official refuses to devalue a currency
because they have promised not to, they are defining
ethics this way. According to this approach
devaluation can still be bad, even if it would make
everybody better off.
Many moral dilemmas arise when these three
versions pull in different directions but clashes are
not inevitable. Take fair trade coffee (coffee that is
sold with a certification that indicates the farmers
and workers who produced it were paid a fair wage),
for example: buying it might have good
consequences, be virtuous, and also be the right way
to act in a flawed market. Common ground like this
suggests that, even without agreement on where
ethics applies, ethical economics is still possible.
Whenever we feel queasy about “perfect”
competitive markets, the problem is often rooted in a
phony conception of people. The model of man on
which classical economics is based—an entirely
rational and selfish being—is a parody, as
John Stuart Mill, the philosopher who pioneered the
model, accepted. Most people—even economists—
now accept that this “economic man” is a fiction.
We behave like a herd; we fear losses more than we
hope for gains; rarely can our brains process all the
relevant facts.
These human quirks mean we can never make
purely “rational” decisions. A new wave of behavioral
economists, aided by neuroscientists, is trying to
understand our psychology, both alone and in
groups, so they can anticipate our decisions in the
marketplace more accurately. But psychology can
also help us understand why we react in disgust at
economic injustice, or accept a moral law as
universal. Which means that the relatively new
science of human behavior might also define ethics
for us. Ethical economics would then emerge from
one of the least likely places: economists themselves.
Question 14:
As used in line 6, “embraced” most nearly means
A) lovingly held.
B) readily adopted.
C) eagerly hugged.
D) reluctantly used.
Answer: | B | true | sat-practice_2-question_14 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Iain King, “Can Economics Be
Ethical?” ©2013 by Prospect Publishing.
Recent debates about the economy have
rediscovered the question, “is that right?”, where
“right” means more than just profits or efficiency.
Some argue that because the free markets allow
for personal choice, they are already ethical. Others
have accepted the ethical critique and embraced
corporate social responsibility. But before we can
label any market outcome as “immoral,” or sneer at
economists who try to put a price on being ethical,
we need to be clear on what we are talking about.
There are different views on where ethics should
apply when someone makes an economic decision.
Consider Adam Smith, widely regarded as the
founder of modern economics. He was a moral
philosopher who believed sympathy for others was
the basis for ethics (we would call it empathy
nowadays). But one of his key insights in The Wealth
of Nations was that acting on this empathy could be
counter-productive—he observed people becoming
better off when they put their own empathy aside,
and interacted in a self-interested way. Smith justifies
selfish behavior by the outcome. Whenever planners
use cost-benefit analysis to justify a new railway line,
or someone retrains to boost his or her earning
power, or a shopper buys one to get one free, they are
using the same approach: empathizing with
someone, and seeking an outcome that makes that
person as well off as possible—although the person
they are empathizing with may be themselves in the
future.
Instead of judging consequences, Aristotle
said ethics was about having the right
character—displaying virtues like courage and
honesty. It is a view put into practice whenever
business leaders are chosen for their good character.
But it is a hard philosophy to teach—just how much
loyalty should you show to a manufacturer that keeps
losing money? Show too little and you’re a “greed is
good” corporate raider; too much and you’re wasting
money on unproductive capital. Aristotle thought
there was a golden mean between the two extremes,
and finding it was a matter of fine judgment. But if
ethics is about character, it’s not clear what those
characteristics should be.
There is yet another approach: instead of rooting
ethics in character or the consequences of actions, we
can focus on our actions themselves. From this
perspective some things are right, some wrong—we
should buy fair trade goods, we shouldn’t tell lies in
advertisements. Ethics becomes a list of
commandments, a catalog of “dos” and “don’ts.”
When a finance official refuses to devalue a currency
because they have promised not to, they are defining
ethics this way. According to this approach
devaluation can still be bad, even if it would make
everybody better off.
Many moral dilemmas arise when these three
versions pull in different directions but clashes are
not inevitable. Take fair trade coffee (coffee that is
sold with a certification that indicates the farmers
and workers who produced it were paid a fair wage),
for example: buying it might have good
consequences, be virtuous, and also be the right way
to act in a flawed market. Common ground like this
suggests that, even without agreement on where
ethics applies, ethical economics is still possible.
Whenever we feel queasy about “perfect”
competitive markets, the problem is often rooted in a
phony conception of people. The model of man on
which classical economics is based—an entirely
rational and selfish being—is a parody, as
John Stuart Mill, the philosopher who pioneered the
model, accepted. Most people—even economists—
now accept that this “economic man” is a fiction.
We behave like a herd; we fear losses more than we
hope for gains; rarely can our brains process all the
relevant facts.
These human quirks mean we can never make
purely “rational” decisions. A new wave of behavioral
economists, aided by neuroscientists, is trying to
understand our psychology, both alone and in
groups, so they can anticipate our decisions in the
marketplace more accurately. But psychology can
also help us understand why we react in disgust at
economic injustice, or accept a moral law as
universal. Which means that the relatively new
science of human behavior might also define ethics
for us. Ethical economics would then emerge from
one of the least likely places: economists themselves.
Question 18:
The main idea of the final paragraph is that
A) human quirks make it difficult to predict people’s ethical decisions accurately.
B) people universally react with disgust when faced with economic injustice.
C) understanding human psychology may help to define ethics in economics.
D) economists themselves will be responsible for reforming the free market.
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_2-question_18 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Iain King, “Can Economics Be
Ethical?” ©2013 by Prospect Publishing.
Recent debates about the economy have
rediscovered the question, “is that right?”, where
“right” means more than just profits or efficiency.
Some argue that because the free markets allow
for personal choice, they are already ethical. Others
have accepted the ethical critique and embraced
corporate social responsibility. But before we can
label any market outcome as “immoral,” or sneer at
economists who try to put a price on being ethical,
we need to be clear on what we are talking about.
There are different views on where ethics should
apply when someone makes an economic decision.
Consider Adam Smith, widely regarded as the
founder of modern economics. He was a moral
philosopher who believed sympathy for others was
the basis for ethics (we would call it empathy
nowadays). But one of his key insights in The Wealth
of Nations was that acting on this empathy could be
counter-productive—he observed people becoming
better off when they put their own empathy aside,
and interacted in a self-interested way. Smith justifies
selfish behavior by the outcome. Whenever planners
use cost-benefit analysis to justify a new railway line,
or someone retrains to boost his or her earning
power, or a shopper buys one to get one free, they are
using the same approach: empathizing with
someone, and seeking an outcome that makes that
person as well off as possible—although the person
they are empathizing with may be themselves in the
future.
Instead of judging consequences, Aristotle
said ethics was about having the right
character—displaying virtues like courage and
honesty. It is a view put into practice whenever
business leaders are chosen for their good character.
But it is a hard philosophy to teach—just how much
loyalty should you show to a manufacturer that keeps
losing money? Show too little and you’re a “greed is
good” corporate raider; too much and you’re wasting
money on unproductive capital. Aristotle thought
there was a golden mean between the two extremes,
and finding it was a matter of fine judgment. But if
ethics is about character, it’s not clear what those
characteristics should be.
There is yet another approach: instead of rooting
ethics in character or the consequences of actions, we
can focus on our actions themselves. From this
perspective some things are right, some wrong—we
should buy fair trade goods, we shouldn’t tell lies in
advertisements. Ethics becomes a list of
commandments, a catalog of “dos” and “don’ts.”
When a finance official refuses to devalue a currency
because they have promised not to, they are defining
ethics this way. According to this approach
devaluation can still be bad, even if it would make
everybody better off.
Many moral dilemmas arise when these three
versions pull in different directions but clashes are
not inevitable. Take fair trade coffee (coffee that is
sold with a certification that indicates the farmers
and workers who produced it were paid a fair wage),
for example: buying it might have good
consequences, be virtuous, and also be the right way
to act in a flawed market. Common ground like this
suggests that, even without agreement on where
ethics applies, ethical economics is still possible.
Whenever we feel queasy about “perfect”
competitive markets, the problem is often rooted in a
phony conception of people. The model of man on
which classical economics is based—an entirely
rational and selfish being—is a parody, as
John Stuart Mill, the philosopher who pioneered the
model, accepted. Most people—even economists—
now accept that this “economic man” is a fiction.
We behave like a herd; we fear losses more than we
hope for gains; rarely can our brains process all the
relevant facts.
These human quirks mean we can never make
purely “rational” decisions. A new wave of behavioral
economists, aided by neuroscientists, is trying to
understand our psychology, both alone and in
groups, so they can anticipate our decisions in the
marketplace more accurately. But psychology can
also help us understand why we react in disgust at
economic injustice, or accept a moral law as
universal. Which means that the relatively new
science of human behavior might also define ethics
for us. Ethical economics would then emerge from
one of the least likely places: economists themselves.
Question 12:
In the passage, the author anticipates which of the following objections to criticizing the ethics of free markets?
A) Smith’s association of free markets with ethical behavior still applies today.
B) Free markets are the best way to generate high profits, so ethics are a secondary consideration.
C) Free markets are ethical because they are made possible by devalued currency.
D) Free markets are ethical because they enable individuals to make choices.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_2-question_12 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Iain King, “Can Economics Be
Ethical?” ©2013 by Prospect Publishing.
Recent debates about the economy have
rediscovered the question, “is that right?”, where
“right” means more than just profits or efficiency.
Some argue that because the free markets allow
for personal choice, they are already ethical. Others
have accepted the ethical critique and embraced
corporate social responsibility. But before we can
label any market outcome as “immoral,” or sneer at
economists who try to put a price on being ethical,
we need to be clear on what we are talking about.
There are different views on where ethics should
apply when someone makes an economic decision.
Consider Adam Smith, widely regarded as the
founder of modern economics. He was a moral
philosopher who believed sympathy for others was
the basis for ethics (we would call it empathy
nowadays). But one of his key insights in The Wealth
of Nations was that acting on this empathy could be
counter-productive—he observed people becoming
better off when they put their own empathy aside,
and interacted in a self-interested way. Smith justifies
selfish behavior by the outcome. Whenever planners
use cost-benefit analysis to justify a new railway line,
or someone retrains to boost his or her earning
power, or a shopper buys one to get one free, they are
using the same approach: empathizing with
someone, and seeking an outcome that makes that
person as well off as possible—although the person
they are empathizing with may be themselves in the
future.
Instead of judging consequences, Aristotle
said ethics was about having the right
character—displaying virtues like courage and
honesty. It is a view put into practice whenever
business leaders are chosen for their good character.
But it is a hard philosophy to teach—just how much
loyalty should you show to a manufacturer that keeps
losing money? Show too little and you’re a “greed is
good” corporate raider; too much and you’re wasting
money on unproductive capital. Aristotle thought
there was a golden mean between the two extremes,
and finding it was a matter of fine judgment. But if
ethics is about character, it’s not clear what those
characteristics should be.
There is yet another approach: instead of rooting
ethics in character or the consequences of actions, we
can focus on our actions themselves. From this
perspective some things are right, some wrong—we
should buy fair trade goods, we shouldn’t tell lies in
advertisements. Ethics becomes a list of
commandments, a catalog of “dos” and “don’ts.”
When a finance official refuses to devalue a currency
because they have promised not to, they are defining
ethics this way. According to this approach
devaluation can still be bad, even if it would make
everybody better off.
Many moral dilemmas arise when these three
versions pull in different directions but clashes are
not inevitable. Take fair trade coffee (coffee that is
sold with a certification that indicates the farmers
and workers who produced it were paid a fair wage),
for example: buying it might have good
consequences, be virtuous, and also be the right way
to act in a flawed market. Common ground like this
suggests that, even without agreement on where
ethics applies, ethical economics is still possible.
Whenever we feel queasy about “perfect”
competitive markets, the problem is often rooted in a
phony conception of people. The model of man on
which classical economics is based—an entirely
rational and selfish being—is a parody, as
John Stuart Mill, the philosopher who pioneered the
model, accepted. Most people—even economists—
now accept that this “economic man” is a fiction.
We behave like a herd; we fear losses more than we
hope for gains; rarely can our brains process all the
relevant facts.
These human quirks mean we can never make
purely “rational” decisions. A new wave of behavioral
economists, aided by neuroscientists, is trying to
understand our psychology, both alone and in
groups, so they can anticipate our decisions in the
marketplace more accurately. But psychology can
also help us understand why we react in disgust at
economic injustice, or accept a moral law as
universal. Which means that the relatively new
science of human behavior might also define ethics
for us. Ethical economics would then emerge from
one of the least likely places: economists themselves.
Question 15:
The main purpose of the fifth paragraph (lines 45-56) is to
A) develop a counterargument to the claim that greed is good.
B) provide support for the idea that ethics is about character.
C) describe a third approach to defining ethical economics.
D) illustrate that one’s actions are a result of one’s character.
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_2-question_15 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Iain King, “Can Economics Be
Ethical?” ©2013 by Prospect Publishing.
Recent debates about the economy have
rediscovered the question, “is that right?”, where
“right” means more than just profits or efficiency.
Some argue that because the free markets allow
for personal choice, they are already ethical. Others
have accepted the ethical critique and embraced
corporate social responsibility. But before we can
label any market outcome as “immoral,” or sneer at
economists who try to put a price on being ethical,
we need to be clear on what we are talking about.
There are different views on where ethics should
apply when someone makes an economic decision.
Consider Adam Smith, widely regarded as the
founder of modern economics. He was a moral
philosopher who believed sympathy for others was
the basis for ethics (we would call it empathy
nowadays). But one of his key insights in The Wealth
of Nations was that acting on this empathy could be
counter-productive—he observed people becoming
better off when they put their own empathy aside,
and interacted in a self-interested way. Smith justifies
selfish behavior by the outcome. Whenever planners
use cost-benefit analysis to justify a new railway line,
or someone retrains to boost his or her earning
power, or a shopper buys one to get one free, they are
using the same approach: empathizing with
someone, and seeking an outcome that makes that
person as well off as possible—although the person
they are empathizing with may be themselves in the
future.
Instead of judging consequences, Aristotle
said ethics was about having the right
character—displaying virtues like courage and
honesty. It is a view put into practice whenever
business leaders are chosen for their good character.
But it is a hard philosophy to teach—just how much
loyalty should you show to a manufacturer that keeps
losing money? Show too little and you’re a “greed is
good” corporate raider; too much and you’re wasting
money on unproductive capital. Aristotle thought
there was a golden mean between the two extremes,
and finding it was a matter of fine judgment. But if
ethics is about character, it’s not clear what those
characteristics should be.
There is yet another approach: instead of rooting
ethics in character or the consequences of actions, we
can focus on our actions themselves. From this
perspective some things are right, some wrong—we
should buy fair trade goods, we shouldn’t tell lies in
advertisements. Ethics becomes a list of
commandments, a catalog of “dos” and “don’ts.”
When a finance official refuses to devalue a currency
because they have promised not to, they are defining
ethics this way. According to this approach
devaluation can still be bad, even if it would make
everybody better off.
Many moral dilemmas arise when these three
versions pull in different directions but clashes are
not inevitable. Take fair trade coffee (coffee that is
sold with a certification that indicates the farmers
and workers who produced it were paid a fair wage),
for example: buying it might have good
consequences, be virtuous, and also be the right way
to act in a flawed market. Common ground like this
suggests that, even without agreement on where
ethics applies, ethical economics is still possible.
Whenever we feel queasy about “perfect”
competitive markets, the problem is often rooted in a
phony conception of people. The model of man on
which classical economics is based—an entirely
rational and selfish being—is a parody, as
John Stuart Mill, the philosopher who pioneered the
model, accepted. Most people—even economists—
now accept that this “economic man” is a fiction.
We behave like a herd; we fear losses more than we
hope for gains; rarely can our brains process all the
relevant facts.
These human quirks mean we can never make
purely “rational” decisions. A new wave of behavioral
economists, aided by neuroscientists, is trying to
understand our psychology, both alone and in
groups, so they can anticipate our decisions in the
marketplace more accurately. But psychology can
also help us understand why we react in disgust at
economic injustice, or accept a moral law as
universal. Which means that the relatively new
science of human behavior might also define ethics
for us. Ethical economics would then emerge from
one of the least likely places: economists themselves.
Question 16:
As used in line 58, “clashes” most nearly means
A) conflicts.
B) mismatches.
C) collisions.
D) brawls.
Answer: | A | true | sat-practice_2-question_16 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Iain King, “Can Economics Be
Ethical?” ©2013 by Prospect Publishing.
Recent debates about the economy have
rediscovered the question, “is that right?”, where
“right” means more than just profits or efficiency.
Some argue that because the free markets allow
for personal choice, they are already ethical. Others
have accepted the ethical critique and embraced
corporate social responsibility. But before we can
label any market outcome as “immoral,” or sneer at
economists who try to put a price on being ethical,
we need to be clear on what we are talking about.
There are different views on where ethics should
apply when someone makes an economic decision.
Consider Adam Smith, widely regarded as the
founder of modern economics. He was a moral
philosopher who believed sympathy for others was
the basis for ethics (we would call it empathy
nowadays). But one of his key insights in The Wealth
of Nations was that acting on this empathy could be
counter-productive—he observed people becoming
better off when they put their own empathy aside,
and interacted in a self-interested way. Smith justifies
selfish behavior by the outcome. Whenever planners
use cost-benefit analysis to justify a new railway line,
or someone retrains to boost his or her earning
power, or a shopper buys one to get one free, they are
using the same approach: empathizing with
someone, and seeking an outcome that makes that
person as well off as possible—although the person
they are empathizing with may be themselves in the
future.
Instead of judging consequences, Aristotle
said ethics was about having the right
character—displaying virtues like courage and
honesty. It is a view put into practice whenever
business leaders are chosen for their good character.
But it is a hard philosophy to teach—just how much
loyalty should you show to a manufacturer that keeps
losing money? Show too little and you’re a “greed is
good” corporate raider; too much and you’re wasting
money on unproductive capital. Aristotle thought
there was a golden mean between the two extremes,
and finding it was a matter of fine judgment. But if
ethics is about character, it’s not clear what those
characteristics should be.
There is yet another approach: instead of rooting
ethics in character or the consequences of actions, we
can focus on our actions themselves. From this
perspective some things are right, some wrong—we
should buy fair trade goods, we shouldn’t tell lies in
advertisements. Ethics becomes a list of
commandments, a catalog of “dos” and “don’ts.”
When a finance official refuses to devalue a currency
because they have promised not to, they are defining
ethics this way. According to this approach
devaluation can still be bad, even if it would make
everybody better off.
Many moral dilemmas arise when these three
versions pull in different directions but clashes are
not inevitable. Take fair trade coffee (coffee that is
sold with a certification that indicates the farmers
and workers who produced it were paid a fair wage),
for example: buying it might have good
consequences, be virtuous, and also be the right way
to act in a flawed market. Common ground like this
suggests that, even without agreement on where
ethics applies, ethical economics is still possible.
Whenever we feel queasy about “perfect”
competitive markets, the problem is often rooted in a
phony conception of people. The model of man on
which classical economics is based—an entirely
rational and selfish being—is a parody, as
John Stuart Mill, the philosopher who pioneered the
model, accepted. Most people—even economists—
now accept that this “economic man” is a fiction.
We behave like a herd; we fear losses more than we
hope for gains; rarely can our brains process all the
relevant facts.
These human quirks mean we can never make
purely “rational” decisions. A new wave of behavioral
economists, aided by neuroscientists, is trying to
understand our psychology, both alone and in
groups, so they can anticipate our decisions in the
marketplace more accurately. But psychology can
also help us understand why we react in disgust at
economic injustice, or accept a moral law as
universal. Which means that the relatively new
science of human behavior might also define ethics
for us. Ethical economics would then emerge from
one of the least likely places: economists themselves.
Question 11:
The main purpose of the passage is to
A) consider an ethical dilemma posed by cost-benefit analysis.
B) describe a psychology study of ethical economic behavior.
C) argue that the free market prohibits ethical economics.
D) examine ways of evaluating the ethics of economics.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_2-question_11 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Iain King, “Can Economics Be
Ethical?” ©2013 by Prospect Publishing.
Recent debates about the economy have
rediscovered the question, “is that right?”, where
“right” means more than just profits or efficiency.
Some argue that because the free markets allow
for personal choice, they are already ethical. Others
have accepted the ethical critique and embraced
corporate social responsibility. But before we can
label any market outcome as “immoral,” or sneer at
economists who try to put a price on being ethical,
we need to be clear on what we are talking about.
There are different views on where ethics should
apply when someone makes an economic decision.
Consider Adam Smith, widely regarded as the
founder of modern economics. He was a moral
philosopher who believed sympathy for others was
the basis for ethics (we would call it empathy
nowadays). But one of his key insights in The Wealth
of Nations was that acting on this empathy could be
counter-productive—he observed people becoming
better off when they put their own empathy aside,
and interacted in a self-interested way. Smith justifies
selfish behavior by the outcome. Whenever planners
use cost-benefit analysis to justify a new railway line,
or someone retrains to boost his or her earning
power, or a shopper buys one to get one free, they are
using the same approach: empathizing with
someone, and seeking an outcome that makes that
person as well off as possible—although the person
they are empathizing with may be themselves in the
future.
Instead of judging consequences, Aristotle
said ethics was about having the right
character—displaying virtues like courage and
honesty. It is a view put into practice whenever
business leaders are chosen for their good character.
But it is a hard philosophy to teach—just how much
loyalty should you show to a manufacturer that keeps
losing money? Show too little and you’re a “greed is
good” corporate raider; too much and you’re wasting
money on unproductive capital. Aristotle thought
there was a golden mean between the two extremes,
and finding it was a matter of fine judgment. But if
ethics is about character, it’s not clear what those
characteristics should be.
There is yet another approach: instead of rooting
ethics in character or the consequences of actions, we
can focus on our actions themselves. From this
perspective some things are right, some wrong—we
should buy fair trade goods, we shouldn’t tell lies in
advertisements. Ethics becomes a list of
commandments, a catalog of “dos” and “don’ts.”
When a finance official refuses to devalue a currency
because they have promised not to, they are defining
ethics this way. According to this approach
devaluation can still be bad, even if it would make
everybody better off.
Many moral dilemmas arise when these three
versions pull in different directions but clashes are
not inevitable. Take fair trade coffee (coffee that is
sold with a certification that indicates the farmers
and workers who produced it were paid a fair wage),
for example: buying it might have good
consequences, be virtuous, and also be the right way
to act in a flawed market. Common ground like this
suggests that, even without agreement on where
ethics applies, ethical economics is still possible.
Whenever we feel queasy about “perfect”
competitive markets, the problem is often rooted in a
phony conception of people. The model of man on
which classical economics is based—an entirely
rational and selfish being—is a parody, as
John Stuart Mill, the philosopher who pioneered the
model, accepted. Most people—even economists—
now accept that this “economic man” is a fiction.
We behave like a herd; we fear losses more than we
hope for gains; rarely can our brains process all the
relevant facts.
These human quirks mean we can never make
purely “rational” decisions. A new wave of behavioral
economists, aided by neuroscientists, is trying to
understand our psychology, both alone and in
groups, so they can anticipate our decisions in the
marketplace more accurately. But psychology can
also help us understand why we react in disgust at
economic injustice, or accept a moral law as
universal. Which means that the relatively new
science of human behavior might also define ethics
for us. Ethical economics would then emerge from
one of the least likely places: economists themselves.
Question 17:
Which choice best supports the author’s claim that there is common ground shared by the different approaches to ethics described in the passage?
A) Lines 11-12 (“There... decision”)
B) Lines 47-50 (“From... advertisements”)
C) Lines 59-64 (“Take... market”)
D) Lines 75-77 (“We... facts”)
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_2-question_17 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Nicholas Carr, “Author
Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains.”
©2010 by Condé Nast. Passage 2 is from Steven Pinker,
“Mind over Mass Media.” ©2010 by The New York Times
Passage 1
The mental consequences of our online
info-crunching are not universally bad.
Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our use
of computers and the Net. These tend to involve
more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye
coordination, reflex response, and the processing of
visual cues. One much-cited study of video gaming
revealed that after just 10 days of playing action
games on computers, a group of young people had
significantly boosted the speed with which they could
shift their visual focus between various images and
tasks.
It’s likely that Web browsing also strengthens
brain functions related to fast-paced problem
solving, particularly when it requires spotting
patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the
way women search for medical information online
indicated that an experienced Internet user can, at
least in some cases, assess the trustworthiness and
probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds.
The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more
adept our brain becomes at those tasks.
But it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly
at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making
us smarter. In a Science article published in early
2009, prominent developmental psychologist Patricia
Greenfield reviewed more than 40 studies of the
effects of various types of media on intelligence and
learning ability. She concluded that “every medium
develops some cognitive skills at the expense of
others.” Our growing use of the Net and other
screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the
“widespread and sophisticated development of
visual-spatial skills.” But those gains go hand in hand
with a weakening of our capacity for the kind of
“deep processing” that underpins “mindful
knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical
thinking, imagination, and reflection.”
We know that the human brain is highly
plastic; neurons and synapses change as
circumstances change. When we adapt to a new
cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new
medium, we end up with a different brain, says
Michael Merzenich, a pioneer of the field of
neuroplasticity. That means our online habits
continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain
cells even when we’re not at a computer. We’re
exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming
and multitasking while ignoring those used for
reading and thinking deeply.
Passage 2
Critics of new media sometimes use science itself
to press their case, citing research that shows how
“experience can change the brain.” But cognitive
neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every
time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain
changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the
pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does
not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into
shape by experience.
Experience does not revamp the basic
information-processing capacities of the brain.
Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just
that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen
after he read Leo Tolstoy’s famously long novel
War and Peace in one sitting: “It was about Russia.”
Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a
myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the
familiar sight of an SUV undulating between lanes as
the driver cuts deals on his cell phone.
Moreover, the effects of experience are highly
specific to the experiences themselves. If you train
people to do one thing (recognize shapes, solve math
puzzles, find hidden words), they get better at doing
that thing, but almost nothing else. Music doesn’t
make you better at math, conjugating Latin doesn’t
make you more logical, brain-training games don’t
make you smarter. Accomplished people don’t bulk
up their brains with intellectual calisthenics; they
immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read
lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.
The effects of consuming electronic media are
likely to be far more limited than the panic implies.
Media critics write as if the brain takes on the
qualities of whatever it consumes, the informational
equivalent of “you are what you eat.” As with ancient
peoples who believed that eating fierce animals made
them fierce, they assume that watching quick cuts in
rock videos turns your mental life into quick cuts or
that reading bullet points and online postings turns
your thoughts into bullet points and online postings.
Question 24:
The author of Passage 1 indicates that becoming adept at using the Internet can
A) make people complacent about their health.
B) undermine the ability to think deeply.
C) increase people’s social contacts.
D) improve people’s self-confidence.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_2-question_24 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Nicholas Carr, “Author
Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains.”
©2010 by Condé Nast. Passage 2 is from Steven Pinker,
“Mind over Mass Media.” ©2010 by The New York Times
Passage 1
The mental consequences of our online
info-crunching are not universally bad.
Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our use
of computers and the Net. These tend to involve
more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye
coordination, reflex response, and the processing of
visual cues. One much-cited study of video gaming
revealed that after just 10 days of playing action
games on computers, a group of young people had
significantly boosted the speed with which they could
shift their visual focus between various images and
tasks.
It’s likely that Web browsing also strengthens
brain functions related to fast-paced problem
solving, particularly when it requires spotting
patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the
way women search for medical information online
indicated that an experienced Internet user can, at
least in some cases, assess the trustworthiness and
probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds.
The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more
adept our brain becomes at those tasks.
But it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly
at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making
us smarter. In a Science article published in early
2009, prominent developmental psychologist Patricia
Greenfield reviewed more than 40 studies of the
effects of various types of media on intelligence and
learning ability. She concluded that “every medium
develops some cognitive skills at the expense of
others.” Our growing use of the Net and other
screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the
“widespread and sophisticated development of
visual-spatial skills.” But those gains go hand in hand
with a weakening of our capacity for the kind of
“deep processing” that underpins “mindful
knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical
thinking, imagination, and reflection.”
We know that the human brain is highly
plastic; neurons and synapses change as
circumstances change. When we adapt to a new
cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new
medium, we end up with a different brain, says
Michael Merzenich, a pioneer of the field of
neuroplasticity. That means our online habits
continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain
cells even when we’re not at a computer. We’re
exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming
and multitasking while ignoring those used for
reading and thinking deeply.
Passage 2
Critics of new media sometimes use science itself
to press their case, citing research that shows how
“experience can change the brain.” But cognitive
neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every
time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain
changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the
pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does
not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into
shape by experience.
Experience does not revamp the basic
information-processing capacities of the brain.
Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just
that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen
after he read Leo Tolstoy’s famously long novel
War and Peace in one sitting: “It was about Russia.”
Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a
myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the
familiar sight of an SUV undulating between lanes as
the driver cuts deals on his cell phone.
Moreover, the effects of experience are highly
specific to the experiences themselves. If you train
people to do one thing (recognize shapes, solve math
puzzles, find hidden words), they get better at doing
that thing, but almost nothing else. Music doesn’t
make you better at math, conjugating Latin doesn’t
make you more logical, brain-training games don’t
make you smarter. Accomplished people don’t bulk
up their brains with intellectual calisthenics; they
immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read
lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.
The effects of consuming electronic media are
likely to be far more limited than the panic implies.
Media critics write as if the brain takes on the
qualities of whatever it consumes, the informational
equivalent of “you are what you eat.” As with ancient
peoples who believed that eating fierce animals made
them fierce, they assume that watching quick cuts in
rock videos turns your mental life into quick cuts or
that reading bullet points and online postings turns
your thoughts into bullet points and online postings.
Question 22:
The author of Passage 1 indicates which of the following about the use of screen-based technologies?
A) It should be thoroughly studied.
B) It makes the brain increasingly rigid.
C) It has some positive effects.
D) It should be widely encouraged.
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_2-question_22 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Nicholas Carr, “Author
Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains.”
©2010 by Condé Nast. Passage 2 is from Steven Pinker,
“Mind over Mass Media.” ©2010 by The New York Times
Passage 1
The mental consequences of our online
info-crunching are not universally bad.
Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our use
of computers and the Net. These tend to involve
more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye
coordination, reflex response, and the processing of
visual cues. One much-cited study of video gaming
revealed that after just 10 days of playing action
games on computers, a group of young people had
significantly boosted the speed with which they could
shift their visual focus between various images and
tasks.
It’s likely that Web browsing also strengthens
brain functions related to fast-paced problem
solving, particularly when it requires spotting
patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the
way women search for medical information online
indicated that an experienced Internet user can, at
least in some cases, assess the trustworthiness and
probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds.
The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more
adept our brain becomes at those tasks.
But it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly
at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making
us smarter. In a Science article published in early
2009, prominent developmental psychologist Patricia
Greenfield reviewed more than 40 studies of the
effects of various types of media on intelligence and
learning ability. She concluded that “every medium
develops some cognitive skills at the expense of
others.” Our growing use of the Net and other
screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the
“widespread and sophisticated development of
visual-spatial skills.” But those gains go hand in hand
with a weakening of our capacity for the kind of
“deep processing” that underpins “mindful
knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical
thinking, imagination, and reflection.”
We know that the human brain is highly
plastic; neurons and synapses change as
circumstances change. When we adapt to a new
cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new
medium, we end up with a different brain, says
Michael Merzenich, a pioneer of the field of
neuroplasticity. That means our online habits
continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain
cells even when we’re not at a computer. We’re
exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming
and multitasking while ignoring those used for
reading and thinking deeply.
Passage 2
Critics of new media sometimes use science itself
to press their case, citing research that shows how
“experience can change the brain.” But cognitive
neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every
time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain
changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the
pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does
not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into
shape by experience.
Experience does not revamp the basic
information-processing capacities of the brain.
Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just
that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen
after he read Leo Tolstoy’s famously long novel
War and Peace in one sitting: “It was about Russia.”
Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a
myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the
familiar sight of an SUV undulating between lanes as
the driver cuts deals on his cell phone.
Moreover, the effects of experience are highly
specific to the experiences themselves. If you train
people to do one thing (recognize shapes, solve math
puzzles, find hidden words), they get better at doing
that thing, but almost nothing else. Music doesn’t
make you better at math, conjugating Latin doesn’t
make you more logical, brain-training games don’t
make you smarter. Accomplished people don’t bulk
up their brains with intellectual calisthenics; they
immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read
lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.
The effects of consuming electronic media are
likely to be far more limited than the panic implies.
Media critics write as if the brain takes on the
qualities of whatever it consumes, the informational
equivalent of “you are what you eat.” As with ancient
peoples who believed that eating fierce animals made
them fierce, they assume that watching quick cuts in
rock videos turns your mental life into quick cuts or
that reading bullet points and online postings turns
your thoughts into bullet points and online postings.
Question 27:
According to the author of Passage 2, what do novelists and scientists have in common?
A) They take risks when they pursue knowledge.
B) They are eager to improve their minds.
C) They are curious about other subjects.
D) They become absorbed in their own fields.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_2-question_27 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Nicholas Carr, “Author
Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains.”
©2010 by Condé Nast. Passage 2 is from Steven Pinker,
“Mind over Mass Media.” ©2010 by The New York Times
Passage 1
The mental consequences of our online
info-crunching are not universally bad.
Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our use
of computers and the Net. These tend to involve
more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye
coordination, reflex response, and the processing of
visual cues. One much-cited study of video gaming
revealed that after just 10 days of playing action
games on computers, a group of young people had
significantly boosted the speed with which they could
shift their visual focus between various images and
tasks.
It’s likely that Web browsing also strengthens
brain functions related to fast-paced problem
solving, particularly when it requires spotting
patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the
way women search for medical information online
indicated that an experienced Internet user can, at
least in some cases, assess the trustworthiness and
probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds.
The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more
adept our brain becomes at those tasks.
But it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly
at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making
us smarter. In a Science article published in early
2009, prominent developmental psychologist Patricia
Greenfield reviewed more than 40 studies of the
effects of various types of media on intelligence and
learning ability. She concluded that “every medium
develops some cognitive skills at the expense of
others.” Our growing use of the Net and other
screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the
“widespread and sophisticated development of
visual-spatial skills.” But those gains go hand in hand
with a weakening of our capacity for the kind of
“deep processing” that underpins “mindful
knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical
thinking, imagination, and reflection.”
We know that the human brain is highly
plastic; neurons and synapses change as
circumstances change. When we adapt to a new
cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new
medium, we end up with a different brain, says
Michael Merzenich, a pioneer of the field of
neuroplasticity. That means our online habits
continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain
cells even when we’re not at a computer. We’re
exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming
and multitasking while ignoring those used for
reading and thinking deeply.
Passage 2
Critics of new media sometimes use science itself
to press their case, citing research that shows how
“experience can change the brain.” But cognitive
neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every
time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain
changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the
pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does
not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into
shape by experience.
Experience does not revamp the basic
information-processing capacities of the brain.
Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just
that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen
after he read Leo Tolstoy’s famously long novel
War and Peace in one sitting: “It was about Russia.”
Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a
myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the
familiar sight of an SUV undulating between lanes as
the driver cuts deals on his cell phone.
Moreover, the effects of experience are highly
specific to the experiences themselves. If you train
people to do one thing (recognize shapes, solve math
puzzles, find hidden words), they get better at doing
that thing, but almost nothing else. Music doesn’t
make you better at math, conjugating Latin doesn’t
make you more logical, brain-training games don’t
make you smarter. Accomplished people don’t bulk
up their brains with intellectual calisthenics; they
immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read
lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.
The effects of consuming electronic media are
likely to be far more limited than the panic implies.
Media critics write as if the brain takes on the
qualities of whatever it consumes, the informational
equivalent of “you are what you eat.” As with ancient
peoples who believed that eating fierce animals made
them fierce, they assume that watching quick cuts in
rock videos turns your mental life into quick cuts or
that reading bullet points and online postings turns
your thoughts into bullet points and online postings.
Question 31:
On which of the following points would the authors of both passages most likely agree?
A) Computer-savvy children tend to demonstrate better hand-eye coordination than do their parents.
B) Those who criticize consumers of electronic media tend to overreact in their criticism.
C) Improved visual-spatial skills do not generalize to improved skills in other areas.
D) Internet users are unlikely to prefer reading onscreen text to reading actual books.
Answer: | C | false | sat-practice_2-question_31 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Nicholas Carr, “Author
Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains.”
©2010 by Condé Nast. Passage 2 is from Steven Pinker,
“Mind over Mass Media.” ©2010 by The New York Times
Passage 1
The mental consequences of our online
info-crunching are not universally bad.
Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our use
of computers and the Net. These tend to involve
more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye
coordination, reflex response, and the processing of
visual cues. One much-cited study of video gaming
revealed that after just 10 days of playing action
games on computers, a group of young people had
significantly boosted the speed with which they could
shift their visual focus between various images and
tasks.
It’s likely that Web browsing also strengthens
brain functions related to fast-paced problem
solving, particularly when it requires spotting
patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the
way women search for medical information online
indicated that an experienced Internet user can, at
least in some cases, assess the trustworthiness and
probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds.
The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more
adept our brain becomes at those tasks.
But it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly
at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making
us smarter. In a Science article published in early
2009, prominent developmental psychologist Patricia
Greenfield reviewed more than 40 studies of the
effects of various types of media on intelligence and
learning ability. She concluded that “every medium
develops some cognitive skills at the expense of
others.” Our growing use of the Net and other
screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the
“widespread and sophisticated development of
visual-spatial skills.” But those gains go hand in hand
with a weakening of our capacity for the kind of
“deep processing” that underpins “mindful
knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical
thinking, imagination, and reflection.”
We know that the human brain is highly
plastic; neurons and synapses change as
circumstances change. When we adapt to a new
cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new
medium, we end up with a different brain, says
Michael Merzenich, a pioneer of the field of
neuroplasticity. That means our online habits
continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain
cells even when we’re not at a computer. We’re
exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming
and multitasking while ignoring those used for
reading and thinking deeply.
Passage 2
Critics of new media sometimes use science itself
to press their case, citing research that shows how
“experience can change the brain.” But cognitive
neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every
time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain
changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the
pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does
not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into
shape by experience.
Experience does not revamp the basic
information-processing capacities of the brain.
Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just
that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen
after he read Leo Tolstoy’s famously long novel
War and Peace in one sitting: “It was about Russia.”
Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a
myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the
familiar sight of an SUV undulating between lanes as
the driver cuts deals on his cell phone.
Moreover, the effects of experience are highly
specific to the experiences themselves. If you train
people to do one thing (recognize shapes, solve math
puzzles, find hidden words), they get better at doing
that thing, but almost nothing else. Music doesn’t
make you better at math, conjugating Latin doesn’t
make you more logical, brain-training games don’t
make you smarter. Accomplished people don’t bulk
up their brains with intellectual calisthenics; they
immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read
lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.
The effects of consuming electronic media are
likely to be far more limited than the panic implies.
Media critics write as if the brain takes on the
qualities of whatever it consumes, the informational
equivalent of “you are what you eat.” As with ancient
peoples who believed that eating fierce animals made
them fierce, they assume that watching quick cuts in
rock videos turns your mental life into quick cuts or
that reading bullet points and online postings turns
your thoughts into bullet points and online postings.
Question 30:
Which choice best describes the relationship between the two passages?
A) Passage 2 relates first-hand experiences that contrast with the clinical approach in Passage 1.
B) Passage 2 critiques the conclusions drawn from the research discussed in Passage 1.
C) Passage 2 takes a high-level view of a result that Passage 1 examines in depth.
D) Passage 2 predicts the negative reactions that the findings discussed in Passage 1 might produce.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_2-question_30 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Nicholas Carr, “Author
Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains.”
©2010 by Condé Nast. Passage 2 is from Steven Pinker,
“Mind over Mass Media.” ©2010 by The New York Times
Passage 1
The mental consequences of our online
info-crunching are not universally bad.
Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our use
of computers and the Net. These tend to involve
more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye
coordination, reflex response, and the processing of
visual cues. One much-cited study of video gaming
revealed that after just 10 days of playing action
games on computers, a group of young people had
significantly boosted the speed with which they could
shift their visual focus between various images and
tasks.
It’s likely that Web browsing also strengthens
brain functions related to fast-paced problem
solving, particularly when it requires spotting
patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the
way women search for medical information online
indicated that an experienced Internet user can, at
least in some cases, assess the trustworthiness and
probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds.
The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more
adept our brain becomes at those tasks.
But it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly
at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making
us smarter. In a Science article published in early
2009, prominent developmental psychologist Patricia
Greenfield reviewed more than 40 studies of the
effects of various types of media on intelligence and
learning ability. She concluded that “every medium
develops some cognitive skills at the expense of
others.” Our growing use of the Net and other
screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the
“widespread and sophisticated development of
visual-spatial skills.” But those gains go hand in hand
with a weakening of our capacity for the kind of
“deep processing” that underpins “mindful
knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical
thinking, imagination, and reflection.”
We know that the human brain is highly
plastic; neurons and synapses change as
circumstances change. When we adapt to a new
cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new
medium, we end up with a different brain, says
Michael Merzenich, a pioneer of the field of
neuroplasticity. That means our online habits
continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain
cells even when we’re not at a computer. We’re
exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming
and multitasking while ignoring those used for
reading and thinking deeply.
Passage 2
Critics of new media sometimes use science itself
to press their case, citing research that shows how
“experience can change the brain.” But cognitive
neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every
time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain
changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the
pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does
not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into
shape by experience.
Experience does not revamp the basic
information-processing capacities of the brain.
Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just
that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen
after he read Leo Tolstoy’s famously long novel
War and Peace in one sitting: “It was about Russia.”
Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a
myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the
familiar sight of an SUV undulating between lanes as
the driver cuts deals on his cell phone.
Moreover, the effects of experience are highly
specific to the experiences themselves. If you train
people to do one thing (recognize shapes, solve math
puzzles, find hidden words), they get better at doing
that thing, but almost nothing else. Music doesn’t
make you better at math, conjugating Latin doesn’t
make you more logical, brain-training games don’t
make you smarter. Accomplished people don’t bulk
up their brains with intellectual calisthenics; they
immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read
lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.
The effects of consuming electronic media are
likely to be far more limited than the panic implies.
Media critics write as if the brain takes on the
qualities of whatever it consumes, the informational
equivalent of “you are what you eat.” As with ancient
peoples who believed that eating fierce animals made
them fierce, they assume that watching quick cuts in
rock videos turns your mental life into quick cuts or
that reading bullet points and online postings turns
your thoughts into bullet points and online postings.
Question 28:
The analogy in the final sentence of Passage 2 has primarily which effect?
A) It uses ornate language to illustrate a difficult concept.
B) It employs humor to soften a severe opinion of human behavior.
C) It alludes to the past to evoke a nostalgic response.
D) It criticizes the view of a particular group.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_2-question_28 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Nicholas Carr, “Author
Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains.”
©2010 by Condé Nast. Passage 2 is from Steven Pinker,
“Mind over Mass Media.” ©2010 by The New York Times
Passage 1
The mental consequences of our online
info-crunching are not universally bad.
Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our use
of computers and the Net. These tend to involve
more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye
coordination, reflex response, and the processing of
visual cues. One much-cited study of video gaming
revealed that after just 10 days of playing action
games on computers, a group of young people had
significantly boosted the speed with which they could
shift their visual focus between various images and
tasks.
It’s likely that Web browsing also strengthens
brain functions related to fast-paced problem
solving, particularly when it requires spotting
patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the
way women search for medical information online
indicated that an experienced Internet user can, at
least in some cases, assess the trustworthiness and
probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds.
The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more
adept our brain becomes at those tasks.
But it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly
at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making
us smarter. In a Science article published in early
2009, prominent developmental psychologist Patricia
Greenfield reviewed more than 40 studies of the
effects of various types of media on intelligence and
learning ability. She concluded that “every medium
develops some cognitive skills at the expense of
others.” Our growing use of the Net and other
screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the
“widespread and sophisticated development of
visual-spatial skills.” But those gains go hand in hand
with a weakening of our capacity for the kind of
“deep processing” that underpins “mindful
knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical
thinking, imagination, and reflection.”
We know that the human brain is highly
plastic; neurons and synapses change as
circumstances change. When we adapt to a new
cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new
medium, we end up with a different brain, says
Michael Merzenich, a pioneer of the field of
neuroplasticity. That means our online habits
continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain
cells even when we’re not at a computer. We’re
exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming
and multitasking while ignoring those used for
reading and thinking deeply.
Passage 2
Critics of new media sometimes use science itself
to press their case, citing research that shows how
“experience can change the brain.” But cognitive
neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every
time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain
changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the
pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does
not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into
shape by experience.
Experience does not revamp the basic
information-processing capacities of the brain.
Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just
that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen
after he read Leo Tolstoy’s famously long novel
War and Peace in one sitting: “It was about Russia.”
Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a
myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the
familiar sight of an SUV undulating between lanes as
the driver cuts deals on his cell phone.
Moreover, the effects of experience are highly
specific to the experiences themselves. If you train
people to do one thing (recognize shapes, solve math
puzzles, find hidden words), they get better at doing
that thing, but almost nothing else. Music doesn’t
make you better at math, conjugating Latin doesn’t
make you more logical, brain-training games don’t
make you smarter. Accomplished people don’t bulk
up their brains with intellectual calisthenics; they
immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read
lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.
The effects of consuming electronic media are
likely to be far more limited than the panic implies.
Media critics write as if the brain takes on the
qualities of whatever it consumes, the informational
equivalent of “you are what you eat.” As with ancient
peoples who believed that eating fierce animals made
them fierce, they assume that watching quick cuts in
rock videos turns your mental life into quick cuts or
that reading bullet points and online postings turns
your thoughts into bullet points and online postings.
Question 25:
As used in line 40, “plastic” most nearly means
A) creative.
B) artificial.
C) malleable.
D) sculptural.
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_2-question_25 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Nicholas Carr, “Author
Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains.”
©2010 by Condé Nast. Passage 2 is from Steven Pinker,
“Mind over Mass Media.” ©2010 by The New York Times
Passage 1
The mental consequences of our online
info-crunching are not universally bad.
Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our use
of computers and the Net. These tend to involve
more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye
coordination, reflex response, and the processing of
visual cues. One much-cited study of video gaming
revealed that after just 10 days of playing action
games on computers, a group of young people had
significantly boosted the speed with which they could
shift their visual focus between various images and
tasks.
It’s likely that Web browsing also strengthens
brain functions related to fast-paced problem
solving, particularly when it requires spotting
patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the
way women search for medical information online
indicated that an experienced Internet user can, at
least in some cases, assess the trustworthiness and
probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds.
The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more
adept our brain becomes at those tasks.
But it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly
at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making
us smarter. In a Science article published in early
2009, prominent developmental psychologist Patricia
Greenfield reviewed more than 40 studies of the
effects of various types of media on intelligence and
learning ability. She concluded that “every medium
develops some cognitive skills at the expense of
others.” Our growing use of the Net and other
screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the
“widespread and sophisticated development of
visual-spatial skills.” But those gains go hand in hand
with a weakening of our capacity for the kind of
“deep processing” that underpins “mindful
knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical
thinking, imagination, and reflection.”
We know that the human brain is highly
plastic; neurons and synapses change as
circumstances change. When we adapt to a new
cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new
medium, we end up with a different brain, says
Michael Merzenich, a pioneer of the field of
neuroplasticity. That means our online habits
continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain
cells even when we’re not at a computer. We’re
exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming
and multitasking while ignoring those used for
reading and thinking deeply.
Passage 2
Critics of new media sometimes use science itself
to press their case, citing research that shows how
“experience can change the brain.” But cognitive
neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every
time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain
changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the
pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does
not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into
shape by experience.
Experience does not revamp the basic
information-processing capacities of the brain.
Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just
that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen
after he read Leo Tolstoy’s famously long novel
War and Peace in one sitting: “It was about Russia.”
Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a
myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the
familiar sight of an SUV undulating between lanes as
the driver cuts deals on his cell phone.
Moreover, the effects of experience are highly
specific to the experiences themselves. If you train
people to do one thing (recognize shapes, solve math
puzzles, find hidden words), they get better at doing
that thing, but almost nothing else. Music doesn’t
make you better at math, conjugating Latin doesn’t
make you more logical, brain-training games don’t
make you smarter. Accomplished people don’t bulk
up their brains with intellectual calisthenics; they
immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read
lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.
The effects of consuming electronic media are
likely to be far more limited than the panic implies.
Media critics write as if the brain takes on the
qualities of whatever it consumes, the informational
equivalent of “you are what you eat.” As with ancient
peoples who believed that eating fierce animals made
them fierce, they assume that watching quick cuts in
rock videos turns your mental life into quick cuts or
that reading bullet points and online postings turns
your thoughts into bullet points and online postings.
Question 26:
The author of Passage 2 refers to the novel War and Peace primarily to suggest that Woody Allen
A) did not like Tolstoy’s writing style.
B) could not comprehend the novel by speed-reading it.
C) had become quite skilled at multitasking.
D) regretted having read such a long novel.
Answer: | B | false | sat-practice_2-question_26 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Nicholas Carr, “Author
Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains.”
©2010 by Condé Nast. Passage 2 is from Steven Pinker,
“Mind over Mass Media.” ©2010 by The New York Times
Passage 1
The mental consequences of our online
info-crunching are not universally bad.
Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our use
of computers and the Net. These tend to involve
more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye
coordination, reflex response, and the processing of
visual cues. One much-cited study of video gaming
revealed that after just 10 days of playing action
games on computers, a group of young people had
significantly boosted the speed with which they could
shift their visual focus between various images and
tasks.
It’s likely that Web browsing also strengthens
brain functions related to fast-paced problem
solving, particularly when it requires spotting
patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the
way women search for medical information online
indicated that an experienced Internet user can, at
least in some cases, assess the trustworthiness and
probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds.
The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more
adept our brain becomes at those tasks.
But it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly
at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making
us smarter. In a Science article published in early
2009, prominent developmental psychologist Patricia
Greenfield reviewed more than 40 studies of the
effects of various types of media on intelligence and
learning ability. She concluded that “every medium
develops some cognitive skills at the expense of
others.” Our growing use of the Net and other
screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the
“widespread and sophisticated development of
visual-spatial skills.” But those gains go hand in hand
with a weakening of our capacity for the kind of
“deep processing” that underpins “mindful
knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical
thinking, imagination, and reflection.”
We know that the human brain is highly
plastic; neurons and synapses change as
circumstances change. When we adapt to a new
cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new
medium, we end up with a different brain, says
Michael Merzenich, a pioneer of the field of
neuroplasticity. That means our online habits
continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain
cells even when we’re not at a computer. We’re
exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming
and multitasking while ignoring those used for
reading and thinking deeply.
Passage 2
Critics of new media sometimes use science itself
to press their case, citing research that shows how
“experience can change the brain.” But cognitive
neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every
time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain
changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the
pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does
not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into
shape by experience.
Experience does not revamp the basic
information-processing capacities of the brain.
Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just
that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen
after he read Leo Tolstoy’s famously long novel
War and Peace in one sitting: “It was about Russia.”
Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a
myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the
familiar sight of an SUV undulating between lanes as
the driver cuts deals on his cell phone.
Moreover, the effects of experience are highly
specific to the experiences themselves. If you train
people to do one thing (recognize shapes, solve math
puzzles, find hidden words), they get better at doing
that thing, but almost nothing else. Music doesn’t
make you better at math, conjugating Latin doesn’t
make you more logical, brain-training games don’t
make you smarter. Accomplished people don’t bulk
up their brains with intellectual calisthenics; they
immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read
lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.
The effects of consuming electronic media are
likely to be far more limited than the panic implies.
Media critics write as if the brain takes on the
qualities of whatever it consumes, the informational
equivalent of “you are what you eat.” As with ancient
peoples who believed that eating fierce animals made
them fierce, they assume that watching quick cuts in
rock videos turns your mental life into quick cuts or
that reading bullet points and online postings turns
your thoughts into bullet points and online postings.
Question 29:
The main purpose of each passage is to
A) compare brain function in those who play games on the Internet and those who browse on it.
B) report on the problem-solving skills of individuals with varying levels of Internet experience.
C) take a position on increasing financial support for studies related to technology and intelligence.
D) make an argument about the effects of electronic media use on the brain.
Answer: | D | false | sat-practice_2-question_29 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
Passage 1 is adapted from Nicholas Carr, “Author
Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains.”
©2010 by Condé Nast. Passage 2 is from Steven Pinker,
“Mind over Mass Media.” ©2010 by The New York Times
Passage 1
The mental consequences of our online
info-crunching are not universally bad.
Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our use
of computers and the Net. These tend to involve
more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye
coordination, reflex response, and the processing of
visual cues. One much-cited study of video gaming
revealed that after just 10 days of playing action
games on computers, a group of young people had
significantly boosted the speed with which they could
shift their visual focus between various images and
tasks.
It’s likely that Web browsing also strengthens
brain functions related to fast-paced problem
solving, particularly when it requires spotting
patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the
way women search for medical information online
indicated that an experienced Internet user can, at
least in some cases, assess the trustworthiness and
probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds.
The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more
adept our brain becomes at those tasks.
But it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly
at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making
us smarter. In a Science article published in early
2009, prominent developmental psychologist Patricia
Greenfield reviewed more than 40 studies of the
effects of various types of media on intelligence and
learning ability. She concluded that “every medium
develops some cognitive skills at the expense of
others.” Our growing use of the Net and other
screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the
“widespread and sophisticated development of
visual-spatial skills.” But those gains go hand in hand
with a weakening of our capacity for the kind of
“deep processing” that underpins “mindful
knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical
thinking, imagination, and reflection.”
We know that the human brain is highly
plastic; neurons and synapses change as
circumstances change. When we adapt to a new
cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new
medium, we end up with a different brain, says
Michael Merzenich, a pioneer of the field of
neuroplasticity. That means our online habits
continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain
cells even when we’re not at a computer. We’re
exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming
and multitasking while ignoring those used for
reading and thinking deeply.
Passage 2
Critics of new media sometimes use science itself
to press their case, citing research that shows how
“experience can change the brain.” But cognitive
neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every
time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain
changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the
pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does
not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into
shape by experience.
Experience does not revamp the basic
information-processing capacities of the brain.
Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just
that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen
after he read Leo Tolstoy’s famously long novel
War and Peace in one sitting: “It was about Russia.”
Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a
myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the
familiar sight of an SUV undulating between lanes as
the driver cuts deals on his cell phone.
Moreover, the effects of experience are highly
specific to the experiences themselves. If you train
people to do one thing (recognize shapes, solve math
puzzles, find hidden words), they get better at doing
that thing, but almost nothing else. Music doesn’t
make you better at math, conjugating Latin doesn’t
make you more logical, brain-training games don’t
make you smarter. Accomplished people don’t bulk
up their brains with intellectual calisthenics; they
immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read
lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.
The effects of consuming electronic media are
likely to be far more limited than the panic implies.
Media critics write as if the brain takes on the
qualities of whatever it consumes, the informational
equivalent of “you are what you eat.” As with ancient
peoples who believed that eating fierce animals made
them fierce, they assume that watching quick cuts in
rock videos turns your mental life into quick cuts or
that reading bullet points and online postings turns
your thoughts into bullet points and online postings.
Question 32:
Which choice provides the best evidence that the author of Passage 2 would agree to some extent with the claim attributed to Michael Merzenich in lines 41-43, Passage 1?
A) Lines 51-53 (“Critics... brain”)
B) Lines 54-56 (“Yes... changes”)
C) Lines 57-59 (“But... experience”)
D) Lines 83-84 (“Media... consumes”)
Answer: | B | true | sat-practice_2-question_32 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s
address to the 1869 Woman Suffrage Convention in
Washington, DC.
I urge a sixteenth amendment, because “manhood
suffrage,” or a man’s government, is civil, religious,
and social disorganization. The male element is a
destructive force, stern, selfish, aggrandizing, loving
war, violence, conquest, acquisition, breeding in the
material and moral world alike discord, disorder,
disease, and death. See what a record of blood and
cruelty the pages of history reveal! Through what
slavery, slaughter, and sacrifice, through what
inquisitions and imprisonments, pains and
persecutions, black codes and gloomy creeds, the
soul of humanity has struggled for the centuries,
while mercy has veiled her face and all hearts have
been dead alike to love and hope!
The male element has held high carnival thus far;
it has fairly run riot from the beginning,
overpowering the feminine element everywhere,
crushing out all the diviner qualities in human
nature, until we know but little of true manhood and
womanhood, of the latter comparatively nothing, for
it has scarce been recognized as a power until within
the last century. Society is but the reflection of man
himself, untempered by woman’s thought; the hard
iron rule we feel alike in the church, the state, and the
home. No one need wonder at the disorganization, at
the fragmentary condition of everything, when we
remember that man, who represents but half a
complete being, with but half an idea on every
subject, has undertaken the absolute control of all
sublunary matters.
People object to the demands of those whom they
choose to call the strong-minded, because they say
“the right of suffrage will make the women
masculine.” That is just the difficulty in which we are
involved today. Though disfranchised, we have few
women in the best sense; we have simply so many
reflections, varieties, and dilutions of the masculine
gender. The strong, natural characteristics of
womanhood are repressed and ignored in
dependence, for so long as man feeds woman she
will try to please the giver and adapt herself to his
condition. To keep a foothold in society, woman
must be as near like man as possible, reflect his ideas,
opinions, virtues, motives, prejudices, and vices. She
must respect his statutes, though they strip her of
every inalienable right, and conflict with that higher
law written by the finger of God on her own soul....
. . . [M]an has been molding woman to his ideas
by direct and positive influences, while she, if not a
negation, has used indirect means to control him,
and in most cases developed the very characteristics
both in him and herself that needed repression.
And now man himself stands appalled at the results
of his own excesses, and mourns in bitterness that
falsehood, selfishness, and violence are the law of life.
The need of this hour is not territory, gold mines,
railroads, or specie payments but a new evangel of
womanhood, to exalt purity, virtue, morality, true
religion, to lift man up into the higher realms of
thought and action.
We ask woman’s enfranchisement, as the first step
toward the recognition of that essential element in
government that can only secure the health, strength,
and prosperity of the nation. Whatever is done to lift
woman to her true position will help to usher in a
new day of peace and perfection for the race.
In speaking of the masculine element, I do not
wish to be understood to say that all men are hard,
selfish, and brutal, for many of the most beautiful
spirits the world has known have been clothed with
manhood; but I refer to those characteristics, though
often marked in woman, that distinguish what is
called the stronger sex. For example, the love of
acquisition and conquest, the very pioneers of
civilization, when expended on the earth, the sea, the
elements, the riches and forces of nature, are powers
of destruction when used to subjugate one man to
another or to sacrifice nations to ambition.
Here that great conservator of woman’s love, if
permitted to assert itself, as it naturally would in
freedom against oppression, violence, and war,
would hold all these destructive forces in check, for
woman knows the cost of life better than man does,
and not with her consent would one drop of blood
ever be shed, one life sacrificed in vain.
Question 39:
As used in line 36, “best” most nearly means
A) superior.
B) excellent.
C) genuine.
D) rarest.
Answer: | C | true | sat-practice_2-question_39 |
SAT READING COMPREHENSION TEST
This passage is adapted from Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s
address to the 1869 Woman Suffrage Convention in
Washington, DC.
I urge a sixteenth amendment, because “manhood
suffrage,” or a man’s government, is civil, religious,
and social disorganization. The male element is a
destructive force, stern, selfish, aggrandizing, loving
war, violence, conquest, acquisition, breeding in the
material and moral world alike discord, disorder,
disease, and death. See what a record of blood and
cruelty the pages of history reveal! Through what
slavery, slaughter, and sacrifice, through what
inquisitions and imprisonments, pains and
persecutions, black codes and gloomy creeds, the
soul of humanity has struggled for the centuries,
while mercy has veiled her face and all hearts have
been dead alike to love and hope!
The male element has held high carnival thus far;
it has fairly run riot from the beginning,
overpowering the feminine element everywhere,
crushing out all the diviner qualities in human
nature, until we know but little of true manhood and
womanhood, of the latter comparatively nothing, for
it has scarce been recognized as a power until within
the last century. Society is but the reflection of man
himself, untempered by woman’s thought; the hard
iron rule we feel alike in the church, the state, and the
home. No one need wonder at the disorganization, at
the fragmentary condition of everything, when we
remember that man, who represents but half a
complete being, with but half an idea on every
subject, has undertaken the absolute control of all
sublunary matters.
People object to the demands of those whom they
choose to call the strong-minded, because they say
“the right of suffrage will make the women
masculine.” That is just the difficulty in which we are
involved today. Though disfranchised, we have few
women in the best sense; we have simply so many
reflections, varieties, and dilutions of the masculine
gender. The strong, natural characteristics of
womanhood are repressed and ignored in
dependence, for so long as man feeds woman she
will try to please the giver and adapt herself to his
condition. To keep a foothold in society, woman
must be as near like man as possible, reflect his ideas,
opinions, virtues, motives, prejudices, and vices. She
must respect his statutes, though they strip her of
every inalienable right, and conflict with that higher
law written by the finger of God on her own soul....
. . . [M]an has been molding woman to his ideas
by direct and positive influences, while she, if not a
negation, has used indirect means to control him,
and in most cases developed the very characteristics
both in him and herself that needed repression.
And now man himself stands appalled at the results
of his own excesses, and mourns in bitterness that
falsehood, selfishness, and violence are the law of life.
The need of this hour is not territory, gold mines,
railroads, or specie payments but a new evangel of
womanhood, to exalt purity, virtue, morality, true
religion, to lift man up into the higher realms of
thought and action.
We ask woman’s enfranchisement, as the first step
toward the recognition of that essential element in
government that can only secure the health, strength,
and prosperity of the nation. Whatever is done to lift
woman to her true position will help to usher in a
new day of peace and perfection for the race.
In speaking of the masculine element, I do not
wish to be understood to say that all men are hard,
selfish, and brutal, for many of the most beautiful
spirits the world has known have been clothed with
manhood; but I refer to those characteristics, though
often marked in woman, that distinguish what is
called the stronger sex. For example, the love of
acquisition and conquest, the very pioneers of
civilization, when expended on the earth, the sea, the
elements, the riches and forces of nature, are powers
of destruction when used to subjugate one man to
another or to sacrifice nations to ambition.
Here that great conservator of woman’s love, if
permitted to assert itself, as it naturally would in
freedom against oppression, violence, and war,
would hold all these destructive forces in check, for
woman knows the cost of life better than man does,
and not with her consent would one drop of blood
ever be shed, one life sacrificed in vain.
Question 40:
Stanton contends that the situation she describes in the passage has become so dire that even men have begun to
A) lament the problems they have created.
B) join the call for woman suffrage.
C) consider women their social equals.
D) ask women how to improve civic life.
Answer: | A | false | sat-practice_2-question_40 |