Question ID b4887dae Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty SAT Reading and Writing | Craftand Structure | Text Structure and | gy guy Purpose DPT CLyE TC Mathematician Claude Shannon is widely regarded as a foundational figure in information theory. His most important paper, “A Mathematical Theory of Communication, published in 1948 when he was employed at Bell Labs, utilized a concept called a “binary digit” (shortened to “bit") to measure the amount of information in any signal and determine the fastest rate at which information could be transmitted while stil being reliably decipherable. Robert Gallagher, one of Shannon's colleagues, said that the bit was “[Shannor’s] discovery, and from it the whole communications revolution has sprung.” Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text? A. Itpresents a theoretical concept, illustrates how the name of the concept has changed, and shows how the name has entered common usage. B, Itintroduces a respected researcher, describes an aspect of his work, and suggests why the work is historically significant, C. Itnames the company where an important mathematician worked, details the mathematician’s career at the company, and provides an example of the recognition he received there. D. It mentions a paper, offers a summary of the paper's findings, and presents a researcher's commentary on the paper. ID: b4887dae Answer Correct Answer: B Rationale Choice B is the best answer. The text starts with a general statement that introduces Shannon, then describes a specific contribution from one of his papers, then provides a quote that illustrates just how important this contribution was. Choice A is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. The text only mentions very briefly, in parentheses, that “binary digit” was shortened to “bit” It doesnt go into detail about this name change, and it doesn't discuss any “common usage” of the name at all. Choice C is incorrect. This isn't the overall structure, Shannon's employment at Bell Labs is only mentioned once, very briefly: the text never goes into detail about his career there, and it never mentions any recognition he received there, Choice D is incorrect. This is too narrow. Overall, the text is about Shannon's importance in his field, not just this one paper of hisQuestion ID aa5897b8 Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty SAT Reading and Writing | Craftand Structure | Text Structure and | gy guy Purpose DREEESC) In Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park, an almost imperceptible smile from potential suitor Henry Crawford causes the protagonist Fanny Price to blus! ows when she suspects that he is aware of it, This moment—in Which Fanny not only infers Henry's mental state through his gestures, but also infers that he is drawing inferences about her mental state— illustrates what literary scholar George Butte calls “deep intersubjectivity,” a technique for representing interactions between consciousnesses through which Austen's novels derive much of their social and psychological drama jer embarrassment Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole? A. It states a claim about Austen's skill at representing psychological complexity that is reinforced by an example presented in the following sentence B. It advances an interpretation of an Austen protagonist who is contrasted with protagonists from other Austen novels cited in the following sentence. C. It describes a recurring theme in Austen's novels that is the focus of a literary scholars analysis summarized in the following sentence. D, it provides a synopsis of an interaction in an Austen novel that illustrates a literary concept discussed in the following sentence. DRE EL EEUST Tg Correct Answer: D Rationale Choice D is the best answer. The underlined sentence provides a concrete example to ground readers’ understanding of the “deep intersubjectivity” described in the next sentence as central to Austen’s work. Choice A is incorrect. There is no evaluation made of Austen's skill in this sentence, and no examples are given in the following sentence. This choice essentially fips the paragraph: its this first sentence that provides an example. Choice B is incorrect. There are no other Austen protagonists mentioned in this passage, so this couldn't be the answer. Choice C is incorrect. The underlined sentence doesn't identify any “recurring theme” but instead simply describes one interaction from ‘one book. This interaction exemplifies the literary technique of “deep intersubjectivity” that is introduced in the next sentence. Question Difficulty: HardQuestion ID c61a7c4a Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty SAT Reading and Writing | Craftand Structure | Text Structure and | gy gu Purpose DAE ey ‘Some studies have suggested that posture can influence cognition, but we should not overstate this phenomenon. A case in point: In a 2074 study, Megan O'Brien and Alaa Ahmed had subjects stand or sit while making risky simulated economic decisions. Standing is more physically unstable and cognitively demanding than sitting; accordingly, O’Brien and Ahmed hypothesized that standing subjects would display more risk aversion during the decision-making tasks than sitting subjects did, since they would want to avoid further feelings of discomfort and complicated risk evaluations. But O'Brien and Ahmed actually found no difference in the groups’ performance. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text? ‘A. Itargues that research findings about the effects of posture on cognition are often misunderstood, as in the case of O'Brien and Ahmed's study. B, It presents the study by O'Brien and Ahmed to critique the methods and results reported in previous studies of the effects of posture on cognition. C. Itexplains a significant problem in the emerging understanding of posture’s effects on cognition and how O'Brien and ‘Ahmed tried to solve that problem. D. It discusses the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to illustrate why caution is needed when making claims about the effects of Posture on cognition. PEP Correct Answer: D Rationale Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text. The text notes that although some studies have suggested that posture may have an effect on cognition, this phenomenon should not be overstated. In other words, the text begins by urging caution and restraint when discussing the effects of posture on cognition, implying that even though some studies have shown posture to affect cognition, we should not assume that posture always affects cognition or does so in a strong way. The text goes on to discuss O’Brien and Ahmed's study as a ‘case in point” (that is, as ‘an example of the point made previously), According to the text, O'Brien and Ahmed hypothesized that since standing is more cognitively demanding than sitting, standing subjects in their experiment would respond differently to decision-making tasks than sitting subjects would, which would show an effect of posture on cognition. What the researchers actually found, however, was that the standing and sitting subjects performed the same—posture did not affect cognition. By presenting a circumstance in which posture does not appear to affect cognition, the discussion of O'Brien and Ahmed's study shows why itis important not to overstate the phenomenon. The purpose of the text, therefore, is to discuss O'Brien and Ahmed's study to illustrate why caution is needed when making claims about posture’s effects on cognition. Choice A is incorrect because the text discusses O'Brien and Ahmed’s study as an example of why caution is needed when discussing posture’s effects on cognition, not as an example of how research findings related to posture and cognition areoften misunderstood. Although the text does warn against misunderstanding the scope of the relationship between posture and cognition that has been reported in some previous studies, O’Brien and Ahmed's study is not one of those studies, and there is no suggestion that anyone has misunderstood O'Brien and Ahmed’ findings. Choice B is incorrect because the text makes no mention of the methods used in previous studies of the effects of posture on cognition. Although the text does urge caution when discussing posture’s effects on cognition, it does not critique the results of studies that suggested that posture can affect cognition. instead, the text suggests that such results should not be exaggerated or taken too broadly Choice C is incorrect because although the text implies that overstating posture's effects on cognition would be a problem, nothing in the text suggests that O’Brien and Ahmed share that view or that they attempted to solve that problem. O'Brien and Ahmed are presented as hypothesizing that posture would affect cognition in their study, not as trying to resolve the problem the text describes Question Difficulty: HardQuestion ID b0f7541b Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty SAT Reading and Writing | Craftand Structure | Text Structure and | gy gu Purpose ae) The following text is adapted from Herman Melville's 1857 novel The Confidence-Man. Humphry Davy was a prominent British chemist and inventor. Years ago, a grave American savant, being in London, observed at an evening party there, a certain coxcombical fellow, as he thought, an absurd ribbon in his lapel, and full of smart [banter], whisking about to the admiration of as many as were disposed to admire. Great was the savant's disdain; but, chancing ere long to find himself in a corner with the jackanapes, got into conversation with him, when he was somewhat ill-prepared for the good sense of the jackanapes, but was altogether thrown aback, upon subsequently being [informed that he was] no less a personage than Sir Humphry Davy. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text? A. It portrays the thoughts of a character who is embarrassed about his own behavior. B. It presents an account of a misunderstanding. C. Itoffers a short history of how a person came to be famous. D, it explains why one character dislikes another. Page Cg Correct Answer: B Rationale Choice B is the best answer. The text tells a story of a first impression that turned out to be wrong: a serious American savant was dismissive of a goofy-looking, wisecracking guest at a British party, and then was shocked to learn that the guest was actually a prominent British chemist and inventor, Choice Ais incorrect. This is too strong and too narrow. Only at the very end is the savant ‘thrown aback’ by the fact that the man was Sir Humphry Davy—he's not ‘embarrassed about his own behavior” Choice C is incorrect. This isn't the main purpose. The text never provides the history of how Sir Humphry Davy came to be famous. Nor does it provide any history for the American savant. Choice D is incorrect. This is too narrow. It doesn't include the second half of the text, where the savant gets into a conversation with the man and then finds out that the man is Sir Humphry Davy. Question Difficulty: HardQuestion ID 5f56fdec Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty SAT Reading and Writing | Craftand Structure | Text Structure and | gy gu Purpose DEC Td The following text is from George Marion McClellan's 1895 poem “Eternity.” My spirit swoons, and all my senses cry For Ocean's breast and covering of the sky. Rock me to sleep, ye waves, and outward bound, Just let me drift far out from toil and care, Where lapping of the waves shall be the sound, Which mingled with the winds that gently bear Me on between a peaceful sea and sky, To make my soothing slumberous lullaby. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text? A. To illustrate the increasing intensity of the speaker's desire to escape ongoing hardship by gliding on the ocean B. To contrast the demands of the speaker's everyday life with the serenity of being rocked to sleep by the ocean ©. To convey the speaker's longing for the ocean to impart a sense of inner tranquility D. To justify the speaker's qualms about being transported by the ocean to a quiet destination Cr Uc Correct Answer: c Rationale Choice C is the best answer because it most accurately states the main purpose of the text, which is to convey the speaker's longing for the ocean to impart a sense of inner tranquility, or peace. The text begins by expressing the speaker's strong desire to be on the ocean, appealing directly to the waves to rock the speaker to sleep. The poem then describes the “slumberous lullaby" formed by the sound of the waves and the winds on which the speaker wishes to be carried “gently..between a peaceful sea and sky’ All these details serve to emphasize the speaker's desire for the ocean to give them a sense of inner tranquility. Choice A is incorrect. Given the poem's expression of a longing to achieve tranquility by drifting on the ocean, it can be inferred that the speaker desires to escape something unpleasant in daily life. However, the poem doesn't refer directly to any such hardship—ongoing or otherwise. And since the poem doesn't establish that the speaker is experiencing a desire to escape ongoing hardship, it can't be said that such a desire increases in intensity. Choice B is incorrect. The speaker does express a desire for the serenity of being rocked to sleep by the ocean, and it can be inferred that this desire is a response to demands that make the speaker's daily life stressful. However, the poem doesn't refer directly to such demands or contrast them with the tranquility of drifting on the ocean. Choice D is incorrect because the text doesn't suggest the speaker has any ‘qualms, or reservations, about being transported by the ocean. On the contrary, the speaker actively desires to “drift far out"and be carried by the waves and wind. Moreover, the poem doesn't suggest that this drifting would have any particular destination. Question Difficulty: HardQuestion ID d4732483 Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty SAT Reading and Writing | Craftand Structure | Text Structure and | gy guy Purpose DRURY LCE) Studying late nineteenth: and early twentieth-century artifacts from an agricultural and domestic site in Texas, archaeologist ‘Ayana 0. Flewellen found that Black women employed as farm workers utilized hook-and-eye closures to fasten their clothes at the waist, giving themselves a silhouette similar to the one that was popular in contemporary fashion and typically achieved through more restrictive garments such as corsets. Flewellen argues that this sartorial practice shows that these women balanced hegemonic ideals of femininity with the requirements of their physically demanding occupation. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text? A. To describe an unexpected discovery that altered a researcher's view of how rapidly fashions among Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth: and early twentieth-century Texas changed during the period B. To discuss research that investigated the ways in which Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early ‘twentieth-century Texas used fashion practices to resist traditional gender ideals C. To evaluate a scholarly work that offers explanations for the impact of urban fashion ideals on Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas D. To summarize the findings of a study that explored factors influencing a fashion practice among Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth: and early twentieth-century Texas, DI CUEPLEE UN Correct Answer: D Rationale Choice D is the best answer. The text provides an overview of a scholarly work discussing the fashion practices of Black female farmworkers in late 19th- and early 20th-century Texas, and how these practices were influenced by both the fashion ideals of the time and the demands of farmwork. Choice A is incorrect. The text never discusses the rate of fashion change among Black female farmworkers. The text also never categorizes Flewellen’s findings as "unexpected." Choice B is incorrect. The text actually explains that Black female farmworkers were trying to achieve traditional feminine ideals, not resist them. Choice C is incorrect. The text doesn't evaluate a scholarly work but rather simply describes it. Furthermore, the text is focused on “agricultural and domestic” fashion, not urban fashion as this choice suggests, Question Difficulty: HardQuestion ID 65406d2c Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty SAT Reading and Writing | Craftand Structure | Text Structure and | gy guy Purpose Dry Dubautia carrii is a species in a family of plants known collectively as the silversword alliance, all of which grow only on the Hawaiian Islands. Members of this alliance exhibit an extraordinary range of phenotypes, with some species maturing into vines and others into shrubs and trees. All species in the alliance descended from a single ancestral tarweed plant that arrived on the islands around § million years ago. The tarweed's descendants diversified into distinct species as they adapted to live in the wide variety of habitats found on the Hawaiian Islands. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text? ‘A. To indicate the specific tarweed ancestor of all plants that grow on the Hawaiian Islands and explain why the plants have such varied physical characteristics B. To describe the specific habitat where Dubautia carr are found and identify other plants that share a common ancestor with them C. To describe the silversword alliance and explain how the plant family became so varied D, To advance the claim that all plants on the Hawaiian Islands are part of the silversword alliance and list possible ancestors of the plants that make up the alliance DAE Pe Lg Correct Answer: c Rationale Choice C is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text, which is to describe the family of plants known as the silversword alliance and explain why the plants came to exhibit ‘an extraordinary range of phenotypes.” The text introduces the silversword alliance as a family of plants unique to the Hawaiian Islands, presenting those that mature into vines and those that mature into shrubs and trees as examples of different phenotypes. The text concludes by explaining that these plants are all descendants of ‘a single ancestral tarweed plant" that arrived 5 million years ago in the Hawaiian Islands, where a “wide variety of habitats" drove the plant's descendants to adapt and thus differentiate themselves, diversifying into a group of related but distinct species with different physical characteristics. Choice Ais incorrect. Although the text explains why the plants within the silversword alliance have varied physical characteristics, the text doesn't suggest that tarweed is the ancestor of all plants on the Hawaiian Islands. The text states instead that all members of the silversword alliance descend from a single tarweed ancestor. Choice B is incorrect because while Dubautia carrii is mentioned as an example of a species in the silversword alliance, no details about its particular habitat are provided, And although the text indicates that the Hawaiian Islands are home to ‘a wide variety of habitats,’ it doesn't describe the specific habitat where Dubautia carl is found. The text discusses the silversword alliance as a whole rather than focusing on Dubautia carril or any one species within this family. Choice D is incorrect. Although the silversword alliance is only found on the Hawaiian Islands and includes "an extraordinary range of phenotypes,’ the text doesn't claimthat all plants on the Hawaiian Islands are part of the alliance. Furthermore, the text indicates that these plants all “descended from a single ancestral tarweed plant, not that there are multiple possible candidates for that ancestor plant. Question Difficulty: HardQuestion ID 4ed09415 Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty SAT Reading and Writing | Craftand Structure | Text Structure and | gy gu Purpose DCE} Vadamalai Elangovan and Ganapathi Marimuthu showed that high moonlight intensity inhibits the activity of the greater short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx), a result explicable in terms of benefits and costs: greater lunar intensity may not enable the bats to increase foraging success enough to offset the higher chance of detection by predatory owls or hawks. Most other nocturnal mammals respond to lunar intensity variations similarly to greater short nosed fruit bats, but mongoose lemurs (Eulemur mongoz) display the opposite pattern, as their heavy reliance on visual foraging results in a different balance of reward and risk Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text? A. It discusses two different responses to the same natural phenomenon, explains why one of those responses occurs, and then suggests that the other response still needs to be explained. B, It describes and accounts for a finding, characterizes the finding as representative of a general pattern, and then describes and accounts for an exception to that patter, C. Itpresents and explains a study result, indicates that the result is similar to the results of many other studies, and then attributes a conflicting study result to a difference in that study's methods. D. Itintroduces an observation of a behavioral pattern, presents an explanation for the pattern, and then describes an exception to the pattern that casts doubt on that explanation. PECL See Cg Correct Answer: B Rationale Choice B is the best answer because it most accurately describes the overall structure of the text. The text begins by describing a study's finding about greater short-nosed fruit bats—namely, that high moonlight intensity inhibits the bats’ activity—and also accounts for that finding, stating that this occurs because the potential increase in foraging success that greater lunar intensity enables doesn't offset these bats’ increased vulnerability to predators (whose vision is also implied to become more acute under intense moonlight). The text goes on to characterize this finding as representative of a general pattern, stating that many nocturnal mammals behave similarly in response to changes in lunar intensity, The text concludes by describing an exception to this pattern, explaining that mongoose lemurs display an opposite tendency because they rely heavily on visual foraging. This strategy presumably would allow them to derive more benefit from greater lunar intensity than many other nocturnal mammals would, resulting in a “different balance of reward and risk’ than exists for other nocturnal mammals. Therefore, the overall structure of the text is best described as a description and account of a finding, a characterization of that finding as representative of a pattern, and then a description and account of an exception to that, pattern, Choice Ais incorrect. Although the text discusses two different responses to variations in moonlight intensity, explaining that as moonlight intensity increases, greater short nosed fruit bats and many other nocturnal mammals decrease theirforaging activity but mongoose lemurs increase their foraging activity, it doesn't leave one of these responses unexplained. ‘The text accounts for both the typical response to increased lunar intensity (reduced activity due to predation risk) and the exception (increased activity due to a reliance on visual foraging) by making reference to a cost-benefit framework. Choice C is incorrect. Although the text presents a study's finding about the effect of increased lunar intensity on greater short nosed fruit bats’ activity before going on to contrast this behavior with the fact that mongoose lemurs display the opposite response to increased lunar intensity, the text doesn't explicitly invoke other studies and doesn’t attribute this difference in observed behavior to the fact that the study of greater short-nosed fruit bats used different methods than studies of mongoose lemurs did. Rather, the text explains that the different observed behaviors can be attributed to differences in species’ foraging strategies. Choice D is incorrect. Although the text characterizes the behavior of mongoose lemurs in response to increased lunar intensity as an exception to a pattern of behavior observed in other nocturnal mammal species, this exception doesn't cast any doubt on the explanation that is offered for the general pattern observed among other species. Instead, the text uses the same cost-benefit framework to explain why increased lunar intensity is associated with decreased activity by greater short-nosed fruit bats and other nocturnal mammals but with increased activity by mongoose lemurs, Question Difficulty: Hard