– THE SAT CRITICAL READING SECTION – 1. Although the valiant explorer tried for years to reach potx

The complete unit of this sentence sets up a relationship of contrast, signaled by the word although.. The word likewise signals a comparison in this sentence.. The word but might seem t

1 Although the valiant explorer tried for years to

reach the South Pole, his - was neverrewarded

2 Ms Pearson’s rule was that a boor would not be

allowed at her salon; likewise, any person of - manner could be admitted

3 Callie thought her cousin Amanda was the most

- girl she had ever met; in other words, shefound Amanda the height of sophistication

4 As a result of the candidate’s - replies to

her opponent in the debate, the conservativenewspaper wrote a scathing review of herperformance

5 Mr Castle thought himself a -

conversa-tionalist, as he always had something to say; butothers just thought him -

6 McCafferty was widely praised for his wartime

heroism, but many found his efforts on behalf ofthe environment similarly -

7 Some manufacturers have found a simple way to

secure repeat customers, namely planned - for their products

8 The fact that people seldom understood what

Frances meant was due to her - way ofexpressing herself

9 Although James took his physician’s advice and

moved to Miami to take advantage of the effects of a warm climate, his health did notimprove

10 Charles was the - of fitness; therefore, the

coach - him from running laps

11 Staying in bed for months had several effects on

Hillary; for example, - and weakness

13 Coyotes had killed three of Chester’s sheep;

how-ever, he bore them no -

14 As - as he was -, the notorious cat

burglar of Venice was never apprehended

15 The sales representative was given - when

working with his clients; for instance, he couldtake them to the most expensive restaurant intown if he thought it would help close a deal

16 When Casey set a goal, she admitted no -;

thus, she nearly always overcame obstacles

17 Genevieve usually remains - even when

she hears bad news, but when she lost her job,there was no cheering her up

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18 Because Cheryl was so - at home, her

par-ents found it hard to believe she seldom spoke inclass

19 Claire’s father complained bitterly about her

music, though it seemed barely - to her

21 The two siblings have a - nature; therefore,

it was no surprise that their political discourse atthe party escalated into a full-blown -

22 Although Mr Brinton lived on a fixed income,

his - to the poor was exemplary

23 Tracy’s primary reading material was poorly

written gossip magazines, so her English essayswere likewise -

24 Over the years, Jenny went from being a casual

observer of baseball to a(n) - ; in otherwords, she began to follow every game duringthe season

25 As a result of her - effort to attain the

mountain’s -, Lauren was exhausted

26 Hoffman tried to parlay his success as a

commu-nity activist into a stint as mayor, but the rebuffed his effort

27 Mr Ford never seems affected by joy or grief;

similarly, his son has developed the same nature

28 Due to the - nature of Alice’s tears, she

soon found herself in a pool of salty water

29 Despite Doug’s - to the instruction

man-ual, he found it impossible to properly assemblehis desk

30 Daphne always did what she was expected to do;

therefore, it was an - that she joined thecircus when it came through town

31 Durwood was born with no discernible musical

talent; however, his - play very well

32 The nation’s new rulers tried very hard to

all former influences; for example, they all officials with any trace of influence over thepeople

33 Children of the tribe were brought up with one

prime -; namely to - their elders andancestors

34 Chelsea forgot to mail her payment for the

park-ing ticket; thus, her - was late

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35 Troy was devastated that he lost the wrestling

championship, yet he found some - in thefact that it was his best effort

36 At the reunion, one - led to another; and

the old friends ended up telling stories all night

37 As a teen, Jacob really despised doing his chores;

in fact, he considered them a(n) - ratherthan a natural part of daily life

38 Because he wanted to - his counting error,

Finn took the inventory all over again

39 Though Paul had been banned from all school

functions, he sent Devon as his - to stir uptrouble

 S e n t e n c e C o m p l e t i o n A n s w e r s

Remember, if you don’t know a vocabulary word found

in these questions, look it up and learn it

1 b The complete unit of this sentence sets up a

relationship of contrast, signaled by the word

although The correct word is tenacity, which

means the ability to stick to something

2 d The word likewise signals a comparison in this

sentence However, the word boor (an

ill-mannered person) is in a position of son to the word you’re looking for You have to

compari-notice that a boor would not be admitted to

the salon (a sort of club for conversation),whereas the blank calls for a kind of person

who would be admitted.

3 c In other words is a phrase that indicates a

restatement, so you are looking for another

word for sophisticated That word is urbane.

4 b This is a cause and effect sentence You have to

determine what kind of replies would result in

a scathing newspaper review Contumelious is

the only word that fits the bill

5 a This double blank sentence has a contrasting

relationship between its two main parts The

phrase that begins with as, the second unit, is

the clue to both the first blank (it indicates arestatement of the first unit) and the second

blank The word but indicates the contrast

between the first sentence unit and the thirdunit The only answer choice that fits both

blanks is a, consummate and garrulous.

6 e The word but might seem to signal a contrast

within this sentence, but when you see the

word similarly, you know that it is actually a

statement of comparison

7 c Namely is the word that indicates a restatement

in this sentence A manufacturer can secure

repeat business through planned obsolescence.

8 a Was due to indicates cause and effect A cryptic

mode of communication would preventunderstanding

9 c Although expresses the idea of contrast.

Although James went to Miami to benefitfrom—most likely, the positive effects of thewarm weather—his health did not improve

Salubrious is the only answer the makes sense

in the context of the sentence

10 b The word therefore signals cause and effect.

The only answer that sets up that relationship

is epitome and exempted.

11 e This sentence is a comparison, as you can tell

by the use of the phrase for example The rect answer choice is pallor.

cor-12 a A relationship of cause and effect here is

sig-naled by the words lead to The only word that makes sense here is fastidious.

13 d The word however indicates a contrasting

rela-tionship between the sentence units Rancor is

the answer

14 e The use of as as indicates a comparison.

However, you have to look for clues in the ond unit of the sentence to tell you what kind

sec-of comparison is being made A cat burglar

who was never caught would be both furtive and larcenous.

15 c The phrase for instance indicates that an

exam-ple of what was stated in the previous clause isabout to follow Therefore, being allowed totake clients to the most expensive restaurant in

town to help close a deal is an example of carte

blanche in this particular situation.

16 b Thus is a word that signals cause and effect.

An impediment is an obstacle, so refusing to

admit impediments would lead to overcomingobstacles

17 e But is a word that sets up contrast, so the

reader has to determine what word would bemost opposite in meaning to someone whowas inconsolable after losing her job

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18 c Cause and effect in this sentence is set up by

the word because Her parents found it hard to

believe she seldom spoke in class, so the

answer is loquacious (talkative).

19 d Though is a signal word for contrast The word

to contrast with is complained Look for the

word that contrasts with a reason to complain

about music The answer is (barely) audible.

20 b The key words in the question are despite and

managed Those two words together suggest a

breaking of expectations of failure (as opposed

to managed) Think of the question as: Despite

(whatever), (whoever) managed to reach thing) Now you know what happens in the sen-

(some-tence: Despite (their - viewpoints), (the delegates) managed to reach (a -) For the

sentence to make sense, the word in the firstblank needs to set up a conflict with the second

word You wouldn’t expect delegates with

dis-parate viewpoints to be able to reach a sus, so those two words work in the sentence.

consen-None of the other pairs works

21 c The signal word in this sentence is therefore,

so it is a cause and effect sentence The ond clause provides a bigger clue to the cor-rect answer than the first clause does If it is

sec-“no surprise” that a “political discourse,” ordiscussion at a party, escalated into a “full-blown -,” that means that whateverhappened was expected What happened wasmost likely a fight, since a discussion “esca-lated into” something else This means thatthe two siblings must have a quarrelsome

nature, making choices c, d, and e

possibili-ties and ruling out the others But, because

we now know that their quarrelsome nature

led to a fight, we can rule out choice d—a

“full-blown reverie”—makes no sense, and

choice e, as a “full-blown analysis” doesn’t

make sense in the given context either

22 d Although is a word that signals a contrasting

relationship Monetary benevolence is

some-thing you might not expect from someone on

a fixed income and is, therefore, the correctanswer

23 e The word likewise signals a comparison Banal

is the word that is comparable to a poorly

writ-ten gossip magazine.

24 d In other words indicates restatement The

sec-ond clause gives an example of what it means

to be an aficionado of baseball

25 b The phrase as a result signals cause and effect.

Protracted and pinnacle is the correct answer.

26 e But indicates contrast Mayor is a key word,

indicating a move toward an elected office

Electorate is the best choice.

27 e The word similarly indicates comparison This

means that if Mr Ford never seems affected

by joy or grief, then his son doesn’t either

Stoic is the only word that makes sense in this

context

28 a Due to is a phrase that shows cause and effect.

Only copious tears would lead to a pool of

water

29 e The word despite shows a contrast between the

two units of the sentence Fidelity is the

cor-rect answer because it is the only word thatsets up a contrast with the impossibility of theassembly job

30 b This sentence is a little more complicated.

Therefore sets up a cause and effect

relation-ship; but the two units of the sentence contrastwith each other, as a girl who always did whatshe was supposed to would be unlikely to jointhe circus impulsively The correct answer,

then, is anomaly.

31 c However signals a contrasting relationship

between the two sentence units The onlyanswer that works when inserted in the blank

is progeny, which means offspring.

32 b The phrase for example signals a comparative

relationship, so you are looking for words thatwill express such a relationship in the sen-tence In this case, the best strategy is to plugword pairs into the blanks The words that fit

the bill are purge and ousted.

33 d Namely sets up a restatement The sentence

calls for a positive action word in the secondblank, so you can eliminate three choices rightaway Then look for the better word for the first

blank Dictum venerate is the correct choice.

34 c Thus signals cause and effect The correct

choice is remittance, which is another word for payment.

35 a The word yet indicates a contrasting

relation-ship Someone who is devastated might need

solace.

36 d The word and normally signals a

complemen-tary relationship In this sentence, however,

the word therefore is implied after the and.

This tells you that whatever goes in the blank

leads to telling stories all night The correct answer, then, is anecdote.

37 e In fact signals restatement or that an example

will follow If Jacob despised doing chores, itmakes sense that he would consider them anamercement, or a punishment

38 a The word because signals cause and effect An

error calls for a correction The correct answer

is rectify, meaning to correct.

39 b Though signals a contrasting relationship.

Someone who has been banned cannot attend

and so would need to send someone in his

place The correct answer is surrogate, ing substitute.

mean-40 c Cause and effect is indicated here by the word

consequently A lack of explanation, or tion, would lead to misunderstanding Conse-

elucida-quently, the correct answer is elucidate.

–T H E S AT C R I T I C A L R E A D I N G S E C T I O N–

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 P a r t 2 : R e a d i n g I s C r i t i c a l

There are approximately 40 long-passage critical ing questions on the SAT Each Critical Reading sec-tion contains at least one long passage, followed byquestions about the passage Passages are excerptedfrom writings in the fields of literature, humanities,and social and natural sciences There is no poetry

read-Each passage is between 400 and 850 words in length,and there will be between 5 and 13 questions aftereach one

In one critical reading section of the exam, therewill be a set of two long passages These two passageswill complement each other in some way Most often,they will present either supporting or opposing points

of view Some of the questions about these passages willrequire that you be able to analyze similarities and dif-ferences between the two passages

Many of the reading comprehension questionsare vocabulary-related You can think of them as a vari-ation on sentence completion questions, asking you

to determine the meaning of a word or phrase in text Sometimes, the test-makers ask about fairly com-mon words that have multiple uses and ask you tochoose the correct meaning or shade of meaning Mostoften, the answer will be a more obscure meaning of thecommonly used word

con-Other reading comprehension questions test yourability to understand what you read SAT passages areusually complex, densely packed with ideas; and manyare somewhat overwhelming at first glance You will beasked to extract information that may be stated explic-itly or implied In other words, a passage may containarguments with underlying assumptions, which youwill be asked to uncover You will be asked about thelogical flow of the texts and about their consistency orlack thereof You may also have to answer questionsabout the tone of the passages as well as their overalltheme or meaning

Fortunately, the skills you are learning for thesentence completion questions will also serve you well

for the reading comprehension questions Additionally,learning to make sense of complex passages will makeyour college career even more successful

Ready, Set, Read!

If you are already skilled at quickly reading and standing dense prose, good for you! If not, try thisapproach Feel free to adapt it and change it to suit yourneeds and temperament There’s no one “right” way toread The right way to do all of these things is the waythat works for you; so as you practice, try variations onthe method to see what suits you

under-Every reading comprehension passage has a shortone- to three-sentence introduction This introduc-tion will provide you with some context for the passage

as a whole, so read it first Occasionally, there will be aquestion that requires knowledge of this introduction,

so read it carefully

Now you may want to skim the passage for itssubject matter With practice, you will find that topicsentences and key adjectives will practically leap outand grab your attention Be sure to keep your pencilpoised to write as you read You will want to mark keywords and phrases as you see them

Next, read the passage all the way through As youfinish each paragraph, determine its main idea Then,jot a word or phrase that expresses that idea in themargin of your test booklet This is a note to yourself,which will enable you to easily find sections of the pas-sage later and quickly tie the separate paragraphs into

a coherent whole

As you read the passage, mark any words orphrases that seem particularly important or expres-sive Often, adjectives that set a mood or tone will helpyou understand the author’s meaning, so underlinethem or jot them down in the margin It’s also impor-tant to note the location of details that support theauthor’s main point(s)

Of course, you were paying attention in Englishclass when the teacher discussed topic sentences, soyou know that most well-written paragraphs have at

least one sentence that sums up the main thrust of the

paragraph It is most often either the first or the last

sentence, so if you’re having trouble determining the

author’s point, reread the first and last sentences of

each paragraph

Once you’ve quickly but carefully read the entirepassage, it’s time to tackle the questions On the SAT,

the questions are organized roughly in the same order

as the parts of the passage to which they refer In other

words, the answer to the second question will most

likely be found in the passage somewhere after the

answer to the first question, and so forth All of the

pas-sages on the SAT are numbered every five lines

Addi-tionally, many of the questions contain the line number

or numbers that will help you locate the answer

Beware, though, that you don’t assume that the answer

to the question will be found exactly in the line

refer-enced in the question Chances are, it will be found

somewhere near that line; but it still may be a few lines

away This is when the words and phrases you have

marked and the notes you have jotted in the margin will

come in really handy

When you have a set of questions on two relatedpassages, there will be several questions without line

numbers Those questions will usually ask you to

com-pare the two passages in various ways Again, you will

be glad for your marks and notes on the passages

As you read each question, approach it as youwould any other sentence Underline or circle key

words and phrases that help you with the meaning of

the question Whenever you see a word or phrase such

as best, primarily, most closely, or most nearly, it alerts

you to the likely presence of particularly good

dis-tracter answers That is to say, there may be two or

more answers that reflect language from the passage or

that may be true about the passage Rest assured,

how-ever, that with careful attention to the wording of both

question and answer choices, you can determine which

choice is truly best

Nine Proven Strategies for Reading Comprehension Questions

1 Read actively! As you read, ask yourself at the end

of each paragraph what it was about Mark up thepassage, and write any thoughts you have about it

in the margins Be an engaged reader Try tobecome interested for a few minutes in whateverthe subject of the passage is

2 If you have an especially good short-term

mem-ory, you may want to look at the questions beforeyou read the passage Mark the words andphrases the questions ask about, then look forthose words and phrases in the passage Whenyou find them, you can either go ahead andanswer the question right then or mark the area

to come back to later

3 If you don’t understand what a question is

ask-ing, rephrase the question, using your ownwords SAT questions are written in a very pre-cise, “hyper-grammatical” style to eliminate anyambiguity Unfortunately, nobody talks that way,

so the questions can be confusing at first glance.Once you have marked the key words andphrases, rearrange them in a way that makessense to you Don’t be afraid to add new words tothe question; just be sure the words are express-ing the same ideas that are already in the ques-tion and not changing the meaning of thequestion in any way

4 Once you understand a question, try to answer it

in your own words before looking at the answerchoices Distracter answer choices often take one

of several forms:

■ are close to the correct answer, but wrong insome detail

■ are true, but do not answer the question

■ use language found in the text, but do notanswer the question correctly

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5 As with all the multiple-choice questions on the

SAT, elimination is an important strategy for thereading comprehension questions Even if youdon’t know the answer to a particular questionright away, you often will be able to eliminateone to three answer choices without even refer-ring back to the passage Then you know that one

of the remaining answers is the correct one, andyou can spend your time more productivelylooking up those answers in the passage

6 If you know from your preparation and

pretest-ing that you don’t always have enough time tofinish each section, don’t hesitate to skip aroundthe questions Look them over and answer theeasy ones first, coming back to the more difficultquestions Remember, each correct answer isworth one point You don’t get bonus points foranswering more difficult questions If you skip aquestion, though, mark it in your test bookletand come back to it if there’s time

7 When you encounter a two-passage section, read

the passages with their relationship in mind Arethey in agreement? Are they opposed? Is theresome other kind of relationship? How would you

describe the relationship? If the passages areopposed, what are the points of difference? Jotthese things down and refer back to them, ifnecessary

8 Expect to refer back to the passages(s) on

virtu-ally every question If you know the answer to aquestion without referring to the passage, fine;however, it might be a good idea to check thepassage anyway, just to make sure you haven’tfallen for a distracter answer

9 Remember to read between the lines! You may

remember that you must be extremely literalwith sentence completion questions and neverread anything into them or bring in any ideasthat are not clearly expressed within the sentenceitself That’s not true with critical reading ques-tions In fact, you will be called upon to interpretalmost every passage, to draw conclusions fromthe text, and to extend the author’s point of view

to evaluate a statement that isn’t even in the sage That’s why it is so important to be activelyengaged in reading each passage Try to under-stand it as though you had written it yourself

Read the passage and the questions that follow it As you form your answers, be sure to base them on what is stated

in the passage and introduction, or the inferences you can make from the material

Use the answer sheet below to record your answers

ANSWER SHEET