Virtual Reality 3 Explanations

C The related prefixes CO-, COL-, and COM- mean “with” or “together.” COLLABORATE contains the prefix CO- and the root LABOR, so it means “to WORK together.” The word habit has come a lo

1 D Since the veteran boxer won most of his bouts by knockouts, you can assume that

he was pretty successful Unb r oken is the only choice that describes his series of

wins in a way that suggests success; an unb r oken series of victories would be a

winning streak with no losses (A) and (B) are both contradicted by the rest of the

sentence Choice (C) able-bodied may seem to fit in a sentence about a boxer,

but what’s an able-bodied series of wins? This choice sounds odd when you plug

it in Only (D) makes sense

2 E Sitting still for hours and remaining alert to the slightest sound or motion amounts to

having (E) limitless patience and keen powers of obse r vation Powers of (A)

persuasion, (C) reasoning, or (D) trust have nothing to do with the description

of bird watching given In (B), powers of concentration are certainly required but

it doesn’t make sense to speak of patience as skilled

3 B One of the main things with Sentence Completions is to look for context clues—

words and ideas in the sentence that strongly suggest the answer you’re looking

for

Here, the first major clue in the sentence is the word “everyday.” You know

you’re looking for a word with a similar meaning for the first blank In the second

blank,

you need something to describe what the everyday objects were transformed into, a

synonym for “everyday.” The second word in (B), r esplendent , or extraordinary,

is

a good contrast, and fits when plugged into the sentence: Weston’s camera

transformed mundane things into objects of r esplendent beauty (C) and (E)

can be eliminated because their first words don’t work Everyday things like

vegetables are not always small or artificial In (A), inexpensive might seem to

fit with the idea of “e v e r yd a y items such as vegetables.” But (A)’s second word,

tawdry, or cheap and gaudy, makes no sense In (D), you might imagine that

vegetables can be decorative, but (D)’s second word functional doesn’t provide

the contrast we’re looking for

4 B Here, you know that the issues “go far beyond” the immediate controversy referred

to in the sentence So you can predict they have “implications” or “consequences”

beyond the matter presently under discussion The best match for this prediction is

(B) ramifications Ramifications are resulting developments or

consequences

(C) proponents are advocates or supporters (D) inferences are conclusions

5 D The phrase “even accepting” in the second part of the sentence implies that

Chamberlain’s approach to German aggression was not a particularly tough or

militant one, especially since he tolerated Germany’s annexation of Austria

Therefore, it’s likely that Chamberlain adopted a non-aggressive, accepting

approach to Hitler The choice that comes closest to this prediction is (D)

conciliato r y , meaning “tending to pacify or accommodate.” Choice (B)

precarious means “uncertain or dangerous,” and choice (C) haughty means

“arrogant, snobby, huffy.”

Virtual Reality III 1

6 C Although we don’t know what kind of performance Redgrave gave, we can infer that

it was either good or bad If it was good, we can predict people who were lucky enough to see the performance say it was the height of his career Basically, we want two positive words if Redgrave did a good job, or two negative words if he bombed The only choice showing this relationship is (C): those fortunate enough to witness Redgrave’s performance say it was the pinnacle, or height, of his

career (A) scourge means “something that annoys or destroys.” (B) astute means shrewd or perceptive (D) hapless means “unlucky.” (E) nadir means “thelowest point.”

7 C This woman relieves her after-work exhaustion by walking along the beach Thus

the implied adjective in the first blank, describing the sea air, will reinforce this idea

In the second blank, we need a synonym for “relieve.’’ Thus (C): the bracing, or invigorating, sea air always manages to alleviate her fatigue The other choices make no sense The sea air might be (A) humid, (B) salty, (D) damp, or (E) chilly, but those qualities wouldn’t hasten, exacerbate (worsen), reprove (scold), or aggravate the woman’s exhaustion

8 A The word in the blank will describe terms which refer indirectly to some thing or

idea The right answer is (A) — euphemisms are polite, inoffensive or lessexplicit terms which are used to name an unpleasant, frightening or offensive reality

"Passed away" is an example of a euphemism You say “passed away” instead of

“died.” (B) banalities are things that are commonplace or worn-out (D) apostrophes are marks used to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, as in the word “can’t.” (E) eulogies are formal speeches of praise At a funeral, speakers might deliver eulogies about the person that died

9 E A good vocabulary will help you figure out this one The bookkeepers altered some

financial records and completely fabricated others, so you need a word like

“altered,” “falsified,” or “fake” for the blank (E) spurious means “false, lackingauthenticity,” so it’s a good match

10 D LEMONADE is a type of BEVERAGE just as a magazine is a type of

periodical

11 C The related prefixes CO-, COL-, and COM- mean “with” or “together.”

COLLABORATE contains the prefix CO- and the root LABOR, so it means “to WORK together.” The word habit has come a long way from its root, HABIT, over the centuries, but the original root meaning is still visible in such words as inhabit, habitat, and habitation In those words, HABIT means “to live or reside.” So cohabit means “to live together,” and (C) is correct In (D), SYN-, like CO-, means “with” or “together”; CHRON- means “time.” So synchronize means “to make happen at the same time.” When one watch is synchronized with another, it displays the same time as the other watch But watch in choice (D) isn’t a noun, it’s a verb Always “watch” the parts of speech in an analogy to make sure you understand

what meaning of a word is intended

SAT V

s where the vocabula

ry is easy it isvery importan

t to statethe connecti

on between the stem words absolutel

y

precisely In this case an APRON

is worn to protect one’s CLOTHES Once this is clear, answer choice (E) jumps

out as correct: a helmet is worn to protect the head The other answer choices,

even those with strong bridges, can be eliminated easily: (A) is strong—a parasol

is used to protect against the sun—but that bridge is inappropriate (B) is

moderately strong: gloves are sometimes worn to protect against the cold; since

this bridge is identical to that in (A), both answer choices would have to be

eliminated because only one answer can have the same bridge as the stem words

(C) and (D) have totally different bridges—so (E) is the correct answer

13 B Answer choice (B) is correct A PULPIT is a platform on which a PREACHER

stands in church when addressing the congregation In (B), the podium is a

raised platform where the conductor stands Choice (A) has a strong bridge

—

every teacher has a student—but it is not the one which we need here Choices

(C), (D) and (E) can be eliminated because they have weak bridges: an artist, if he

or she is a painter, may use a canvas (C) but the connection is not a really strong

one; (D) and (E) are even weaker In (D) a gallery is a balcony in a theater

14 A Here’s a tougher stem pair, but, as always, there is a strong bridge: The word

ADULATION is a very strong kind of PRAISE In the same way, with (A),

loathing is a very strong kind of dislike (B) doesn’t work because disdain and

contempt mean practically the same thing The stem pair involves one word that’s

an extreme form of the other Scholarship is not an extreme kind of eloquence

(C)

Sympathy is not an extreme kind of emotion (D) And pleasure is not an

extreme form of hedonism If you had trouble, you might have tried eliminating

choices—(C) and (D) both seem like weak bridges (words with unclear

relationships)—and then guessing

15 B An ANALGESIC is used to relieve PAIN Likewise, an emollient is used to

relieve d r yness There were a lot of “doctor” words here—especially in

choices (D) and (E) You might have spotted them as SST’s (same subject

temptations), especially since this was supposed to be a tough question On

tough questions, the ones at the end of the set, the “obvious” answer is usually

wrong In (A), a purgative is a medicine that purges or cleans you out, like

mineral oil But a purgative doesn’t produce purity, exactly In (C) a

humidifier provides moisture, not ventilation (air circulation)

Leisure Time Passage

This is a not-too-difficult social science passage, which only has a few big ideas If

you felt confused at any point, it would’ve been worthwhile to check the questions

They clarify things and are fairly straightforward Your first reading should’ve given

you these ideas: Paragraph 1 says that people have less free time now than they

used to, because people are choosing to work overtime to be able to afford

expensive leisure-time activities Paragraph 2 says that although people have less

free time during the week, on weekends they feel compelled to participate in

strenuous, skill-testing activities Paragraph 3 explains that this is because

technology has removed “craft” from most professions, so people try to prove their

competency by mastering demanding leisure activities

SAT Virtual Reality III 3

16 C Go back and read a few lines around the quoted line to see the context in which

“skiing and sailing” are mentioned The author’s point is that if you want to go skiing or sailing in your free time, unless you are rich, you’ll have to spend some of that “free time” working to be able to afford those expensive pastimes That makes(C) correct The point is not that expensive sports are “inaccessible” for the

average person (A), but that they require a sacrifice of time The author is not commenting on the cost of sports like skiing and sailing (D), or whether they are

“unnecessarily expensive” (B) (E) is out because the author is not giving out advice about what type of recreation to choose

17 B Don’t over-interpret the passage with a question like this one—the answer is fairly

straightforward For example, choices (C), (D), and (E) give way too much information for what is found in the text The author simply says that either becauseadvertising is very effective, or because people just want to own stuff, they choose

to work more hours So the “effectiveness of advertising” is one possible reasonwhy people spend so much on recreation (B) Choice (A) sounds much tooextreme the author never “condemns” the average consumer for anything

18 B After reading a line or two around the word “indulgences,” it should be clear that the

author uses that word to refer to items like “elaborate running shoes” and

“monogrammed warm-up suits.” These clearly are not (E) favors There’s nothing

in the context to support the idea that they are (A) rewards; they certainly are notexpenses (D), and while (C) whims comes close, (B) luxuries is the better answer

19 D The author’s point in lines 38-43 is that until recently, many leisure activities could

only be pursued once a year The example of taking swimwear out of mothballs illustrates this point ironically — people swam so infrequently, they had to put their swimwear in long-term storage (D) Choice (A) is wrong because the author expresses no particular opinion about annual vacations today “Household chores” (B) is a distortion of the idea of “digging equipment out and dusting it off.” (C) is outbecause despair is too strong a word — watch our for these kinds of wrong choices

— and because taking out swimwear hardly fits the description of a “traditionalcustom.” Finally, there was no “lack of enthusiasm for swimming” in the past —

it was just enjoyed in a different way than it is now

20 A The “casual attitude” is described at the end of paragraph 2 It is the emphasis on

“having a good time” during recreation, rather than focusing on “technique.” You’ll save time by scanning the answer choices before going back to the passage (C) and (D) jump out as wrong, because they’re never discussed (E) is also off-base;people never had “a resistance towards buying sports equipment.” You can scan paragraph 1 to be sure, but there was never a restriction on working overtime, so (B) is out That leaves (A), which may not seem like a very precise answer, but byprocess of elimination, it has to be correct Remember not to argue with what you’re given—choose the best answer, and move on

at peop

le

“wor

k

at recreation”

becaus

e technologyha

s take

n th

e craftou

t

of theirjobs No

w chec

k th

e choi

ces (B) should jump out as correct— describing the skills that

people employ in their leisure time would support the idea that peopleare doing “meaningful work” on the weekends Information about jobs that still require a level of expertise (A) would weaken the author’s point Information

about (C) and (D) woudn’t affect the author’s conclusion — these choices refer to

earlier points Choice (E) may have been tempting — but information about

technologies in the workplace would not support the author’s conclusion as directly

as information about the skills now involved in leisure activities — choice (B).

Frederick Douglass Passage

SAT Virtual Reality III 5

The introduction tells you that this is an excerpt from an autobiography Your first read-through should’ve given you a general idea of the main points: Douglass learned to read and write through his own resourcefulness; he was influenced greatly by two specific pieces of writing; and the more he read, the more tormented

he became by his conviction that having freedom was rightfully his

22 C Remember that with “primary focus” questions you need to find a choice that covers

the main points of the passage, without being too broad or too narrow In this case,(A) is much too narrow Douglass mentions that he made friends with some White boys only to let the reader know how he learned to read How learning to read influenced his ideas about slavery (C) is the primary focus of the passage, becausethat’s the idea everything in the passage relates to (D) is an example of an overly broad choice It blows up the two books that influenced Douglass into “literature,” and the discussion of slavery into “civil rights movements.” It doesn’t mention Douglass, reading, or slavery at all If you have trouble with a primary focus

question, you can either: do the other questions first, which might clarify the main idea for you; or eliminate any too-broad or too-narrow choices and guess

23 E Don’t be put off by the vocabulary in this (or any) question stem Use the

information you’re given—the line reference—to figure it out What does Douglasssay about his mistress in paragraph 1? Simply that she started to teach him to read and write, but then (influenced by her husband) stopped, and wouldn’t let anyone else teach him either That’s what correct choice (E) says If you were confused by the word “absolutely” in this choice (since she had started to teach him), you should eliminate the rest of the choices, which should then lead you back

to (E) (A) is wrong because we found in paragraph 1 that Douglass’s mistress finally took her husband’s advice—not that she “persisted in ignoring it.” (B) iswrong because there is no mention of Douglass’s opposition to slavery in paragraph1—if you chose (B) you’re inferring too much The same goes for choices (C) and(D)

24 E Read a few lines after the line you’re referred to Douglass says he made friends

with some White boys, and that “with their help, [he] finally succeeded in learning toread.” Learning to read was the goal of his plan, and choice (E) is correct

Douglass never mentions that he even thought of trying to persuade his mistress tocontinue teaching him, so (A) is out If you chose (B), (C) or (D), you’re inferringtoo much Again, keep the main idea in mind, and remember some questions arestraightforward

25 D In a question where you’re dealing with an analogy, you don’t want to be too literal

In the lines you’re referred to, Douglass describes how he gave bread to hungryboys in exchange for lessons—“the bread of knowledge.” Since he says this kind of

“bread” is “more valuable” than actual food, it must’ve been very important to him,

as (D) has it If you chose (B), you’re focusing too much on details and losing sight

of the main points (E) distorts a small fact (the availability of bread) into an improbable inference (C) takes the word “valuable” to mean financially valuable, but Douglass means knowledge is valuable in other ways

26 C This is another question where you need to make an inference, but be sure that

your answer is based on the lines that you’re referred to First, Douglass says it would not injure him to give the names of the boys who taught him to read, so youcan eliminate (D) and (E) Instead, he points out that it might embarrass the boys because it was considered an “offense” to teach slaves to read It is a short leap from this information to correct choice (C) There’s no evidence for the inference (A) makes, and nothing in the passage mentions Douglass being “advised” about whom to associate with (B)

27 B “Bear” has a number of different definitions, so you must go back to the context to

figure out the answer You should do this with all vocabulary-in-context questions (B) makes the most sense (D) might’ve tempted you, since Douglass is “suffering”

at the thought of being a slave for life But it’s the situation that implies suffering, not the word “bear.”

28 C When Douglass discusses Sheridan’s speech he says that “I read [it] over and

over,” and that what he got from it was “a bold denunciation of slavery and a powerful vindication of human rights.” You should realize from this tone—before you

go tothe answer choices—that you need a positive-sounding answer From the firstwords in the answer choices, you can quickly eliminate (B) “disappointment” and (E)

“skepticism.” At this point you’ve eliminated enough choices to guess, if you happen

to be running out of time If not, read the rest of the choices (A), “interest,” is probably the least likely; Douglass was really psyched about Sheridan’s ideas, not merely “interested” in them (C) has a strong enough first word, “enthusiasm,” and the rest of the choice proves it’s correct: what was Douglass so enthusiastic about? Sheridan’s views of slavery, of course That relates to the main idea of the

passage, which you should keep in mind when you answer any question

29 D This question’s a little harder than most, so if you had trouble with it, you should’ve

come back to it, or eliminated choices and guessed Remember, all questions are worth the same, so don’t lose time on any single one In this case, a good

approach is to figure out the point of the paragraph, and then find an answer that makes sense What’s Douglass’s main point there? He says that the more he read, the more he realized that slavery was a large-scale form of robbery, which increased his outrage So Douglass describes slaveowners as “robbers” toemphasize that as his knowledge increased, so did his anger (D) (A) is tricky Thedescription of slaveowners as “robbers” may indicate that Douglass’s

misconceptions about the legitimacy of slavery had been dispelled, but it’s not Douglass’s goal here to do that for others (B) and (C) don’t make much sense inthis context (E) is wrong because it’s not Douglass’s goal to prove his master’s predictions

e phrase

“eterna

l wakefulness

”

is used Douglas

s saysth

at he

“saw”

an

d

“heard”

freedo

m everywhere

—th

at th

e id

ea of freedom tormented him, since he was

supposed to be a slave for life “Eternal wakefulness” refers to the way his soul had

been affected by the idea of freedom Now check the choices to see which one fits

with these ideas (D) matches, and is the right answer (A) is out because

Douglass knows all too well the causes of his unhappiness (B) is wrong because

it’s too positive—it doesn’t capture the “torment” Douglass discusses (C) might be

the next step he takes, but he doesn’t mention his “plans” for freedom in this

excerpt Finally, Douglass says nothing about “researching his African origins”

anywhere in the passage

SAT Virtual Reality III 7

1 A We’ve got a lot of food and we’re making some skimpy sandwiches with only one

slice of ham and one slice of cheese in each one If there are 75 slices of ham and

75 slices of cheese, then we should be able to make 75 sandwiches, right? Oneslice of ham and one slice of cheese in each sandwich, and 75 slices of both ham and cheese seems to indicate 75 sandwiches Certainly you can’t make more than

75 sandwiches, so choices (D) and (E) can be eliminated The question is: Is thereenough bread to make 75 sandwiches? There are 120 slices of bread, and each sandwich gets 2 slices of bread, so there is enough bread for only 60 sandwiches

So the caterer can only make 60 sandwiches The correct answer is (A)

2 B This is a fairly straightforward algebra question If you had trouble with it, you

probably need to do some review in your Math Reference Book

To solve, simply plug the given values for x and y into the equation You should

write down each step, otherwise it is easy to make a careless error You’re given the

expression x 2 + 2xy + y 2 Since x is 1 and y is –1, this expression becomes

There’s a shortcut here that you may have noticed The expression x 2 + 2xy + y 2

is equivalent to (x + y )2 Since x + y = 1 + (–1) = 1 – 1 = 0, (x + y)2 is also equal to0

3 C This is a translation problem, so you have to take the words a few at a time and find

the equivalent equation Let’s start with the words “12 less than.” What if you wereasked “What is 12 less than 20?” That’s easy, right? 12 less than 20 is just 20 minus 12 So 12 less than the product of something is going to look like something

minus 12 The next part of the phrase is “the product of 3 and b.” You should

know that a product is the result of multiplying two numbers together So the

product of 3 and b is just 3 times b, or 3b Therefore 12 less than the product of 3 and b is just

12 less than 3b, or 3b – 12 The next word is “is,” which means equals, so we have

“3b – 12 = ” What does it equal? 9, of course, so the entire equation is 3b – 12 =

9, choice (C) You might have been tempted by choice (A), which is similar, but

notice that in (A) the 12 is being subtracted from b, not from the product of anything.

SAT

Virtual Reality III

8

4 C If you look at the drawing, and think about how gears work, you’ll see that the teeth

of each gear pushes the gear next to it to make it go around Let’s call the gears A,

B, C, etc from left to right If gear A is turned clockwise, then its teeth will push the

teeth on the left side of gear B down This will make gear B turn counterclockwise Since gear B is turning counterclockwise, the teeth will be moving up when they are

on the right side, touching gear C That will push the teeth on the left side of gear C

up, and make gear C turn clockwise Do you see the pattern now? This will make

D turn counterclockwise, E turn clockwise, and finally F turn counterclockwise

Since A, C, and E will turn clockwise and B, D, and F will turn counterclockwise, 3

gears will turn counterclockwise, choice (C)

5 & 6 Whenever you have a graph question, it’s a good idea to spend at least a few

seconds examining the graph before you begin Here you have what looks like part

of a pie chart and a bar graph, both describing the employees at Company X From

the note under the title you know that there are 800 employees, and from the notes

under the graph you know that 75% of them work full-time and 25% of them work

part-time Notice that the full-time employees are represented by the bar graph,

which gives the number of full-time employees in each department, whereas the

part-time employees are represented by the pie chart, which gives the numbers of

part-time employees as a percentage of the total number of employees

5 D You already know from your examination of the graphs that 75% of the employees

work full-time, 25% work part-time, and that there are 800 employees in all That

means that there are 75% × 800 = 600 full-time employees and 25% × 800 = 200

part-time employees Since 600 is 400 more than 200, the number of full-timers is

400 more than the number of part-timers, and the correct answer is (D)

You could also have done this by finding the difference of the percents first Since

75% are full-time and 25% are part-time, the difference between them is just

75 – 25% = 50%, since they are percents of the same whole 50% of 800 is 400,

again choice (D)

6 A Now you have to figure out what percent of the employees work in the

manufacturing department What makes this hard is that there are 2 kinds of

employees — part-time and full-time — and 2 kinds of graphs that represent them

You’ll have to figure out the number of part-timers in manufacturing and the number

of full-timers in manufacturing separately, then add those 2 amounts together, and

then figure out what percent of the total that number represents First, the number

of full-time employees in manufacturing That’s easy — you can just read that off

the bar graph, which tells you that there are 240 full-time employees in

manufacturing Now for the part-timers The pie wedge that says “manufacturing”

also says “10%.” But 10% of what? Be careful here — it’s not 10% of the total

number of part-timers; it’s 10% of the total number of workers, or 10% of 800, which

is 80 So there are 80 part-timers and 240 full-timers in manufacturing, for a total of

320 workers in manufacturing Since there are 800 workers total, the percent is just

SAT Virtual Reality III 9

320

, or

800 10040 , or 40%, answer choice (A).

7 B Maurice starts out with $80 He spends $32.45 on clothes, so after he buys the

clothes he has $80 – $32.45 = $47.55 left Then he gives $27.55 to his sister so hehas $47.55 – $27.55 = $20 left We’re trying to find what fraction of the original $80

he still has, or what fraction of $80 the $20 he has left is That fraction is just 20

80

or 1 , choice (B)

4

8 E In this question you don’t have to solve for x, so if you did a lot of work, solved for x,

and then plugged one or both of the values back into the expression 2x 2 – 8x, you

did a lot of unnecessary work If you’re given an algebra problem where you’re not solving for the value of one variable, you should always look carefully at the

expression you’re solving for Can you see any similarities between the expression you’re solving for and the information you’re given? In this problem, you should

have noticed that 2x 2 – 8x looks very similar to x 2 – 4x In fact, 2x 2 – 8x = 2(x 2 –

4x).

So, if x 2 – 4x – 12 = 0, then x 2 – 4x = 12, and 2x 2 – 8x = 2(x 2 – 4x) = 2(12) or

24, answer choice (E)

9 E Don’t be scared by the term ”factor-rich.” It’s just a made-up expression that is

defined by concepts that you already know about The question stem tells you thatall it means for a number to be factor-rich is that when you add up all the factors of the number except for the number itself, that sum is greater than the number Allyou have to do is go through the answer choices and add up the factors of each oneexcept for the number itself The factors of 6 are 1, 2, 3, and 6; adding all of them except 6 gives us 1 + 2 + 3 = 6 The result is not greater than 6, so 6 is not factor- rich For choice (B) we add 1 + 2 + 4 = 7, which is not greater than 8 Choice (C) is

9, so we add 1 + 3 = 4 No good The factors of 10 are 1, 2, 5, and 10, and 1 + 2 +

5 = 8, so 10 is not factor-rich either Since we’re left with only one answer choice,(E), it must be correct, but just to check add up 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 = 16, which is indeed greater than 12 so choice (E) is correct

10 D In this question you have 2 parallel lines, £1 and £2, and 2 lines which cross both of

them, £3 and £4 Let’s forget about £3 for a minute, and look what happens where

£4 crosses £1 and £2 Since £4 is perpendicular to £2, all the angles that are

formed where those 2 lines cross are right angles And, since £1 is parallel to £2,the angles that are formed where £4 and £1 meet are also right angles That meansthat £1 and £4 must also be perpendicular to each other, which means that

statement I is true That means we can eliminate answer choices (B) and (E)

£3 also crosses the two parallel lines and together with £4 creates a triangle in between them Since all the angles formed where £2 and £4 meet are right angles,

the triangle is a right triangle One of the other angles of the triangle measures a˚,

but what about the third angle of the triangle? Well, that angle is formed by the

same lines that form the angle labeled b˚, so that angle inside the triangle must also measure b˚ Since the 3 angles inside the triangle measure a˚, b˚ and 90˚, and the sum of the angles in a triangle is always 180˚, a + b + 90 = 180, which means that

a + b = 90, so statement III is true Now we can eliminate answer choices (A) and

(C), and since choice (D) is the only one left, it must be correct

45 Howeve

r, althoug

h that’s

how a and b

look in the figure, there’s

no information there that would indicate

that b

could just as easily

be a 46˚, a 43˚, or

a 50˚ angle,

so stateme

nt II is false

11 D If there were 1200 books on sale and 1

3 were sold on the first day of the sale, then

SAT Virtual Reality III 11

12 B Let’s take this question one step at a time A bicyclist riding at 12 miles an hour for

2 hours travels twice as far as a hiker How far does the bicyclist travel? That’s

easy, 12 miles an hour for 2 hours is just 12 × 2 or 24 miles If the bicyclist travels

twice as far as the hiker, and the bicyclist travels 24 miles, the hiker must travel 12

miles, since 24 is twice 12 The hiker walks at 4 miles an hour for a total of 12

miles Since 4 × 3 = 12, the hiker must walk for 3 hours at 4 miles an hour to go a

total of 12 miles, so the correct answer choice is (B)

13 D This is an inequalities question, so you might want to read the inequalities section of

your Math Reference Book if you had trouble with it Remember, solving inequalities

is the same as solving equations with one exception — if you multiply or divide by a

negative number you have to change the direction of the inequality sign You can

solve this one pretty easily Start by adding 2b to each side, and then divide by 2:

2a – 2b < 0 2a < 2b

a < b

This tells you that 2a – 2b is less than 0 when, and only when, a is less than b, so

the correct answer is choice (D)

14 A This question is nowhere near as complicated as it seems You’re given that the

figure shows a square, an isosceles right triangle, and an equilateral triangle, and

you have to find the total measure of the angles in between them The first thing to

do is to think about what you know about the angles in squares and triangles You

probably remember that each angle of a square measures 90˚, each angle of an

equilateral triangle measures 60˚, and that the 2 angles other than the right angle in

an isosceles right triangle each measure 45˚ That means that the angle in between

the x˚ and the y˚ angle measures 90˚, the angle in between the y˚ and the z˚ angle

measures 45˚, and the angle in between the z˚ and the x˚ angle measures 60˚

Another thing that you should remember is that all the angles around a point add up

to 360˚ There are 6 angles around point D, the one in the square, the two in the 2

triangles, and the three measuring x˚, y˚, and z˚ So, x + y + z + 90 + 45 + 60 =

360, and x + y + z = 165, choice (A).

15 C Here you’re given that a and b are integers, but you don’t know whether they are

positive or negative, so there are a lot of possible values of a and b that fit the equation 2a + 5b = 15 One way to solve this one is to backsolve – to try each

answer choice Plug in the given value for b and see if the equation works If you start with choice (C), which is a good idea when backsolving, you’re in luck here If

b were equal to 2, the equation 2a + 5b = 15 would be 2a + 10 = 15, or 2a = 5, or a

= 2.5 But you’re given that a is an integer, so a cannot possibly be 2.5, so b = 2

doesn’t work and choice (C) is correct

You might have noticed that in the equation 2a + 5b = 15 you have an even number, 2a, plus another number, 5b, being equal to an odd number, 15 An even number

plus an even number equals an even number, and an even number plus an odd

number equals an odd number, so the expression 5b must be an odd number If 5b

is an odd number, then b must be an odd number (since odd × odd = odd andodd × even = even) Therefore the correct answer choice is the one even

number, again choice (C)

16 B Since you’re given that y is between –1 and 0, why not pick an appropriate number

for y and plug it into each answer choice? Try y = – 1 Then choice (A) is

2

Choice (B) is the greatest.

17 C A good way to solve this question is by making yourself a little table Each

employee is described by two different things Each one is a woman or a man andeach one either drives to work or takes public transportation So make this table:

margins For example, we can put the number of women in the company below the

box in the lower left-hand corner Now let’s begin to put numbers in the table from

the information in the question stem The question stem tells us that there are 25

women and 25 men, and that 29 employees drive to work Each of these three

pieces of information describes only one attribute of the employees, so these

numbers will go in the appropriate margins We’re told that 6 men take public

transportation This describes both attributes, so put a 6 in the lower right-hand box

Now your table should look like this:

SAT Virtual Reality III 13

What we want to find is the number of women who drive to work which is the

number that must go in the upper left-hand box So let’s fill in information in the

table, hoping that we can work our way to the upper left-hand box We know that

there are a total of 25 men in the company and that 6 men drive to work This

means that the remaining 25 – 6 or 19 men take public transportation So put a 19

in the upper right-hand box Now we’re going to be able to find the number of

women who drive to work Since 29 employees drive to work and 19 men drive to

work, 29 – 19 or 10 women drive to work If you also put a 10 in the upper left-hand

box, your table should look like this:

18 B Careful here! If you said to yourself: “This is simple, pages 10-25 are empty, that’s

25 – 10 = 15 pages at 4 photos a page, that’s 60 photos all together ,” then you fell

into a trap! NEVER pick an obvious answer on a hard problem The catch here is

that page 10 is empty, too, and if you count from 10 to 25 while including both 10

and 25 you’ll see that there is a total of 16 empty pages, not 15 Since 16 × 4 = 64,

the correct answer is (B)

In general, if a and b are integers and a < b, the number of integers from a through

b inclusive (meaning that we’re including a and b) is b – a + 1.

19 E This is much more of a logic question than a math question, so you have to think it

through carefully Since you’re asked which answer choice must be true, one way

to do it is to go look at each answer choice and try to find a possible situation in which that choice is not true Let’s start with choice (A), which says that at least onestereo was sold on each day of the month That’s not necessarily true, maybe all 63stereos were sold on one day and none the rest of the month Cross out choice (A)

Is it necessarily true that exactly 2 stereos were sold on a particular day? No, again it’s possible that all 63 stereos were sold on one day and none the other days You can eliminate choice (B) Do we know if a stereo was sold on a Monday,

Wednesday or a Friday? What if all 63 were sold on a particular Tuesday? So choice (C) is not necessarily true Our useful scenario with all 63 stereos being sold

on one particular day is good enough to eliminate choice (D) as well, which leaves

us with only choice (E), which must be correct Just to be sure, take a look at it It says that at least 3 stereos were sold on one day If all 63 were sold on one day, then on that day at least 3 stereos were sold If the sale of stereos was more evenlydistributed, would there necessarily be a day in which 3 or more stereos were sold? Since a month has at most 31 days, if 2 or less stereos were sold each day of the month, then at most only 62 stereos would have been sold in that month In orderfor 63 stereos to be sold, there has to be at least one day where 3 or more stereoswere sold, so choice (E) is correct

20 E If the slope of a line is – 3 , that means every time the y-coordinate decreases by 3,

2

the x-coordinate increases by 2 So, if the y-coordinate goes from 6 to 0, as it does

if you travel along line £ from point A to point B, it decreases by 6, or 2 × 3

Therefore the x-coordinate must increase by 2 × 2, or 4 Since the x-coordinate of A

is 0, the x-coordinate of B must be 4, so point B ’s coordinates are (4, 0) That means that the length of OB is 4 Since the length of OA is 6, the area of the

3triangle is 1 × 4 × 6 = 12, choice (E).

2

21 C You’re given that a and b are positive integers that add up to 10 There’s a limited

number of integers that meet those requirements – a could be 9 and b could be 1, a could be 8 and b could be 2, etc If you list all the possible values of a and b you’ll find that there are 9 pairs of numbers that could be the values for a and b You could plug each of these 9 pairs of numbers into the expression a – b to see which turns out the smallest If you do it that way you’ll find that a – b is smallest when a

is 1 and b is 9, so a – b = –8, choice (C).

SAT

Virtual Reality III

14

That method is a little time-consuming, however You can make this problem very

short and quick if you just think about the expression a – b Since a and b are both positive, this expression will be as small as it can get when a is as small as possible and b is as large as possible Since the smallest possible value for a is 1, the largest possible value for b is 10 – 1 or 9, and therefore the smallest possible value for a – b must be 1 – 9, or –8, again choice (C).

22 E To do this question, you have to know what the word “median” means The median

of a group of numbers is the one in the middle when the numbers are placed in

ascending order For example, the median of the numbers 3, 6, 7, 12 and 20 is 7

Notice that the same number of terms are smaller than the median as are greater

than the median

In this question you’re given that 73 is the median of a group of 7 numbers (one for

each day of the week) That means that 3 numbers must be less than 73 and 3

numbers must be greater than 73 67, 71, and 72, the temperatures for Monday,

Tuesday, and Wednesday, respectively, are each less than 73 The other 3

temperatures must be greater than 73 The Friday temperature is 76, and among

the answer choices the only values for Saturday and Sunday which are both greater

than 73 are 74 and 77, choice (E)

23 D This question is a lot easier if you pick numbers for the variables Let’s say that x is

1 and y is 2 Then it takes the printer 1 minute to print 2 pages That’s a lot easier

to deal with, isn’t it? Then how long does it take the printer to print y + 2, or 4

pages? If it prints 2 pages in one minute, then to print 4 pages it must take 2

minutes Now you can eliminate any answer choice which does not equal 2 when x

SAT Virtual Reality III 15

is 1 and y is 2 (A) is 3, (B) is 3 , (C) is

2

1 , (D) is 2, and (E) is2

1 Since only2

choice (D) resulted in the correct value of 2, choice (D) must be correct

If you wanted to do it algebraically, you have to determine the rate of the printer in

minutes per page and then multiply that rate by the number of pages The rate is x

minutes per y pages, or x

y minutes per page Since there are y + 2 pages, the

24 D One important thing to remember about quadrilaterals is that the sum of the interior

angles is 360˚ That means that w + x + y + 70 = 360, and therefore w + x + y =

290 x must be a positive, but it can be a number very close to 0 If x actually were

0 then w + y would be 290 If x were very slightly larger than 0, w + y would be very

slightly smaller than 290 So, 290 must be the upper bound of the range of values

that w + y could have, so the correct answer must be choice (B) or choice (D) If x

were equal to 45, then w + 45 + y would be 290, and w + y would be 245 However,

x can’t equal 45, but its largest possible value could be a number very slightly

smaller than 45 That means that w + y would equal a number very slightly larger

than 245 So, 245 must be the lower bound of the range of values that w + y could

have That means that the correct answer must be choice (D)

25 A If each term is x more than the previous term, then each term must equal x plus the

previous term, in other words s = r + x and t = s + x Combining those 2 equations

r + x for s and r + 2x for t gives you r + s + t3 =

1 D This is about the philosopher Thomas Malthus’s predictions about population

growth — kind of an intimidating subject if you haven’t read much philosophy But

don’t worry This sentence is pretty simple once you take it apart and look for

clues The biggest clue is the word famine You’re told that population growth

does something to food production, resulting in famine Well, you know that when

many people are hungry and there’s not enough food to go around, famine

happens Or, to put it in terms of the sentence, population growth would exceed

food production, resulting in massive famine The answer choice that best matches

this prediction is (D) surpass

2 C The key to this sentence is that Dr Brown “brooked no deviation from his ideas.” In

other words, he wouldn’t put up with anyone who disagreed, which through the use

of “while,’’ is contrasted with his supposed belief in discussing issues Hence, (C):

Brown p r ofess es or claims to have such a belief, but he interrupts anyone who

doesn’t concur, or agree (A) makes no sense: there’s no contrast between

regretting a belief in discussion and cutting off those who don’t agree with you

(B), (D) and (E) may be a bit confusing They’re just the opposite of what’s needed

in the second blank Since Brown doesn’t tolerate disagreement, he probably

would not cut off anyone who did not (B) debate, (D) question, or (E) protest

3 E Here you may find it easier to fill in the second blank first, because it contains the

catchy phrase “merely , not canceled.” Look for cliched phrases like these on

sentence completions — they can help you get the answer fast What probably

pops into your head when you read “merely , not canceled” is “merely put off, not

canceled.” That’s logical What you need in this second blank is something that

means the employees have put off their demands for now, but will bring them up

again in the future So (E) postponed is correct (E)’s first word works as well:

itmakes sense that employers would try to moderate wage increases during

serious economic difficulties (C) redressed means “set right or corrected.”

4 C This example is typical of Sentence Completions testing vocabulary Getting the

answer hinges on knowing that virulent means “extremely poisonous.” The

sentence tells us that certain poisonous compounds in peach pits are “usually not

harmful.” But, the sentence continues, if you eat enough of them, they can be

We need a word that means “poisonous” or “harmful.” V ir ulent , like the related

word virus, comes from a root that means “poison.” What if you didn’t know the

word vir ulent ? If you noticed the resemblance between virus and vir ulent , that

would have been a good clue Otherwise, you could have tried eliminating answer

choices Choices (A) and (D) are words that relate to things that taste bad, but

neither means “poisonous.” (A) acerbic means “sour or harsh.” (D)

unpalatable means “unacceptably bad-tasting.” (B) superfluous means

“unnecessary,” and (E) multifarious means “diverse.”

5 D Here you’re looking for words that fit with the phrases “ speeches to historical

figures” and “an impartial and historian.” The only choice that fits is (D)

Though Thucydides used psychological insight rather than documented information

to attribute speeches to historical figures, he is still considered an impartial and

accurate historian (A) doesn’t work, because historians are never referred to as

Virtual Reality III 17

endless (B), (C), and (E) don’t work because the first word in each choice —(B) transmit (to send); (C) disseminate (to distribute), (E) promote (to advance) — doesn’t fit with the phrase “speeches to historical figures.”

Thucydides is an author He’s describing historical figures in his writing, notwriting speeches for them

6 D When you’re working on Sentence Completions, pick up clues that aren’t obvious

For instance, notice complexity here Complexity might not have jumped out atyou, but it’s key to figuring out both blanks Whatever goes in the first blank has

to describe how readers would react to a novel’s complexity Would they be (A)charmed by its complexity ? Probably not They probably wouldn’t be (B)rejected by its complexity either (C) inhibited, (D) daunted or (E)enlightened are possible, but only (D) fits in the second blank In (D), it makessense to say that readers daunted, or intimidated, by the allusiveness, or

symbolic quality, of Joyce’s novel would find Gilbert’s study a helpful introduction.Don’t be daunted by hard words like allusiveness If you don’t know

vocabulary, you can still use logic to rule out most of the wrong choices

7 E The word in the blank has to have something to do with religion (E) is the only

choice that does An agnostic is someone who is uncertain about theexistence of god (A) an archetype is an original pattern or model (B) abibliophile is a book-lover or book collector (C) a martinet is a strictdisciplinarian, one who rigidly follows rules (D) an aesthete is someone whoappreciates and cares about beauty or beautiful art The vocabulary is prettyhard here As always, if you can rule out one clearly wrong choice, it’s worth yourwhile to guess, rather than skip, the question

8 C Wrath means “anger.” In the first blank here, you can predict that the project

managers were unwilling to risk arousing the anger of their superiors, or bosses.(C) is correct – incurring means bringing down on oneself, becoming liable orsubject to (C)’s second word, maintain, also works Maintain here isn’tbeing used to mean “to keep in repair,” as in “maintain a car.” It’s being used inits secondary meaning: “to assert or declare.’ Watch out for secondary meaningslike these on the SAT

9 B The clue although tells us that the two missing words have to show contrast.

Also, the word in the first blank has to go along with the word “sweet,” and thesecond word has to describe something offensive We can predict something like

“pleasant unpleasant.” The only choice that fits is B, mild pungent

Pungent means “sharp or biting.” It’s the opposite of mild In (C), blandmeans “not stimulating.” In D, cloying means “sickeningly sweet.” Ephemeralmeans “fleeting or short-lived.” In (E), rancid means “rotten” and acrid means

“sharp or bitter.”

10 C The word in the blank describes what audiences see the stand-up comic do So

it’s a word like “act” or “entertain.” (C) extemporize is the only possible answer

It means “to improvise, to speak (or appear to speak) on the spur of the moment.”

If you didn’t know this hard word, you could have ruled out some wrong answersthat clearly had nothing to do with acting, like (A) recruit (B) placate means

“to soothe or be conciliatory.” (D) extricate means “to free from entanglement,rescue or disengage.” (E) exult means “rejoice.”

11 B A SCOWL is a face you make when you’re ANGRY In (B), a grin is a face

you make when you’re chee r ful In (A) to amble is to walk in a leisurely way

It’s not a hasty way of walking at all In (D), to fret is to worry This word might

have reminded you of the stem pair, since negative emotions are involved in both

But even though (B) contains words relating to positive emotions, it’s right

because the relationship between the two words is right

12 B A CARDIOLOGIST studies, or works with the HEART The word cordial or

warm, hearty, shares the same root as CARDIOLOGIST The answer is (B)

because a linguist studies language (C) surgeon:scalpel was a same

subject temptation (D) was close, but an astrologist doesn’t actually study a

star in the same way that a heart specialist studies the heart Astrologists study

something more obscure: the movements of the planets and their effects on

human behavior

13 D A group of SOLDIERS is called a PLATOON In the same way, a group of

bi

r ds is called a flock This might have fooled you because correct choice (D)

is the only one that doesn’t involve humans But the important thing is the

relationship: whole to part Only (D) gets that right

14 C Something ASKEW is crooked or awry If you STRAIGHTEN it, it’s no longer

ASKEW Likewise, something obscu r e is unclear or indistinct, and if you

clarify it, it’s no longer obscu r e (A) gives us the opposite of what we want: if

you disinfect something, it becomes sterile There’s no clear bridge in (B)

between saline and preserve You might (D) haggle or bargain over some

item, but that doesn’t necessarily make it not expensive It doesn’t make sense

to say in (E) that if you trust someone, he or she won’t be suspicious

15 C The top of a MOUNTAIN is the SUMMIT The top of a wave is the c r est

You might have been fooled by (D), but an attic is a room in a house or building

that’s directly under the roof That’s not the very top of a house, for one thing, and

for another, not all houses have attics

16 A A SKEIN is a quantity of YARN that has been rolled into a spiral In the same

way, in (A), a coil is a quantity of wi r e that has been rolled into a spiral The

word SKEIN may be new to you, in which case you can use other strategies to

help you find the right answer: first, eliminate the choices that have weak bridges;

secondly, see if the stem words make sense when plugged in to the bridges of the

choices that remain (C) and (E) have weak bridges: in (C) only some pipes are

made of lead, and distance and track, (E), have no necessary connection

Let’s consider the remaining choices (A), (B) and (D) As we saw above, (A) has

a strong bridge which sounds sensible when used with the stem words; so (A) is a

definite possibility (B) also has a strong bridge: a thimble is used to protect the

finger that pushes a needle in sewing; could a skein be used to protect the

finger from yarn? It doesn’t make sense so (B) is out Finally, look at (D): a

tape is used for obtaining measurement This bridge does not sound sensible

with the stem words either, so we can eliminate (D) That leaves (A), which is the

correct answer

SAT Virtual Reality III 19

17 D When you’re PERTURBED, or disturbed, you don’t experience TRANQUILITY.

When you’re r eassu r ed , you don’t feel anxiety Although these pairs seem opposites of each other, they have the same relationship In (B), dissension is disagreement This choice may have reminded you of the stem pair (C) was close,but the word weeping is too specific If you are consoled, you might stop weeping, but you don’t have to be weeping in order to be consoled

18 C The word ANARCHIC comes from the simpler word “anarchy” which means

“chaos.” Something that’s ANARCHIC lacks ORDER If you didn’t know that (C) a

r tless means free from deceit or guile, you could have eliminated weak bridges and guessed (D) and (E) have very shaky bridges (A) isn’t great either You could be insane and still have a motive for doing things (B) has a strong bridge:

if you’re tranquil, you experience peace That’s different than the stem pair, so you might have picked (C) even if you didn’t know what a r tless and guile meant

19 A To AMELIORATE means to make BETTER Bad effects or bad situations can

be ameliorated or improved The word weaker in (A) might have made it hard tosee that this was the right answer, since weaker seems opposed to BETTER But the important thing is that the bridge is the same: to enfeeble means to make weaker (E) was close but not quite right If something disintegrates, it falls apart – it doesn’t just get smaller

20 B PUISSANT means strong or powerful Someone who’s PUISSANT has a lot of

POWER; someone who’s a f fluent has a lot of money In (A) an intelligent person may or may not have a lot of books In (C), cryptic means puzzling Youcan’t say that someone or something that’s cryptic has understanding In (D), someone who’s belligerent is quarrelsome or war-like A quarrelsome person doesn’t necessarily have strength In (E) latent ability hasn’t been expressed

or revealed That’s not the same as the bridge in the stem pair

21 C Have you ever paid RAPT attention to anything? If you did, you were RAPT — so

fascinated by what you were seeing or hearing that you were at your highest possible state of ATTENTIVENESS Similarly, an innovative person is at the highest level of c r eativity Unscrupulous (A) means “having no scruples, i.e., morals or ethics.” Assertiveness (B) means “self-confidence”—not a quality we’dassociate with being derisive or mocking Indolent (D) means “lazy”; it has no connection whatsoever with jealousy Impudence (E) means “insolence or cockiness.”

22 A To STUTTER is to speak HALTINGLY; to lumber is to walk awkwa r dly

None of the other choices has a true bridge: (B) blinking needn’t be donerapidly; (C) whispering doesn’t have to be done indiscreetly; (D) gossip isn’tmalicious by definition; (E) you don’t necessarily push something forcefully

There are some disconcerting place-names and scientific terms in this passage,

but you don’t need to know any of them to get the points the author makes about

some of the earliest preserved art—cave paintings The first paragraph ends with

a few questions: what sort of people were the cave painters? Why did they paint

at all, and specifically why in caves? These questions outline the rest of the

passage for you Keep this in mind if you ever encounter a passage with a similar

format—it gives you a handle on the material

24 B If you figure out what big points the author makes in the lines you’re referred to,

you’ll probably have no trouble understanding why the author mentions

body-painting (or whatever specific detail a question asks about) To do this, you

usually have to read a line or two around the line reference you’ve been given

These lines tell us that if prehistoric humans made art, they haven’t left us any

trace of it Body-painting is mentioned as an example of the kind of art they may

have made, but which we can’t have any evidence of (B) None of the other

choices match the point the author makes in these lines The author is not

making a point about when people began using paint (A) Choices (C), (D) and

(E) bring up things not discussed until later in the passage

25 C Again, go back to the passage and read around the line reference The author

says the paintings “rivet our attention” because they are “great art,” and because

they raise questions about the people who painted them Now check the answer

choices (B) probably jumped out, because it starts, “raise questions about ”

But read carefully! The rest of the choice doesn’t make sense Choice (C),

although not as eye-catching, is correct (A) is from left-field We do know some

things about the people and animals depicted in cave paintings, so (D) is wrong

Finally, the point is that the paintings raise questions, not that they cast doubt, so

(E) is out

26 B Don’t let strange words throw you—in this or any question Even if you don’t

know where “Gargas and Rouffignac” are, or what stalactites or stalagmites are,

the point is in plain English: they “fill us with awe” and “stun us with their beauty.”

The author speculates that the cave painters must have felt the same way This

should lead you to choice (B) The other choices provide reasons that might

sound sensible, but they don’t come from the passage Don’t choose an answer

just because it makes sense to you; be sure there’s evidence in the passage

27 A Assuming you’ve already gone to the line where “riot” is used (as you should do

with all vocabulary-in-context questions), which choices can you eliminate?

Certainly (C) brawl and (E) violence, since the word is used to describe something

of great beauty The most common definitions of a word are usually wrong, so you

can also eliminate (B) That leaves (A) and (D) Only (A), profusion, makes

sense in context

28 D In the quoted lines, the author says the term “cavemen” evokes an image of

“hairy brutes,” but then says that the Cro-Mags actually had “needles, buttons,

parkas and trail signs” in their caves In other words, they’re misrepresented as

stupid brutes, when in fact they were quite sophisticated (D) sums this up, and is

Virtual Reality III 21

go making huge inferences! (C) refers to a nearby detail but misses the bigger point.

29 B This question asks you to make a not-too-subtle inference If as the passage says,

“garbage left in caves is more likely to have been preserved than other artifacts,” it’s almost the same as saying that “artifacts in other locations are more likely to have decayed.” (B) is correct: it makes common sense, and it matches what’s in the passage (A) is out because the author actually says that Cro-Mags lived both

in caves and far from them; she/he says nothing about the “majority” of them Archaeologists found trail signs inside caves, not outside them (C) The authorsays nothing about what sites archaeologists are more likely to study—(D) inferstoo much! (E) is never mentioned

30 E Never skip a vocabulary-in-context question—they’re less time-consuming What’s

going on in the lines around the word “notable”? The author’s describing some specific examples of cave art, and she/he then says that some “especially notable” works were done on irregular wall surfaces in order to suggest three-dimensionality.The best substitute for “notable” in that sentence is “remarkable” (E) Two choices, (A) and (D), are negative-sounding and easy to eliminate “Conspicuous” (B) and

“important” (C) are much trickier, but they don’t fit the sentence as well as (E) Be sure to check every choice before you make your move Second-best choices can

be tempting, while the best answer may be hiding in (E)

31 D In this question, you have to make a mild interpretation—but remember, don’t go

overboard Read a line or two before the one you’re referred to The phrases

“used to believe” and “we now realize” indicate a contrast What did archaeologistsformerly believe? That the paintings were of the animals most often hunted by Cro-Magnons So now, scientists must’ve found out that animals in cave paintings werenot the most hunted (D) A too-quick reading of these lines might’ve led you to (A) But the author says “the most frequently painted animals were indeed hunted,” so (A) is out If you picked (B), (C), or (E), you’re focusing too narrowly on the quoted phrase itself Remember to read a line or two around it, to properly understand the context

32 D This question is easier than it looks—it’s basically just a vocabulary-in-context

question, asking about a term rather than a single word If you read a little beforeand after the quoted line, you find that “functional interpretations” simply means explanations (D)—explanations (mostly wrong ones) of why Cro-Magnons createdcave art If an answer is correct but seems simple, don’t waste time trying to complicate the question

e followin

g linessa

y thattheybecam

e unpopularwhe

n anthropologist

s bega

n askin

g contemporary native Australians why they create their rock art The reasons are diverse (B) (D) goes too far: The author doesn’t say the Cro-Magnon paintings

were IDENTICAL to present-day aboriginal paintings

Neanderthals (A) and trail- signs (C) are not discussed in paragraph 4 And (E) makes no sense

34 C Since you’ve been dealing with paragraph 4 for the past two questions, you

should have a good idea of the author’s point there Quickly go to the quoted

lines to check the specifics (A) is too narrow; the author’s big point is not about

“tribal boundaries.” (D) makes a larger point, but it overstates the case The

author doesn’t say that Cro-Magnon and aboriginal art serve the same functions,

but that because we know that aboriginal artists paint for many reasons, we

shouldn’t oversimplify the motivations of Cro-Magnon artists (C) The author says

nothing about depictions of people in early rock art (B) And (E) infers too

much—stick to what the author says

35 E A big picture question Unlike the questions you’ve been dealing with, this one

doesn’t give you a line reference You need an answer that represents the whole

passage Does (A) do this? No, Cro-Magnon contemporaries are never

discussed Does (B)? No, agriculture isn’t discussed As for (C), the author’s

point isn’t that Cro-Magnons weren’t cavemen, but that they differed from our

image of cavemen Anyway, this isn’t the author’s main point Neither is (D)—the

author never claims Cro-Magnons were artistically more sophisticated than later

civilizations (E) is best: at points throughout the passage (paragraphs 2, 3, and

4), the author likens Cro-Magnons to modern people

SAT Virtual Reality III 23

1 C There are 60 minutes in 1 hour, so there are 120 minutes in 2 hours Likewise,

there are 60 seconds in 1 minute, so there are 120 seconds in 2 minutes Bothcolumns equal 120, so the answer is (C)

2 D If 2 balls are yellow out of a total of 10 balls, then the probability of choosing a

yellow ball is just 2 out of 10, so write 2

10 in Column A We don’t know exactlyhow many of the remaining 8 balls are blue It’s possible that 7 are blue and 1 isgreen, in which case the probability of choosing a blue ball is 7 , which is greater

10than 2 On the other hand, perhaps there’s 1 blue ball and 7 green balls In10

that case the probability of choosing a blue ball is 1 , which is less than 2

Since the relationship depends on the exact number of blue balls in the bag,which is unknown, the correct answer is (D)

3 A If the areas of the 2 triangles are equal, then 1

2 times the base times the height of

triangle A is equal to 1

2 times the base times the height of triangle B You can

make this into an equation:

You’re given that the the base of triangle B is greater than the base of triangle A,

in other words, bB > bA This means that the height of triangle B must be less than the height of triangle A in order for the equation above to be true If this doesn’t make sense to you, try plugging in numbers for the 2 bases Suppose bB

= 3 and bA = 2 Then you have:

2hA = 3hB

What values for the heights would make this equation true? Some possibilities are

hA = 6 and hB = 4, or hA = 9 and hB = 6 There are an infinite number of other

possibilities In all cases, however, hA > hB, so the correct answer is (A)

4 C The angle labeled a° and the angle labeled 45° are vertical angles Vertical angles

are the angles opposite each other that are formed when two lines cross Vertical

angles are always equal, so a must equal 45 The 45° angle and the angle labeled

b° lie on a straight line, so their sum must be 180° So, b + 45 = 180, and b = 135

Since 3a = 3 × 45 = 135, the 2 columns are equal and the correct answer is (C).

5 A In Column A, you can factor and reduce:

SAT Virtual Reality III 25

The expression in Column B is equal to 1, since any number divided by itself is

equal to 1 and 12 = 1 So, you’re comparing a + 1 with 1 If you subtract 1 from

both columns you’re left with a in Column A and 0 in Column B, and since the

centered information tells you that a > 0, Column A must be greater and the correct

answer is (A)

6 A This is an exercise in graph-reading, a topic you might want to do some review on

if you had trouble with this question The chart shows 6 small computer symbols

next to Company A and 5 small computer symbols next to Company B These

symbols represent the number of computers that each company sold Since you’re

told that Company A has sold 50 more computers than Company B, and the chart

shows one more symbol for Company A than for Company B, the symbol must

represent 50 computers Therefore 5 small computer symbols must represent 5 ×

50 = 250, which is greater than 125, so the correct choice is (A)

7 B The sum of all the odd integers from –11 to 29 is the sum of all the negative odd

integers from –11 to –1, plus all the positive odd integers from 1 to 29 But adding

up the first 12 terms in this sum gives you –11 – 9 – 7 – 5 – 3 – 1 + 1 + 3 + 5 + 7

+ 9 + 11, which adds up to 0 So, the sum of all the odd integers from –11 to 29 is

the same as the sum of all the odd integers from 13 to 29 The sum of all the odd

integers from 11 to 29 is the same as 11 plus the sum of all the odd integers from

13 to 29, so Column B is 11 more than Column A and the answer is (B)

8 C Here you have 2 equations and 2 unknowns, so you should be able to solve for

both x and y Start by multiplying both sides of the equation x = 1

y 4 by y to give you x = y Then substitute