Tài liệu Explanations for SAT 2 pdf

Also, it’s a good idea to read through Passage 1 and do the questions that refer to it, and then read through Passage 2 and do the rest of the questions.. Passage 1 talks about the diffi

Explanations – SAT Practice Test 3

VERBAL

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

that he was pretty successful Unbroken is the only choice that describes his

series of wins in a way that suggests success; an unbroken 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 observation

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 word to contrast with “everyday.” That takes you to

(B) Mundane is almost a synonym for “everyday.” The second word in (B),

resplendent, or extraordinary, is a good contrast, and fits when plugged into the

sentence: Weston’s camera transformed mundane things into objects of

resplendent 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 “everyday 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)

conciliatory, meaning “tending to pacify or accommodate.” Choice (B)

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

“arrogant, snobby, huffy.”

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 “the lowest 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 less

explicit 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,

lacking authenticity,” so it’s a good match

10 D ANCHOR is being used as a verb here You can tell because some of the first

position words in the answer choices can only be used as verbs, and if one of

them is a verb, then all of them are verbs To ANCHOR a BOAT is to secure it

in one place Likewise, to tether a horse is to secure him in one place Hope

you weren’t fooled by same subject temptations—in choices (A) and (B), the

words ship and pier might remind you of the stem pair, but that isn’t a good

reason to pick them

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

12 E In questions where the vocabulary is easy it is very important to state the

connection between the stem words absolutely 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 dryness 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)

Medical Pair

Although these two passages discuss issues in medical research, don’t be

intimidated by the subject matter Read through the passages once to get a

general feel for them The question stems will direct you back to the specific

sentences you’ll need to understand to get the answers Also, it’s a good idea to

read through Passage 1 and do the questions that refer to it, and then read

through Passage 2 and do the rest of the questions

Passage 1 talks about the difficulty of reconstructing or replacing certain bones

in humans A recent advance has been the creation of bone substitutes from

muscle using the protein osteogenin While osteogenin can’t be used directly on

a defect, it can be used to prefabricate bones in molds implanted in an animal’s

abdomen The process hasn’t been tried in humans, though, because osteogenin

is scarce, and because it has to be tested on larger animals first

Passage 2 has a distinctly different tone The author is not objective and

impartial; he’s taking a stand on an issue: he argues that testing on humans is

necessary in order to make improvements in artificial organs Using animals, he

says, isn’t good enough: there are no good animal models for human bones and

joints Moreover, testing on humans gives doctors crucial experience The

author concludes that there’s no point in developing new designs for artificial

organs until present ones have been evaluated on people

16 D Remember to read the sentences before and after the line reference At the end

of paragraph 1, the author talks about the difficulty of reconstructing and

replacing bones This is the “challenge” that’s further explained in paragraph

2—(D) is the answer The author doesn’t mention tissue development in the

human embryo until paragraph 3 (A) (B) contradicts the passage: the author

states that it ’s impossible to reconfigure bones It’s currently possible to

replace joints with plastic or metal substitutes, but the author never says

anything about designing better types of them (C) She never identifies “the

causes of diseases that lead to bone losses” (E) either

17 E The stem contains no line reference, but the only place the author talks about

future experiments in making bone from muscle is the last paragraph She says

there that surgeons “have not yet tried the process in humans” and that it “must

first be tested on larger animals.” The author expects, therefore, that future

experiments will “involve larger animals and perhaps humans” (E) There’s no

evidence that future experiments will “encounter no serious problems” (A), that

they will be hindered by surgeons (C), or that they “face enormous technical

obstacles” (D) And despite the fact that all experiments have so far been

limited to smaller animals (B), it’s clear that this isn’t what the author expects

in the future

18 C An example of the all/EXCEPT question type Information about osteogenin is

spread over the last three paragraphs, so scan through the choices to see if one

jumps out before you start digging through the passage (C), “its application

can be easily controlled,” should strike you as false because the author says in

paragraph 4 that osteogenin is hard to control—it might turn an entire area to

bone if sprinkled on a defect If you didn’t spot (C), you had to confirm the

other choices “Current supplies [of osteogenin] are limited” (A) is indicated in

paragraph 6 This is also where the author says that “tests of its effectiveness

have been limited” (B) to small animals, and that osteogenin’s “safety for

human use is undetermined” (D) The fact that “some surgeons hesitate to use

it” (E) because it’s hard to control is stated in paragraph 4

19 A You’ve already had to go back and read through the last paragraph a couple of

times by now, so glance through the choices “A review of current knowledge”

(A) looks good right away, because the author points out in the last paragraph

how far surgeons have gone in experimenting with and learning about the new

process There’s no “qualification of an earlier remark” (B) (C) is out because

the author never mentions, no less challenges, a contradictory view The final

paragraph presents new facts and ideas rather than a “summary of previous

ideas” (D) As for (E), the author’s call for testing on larger animals is a

demand not “for an alternative approach” but for a guarantee of safety and

effectiveness before the process is tried on people

20 D The phrase “to die young at a ripe age” doesn’t make much sense until you

understand its context The author’s discussing the eventual benefits of

artificial organs: ordinary people can live longer or, even better, they can die

young at a ripe age “Dying young at a ripe age” does not mean “living longer”

(E) Nor does it mean “dying prematurely” (A), “dying young of an illness”

(B), or “extending one’s life despite being ill” (C)—none of these is a positive

thing—the author’s talking about the benefits of artificial organs “Dying

young at a ripe age” means dying at a normal old age after having enjoyed a

relatively young body during your life; in other words, it means “maintaining a

healthier body into old age” (D)

21 C In paragraph 2 of Passage 2, the author accuses medical ethicists of hampering

the activities of human volunteers He declares that the ethicists are

“well-intentioned” but “their standards are inappropriate.” Clearly, the author is

“disapproving” (C) of them None of the other words comes close to describing

the author’s attitude

22 E Looking down through the choices, you can see that the only one that can be

eliminated right away is “slogans” (A), which is not a synonym for standards

To pick the right one, go back and locate "standards" in its context The author

says that the “standards,” or “principles” (E), of the medical ethicists are

inappropriate “Measurements” (B), “examples” (C), and “banners” (D) don’t

make sense in the context of the sentence

23 A Another vocabulary-in-context question Checking the sentence, “critical” is

used to mean “decisive“ (A): the author’s stating that the need to use humans

leads to a decisive or very significant “bottleneck in the experimental process.”

Critical isn’t used to mean “aggressive” (B), “skeptical” (C), “perceptive” (D),

or “fault-finding” (E)

24 A The author discusses the use of artificial heart devices in paragraph 4 The

design of the devices is not a problem, he says; rather, it’s the lack of

experience researchers have had using them with human subjects He points out

that heart devices may work in one patient and not in another, depending on

age, health and the quality of postoperative care He repeats his point at the

beginning of the next paragraph: what’s lacking in coronary care is simply

more experience (A) The author isn’t “praising scientists’ ability to fight

coronary disease” (B); he’s saying it could be much better if human testing

were done The author never mentions any “lingering doubts” about artificial

heart implants (C) (D) contradicts the passage directly: the author says that

“engineering design is not currently the main obstacle.” Finally, (E) is wrong

because the author never discusses “several new treatments now available to

heart patients.”

25 C The author poses the questions in the last paragraph in order to identify

information that scientists still lack He’s showing that their knowledge of

coronary disease is incomplete (C)—that’s why human testing is so essential

He’s not illustrating the value of any new devices (A)—he’s opposed at present

to new devices Nobody else’s arguments are being refuted here (B) (D) turns

the author’s ideas around: he supports human testing As for (E), “widely

publicized areas of research” misses the point The point is simple: these are

questions that need to be answered

26 B The answer here has to be fairly general, because the connection between the

two passages is indirect Take the answer choices one by one and evaluate each

one using evidence from the passages For example, (A) is wrong because the

author of Passage 1 doesn’t disagree with anyone or cite any views different

from hers (B), though, is accurate: the author of Passage 1 talks about the

difficulty surgeons have in reconstructing and replacing bones, and the author

of Passage 2 laments surgeons’ lack of experience in using artificial organs (C)

and (D) are wrong because only the author of Passage 2 demands mentions

cultural values as a barrier to research As for (E), neither author advocates a

more rapid development of new implant procedures

27 B Passage 2 is devoted to arguing for the testing of artificial organs on humans,

because restrictions on human testing are a major obstacle to improved devices

Before checking the choices, predict what the author of Passage 2 might say

about the wider use of osteogenin No doubt he’d say that gaining experience

with the use of osteogenin on humans would be difficult—exactly what (B)

says (A) and (D) cite valid obstacles to the wider use of osteogenin, but they’re

wrong because there’s no reason to think that the author of Passage 2 would

stress them (C) and (E) are out because they aren’t obstacles to the use of

osteogenin at all

28 D The last paragraph of Passage 1 states that the process of bone prefabrication

has not yet been tried on humans—that it needs to be tested on large animals

first The last paragraph of Passage 2 features questions about coronary care

that can only be answered through human testing In other words, both authors

are stressing the need to “gather information that’s relevant to the treatment of

human patients” (D) (A) is out because neither author sees the need to

“develop new and improved devices for human implantation.” The author of

Passage 1 suggests that experiments should next be carried out on larger

animals, which rules out (C), while the author of Passage 2 wants testing on

humans, which eliminates (B) As for (E), neither author advocates “curbing

the growing use of animals in testing.”