12.Practice.Tests.for.the.SAT_2015-2016_1128p

Section 21
Practice Test Twelve
1019
Directions: The passages below are followed by questions based on their content; questions following a pair of related
passages may also be based on the relationship between the paired passages. Answer the questions on the basis of
what is stated or implied in the passages and in any introductory material that may be provided.
Questions 9--10 are based on the following passage.
What plagues both political parties in the
United States today is their need to win over
the voting public at any cost. Since the average
Line American voter has only an acquaintance with
(5) the crucial issues of the day and an even narrower
grasp of the ways in which policy can address
them, politicians are forced to mount oftenvicious
attacks on their competitors to capture
the interest of the electorate. Rather than elect the
(10) best candidates for the task at hand, the American
voter, election after election, chooses what appears
to be the lesser of multiple evils, electing, in effect,
the best worst candidate for the job.
9. The "plague" (line 1) on both political parties
could be best described as their
(A) reliance on polls to determine the feelings of
the voting public
(B) willingness to attack their closest competitors
(C) need to appeal to an ill-informed electorate
(D) lack of concern for the views of most voters
(E) refusal to appeal to lower-income families
Questions 11-13 are based on the following passage
Translating poetry from one language to
another involves ingenuity and creativity, as well
as technical skill. Some people think translators
Line should be as faithful as possible to the original
(5) author's wording, but I believe the spirit of the
original should be preserved, even if this means
using a bit of creative license when it comes to the
actual words. Recently I read two different translations
of "Tonight I Can Write" by Pablo Neruda.
(10) The first translation was quite literal, while the
second took more liberty with Neruda's words
but preserved the tone and flow of the original. I
found the first translation dry and static, while the
rhythm of the second translation was delightful.
11. The word "spirit" (line 5) most nearly means
(A) ghost
(B) mood
(C) courage
(D) belief
(E) creativity
10. The word "acquaintance" in line 4 most nearly
means
(A) polite relationship
(B) superficial familiarity
( C) fraught discussion
(D) complex dialogue
(E) nuanced exchange
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