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

12 Practice Tests for the SAT
Practice Test One Answers and Explanations I
103
So I think people actually are capable of finding happiness
even if they aren't aware of it at the time. Sometimes
people think they're happy and may even be happy for a
little while. But then something might change so that they're
not happy any more. The main thing to remember is that
since we all have choices in life we can make decisions to
do things to make ourselves happier, like my parents did.
They made the tough choice to get a divorce and they each
found happiness in another way.
2 Score Critique
All essays are evaluated on four basic criteria: Topic,
Support, Organization, and Language. This essay discusses
the topic but doesn't immediately address the given
prompt. In fact, the author doesn't make a clear statement
of his opinion of the prompt until the first sentence of the
final paragraph, which makes his essay difficult to follow,
since the reader doesn't know what point the author is
trying to make.
The author provides a single example to support his
opinion, but this example is vague and not well developed.
Likewise, the organization of the essay is extremely weak,
since the author doesn't provide a clear introduction,
conclusion, or transitions between paragraphs. The author
needs to spend time brainstorming his examples and
planning his essay to make sure that he has an outline to
follow while he's writing.
Finally, the author's language is generic and repetitive
("everything," "happen," "thing," "people," "something"). In
addition, his sentence structure is simplistic and unrefined,
and several sentences are fragments beginning with
conjunctions such as "so" and "but." This author must
practice writing SAT essays and leave enough time to
proofread and correct any obvious mistakes to get a higher
score on the essay part of his SAT.
SECTION 2
1. E
Difficulty: Low
What's the best way to end an argument? Compromise.
Obviously, the parents want to end the argument between
their children, so they might try to suggest a compromise
that would satisfy both children. Look for alternative words
for "end" and "satisfactory."
In (A), they certainly wouldn't want to enforce the
argument. In (B), though the word end could be exactly
what you're looking for, a divisive solution won't end
the argument. In (C), the parents might want the kids to
overcome the argument, but a solution that's unattractive
to both kids hardly seems helpful. In (0), again, it wouldn't
make sense for the parents to want to extend the argument.
Choice (E) works well. It makes sense that the parents
would hope to resolve the argument, and offering a solution
that's acceptable to both kids seems like a good move.
2. D
Difficulty: Low
His animated disposition is doing something (good) for his
passion. Wouldn't you want your excitement for the thing
you love most to ooze out of you when you talk about it?
Can you come up with a more eloquent way of expressing
how Nathan Lane's animated disposition gives away his
passion?
In (A), his excitement definitely wouldn't misrepresent his
passion. In (B), if he feels really excited and passionate,
acting excited and animated wouldn't exaggerate anything.
In (C), how could his animated disposition satisfy his
passion? Choice (D) is a good fit. It is more than likely that
his animated disposition reflects his passion. In (E), being
animated wouldn't disguise passion.
3. A
Difficulty: Low
The key word is powerful. Powerful people can often
possess compelling powers of persuasion. Find a word that
agrees with powerful and is similar to persuasion.
Choice (A) is perfect. Powerful people are renowned for
exerting a strong influence on others. In (B), the principal's
powerful nature has nothing to do with pretense. In (C),
discrimination does not imply power. In (0), addressing
the students with restraint would not indicate that he's a
powerful person. In (E), though integrity is a good quality, it
is not indicative of power.