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

12 Practice Tests for the SAT
Practice Test One Answers and Explanations I
115
8. E
Difficulty: Low
When an author repeats a certain stylistic device or
structural feature, think about how that structure helps
convey the author's point. The author describes a series
of three scenes involving three different people, and
each description is followed by a parenthetical reference
indicating what the author finds significant about the person
described. The description of the woman working at the
store is followed by a parenthetical reference to her daily
struggle to make a living, suggesting that the author finds
her seemingly endless hard work significant. Look for a
choice that refers to this struggle.
Choice (A) is out of scope; the author never suggests that
the woman lives in the store. Choice (B) is distortion; while
the author exaggerates the number of days in a week,
the passage does not suggest that the woman herself is
imaginary. Choice (C) is an irrelevant detail; challenges of
accomplishing daily tasks are mentioned when discussing
the elderly man, not the woman in the convenience
store. Choice (D) is an opposite; the author says that the
convenience store worker struggles to make a living. Choice
(E) is a good match for your prediction.
9. c
Difficulty: Medium
Don't panic if you're not sure what the word means. Look
for other descriptions associated with the same person that
can help you infer its meaning in this context. The child
playing with the soccer ball is described as a blithe boy who
is experiencing easy joy. Even if you don't know what blithe
means, you can infer from the context that it involves being
lighthearted, joyous, merry, or carefree. Look for a choice
that reflects this feeling.
In (A), the boy playing with a soccer ball may be flexible, but
this choice does not capture his joyous nature. Choice (B)
is an opposite; since the boy is experiencing easy joy, you
can infer that he is not nervous. Choice (C) is a nice match
for your prediction. In (D), the boy may be young, but this
is not a meaning of blithe. Choice (E) is not a meaning of
blithe, and nothing in the passage suggests that the boy is
envious.
10. D
Difficulty: Low
When a question asks about the passage as a whole, be
sure your prediction reflects everything in the passage, not
just a detail here or there. The passage describes Susan B.
Anthony's political activism, and though it mentions other
work, it spends the greatest amount of time talking about
her efforts to grant women the vote.
Choice (A) is a misused detail; only one friendship is
mentioned in the passage. Choice (B) is a misused detail;
the author mentions her supposed racism in only one
sentence. Choice (C) is out of scope; the passage mentions
that Anthony is a speaker, but it does not say how effective
her speaking was. Choice (D) matches your prediction
nicely. Choice (E) is a misused detail; Anthony did work for
temperance, but it is not the focus of the passage.
1 l . D
Difficulty: Medium
The correct answer to an Inference question is always
strongly based on clues to be found nearby in the passage.
The passage says that the legislature rejected the petition
because the signatures were mostly from women and
children. It also says that this made Anthony determined to
win the vote for women. We can infer that the legislature
rejected the petition because the people who signed it
could not vote and therefore had little influence over the
politicians.
Choice (A) is extreme; there is nothing in the passage to
suggest that the legislature as a whole thought that women
and children were not wise. Choice (B) is out of scope; the
political popularity of temperance is not addressed in this
passage. Choice (C) is an opposite; the whole problem was
that there were no women or children in the constituency
that the politicians depended on, not that the politicians
were out of touch with voters. Choice (D) matches your
prediction nicely. Choice (E) is out of scope; the passage
only gives us information about one petition, so we can't
know how they were generally treated.
12. B
Difficulty: Medium
When answering Inference questions, remember that the
answer will not be stated directly in the passage, but it will
be close to something the passage says. The passage says