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

250
Section 4
Practice Test Three
Questions 10-15 are based on the following passage.
The passage below is based upon an introduction to
the memoirs of the grandson of Great Depression-era
immigrants.
So often in America, we tend to take for granted
the freedoms and liberties that we enjoy; it is
only by revisiting our past and discovering the
Line places that we are from that we are able to attain
(5) an awareness of our good fortune. I grew up in a
middle-class neighborhood just outside Hartford,
Connecticut, a mere two hours' journey to Ellis
Island, where only 40 years earlier my grandparents
had concluded their trans-Atlantic journey.
(1 O) Yet the sacrifices that such an endeavor necessitated
were lost upon me. As a young man, I had
neither the time to spend nor any interest in delving
into my family's recent-and what was sure to
be a very boring-history. The first college-bound
(15) member of my family, I was far too arrogant and
conceited to allow that my grandparents had
accomplished anything truly impressive. Had it
not been for a chance discovery, I never would
have realized how sorely mistaken I was.
(20) One day during the summer before I was to
leave for college, I was home alone, rummaging
through my father's old trunk. As I pawed
through the old books and pamphlets and clothes,
I uncovered an old, tattered photograph. It was of
(25) a young, handsome man sitting on the boardwalk
at what appeared to be Coney Island. Though
the passage of time had aged the face, I instantly
recognized the figure in the picture as my grandfather.
After taking a moment to scan the old
(30) black-and-white, I placed it back in the trunk, and
would not have given it anymore thought except
the doorbell rang, and I heard the voice of the old
man himself. He had stopped by to say hello on
his way home from the bakery. Such a fortuitous
(35) appearance, I thought, and with the photograph
in hand, I went to greet him and show him my
find.
My grandfather took the photo and looked it
over for a long time, his mind's eye wandering to
( 40) some far-off place. He was normally quite garrulous,
so to see him silenced for so long caught
me a bit off guard. After what seemed like an age,
and a little lost for words, I asked him when the
photograph was taken. I was certainly not prepared
( 45) for the answer I received. He sat me down and
launched into the story of the journey that had
brought him and his young wife to America.
From fleeing death and persecution in the
pogroms of Russia, to changing his last name to
(50) secure safe passage across Eastern Europe, to the
voyage across the Atlantic, to his arrival in New
York City, he laid down the most mesmerizing
story I had ever heard. The hardships that he, my
grandmother, and untold numbers of immigrants
(55) like them had overcome had been unknown, and
more significantly, unimportant to me, until that
very instant. In the span of two hours, my grandfather
had endowed me with a new knowledge,
one that would forever alter my perspective on the
( 60) privileges and opportunities that his actions had
afforded me.
10. The primary purpose of the passage is to show how
the author
(A) developed an arrogant attitude toward the
rest of his family
(B) came to view the sacrifices of immigrants as
mundane and mediocre
(C) discovered a new outlook on his prospects
through a chance conversation with his
grandfather
(D) learned to appreciate his grandfather at last
(E) overcame his shame about being the only
educated individual in his family
11. In line 10, "endeavor" most nearly means
(A) pursuit
(B) effort
(C) ship
(D) goal
(E) drudgery
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