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

508
Section 2
Practice Test Six
Questions 10-14 are based on the following passage.
This passage, about the fo rmative years of the American
media, was adapted from an essay on the relationship
between newspapers and popular culture by Walter Fox.
Throughout American history, newspapers have
played a crucial role in shaping our cultural life.
The colonial press of the early 18th century in
Line America, although on the whole limited in circu-
(5) lation and dependent upon rather primitive
technology, first established just how powerful
newspapers could be as instruments of social
change by moving the colonists to revolt against
the British throne. Later, in the mid-1800s dur-
(10) ing a period known as the "penny press" era, the
first newspapers designed for the "common man"
came into print, constituting a journalistic revolution
of sorts roughly comparable to President
Andrew Jackson's political triumph for the
(15) American middle class over the 40 years of
government dominated by more aristocratic,
upper-class elite. Yet, the formative significance of
these periods in the constitution of the American
press aside, it was the last few decades of the
(20) 19th century that produced the most profound
change in the relationship between the American
press and its readership.
Whereas before, especially during slower
news times, newspapers occupied a relatively
(25) ancillary position in American life, by 1900, such
publications had become one of the primary
determinants of public opinion. Although this
transformation was undoubtedly fueled by the
substative social changes taking place throughout
(30) the nat10n, namely those of industrialization and
the mass migrations that altered the American
urban landscape, there were smaller technological
breakthroughs in printing that also helped newspapers
become more pervasive voices in society.
(35) In particular, by the turn of the 19th century
electronic printing presses were being used to
churn out papers at previously unheard of costs.
Additionally, newsprint prices fell dramatically
and ill-color printing techniques became cheap,
( 40) allowmg for striking visual images to adorn even
the most mundane stories. But to look at these
two areas of change, one social and the other technological,
as separate catalysts is to miss the point;
it was their union that created a massive newspa-
( 45) per readership that has only grown over the past
century.
Of particular significance during this period is
the fact that this readership was not only enormous,
but also largely composed of immigrants
(50) and former migrant farmers and laborers who
had flocked to the growing cities by the hundreds
of thousands only to hold a rather uncertain rung
on the American economic ladder. This social
positioning created a mass newspaper audience
(55) fervently reliant upon the relative immediacy of
edia reports to inform their constantly changmg,
unstable lives. The daily papers began to
augment impressively comprehensive worldwide
news coverage with more sensational human-
( 60) interest stories, a combination that proved to
be particularly appealing for the new American
urban culture. Thus, by the first decades of the
20th century the American press was already the
outspoken generator of American popular cul-
( 65) ture that it is today: a social position that would
only be expanded with the advent of radio and
television.
10. In line 18, "constitution" most nearly means
(A) disposition
(B) structuring
(C) design
(D) establishment
(E) temperament
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