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

12 Practice Tests for the SAT
Practice Test Eight Answers and Explanations
729
I
20. c
Difficulty: High
Strategic Advice: If you can see through the difficult
wording of this question and realize that you can Pick
Numbers here, the question will become much easier.
Getting to the Answer:
Let's pick 4 for n. Then, the second term of our series
becomes t + 4, or 5. Therefore, the ratio of the second
the answer choices and see wh1ch one equals t·
(A) C 4 + 6) = 5, so (A) is incorrect.
term to the first term is 5:4, or 2. Now, just substitute n into
(B) ( 4 +4 4 ) = 2, so (B) is incorrect
(C) ( 4 4 (4)6) t· so (C) is the correct choice.
Checking (D) and (E) will confirm this.
SECTION 3
1. B
Difficulty: Low
The second blank is defined by the phrase emitting an
odor; a good prediction might be moldy or rank. Choice (B),
dank . .. musty, is the only choice that has a word matching
the prediction for the second blank. Dank, which means
unpleasantly moist, fits in the first blank, so (B) is the correct
choice for this question.
2. A
Difficulty: Low
The clue here is once, which tells you that there is a contrast
between the past and present populations of the city. Since
the city has lost residents, you can predict that it used to
be more densely populated. The word in the blank will
be something like busy or lively. Bustling is the word that
comes closest. Manufactured and rural don't make any
sense when they're plugged in, and whether the city was
seedy or not is irrelevant. Seedy means disreputable or
squalid. This has nothing to do with population density.
Deserted is the opposite of what you need in the blank.
3. A
Difficulty: Medium
Predictions can be made for both of the blanks based on
the information that the rains caused landslides and washed
away people's houses. The first blank has to be something
like overwhelming, because gentle rains could not cause so
much damage. Likewise, the second blank will be inundate
or flood. Choice (A), torrential . .. deluge, has the necessary
words-torrential means like a tumultuous outpouring.
Purge means to get rid of something unwanted. Choice
(C) is wrong because although the rains are treacherous,
they certainly do not sustain the hillside slopes. Desecrate
means to profane or violate the sanctity of. To be fecund is
to be fertile, and when you bolster something, you reinforce
or support it.
4. A
Difficulty: Medium
Since those who reject psychological theory are going to
concentrate on its scientific shortcomings, you can use the
first-blank words of the choices to narrow the possibilities
down to (A), inadequacies, and (E), deficiencies. Now for
the second blank: the phrase not on . .. , but on clinical
observations indicates that the blank contrasts with clinical
observation. You could predict a word like theories, and
you find that assumptions comes close, whereas evidence
is the opposite of what's needed. Choice (A) is the correct
answer.
5. B
Difficulty: Medium
The sentence sets up a contrast between the woman's
opinion of the film and how she usually feels about such
dramatic stories. You don't know what either of these (her
opinion or her general attitude) is, exactly; you just know
that the two have to be roughly the opposite of each other.
Be careful, though. This doesn't mean that all you need
are two opposite words for the blanks. Predictable . ..
spontaneity are rough opposites, but spontaneity doesn't
fit in the sentence. How can someone have spontaneity
toward dramatic stories? The words in (B), poignant . ..
impassivity, work the best. Poignant means touching, and
impassivity is being unresponsive emotionally. Clearly,
it would be a surprise that a woman who normally has
no emotional response to dramatic stories found a film