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

12 Practice Tests for the SAT
742 Practice Test Eight Answers and Explanations
4. B
Difficulty: Medium
The structural clue while alerts you that vetiver does not have
a disruptive impact on the local ecology as kudzu does. A good
prediction for the blank would then be negative, because
vetiver has no negative effects. The only good match for
this prediction among the choices is (B), adverse, which
means unfavorable. Vetiver clearly has foreseeable (A) and
advantageous (E) effects because it controls soil erosion, so
these choices are wrong. Choice (C), domestic, doesn't make
sense in the sentence. Since you don't know whether kudzu's
impact on the ecology is permanent, (D) doesn't fit either.
5. B
Difficulty: High
Narrowing your focus helps with this sentence. Look at the
phrase patriotic and other _ c/iches. The first blank has
to be a word for a category that patriotic falls into, such
as ideological, (B). For the second blank, you can
infer that in an impersonal world, relief will come from
occasional displays of emotion. Choice (B), ideological . ..
manifestations, has what you need to fill the blanks.
Pragmatic, (A), which means practica doesn't work in the
first blank, and absences is the opposite of what we want in
the second blank. Ephemera/ means lasting a very short time,
while vestiges means trace or marks left by something.
Questions 6-7
In this short Reading Comprehension passage, the author
describes waking up in the early hours of the morning to
start his first morning working a paper route. Before even
beginning the route, the author regrets having taken on
the job.
6. D
Difficulty: Medium
The reasoning behind the author's use of a particular
word or phrase can usually be found in the content that
surrounds the word or phrase. In this case, the author not
only mentions his alarm clock, but also points out that it
had been beeping for a while by the time he was finally
awakened by it. In other words, it had not awakened him
easily. Because the author highlights these particular details,
and because the entire paragraph focuses on how painfully
early the author was required to get up, it is likely the clock
was mentioned to emphasize this point. Choice (A) is out
of scope; just the fact that the author set his alarm does not
necessarily indicate that he was thoroughly prepared for the
paper route. Choice (B) is an opposite answer; the author
seems to be totally unaccustomed to waking this early.
Choice (C) draws on too many assumptions that are not
supported by the actual details presented in the paragraph.
And (E) is an irrelevant detail. While the author certainly
makes this point in the paragraph, the mention of his alarm
clock does not in itself do so.
7. A
Difficulty: Medium
While Inference questions ask you come to conclusions
that are not actually stated in the text, you must still find
detailed support in the paragraph for whatever answer
choice you make. All that you can safely assume from the
cited words is that the author, in his first waking moments,
forgot all about his paper route. Because the paragraph
emphasizes the earliness, it can be inferred that the unusual
time created the author's confusion. Choice (B) is too
extreme. While the author mentions regret over his decision
to take on the paper route, it cannot be inferred that these
momentary feelings reflect his entire opinion of his new
job. Nothing in the short passage supports (C); such a
general characterization of the author's personality cannot
be accurately inferred from the details of this one morning.
Similarly, nothing in the paragraph indicates that the author
forgot about the paper route because he was unconcerned
with the responsibilities of his new job, so (D) is incorrect.
And though the author sleepily forgot why he was awake,
nothing indicates that he was confused about the specifics
of the paper route, (E).
Questions 8-9
This short passage explains how the director Sergei
Eisenstein influenced modern movies. He is most widely
known for his use of the montage, but Eisenstein was also
successful in making complex and abstract expressions
accessible to the general viewing public.