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

12 Practice Tests for the SAT
752 Practice Test Eight Answers and Explanations
you see that the writer only has a vague idea of what he
wants to write when he sits down, but things get much
clearer once he starts to write. Dim is used in the sense of
vague, (A).
11. A
Difficulty: Low
Rereading the sentence at the end of the third paragraph in
Passage 1 should be enough to enable you to pick out the
right choice. It is the writer's search for order, according to the
author, . .. which exists not only in poems and stories, but in
any form of writing, however humble or trivial. Choice (A)
paraphrases this nicely. The other choices may seem to be
plausible general reasons for referring to different forms of
writing, but they don't work in the context of Passage 1 .
12. B
Difficulty: Medium
As with the previous question, all of the choices here seem
like plausible reasons for adopting a professional attitude to
writing. Only one can fit what the author actually says, though,
which is that the only way he can ensure a consistent output
is to approach writing as if it were a job like any other. He
wants to maintain a high level of productivity, (B).
13. D
Difficulty: Medium
The author of Passage 2 attacks the dangerous
misconceptions that many people have about the creative
process of writing. The problem, he states, is that we still
believe the fanciful notions of the Romantic movement.
Fanciful clearly has a negative connotation here, which
makes unrealistic the best choice.
14. B
Difficulty: High
As we saw in the last question, the author of Passage 2
launches an attack on the Romantics and their fanciful notions
about artistic creativity. His main target is Coleridge, whose
work led to the belief that the creation of art is unlike every
other form of human productivity-an idea the author
doesn't agree with at all. The author is suggesting, therefore,
that Coleridge's writings propagated erroneous ideas about
artistic creativity, (B). The author himself, not Coleridge,
emphasizes the role of maturity in an artist, so (A) is out.
Choice (C) is wrong because the author thinks that Coleridge
spread false ideas about art, not that Coleridge exaggerated
the importance of the arts. Furthermore, there is no suggestion
in the passage that Coleridge ignored how long it takes to learn
writing skills or that he exalted experience over talent.
15. D
Difficulty: Medium
The author of Passage 2 compares writing to breaking rocks
to look for gold in emphasizing that writing is hard work with
no guaranteed reward. Looking through the answer choices,
the one that echoes this sentiment most reasonably is (D).
The author does think that writing requires unusual talent,
but that has nothing to do with his analogy. Choice (B) is
far too extreme, while (C) is out because the author is not
considering here what other people think of writers. Nor is
he concentrating on the possible rewards of writing, (E),
although such rewards do, no doubt, exist.
16. D
Difficulty: High
When he says that writers are born rather than made, the
author means that some people feel compelled to write by
their response to narrative . .. sensitivity towards language,
and . .. curiosity about human nature. These are innate
abilities that play an important role in determining who will
become a writer, (D). Choice (A) contradicts the author's
continual stress on writing as hard labor. Choice (B) is
reasonable, but it does not explain the author's statement.
Choices (C) and (E) both contradict the idea that writers are
born, not made; if childhood experiences made someone a
writer, then a writer would be made, not born.
17. A
Difficulty: Medium
Several of the choices here may look good, especially (E),
until you reread the last paragraph of Passage 2. The author
criticizes the publishing world for overlooking craft and
maturity of vision in favor of novelty and originality. Choice
(A) is therefore the right answer. None of the other choices,
plausible as they may seem to be, are mentioned by the
author in his criticism of the publishing world.
18. A
Difficulty: Medium
The second paragraph of Passage 1 has been the subject
of several questions so far. It's the description of creative