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

12 Practice Tests for the SAT
820 Practice Test Nine Answers and Explanations
whole passage. Does choice (A) do this? No, Cro-Magnon
contemporaries are never discussed. Does (B)? No,
agriculture isn't discussed. As for (C), the author's point isn't
that Cro-Magnons weren't cavemen but that they differed
from our image of cavemen. Anyway, this isn't the author's
main point. Neither is (D)-the author never claims Cro­
Magnons were artistically more sophisticated than later
civilizations. Choice (E) is best: at points throughout the
passage (paragraphs 2, 3, and 4), the author likens Cro­
Magnons to modern people.
24. E
Difficulty: High
This is another Big Picture question that asks you to consider
the passage as a whole. Be careful not to choose an answer
simply because you have seen it stated somewhere in the
passage-the question is asking the author's primary purpose
in writing the entire essay. Choices (A) and (B) can be found
in places but do not summarize the main idea. Choice (C) is
somewhat true-the passage does give some history of the
Cro-Magnons, but the passage was not written to talk about
history. Nor was it written to (D), compliment the artistic work
of the Cro-Magnons. The author does mention that many of
the works were impressive, but the passage is not a review
of their work. The best choice is then (E); the passage as a
whole explores the cave art of the Cro-Magnons and begins to
describe what this art says about the people and their history.
SECTION 4
1. D
Difficulty: Medium
The phrase attending classes in the day and waiting tables
at a restaurant at night is additional information describing
how the father worked his way through law school, so
it should be set off from the rest of the sentence with a
comma. Choice (B) incorrectly uses a semicolon-the
second part of the sentence is not an independent clause.
Choice (C) creates a comma splice. Choice (E) fixes the
sentence structure error, but it unnecessarily changes the
verb tense.
2. c
Difficulty: Low
As written, this sentence is a fragment. Choice (C) makes
it a complete sentence without changing the meaning. The
yet in (B) and (E) is unnecessary, as contrast has already
been set up with although at the beginning of the sentence.
Choice (D) does not address the problem of the sentence
fragment.
3. A
Difficulty: Medium
This sentence is correct as written. Choice (B) is a run-on
sentence. Choice (C) is a mess. Choice (D) introduces a
cause/effect that is not present in the original sentence.
Choice (E) is not as concise as the original sentence.
4. D
Difficulty: Medium
As written, the sentence doesn't show the correct sequence
of events or the correct transition between ideas. The verb
form having shown incorrectly indicates that the second
clause happened before the first. Choice (D) corrects this
by using the simple past tense. It also correctly adds the
contrasting conjunction but, which along with a comma can
connect two independent clauses. Choice (B) incorrectly
uses the gerund showing. Choice (C) creates a comma
splice with the transition however. For this version of the
sentence to be correct, the comma would have to be
replaced with a semicolon. Choice (E) illogically uses the
word once.
5. c
Difficulty: Medium
As written, the second clause is missing a subject. Choice (C)
properly uses it to refer back to the noun internship, creating
two independent clauses correctly joined by a comma
and the coordinating conjunction but. Choices (B) and (E)
incorrectly use that as a conjunction; (D) uses an improper
verb form.
6. B
Difficulty: Low
The pronoun it is unnecessary in the original version, and
(B) eliminates the redundancy without introducing any
new errors. Choices (C), (D), and (E) create a sentence