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

12 Practice Tests for the SAT
Practice Test Nine Answers and Explanations I
837
Questions 7- 19
Although these two passages discuss issues in medical
research, don't be intimidated by the subject matter. Read
through the passages once to get a general feel for them.
The question stems will direct you back to the specific
sentences you'll need to understand to get the answers.
Also, read through Passage 1 and do the questions that
refer to it, and then read through Passage 2 and do the rest
of the questions.
Passage 1 talks about the difficulty of reconstructing or
replacing certain bones in humans. A recent advance has
been the creation of bone substitutes from muscle using
the protein osteogenin. While osteogenin can't be used
directly on a defect, it can be used to prefabricate bones
in molds implanted in an animal's abdomen. The process
hasn't been tried in humans, though, because osteogenin
is scarce and because it has to be tested on larger animals
first.
Passage 2 has a distinctly different tone. The author is not
objective and impartial; he's taking a stand on an issue:
he argues that testing on humans is necessary in order to
make improvements in artificial organs. Using animals, he
says, isn't good enough: there are no good animal models
for human bones and joints. Moreover, testing on humans
gives doctors crucial experience. The author concludes that
there's no point in developing new designs for artificial
organs until present ones have been evaluated on people.
7. E
Difficulty: Medium
The stem contains no line reference, but the only place
the author talks about future experiments in making bone
from muscle is the last paragraph. She says there that
surgeons have not yet tried the process in humans and that
it must first be tested on larger animals. The author expects,
therefore, that future experiments will involve larger
animals and perhaps humans, (E). There's no evidence
that future experiments will encounter no serious problems,
(A); that they will be hindered by surgeons, (C); or that they
face enormous technical obstacles, (D). And despite the
fact that all experiments have so far been limited to smaller
animals, (B), it's clear that this isn't what the author expects
in the future.
8. c
Difficulty: Medium
Here's an example of the all/EXCEPT question type.
Information about osteogenin is spread over the last three
paragraphs, so scan through the choices to see if one
jumps out before you start digging through the passage.
Choice (C), its application can be easily controlled, should
strike you as false because the author says in paragraph 4
that osteogenin is hard to control-it might turn an entire
area to bone if sprinkled on a defect. If you didn't spot (C),
you had to confirm the other choices. Current supplies [of
osteogenin] are limited, (A), is indicated in paragraph 6.
This is also where the author says that tests of its effectiveness
have been limited, (B), to small animals and that
osteogenin's safety for human use is undetermined, (D).
The fact that some surgeons hesitate to use it, (E), because
it's hard to control is stated in paragraph 4.
9. A
Difficulty: Medium
As with many Vocabulary-in-Context questions, all of the
choices are actual definitions of the cited word, immediate.
However, only one makes sense in the context of the
sentence: plastic surgeons have circumvented that snag
by prefabricating bones away from the immediate site of
a defect. Here, immediate describes the physical site and
nearby area of a defect. Only (A), near, fits. Choice (B),
instant, and (E), current, refer to time, so they don't make
sense in context. Neither the next in line site of a defect nor
the directly understood site of a defect makes sense, so (C)
and (D) are also incorrect.
10. A
Difficulty: Medium
You've already had to go back and read through the last
paragraph a couple of times by now, so glance through the
choices. A review of current knowledge, (A), looks good right
away, because the author points out in the last paragraph
how far surgeons have gone in experimenting with and
learning about the new process. There's no qualification of
an earlier remark, (B). Choice (C) is out because the author
never mentions, let alone challenges, a contradictory view.
The final paragraph presents new facts and ideas rather than
a summary of previous ideas, (D). As for (E), the author's call