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

12 Practice Tests for the SAT
838 Practice Test Nine Answers and Explanations
for testing on larger animals is a demand not for an alternative
approach, but for a guarantee of safety and effectiveness
before the process is tried on people.
11. D
Difficulty: Medium
The phrase to die young at a ripe age doesn't make
much sense until you understand its context. The author is
discussing the eventual benefits of artificial organs: ordinary
people can live longer or, even better, they can die young at
a ripe age. Dying young at a ripe age does not mean living
longer, (E). Nor does it mean dying prematurely, choice
(A); dying young of an illness, (B); or extending one's life
despite being ill, (C)-none of these are positive things. The
author's talking about the benefits of artificial organs. Dying
young at a ripe age means dying at a normal old age after
having enjoyed a relatively young body during your life; in
other words, it means maintaining a healthier body into old
age, (D).
12. c
Difficulty: Low
In paragraph 2 of Passage 2, the author accuses medical
ethicists of hampering the activities of human volunteers.
He declares that the ethicists are well-intentioned but
their standards are inappropriate. Clearly, the author is
disapproving, (C), of them. None of the other words come
close to describing the author's attitude.
13. E
Difficulty: Medium
Looking down through the choices, you can see that the
only one that can be eliminated right away is slogans,
choice (A), which is not a synonym for standards. To pick
the right one, go back and locate standards in its context.
The author says that the standards, or principles, (E), of the
medical ethicists are inappropriate. Measurements, (B);
examples, (C); and banners, (D), don't make sense in the
context of the sentence.
14. A
Difficulty: Medium
Here's another Vocabulary-in-Context question. Checking
the sentence, critical is used to mean decisive, (A) : the
author is stating that the need to use humans leads to a
decisive, or very significant, bottleneck in the experimental
process. Critical isn't used to mean aggressive, (B);
skeptical, (C); perceptive, (D); or fault-finding, (E).
15. A
Difficulty: Medium
The author discusses the use of artificial heart devices in
paragraph 4. The design of the devices is not a problem,
he says; rather, it's the lack of experience researchers have
had using them with human subjects. He points out that
heart devices may work in one patient and not in another,
depending on age, health, and the quality of postoperative
care. He repeats his point at the beginning of the next
paragraph: what's lacking in coronary care is simply more
experience, (A). The author doesn't praise scientists ' ability
to fight coronary disease, (B); he's saying it could be much
better if human testing were done. The author never mentions
any lingering doubts about artificial heart implants,
(C). Choice (D) contradicts the passage directly: the author
says that engineering design is not currently the main
obstacle. Finally, (E) is wrong because the author never
discusses several new treatments now available to heart
patients.
16. c
Difficulty: Low
The author poses the questions in the last paragraph in
order to identify information that scientists still lack. He's
showing that their knowledge of coronary disease is
incomplete, (C)-that's why human testing is so essential.
He's not illustrating the value of any new devices, (A)-
he's opposed at present to new devices. Nobody else's
arguments are being refuted here, (B). Choice (D) turns the
author's ideas around: he supports human testing. As for (E),
the wide publicity of the research misses the point. The point
is simple: these are questions that need to be answered.
17. B
Difficulty: Low
The answer here has to be fairly general, because the
connection between the two passages is indirect. Take the
answer choices one by one and evaluate each one using
evidence from the passages. For example, (A) is wrong
because the author of Passage 1 doesn't disagree with
anyone or cite any views different from hers. Choice (B),