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

12 Practice Tests for the SAT
Practice Test Ten Answers and Explanations I
913
The passage discusses the effects of dementia on its
sufferers. The author discusses memory loss, behavior
problems, and paranoia, among other symptoms. The
primary audience is caregivers for dementia sufferers. Look
for a choice that reflects this approach to the subject.
Choice (A) is out of scope; the author is presenting
information, not arguing for a certain viewpoint. Choice
(B) is distortion; it may be tempting, but it leaves out the
discussion of biochemical changes. Choice (C) is distortion;
the author does not address the causes of dementia.
Choice (D) is a good match. Choice (E) is out of scope; this
is way too broad to be correct. The author focuses on one
aspect of mental illness-dementia.
11. c
Difficulty: Low
Even low-difficulty Vocab-in-Context questions will contain
inappropriate, more common meanings of words to act as
distracting wrong answer choices. The author says that the
symptoms of dementia can be divided into two categories
but that the division is not particularly neat. In other words,
some symptoms don't fit perfectly into either category or
seem to fit in both. A good prediction might be separate.
In choice (A), the author doesn't indicate that the division
is not natural. In choice (B), you wouldn't describe a
division as uncluttered or cluttered. Choice (C) is a good
match. Choice (D) indicates that the author doesn't feel
the distinction is valid, which doesn't fit. In choice (E),
the author doesn't indicate that the division is particularly
favorable or unfavorable.
12. E
Difficulty: Low
You can back up the correct answer to a Detail question with
specific information from the passage. Memory loss comes up
often in the passage, so it's difficult to make a prediction here.
Read each choice carefully to see which one fits the passage.
Choice (A) is an opposite; in paragraph l, the author says
that severe memory loss often affects behavior. Choice (B)
is distortion; this reverses the cause-effect relationship. In
paragraph 3, the author says that memory loss can cause
depression. Choice (C) is extreme; in paragraph 2, the author
says that social skills are often retained longer than judgment,
but this doesn't mean that social skills will never be affected
by memory loss. Choice (D) is distortion; memory loss is a
result, not a cause, of dementia. Choice (E) is correct; this
echoes the first sentence of paragraph 2.
13. A
Difficulty: High
Some Inference questions are very similar to Function
questions and require you to understand the reason that
an author includes a detail or example. Why would it be
difficult to spot dementia in patients whose social skills
are still intact? Well, when people talk to the patients, the
patients seem healthy, since they still act normally.
Choice (A) is it. Choice (B) is an opposite; the passage
states that insight and judgment deteriorate before social
skills. Choice (C) is out of scope; there is no discussion of
the effects of medication in this paragraph. Choice (D) is
a misused detail; this doesn't explain why a patient's intact
social skills would make it difficult to diagnose dementia
in the patient. Choice (E) is out of scope; the author never
discusses scientific quantifying.
14. B
Difficulty: Medium
Whenever the question stem addresses a specific sentence
in the passage, reread the sentence carefully. The author
writes that short-term memory goes before long-term, and
the breakfast menu is an example of a short-term memory
that is lost.
Choice (A) is distortion; forgetting the menu might be
frustrating, but the breakfast itself is not frustrating. Choice
(B) is a good match. Choice (C) is a misused detail; social
skills are mentioned in the paragraph, but they don't have
much to do with breakfast. Choice (D) is a misused detail;
while the author says later in the passage that dementia
sufferers have problems with mundane tasks, the breakfast
menu isn't a task. Choice (E) is a misused detail; fact-based
memories are mentioned in the paragraph, but they are not
the subject of the sentence referred to in this question.
15. B
Difficulty: Low
Some questions just require you to understand what's right
on the page. When you go back to the passage, you read
that biochemical paranoia and depression can often be
partially relieved by medication. So it's important to know
the cause because the disease may be treatable.
Choice (A) is a misused detail; this reference occurs much
later in the passage. Choice (B) is a good match. Choice (C) is
out of scope; the author doesn't describe either symptom as
more common. Choice (D) is a distortion; the understanding