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

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Section 4
Practice Test One
Directions: The passages below are followed by questions based on their content; questions following a pair of related
passages may also be based on the relationship between the paired passages. Answer the questions on the basis of
what is stated or implied in the passages and in any introductory material that may be provided.
Questions 6-7 are based on the following passage.
Efforts to understand how prehistoric animals
interacted with one another inevitably focus on
predatory relationships. Given this concentration,
Line it is not surprising that paleontologists-those
(5) who study prehistoric life using fossil evidenceoften
rely upon teeth to describe animals that
lived in the distant past and to determine their
behaviors. Through the evolutionary process, an
animal's teeth become precisely adapted for the
( 10) acquisition and initial processing of the specific
types of foods consumed by that animal. In
addition, because teeth are one of the hardest
structures of the body, they can remain in the
environment for centuries after an animal has
(15) died. Both of these qualities make teeth quite
serviceable as prehistoric clues.
6. In line 16, "serviceable" most nearly means
(A) durable
(B) useful
(C) precious
(D) fixable
(E) reliable
7. In the context of this passage, it can be inferred
from the use of the words "not surprising" (line 4)
that the author thinks
(A) paleontologists are rarely surprised by the
fossils they find
(B) most people understand the importance of
fossilized teeth to paleontology
( C) the focus of paleontologists on predatory
relationships is quite understandable
· (D) the connection between predatory behavior
and teeth has been thoroughly explored
(E) it is quite apparent that predatory relationships
often involve the use of teeth
Questions 8-9 are based on the following passage.
As I walk, alone and lonely, on the streets
around my small apartment, I feel a bond with
virtually everyone I see: the elderly man struggling
Line to walk up the stoop (a man who finds even the
(5) most basic tasks challenging), the child playing
with a soccer ball (a blithe boy, experiencing easy
joy), and even the wrinkled woman stationed
behind the cash register of the convenience store,
where she seems to be eight days a week (a hard
(10) worker facing a daily struggle to make a living).
My own identity feels lost, wrapped up in the lives
of others. And yet I realize that as I struggle to
identify myself, I feel closer to the world around
me' and less alone.
8. The author mentions that the woman in the
convenience store seems to be there "eight days a
week" (line 9) in order to
(A) suggest that she makes her home at the store
(B) indicate that she is merely part of the author's
imagination
(C) provide an anecdote about the challenges of
accomplishing basic tasks
(D) argue that convenience store workers have
easy lives
(E) highlight how hard she must work to earn
a living
9. In the passage, the word "blithe" (line 6) most
nearly means
(A) flexible
(B) nervous
( C) carefree
(D) young
(E) envious
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