SAT English and Reading Prep & Practice
"To You" is an 1856 poem by Walt Whitman. In the poem, Whitman suggests that readers, whom he addresses directly, have not fully understood themselves, writing, _______ Which quotation from "To You" most effectively illustrates the claim? A) "You have not known what you are, you have slumber'd upon yourself / all your life, / Your eyelids have been the same as closed most of the time." B) "These immense meadows, these interminable rivers, you are immense / and interminable as they." C) "I should have made my way straight to you long ago, / I should have blabb'd nothing but you, I should have chanted nothing / but you." D) "I will leave all and come and make the hymns of you, / None has understood you, but I understand you."
A
Born in 1891 to a Quechua-speaking family in the Andes Mountains of Peru, Martín Chambi is today considered to be one of the most renowned figures of Latin American photography. In a paper for an art history class, a student claims that Chambi's photographs have considerable ethnographic value—in his work, Chambi was able to capture diverse elements of Peruvian society, representing his subjects with both dignity and authenticity. Which finding, if true, would most directly support the student's claim? A) Chambi took many commissioned portraits of wealthy Peruvians, but he also produced hundreds of images carefully documenting the peoples, sites, and customs of Indigenous communities of the Andes. B) Chambi's photographs demonstrate a high level of technical skill, as seen in his strategic use of illumination to create dramatic light and shadow contrasts. C) During his lifetime, Chambi was known and celebrated both within and outside his native Peru, as his work was published in places like Argentina, Spain, and Mexico. D) Some of the peoples and places Chambi photographed had long been popular subjects for Peruvian photographers.
A
In 2007, computer scientist Luis von Ahn was working on converting printed books into a digital format. He found that some words were distorted enough that digital scanners couldn't recognize them, but most humans could easily read them. Based on that finding, von Ahn invented a simple security test to keep automated "bots" out of websites. The first version of the reCAPTCHA test asked users to type one known word and one of the many words scanners couldn't recognize. Correct answers proved the users were humans and added data to the book-digitizing project. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text? A) To discuss von Ahn's invention of reCAPTCHA B) To explain how digital scanners work C) To call attention to von Ahn's book-digitizing project D) To indicate how popular reCAPTCHA is
A
Seminole/Muscogee director Sterlin Harjo _______ television's tendency to situate Native characters in the distant past: this rejection is evident in his series Reservation Dogs, which revolves around teenagers who dress in contemporary styles and whose dialogue is laced with current slang. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase? A) repudiates B) proclaims C) foretells D) recants
A
The following text is from Maggie Pogue Johnson's 1910 poem "Poet of Our Race." In this poem, the speaker is addressing Paul Laurence Dunbar, a Black author. "Thou, with stroke of mighty pen, Hast told of joy and mirth, And read the hearts and souls of men As cradled from their birth. The language of the flowers, Thou hast read them all, And e'en the little brook Responded to thy call." Which choice best states the main purpose of the text? A) To praise a certain writer for being especially perceptive regarding people and nature B) To establish that a certain writer has read extensively about a variety of topics C) To call attention to a certain writer's careful and elaborately detailed writing process D) To recount fond memories of an afternoon spent in nature with a certain writer
A
The parasitic dodder plant increases its reproductive success by flowering at the same time as the host plant it has latched onto. In 2020, Jianqiang Wu and his colleagues determined that the tiny dodder achieves this _______ with its host by absorbing and utilizing a protein the host produces when it is about to flower. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase? A) synchronization B) hibernation C) prediction D) moderation
A
Former astronaut Ellen Ochoa says that although she doesn't have a definite idea of when it might happen, she _______ that humans will someday need to be able to live in other environments than those found on Earth. This conjecture informs her interest in future research missions to the moon. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase? A) demands B) speculates C) doubts D) establishes
B
Given that the conditions in binary star systems should make planetary formation nearly impossible, it's not surprising that the existence of planets in such systems has lacked _______ explanation. Roman Rafikov and Kedron Silsbee shed light on the subject when they used modeling to determine a complex set of factors that could support planets' development. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase? A) a discernible B) a straightforward C) an inconclusive D) an unbiased
B
Herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs could grow more than 100 feet long and weigh up to 80 tons, and some researchers have attributed the evolution of sauropods to such massive sizes to increased plant production resulting from high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide during the Mesozoic era. However, there is no evidence of significant spikes in carbon dioxide levels coinciding with relevant periods in sauropod evolution, such as when the first large sauropods appeared, when several sauropod lineages underwent further evolution toward gigantism, or when sauropods reached their maximum known sizes, suggesting that _______ Which choice most logically completes the text? A) fluctuations in atmospheric carbon dioxide affected different sauropod lineages differently. B) the evolution of larger body sizes in sauropods did not depend on increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. C) atmospheric carbon dioxide was higher when the largest known sauropods lived than it was when the first sauropods appeared. D) sauropods probably would not have evolved to such immense sizes if atmospheric carbon dioxide had been even slightly higher.
B
A study by a team including finance professor Madhu Veeraraghavan suggests that exposure to sunshine during the workday can lead to overly optimistic behavior. **Using data spanning from 1994 to 2010 for a set of US companies, the team compared over 29,000 annual earnings forecasts to the actual earnings later reported by those companies.** The team found that the greater the exposure to sunshine at work in the two weeks before a manager submitted an earnings forecast, the more the manager's forecast exceeded what the company actually earned that year. Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text? A) To summarize the results of the team's analysis B) To present a specific example that illustrates the study's findings C) To explain part of the methodology used in the team's study D) To call out a challenge the team faced in conducting its analysis
C
Beginning in the 1950s, Navajo Nation legislator Annie Dodge Wauneka continuously worked to promote public health; this _______ effort involved traveling throughout the vast Navajo homeland and writing a medical dictionary for speakers of Diné bizaad, the Navajo language. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase? A) impartial B) offhand C) persistent D) mandatory
C
In the mountains of Brazil, Barbacenia tomentosa and Barbacenia macrantha—two plants in the Velloziaceae family—establish themselves on soilless, nutrient-poor patches of quartzite rock. Plant ecologists Anna Abrahão and Patricia de Britto Costa used microscopic analysis to determine that the roots of B. tomentosa and B. macrantha, which grow directly into the quartzite, have clusters of fine hairs near the root tip; further analysis indicated that these hairs secrete both malic and citric acids. The researchers hypothesize that the plants depend on dissolving underlying rock with these acids, as the process not only creates channels for continued growth but also releases phosphates that provide the vital nutrient phosphorus. Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers' hypothesis? A) Other species in the Velloziaceae family are found in terrains with more soil but have root structures similar to those of B. tomentosa and B. macrantha. B) Though B. tomentosa and B. macrantha both secrete citric and malic acids, each species produces the acids in different proportions. C) The roots of B. tomentosa and B. macrantha carve new entry points into rocks even when cracks in the surface are readily available. D) B. tomentosa and B. macrantha thrive even when transferred to the surfaces of rocks that do not contain phosphates.
C
James Young Deer 1909 - 1924 Number of films known and commonly credited: 33 as actor, 35 as director, 10 as writer Dark Cloud 1910-1920 Number of films known and commonly credited: 35 as actor, 1 as writer Edwin Carewe 1912-1934 Number of films known and commonly credited: 47 as actor, 58 as director, 20 as producer, 4 as writer Lillian St. Cyr 1908-1921 Number of films known and commonly credited: 66 as actor Some researchers studying Indigenous actors and filmmakers in the United States have turned their attention to the early days of cinema, particularly the 1910s and 1920s, when people like James Young Deer, Dark Cloud, Edwin Carewe, and Lillian St. Cyr (known professionally as Red Wing) were involved in one way or another with numerous films. In fact, so many films and associated records for this era have been lost that counts of those four figures' output should be taken as bare minimums rather than totals; it's entirely possible, for example, that _______ Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the example? A) Dark Cloud acted in significantly fewer films than did Lillian St. Cyr, who is credited with 66 performances. B) Edwin Carewe's 47 credited acting roles includes only films made after 1934. C) Lillian St. Cyr acted in far more than 66 films and Edwin Carewe directed more than 58. D) James Young Deer actually directed 33 films and acted in only 10.
C
The following text is adapted from Edith Nesbit's 1906 novel The Railway Children. "Mother did not spend all her time in paying dull [visits] to dull ladies, and sitting dully at home waiting for dull ladies to pay [visits] to her. She was almost always there, ready to play with the children, and read to them, and help them to do their home-lessons. Besides this she used to write stories for them while they were at school, and read them aloud after tea, and she always made up funny pieces of poetry for their birthdays and for other great occasions." According to the text, what is true about Mother? A) She wishes that more ladies would visit her. B) Birthdays are her favorite special occasion. C) She creates stories and poems for her children. D) Reading to her children is her favorite activity.
C
Following the principles of community-based participatory research, tribal nations and research institutions are equal partners in health studies conducted on reservations. A collaboration between the Crow Tribe and Montana State University _______ this model: tribal citizens worked alongside scientists to design the methodology and continue to assist in data collection. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase? A) circumvents B) eclipses C) fabricates D) exemplifies
D
T. moroderi Bare ground: 9 Patches of vegetation: 13 Total: 22 Percent found in patches of vegetation: 59.1% T. libanitis Bare ground: 83 Patches of vegetation: 120 Total: 203 Percent found in patches of vegetation: 59.1% H. syriacim Bare ground: 95 Patches of vegetation: 106 Total: 201 Percent found in patches of vegetation: 52.7% H. squamatum Bare ground: 218 Patches of vegetation: 321 Total: 539 Percent found in patches of vegetation: 59.6% H. stoechas Bare ground: 11 Patches of vegetation: 12 Total: 23 Percent found in patches of vegetation: 52.2% Alicia Montesinos-Navarro, Isabelle Storer, and Rocío Perez-Barrales recently examined several plots within a diverse plant community in southeast Spain. The researchers calculated that if individual plants were randomly distributed on this particular landscape, only about 15% would be with other plants in patches of vegetation. They counted the number of juvenile plants of five species growing in patches of vegetation and the number growing alone on bare ground and compared those numbers to what would be expected if the plants were randomly distributed. Based on these results, they claim that plants of these species that grow in close proximity to other plants gain an advantage at an early developmental stage. Which choice best describes data from the table that support the researchers' claim? A) For all five species, less than 75% of juvenile plants were growing in patches of vegetation. B) The species with the greatest number of juvenile plants growing in patches of vegetation was H. stoechas. C) For T. libanitis and T. moroderi, the percentage of juvenile plants growing in patches of vegetation was less than what would be expected if plants were randomly distributed. D) For each species, the percentage of juvenile plants growing in patches of vegetation was substantially higher than what would be expected if plants were randomly distributed.
D
The following text is from Edith Wharton's 1905 novel The House of Mirth. Lily Bart and a companion are walking through a park. Lily had no real intimacy with nature, but she had a passion for the appropriate and could be keenly sensitive to a scene which was the fitting background of her own sensations. **The landscape outspread below her seemed an enlargement of her present mood, and she found something of herself in its calmness, its breadth, its long free reaches.** On the nearer slopes the sugar-maples wavered like pyres of light; lower down was a massing of grey orchards, and here and there the lingering green of an oak-grove. Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole? A) It creates a detailed image of the physical setting of the scene. B) It establishes that a character is experiencing an internal conflict. C) It makes an assertion that the next sentence then expands on. D) It illustrates an idea that is introduced in the previous sentence.
D
