SAT Critical Reading
Practice Test
Section 2
Time — 25 Minutes
24 Questions
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Each sentence below has one or two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Beneath the sentence are five words or sets of words labeled A through E. Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
Example:
Hoping to --------- the dispute, negotiators proposed a compromise that they felt would be --------- to both labor and management.
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1. For a long time, commercial space travel was mere fantasy; now, however, it appears that space tourism may become a ----- possibility in the next century.
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2. His distaste for ----- made him regard people who did not report to work because of minor illnesses as -----.
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3. To make up for the ----- of firsthand information on the remote tribe, the team of anthropologists began organizing a field study.
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4. Alfred Hitchcock's unique vision as a film director has proven to be rather -----: many have tried to ----- his cinematic style, but few have succeeded.
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5. Although she was careful in crafting her alibi, her ----- was uncovered when her story didn't match the known facts.
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Each passage below is followed by questions based on its content. Answer the questions on the basis of what is stated or implied in each passage and in any introductory material that may be provided.
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Questions 6-7 are based on the following passage.
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Shouldn't one's own perception be the self- |
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determinant of what constitutes masculinity? This |
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construction would be the ideal in our society, but |
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unfortunately, it represents a false belief. |
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Masculinity has certain characteristics assigned to |
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it by our culture. This report will explore the many |
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facets of masculinity and demonstrate how certain |
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beliefs pertaining to it are perpetuated in our |
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society. It will also uncover many of the |
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contradictions between society's assigned |
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definition of masculinity and the expectation that |
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males will somehow learn how to act contrary to |
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that assigned and learned meaning. |
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6. Which of the following would most likely be found at the beginning of this report?
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7. The primary purpose of this passage is to
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Questions 8-9 are based on the following passage.
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Rather than creating in a vacuum, musicians |
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either reflect their times, or, at the very least, |
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they are influenced by the public sphere. John |
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Philip Sousa and his works can be classified |
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under the term of "zeitgeist," or "spirit of the |
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times," in that although most of his music was |
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composed in a time of gross materialism and |
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blatant political corruption, it was actually |
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conceived as a means of railing against this |
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unscrupulousness and disunion. All of his |
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musical pieces expressed a strong nationalistic |
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pride that was somewhat repressed by the |
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events of his time but waiting to be trumpeted. |
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8. The "vacuum" described in line 1 might be best described as
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9. The passage suggests that Sousa viewed the "gross matierialism and blatant political corruption" (lines 7-8) with
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Questions 10-18 are based on the following passage.
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This excerpt from a Pulitzer Prize-winning book published in 1920 discusses young Edward's adjustment to his American classmates.
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The leviathan of the Atlantic Ocean, in 1870, was |
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The Queen, and when she was warped into her |
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dock on September 20 of that year, she |
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discharged, among her passengers, a family of |
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four from the Netherlands who were to make an |
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experiment of Americanization. |
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The father, a man bearing one of the most |
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respected names in the Netherlands, had acquired |
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wealth and position for himself; unwise |
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investments, however, had swept away his |
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fortune, and in preference to a new start in his |
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own land, he had decided to make the new |
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beginning in the United States, where a favorite |
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brother-in-law had gone several years before. But |
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that, never a simple matter for a man who has |
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reached forty-two, is particularly difficult for a |
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foreigner in a strange land. This fact he and his |
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wife were to find out. The wife, also carefully |
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reared, had been accustomed to a scale of living |
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which she had now to abandon. Her |
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Americanization experiment was to compel her, for |
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the first time in her life, to become a housekeeper |
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without domestic help. There were two boys: the |
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elder, William, was eight and a half years of age; |
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This younger boy was Edward William Bok. He had, |
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according to the Dutch custom, two other names, |
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but he had decided to leave those in the |
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Netherlands. And the American public was, in later |
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years, to omit for him the “William.” |
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Thanks to the linguistic sense inherent in the |
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Dutch, and to an educational system that compels |
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the study of languages, English was already |
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familiar to the father and mother. But to the two |
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sons, who had barely learned the beginnings of |
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their native tongue, the English language was as a |
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closed book. It seemed a cruel decision of the |
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father to put his two boys into a public school in |
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Brooklyn, but he argued that if they were to |
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become Americans, the sooner they became part |
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of the life of the country and learned its language |
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for themselves, the better. And so, without the |
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ability to make known the slightest want or to |
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understand a single word, the morning after their |
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removal to Brooklyn, the two boys were taken by |
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their father to a public school. |
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The American public-school teacher was perhaps |
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even less well equipped in those days than she is |
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to-day to meet the needs of two Dutch boys who |
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could not understand a word she said, and who |
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could only wonder what it was all about. The |
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brothers did not even have the comfort of each |
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other’s company, for, graded by age, they were |
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placed in separate classes. |
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Nor was the American boy of 1870 a whit less cruel |
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than is the American boy of 1920; and he was none |
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the less loath to show that cruelty. This trait was |
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evident at the first recess of the first day at school. |
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At the dismissal, the brothers naturally sought |
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each other, only to find themselves surrounded by |
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a group of tormentors who were delighted to have |
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such promising objects for their fun. And of this |
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opportunity they made the most. There was no |
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form of petty cruelty boys’ minds could devise that |
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was not inflicted upon the two helpless strangers. |
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Edward seemed to look particularly inviting, and |
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nicknaming him “Dutchy” they devoted themselves |
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at each noon recess and after school to inflicting |
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their cruelties upon him. |
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Louis XIV may have been right when he said that |
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“every new language requires a new soul,” but |
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Edward Bok knew that while spoken languages |
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might differ, there is one language understood by |
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boys the world over. And with this language |
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Edward decided to do some experimenting. After a |
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few days at school, he cast his eyes over the group |
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of his tormentors, picked out one who seemed to |
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him the ringleader, and before the boy was aware |
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of what had happened, Edward Bok was in the full |
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swing of his first real experiment with |
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Americanization. Of course the American boy |
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retaliated. But the boy from the Netherlands had |
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not been born and brought up in the muscle- |
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building air of the Dutch dikes for nothing, and |
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after a few moments he found himself looking |
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down on his tormentor and into the eyes of a |
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crowd of very respectful boys and giggling girls |
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who readily made a passageway for his brother |
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and himself when they indicated a desire to leave |
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the schoolyard and go home. |
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Edward now felt that his Americanization had |
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begun; but, always believing that a thing begun |
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must be carried to a finish, he took, or gave—it |
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depends upon the point of view—two or three more |
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lessons in this particular phase of Americanization |
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before he convinced these American schoolboys |
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that it might be best for them to call a halt upon |
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further excursions in torment. |
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10. In the first line of the passage, "The leviathan of the Atlantic Ocean" refers to
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11. The description of Edward's mother in lines 18-23 ("The wife … domestic help") indicates that she too
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12. As described in lines 25-29 ("The younger … 'William'), Edward
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13. The phrase "the English language was as a closed book" in lines 35-36 indicates that Edward and his brother
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14. Edward and his brother are referred to as "promising objects" in line 61 in that
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15. The "one language understood by boys the world over" described in lines 72-73 was
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16. Edward's "first real experiment with Americanization" (lines 79-80) can best be described as
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17. Lines 81-83 ("But … nothing") reveal which of the following about Edward ?
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18. The last paragraph of the passage implies that
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Questions 19-24 are based on the following passage. |
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The following passage discusses one author's opinion of the strength of arguments put forth by Andrew Carnegie, Karl Marx, and Freidrich Engels in their seminal works.
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"We accept and welcome, therefore, as conditions |
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to which we must accommodate ourselves, great |
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inequality of environment; the concentration of |
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business, industrial and commercial, in the hands |
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of a few; and the law of competition between |
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these, as being not only beneficial, but essential |
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to the future progress of the race." |
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Thus says Andrew Carnegie in The Gospel of |
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Wealth, which describes a capitalist society in |
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which each man works for himself in the race for |
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independent wealth. In this caste society, progress |
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is defined as the continual accumulation of |
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material wealth. An individual's organizational |
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skills lead to his or her success; this success |
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acquires wealth, which in turn provides higher |
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social status than working class counterparts. |
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Carnegie defines progress as material gain, |
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claiming that over the years, wealth has been |
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accumulated slowly through generations. Does |
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this accumulation of wealth truly define progress |
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though? Does this definition of a capitalistic |
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society include all members of the society? |
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Carnegie has failed to include the working class |
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counterparts to these so-called successful men by |
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defining capitalism as a one-sided system that |
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does not recognize the value of all members of its |
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society. In reality, the only people who benefit |
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from Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth are the ones who |
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were rich to begin with. In a capitalist society, as |
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Marx and Engels explain in their Manifesto of the |
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Communist Party, the wealthy continue to exploit |
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the working class in order to benefit no one other |
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than themselves. By forcing the working class to |
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toil away at lower wages, the wealthy benefit from |
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minimized costs. However, while the wealthy |
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continue to enjoy higher paychecks, the workers |
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continue to watch their own paychecks diminish, |
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forcing the gap between the rich and poor to only |
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growing wider, in turn producing class conflict. |
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"Just keep working hard, and you'll be rewarded |
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later," is a promise commonly heard but rarely |
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kept. |
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Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels rationalize a society |
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in which each man works for the well being of the |
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group instead of personal gain, and the existence |
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of the group is improved through this mass effort |
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to achieve a higher quality of living. Their idea of |
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communism also includes the abolition of class |
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conflict - the wealthy bourgeoisie versus the |
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working class proletariat – with the communists |
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believing that the proletariat will eventually |
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overthrow the bourgeoisie and achieve a classless |
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society where the free development of each is the |
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condition for the free development of all. In |
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contrast to the capitalist society, the state |
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regulates each citizen's wealth. Instead of |
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capitalistic birthright, the communists have no |
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right to inheritance or property. Communism then |
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takes on a new meaning of all men created equal. |
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Communism may not be what we consider the ideal |
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economy; however, from an argumentative |
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standpoint, Marx and Engels produce a stronger |
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argument for their case than Carnegie does. They |
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address each aspect of the communist values, |
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while also systematically persuading the reader |
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that the proletariat has every opportunity to |
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abolish castes. With such thoroughness of |
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reasoning, their logic takes on a strength that |
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Carnegie's simply lacks. |
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19. The author quotes Carnegie at the start of the passage in lines 1-7 primarily to illustrate
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20. In line 10, "race" most nearly means
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21. The primary purpose of this passage is to
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22. According to the author, the quotation in lines 40-41 ("Just keep working hard, and you'll be rewarded later") is a statement commonly made by
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23. The author refers to "so-called successful men" in line 24 to show disapproval for
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24. In comparing the writings of Carnegie with those of Marx and Engels in the closing paragraph, the author expresses
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