SAT Pastpaper with Solutions

The following text is from Jhumpa Lahiri's 2003 novel The Namesake. Gogol, a child, is at a beach in Massachusetts with his father. He watches his father raise a kite within minutes into the wind, so high that Gogol must tip his head back in order to see, a rippling speck against the sky. The wind whips around their ears,
turning their faces cold.

As used in the text, what does the word "tip" most nearly mean?

The following text is from Georgia Douglas Johnson's 1918 poem "Peace."
I rest me deep within the wood,
Drawn by its silent call,
Far from the throbbing crowd of men,
On nature's breast I fall.

As used in the text, what does the word "drawn" most nearly mean?

The following text is from José Rizal's 1891 novel The Reign of Greed (translated by Charles Derbyshire in 1912).
A lady accompanied by her husband entered at that moment and took her place in one of the two vacant boxes. She had the air of a queen and gazed disdainfully at the whole house, as if to say, "I've come later than all of you, you crowd of upstarts and provincials, I've come later than you!" There are persons who go to the theater like the contestants in a mule-race: the last one in, wins, and we know very sensible men who would ascend the scaffold rather than enter a theater before the first act.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

Mexican architect Luis Barragán's prolific career, which spanned the 1920s to the 1980s, evolved through distinct phases. As epitomized by the Aguilar House in Guadalajara, many of Barragán's first projects integrated traditional Mexican building techniques into Mediterranean designs. Extensive travels abroad later sparked an engagement with modernist and functionalist aesthetics-styles whose emphasis on utility and whose repudiation of traditional architecture's more ornamental elements are readily apparent in Barragán's house in Calle Guadiana.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?

Master and Commander, first published in 1969, is a novel in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, which includes twenty books plus an unfinished fragment of a twenty-first. Like the rest of the books in the series, Master and Commander has a rather abrupt ending, but the following book, Post Captain, picks up neatly where Master and Commander leaves off. Thus, the sudden ending is only an issue if one considers the books as independent texts-the Aubrey/Maturin series is best thought of as a single incredibly long work, similar to other multivolume stories, such as John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?

When minor planets are discovered, each is given a unique identification number, and some may be given a unique name, as in the case of 1083 Salvia, which was named after the plant genus that includes sages. Under current astronomical conventions, it is _________for the discoverers to name their discoveries, but they are not required to do so; whether to assign a minor planet a name is entirely the choice of whoever discovers it.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

In their meta-analysis of research on advergames (video games developed to promote products or services), Zeph M.C. van Berlo et al. confirm that such games, though they can elicit player interest, may not facilitate subsequent recall of product and brand information. This phenomenon can be explained by the finite nature of cognitive capacity as it is articulated in Annie Lang's limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing. In this case, players' cognitive resources are directed foremost toward the advergame's mechanics, leaving little or no capacity for encoding and storing the information the advertiser intends to be salient.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Mexican textile artist Victoria Villasana weaves stories of triumph, using her unique method of applying colorful yarn to photographs of people. In some works, Villasana focuses on celebrating cultural icons who are people of color, as she does in her depiction of artist Frida Kahlo. However, in other works, Villasana honors ordinary people, as she does in her captivating portrayal of a young girl sitting on a sidewalk. Villasana sees both of these approaches as ways of depicting the power and interconnectedness of all people.

Which choice best state the main idea of the text?

Why do black-footed cats purr but leopards roar? Researchers hypothesize that this difference between the two feline species may be partly due to a U-shaped bone in their throats called the hyoid. Black-footed cats, which are much smaller than leopards, have a rigid hyoid that rumbles when the cat's larynx vibrates, resulting in a purr. By contrast, leopards have a somewhat flexible hyoid, and the bone is attached to the skull with a stretchy ligament that black-footed cats lack. These traits allow leopards and most other species of big cats to produce powerful roars. The same traits may also prevent most big cats from purring.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

The Age of Innocence is a 1920 novel by Edith Wharton set in New York City in the 1870s. In the novel, Newland Archer arrives late to an opera performance, which the narrator attributes to Newland's enjoyment of anticipation:________

Which quotation from The Age of Innocence best illustrates the claim?

A student is researching copper mining. The student learns that the total amount of copper mined worldwide increased from 10.00 million metric tons in 1995 to 20.60 million metric tons in 2020. Considering a table with information about four countries, the student notes that the global increase in mined copper occurred even though_________

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?

A student is writing a research paper on the global rise of the home video game industry during the 1970s and 1980s. The student wants to know the approximate number of units sold worldwide of the MSX, manufactured by ASCII Corp. The student finds that the number sold was approximately ________

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?

All stainless steel contains varying amounts of iron, carbon, and corrosion-inhibiting chromium. However, ferritic stainless steel, often used for cooking utensils, contains a higher percentage of chromium (at least 10.5%) than does austenitic stainless steel and a higher concentration of iron, which is responsible for its magnetic properties. Unlike ferritic stainless steel, austenitic stainless steel has a face-centered cubic crystalline structure resulting from the addition of nickel to the alloy. Austenitic stainless steel has two subtypes: the 200 series, often used for washing machines, and the 300 series, which has more nickel than the 200 series and is often used for mining and chemical equipment or compensators. Thus, stainless steel used to manufacture_________

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Cardiff, Wales, has installed engineered structures-mainly breakwalls-along 87% of its shoreline to protect infrastructure from storm surges and other hazards, a practice known as shoreline hardening. Investigating the impact of such structures on waterbird communities at various sites in the Chesapeake Bay on the US East Coast, Diann Prosser et al. hypothesized that shoreline hardening more negatively affects waterbirds than does land development for uses such as housing or agriculture. To evaluate the responses of local waterbird species, including the osprey, to landscape alterations, the researchers utilized the Index of Waterbird Community Integrity (IWCI), on which a low score corresponds to low community integrity.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers' hypothesis?

With one in Finland and another in Australia, the observatory sites that form the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network---or SuperDARN, as space physicists like Mark Lester call it---number nearly five_________across the globe, the radars track ionospheric irregularities and other geospace phenomena.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

In Los Angeles County, California, bicycle paths like the Rio Hondo bicycle path-which is about 15.6 miles long-have become an increasingly popular means of travel for commuter and recreational trips alike. Moreover, Ernesto________ has identified bike travel as one possible way to alleviate vehicle congestion, citing the bike friendliness of the area's temperate climate and mostly flat roads.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

"Analyst," like other dactyls that pair exclusively with one other word (e.g., "fortify" and "mortify"), ________with "panelist" to form a closed rhyming pair.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Bear River High School and Bryce Valley High School are two of several Utah __________ enormous geoglyph of the letters BR overlooks Bear River High, while a geoglyph of the letters BV overlooks Bryce Valley High.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Helical________widely understood to confer stability and efficiency in the locomotion of a variety of microscopic organisms—including bacteria, eukaryotic algae, and ciliates—bestows similar advantages, albeit via different propulsive modes, to larger oceanic macroplanktons, such as salps.

 

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

The star Wezen is unvaryingly bright, consistently ranking as one of the brightest stars in the sky (Wezen ranked 36th on a recent list). By contrast, the brightness of the red giant Betelgeuse varies considerably. Indeed, between April and June 2023, Betelgeuse became astonishingly brighter; ________ its ranking rose from 10th to 7th.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

As disparate as their works may seem, commonalities exist between Antonello da Messina, Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian ________ Flemish mannerist painter of the Antwerp School; and Jose Guerrero, American abstract painter of the New York School.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Generally, sleek vehicles are more aerodynamic than bulkier ones. The streamlined nose of the F-4 Phantom II jet, ________helps it glide through wind with relative ease, while a boxy semitruck encounters more wind resistance, making it less aerodynamic.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

In 1965, Morrie Turner's comic strip Wee Pals became the first serial comic by a Black cartoonist to be syndicated, appearing in papers nationwide________many other strips by Black cartoonists were syndicated, including Charles Boyce's Compu-Toon in 1994 and Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks in 1996.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· The Carnegie Prize is an international art competition administered by the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

· Painter John Lavery of Ireland won a Carnegie Prize gold medal in 1896.

· Lavery's winning artwork was a painting entitled Lady in Brown.

· Sculptor Alexander Calder of the US won a Carnegie Prize gold medal in 1958.

· Calder's winning artwork was a sculpture entitled Mobile: Pittsburgh.

The student wants to emphasize a similarity between the two artworks. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

· Freezers and other cooling technologies use chemical compounds called refrigerants to absorb heat and release cold air.

· When a refrigerant absorbs heat, it undergoes vaporization, changing from a liquid to a gas.

· When it cools, it undergoes condensation, changing from a gas to a liquid.

· The refrigerant fluoromethane is a hydrofluorocarbon (HFC).

· HFCs are composed of the elements hydrogen, fluorine, and carbon.

The student wants to describe the role of refrigerants in freezers. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

 

· The Japanese Ministry of the Environment made a list of 100 soundscapes of Japan.

· Each soundscape on the list was selected for its cultural significance to Japan.

· The sound of the bell at Hikone Castle is on the list.

· The sound of crickets on the banks of the Yodo River is on the list.

The student wants to indicate that both soundscapes are on the list. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?