The SAT Prep Black Book(48)

(B) works because the author says his “position was a distinguished one” in line 9, which indicates that he had a sense of dignity, and because Trabb’s boy is clearly engaging in what we might call “antics.” So (B) is correct.

(C) is wrong because the author never says that he didn’t understand anything.

(D) doesn’t work because the text doesn’t invoke fate to “rationalize human faults.” The text does mention “fate” in the first paragraph, but there’s no rationalization of anything. In other words, there is no attempt by the author to explain something away by relying on, or referring to, fate.

(E) doesn’t work because the townspeople are ridiculing the author, not the boy. This is another example of how the College Board likes to create wrong answers that involve major concepts from the text but don’t reflect the correct relationships among those concepts.





Page 985, Question 16


This is another question that asks us how the author of one passage might respond to something from another passage. As always, we’ll find the answer spelled out directly in the text.

The academic historians in the first passage “have not given [Williamsburg] the significance it deserves,” according to lines 8 and 9, and have “dismiss[ed] it” and seen it as “harmless but amusing.”

But, starting in line 82, the author of passage 2 says that Williamsburg is a “crime against art and history” that is evidence of “an established element of popular culture” that “has also given a license to destroy.”

Choice (E) is correct then. The phrase “fail to take seriously” in the answer choice goes with the phrases “dismiss” and “harmless but amusing” in passage 1. The phrase “damage done” in the answer choice goes with the idea of the “license to destroy” in passage 2. The phrase “cultural trend” in the answer choice goes with the phrase “established element of popular culture” in passage 2.

(A) is incorrect because the academics in passage 1 never say anything about how much history can be learned.

(B) is incorrect because the author of passage 2 also thinks the environments are an “established element of popular culture.”

(C) doesn’t work because the academics don’t say anything about the necessity of simplifying history.

(D) doesn’t work because the academics don’t endorse anything.





Conclusion


Now that we’ve gone through a lot of these Passage-Based Reading questions, you’re probably beginning to be able to find the correct answers pretty reliably. Your abilities will improve with practice, especially when you have to figure out questions that seem challenging at first. Hang in there, and keep the rules of the test in mind!

If you’d like to see a selection of free video solutions to help you keep improving, then check out www.SATprepVideos.com.





SAT Passage-Based Reading Quick Summary


This is a one-page summary of the major relevant concepts. Use it to evaluate your comprehension or jog your memory. For a more in-depth treatment of these ideas, see the rest of the section.

The Big Secret: The answer to every question comes directly from what’s on the page. No interpretation whatsoever.

The rules for Passage-Based Reading on the SAT are simple; the only challenging thing is making sure you follow them all the time, no matter what. Here they are:

oCorrect answers are always directly supported in the text.

oDon't overlook details. The difference between right and wrong is often just one word.

oRemember there is always exactly one right answer per question.

Here are the most common wrong-answer patterns you'll see:

oAnswer choice contains statements that go beyond what is mentioned in the text.

oAnswer choice mentions concepts from the text but confuses the relationship between them.

oAnswer choice is completely irrelevant to the text.

oAnswer choice says the opposite of what the text says.

oAnswer choice would be a decent interpretation if you were in a literature class.

Here's the general Passage-Based Reading process:

oSkim or read the passage (whichever you’re more comfortable with). Or even skip it altogether.

oRead the question and note any citation.

oRead the relevant portion of the text (the citation if there is one, otherwise the part that has similar concepts to the question).

oFind four wrong-answer choices (look for wrong-answer patterns).

oConfirm remaining answer choice.

oMark the correct answer.

oSave general passage questions for last.

Special notes:

Two consecutive statements in a passage should be treated like synonyms if the College Board asks about them. If they have a negating word like “not” or “never” between them, then they should be treated like antonyms.