Digital SAT Practice Quiz- Central Ideas

JavaScript isn't enabled in your browser, so this file can't be opened. Enable and reload.

Email *

Record my email address with my response

1. When classical pianist Martha Argerich performs, it appears as if the music is coming to her spontaneously. She’s highly skilled technically, but because of how freely she plays and her willingness to take risks, she seems relaxed and natural. Her apparent ease, however, is due to a tremendous amount of preparation. Despite Argerich’s experience and virtuosity, she never takes for granted that she knows a piece of music. Instead, she approaches the music as if encountering it for the first time and tries to understand it anew.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

5 points

A) To provide details about how Argerich identifies which pieces of music she will perform

B) To assert that Argerich’s performances look effortless because of how she prepares for them

C) To discuss the kinds of music Argerich feels most comfortable encountering for the first time

D) To describe the unique way that Argerich approaches music she hasn’t performed before

Clear selection

2. To understand how Paleolithic artists navigated dark caves, archaeologist Ma Ángeles Medina-Alcaide and her team tested different lighting methods in a cave in Spain using replicas of artifacts found in European caves with art. They used three different Paleolithic light sources—torches, animal-fat lamps, and fireplaces—determining that each likely had a specific purpose. For instance, the team learned that the animal-fat lamps were less useful than torches while walking because the lamps didn’t illuminate the cave floor.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

5 points

A) Medina-Alcaide and her team’s study demonstrated that fireplaces were essential to the creators of Paleolithic cave art.

B) Medina-Alcaide and her team discovered that Paleolithic cave artists in Spain used animal-fat lamps more often than they used torches.

C) Medina-Alcaide and her team were reluctant to draw many conclusions from their study because of the difficulty they had replicating light sources based on known artifacts.

D) Medina-Alcaide and her team tested Paleolithic light sources and learned some details about how Paleolithic artists traveled within dark caves.

Clear selection

3. The following text is from Betty Smith’s 1943 novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Francie, a young girl, visits the library often. Francie thought that all the books in the world were in that library and she had a plan about reading all the books in the world. She was reading a book a day in alphabetical order and not skipping the dry ones. She remembered that the first author had been Abbott. She had been reading a book a day for a long time now and she was still in the B’s. Already she had read about bees and buffaloes, Bermuda vacations and Byzantine architecture. For all her enthusiasm, she had to admit that some of the B’s had been hard going. But Francie was a reader. ©1947 by Betty Smith

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

5 points

A) To illustrate Francie’s enjoyment of an unusual topic

B) To explain why Francie prefers reading over other activities

C) To portray Francie’s determination to meet a goal

D) To describe a book that Francie greatly admires

Clear selection

4. Researchers have long hypothesized that woolly mammoths were hunted to extinction in North America by humans using spears with grooved tips known as Clovis points. One anthropologist set out to test this hypothesis. Using a mechanical spear-thrower, he launched spears with Clovis points into mounds of clay—substitutes for the animals’ large bodies. The projectiles generally penetrated only a few inches into the clay, an amount insufficient to have harmed most woolly mammoths. This led the anthropologist to conclude that hunters using spears with Clovis points likely weren’t the principal drivers of the extinction.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

5 points

A) To argue for the significance of new findings amid an ongoing debate among researchers

B) To discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the method used in an experiment

C) To summarize two competing hypotheses and a major finding associated with each one

D) To describe an experiment whose results cast doubt on an established hypothesis

Clear selection

5. Elizabeth Asiedu has identified a negative correlation between the share of developing countries’ economies derived from natural-resource extraction and those countries’ receipts of foreign investment. This may appear counterintuitive—resource extraction requires initial investments (in extractive technology, for instance) at scales best met by multinational corporations—but Asiedu notes that natural-resource industries’ boom-bust cycle can destabilize local currencies and increase developing countries’ vulnerability to external shocks, creating levels of uncertainty to which foreign investors are typically averse.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

5 points

A) Although it may seem surprising that foreign investment declines in developing countries as natural-resource extraction makes up a larger share of those countries’ economies, that decline happens because resource extraction requires initial investments too large for foreign investors to supply.

B) Although developing countries tend to become less dependent on foreign investment as natural-resource industries make up a larger share of their economies, this change may not occur if the boom-bust cycle of those industries destabilizes local currencies or increases countries’ vulnerability to external shocks.

C) Although one might expect that foreign investment would increase as natural-resource extraction makes up a larger share of developing countries’ economies, the opposite happens because heavy reliance on natural resources can lead to unattractive conditions for investors.

D) Although foreign investors tend to avoid initial investments in natural-resource industries in developing countries, foreign investment may increase significantly as those industries stabilize and the risks associated with them decline.

Clear selection

6. The following text is adapted from Jean Webster’s 1912 novel Daddy-Long-Legs. The narrator is a young college student writing letters detailing her weekly experiences. [The college is] organizing the Freshman basket-ball team and there’s just a chance that I shall make it. I’m little of course, but terribly quick and wiry and tough. While the others are hopping about in the air, I can dodge under their feet and grab the ball.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

5 points

A) To compare basketball with other sports

B) To provide details of how to play basketball

C) To state how players will be chosen for the basketball team

D) To explain why the narrator thinks she might make the basketball team

Clear selection

7. In the late 1800s, Spanish-language newspapers flourished in cities across Texas. San Antonio alone produced eleven newspapers in Spanish between 1890 and 1900. But El Paso surpassed all other cities in the state. This city produced twenty-two newspapers in Spanish during that period. El Paso is located on the border with Mexico and has always had a large population of Spanish speakers. Thus, it is unsurprising that this city became such a rich site for Spanish-language journalism.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

5 points

A) To compare Spanish-language newspapers published in Texas today with ones published there during the late 1800s

B) To explain that Spanish-language newspapers thrived in Texas and especially in El Paso during the late 1800s

C) To argue that Spanish-language newspapers published in El Paso influenced the ones published in San Antonio during the late 1800s

D) To explain why Spanish-language newspapers published in Texas were so popular in Mexico during the late 1800s

Clear selection

8. Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth. Mary Beth Wilhelm and other astrobiologists search for life, or its remains, in this harsh place because the desert closely mirrors extreme environment on Mars. The algae and bacteria found in Atacama’s driest regions may offer clues about Martian life. By studying how these and other microorganisms survive such extreme conditions on Earth, Wilhelm’s team hopes to determine whether similar life might have existed on Mars and to develop the best tools to look for evidence of it.

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

5 points

A) To contrast the conditions in the Atacama Desert with those on Mars

B) To explain why many life-forms cannot survive in the Atacama Desert

C) To indicate why astrobiologists choose to conduct research in the Atacama Desert

D) To describe certain limitations to conducting scientific study in the Atacama Desert

Clear selection

9. More than 60% of journeys in Mexico City occur via public transit, but simply reproducing a feature of the city’s transit system—e.g., its low fares—is unlikely to induce a significant increase in another city’s transit ridership. As Erick Guerra et al. have shown, transportation mode choice in urban areas of Mexico is the product of a complex mix of factors, including population density, the spatial distribution of jobs, and demographic characteristics of individuals. System features do affect ridership, of course, but there is an irreducibly contextual dimension of transportation mode choice.

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

5 points

A) It presents an objection to the argument of Guerra et al. about transportation mode choice in urban areas of Mexico.

B) It explains why it is challenging to influence transit ridership solely by altering characteristics of a transit system.

C) It illustrates the claim that a characteristic associated with high transit ridership in Mexico City is not associated with high transit ridership elsewhere.

D) It substantiates the assertion that population density, the spatial distribution of jobs, and demographic characteristics are important factors in transportation mode choice.

Clear selection

10. Changes to vegetation cover and other human activities influence carbon and nitrogen levels in soil, though how deep these effects extend is unclear. Hypothesizing that differences in land use lead to differences in carbon and nitrogen levels that are not restricted to the topsoil layer (0–30 cm deep), Chukwuebuka Okolo and colleagues sampled soils across multiple land-use types (e.g., grazing land, cropland, forest) within each of several Ethiopian locations. They found, though, that across land-use types, carbon and nitrogen decreased to comparably low levels beyond depths of 30 cm.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

5 points

A) It describes a phenomenon that scientists do not fully understand, explains a research team’s hypothesis about that phenomenon, and then describes a finding that led the team to refine the hypothesis.

B) It introduces an unresolved scientific question, presents a research team’s hypothesis pertaining to that question, and then describes an observation made by the team that conflicts with that hypothesis.

C) It discusses a process that scientists are somewhat unclear about, introduces competing hypotheses about that process, and then explains how a research team concluded that one of those hypotheses is likely correct.

D) It explains a hypothesis that has been the subject of scientific debate, discusses how a research team tested that hypothesis, and then presents data the team collected that validate the hypothesis.

Clear selection

11. The following text is adapted from Ann Petry’s 1946 novel The Street. Lutie lives in an apartment in Harlem, New York. The glow from the sunset was making the street radiant. The street is nice in this light, [Lutie] thought. It was swarming with children who were playing ball and darting back and forth across the sidewalk in complicated games of tag. Girls were skipping double dutch rope, going tirelessly through the exact center of a pair of ropes, jumping first on one foot and then the other. ©1946 by Ann Petry

Which choice best describes what is happening in the text?

5 points

A) Lutie is observing the appearance of the street at a particular time of day and the events occurring on it.

B) Lutie is annoyed by the noise of children playing games on her street.

C) Lutie is puzzled by the rules of certain children’s games.

D) Lutie is spending time alone in her apartment because she doesn’t want to interact with her neighbors.

Clear selection

12. Many literary theorists distinguish between fabula, a narrative’s content, and syuzhet, a narrative’s arrangement and presentation of events. In the film The Godfather Part II, the fabula is the story of the Corleone family, and the syuzhet is the presentation of the story as it alternates between two timelines in 1901 and 1958. But literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin maintained that fabula and syuzhet are insufficient to completely describe a narrative—he held that systematic categorizations of artistic phenomena discount the subtle way in which meaning is created by interactions between the artist, the work, and the audience.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

5 points

A) Literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin argued that there are important characteristics of narratives that are not fully encompassed by two concepts that other theorists have used to analyze narratives.

B) Literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin claimed that meaning is not inherent in a narrative but is created when an audience encounters a narrative so that narratives are interpreted differently by different people.

C) The storytelling methods used in The Godfather Part II may seem unusually complicated, but they can be easily understood when two concepts from literary theory are utilized.

D) Narratives that are told out of chronological order are more difficult for audiences to understand than are narratives presented chronologically.

Clear selection

13. The following text is adapted from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel The Secret Garden. Mary, a young girl, recently found an overgrown hidden garden. Mary was an odd, determined little person, and now she had something interesting to be determined about, she was very much absorbed, indeed. She worked and dug and pulled up weeds steadily, only becoming more pleased with her work every hour instead of tiring of it. It seemed to her like a fascinating sort of play.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

5 points

A) Mary hides in the garden to avoid doing her chores.

B) Mary is getting bored with pulling up so many weeds in the garden.

C) Mary is clearing out the garden to create a space to play.

D) Mary feels very satisfied when she’s taking care of the garden.

Clear selection

14. The following text is from Ezra Pound’s 1909 poem “Hymn III,” based on the work of Marcantonio Flaminio.

As a fragile and lovely flower unfolds its gleaming

foliage on the breast of the fostering earth, if

the dew and the rain draw it forth;

So doth my tender mind flourish, if it be fed with the

sweet dew of the fostering spirit,

Lacking this, it beginneth straightway to languish,

even as a floweret born upon dry earth, if the

dew and the rain tend it not.

Based on the text, in what way is the human mind like a flower?

5 points

A) It becomes increasingly vigorous with the passage of time.

B) It draws strength from changes in the weather.

C) It requires proper nourishment in order to thrive.

D) It perseveres despite challenging circumstances.

Clear selection

15. The following text is adapted from Jack London’s 1903 novel The Call of the Wild. Buck is a sled dog living with John Thornton in Yukon, Canada.

Thornton alone held [Buck]. The rest of mankind was as nothing. Chance travellers might praise or pet him; but he was cold under it all, and from a too demonstrative man he would get up and walk away. When Thornton’s partners, Hans and Pete, arrived on the long-expected raft, Buck refused to notice them till he learned they were close to Thornton; after that he tolerated them in a passive sort of way, accepting favors from them as though he favored them by accepting.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

5 points

A) Buck has become less social since he began living with Thornton.

B) Buck mistrusts humans and does his best to avoid them.

C) Buck has been especially well liked by most of Thornton’s friends.

D) Buck holds Thornton in higher regard than any other person.

Clear selection

16. The following text is from Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1899 short story “Martha’s Lady.” Martha is employed by Miss Pyne as a maid.

Miss Pyne sat by the window watching, in her best dress, looking stately and calm; she seldom went out now, and it was almost time for the carriage. Martha was just coming in from the garden with the strawberries, and with more flowers in her apron. It was a bright cool evening in June, the golden robins sang in the elms, and the sun was going down behind the apple-trees at the foot of the garden. The beautiful old house stood wide open to the long-expected guest.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

5 points

A) To convey the worries brought about by a new guest

B) To describe how the characters have changed over time

C) To contrast the activity indoors with the stillness outside

D) To depict the setting as the characters await a visitor’s arrival

Clear selection

17. Believing that living in an impractical space can heighten awareness and even improve health, conceptual artists Madeline Gins and Shusaku Arakawa designed an apartment building in Japan to be more fanciful than functional. A kitchen counter is chest-high on one side and knee-high on the other; a ceiling has a door to nowhere. The effect is disorienting but invigorating: after four years there, filmmaker Nobu Yamaoka reported significant health benefits.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

5 points

A) Although inhabiting a home surrounded by fanciful features such as those designed by Gins and Arakawa can be rejuvenating, it is unsustainable.

B) Designing disorienting spaces like those in the Gins and Arakawa building is the most effective way to create a physically stimulating environment.

C) As a filmmaker, Yamaoka has long supported the designs of conceptual artists such as Gins and Arakawa.

D) Although impractical, the design of the apartment building by Gins and Arakawa may improve the well-being of the building’s residents.

Clear selection

18. The following text is from the 1924 poem “Cycle” by D’Arcy McNickle, who was a citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

There shall be new roads wending,

A new beating of the drum—

Men’s eyes shall have fresh seeing,

Grey lives reprise their span—

But under the new sun’s being,

Completing what night began,

There’ll be the same backs bending,

The same sad feet shall drum—

When this night finds its ending

And day shall have come.....

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

5 points

A) To consider how the repetitiveness inherent in human life can be both rewarding and challenging

B) To question whether activities completed at one time of day are more memorable than those completed at another time of day

C) To refute the idea that joy is a more commonly experienced emotion than sadness is

D) To demonstrate how the experiences of individuals relate to the experiences of their communities

Clear selection

19. The following text is adapted from Jane Austen’s 1814 novel Mansfield Park. The speaker, Tom, is considering staging a play at home with a group of his friends and family.

We mean nothing but a little amusement among ourselves, just to vary the scene, and exercise our powers in something new. We want no audience, no publicity. We may be trusted, I think, in choosing some play most perfectly unexceptionable; and I can conceive no greater harm or danger to any of us in conversing in the elegant written language of some respectable author than in chattering in words of our own.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

5 points

A) To offer Tom’s assurance that the play will be inoffensive and involve only a small number of people

B) To clarify that the play will not be performed in the manner Tom had originally intended

C) To elaborate on the idea that the people around Tom lack the skills to successfully stage a play

D) To assert that Tom believes the group performing the play will be able to successfully promote it

Clear selection

20. Musician Joni Mitchell, who is also a painter, uses images she creates for her album covers to emphasize ideas expressed in her music. For the cover of her album Turbulent Indigo (1994), Mitchell painted a striking self-portrait that closely resembles Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889). The image calls attention to the album’s title song, in which Mitchell sings about the legacy of the postimpressionist painter. In that song, Mitchell also hints that she feels a strong artistic connection to Van Gogh—an idea that is reinforced by her imagery on the cover.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

5 points

A) It presents a claim about Mitchell, then gives an example supporting that claim.

B) It discusses Van Gogh’s influence on Mitchell, then considers Mitchell’s influence on other artists.

C) It describes a similarity between two artists, then notes a difference between them.

D) It describes the songs on Turbulent Indigo, then explains how they relate to the album’s cover.

Clear selection

Send me a copy of my responses.

Submit

Clear form

This form was created inside of wfsd.k12.ny.us. Report Abuse

Forms