Question ID 0d81b7d9

Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Central Ideas and

Ideas Details

ID: 0d81b7d9
Paleontologist Alan Tennyson and colleagues studied fossil bones found in New Zealand that are more than 55 million
years old. The researchers determined that the fossil bones belonged to two previously unknown species of prehistoric
penguins. Moreover, they estimated that one of the two penguin species was more than three times the size of the
emperor penguin, which is the largest penguin species that exists today.

Based on the text, which choice best describes the two previously unknown penguin species?

A. They are frequently studied by paleontologists.

B. They are no longer living species.

C. They were smaller than penguin species that exist today.

D. They spent little of their lives in water.

ID: 0d81b7d9 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale
Choice B is the best answer because it presents a statement about the two previously unknown penguin species that is
supported by the text. According to the text, Alan Tennyson and colleagues studied fossil bones belonging to two
previously unknown penguin species that are described as prehistoric, or ancient. The text goes on to say that one of
the two species was considerably larger than the emperor penguin, which is currently the largest penguin in existence.
Thus, the text indicates that the other species aren’t in existence today, or that the two previously unknown penguin
species are no longer living species.

Choice A is incorrect. Although the text states that Alan Tennyson is a paleontologist who studied the fossils of two
previously unknown penguin species, it doesn’t say whether these penguins are frequently studied by paleontologists.
Choice C is incorrect because the text says that one of the two previously unknown penguin species was three times
larger than the emperor penguin (a penguin alive today), not that they were both smaller than penguin species that exist
today. Choice D is incorrect because the text doesn’t discuss whether the two previously unknown penguin species
spent any time in water.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID db876fd5
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Inferences

Ideas

ID: db876fd5
Songbirds learn to respond to and imitate their species’ songs from an early age. With each generation, small
differences are introduced that result in distinct variations—called dialects—among geographically isolated populations
of the same species. A research study examined whether twelve-day-old Ficedula hypoleuca (pied flycatcher) nestlings
prefer local dialects over the unfamiliar dialects of nonlocal F. hypoleuca populations: the more begging calls the
nestlings made in response to a song, the stronger their preference. The researchers found that nestlings produced
more begging calls in response to their own dialect than to nonlocal dialects. Since song preference plays a role in
songbird mate selection, the finding suggests that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

F. hypoleuca nestlings’ preference for their own dialect likely disappears as they mature to promote socialization
A. between different F. hypoleuca populations.

F. hypoleuca nestlings who show an early preference for their own dialect are likely to receive more food from their
B. caretakers than nestlings who show no preferences among any F. hypoleuca dialects.

F. hypoleuca nestlings’ preference for their own dialect likely drives them when they mature to reproduce with other
C. F. hypoleuca from local rather than nonlocal populations.

F. hypoleuca nestlings show a preference for both local F. hypoleuca dialects and the songs of other local songbirds
D. over the songs of nonlocal birds of any species.

ID: db876fd5 Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale
Choice C is the best answer. Because “song preference plays a role in songbird mate selection,” and because F.
hypoleuca nestlings display a preference for local dialects, we can infer that they will be more likely to choose mates
from local populations.

Choice A is incorrect. We don’t have any information suggesting that this preference disappears, so there’s no basis for
this inference. Choice B is incorrect. Although the passage discusses the number of begging calls made in response to
various F. hypoleuca dialects, no mention is made about the amount of food received based on dialect preference.
Therefore, there’s no basis for this inference. Choice D is incorrect. There’s no mention in the passage of methods of
other types of local songbirds, so there’s no basis for this inference.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID f7bd14de
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Central Ideas and

Ideas Details

ID: f7bd14de
Several scholars have argued that conditions in England in the late ninth through early eleventh centuries—namely,
burgeoning literacy amid running conflicts between England’s Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and Danish invaders—were
especially conducive to the production of the Old English epic poem Beowulf, and they have dated the poem’s
composition accordingly. It is not inconceivable that Beowulf emerged from such a context, but privileging contextual fit
over the linguistic evidence of an eighth- or even seventh-century composition requires a level of justification that thus
far has not been presented.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Although there are some grounds for believing that Beowulf was composed between the late ninth and early
eleventh centuries, advocates for that view tend to rely on evidence that has been called into question by advocates
A. for an earlier date.

Although several scholars have dated Beowulf to the late ninth through early eleventh centuries, others have argued
B. that doing so privileges a controversial interpretation of the social conditions of the period.

Although Beowulf fits well with the historical context of England in the late ninth through early eleventh centuries, it
C. fits equally well with the historical context of England in the seventh and eighth centuries.

Although the claim of a late ninth- through early eleventh-century composition date for Beowulf has some
D. plausibility, advocates for the claim have not compellingly addressed evidence suggesting an earlier date.

ID: f7bd14de Answer

Correct Answer: D
Rationale
Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately states the main idea of the text. The text states that some
scholars have dated the composition of Beowulf to the late ninth through early eleventh centuries due to the poem’s fit
with that period’s historical context. The text goes on to say that while it is “not inconceivable that Beowulf emerged
from such a context”—that is, it is possible that Beowulf was composed during the late ninth through eleventh centuries
—there is linguistic evidence that the poem was composed earlier, in the seventh or eighth century. According to the
text, favoring the historical context over the linguistic evidence requires justification that scholars have not yet supplied.
In other words, the text suggests that scholars who favor the later composition date need to explain why the poem’s fit
with historical context should take precedence over the linguistic evidence, but they have not yet done so. Thus, the
main idea of the text is that while there is some plausibility to the later composition date, advocates for the later date
have not compellingly addressed evidence suggestive of an earlier date.

Choice A is incorrect because the text says that scholars who date the poem to the late ninth through early eleventh
centuries have failed to account for the linguistic evidence that the poem may have been composed earlier, not that the
evidence those scholars cite in favor of their view is unreliable or that anyone has cast doubt on that evidence. In other
words, the text does not suggest that there are problems with the evidence cited by advocates of the later composition
date, only that there is other evidence of an earlier composition date that those advocates need to consider. Choice B is
incorrect because nothing in the text suggests that those scholars who date the poem to the late ninth through early
eleventh centuries are giving priority to a controversial view of the social conditions at that time. The text makes no
reference to any controversy about how scholars interpret that historical period. Instead, the text suggests that scholars
who date the poem on the basis of its fit with the historical context of England in the late ninth through early eleventh
centuries have failed to account for linguistic evidence that the poem may have been composed earlier. Choice C is
incorrect because the text says nothing about how well the poem fits the historical context of England in the seventh
and eighth centuries, let alone that it fits that historical context as well as it fits the historical context of the late ninth
through early eleventh centuries. Rather, the text says that there is linguistic evidence that the poem may have been
composed in the seventh or eighth century.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 4889580c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Inferences

Ideas

ID: 4889580c
Archaeologists and historians used to believe that the Maya civilization during its Classic period (roughly 250–900)
lacked agricultural marketplaces. One reason for this belief was that these scholars misunderstood the ecology of the
regions the Maya inhabited. Marketplaces typically emerge because different individuals or groups want to trade
resources they control for resources they don’t control. Scholars seriously underestimated the ecological diversity of
the Maya landscape and thus assumed that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. marketplaces likely would not have attracted many traders from outside the regions controlled by the Maya.

farming practices would have been largely the same throughout Maya lands even if the crops people produced
B. varied significantly.

marketplaces would not have enabled Maya people to acquire many products different from those they already
C. produced.

D. farmers would trade agricultural products only if they had already produced enough to meet their own needs.

ID: 4889580c Answer

Correct Answer: C
Rationale
Choice C is the best answer because it presents the conclusion that most logically follows from the text’s discussion of
scholars’ understanding of Maya ecology and agricultural marketplaces. The text indicates that scholars used to believe
that during the Classic period, the Maya civilization didn’t have agricultural marketplaces. According to the text, scholars
held this view because they misunderstood the ecology of areas where the Maya lived. The text points out that people
tend to create marketplaces in order to acquire resources they don’t otherwise control. Agricultural marketplaces would
have allowed farmers who produced one type of crop to trade that crop for other types of crops that they didn’t produce.
The text goes on to say, however, that scholars underestimated the ecological diversity of the Maya areas, meaning that
scholars thought that the Maya landscape produced a smaller range of resources than it actually produced. Taken
together, then, this information suggests that scholars assumed that marketplaces wouldn’t have allowed Maya people
to acquire products different from the products they already produced: that is, if everyone produced the same array of
crops, as scholars mistakenly believed, then there wouldn’t have been any need for marketplaces where people could
trade those crops.

Choice A is incorrect because the text doesn’t say anything about trade between the Maya and people from outside the
regions controlled by the Maya. Although scholars’ mistaken belief that the Maya lands weren’t very ecologically diverse
would give those scholars a reason to think that the Maya didn’t have marketplaces, it wouldn’t lead scholars to assume
that traders from outside Maya lands were uninterested in acquiring resources produced by the Maya. Even if the Maya
actually did produce only a small array of resources throughout their lands, there is no reason to believe from the text
that people outside Maya lands also produced these same resources and thus would have no need to trade with the
Maya people. Choice B is incorrect because the text indicates that scholars underestimated the ecological diversity of
the Maya lands, which suggests that they mistakenly believed that the Maya produced a relatively small array of
resources throughout their territory, not that the crops the Maya produced varied significantly throughout the Maya
lands. Although the scholars might have assumed that a lack of ecological diversity suggests that Maya farming
practices were largely the same everywhere, the text does not support that they also assumed there was a lot of
variation in the crops that Maya people produced. In fact, the text states that marketplaces emerge when people want
to obtain resources they don’t already control. If it were the case that scholars assumed that the crops Maya people
produced varied significantly, this would have led them to conclude that Maya people likely established marketplaces so
they could trade for resources they didn’t already possess, not that the Maya civilization lacked marketplaces. Choice D
is incorrect because nothing in the text suggests that scholars assumed that farmers wouldn’t trade their agricultural
products unless they had already met their own needs with those products. Instead, the text says that scholars thought
that the Maya lands produced a smaller array of resources than they actually did, which the text suggests led scholars
to assume that the Maya didn’t have any need for marketplaces. The scholars’ mistaken belief has no bearing on the
issue of whether farmers met their own needs before trading their products.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID c4d43991
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Inferences

Ideas

ID: c4d43991
Archaeologists have been debating the origin of a rare form of lead found in Shang dynasty (1766–1046 BCE) bronze
artifacts since its presence was discovered in China in the 1990s. Different researchers have proposed theories on
which regions of the world would have had the raw materials containing the specific lead in these artifacts, but no
conclusive evidence has been presented. What is intriguing is that bronze artifacts from China dated after the Shang
dynasty do not contain this form of lead, suggesting that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. Shang dynasty bronze pieces are rare and therefore more valuable than those from other time periods.

B. the source of some of the raw materials used to make bronze was exploited only until the end of the Shang dynasty.

C. bronze was used for a short time during the Shang dynasty before different metals were used to make artifacts.

D. methods used to analyze bronze artifacts are not useful on pieces that are dated after the Shang dynasty.

ID: c4d43991 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale
Choice B is the best answer. The passage tells us that Shang dynasty bronze artifacts contained "a rare form of lead,"
but that bronze artifacts after this time did not contain that lead. Although we don’t know where that specific type of
bronze came from, we can conclude that that source was not used after the end of the Shang dynasty—otherwise, post-
Shang dynasty pieces would also contain that rare form of lead.

Choice A is incorrect. Despite these pieces containing "a rare form of lead," there is no direct claim in the passage that
Shang dynasty bronze is itself more rare or valuable than bronze pieces from other periods. Therefore, there’s no basis
for this inference. Choice C is incorrect. Although the passage mentions that the nature of the bronze in Chinese
artifacts changed after the Shang dynasty, bronze was still used to create artifacts after this time. The passage in fact
explicitly states "bronze artifacts from China dated after the Shang dynasty…," indicating that bronze was still used in
China after the Shang dynasty. Choice D is incorrect. There’s no mention in the passage of methods used to analyze
bronze artifacts, so there’s no basis for this inference.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID 5f6adeee
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Command of

Ideas Evidence

ID: 5f6adeee
Biologists have generally believed that the diet of jaguars consists mostly of land-based mammals, but researchers
studying a population of jaguars living in the Brazilian Pantanal, a tropical wetland, claim that jaguars can survive on a
diet of more fish and aquatic reptiles than mammals.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers’ claim?

Aquatic reptile and fish remains were detected more often than were mammal remains in an analysis of jaguar
A. waste matter found in the area.

B. Exceptionally high numbers of yacare caiman, an aquatic reptile, were found living in the area.

Aquatic prey like the reptiles and fish in the area provide a source of omega-3 fatty acids that aren’t often found in
C. land mammals.

D. When jaguars in the area preyed on mammals, they tended to prefer semiaquatic ones like capybaras.

ID: 5f6adeee Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale
Choice A is the best answer because it presents a finding that, if true, would support the researchers’ claim about the
diets of jaguars in the Brazilian Pantanal. The text notes that jaguars generally eat land-based mammals, but
researchers claim that jaguars in the Pantanal can survive on a diet that includes more fish and aquatic reptiles than
mammals. Finding that the remains of aquatic reptiles and fish appear more often in these jaguars’ waste than the
remains of mammals do would support the researchers’ claim, since it would suggest that fish and aquatic reptiles are
a more significant part of the jaguars’ diet than mammals are.

Choice B is incorrect because finding that a particular aquatic reptile exists in high numbers in the area would not
support the researchers’ claim about the jaguars’ diet. The mere presence of many aquatic reptiles nearby does not
mean that the jaguars eat those reptiles, let alone survive on more aquatic reptiles and fish than mammals. Choice C is
incorrect. Although finding that aquatic reptiles and fish can provide nutrients that land mammals typically do not
provide could help explain why some animals eat those reptiles and fish, it would not indicate whether the jaguars in
particular eat those reptiles and fish and thus would not support the researchers’ claim. Choice D is incorrect because
finding that when preying on mammals, jaguars prefer semiaquatic mammals, such as capybaras, would be irrelevant to
the researchers’ claim that the jaguars can survive on a diet of more fish and aquatic reptiles than mammals. The type
of mammals the jaguars tend to eat does not indicate anything about whether fish and aquatic reptiles are part of the
jaguars’ diet.
Question Difficulty: Easy