Question ID 1a2b29c9

Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Central Ideas and

Ideas Details

ID: 1a2b29c9
The following text is adapted from María Cristina Mena’s 1914 short story “The Vine-Leaf.”

It is a saying in the capital of Mexico that Dr. Malsufrido carries more family secrets under his hat than any archbishop.
The doctor’s hat is, appropriately enough, uncommonly capacious, rising very high, and sinking so low that it seems to
be supported by his ears and eyebrows, and it has a furry look, as if it had been brushed the wrong way, which is
perhaps what happens to it if it is ever brushed at all. When the doctor takes it off, the family secrets do not fly out like a
flock of parrots, but remain nicely bottled up beneath a dome of old and highly polished ivory.

Based on the text, how do people in the capital of Mexico most likely regard Dr. Malsufrido?

A. Many have come to tolerate him despite his disheveled appearance.

B. Few feel concerned that he will divulge their confidences.

C. Some dislike how freely he discusses his own family.

D. Most would be unimpressed by him were it not for his professional expertise.
Question ID 2fdfe002
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Central Ideas and

Ideas Details

ID: 2fdfe002
The following text is adapted from Countee Cullen’s 1926 poem “Thoughts in a Zoo.”

They in their cruel traps, and we in ours, Survey each other’s rage, and pass the hours
Commiserating each the other’s woe, To mitigate his own pain’s fiery glow. Man could but little proffer in exchange
Save that his cages have a larger range. That lion with his lordly, untamed heart
Has in some man his human counterpart, Some lofty soul in dreams and visions wrapped,
But in the stifling flesh securely trapped.

Based on the text, what challenge do humans sometimes experience?

A. They cannot effectively tame certain wild animals because of a lack of compassion.

B. They cannot focus on setting attainable goals because of a lack of motivation.

C. They quickly become frustrated when faced with difficult tasks because of a lack of self-control.

D. They have aspirations that cannot be fulfilled because of certain limitations.

Question ID 8a8236e1
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Central Ideas and

Ideas Details

ID: 8a8236e1
Scent is tightly interwoven with our daily lives, often evoking significant memories and important social events. This
connection is of growing interest to archaeologists who hope to use it to better understand ancient rituals, trade, social
hierarchies, and medicine. Although the speed at which odor molecules dissipate makes identifying ancient scents
challenging, advancements in biomolecular technologies show promise in unlocking ancient aromas from preserved
artifacts. Archaeological studies making use of these advancements may provide new insights into past societies.

According to the text, what is one reason some archaeologists are interested in recovering scents from ancient artifacts?

A. They are investigating whether people’s sense of smell has declined in recent centuries.

B. They believe the scents could illuminate important aspects of ancient life.

C. They think that ancient scents would be enjoyable to people today.

D. They hope to develop new medicines using ancient scent molecules.

Question ID 96802cc0
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Central Ideas and

Ideas Details

ID: 96802cc0
For centuries, the widespread acknowledgment of the involvement of the cerebellum—a dense brain structure in vertebrates
—in coordinating motor control in humans has hindered recognition of other possible functions of the structure.
Neuroscience research from the last two decades now suggests that the cerebellum regulates emotion and social behavior,
and recent research by Ilaria Carta and colleagues has identified a pathway connecting the cerebellum to a center for
motivation and reward processing known as the ventral tegmental area (VTA).

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

The recent verification of a pathway between the VTA and the cerebellum confirms the cerebellum’s long-suspected role
A. in motor coordination.

Recent advances in the field of neuroscience have challenged widely accepted claims about the function of a pathway
B. connecting the VTA and the cerebellum.

The cerebellum has primarily been thought to regulate motor functioning, but in recent years neuroscience researchers
C. have been uncovering additional functions.

Technological limitations have historically hindered the study of the cerebellum, but the recent development of new
D. technologies has led to greater insights into its functions.
Question ID d0fbf1ae
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Central Ideas and

Ideas Details

ID: d0fbf1ae
Algae living within the tissues of corals play a critical role in keeping corals, and the marine ecosystems they are part of,
thriving. Some coral species appear brown in color when healthy due to the algae colonies living in their tissues. In the event
of an environmental stressor, the algae can die or be expelled, causing the corals to appear white. To recover the algae, the
bleached corals then begin to produce bright colors, which block intense sunlight, encouraging the light-sensitive algae to
recolonize the corals.

What does the text most strongly suggest about corals that produce bright colors?

A. These corals have likely been subjected to stressful environmental conditions.

B. These corals are likely more vulnerable to exposure from intense sunlight than white corals are.

C. These corals have likely recovered from an environmental event without the assistance of algae colonies.

D. These corals are more likely to survive without algae colonies than brown corals are.
Question ID 20000f5f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Inferences

Ideas

ID: 20000f5f
Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about detective Sherlock Holmes were published between 1887 and 1927. They have inspired
countless successful adaptations, including comic strips, movies, and a television series Sherlock Hound, directed by Hayao
Miyazaki, who is celebrated for his animated movies. Until 2014, these stories were copyrighted. The right to adapt was only
available to those who could afford the copyright fee and gain approval from the strict copyright holders of Doyle’s estate.
Some journalists predict that the number of Sherlock Holmes adaptations is likely to increase since the end of copyright
means that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. Doyle’s original stories will become hard to find.

B. people will become more interested in detective stories than they were in the 1800s.

C. producing adaptations will become easier and less expensive.

D. the former copyright holders of Doyle’s estate will return fees they collected.
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 F.
C. 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 over
D. the songs of nonlocal birds of any species.
Question ID 6bc0e595
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Inferences

Ideas

ID: 6bc0e595
One aspect of in-person shopping that online shopping can’t replicate is the opportunity to touch a product before buying it.
Does this difference matter? In an experiment, researchers asked one group of participants to touch a mug and a toy, while
another group was prohibited from touching the two items. The participants were then asked how much money they’d pay
for the items. People who got to touch the items were willing to pay much more money for them than were people who
weren’t allowed to touch the items. This finding suggests that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. people who mainly shop online probably spend more money every month than people who mainly shop in person do.

B. in-person shopping may make products seem more valuable than they seem if only viewed online.

C. retailers with in-person and online stores should charge the same price for a given product in both places.

D. online retailers may be able to raise the prices they charge for products that are only available online.
Question ID f9bd4e61
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Inferences

Ideas

ID: f9bd4e61
German theater practitioner Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) believed that theater should elicit an intellectual rather than an
emotional response from audiences, provoking them to consider social and political realities that extend beyond the
characters and events depicted onstage. Brecht’s influence can be seen in English playwright Caryl Churchill’s 1979 play
Cloud 9: although the play sometimes invites empathetic reactions, it primarily works to engage audiences in an
interrogation of patriarchy and colonialism, which it does by placing audiences at a distance, thereby encouraging them to
______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. focus on the characters’ beliefs about social and political issues as revealed by the characters’ actions.

B. reflect on social and political phenomena not directly related to patriarchy and colonialism.

recognize pertinent social and political parallels between Germany during Brecht’s time and England at the time when
C. Churchill was writing Cloud 9.

D. be dispassionate as they think critically about the social and political questions raised by the play.
Question ID aaddd60f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Inferences

Ideas

ID: aaddd60f
Scientists studying Mars long thought the history of its crust was relatively simple. One reason for this is that geologic and
climate data collected by a spacecraft showed that the crust was largely composed of basalt, likely as a result of intense
volcanic activity that brought about a magma ocean, which then cooled to form the planet’s surface. A study led by Valerie
Payré focused on additional information—further analysis of data collected by the spacecraft and infrared wavelengths
detected from Mars’s surface—that revealed the presence of surprisingly high concentrations of silica in certain regions on
Mars. Since a planetary surface that formed in a mostly basaltic environment would be unlikely to contain large amounts of
silica, Payré concluded that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

the information about silica concentrations collected by the spacecraft is likely more reliable than the silica information
A. gleaned from infrared wavelengths detected from Mars’s surface.

high silica concentrations on Mars likely formed from a different process than that which formed the crusts of other
B. planets.

having a clearer understanding of the composition of Mars’s crust and the processes by which it formed will provide
C. more insight into how Earth’s crust formed.

D. Mars’s crust likely formed as a result of other major geological events in addition to the cooling of a magma ocean.
Question ID ccb1ab92
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Command of

Ideas Evidence
 ID: ccb1ab92

Fur Seal REM Sleep on Land

after an Extended Period
in Water
baseline was not statistically

180
REM sleep as % of baseline

160
(mean difference from

140
significant)

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Day 1 Day 2
Sleep on land

Seal B
Seal A
Seal C

Research suggests that REM sleep in animals is homeostatically regulated: animals compensate for periods of REM sleep
deprivation by increasing subsequent REM sleep. When on land, fur seals get enough REM sleep, but during the weeks
they’re in the water, they get almost none. In a study of fur seals’ sleep habits, researchers recorded the REM sleep (as a
percentage of baseline) of fur seals once they had returned to land. They concluded that REM sleep may not be
homeostatically regulated in fur seals, citing as evidence the fact that the seals in the study ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the text?

A. didn’t show significantly less REM sleep during the second day after returning to land than they did during the first day.

B. showed no significant differences from one another in baseline levels of REM sleep.

C. didn’t consistently demonstrate a significant increase in REM sleep after their period of deprivation in the water.

D. showed no significant difference between REM sleep after returning to land and REM sleep while in the water.
Question ID be19faa1
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Command of

Ideas Evidence

ID: be19faa1

Home Heating Needs Met with Subsurface

Thermal Pollution for Two Temperature
Conditions, by Percentage of Sites
Percentage of all sites analyzed

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0% 25% 25%
p to ha
n
U e t
or
M
Local heating needs met

Current surface temperature

Maximum plausible surface
temperature

Urbanization, industrialization, and the warming climate create thermal pollution (excess heat) in the shallow subsurface
soil. Susanne A. Benz and colleagues analyzed thousands of sites on three continents under one scenario in which surface
temperature remains at the current level and under another in which the surface reaches the maximum plausible
temperature. They then categorized each site according to the percentage of local home heating needs that could be met
using this excess subsurface heat. The team concluded that if surface temperature approaches the maximum plausible
level, the percentage of sites where thermal pollution could feasibly contribute to meeting home heating needs will increase.

Which choice best describes data in the graph that support Benz and colleagues’ conclusion?
 Under both temperature conditions, less than 10% of sites were in the up-to-25% group, but at the maximum plausible
A. surface temperature, almost 80% of sites could have all their local heating needs met by thermal pollution.

At current surface temperatures, more than 80% of the sites have no need for supplemental local home heating from
subsurface thermal pollution, but at the maximum plausible surface temperature, more than 70% of sites exhibit
B. significantly greater home heating needs.

At current surface temperatures, more than 80% of sites can meet, at most, 25% of local home heating needs with
subsurface thermal pollution, but at the maximum plausible surface temperature, more than 80% of sites can meet
C. greater than 25% of local home heating needs.

At current surface temperatures, more than 80% of the sites cannot use subsurface thermal pollution to meet any portion
D. of local home heating needs, but at the maximum plausible surface temperature, that percentage drops below 20%.
Question ID 85439572
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Command of

Ideas Evidence

ID: 85439572
Roasted green chiles are a popular ingredient in Southwestern cuisine, but the traditional roasting method of burning
propane is not environmentally friendly. To see if solar power could provide a better alternative, engineer Kenneth Armijo and
his team roasted batches of green chiles using between 38 and 42 heliostats, which are devices that concentrate sunlight.
The team was successful in reaching the same roasting temperature used in traditional propane roasting, but they found
that propane yielded faster results. While the fastest solar-roasted green chiles took six minutes, batches using propane
took only four. Armijo hypothesizes that they can reduce the roasting time for solar-roasted green chiles by using more
heliostats.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Armijo’s hypothesis?

The temperature inside the roasting drum is distributed more evenly when roasting green chiles with solar power than
A. with propane.

B. Attempts to roast green chiles using 50 heliostats yields results in fewer than six minutes.

C. Green chile connoisseurs prefer the flavor of solar-roasted green chiles over the flavor of propane-roasted green chiles.

D. The skins of solar-roasted green chiles are easier to peel than the skins of propane-roasted green chiles.
Question ID a9040290
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Command of

Ideas Evidence

ID: a9040290

Amount of Additional Electricity Wind

Turbines Could Generate When
Winds Were Stronger Than Forecast
Electricity (in thousands of MWh)

200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0

West Midwest
Electric companies that use wind turbines rely on weather forecasts to predict the maximum amount of power, in megawatt-
hours (MWh), they can generate using wind so that they can determine how much they’ll need to generate from other
sources. When winds are stronger than they were forecast to be, however, the predicted maximum amount of electricity wind
turbines could generate will be too low. For example, the graph shows that for the West region, the winds were ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the example?

A. strong enough to generate about 150 thousand more MWh of electricity from wind turbines.

B. so weak that the electricity from wind turbines was about 175 thousand MWh less than predicted.

C. so weak that the electricity from wind turbines was about 150 thousand MWh less than predicted.

D. strong enough to generate about 175 thousand more MWh of electricity from wind turbines.
Question ID dd1757fd
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Information and Command of

Ideas Evidence

ID: dd1757fd
Neural networks are computer models intended to reflect the organization of human brains and are often used in studies of
brain function. According to an analysis of 11,000 such networks, Rylan Schaeffer and colleagues advise caution when
drawing conclusions about brains from observations of neural networks. They found that when attempting to mimic grid
cells (brain cells used in navigation), while 90% of the networks could accomplish navigation-related tasks, only about 10%
of those exhibited any behaviors similar to those of grid cells. But even this approximation of grid-cell activity has less to do
with similarity between the neural networks and biological brains than it does with the rules programmed into the networks.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the claim in the underlined sentence?

The rules that allow for networks to exhibit behaviors like those of grid cells have no equivalent in the function of
A. biological brains.

The networks that do not exhibit behaviors like those of grid cells were nonetheless programmed with rules that had
B. proven useful in earlier neural-network studies.

Neural networks can often accomplish tasks that biological brains do, but they are typically programmed with rules to
C. model multiple types of brain cells simultaneously.

Once a neural network is programmed, it is trained on certain tasks to see if it can independently arrive at processes that
D. are similar to those performed by biological brains.
Question ID 9cdcd902
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Words in Context

ID: 9cdcd902
Charles “Teenie” Harris was a photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier from 1936 to 1975. During his career he took over
70,000 photographs documenting everyday life in Pittsburgh’s Black communities. The Carnegie Museum of Art maintains
thousands of his photographs, carefully ______ them so that audiences can continue to view them well into the future.

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

A. replacing

B. inventing

C. preserving

D. counting
Question ID e459076b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Words in Context

ID: e459076b
The following text is adapted from George Eliot’s 1871–72 novel Middlemarch.

[Mr. Brooke] had travelled in his younger years, and was held in this part of the country to have contracted a too
rambling habit of mind. Mr. Brooke’s conclusions were as difficult to predict as the weather.

As used in the text, what does the word “contracted” most nearly mean?

A. Restricted

B. Described

C. Developed

D. Settled
Question ID ca47273b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Words in Context

ID: ca47273b
Biologist Jane Edgeloe and colleagues have located what is believed to be the largest individual plant in the world in the
Shark Bay area of Australia. The plant is a type of seagrass called Posidonia australis, and it ______ approximately 200
square kilometers.

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

A. acknowledges

B. produces

C. spans

D. advances
Question ID 5a278f24
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Words in Context

ID: 5a278f24
The work of molecular biophysicist Enrique M. De La Cruz is known for ______ traditional boundaries between academic
disciplines. The university laboratory that De La Cruz runs includes engineers, biologists, chemists, and physicists, and the
research the lab produces makes use of insights and techniques from all those fields.

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

A. epitomizing

B. transcending

C. anticipating

D. reinforcing
Question ID a2835734
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Words in Context

ID: a2835734
Visual artist Gabriela Alemán states that the bold colors of comics, pop art, and Latinx culture have always fascinated her.
This passion for the rich history and colors of her Latinx community translates into the ______ artworks she produces.

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

A. vivid

B. unknown

C. definite

D. reserved
Question ID b0f7541b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: b0f7541b
The following text is adapted from Herman Melville’s 1857 novel The Confidence-Man. Humphry Davy was a prominent
British chemist and inventor.

Years ago, a grave American savant, being in London, observed at an evening party there, a certain coxcombical fellow,
as he thought, an absurd ribbon in his lapel, and full of smart [banter], whisking about to the admiration of as many as
were disposed to admire. Great was the savant’s disdain; but, chancing ere long to find himself in a corner with the
jackanapes, got into conversation with him, when he was somewhat ill-prepared for the good sense of the jackanapes,
but was altogether thrown aback, upon subsequently being [informed that he was] no less a personage than Sir
Humphry Davy.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It portrays the thoughts of a character who is embarrassed about his own behavior.

B. It presents an account of a misunderstanding.

C. It offers a short history of how a person came to be famous.

D. It explains why one character dislikes another.

Question ID e13171c4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: e13171c4
Historians Tiya Miles and Roy E. Finkenbine have both documented the assistance Indigenous peoples gave to Black
freedom seekers leaving the South before the US Civil War. Much of the historical evidence of this help comes from
Indigenous oral traditions and from autobiographies written by the freedom seekers. One such narrative is Jermain Loguen’s
autobiography, which tells about how Neshnabé (Potawatomi) villagers offered him food, lodging, and directions during his
1835 journey from Tennessee to Canada.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?

A. It provides an example of an autobiography that describes help given by an Indigenous people to a Black freedom seeker.

It shows why Loguen decided to write in great detail about his experiences traveling from Tennessee to Canada in his
B. autobiography.

It argues that autobiographies are particularly important sources of information about geography in the United States
C. before the Civil War.

It suggests that most historians believe that Neshnabé villagers were more successful in assisting freedom seekers than
D. other people were.
Question ID df46a2ee
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: df46a2ee
The following text is from Joseph Conrad’s 1907 novel The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale. Mr. Verloc is navigating the London
streets on his way to a meeting.
Before reaching Knightsbridge, Mr. Verloc took a turn to the left out of the busy main thoroughfare, uproarious with the traffic
of swaying omnibuses and trotting vans, in the almost silent, swift flow of hansoms [horse-drawn carriages]. Under his hat,
worn with a slight backward tilt, his hair had been carefully brushed into respectful sleekness; for his business was with an
Embassy. And Mr. Verloc, steady like a rock—a soft kind of rock—marched now along a street which could with every
propriety be described as private.

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

A. It qualifies an earlier description of Mr. Verloc.

B. It emphasizes an internal struggle Mr. Verloc experiences.

C. It contrasts Mr. Verloc with his surroundings.

D. It reveals a private opinion Mr. Verloc holds.

Question ID ff97fd53
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: ff97fd53
In 1973, poet Miguel Algarín started inviting other writers who, like him, were Nuyorican—a term for New Yorkers of Puerto
Rican heritage—to gather in his apartment to present their work. The gatherings were so well attended that Algarín soon had
to rent space in a cafe to accommodate them. Thus, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe was born. Moving to a permanent location in
1981, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its original scope beyond the written word, hosting art exhibitions and musical
performances as well. Half a century since its inception, it continues to foster emerging Nuyorican talent.

Which choice best describes the overall purpose of the text?

A. To explain what motivated Algarín to found the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

B. To situate the Nuyorican Poets Cafe within the cultural life of New York as a whole

C. To discuss why the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its scope to include art and music

D. To provide an overview of the founding and mission of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe
Question ID c61a7c4a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: c61a7c4a
Some studies have suggested that posture can influence cognition, but we should not overstate this phenomenon. A case in
point: In a 2014 study, Megan O’Brien and Alaa Ahmed had subjects stand or sit while making risky simulated economic
decisions. Standing is more physically unstable and cognitively demanding than sitting; accordingly, O’Brien and Ahmed
hypothesized that standing subjects would display more risk aversion during the decision-making tasks than sitting subjects
did, since they would want to avoid further feelings of discomfort and complicated risk evaluations. But O’Brien and Ahmed
actually found no difference in the groups’ performance.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

It argues that research findings about the effects of posture on cognition are often misunderstood, as in the case of
A. O’Brien and Ahmed’s study.

It presents the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to critique the methods and results reported in previous studies of the effects
B. of posture on cognition.

It explains a significant problem in the emerging understanding of posture’s effects on cognition and how O’Brien and
C. Ahmed tried to solve that problem.

It discusses the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to illustrate why caution is needed when making claims about the effects of
D. posture on cognition.
Question ID 8d802289
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

Connections

ID: 8d802289
Text 1
Dance choreographer Alvin Ailey’s deep admiration for jazz music can most clearly be felt in the rhythms and beats his
works were set to. Ailey collaborated with some of the greatest jazz legends, like Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker, and
perhaps his favorite, Duke Ellington. With his choice of music, Ailey helped bring jazz to life for his audiences.
Text 2
Jazz is present throughout Ailey’s work, but it’s most visible in Ailey’s approach to choreography. Ailey often incorporated
improvisation, a signature characteristic of jazz music, in his work. When managing his dance company, Ailey rarely forced
his dancers to an exact set of specific moves. Instead, he encouraged his dancers to let their own skills and experiences
shape their performances, as jazz musicians do.

Based on the texts, both authors would most likely agree with which statement?

A. Dancers who worked with Ailey greatly appreciated his supportive approach as a choreographer.

B. Ailey’s work was strongly influenced by jazz.

C. Audiences were mostly unfamiliar with the jazz music in Ailey’s works.

D. Ailey blended multiple genres of music together when choreographing dance pieces.
Question ID 835d1ae6
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

Connections

ID: 835d1ae6
Text 1
Historians studying pre-Inca Peru have looked to ceramic vessels to understand daily life among the Moche people. These
mold-made sculptures present plants, animals, and human faces in precise ways—vessels representing human faces are so
detailed that scholars have interpreted facial markings to represent scars and other skin irregularities. Some historians have
even used these objects to identify potential skin diseases that may have afflicted people at the time.
Text 2
Art historian and archaeologist Lisa Trever has argued that the interpretation of Moche “portrait” vessels as hyper-realistic
portrayals of identifiable people may inadvertently disregard the creativity of the objects’ creators. Moche ceramic vessels,
Trever argues, are artworks in which sculptors could free their imagination, using realistic objects and people around them
as inspiration to explore more abstract concepts.

Based on the texts, what would Lisa Trever (Text 2) most likely say about the interpretation presented in the underlined
portion of Text 1?

A. Depictions of human faces are significantly more realistic than depictions of plants and other animals are.

It is likely that some depictions of human faces with extensive markings are intended to portray the same historical
B. individual.

C. Some vessels may have been damaged during their excavation and thus provide little insight into Moche culture.

Markings on depictions of human faces are not necessarily intended to portray particular details about the physical
D. appearance of individuals.
Question ID 81da17d3
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

Connections

ID: 81da17d3
Text 1
Italian painters in the 1500s rarely depicted themselves in their work. Even more rare were self-portrait paintings that
portrayed the artist as a painter. At the time, painting was not yet respected as a profession, so painters mostly chose to
emphasize other qualities in their self-portraits, like their intellect or social status. In the city of Bologna, the first artist to
depict themself painting was a man named Annibale Carracci. A painting of his from around 1585 shows Carracci in front of
an easel holding a palette.
Text 2
In their self-portraits, Bolognese artists typically avoided referring to the act of painting until the mid-1600s. However, Lavinia
Fontana’s 1577 painting, Self-Portrait at the Keyboard, stands out as the earliest example of such a work by an artist from
Bologna. Although the artist is depicted playing music, in the background, one can spot a painting easel by a window.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the underlined claim in Text 1?

A. Carracci and Fontana were among the most well-respected painters in Bologna at the time.

B. The depiction of Fontana in Self-Portrait at the Keyboard was intended to underscore the artist’s creativity.

C. Fontana likely inspired the reference to an easel and palette in Carracci’s painting.

D. Self-Portrait at the Keyboard was painted earlier than Carracci’s painting and also refers to the artist’s craft.
Question ID 8de51658
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

Connections

ID: 8de51658
Text 1
The idea that time moves in only one direction is instinctively understood, yet it puzzles physicists. According to the second
law of thermodynamics, at a macroscopic level some processes of heat transfer are irreversible due to the production of
entropy—after a transfer we cannot rewind time and place molecules back exactly where they were before, just as we cannot
unbreak dropped eggs. But laws of physics at a microscopic or quantum level hold that those processes should be
reversible.
Text 2
In 2015, physicists Tiago Batalhão et al. performed an experiment in which they confirmed the irreversibility of
thermodynamic processes at a quantum level, producing entropy by applying a rapidly oscillating magnetic field to a system
of carbon-13 atoms in liquid chloroform. But the experiment “does not pinpoint ... what causes [irreversibility] at the
microscopic level,” coauthor Mauro Paternostro said.

Based on the texts, what would the author of Text 1 most likely say about the experiment described in Text 2?

It would suggest an interesting direction for future research were it not the case that two of the physicists who
A. conducted the experiment disagree on the significance of its findings.

It provides empirical evidence that the current understanding of an aspect of physics at a microscopic level must be
B. incomplete.

C. It is consistent with the current understanding of physics at a microscopic level but not at a macroscopic level.

It supports a claim about an isolated system of atoms in a laboratory, but that claim should not be extrapolated to a
D. general claim about the universe.
Question ID c68ceeff
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

Connections

ID: c68ceeff
Text 1
Today the starchy root cassava is found in many dishes across West Africa, but its rise to popularity was slow. Portuguese
traders brought cassava from Brazil to the West African coast in the 1500s. But at this time, people living in the capitals
further inland had little contact with coastal communities. Thus, cassava remained relatively unknown to most of the
region’s inhabitants until the 1800s.
Text 2
Cassava’s slow adoption into the diet of West Africans is mainly due to the nature of the crop itself. If not cooked properly,
cassava can be toxic. Knowledge of how to properly prepare cassava needed to spread before the food could grow in
popularity. The arrival of formerly enslaved people from Brazil in the 1800s, who brought their knowledge of cassava and its
preparation with them, thus directly fueled the spread of this crop.

Based on the texts, the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 would most likely agree with which statement?

A. Cassava did not become a significant crop in West Africa until long after it was first introduced.

B. Several of the most commonly grown crops in West Africa are originally from Brazil.

C. The climate of the West African coast in the 1500s prevented cassava’s spread in the region.

D. The most commonly used methods to cook cassava today date to the 1500s.
Question ID 84e108cf
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Expression of Ideas Rhetorical

Synthesis

ID: 84e108cf
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
Platinum is a rare and expensive metal. It is used as a catalyst for chemical reactions.
Platinum catalysts typically require a large amount of platinum to be effective.
Researcher Jianbo Tang and his colleagues created a platinum catalyst that combines platinum with liquid gallium.
Their catalyst was highly effective and required only trace amounts of platinum (0.0001% of the atoms in the
mixture).

The student wants to explain an advantage of the new platinum catalyst developed by Jianbo Tang and his colleagues.
Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

Researcher Jianbo Tang and his colleagues created a platinum catalyst that combines platinum, a rare and expensive
A. metal, with liquid gallium.

B. Like other platinum catalysts, the new platinum catalyst requires a particular amount of the metal to be effective.

Platinum is a rare and expensive metal that is used as a catalyst for chemical reactions; however, platinum catalysts
C. typically require a large amount of platinum to be effective.

While still highly effective, the new platinum catalyst requires far less of the rare and expensive metal than do other
D. platinum catalysts.
Question ID ca4ff52d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Expression of Ideas Rhetorical

Synthesis

ID: ca4ff52d
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
Muslins are woven cotton fabrics with a variety of uses.
Dhaka muslin is a handmade fabric produced in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
It has an extremely fine weave and is primarily used to make luxury clothing.
Sheeting muslin is a machine-made fabric produced in factories.
It has a coarse weave and is primarily used to upholster furniture and create backdrops for theater sets.

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

Dhaka muslin is a handmade fabric with an extremely fine weave, while sheeting muslin is machine made with a coarse
A. weave.

B. Dhaka muslin and sheeting muslin are two different types of woven cotton fabrics.

Muslins can be used in a variety of ways, from making luxury clothing to upholstering furniture and creating backdrops
C. for theater sets.

D. Sheeting muslin is machine made, has a coarse weave, and is used for furniture and theater sets.
Question ID 6c9df5d1
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Expression of Ideas Rhetorical

Synthesis

ID: 6c9df5d1
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
Some powerful works of literature have so influenced readers that new legislation has been passed as a result.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789) is the autobiography of a man who endured slavery
on both sides of the Atlantic.
Equiano’s book contributed to the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.
The Jungle (1906) is a fictional work by Upton Sinclair that describes unsanitary conditions in US meatpacking
plants.
Sinclair’s book contributed to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906.

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

Although both are powerful works of literature that contributed to new legislation, Equiano’s book is an autobiography,
A. while Sinclair’s is fictional.

B. They may have written about different topics, but Equiano and Sinclair both influenced readers.

The 1807 Slave Trade Act resulted in part from a book by Equiano, while the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act resulted in part
C. from a book by Sinclair.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano and The Jungle are two works of literature that contributed to
D. new legislation (concerning the slave trade and food safety, respectively).
Question ID 296801d2
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Expression of Ideas Rhetorical

Synthesis

ID: 296801d2
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
The Azores is a group of islands about 870 miles off the coast of Portugal.
Historians have long believed that in the fifteenth century Portuguese mariners were the first humans to populate the
Azores.
A 2015 study coauthored by Sofia Gabriel and Maria da Luz Mathias found that Vikings from Scandinavia may have
populated the Azores as early as the ninth century.
The researchers found a genetic connection between house mice in the Azores and house mice in Scandinavia.
House mice may have traveled from Scandinavia to the Azores on Viking ships.

The student wants to specify who may have first populated the Azores, according to the 2015 study. Which choice most
effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

Historians have long believed that the first humans to populate the Azores, a group of islands about 870 miles off the
A. coast of Portugal, arrived in the fifteenth century.

B. Portuguese mariners may not have been the first humans to populate the Azores.

In their 2015 study, the researchers found a genetic connection between house mice in the Azores and those in
C. Scandinavia.

According to a 2015 study, the first humans to populate the Azores may have been Vikings from Scandinavia, not
D. mariners from Portugal as previously believed.
Question ID 6249b173
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Expression of Ideas Rhetorical

Synthesis

ID: 6249b173
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
In 2018 researchers Adwait Deshpande, Shreejata Gupta, and Anindya Sinha were observing wild macaques in India’s
Bandipur National Park.
They saw macaques calling out to and gesturing at humans who were eating or carrying food.
They designed a study to find out if the macaques were intentionally communicating to try to persuade the humans
to share their food.
In the study trials, macaques frequently called out to and gestured at humans holding food.
In the study trials, macaques called out to and gestured at empty-handed humans less frequently.

The student wants to present the study’s results. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to
accomplish this goal?

Macaques in the study called out to and gestured more frequently at humans holding food than at empty-handed
A. humans.

In 2018, researchers who had observed macaques in India’s Bandipur National Park calling out to and gesturing at
B. humans designed a study.

The researchers hoped to find out if the macaques were intentionally communicating to try to persuade humans to share
C. their food.

D. The researchers studied how macaques behaved around both humans holding food and empty-handed humans.
Question ID 221ecf0f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Expression of Ideas Transitions

ID: 221ecf0f
Alexander Lawrence Posey (1873–1908) varied his focus and tone depending on the genre in which he was writing. In his
poetry, he used heartfelt language to evoke the beauty and peacefulness of his natural surroundings; in his journalism, ______
he employed humor and satire to comment on political issues affecting his Muskogee Creek community.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. that is,

B. granted,

C. similarly,

D. by contrast,
Question ID 97e2e364
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Expression of Ideas Transitions

ID: 97e2e364
Okot p’Bitek’s poem Song of Lawino (1966) explores postcolonial Ugandan life through the eyes of a woman living in a rural
village. With its vibrant imagery, bitingly satiric tone, and dexterous use of traditional Acholi song and phraseology, the poem
inspired a generation of East African writers. ______ those who adopted its style are often referred to as Okot School poets.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. Nevertheless,

B. Fittingly,

C. By comparison,

D. Instead,
Question ID 01c8c433
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Expression of Ideas Transitions

ID: 01c8c433
Before the 1847 introduction of the US postage stamp, the cost of postage was usually paid by the recipient of a letter rather
than the sender, and recipients were not always able or willing to pay promptly. ______ collecting this fee could be slow and
arduous, and heaps of unpaid-for, undeliverable mail piled up in post offices.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. Regardless,

B. On the contrary,

C. Consequently,

D. For example,
Question ID db8fe023
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Expression of Ideas Transitions

ID: db8fe023
A potter choosing which type of clay to use for a piece considers two key factors: the desired look of the piece and its
intended use. ______ earthenware clay is often used for decorative pieces because of its rustic look. This type of clay is not
often used in industrial settings, though, because it is less durable than other clays.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. In other words,

B. Regardless,

C. In conclusion,

D. For example,
Question ID 1724dac2
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Standard English Boundaries

Conventions

ID: 1724dac2
A subseasonal weather forecast attempts to predict weather conditions three to four weeks in ______ its predictions are
therefore more short-term than those of the seasonal forecast, which attempts to predict the weather more than a month in
advance.

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

A. advance,

B. advance

C. advance;

D. advance and
Question ID a9e5b788
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Standard English Boundaries

Conventions

ID: a9e5b788
In discussing Mary Shelley’s 1818 epistolary novel Frankenstein, literary theorist Gayatri Spivak directs the reader’s attention
to the character of Margaret Saville. As Spivak points out, Saville is not the protagonist of Shelley’s ______ as the recipient of
the letters that frame the book’s narrative, she’s the “occasion” of it.

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

A. novel

B. novel,

C. novel; rather,

D. novel, rather,
Question ID a1e0c981
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Standard English Boundaries

Conventions

ID: a1e0c981
In her book The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, author Maxine Hong Kingston examines themes
______ childhood, womanhood, and Chinese American identity by intertwining autobiography and mythology.

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

A. of:

B. of

C. of—

D. of,
Question ID aab78b25
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Standard English Boundaries

Conventions

ID: aab78b25
Psychophysicist Howard Moskowitz was hired by a soda company to determine how much artificial sweetener ______ After
conducting consumer taste tests, he found that no such ideal existed: participants expressed a wide range of preferences
for different blends of sweetener, carbonization, and flavoring.

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

A. do most people prefer in a diet drink?

B. do most people prefer in a diet drink.

C. most people prefer in a diet drink?

D. most people prefer in a diet drink.

Question ID be34a3df
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Standard English Boundaries

Conventions

ID: be34a3df
In 2008, two years after the death of science fiction writer Octavia Butler, the Huntington Library in ______ received a
collection of more than 8,000 items, including Butler’s private notes, research materials, manuscripts, photos, and drawings.
Today, the Octavia E. Butler Collection is one of the most researched archives at the library.

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

A. California,

B. California:

C. California—

D. California
Question ID 69f031ab
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Standard English Form, Structure,

Conventions and Sense

ID: 69f031ab
While exploring Nevada’s Gypsum Cave in 1930, Seneca and Abenaki archaeologist Bertha Parker made her most famous
discovery: the skull of a now-extinct ground sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis) alongside human-made tools. Parker’s crucial
finding was the first ______ humans in North America as far back as 10,000 years ago.

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

A. places

B. placed

C. place

D. to place
Question ID 3bceeb93
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Standard English Form, Structure,

Conventions and Sense

ID: 3bceeb93
When they were first discovered in Australia in 1798, duck-billed, beaver-tailed platypuses so defied categorization that one
scientist assigned them the name Ornithorhynchus paradoxus: “paradoxical bird-snout.” The animal, which lays eggs but
also nurses ______ young with milk, has since been classified as belonging to the monotremes group.

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

A. they’re

B. their

C. its

D. it’s
Question ID dab8b8ee
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Standard English Form, Structure,

Conventions and Sense

ID: dab8b8ee
Known as Earth’s “living skin,” biocrusts are thin layers of soil held together by surface-dwelling microorganisms such as
fungi, lichens, and cyanobacteria. Fortifying soil in arid ecosystems against erosion, ______

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

A. a recent study’s estimate is that these crusts reduce global dust emissions by 60 percent each year.

B. an estimated 60 percent reduction in global dust emissions each year is due to these crusts, according to a recent study.

C. these crusts reduce global dust emissions by an estimated 60 percent each year, according to a recent study.

D. a recent study has estimated that these crusts reduce global dust emissions by 60 percent each year.
Question ID f4fd123c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Standard English Form, Structure,

Conventions and Sense

ID: f4fd123c
The African Games Co-production Market, one of over 180 annual international conferences supporting video game
development, ______ the growth of the African gaming industry by helping start-up studios in Africa find partners.

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

A. promote

B. are promoting

C. promotes

D. have promoted
Question ID 0fe5ce68
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Standard English Form, Structure,

Conventions and Sense

ID: 0fe5ce68
Ten of William Shakespeare’s plays are classified as histories. Although each one of these plays, which include Henry V and
Richard III, ______ on a single historical figure (specifically, an English king), some, such as Henry VI Part One and Henry VI
Part Two, feature different episodes from the same monarch’s life.

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

A. focuses

B. focus

C. are focused

D. were focused