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Reading Test
65 MINUTES, 52 QUESTIONS

Turn to Section 1 of your answer sheet to answer the questions in this section.

DIRECTIONS

Each passage or pair of passages below is followed by a number of questions. After reading
each passage or pair, choose the best answer to each question based on what is stated or
implied in the passage or passages and in any accompanying graphics (such as a table or
graph).

Questions 1–10 are based on the following passage. renewed life. Delay? Why should there be delay? Amy
wished nothing but to become his wife. Idle to think
This passage is excerpted from George Gissing, New Grub
of his doing any more work until he sat down in the
Street. Originally published in 1891. Reardon was a newly
home of which she was mistress. His brain burned with
successful author and had married, but soon found himself
30 visions of the books he would henceforth write, but his
unable to write. Following a conversation with his wife,
hand was incapable of anything but a love-letter. And
he takes a walk and thinks about the time just before his
what letters! Reardon never published anything equal
wedding.
to those. ‘I have received your poem,’ Amy replied
And the words sang about him, filled the air with a to one of them. And she was right; not a letter, but a
mad pulsing of intolerable joy, made him desire to fling 35 poem he had sent her, with every word on fire.
himself in passionate humility at her feet, to weep hot The hours of talk! It enraptured him to find
Line tears, to cry to her in insane worship. He thought her how much she had read, and with what clearness
5 beautiful beyond anything his heart had imagined; her of understanding. Latin and Greek, no. Ah! but she
warm gold hair was the rapture of his eyes and of his should learn them both, that there might be nothing
reverent hand. Though slenderly fashioned, she was so 40 wanting in the communion between his thought and
gloriously strong. ‘Not a day of illness in her life,’ said hers. For he loved the old writers with all his heart;
Mrs. Yule, and one could readily believe it. they had been such strength to him in his days of
10 She spoke with such a sweet decision. Her ‘I love misery.
you!’ was a bond with eternity. In the simplest as in the They would go together to the charmed lands of
greatest things she saw his wish and acted frankly upon 45 the South. No, not now for their marriage holiday—
it. No pretty petulance, no affectation of silly-sweet Amy said that would be an imprudent expense; but as
languishing, none of the weaknesses of woman. And soon as he had got a good price for a book. Will not
15 so exquisitely fresh in her twenty years of maidenhood, the publishers be kind? If they knew what happiness
with bright young eyes that seemed to bid defiance to lurked in embryo within their foolish cheque-books!
all the years to come. 50 He woke of a sudden in the early hours of one
He went about like one dazzled with excessive light. morning, a week before the wedding-day. You know
He talked as he had never talked before, recklessly, that kind of awaking, so complete in an instant, caused
20 exultantly, insolently—in the nobler sense. He made by the pressure of some troublesome thought upon
friends on every hand; he welcomed all the world to the dreaming brain. ‘Suppose I should not succeed
his bosom; he felt the benevolence of a god. 55 henceforth? Suppose I could never get more than this
‘I love you!’ It breathed like music at his ears when
he fell asleep in weariness of joy; it awakened him on
25 the morrow as with a glorious ringing summons to CONTINUE
458 | Cracking the SAT
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poor hundred pounds for one of the long books which 4
cost me so much labour? I shall perhaps have children Which statement best describes a technique used to
to support; and Amy—how would Amy bear poverty?’ represent Amy’s desire to marry the narrator?
He knew what poverty means. The chilling of
A) The narrator describes in detail her youthful
60 brain and heart, the unnerving of the hands, the slow
enthusiasm as a major motivating factor.
gathering about one of fear and shame and impotent
wrath, the dread feeling of helplessness, of the world’s B) The narrator asks a hypothetical question that is
base indifference. Poverty! Poverty! immediately refuted.
C) The narrator applauds her decision as a reflection
of an inner strength that is unparalleled.
1
D) The narrator stresses her sincerity as proof of a
Which choice best describes a major theme of the dedication fostered by her maidenhood.
passage?
A) The internal battle between true love and self-
doubt 5
B) The unequivocal joy of wedded marital bliss As compared with his love letters, the narrator’s book
C) The destructive power of encroaching poverty writing is portrayed as being
D) The fear of never reaching one’s ultimate potential A) agreeable.
B) stalled.
C) fiery.
2
D) imaginative.
According to the narrator, when the woman he loved
learned of his feelings for her, she
A) pledged her undying affection in return. 6
B) dedicated herself to her maidenhood. In describing the relationship between Amy and
C) reconsidered her prior refusal of his advances. the narrator, the narrator highlights a distinction
between Amy’s
D) wrote her own book of poetry.
A) desire for marriage and his readiness.
B) beauty and his common appeal.
3 C) conventional education and his love of language.
Which choice provides the best evidence for the D) distaste for spending and his ability to write.
answer to the previous question?
A) Lines 7–8 (“Though slenderly . . . strong”)
B) Lines 10–11 (“She spoke . . . eternity”) 7
C) Lines 26–27 (“Amy wished . . . wife”) Which choice provides the best evidence for the
answer to the previous question?
D) Lines 33–35 (“Amy replied . . . fire”)
A) Lines 4–7 (“He thought . . . hand”)
B) Lines 11–13 (“In the . . . it”)
C) Lines 38–41 (“Latin and . . . hers”)
D) Lines 45–47 (“No, not . . . book”)

CONTINUE
Practice Test 1 | 459
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8 10
As used in line 40, “wanting” most nearly means What function does the last paragraph (lines 59–63)
A) lacking. serve in the passage as a whole?
B) requesting. A) It expands upon the overall theme of the narrator’s
never-ending love for Amy.
C) pleasing.
B) It lists the long-term effects that poverty could
D) desiring. have on the narrator’s relationship.
C) It provides evidence that the narrator cannot
support his wife by revealing his hysteria.
9
D) It intensifies the narrator’s growing concerns
The narrator uses the phrase “what happiness lurked
about his ability to support his marriage.
in embryo” (lines 48–49) to present the publishers as
A) kind.
B) wealthy.
C) influential.
D) foolish.

CONTINUE
460 | Cracking the SAT
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Questions 11–21 are based on the following passage regions in the Northern Hemisphere. Its use declined
and supplementary material. in favor of the much finer accuracy of GPS after it
became available for civil use in 1995, but the U.S.
This passage is excerpted from Dan Glass, “What Happens if
45 Coast Guard continued working on an improved
GPS Fails?” © 2016 by The Atlantic.
system using the existing infrastructure. If adopted,
Despite its name, the Global Positioning System “Enhanced” LORAN, or eLoran, could provide
is not about maps; it’s about time. Each satellite in positioning accuracy comparable to GPS. Broadcast at
the constellation (24 are needed, plus the U.S. has hundreds of thousands of watts, the signal is virtually
Line several spares) has multiple atomic clocks on board, 50 un-jammable, and unlike GPS, can even be received
5 synchronized with each other and to Coordinated indoors, underwater, and in urban or natural canyons.
Universal Time (UTC)—the time standard used It also turns out that eLoran can provide a UTC time
across the world—down to the nanosecond. The signal with sub-microsecond time resolution across a
satellites continually broadcast their time and position large geographical area.
information down to Earth, where GPS receivers in 55 The technology is available—the Coast
10 equipment from iPhones to automated tractors acquire Guard demonstrated a working prototype last year—
signals and use the minuscule differences in their so why isn’t America using it? John Garamendi,
arrival time to determine an exact position. a California congressman, asked this question at
While GPS was initially conceived to aid a July 2015 congressional hearing on the Federal
navigation, globally synchronized time is now a much 60 Radionavigation Plan, the nation’s primary planning
15 more critical function of the system. Telecom networks document for position, navigation, and timing (PNT).
rely on GPS clocks to keep cell towers synchronized “There are two kinds of time,” he opened, “real time …
so calls can be passed between them. Many electrical and then federal time, which seems to be the forever
power grids use the clocks in equipment that fine- time. The eLoran system was identified as a backup 15
tunes current flow in overloaded networks. The finance 65 years ago, and here we are, federal time, not yet done.”
20 sector uses GPS-derived timing systems to timestamp Why is the sense of urgency among decision-
ATM, credit card, and high-speed market transactions. makers so out of sync? Could some of it be similar
Computer network synchronization, digital television to why people delay backing up their computers
and radio, Doppler radar weather reporting, seismic even though they’ve been telling themselves to for
monitoring, even multi-camera sequencing for film 70 weeks? How do we decide, when presented a risk with
25 production—GPS clocks have a hand in all. unknown odds, when it’s time to sacrifice time and
What if all these flying clock radios were wiped resources to prevent it?
out, and everything on the ground started blinking Now is a critically important time to answer that
12:00? According to Mike Lombardi, a meteorologist question, as the world has actually been given odds on
at the National Institute for Standards and Technology, 75 another, even more catastrophic risk than GPS failure:
30 “Nobody knows exactly what would happen.” Since so destruction of the electrical power infrastructure itself.
many of these technologies were designed specifically On July 23, 2012, a billion-ton cloud of electrified gases
with GPS in mind, the unsettling truth, he says, is blasted off the far side of the sun at over six million
“there’s no backup.” miles per hour. According to professor Daniel Baker
The bulk of a more promising, comprehensive 80 at University of Colorado, this coronal mass ejection
35 backup system already exists, right here on the ground. (CME) “was in all respects at least as strong as the
After the sextant but before GPS, navigators around 1859 Carrington Event,” referring to the strongest
the world used Long Range Aids to Navigation, or solar storm ever recorded, which set fire to telegraph
“LORAN,” a terrestrial system of transmitters and stations and caused auroras down to Cuba. As was
receiving equipment first developed during WWII. 85 widely reported two years ago, if the 2012 CME had
40 By the mid-1990s, Loran “tower chains” provided occurred one week later, it would have hit Earth.
coverage for North America, Europe, and other

CONTINUE
Practice Test 1 | 461
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Percent of Smartphone Users Who 12
Use Their Phones to get Location-Based Information, As used in line 13, “conceived” most nearly means
over Time, by Age
A) designed.
Percent of Smartphone

100 May-11 Feb-12

B) understood
80
60 C) absorbed.
Users

40
20 D) accepted.
0
18–29 30–49 50+
Age of Smartphone Users
13
Figure 1 The primary purpose of the question in lines 26–28
Data Source: Pew Research Center (“What if . . . 12:00?”) is to
A) introduce a problem.
Commercial GPS Equipment Revenues in North America
B) correct a misconception.
Timing/Synchro Aviation C) reconsider a perspective.
5% 4%
D) undermine an idea.
Machine Control
5%
Precision Agriculture
6% 14
Automotive
Survey/Mapping 39% Which of the following best characterizes Lombardi’s
8%
attitude toward “flying clock radios” (line 26)?
Marine
33% A) He is confident about their ability to handle a
multitude of tasks.
B) He is concerned about how they will interact with
Figure 2 the eLoran systems.
C) He is annoyed that no one knows exactly how they
work.
11 D) He is worried that they have no replacement
The main purpose of the passage is to systems in case of emergency.
A) present a problem with a current technology and
highlight a potential solution.
B) provide an overview of how clocks and satellites 15
determine distance and location. Which choice provides the best evidence for the
C) analyze the negative impacts of certain answer to the previous question?
technologies across various industries. A) Line 25 (“GPS clocks . . . all”)
D) praise developers for their ability to answer the B) Line 30 (“Nobody knows . . . happen”)
hard questions. C) Lines 30–33 (“Since so . . . backup”)
D) Lines 34–35 (“The bulk . . . ground”)

CONTINUE
462 | Cracking the SAT
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16 20
As used in line 34, “bulk” most nearly means Which statement is supported by figure 2?
A) dimensions. A) Less than a third of North American GPS revenue
B) mass. comes from the Automotive industry.

C) majority. B) GPS revenues for Surveying/Mapping are less than

GPS revenues for Precision Agriculture.
D) totality.
C) GPS devices are less important for the Aviation
industry than they are for the Marine industry.
17 D) The Automotive and Marine industries make
up a greater percentage of North American GPS
According to John Garamendi, the reason America revenues than the rest of the industries combined.
isn’t using the e-Loran system even though the
technology is available is that
A) the system doesn’t use real time. 21
B) government approval takes longer than the Which additional information, if presented in
development of the technology. figure 2, would be most useful in evaluating the
C) federal decision-makers are scared to change statement in lines 13–15 (“While GPS . . . system”)?
systems. A) The total number of GPS devices sold
D) solar storms threaten the system. B) The number of individuals in each industry using
GPS devices
C) The percentage of the industry that relies on the
18
GPS devices
Which choice provides the best evidence for the D) The amount of revenue in dollars for each
answer to the previous question? industry
A) Lines 48–51 (“Broadcast at . . . canyons”)
B) Lines 64–65 (“The eLoran . . . done”)
C) Lines 70–72 (“How do . . . it”)
D) Lines 73–76 (“Now is . . . itself ”)

19
According to figure 1, which group is closest in
percentage to the percentage of users 18–29 in May
2011 who got location-based information on their
smartphones?
A) Ages 50+ in Feb 2012
B) Ages 50+ in May 2011
C) Ages 30-49 in Feb 2012
D) Ages 18-29 in Feb 2012

CONTINUE
Practice Test 1 | 463
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Questions 22–31 are based on the following “Who knows?” asked Don Hall, a herring biologist
passage. 45 with the Nuu-chah-nulth tribe along the west coast of
Vancouver Island. “Fishing probably contributed, and
This passage is excerpted from Craig Welch, “Fighting Over
then something else helped make it worse.”
Herring—the Little Fish That Feed Multitudes.” © 2015 by
The Canadian government insists herring stocks
National Geographic.
have started improving, and that fishing nets would
In many places around the world, herring 50 take only a small fraction. But outside scientists are
populations are quite healthy. Norwegian herring skeptical—of the government’s numbers, and also of
still support the globe’s second largest fishing fleet. the idea that herring numbers alone should be the
Line But herring populations in other spots may be a primary basis for deciding whether to open the fishery.
5 mere fraction of what they once were. Archaeologists “They didn’t take into account the food herring
counting herring bones at 171 sites along North 55 eat or the organisms that rely on herring for food,”
America’s west coast recently found evidence they Pitcher said. “It’s just not precautionary enough.”
said suggested that the fish had been abundant for Government officials declined to answer
thousands of years. Modern herring stocks, on the questions. They released a statement saying that
10 other hand, swing wildly, and after a decline many they have “decided to allow harvest opportunities
don’t roar back as fast or as high as they once did. 60 for Pacific herring,” yet still plan to “take into full
Herring populations outside Juneau, Alaska, consideration all views.”
crashed in 1982 and have never come back. Prince The Native tribes on Vancouver Island and on
William Sound herring collapsed in 1993. Washington Haida Gwaii don’t believe that. They fear fishing
15 State’s largest herring population has declined 90 will harm birds or jeopardize recovery of humpback
percent since 1973, and herring that used to live for ten 65 whales and other marine mammals. They worry there
years now rarely survive more than four. won’t always be enough herring for their own people,
These issues aren’t limited to North American who smoke, fry, and pickle the fish, but also eat the
waters. Some Baltic Sea herring populations have fallen eggs raw or on kelp, cook them with butter or salt,
20 below their long-term average, and the fish are smaller and freeze them.
and thinner than they used to be. North Sea herring 70 “Even in this day and age, our people still gather
are getting older as fewer young fish survive. One of a lot of their food,” said Guujaaw, ex-president of
Japan’s largest herring populations has been too small the Council of the Haida Nation on Haida Gwaii,
to fish for several decades. also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands. With
25 “Herring are a linchpin in the food chain,” said Phil spawning season only weeks away, tribal leaders are
Levin, who oversees ecosystem sciences at the National 75 preparing for more court battles—and the possibility
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest of a blockade. They’ve found a surprising ally: The
Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. But throughout United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union,
much of the Pacific, “what you see over and over is a which might have been expected to favor reopening
30 pretty dramatic decline—there’s less herring, they’re the herring fishery, has criticized the Canadian
smaller, and the older, bigger herring seem to be gone.” 80 government and urged its members to avoid fishing
Scientists recently have started cataloging potential for herring near tribal waters.
consequences. The herring still come to Haida Gwaii, In a letter sent to Native leaders, union leaders said
but in nowhere near the numbers they once did. No the government’s rosy predictions “run counter to
35 one can say for certain why. Herring declines can direct observations from our fishermen.”
have many causes: overfishing, oil spills, toxic runoff,
disease, coastal habitat destruction, and perhaps
climate change can all contribute to the decline
of a particular stock. Even the recovery of once-
40 troubled populations of whales and marine mammals
may depress herring numbers. Levin, in Seattle, is
part a team of scientists from California to Alaska
investigating herring declines. CONTINUE
464 | Cracking the SAT
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22 26
The primary purpose of the passage is to What is the most likely reason the author includes the
A) discuss how the Canadian government could “many causes” in (line 36)?
better address tribal and union fishing issues. A) To detail each consequence of herring overfishing
B) explain the role of herring in supporting the B) To emphasize the level of uncertainty herring
economy on Haida Gwaii. researchers face
C) present the catastrophic consequences that led to C) To list the scientific methods researchers use to
global herring population decline. investigate herring populations
D) state potential causes of herring population D) To propose a possible solution to the problems
changes and describe the resulting effects. facing herring fisheries

23 27
What can reasonably be inferred about the state of As used in line 39, “stock” most nearly means
contemporary herring harvests? A) base.
A) North America’s herring fishermen are reaping B) bond.
fewer and less mature fish.
C) population.
B) Pacific catches are compensating for depressed
catches in Norway. D) savings.
C) They have declined worldwide after swinging
wildly for decades.
28
D) They are hard to measure and incapable of being
compared to previous years. What does the author suggest about the Canadian
government’s current fishing policy?
A) It is based on the assumption that herring are
24 intended to only act as a secondary food source in
Canada.
Which choice provides the best evidence for the
answer to the previous question? B) It allows the government to exclusively contract
with union fishermen.
A) Lines 2–3 (“Norwegian herring . . . fleet”)
C) It does not allow herring fishing to occur on
B) Lines 5–9 (“Archaeologists counting . . . years”) Haida Gwaii.
C) Lines 12–13 (“Herring populations . . . back”) D) It is based on incomplete data on herring
D) Lines 14–17 (“Washington State’s . . . four”) populations.

25 29
The author includes the quotation “herring are a Which choice provides the best evidence for the
linchpin in the food chain” (line 25) to answer to the previous question?
A) describe the causes of a drastic decline in herring A) Lines 33–34 (“The herring . . . did”)
worldwide. B) Lines 48–50 (“The Canadian . . . fraction”)
B) highlight the wide-ranging implications of C) Lines 54-55 (“They didn’t . . . food”)
changes in herring populations.
D) Lines 58–61 (“They released . . . views”)
C) identify specific predators that pose a risk to
herring in the wild. CONTINUE
D) question whether fishing has become more
difficult in recent decades. Practice Test 1 | 465
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30 31
What is a main idea of the tenth paragraph The author uses the phrase “a surprising ally” in
(lines 62–69)? line 76 most likely to
A) Canadian native tribes are the primary consumers A) draw attention to two disparate groups united in
of Pacific herring. opposition against additional herring fishing.
B) Other animals need to catch herring more than B) emphasize the collaborative nature of herring
the people of Haida Gwaii. fisheries.
C) There are many ways to cook herring that could C) reiterate the number of groups with a stake in the
be sold in Canadian markets. overall health of herring populations.
D) Native tribes are concerned the government’s plan D) draw a contrast between adversaries that have
will negatively impact the fish that is important for become further estranged.
the tribes.

CONTINUE
466 | Cracking the SAT
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Questions 32–41 are based on the following Passage 2
passages. It is clear, therefore, that the readjustment of
distribution must be effected through a readjustment
Passage 1 is adapted from James Platt, Poverty. Originally
of the ownership and management of the essential
published in 1884. Passage 2 is adapted from Will Reason,
45 factors of production. It is not possible to effect this
Poverty. Originally published in 1909. As societies became
readjustment on the basis of unrestricted competition,
more industrialized and urban in the late nineteenth century,
because in the case on the prime factor of production,
discussions arose regarding the root causes of poverty.
the land monopoly is caused, not by any artificial
Passage 1 arrangement, but by the simple natural fact that it is
The aim of charitable persons should not be so 50 essential and restricted in quantity. The only course
much the giving with money in hand, or religious that remains is to find some way of democratizing the
teaching on their lips, as the sympathetic, friendly monopoly value, so that everyone benefits by his due
Line intercourse of man with man, woman with woman, share of what has not been made by the industry of any
5 irrespective of class, and actuated by the desire to and is indispensable to the industry of all.
stimulate hope and energy, and to show the lowest 55 This cannot be effected by parceling it out to
outcast that the world, even to them, may be made individuals, for very obvious reasons. It would have to
more enjoyable, if they have the desire to live a life be continually redistributed, it would be impossible
more in harmony with the better part of their nature; to equate the value of the different parts, and such
10 and so in time, by degrees, as the child is taught to distribution would destroy its productive efficiency.
walk, step by step, we may improve the lowest types of 60 We therefore must look to some means of collective
humanity. ownership and use of these natural forces, and also of
To obtain better dwellings for the poor, it is all the value that accrues not from individual energy,
essential for the poorer class to feel a want for, and industry or skill, but from the conditions which society
15 a desire to have, houses better, cleaner, and more itself affords. “To deal with causes we must strike at
wholesome than those they now inhabit. Too many, 65 the error of distribution, by gradually substituting
at present, wantonly and maliciously, but more public ownership for private ownership of the means
frequently, through neglect and apathy, injure the of production. In no other way can we secure for each
houses in which they live. Many of them prefer to be worker in the hive the full reward of his labor. So long
20 uncomfortable. as between the worker and his just wage stands the
The man or men that are wanted to solve this 70 private landlord and the private capitalist, so long will
difficult question, the only true or real reformers, will poverty remain, and not poverty alone, but the moral
be those who study how to alter the character, estimate degradations which inevitably arise from the devotion
of life, the ideal of existence amongst the poor. From of labor to the service of waste,” [writes L.G. Chiozza in
25 the clergy of all denominations, from every man who “Riches and Poverty.”]
has influence over the masses, we want the moral 75 Here we touch the greatest controversy of the
courage to tell the poor not to marry until they are in a present time, and another volume would be needed to
position to support a wife and family, to be reasonably examine all the reasons for and against such a social
industrious, uniformly thrifty, and unswervingly sober. adjustment. But it is clear that unless some way of
30 The real reformer, the only savior of society, is the man effecting it is found, consistent with fairness to all,
who will tell the poor how they may become less so, by 80 poverty, undeserved and unavoidable, must be the
teaching them how to earn more or spend less, not by lot of many, while equally undeserved income will
robbing others of what they have. continue to be reaped, without conscious or intentional
We must raise the status of the poorer class, fraud on their part, by many others. As the poverty
35 improve their individuality, give them a higher reacts on the character for ill effect, so also it is to be
character, and thus prepare the way for a well- 85 feared that the unearned riches also produce qualities,
working humanity that should result in well-working of a different and more subtle nature, but equally
institutions. We must regenerate the entire social inimical to the true well-being both of the individuals
fabric, through the working of juster laws, purer aims, concerned and of the community.
40 nobler instincts—through individual cooperation of CONTINUE
the many, as one, in contributing to the welfare of all.
Practice Test 1 | 467
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32 36
As used in line 1, “aim” most nearly means Which choice provides the best evidence for the
A) focus. answer to the previous question?
B) shot. A) Lines 50–52 (“The only . . . value”)
C) gift. B) Lines 56–59 (“It would . . . efficiency”)
D) ability. C) Lines 60–64 (“We therefore . . . affords”)
D) Lines 75–78 (“Here we . . . adjustment”)

33
In Passage 1, Platt suggests that one way a society can 37
reduce poverty is to As used in line 69, “just” most nearly means
A) provide in-demand technical training to citizens A) only.
in need of marketable skills. B) strict.
B) redistribute wealth directly from certain types of C) equal.
rich men.
D) fair.
C) teach that the benefits of budgeting outweigh the
benefits of handouts.
D) instruct children in financial matters from a 38
young age.
Reason in Passage 2 would most likely characterize
the position taken by Platt in lines 19-20 (“Many of . . .
uncomfortable”) as
34
A) an accurate description of the root cause of the
Which choice provides the best evidence for the current economic situation of the poorer class.
answer to the previous question?
B) a flawed assumption that generalizes the negative
A) Lines 10–12 (“as the . . . humanity”) behavior of a few.
B) Lines 21–24 (“The man . . . poor”) C) a surprising but realistic statement consistent with
C) Lines 30–33 (“The real . . . have”) the economic trends of the times.
D) Lines 38–41 (“We must . . . all”) D) an offensive characterization of the rich that is not
applicable to other classes of society.

35
In Passage 2, Reason implies that evenly distributing 39
wealth and property among individuals would have Both authors would most likely agree that any social
what consequence? changes undertaken to fight poverty would be
A) Neither the rich nor the poor would reap benefits. A) likely to completely solve the problems of financial
B) All parties to the economy would improve their inequality.
position. B) a stopgap measure needed to prevent the wealthy
C) The rich would take advantage to create their own from keeping their money.
monopolies. C) unsuccessful without a drastic change in the
D) The poor would be able to purchase property at mindset of the poor.
decreased value. D) partial solutions that would present new sets of
challenges.
CONTINUE
468 | Cracking the SAT
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40 41
Which choice best describes the way the two authors Based on Passage 1, Platt would most likely say that
characterize effective ways to reduce poverty? the “readjustment of distribution” Reason mentions in
A) Platt believes that financial education is the key lines 42–43 would have no effect unless
to reducing poverty in a society, while Reason A) property were owned collectively by all members
believes that financial education is irrelevant if of society.
individuals do not participate.
B) profits from property sales were evenly distributed
B) Platt believes that poverty will only be reduced if equally amongst all citizens.
those who are poor truly desire to lift themselves
C) those in poverty exhibited sufficient effort to
out of poverty, while Reason believes that
better themselves.
poverty will only be reduced if society’s wealth is
redistributed. D) the number of available jobs increased enough to
significantly lower unemployment.
C) Platt believes wage regulation from major industry
is a step in the right direction, while Reason
believes that such regulation will be ineffective.
D) Platt believes training clergy to minister to the
poor is the most effective way of improving the
lives of those in poverty, while Reason believes
that unearned riches are a necessary feature of a
society.

CONTINUE
Practice Test 1 | 469
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Questions 42–52 are based on the following passage But what was the source of variation and what was
and supplementary material. the mechanism for passing change from generation
to generation? Darwin “didn’t know anything about
This passage is excerpted from Thomas Hayden, “What
45 why organisms resemble their parents, or the basis
Darwin Didn’t Know.” © 2009 by Smithsonian Magazine.
of heritable variations in populations,” says Niles
[The] first public airing of Darwinian evolution Eldredge, a paleontologist at the American Museum of
caused almost no stir whatsoever. But when Darwin Natural History in New York City.
published his ideas in book form the following In Darwin’s era, the man who did make progress
Line year, the reaction was quite different. On the 50 on the real mechanism of inheritance was the Austrian
5 Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or monk Gregor Mendel. In his abbey garden in the late
the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle 1850s and early 1860s, Mendel bred pea plants and
for Life soon sold out its first press run of 1,250 found that the transmission of traits such as flower
copies, and within a year some 4,250 copies were in color and seed texture followed observable rules. An
circulation. Allies applauded it as a brilliant unifying 55 offspring inherits a set of these genetic units from each
10 breakthrough; scientific rivals called attention to the parent. Since the early 1900s, those units of inheritance
gaps in his evidence, including what would come have been known as genes.
to be known as “missing links” in the fossil record; The objection certainly applied to the paucity
and prominent clergymen, politicians and others of ancestral human fossils in Darwin’s time. Years
condemned the work and its far-reaching implications. 60 of painstaking work by paleontologists, however,
15 In 1864 Benjamin Disraeli, later Britain’s prime have filled in many of the important gaps. There
minister, famously decried the idea—barely mentioned are many more extinct species to be discovered,
in Origin—that human beings too had evolved from but the term “missing link” has for the most part
earlier species. “Is man an ape or an angel?” he asked become as outdated as the idea of special creation
rhetorically at a conference. “I, my lord, I am on the 65 for each species. Anthropologists once depicted
20 side of the angels. I repudiate with indignation and human evolution as a version of the classic “March
abhorrence those newfangled theories.” of Progress” image—a straight line from a crouching
Darwin knew that plant and animal species could proto-ape, through successive stages of knuckle
be sorted into groups by similarity, such that birds draggers and culminating in upright modern
clustered into songbirds and raptors, say, with each 70 human beings. “It was a fairly simple picture, but it
25 group subdivided again and again down to dozens was a simplicity born of ignorance,” says biological
or hundreds of distinct species. He also saw that the anthropologist William Jungers of Stony Brook
individuals within any given species, despite many University in New York. “The last 30 years have seen an
similarities, also differed from one another—and some explosion of new finds.”
of those differences were passed from parents to their 75 Asked about gaps in Darwin’s knowledge, Francisco
30 offspring. And Darwin observed that nature had a Ayala, a biologist at the University of California at
brutally efficient method of rewarding any variation Irvine, laughs. “That’s easy,” he says. “Darwin didn’t
that helped an individual live longer, breed faster or know 99 percent of what we know.” Which may sound
leave more progeny. The reward for being a slightly bad, Ayala goes on, but “the 1 percent he did know was
faster or more alert antelope? The lions would eat 80 the most important part.”
35 your slower neighbors first, granting you one more
day in which to reproduce. After many generations
and a great deal of time, the whole population would
run faster, and with many such changes over time
eventually become a new species. Evolution, Darwin’s
40 “descent with modification through natural selection,”
would have occurred.

CONTINUE
470 | Cracking the SAT
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Human Fossil Discovery and Naming
*bars represent timespan between fossil discovery and initial
naming of species

Homo neanderthalensis, Germany

Homo erectus, Indonesia

Paranthropus boisei, Tanzania

Homo habilis, Tanzania

Paranthropus aethiopicus, Kenya

Australopithecus afarensis, Ethiopia

Australopithecus garhi, Ethiopia

Ardipithecus kadabba, Ethiopia

1800 1850 1900 1950 2000

On the Origin of Species, published 1859

42 44
Over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts Which choice provides the best evidence for the
from answer to the previous question?
A) a description of Darwin’s life to an overview of A) Lines 9–10 (“Allies applauded . . . breakthrough”)
Darwin’s published works. B) Lines 10–12 (“scientific rivals . . . record”)
B) detailed criticism of Darwin’s controversial theory C) Lines 15–18 (“In 1864 . . . species”)
to qualified support for that theory.
D) Lines 20–21 (“I repudiate . . . theories”)
C) Darwin’s explanation of a scientific mystery to a
summary of how other scientists facilitated that
mystery’s resolution.
45
D) the initial reception for Darwin’s work to a
broader discussion of how his findings continue to The main purpose of the reference to lions in line 34
guide scientific research. is to
A) disprove a questionable theory.
B) introduce a completely new idea.
43 C) reject a burgeoning controversy.
The author most strongly suggests that the largest D) provide a clarifying example.
reason Darwin’s intellectual competitors took issue
with his work was that it
A) didn’t present a complete explanation of the
hypothesized phenomenon.
B) presented ideas that didn’t match what the church
believed.
C) offended readers with its absurd questions.
D) unified what had been intentionally disparate
ideas. CONTINUE
Practice Test 1 | 471
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46 49
Which statement best describes the technique the As used in line 71, “born of” most nearly means
author uses to advance the main point of the third A) carried by.
paragraph (lines 42–48)?
B) generated from.
A) He ponders an unproven possibility to highlight
the utility of Darwin’s research. C) possessed by.
B) He poses a question that puzzled those of Darwin’s D) admitted to.
era to foreshadow a forthcoming finding.
C) He presents a criticism from an expert to disprove
50
the theory presented by Darwin.
D) He undermines the importance of Darwin’s theory What purpose does the graph serve in relation to the
by discussing the work of another scientist. passage as a whole?
A) It connects the genetic findings of Mendel with
the biological findings of Darwin.
47 B) It provides indisputable evidence to prove the
The author notes that those who criticized Darwin’s theories contained within Darwin’s On the Origin
work when it first came out were of Species.
A) misguided in attacking scientific discovery based C) It reinforces a statement from an expert that much
solely on the work of another scientist. more has been learned since Darwin’s scientific
era.
B) transparent in their jealous slander against his
success. D) It offers evidence that the fossils found by Darwin
and his contemporaries were different than the
C) inaccurate because other scientists had already fossils found in the next century.
proven what Darwin had not.
D) correct in their complaints that his theory lacked
sufficient supporting evidence.

48
Which choice provides the best evidence for the
answer to the previous question?
A) Lines 4–8 (“On the . . . copies”)
B) Lines 49–51 (“In Darwin’s . . . Mendel”)
C) Lines 58–59 (“The objection . . . time”)
D) Lines 73–74 (“The last . . . finds”)

CONTINUE
472 | Cracking the SAT
 1 1
51 52
Which statement is best supported by the data Based on information from both the graph and the
presented in the graph? passage, the anthropologists’ depiction of the “March
A) Human fossils had been discovered in at least five of Progress”
locations by the time Darwin published On the A) fails to address the discoveries of a variety of
Origin of Species. fossils from numerous human species.
B) Human fossils discovered in Tanzania were named B) accurately depicts the linear origin of modern
more quickly than those found in Kenya. man.
C) Both Paranthropus species shown in the graph C) proves that Darwin’s research on Homo
were discovered in the same country. neanderthalensis was accurate.
D) The more recently a new type of fossil was D) undermines the importance of fossil discoveries
discovered, the less time it took scientists to name made around the world.
the species.

ST O P
If you finish before time is called, you may check your work on this section only.
Do not turn to any other section in the test.

Practice Test 1 | 473