CRITICAL READING Reading Comprehension SOME INFO This portion

CRITICAL READING Reading Comprehension

SOME INFO This portion tests your ability to understand a passage and answer questions by what is stated and implied in the reading. You should read the passage first so you can… � Get the main idea � Understand the author’s tone/attitude � Be able to locate the relative section for each question This is considered by most to be the most difficult section.

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE Varying lengths for passages and questions from… � Short: 3 minutes with 2 questions � Long: 15 minutes with 13 questions Short reading passages come in two varieties: 1. 2. a double passage combination, whereby students must compare and contrast the two passages and individual passages that are not related. Short reading based passage selections contain 11 -14 lines each; each selection is connected to two questions, though this may vary with compare and contrast reading selections.

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE Long reading based passages come in two varieties as well: 1. 2. individual selection double passage. Long reading based passages are typically 60 -90 lines in length connected to as low as 6 questions and as high as 12 questions. Long double passages are typically longer ranging from 70 -90 lines connected to 9 -12 questions. (You will only have one of these in the entire test)

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE The SAT reading based passages are selected readings from myriad topics such as history, sociology, science, and literature. They will include fiction and non -fiction alike. You may receive the follow question types: � summarization questions � figurative language questions � vocabulary questions � inference/extended reasoning questions � interpretation questions � compare and contrast questions.

SHORT PASSAGES

SHORT PASSAGES Fast students will finish the SAT short passages in under 3 minutes. If you spend over 5 minutes on these questions plus a slow sentence completion section, you put yourself at a huge disadvantage for the longer passage. The idea is to work quickly on the fist two sections, to gain time on the longer passage since the longer passage will certainly have obstacles and harder questions to answer correctly.

TOE: THEORY OF THE EXCESSIVE The incorrect answer choices either say too much or not enough! When looking through the answer choices, pay particular attention to fishy words that add too much spice. If done correctly this will usually eliminate your choices to between two answer choices increasing your odds to ½.

TOE EXAMPLE For example, let's say that the question asks you to summarize the author's point of view. You may find the answer choices starting with verbs such as "critique, " "suggest, " and "prove. " Without even considering the words after the verb "prove, " you may eliminate this choice as a possibility since the verb "prove" is far too extreme. Your best bet is to go with moderate language. In the most obvious form, you should typically eliminate answer choices that use excessive language such as "no one, " "always, " "every, " and any other word that leaves no room for exceptions.

PRACTICE TIME!!! The reading passage is accompanied by a set of questions based on the passage and any introductory material that is given. Answer the questions according to what is stated or implied in the passage.

PASSAGE 1

I chose to wander by Bethlehem Hospital; partly, because it lay on my road round to Westminster; partly, because I had a fancy in my head which could be best pursued within sight of its walls. And the fancy was: Are not the sane and the insane 5 equal at night as the sane lie a dreaming? Are not all of us outside this hospital, who dream, more or less in the condition of those inside it, every night of our lives? Are we not nightly persuaded, as they daily are, that we associate preposterously with kings and queens, and notabilities of all 10 sorts? Do we not nightly jumble events and personages and times and places, as these do daily? Said an afflicted man to me, when I visited a hospital like this, ‘Sir, I can frequently fly. ’ I was half ashamed to reflect that so could I - by night. I wonder that the great master, when he called Sleep the death 15 of each day’s life, did not call Dreams the insanity of each day’s sanity. Passage adapted from: The Uncommercial Traveller, C Dickens (1860)

1. It can be correctly inferred that Bethlehem hospital I is very close to Westminster II has patients who are regarded as insane III is a place the author has visited before A. B. C. D. E. I only III only I and II I, II and III

I chose to wander by Bethlehem Hospital; partly, because it lay on my road round to Westminster; partly, because I had a fancy in my head which could be best pursued within sight of its walls. And the fancy was: Are not the sane and the insane 5 equal at night as the sane lie a dreaming? Are not all of us outside this hospital, who dream, more or less in the condition of those inside it, every night of our lives? Are we not nightly persuaded, as they daily are, that we associate preposterously with kings and queens, and notabilities of all 10 sorts? Do we not nightly jumble events and personages and times and places, as these do daily? Said an afflicted man to me, when I visited a hospital like this, ‘Sir, I can frequently fly. ’ I was half ashamed to reflect that so could I - by night. I wonder that the great master, when he called Sleep the death 15 of each day’s life, did not call Dreams the insanity of each day’s sanity. Passage adapted from: The Uncommercial Traveller, C Dickens (1860)

ANSWER We know that the hospital is on the author’s road to Westminster, but there is no information about how long the route is, and so we cannot say that it is “very close”. We cannot say that the author has visited this particular hospital before since we are told only that the author has “visited a hospital like this”. But it is clear that the hospital patients are regarded as insane, hence only statement II is correct. Correct Answer : B

2. The author makes his point with the aid of all of the following except A. B. C. D. E. rhetorical questions personal anecdote allusion frequent use of metaphor repetition and parallel construction

I chose to wander by Bethlehem Hospital; partly, because it lay on my road round to Westminster; partly, because I had a fancy in my head which could be best pursued within sight of its walls. And the fancy was: Are not the sane and the insane 5 equal at night as the sane lie a dreaming? Are not all of us outside this hospital, who dream, more or less in the condition of those inside it, every night of our lives? Are we not nightly persuaded, as they daily are, that we associate preposterously with kings and queens, and notabilities of all 10 sorts? Do we not nightly jumble events and personages and times and places, as these do daily? Said an afflicted man to me, when I visited a hospital like this, ‘Sir, I can frequently fly. ’ I was half ashamed to reflect that so could I - by night. I wonder that the great master, when he called Sleep the death 15 of each day’s life, did not call Dreams the insanity of each day’s sanity. Passage adapted from: The Uncommercial Traveller, C Dickens (1860)

ANSWER Check each term: � Rhetorical questions used for effect rather than to elicit an answer � Personal anecdote is narration of the author’s own experiences, (a technique that the author uses both in referring to his previous visit to a similar hospital and in the narration of his wandering one night) � Allusion is indirect reference (used when the author refers to the ‘great master’) � Metaphor is an implied or direct comparison, for example, if we describe a person as a “rock in times of trouble” we are using a metaphor, because a person cannot actually be a rock. � Repetition and parallel construction same words or same structure in sentences Correct Answer : D

PASSAGE 2

Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing 5 the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our 10 thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. Passage adapted from: Politics And The English Language, George Orwell

3. The example of the man who takes to drink is used to illustrate which of the following ideas in the paragraph? A. B. C. D. E. foolish thoughts the slovenliness of language political and economic causes an effect becoming a cause bad influences

Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing 5 the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our 10 thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. Passage adapted from: Politics And The English Language, George Orwell

ANSWER The example is inserted to make clearer the rather abstract idea in the previous sentence. The idea is that an effect can become a cause. In this example the initial drinking is an effect of feeling a failure, but the drinking in turn becomes the cause of further failure. Correct Answer : D

4. The author would most likely agree that A. B. C. D. E. individual writers can never have a bad influence on the English language imprecise use of language is likely to make precise thought more difficult the English language is ugly and inaccurate all language declines for political reasons failure generally leads to more failure in a downward spiral

Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing 5 the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our 10 thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. Passage adapted from: Politics And The English Language, George Orwell

ANSWER Answer B is correct because it conveys what the author means when he says “the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts”. Note how the words “slovenliness of our language” in the text are paraphrased as “imprecise use of language”. The word “never” makes answer A too strong to be correct. Answer C is again too strong because the author is alerting us to the fact the language becomes ugly when we think foolishly, and does not state that the whole language is ugly. D is obviously too generalized, and so is E (note the words “all” and “generally” that help us identify these as incorrect. ) Correct Answer : B

PASSAGE 3

Paragraph One All the sound reasons ever given for conserving other natural resources apply to the conservation of wildlife – and with three-fold power. When a spendthrift squanders his capital it is lost to him and his heirs; yet it goes somewhere else. 5 When a nation allows any one kind of natural resource to be squandered it must suffer a real, positive loss; yet substitutes of another kind can generally be found. But when wildlife is squandered it does not go elsewhere, like squandered money; it cannot possibly be replaced by any 10 substitute, as some inorganic resources are: it is simply an absolute, dead loss, gone beyond even the hope of recall. Paragraph Two The public still has a hazy idea that Nature has an overflowing sanctuary of her own, somewhere or other, which will fill up the gaps automatically. The result is that poaching is commonly 15 regarded as a venial offence, poachers taken red-handed are rarely punished, and willing ears are always lent to the cry that rich sportsmen are trying to take the bread out of the poor settler's mouth. The poor settler does not reflect that he himself, and all other classes alike, really have a 20 common interest in the conservation of any wildlife that does not conflict with legitimate human development.

5. The author of paragraph one probably uses the expression ‘three-fold power’ A. because there are three-times as many reasons for conserving wildlife B. to be more dramatic that saying “double-power” C. to emphasize the contrast between loss of money, loss of other resources, and loss of wildlife D. to stress the need for saving money, resources and time E. to indicate the magnitude of the problem without intending the expression to be taken literally

Paragraph One All the sound reasons ever given for conserving other natural resources apply to the conservation of wildlife – and with three-fold power. When a spendthrift squanders his capital it is lost to him and his heirs; yet it goes somewhere else. 5 When a nation allows any one kind of natural resource to be squandered it must suffer a real, positive loss; yet substitutes of another kind can generally be found. But when wildlife is squandered it does not go elsewhere, like squandered money; it cannot possibly be replaced by any 10 substitute, as some inorganic resources are: it is simply an absolute, dead loss, gone beyond even the hope of recall. Paragraph Two The public still has a hazy idea that Nature has an overflowing sanctuary of her own, somewhere or other, which will fill up the gaps automatically. The result is that poaching is commonly 15 regarded as a venial offence, poachers taken red-handed are rarely punished, and willing ears are always lent to the cry that rich sportsmen are trying to take the bread out of the poor settler's mouth. The poor settler does not reflect that he himself, and all other classes alike, really have a 20 common interest in the conservation of any wildlife that does not conflict with legitimate human development.

ANSWER The term “three-fold power” is a rhetorical device (one used for effect) to help prepare the reader for the three stages in his argument, stages in which he shows that loss of wildlife is more serious than loss of natural resources other than wild-life, and loss of money. Correct Answer : C

6. From the context, the word ‘venial’ in paragraph two most nearly means A. B. C. D. E. major criminal frequent trivial natural

Paragraph One All the sound reasons ever given for conserving other natural resources apply to the conservation of wildlife – and with three-fold power. When a spendthrift squanders his capital it is lost to him and his heirs; yet it goes somewhere else. 5 When a nation allows any one kind of natural resource to be squandered it must suffer a real, positive loss; yet substitutes of another kind can generally be found. But when wildlife is squandered it does not go elsewhere, like squandered money; it cannot possibly be replaced by any 10 substitute, as some inorganic resources are: it is simply an absolute, dead loss, gone beyond even the hope of recall. Paragraph Two The public still has a hazy idea that Nature has an overflowing sanctuary of her own, somewhere or other, which will fill up the gaps automatically. The result is that poaching is commonly 15 regarded as a venial offence, poachers taken red-handed are rarely punished, and willing ears are always lent to the cry that rich sportsmen are trying to take the bread out of the poor settler's mouth. The poor settler does not reflect that he himself, and all other classes alike, really have a 20 common interest in the conservation of any wildlife that does not conflict with legitimate human development.

ANSWER If a criminal is caught red-handed and yet not punished, it implies that the crime is not taken seriously. Hence we can say that poaching (stealing animals from someone else’s land) was not regarded as serious. The word in the answer choices that means “not serious” is trivial. Correct Answer : D

7. Both paragraphs apparently imply that A. there is no source from which wildlife, once exterminated, can be replaced B. poachers must be punished C. wildlife has much in common with other natural resources D. conservation is in conflict with human development E. preserving wildlife is expensive

Paragraph One All the sound reasons ever given for conserving other natural resources apply to the conservation of wildlife – and with three-fold power. When a spendthrift squanders his capital it is lost to him and his heirs; yet it goes somewhere else. 5 When a nation allows any one kind of natural resource to be squandered it must suffer a real, positive loss; yet substitutes of another kind can generally be found. But when wildlife is squandered it does not go elsewhere, like squandered money; it cannot possibly be replaced by any 10 substitute, as some inorganic resources are: it is simply an absolute, dead loss, gone beyond even the hope of recall. Paragraph Two The public still has a hazy idea that Nature has an overflowing sanctuary of her own, somewhere or other, which will fill up the gaps automatically. The result is that poaching is commonly 15 regarded as a venial offence, poachers taken red-handed are rarely punished, and willing ears are always lent to the cry that rich sportsmen are trying to take the bread out of the poor settler's mouth. The poor settler does not reflect that he himself, and all other classes alike, really have a 20 common interest in the conservation of any wildlife that does not conflict with legitimate human development.

ANSWER In paragraph one we are clearly told that wildlife once lost cannot be replaced (gone even beyond the hope of recall). The second tells us this in an indirect way: the public has a wrong idea that there is a way that Nature can fill the gaps. From this we can infer that the author of paragraph two believes that there is no way to replace lost wildlife. In any case the other answers are easy to eliminate because poachers and human development are not in passage one, other natural resources are not in two, and expense is in neither. Correct Answer : A

8. It can be inferred that the spendthrift in paragraph one and the poor settler mentioned in paragraph two are alike in that they are A. in conflict with the aims of conservation B. inclined to waste natural resources C. more concerned with the present than the future D. unable to control their spending E. unaware of conservation

Paragraph One All the sound reasons ever given for conserving other natural resources apply to the conservation of wildlife – and with three-fold power. When a spendthrift squanders his capital it is lost to him and his heirs; yet it goes somewhere else. 5 When a nation allows any one kind of natural resource to be squandered it must suffer a real, positive loss; yet substitutes of another kind can generally be found. But when wildlife is squandered it does not go elsewhere, like squandered money; it cannot possibly be replaced by any 10 substitute, as some inorganic resources are: it is simply an absolute, dead loss, gone beyond even the hope of recall. Paragraph Two The public still has a hazy idea that Nature has an overflowing sanctuary of her own, somewhere or other, which will fill up the gaps automatically. The result is that poaching is commonly 15 regarded as a venial offence, poachers taken red-handed are rarely punished, and willing ears are always lent to the cry that rich sportsmen are trying to take the bread out of the poor settler's mouth. The poor settler does not reflect that he himself, and all other classes alike, really have a 20 common interest in the conservation of any wildlife that does not conflict with legitimate human development.

ANSWER The spendthrift wastes money so that it is not available to his descendants (but money is not a natural resource, so eliminate answer B). The poor settler does not think about the need to conserve wildlife (but that is nothing to do with spending, so eliminate D). We are not told whether the spendthrift is even aware of conservation, so eliminate A and E. C is correct as wasting money now without regard to the needs of future generations, is like poaching animals now without regard to future needs. Correct Answer : C