SAT Reading Comprehension - Paired Passages
The two passages are accompanied by questions based on the content of each and the relationship between them. Answer the questions on the basis of what is stated or implied in the reading extracts and any introductory material.
- 1.
Much of what goes by the name of pleasure is simply an effort to destroy consciousness. If one started by asking, what is man? what are his needs? how can he best express himself? one would discover that merely having the power to avoid work 5 and live one’s life from birth to death in electric light and to the tune of tinned music is not a reason for doing so. Man needs warmth, society, leisure, comfort and security: he also needs solitude, creative work and the sense of wonder. If he recognized this he could use the products of science and 10 industrialism eclectically, applying always the same test: does this make me more human or less human? He would then learn that the highest happiness does not lie in relaxing, resting, playing poker, drinking and making love simultaneously. Adapted from an essay by George Orwell
- 2.
Examine the recently laid egg of some common animal, such as a salamander or newt. It is a minute spheroid – an apparently structureless sac, enclosing a fluid, holding granules in suspension. But let a moderate supply of warmth reach its 5 watery cradle, and the plastic matter undergoes changes so rapid, yet so steady and purposeful in their succession, that one can only compare them to those operated by a skilled modeler upon a formless lump of clay. As with an invisible trowel, the mass is divided and subdivided into smaller and 10 smaller portions. And, then, it is as if a delicate finger traced out the line to be occupied by the spinal column, and molded the contour of the body; pinching up the head at one end, the tail at the other, and fashioning flank and limb into due proportions, in so artistic a way, that, after 15 watching the process hour by hour, one is almost involuntarily possessed by the notion, that some more subtle aid to vision than a microscope, would show the hidden artist, with his plan before him, striving with skilful manipulation to perfect his work. Adapted from an essay by T H Huxley
- 3.
Passage 3 There are not many places that I find it more agreeable to revisit when in an idle mood, than some places to which I have never been. For, my acquaintance with those spots is of such long standing, and has ripened into an intimacy of 5 so affectionate a nature, that I take a particular interest in assuring myself that they are unchanged. I never was in Robinson Crusoe’s Island, yet I frequently return there. I was never in the robbers’ cave, where Gil Blas lived, but I often go back there and find the trap-door just as heavy 10 to raise as it used to be. I was never in Don Quixote’s study, where he read his books of chivalry until he rose and hacked at imaginary giants, yet you couldn’t move a book in it without my knowledge. So with Damascus, and Lilliput, and the Nile, and Abyssinia, and the North Pole, 15 and many hundreds of places — I was never at them, yet it is an affair of my life to keep them intact, and I am always going back to them. Passage 4 The books one reads in childhood create in one’s mind a sort of false map of the world, a series of fabulous 20 countries into which one can retreat at odd moments throughout the rest of life, and which in some cases can even survive a visit to the real countries which they are supposed to represent. The pampas, the Amazon, the coral islands of the Pacific, Russia, land of birch-tree and 25 samovar, Transylvania with its boyars and vampires, the China of Guy Boothby, the Paris of du Maurier—one could continue the list for a long time. But one other imaginary country that I acquired early in life was called America. If I pause on the word “America”, and 30 deliberately put aside the existing reality, I can call up my childhood vision of it. Adapted from: The Uncommercial Traveller, C Dickens (1860)
- 4.
The author implies that the answers to the questions in sentence two would reveal that human beings
- A.
Are less human when they seek pleasure
- B.
Need to evaluate their purpose in life
- C.
Are being alienated from their true nature by technology
- D.
Have needs beyond physical comforts
- E.
Are always seeking the meaning of life
Correct Answer
D. Have needs beyond physical comfortsExplanation
The author implies that the answers to the questions in sentence two would reveal that human beings have needs beyond physical comforts. This suggests that humans are not solely driven by their physical desires and that there are other aspects of their well-being that need to be fulfilled.Rate this question:
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- 5.
2. The author would apparently agree that playing poker is
- A.
Often an effort to avoid thinking
- B.
Something that gives true pleasure
- C.
An example of man’s need for society
- D.
Something that man must learn to avoid
- E.
Inhuman
Correct Answer
A. Often an effort to avoid thinkingExplanation
The correct answer suggests that playing poker is often an effort to avoid thinking. This implies that people may engage in playing poker as a means of distraction or escape from their thoughts or problems. It suggests that poker can serve as a form of entertainment or diversion rather than a serious intellectual activity.Rate this question:
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- 6.
3. The author makes his main point with the aid of
- A.
Logical paradox
- B.
Complex rationalization
- C.
Observations on the connection between art and science
- D.
Scientific deductions
- E.
Extended simile
Correct Answer
E. Extended simileExplanation
The author uses an extended simile to make his main point. This means that he is using a comparison that is continued throughout the text to illustrate his argument or idea. The extended simile helps to clarify and emphasize his main point by drawing parallels between two different concepts or ideas.Rate this question:
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- 7.
4. In the context of the final sentence the word “subtle” most nearly means
- A.
Not obvious
- B.
Indirect
- C.
Discriminating
- D.
Surreptitious
- E.
Scientific
Correct Answer
C. DiscriminatingExplanation
In the context of the final sentence, the word "subtle" means discriminating. This means that the word refers to something that is not obvious or easily noticeable, but requires careful observation or analysis to understand or distinguish.Rate this question:
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- 8.
The first sentence of passage 3 contains an element of
- A.
Paradox
- B.
Legend
- C.
Melancholy
- D.
Humor
- E.
Self-deprecation
Correct Answer
A. ParadoxExplanation
The first sentence of passage 3 contains an element of paradox because it presents a statement that seems contradictory or absurd on the surface. Paradoxes often involve a play on words or a situation that goes against common sense or expectations. In this case, the first sentence may present a contradictory idea or a situation that is seemingly impossible or illogical.Rate this question:
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- 9.
By calling America an “imaginary country” the author of passage 4 implies that
- A.
America has been the subject of numerous works for children
- B.
He has never seen America
- C.
His current vision of that country is not related to reality
- D.
America has stimulated his imagination
- E.
His childhood vision of that country owed nothing to actual conditions
Correct Answer
E. His childhood vision of that country owed nothing to actual conditionsExplanation
The author of passage 4 implies that his childhood vision of America was not based on reality. This suggests that the author's perception of America during his childhood was not influenced by actual conditions or facts about the country. Instead, it was a product of his imagination or perhaps influenced by fictional works or stories about America.Rate this question:
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- 10.
Both passages make the point that
- A.
Imaginary travel is better than real journeys
- B.
Children’s books are largely fiction
- C.
The effects of childhood impressions are inescapable
- D.
Books read early in life can be revisited in the imagination many years later
- E.
The sight of imaginary places evokes memories
Correct Answer
D. Books read early in life can be revisited in the imagination many years laterExplanation
The correct answer is "books read early in life can be revisited in the imagination many years later". This is supported by both passages as they both mention the ability to revisit and remember books read in childhood.Rate this question:
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- 11.
Both passages list a series of places, but differ in that the author of passage 3
- A.
Has been more influenced by his list of locations
- B.
Never expects to visit any of them in real life, whereas the writer of passage two thinks it at least possible that he might
- C.
Is less specific in compiling his list
- D.
Wishes to preserve his locations in his mind forever, whereas the author of passage two wishes to modify all his visions in the light of reality
- E.
Revisits them more often
- F.
Revisits them more often
Correct Answer
B. Never expects to visit any of them in real life, whereas the writer of passage two thinks it at least possible that he mightExplanation
The correct answer suggests that the author of passage 3 never expects to visit any of the listed locations in real life, while the writer of passage two believes that it is possible for him to visit them. This implies that the author of passage 3 is more influenced by his list of locations and sees them as purely imaginary or unattainable, whereas the writer of passage two considers the possibility of experiencing these places in reality.Rate this question:
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Mar 18, 2023Quiz Edited by
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Mar 05, 2014Quiz Created by
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