SAT Practice Questions

Explanation

Direction indicator(s): was, by

Keyword(s): long-standing, innovative, shrewdlyprepared, harshest critics

An innovative field researcher somehow affected a long-standing assumption about the cause of famines; since innovative and long-standing are opposed, the researcher must have opposed the assumption about the cause of famines. Of the first-blank words, only overturned, in choice A, and abjured, in choice E, are close to meaning opposed.

In the second part of the sentence, the field researcher makes his data and calculations available to even his harshest critics, so he must have been shrewdly preparing for potential criticism. Of the second-blank words in the remaining choices, only antipathy can mean criticism.

Since both overturned and antipathy are acceptable, choice A is correct.

Choice B: Although fortified, in the first blank, means the opposite of opposed, resistance, in the second blank, is an acceptable synonym of criticism.

Choice C: Disseminated has nothing to do with opposed, so this choice is nonsensical in the first blank. Jubilation is a strong antonym of criticism, so this choice is the opposite of what you need in the second blank.

Choice D: Although confirmed, in the first blank, means the opposite of opposed, acrimony, in the second blank, is close enough to criticism to be acceptable.

Choice E: Although, abjured, as noted above, is acceptable in the first blank, acceptance is an antonym of criticism, so this choice is the opposite what you need in the second blank.

Explanation

This is one of the harder questions in the math section because it requires a combination of skills. You're presented with a figure composed of 7 rectangles of equal size (x by y). The question asks how many such rectangles are required to cover a bigger area that measures 21x by 15x.

The first step in solving this question is to realize that there is a relationship between x and y that you can identify. Without this realization, answering the question is impossible, because you'll be trying to cover an area whose dimensions are expressed in terms of x with a rectangle whose dimensions are expressed in terms of xandy.

The relationship between x and y can be identified by looking at the top and bottom of the big rectangle. Notice that the length of the top is 5x and the length of the bottom is 2y. This is a rectangle, though, so the top and bottom must be of equal size. Therefore, you can say that 2y = 5x. Since both dimensions of the area you want to cover are measured in terms of x, it will be helpful to take the small rectangle of dimension x by y and turn it into a rectangle that has both dimensions measured in terms of x. Dividing both sides of the equation 2y = 5x by 2 gives you y = 2.5x.

To recap, the area you need to cover is 21x by 15x, and the small rectangle you need to cover it with is x by 2.5x. The next step is to calculate the area of each of these two shapes, and then to figure out how many of the small rectangles it will take to cover the large area. Since the area of the small rectangle is just length × width, the area of the small rectangle is x × 2.5x = 2.5x², and the area of the large rectangle is 21x × 15x = 315x².

Now, in order to figure out how many of the small rectangles are required to cover the large rectangle, you need to divide the area of the large rectangle by the area of the small rectangle. Or, written as an equation, you need to solve for n, where n × 2.5x² = 315x². Dividing both sides by x², you get n × 2.5 = 315. Dividing both sides by 2.5, you find that n = 126. That means 126 of the smaller x by y rectangles are required to cover the 21x by 15x area.

Answer choice C is correct.

Explanation

Choice A is correct; this sentence is error-free as written.

The describing, or modifying, phrase at the beginning of the sentence, "indicating their desire to end the embargo..." logically describes the noun immediately after the comma, "Americans."

You can recognize many modifying phrases at the beginning of a sentence because they often begin with -ing words called participles; the entire phrase is called a participial phrase. The present participle is the -ing form of a word, like indicating or bringing. Past participles can, but not always, look like an -ed verb. Some past participles are indicated, disguised, gone, and made.

Participial phrases must describe the noun immediately after the comma. If there is a pronoun within this phrase, like their in "indicating their desire," then this pronoun refers to the noun right after the comma, the noun described by the phrase. "Their" refers to the "Americans" in this sentence.

Choices B-E all introduce modifier errors.

A misplaced modifier occurs when a “modifying” (or descriptive) phrase at the beginning of the sentence describes a noun, but the noun after the comma is not the noun that is logically described.

In choice B, "Americans' election" follows the comma. Possessives, like "Americans,'" are not nouns! They show ownership over a noun. Possessives describe the noun after them. The first noun after the comma, therefore, is election. It does not make sense for an "election" to be described as "indicating their desire..." "Their" does not refer to "election."

Choice C places "Thomas Jefferson" after the comma, but the plural pronoun "their" cannot refer to the singular "Thomas Jefferson."

Choice D: Again, ignore the possessive ("the Republican Party's") when finding the noun after the comma. The first noun here, like in C, is "Thomas Jefferson," and the pronoun "their" does not refer to Jefferson.

Choice E places "a member" after the comma. The plural "their" does not refer to the singular "a member."

Since all these choices introduce errors to the sentence, you should just leave it as is. Choice A is correct.
 

Explanation

Choice C is the answer because the verb "highlight" is plural, but the subject of the sentence is the singular noun "report." A subject and its verb must agree in number. "The report...highlight the human body's ability..." displays a subject-verb agreement error. On an IDSE question, if a present tense verb is underlined, make sure that it agrees in number with the subject it corresponds to. Ignore intervening modifying (or "describing") phrases when checking for subject verb agreement.

Changing "highlight" to the singular verb "highlights" would fix this sentence ("The report...highlights the human body's ability..."), so choice C is correct.

Choice A: "Surviving even in the absence of treatment..." describes the "victims." Without a helper verb like "is" or "were," the -ing form of a word acts as an adjective or noun. As an adjective placed after a noun, the -ing word must be immediately after the noun it describes. "Surviving..." describes the noun immediately before it, the "victims."

Choice B: "In the absence of" is a commonly used expression that means without something. The victims are described as surviving even without treatment. When a preposition, like "of" is underlined, read the phrase that the preposition is part of and listen to your ear. Try to recall the expression and to use the expression in another context if you are unsure of how it reads.

Choice D: "The most" emphasizes how lethal the diseases are; it's the right phrase to use when describing an extreme form of something. In this sentence, out of all lethal diseases, "the most lethal diseases" are the ones mentioned.

Explanation

The last sentence of the passage begins with in contrast, so you immediately know that it's meant to be compared with the sentence before it. The second to last sentence presents one possible origin of the name Beach, and the last sentence presents a contrasting—or "alternative"—explanation. ChoiceB is correct.

Choice A is partially correct; the last sentence certainly explains the possible origins of a surname, but this is in contrast to another explanation that could also be valid. This choice doesn't quite work because it makes the more pedestrian theory sound definitive.

Choices C & D are wrong because there is no indication that the theory described in the last sentence is "well-known" or factual, nor is it clear how "contentious" the disagreement between the two theories might be.

Choice E ("interesting puzzle") isn't a good fit because the word pedestrian means "commonplace" or "boring," the exact opposite of "interesting." Also, the last sentence describes a fairly straightforward theory, not anything that's particularly puzzling.

Out of all the options available, choice B describes the purpose of the closing sentence most directly.

Explanation

Here you're given the option of changing sentence 6, deleting it, or leaving it as is. The sentence doesn't contain any glaring grammatical errors, so the next thing to check is how it fits into the rest of the passage.

This sentence sticks out because it's the only point in the passage where the author uses the first person, I. Since the bulk of the passage is more formal, this tidbit of personal information is distracting.

Choice B is correct. In light of the isolated use of the first-person voice, the best thing to do with the sentence is simply delete it. The author's points are stronger and more consistent when the personal example is removed.

Choice A isn't your best option; leaving the sentence as is would keep the awkward use of the first person. 

Choice C introduces a grammatical error; the sentence now reads "fixing an appliance is simply calling the superintendent." Without the comparison (as simple as), the sentence implies that fixing an appliance and calling the superintendent are the same thing. 

Choices D & E don't make any significant improvements; deleting myself and inserting "the fact" result in a sentence that is essentially the same as the original. Minor changes like these have a much smaller impact than the one suggested in choice B.