The sat critical reading section 9

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5658 SAT2006[03](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:42 PM Page 82 – THE SAT CRITICAL READING SECTION – Questions 4–8 are based on the following passage about asbestos. Asbestos is generally made up of ﬁber bundles that can be broken up into long, thin ﬁbers. We now know from various studies that when this friable substance is released into the air and inhaled into the lungs over a period of time, it can lead to a higher risk of lung cancer and a condition known as asbestosis. Asbesto- Line sis, a thickening and scarring of the lung tissue, usually occurs when a person is exposed to high asbestos (5) levels over an extended period of time. Unfortunately, the symptoms do not usually appear until about twenty years after initial exposure, making it difﬁcult to reverse or prevent. In addition, smoking while exposed to asbestos ﬁbers could further increase the risk of developing lung cancer. When it comes to asbestos exposure in the home, school, and workplace, there is no safe level; any exposure is considered harmful and dangerous. Prior to the 1970s, asbestos use was ubiquitous—many commercial building and (10) home insulation products contained asbestos. In the home in particular, there are many places where asbestos hazards might be present. Building materials that may contain asbestos include ﬁreprooﬁng mate- rial (sprayed on beams), insulation material (on pipes and oil and coal furnaces), acoustical or sound- prooﬁng material (sprayed onto ceilings and walls), and miscellaneous materials such as asphalt, vinyl, and cement used to make products like rooﬁng felts, shingles, siding, wallboard, and ﬂoor tiles. 4. In line 2, the word friable most nearly means 6. The word ubiquitous (line 9) and the list of a. ability to freeze building materials containing asbestos (lines b. warm or liquid 11–14) serve primarily to c. easily broken down a. allay fears of becoming ill from asbestos d. poisonous b. encourage reforms in building practice e. crunchy c. describe the effects of asbestos in the home d. urge readers to check their homes for asbestos 5. The main purpose of this passage is to e. show how common asbestos is in homes built a. teach asbestos awareness in the home and before 1970 schools 7. The tone of this passage is best described as b. explain the properties of asbestos c. encourage preventative measures such as early a. cautionary lung cancer screening b. apathetic d. provide a list of materials that may include c. informative asbestos d. admonitory e. use scare tactics to make homeowners move to e. idiosyncratic newer houses 8. For whom is the author writing this passage? a. professional contractors b. students c. school principals d. health ofﬁcials e. lay persons 82
5658 SAT2006[03](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:42 PM Page 83 – THE SAT CRITICAL READING SECTION – Questions 9–10 are based on the following passage about the blues. The blues—a neologism attributed to the American writer Washington Irving (author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) in 1807—evolved from African American folk music. Its beginnings can be traced to songs sung in the ﬁelds and around slave quarters on southern plantations, songs of pain and suffering, of injustice, of longing for a better life. A fundamental principle of the blues, however, is that the music Line be cathartic. Listening to the blues will drive the blues away; it is music that has the power to overcome (5) sadness. Thus, “the blues” is something of a misnomer, for the music is moving but not melancholy; it is, in fact, music born of hope, not despair. 9. The word neologism in line 1 means a 10. According to the passage, the primary purpose of a. mistake blues music is to b. characteristic of blues a. celebrate African American roots. c. new word b. lift the spirits of the listener. d. musical score c. record African American history. e. pen name d. inspire listeners to improve their lives. e. preserve the tradition of folk music. Questions 11–14 are based on the following passage about sushi. Burgers, fries, pizza, raw ﬁsh. Raw ﬁsh? Fast food in America is changing. Sushi, the thousand-year-old Japanese delicacy, was once thought of in this country as unpalatable and too exotic. But tastes have changed, for a number of reasons. Beginning in the 1970s, Americans became increasingly more aware of diet and health issues and began rejecting their traditional red-meat diets in favor of healthier, lower-fat Line choices such as ﬁsh, poultry, whole grains, rice, and vegetables. The way food was prepared began to change, (5) too; rather than frying food, people started opting for broiled, steamed, and raw versions. Sushi, a com- bination of rice and ﬁsh, ﬁt the bill. Sushi started small in the United States, in a handful of restaurants in big cities. But it quickly caught on. Today, sushi consumption in American restaurants is 40% greater than it was in the late 1990s, accord- ing to the National Restaurant Association. The concession stands at almost every major league stadium (10) sell sushi, and many colleges and universities offer it in their dining halls. But we’re not just eating it out. The National Sushi Association reports that there are over 5,000 sushi bars in supermarkets, and that num- ber is growing monthly. This incredible growth in availability and consumption points to the fact that Americans have decided that sushi isn’t just good for them—it’s also truly delicious. 83
5658 SAT2006[03](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:42 PM Page 84 – THE SAT CRITICAL READING SECTION – 11. The author asks the question Raw ﬁsh? in line 1 to 13. In line 2, unpalatable most nearly means a. demonstrate surprise that sushi is a popular a. not visually appealing fast food b. not good tasting b. highlight the differences between sushi and c. bad smelling other fast foods d. too expensive c. express his dislike for sushi e. rough to the touch d. provide a deﬁnition of sushi 14. The author supports the main idea of the passage e. suggest that sushi is much healthier than other fast foods primarily by a. describing where sushi is sold 12. The passage describes Americans’ sushi con- b. providing a brief history of sushi in the United sumption as States a. beginning for many in college c. comparing sushi to other fast food options b. important when watching baseball d. citing statistics about sushi consumption c. taking place primarily in their homes e. describing how sushi is made d. a trend due to supermarket marketing e. more than it was ﬁve years ago Questions 15–17 are based on the following passage about the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review. “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is,” stated Chief Justice John Marshall in a unanimous opinion in the 1803 Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison. This landmark case established the doctrine of judicial review, which gives the court the authority to declare Line executive actions and laws invalid if they conﬂict with the U.S. Constitution. The court’s ruling on the con- (5) stitutionality of a law is nearly ﬁnal—it can only be overcome by a constitutional amendment or by a new ruling of the court. Through the power of judicial review, the court shapes the development of law, assures individual rights, and maintains the Constitution as a “living” document by applying its broad pro- visions to complex new situations. 15. The passage suggests that the practice of judicial review allows the court to a. wield enormous power b. determine foreign policy c. make laws that reﬂect the principles of the Constitution d. rewrite laws that are unconstitutional e. make amendments to the Constitution 84
5658 SAT2006[03](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:42 PM Page 85 – THE SAT CRITICAL READING SECTION – 16. The image of the Constitution as a “living” docu- 17. In line 1, emphatically most nearly means ment (line 7) implies that a. equivocally a. the supreme law of the land cannot be altered b. unwittingly in any way c. enormously b. it can only be amended through a difﬁcult d. positively process e. surprisingly c. its principles need to be adapted to contempo- rary life d. the original document is fragile and needs to be preserved in the Library of Congress so that it will not deteriorate e. its principles are kept alive only by the Supreme Court Questions 18–22 are based on the following excerpt from Frank McCourt’s 1996 memoir Angela’s Ashes, in which the author describes what it was like to go to school as a young boy. We go to school through lanes and back streets so that we won’t meet the respectable boys who go to the Christian Brothers’ School or the rich ones who go to the Jesuit school, Crescent College. The Christian Brothers’ boys wear tweed jackets, warm woolen sweaters, shirts, ties, and shiny new boots. We know they’re the ones who will get jobs in the civil service and help the people who run the world. The Crescent Col- Line lege boys wear blazers and school scarves tossed around their necks and over their shoulders to show they’re (5) cock o’ the walk. They have long hair which falls across their foreheads and over their eyes so that they can toss their quaffs like Englishmen. We know they’re the ones who will go to university, take over the fam- ily business, run the government, run the world. We’ll be the messenger boys on bicycles who deliver their groceries or we’ll go to England to work on the building sites. Our sisters will mind their children and scrub their ﬂoors unless they go off to England, too. We know that. We’re ashamed of the way we look and if boys (10) from the rich schools pass remarks we’ll get into a ﬁght and wind up with bloody noses or torn clothes. Our masters will have no patience with us and our ﬁghts because their sons go to the rich schools and, Ye have no right to raise your hands to a better class of people so ye don’t. 18. The “we” the author uses throughout the passage 19. The passage suggests that the author goes to refers to school a. his family a. in shabby clothing b. the poor children in his neighborhood b. in a taxi cab c. the children who attend rich schools c. in warm sweaters and shorts d. the author and his brother d. on a bicycle e. the reader and writer e. to become a civil servant 85
5658 SAT2006[03](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:42 PM Page 86 – THE SAT CRITICAL READING SECTION – 20. The word pass, as used in line 11, means to 22. The passage implies that a. move ahead of a. the author was determined to go to England b. go by without stopping b. the author was determined to be someone c. be approved or adopted who will run the world d. utter c. the author often got into ﬁghts e. come to an end d. the author didn’t understand the idea of class and rank in society 21. The author quotes his school masters saying “Ye e. one’s class determined one’s future have no right to raise your hands to a better class of people so ye don’t” (lines 12–13) in order to a. demonstrate how strict his school masters were b. contrast his school to the Christian Brothers’ School and Crescent College c. show how his teachers reinforced class lines d. prove that the author was meant for greater things e. show how people talked Questions 23–26 are based on the following passage, adapted from My Body the Billboard by Jen Johnston. Traditional body signage seems largely to have disappeared. Well, many of the old symbols and names are still around, of course, but they are part of the commercial range of options. Seeing someone in a Harvard or Oxford sweatshirt or a kilt or a military tie now communicates nothing at all signiﬁcant about that per- son’s life other than the personal choice of a particular consumer. Religious signs are still evocative, to be Line sure, but are far less common than they used to be. Why should this be? I suspect one reason may be that (5) we have lost a sense of signiﬁcant connection to the various things indicated by such signs. Proclaiming our high school or university or our athletic team or our community has a much lower priority nowadays, in part because we live such rapidly changing lives in a society marked by constant motion that the sta- bility essential to confer signiﬁcance on such signs has largely gone. But we still must attach ourselves to something. Lacking the conviction that the traditional things matter, we turn to the last resort of the mod- (10) ern world: the market. Here there is a vast array of options, all equally meaningless in terms of traditional values, all equally important in identifying the one thing left to us for declaring our identity publicly: our fashion sense and disposable income. 86
5658 SAT2006[03](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:42 PM Page 87 – THE SAT CRITICAL READING SECTION – 23. The main purpose of the passage is to 25. The author would agree with all the following a. discuss trends in fashion statements EXCEPT b. relate the history of commerce a. a person wearing a New York Yankees baseball c. lament the passing of old traditions hat is not necessarily a fan of the team or a d. help the reader discover his or her own true resident of New York identity b. pride in our school or community is not as e. discuss commercialism’s powerful inﬂuence strong today as it was years ago upon personal identity c. in today’s society, being trendy is more impor- tant than keeping tradition 24. What does the author mean by the commercial d. you can tell a lot about somebody by what he range of options (line 2)? or she is wearing a. the variety of commercials on television and e. the market has many choices but few values radio 26. The author uses all of the following techniques to b. the numerous products available to today’s consumer convince the reader EXCEPT c. the ability to shop on the Internet a. an informal style d. let the buyer beware b. speciﬁc examples that readers can relate to e. technology’s impact upon the world c. references to religious doctrine d. use of the ﬁrst-person plural pronoun we e. avoiding absolute statements Questions 27–29 are based on the following passage about the physical activity of American adolescents. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), a vast number of American teens are not vigor- ously active on a regular basis, contributing to a trend of sluggishness among Americans of all ages. In Feb- ruary of 2004, the American Academy of Family Physicians reported that physical activity among American adolescents continues to decline substantially with each year. This is particularly true among adolescent Line girls, 48% of whom report low levels of physical activity by the time they are in the 12th grade. Unfortu- (5) nately, the sedentary habits of young couch potatoes often continue into adulthood. Presently, less than one-third of Americans meet the federal recommendations to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least ﬁve days a week. Inactivity can be a serious health risk factor; setting the stage for obesity and associated chronic illnesses like heart disease or diabetes. The beneﬁts of exercise include build- ing bone and muscle; maintaining healthy joints; controlling weight; and preventing the development of (10) high blood pressure. 87