SAT Reading Writing

Medium-Hard Reading/Writing SAT questions

Marta Coll and colleagues’ 2010 Mediterranean Sea biodiversity census reported approximately 17,000 species, nearly double the number reported in Carlo Bianchi and Carla Morri’s 2000 census—a difference only partly attributable to the description of new invertebrate species in the interim. Another factor is that the morphological variability of microorganisms is poorly understood compared to that of vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, and algae, creating uncertainty about how to evaluate microorganisms as species. Researchers’ decisions on such matters therefore can be highly consequential. Indeed, the two censuses reported similar counts of vertebrate, plant, and algal species, suggesting that ______ Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. Coll and colleagues reported a much higher number of species than Bianchi and Morri did largely due to the inclusion of invertebrate species that had not been described at the time of Bianchi and Morri’s census.

B. some differences observed in microorganisms may have been treated as variations within species by Bianchi and Morri but treated as indicative of distinct species by Coll and colleagues.

C. Bianchi and Morri may have been less sensitive to the degree of morphological variation displayed within a typical species of microorganism than Coll and colleagues were.

D. the absence of clarity regarding how to differentiate among species of microorganisms may have resulted in Coll and colleagues underestimating the number of microorganism species.

B

A common assumption among art historians is that the invention of photography in the mid-nineteenth century displaced the painted portrait in the public consciousness. The diminishing popularity of the portrait miniature, which coincided with the rise of photography, seems to support this claim. However, photography’s impact on the portrait miniature may be overstated. Although records from art exhibitions in the Netherlands from 1820 to 1892 show a decrease in the number of both full-sized and miniature portraits submitted, this trend was established before the invention of photography. Based on the text, what can be concluded about the diminishing popularity of the portrait miniature in the nineteenth century?  

A. Factors other than the rise of photography may be more directly responsible for the portrait miniature’s decline.

B. Although portrait miniatures became less common than photographs, they were widely regarded as having more artistic merit.     

C. The popularity of the portrait miniature likely persisted for longer than art historians have assumed. 

D. As demand for portrait miniatures decreased, portrait artists likely shifted their creative focus to photography. 

A

Gins and Shusaku Arakawa designed an apartment building in Japan to be more fanciful than functional. A kitchen counter is chest-high on one side and knee-high on the other; a ceiling has a door to nowhere. The effect is disorienting but invigorating: after four years there, filmmaker Nobu Yamaoka reported significant health benefits. Which choice best states the main idea of the text? A. Although inhabiting a home surrounded by fanciful features such as those designed by Gins and Arakawa can be rejuvenating, it is unsustainable.

B. Designing disorienting spaces like those in the Gins and Arakawa building is the most effective way to create a physically stimulating environment. 

C. As a filmmaker, Yamaoka has long supported the designs of conceptual artists such as Gins and Arakawa.

D. Although impractical, the design of the apartment building by Gins and Arakawa may improve the well-being of the building’s residents. 

D

Johnson (1882–1956), a devoted collector of items intended to be discarded, including bus tickets and campaign pamphlets. Johnson recognized that scholarly institutions considered his expansive collection of ephemera to be worthless —indeed, it wasn’t until 1968, after Johnson’s death, that Oxford University’s Bodleian Library acquired the collection, having grasped the items’ potential value to historians and other researchers. Hence, the example of Johnson serves to ______ Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. demonstrate the difficulties faced by contemporary historians in conducting research at the Bodleian Library without access to ephemera.

B. represent the challenge of incorporating examples of ephemera into the collections of libraries and other scholarly institutions.

C. lend support to arguments by historians and other researchers who continue to assert that ephemera holds no value for scholars.

D. illustrate both the relatively low scholarly regard in which ephemera was once held and the later recognition of ephemera’s possible utility.

D

The most recent iteration of the immersive theater experience Sleep No More, which premiered in New York City in 2011, transforms its performance space—a five-story warehouse—into a 1930s-era hotel. Audience members, who wander through the labyrinthine venue at their own pace and follow the actors as they play out simultaneous, interweaving narrative loops, confront the impossibility of experiencing the production in its entirety. The play’s refusal of narrative coherence thus hinges on the sense of spatial fragmentation that the venue’s immense and intricate layout generates. What does the text most strongly suggest about Sleep No More’s use of its performance space? 

A. The choice of a New York City venue likely enabled the play’s creators to experiment with the use of theatrical space in a way that venues from earlier productions could not. 

B. Audience members likely find the experience of the play disappointing because they generally cannot make their way through the entire venue.

C. The production’s dependence on a particular performance environment would likely make it difficult to reproduce exactly in a different theatrical space. 

D. Audience members who navigate the space according to a recommended itinerary will likely have a better grasp of the play’s narrative than audience members who depart from that itinerary.

C