TEN FOR TEN. Questions 3-4 are based on the following passage: Questions 1-2 are based on the following passage:

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1 TEN FOR TEN CRITICAL READING SHORT PASSAGES Questions 1-2 are based on the Questions 3-4 are based on the Among the side benefits of the museum s exhibition of early photographs of Egypt is that it can inspire you to read the travel classic Zola in Egypt. Looking at the photographs from the 180 s after reading the book, you should be able to conjure up French author Émile Zola just outside the picture frame. There is Zola in his long white shirt, his shaved head topped by a maroon tarboosh, settled into the cool shade of an ancient temple, reading poetry, and seeming oh-so-exquisitely bored. 1 By breaking down the graphic or pictorial vocabulary to a bare minimum, maps achieve a visual minimalism that, physiologically speaking, is easy on the eyes. They turn numbers into visual images, create pattern out of measurements, and thus engage the highly evolved human capacity for pattern recognition. Some of the most intense research in the neurosciences today is devoted to elucidating what are described as maps of perception: how perception filters through the sense organs, our biotic instruments of measurement. Maps enable humans to use inherent biological skills of perception, their educated eyes, to separate the message from the static, to see the story line running through random pattern. 1. In context, conjure up (line 7) most nearly means (A) convene (B) portray (C) imagine (D) entreat (E) recollect 2. The characterization of Zola in the last sentence chiefly serves to suggest that (A) Zola had an affected manner (B) Egypt inspired Zola to write (C) Zola found the Egyptian climate oppressive (D) Zola was timid about posing for photographs (E) Egypt s culture was of great interest to Zola 3. The effect of the breaking down (line 1) is to (A) accentuate selected information (B) make details small (C) create momentary confusion (D) minimize the distinction between words and numbers (E) eliminate words that would clarify the meaning of images 4. In line 12, the phrase maps of perception refers to (A) drawings of the organs of human perspective (B) depictions of how the world actually appears to the human eye (C) models of the way humans process what they encounter (D) illustrations of how the human eye functions at the cellular level (E) representations of a place from one person s perspective

2 2 Questions -6 are based on the Questions 7-8 are based on the 1 Summer 03. School children collecting frogs from a pond in South Dakota discover one frog after another with deformities. The story immediately seizes the attention of the national media. Is this an isolated occurrence or a widespread trend? What is causing these deformities? Malformations have since been reported in more than 60 species of amphibians in 46 states. Surprising numbers of deformed amphibians have also been found in Asia, Europe, and Australia. Investigators blamed the deformities on amphibians increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the chemical contamination of water, even a parasite epidemic. Every time another report appears, the media tout the new position, thus providing a misleading view. Most likely, all of these factors have been working in tandem. 1 She set out from Newburgh early this morning a six-hour ride, but as they headed north, the snowstorm started, and the traffic slowed to a crawl. She kept checking her watch. There was still time to spare. Her afternoon class visit was scheduled for four. The presentation itself wouldn t take place until evening. The talk she has prepared is one she will be delivering countless times this year, the centennial of her mother s birth. It is academic, and uninspiring, and she knows it. Other scholars can talk about Felicia s poetry and her pedagogy, but she, Cornelia, the only daughter, is supposed to shed a different light on the woman.. The opening paragraph primarily serves to (A) highlight a phenomenon by dramatizing it (B) advocate a particular course of action (C) illustrate how a story can cause general panic (D) compare a local situation to a national one (E) demonstrate children s inherent interest in science 6. The author s attitude toward the media (line 19) might best be described as (A) respectful (B) indifferent (C) ambivalent (D) resentful (E) critical 7. The character s actions in line ( She watch ) primarily convey her (A) fear of traveling in storms (B) annoyance at having to make the trip (C) concern about arriving on schedule (D) eagerness to interact with her colleagues (E) excitement about delivering her speech 8. The light referred to in line 17 would most likely include (A) bibliographic information (B) direct literary citations (C) historical analyses (D) personal insights (E) scholarly critiques

3 3 Questions 9- are based on the 1 The first stage of Europe s conquest of northeastern North America was the traders phase. Casual contacts and exchanges with visiting explorers and fishermen began on a basis that was not unfamiliar to the Native Americans. Metal, glass, or cloth items were exchanged for furs in a setting that was unprecedented only in the strangeness of the visitors and their wares. But as casual exchanges became systematic, the Native Americans began altering their subsistence and residential patterns to obtain more furs. As a result, they grew dependent on their European trading partners while frequently entering into competition with one another. In the end, the principles of reciprocity and equality were substantially undermined by the ethics and imperatives of the traders. 9. The passage suggests that contact between Native Americans and Europeans ultimately (A) decreased Native American reliance on the fur trade (B) distorted relationships among Native Americans (C) led to Native American economic independence (D) decimated the population of furbearing animals (E) increased competition among European traders. Lines 7- ( Metal wares ) suggest that Native Americans primarily viewed the European traders as (A) reserved (B) arrogant (C) exotic (D) capricious (E) grasping

4 TEN FOR TEN ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS CRITICAL READING SHORT PASSAGES Intention and context are important in all Critical Reading passages they re vital when you re working the short ones. 1) C. Did you cross out conjure up? If not, please do so now, and then read in the answer choices. Since Zola is not alive, it would be difficult to entreat (d) him, and the author is not expecting us to portray (b) him that s the author s job. So, as readers, what should we do? 2) A. Since Zola is just outside the picture frame, we can t see him. So, we ll have to conjure (imagine) him with his Egyptian costume looking not just bored, which would suggest that he would welcome activity, but oh-so-exquisitely bored, which suggests that Zola isn t really bored, but instead is posing for the nonexistent camera. 3) A. The passage is about maps and how they convey important information. If maps were to merely make details small (b), how helpful would that be? Maps turn numbers into visual images, create pattern out of measurements, and thus engage the highly evolved human capacity for pattern recognition. If you chose (d), imagine what minimizing the distinction between words and numbers would look 7li3ke8. Clearly, breaking down to a bare minimum must entail distinguishing between what is important what isn t. 4) C. Did you cross out maps of perception? Let s do so now and substitute the answer choices. When we do so, only (c) works: intense research is devoted to elucidating what are described as models of the way humans process what they encounter. Note the colon after maps of perception. As we ve seen in the sentence completion TEN FOR TENs, such punctuation alerts us that the term s definition is coming next. What s the definition: How perception filters through the sense organs ) A. This passage begins with a dateline, which makes it read like a newscast; newscasts do enjoy dramatizing things that go on (phenomena) in our world, wouldn t you agree? Next, what s the author s intention here? Is it to Inform or Persuade? Does the author want to change my mind about deformities in frogs? Because the answer to that question is no, (b) doesn t stand a chance. Choice (c) would require a longer passage, or at least some sort of comparison with other stories that have caused widespread concern. Choice (d) implies that the local and national situations are comparable, when in fact the author included the South Dakota story to add immediacy to the larger story. 6) E. Which answer choices here will never be right on the SAT? How about (b) and (d)? If an author is indifferent to the media, why even discuss the media? Since resentment is a victim s emotion, will the author ever want to portray herself as a victim? Never on the SAT. While it s possible that an author might be respectful toward her subject matter, it begs the question as to why the author wrote the piece

5 ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS 2 ( Checking in everything s still just fine! ); and while it s possible for an author to be ambivalent (have mixed feelings) toward a subject, such ambivalence would be hard to convey in 22 lines, no? Critical is a classic correct SAT answer choice, and the author is certainly critical of the media, which the author claims provides a misleading view. 7) C. Why do any of us check a watch? Because we re concerned about time! If you got this one wrong, we need to discuss what scares you about obviously correct answer choices. Are you afraid of being tricked? Do we need to discuss that again? 8) D. Although other scholars can talk about Felicia s poetry and her pedagogy, there s one aspect of her life they just can t know: what Felicia was like at home. 9) B. Once again, a passage about Native Americans informs us how badly Europeans messed things up over here in America. Native American passages value Native Americans, so the focus of correct answer choices will be on the Native Americans. In the end, the principles of reciprocity and equality were substantially undermined by the ethics and imperatives of the fur traders. Any passage that discusses European influences on Native Americans will never have a happy ending (c) or focus exclusively on the Europeans (e). The animals are of minor concern (d) and choice (a) states the opposite of what happened. ) C. If this problem gave you trouble because you didn t know the meaning of exotic, please look the word up. Right now. You might also look up capricious.