Bluebook SAT Reading Comprehension 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The following text is from Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1915 novel Herland. "They were not in the least ferocious. They did not want to kill us. But they were quite determined that we should not go, and they had us as neatly cornered as if we had been rabbits in a trap." Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the overall structure of the text?
- It introduces a new character who will resolve the conflict.
- It contrasts the captors' lack of aggression with the completeness of the narrator's capture. (Correct answer)
- It explains why the narrator wishes to kill the captors.
- It shifts the setting from a forest to a farm.
Correct answer: It contrasts the captors' lack of aggression with the completeness of the narrator's capture.
The "But" sentence sets the captors' gentleness against how thoroughly they have trapped the narrator.
The first two sentences stress that the captors are not violent. The third sentence, beginning with "But," pivots to show that despite this gentleness, the narrator is completely cornered. The sentence thus creates a contrast between non-violence and effective capture. No new character, motive to kill, or change of setting appears.
Question 2: Researchers surveyed 1,200 adults about their sleep and their use of screens after 9 p.m. They found that adults who reported using screens for more than two hours after 9 p.m. were 40 percent more likely to report poor sleep than adults who used screens for under thirty minutes. Which choice best describes a limitation of concluding from this study that late screen use causes poor sleep?
- The survey included too many participants to be reliable.
- People who already sleep poorly may turn to screens because they are awake, so the direction of cause is unclear. (Correct answer)
- Forty percent is too small a difference to be measured.
- The study should have surveyed children rather than adults.
Correct answer: People who already sleep poorly may turn to screens because they are awake, so the direction of cause is unclear.
Correlation from a survey cannot rule out reverse causation.
The study is observational and self-reported, so it can show association but not causation. A plausible alternative is reverse causation: adults who cannot sleep may use screens because they are awake. Choice B names this limitation. A larger sample makes results more reliable, not less; 40 percent is a substantial and measurable difference; and studying children would not fix the causal problem.
Question 3: The following text is from a 2019 article about deep-sea exploration. "The remotely operated vehicle's cameras, though ______ by the crushing pressure at 4,000 meters, captured footage of a previously unknown species of siphonophore drifting past the lights." Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
- unaffected
- constrained (Correct answer)
- improved
- liberated
Correct answer: constrained
"Though" signals the cameras worked despite a limitation imposed by pressure.
The structure "though ___ by the crushing pressure ... captured footage" requires a word describing a hindrance the cameras overcame. "Constrained" fits: the cameras were limited by pressure yet still captured footage. "Unaffected" would not need "though," and "improved" and "liberated" make no sense for crushing pressure.
Question 4: Text 1: Economist Lars Berg contends that four-day work weeks raise productivity because rested employees make fewer errors and waste less time in low-value meetings. Text 2: In a two-year study of 60 firms, sociologist Mei Tanaka found that output per employee rose in the first six months of a four-day week but returned to previous levels by month eighteen, as managers gradually added meetings back into the shortened schedule. Based on the texts, how would Tanaka most likely respond to Berg's claim?
- By agreeing that the gains are permanent as long as employees remain rested.
- By arguing that four-day weeks reduce output from the very first month.
- By noting that the productivity gains Berg describes may fade unless meeting habits are actually changed. (Correct answer)
- By suggesting that errors, not meetings, are the main drain on productivity.
Correct answer: By noting that the productivity gains Berg describes may fade unless meeting habits are actually changed.
Tanaka's data show initial gains that vanished once meetings crept back.
Berg attributes productivity gains partly to fewer low-value meetings. Tanaka's study shows the gains were real at first but disappeared as managers reintroduced meetings. She would therefore qualify Berg's claim: the benefit depends on sustaining the change in meeting habits. Choice A contradicts her findings, B misstates them (output rose initially), and D reverses the emphasis.
Question 5: The following text is from Edith Wharton's 1905 novel The House of Mirth. Lily Bart is attending a party at a country estate. "She had been bored all the afternoon by Percy Gryce, but she had been sustained by the sense of a duty performed; now she felt that the whole weary business would have to be gone through again." Which choice best describes Lily's attitude toward Percy Gryce, as presented in the text?
- She finds him charming but is afraid of his family.
- She finds his company tedious yet regards spending time with him as an obligation. (Correct answer)
- She is eager to renew their conversation the following day.
- She is grateful that he has finally left the estate.
Correct answer: She finds his company tedious yet regards spending time with him as an obligation.
She was bored but consoled by "a duty performed."
The text says Lily was bored by Gryce all afternoon but sustained by the feeling of having done her duty, and she now dreads repeating the "weary business." This combination of tedium and obligation matches choice B. Nothing indicates charm, eagerness, or his departure.
Question 6: A student is writing a report on the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek device found in a shipwreck. The student's notes state: the device dates to around 100 BCE; it used at least 30 bronze gears; it modeled the positions of the sun and moon; and it predicted eclipses. The student wants to emphasize how technically sophisticated the device was. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
- The Antikythera mechanism was discovered in a shipwreck and is now displayed in a museum.
- Dating to around 100 BCE, the Antikythera mechanism used at least 30 bronze gears to model the sun and moon and even predict eclipses. (Correct answer)
- Around 100 BCE, ancient Greeks sailed ships that occasionally sank, preserving objects for modern divers.
- The mechanism is one of many bronze objects recovered from Mediterranean shipwrecks.
Correct answer: Dating to around 100 BCE, the Antikythera mechanism used at least 30 bronze gears to model the sun and moon and even predict eclipses.
Only this choice cites the gear count and eclipse prediction, which show sophistication.
The goal is to emphasize technical sophistication. Choice B combines the age of the device with the number of gears and its ability to model celestial positions and predict eclipses, all of which demonstrate advanced engineering. Choices A, C, and D focus on the shipwreck or museum rather than the device's capabilities.
Bluebook SAT Reading Comprehension 2
The following text is from Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1915 novel Herland. "They were not in the least ferocious.
They did not want to kill us.
But they were quite determined that we should not go, and they had us as neatly cornered as if we had been rabbits in a trap."
Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the overall structure of the text?