SATs Reading Comprehension 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A passage states: 'The committee's recommendations were largely symbolic, offering little actionable guidance.' What does 'symbolic' most nearly mean in this context?
- Representative of deeper meaning
- Meaningful in gesture only, lacking practical effect (Correct answer)
- Mathematically precise
- Emotionally charged
Correct answer: Meaningful in gesture only, lacking practical effect
Here 'symbolic' contrasts with 'actionable,' indicating the recommendations had no real practical impact.
Question 2: An author shifts from presenting facts to using rhetorical questions in the final paragraph. This shift most likely serves to:
- Introduce contradictory evidence
- Engage the reader and emphasize the argument's urgency (Correct answer)
- Provide statistical support
- Summarize the opposing viewpoint
Correct answer: Engage the reader and emphasize the argument's urgency
Rhetorical questions in a conclusion are a persuasive device used to involve the reader and heighten the stakes of the argument.
Question 3: Two passages address climate policy. Passage 1 focuses on economic costs; Passage 2 focuses on long-term ecological benefits. Both authors would most likely agree that:
- Climate policy should be abandoned
- Climate change is a significant issue requiring policy attention (Correct answer)
- Economic concerns outweigh environmental ones
- Ecological data is unreliable
Correct answer: Climate change is a significant issue requiring policy attention
Even though they emphasize different aspects, both authors engaging with climate policy implicitly acknowledge it is a serious issue.
Question 4: A student claims that a passage supports the idea that urbanization always reduces biodiversity. Which finding would most directly weaken this claim?
- Urban parks can support more bird species than nearby farmland (Correct answer)
- Cities consume large amounts of energy
- Rural areas have more trees per square mile
- Biodiversity is difficult to measure accurately
Correct answer: Urban parks can support more bird species than nearby farmland
Evidence that urban parks support diverse bird life directly contradicts the absolute claim that urbanization always reduces biodiversity.
Question 5: A passage describes a scientist who 'methodically dismantled each assumption.' The word 'dismantled' suggests the scientist:
- Destroyed laboratory equipment
- Carefully broke down and refuted each assumption (Correct answer)
- Agreed with the prevailing theory
- Ignored prior research
Correct answer: Carefully broke down and refuted each assumption
'Dismantled' in this figurative context means systematically taking apart and refuting assumptions one by one.
Question 6: An informational passage includes a graph showing rising global temperatures alongside increasing carbon dioxide levels. The graph primarily serves to:
- Disprove the passage's central argument
- Provide visual evidence of a correlation discussed in the text (Correct answer)
- Show the author's personal opinion
- Replace the need for written explanation
Correct answer: Provide visual evidence of a correlation discussed in the text
Graphs in SAT passages typically reinforce or illustrate a quantitative relationship described in the accompanying text.
Question 7: A narrator says, 'I had long suspected that the cheerful façade concealed something unspeakable.' This statement primarily conveys:
- The narrator's certainty about events
- A sense of foreboding and suspicion about a hidden truth (Correct answer)
- Admiration for another character's happiness
- A straightforward factual observation
Correct answer: A sense of foreboding and suspicion about a hidden truth
'Long suspected' and 'unspeakable' create a tone of foreboding, indicating the narrator anticipates a disturbing revelation.
SATs Reading Comprehension 2
A passage states: 'The committee's recommendations were largely symbolic, offering little actionable guidance.' What does 'symbolic' most nearly mean in this context?