Okay, let’s dig into this a bit deeper and analyze why each correct answer is
the right choice.
Question 1 . The answer is B; Mandela brought up this false perception of
Africans’ quality of life in anticipation of what the South African
government would say in response to this speech. The other choices falsely
imply that Africans are not experiencing hardship.Question 2 . On the SAT, the second halves of these question pairs will
include options that support some of the wrong answers from the first
question, but you won’t get points if both of your answers are incorrect,
even if they “match.” There is only one answer that really backs up the
correct answer to Question 1 (“To counter the South African government’s
attempts to downplay . . .”). Choice A mentions the “State Prosecutor” and
shows how he refuses to refer to the poor quality of life Africans
experience as real hardship.Question 3 . A is false; Mandela says that South Africa is better off than many
of its neighbors. C might be tempting because he does accuse the
government of peddling misinformation, but he does not state that this is
the primary means of oppression. D is false; Mandela mentions
communists, and while we might be able to infer some negativity from his
tone, we do not have reason to believe he sees them as a threat. That leaves
B as the answer. It is the choice that most strongly supports Mandela’s
argument, and also the only statement found explicitly in the text.