Answer Key 3:
Finding Patterns in the Structure of the Passage
182 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT
- The introduction of the conflict, the development
of the conflict, and the resolution of the conflict - Studies, authoritative quotes, anecdotes, statistics,
logical analysis, examples, etc.
Concept Review 3
- The structure of the passage is the way that indi-
vidual paragraphs work together to convey the
central idea of the passage. - The paragraph
- The introduction, the development, and the
conclusion
SAT Practice 3
- A The theory of “spontaneous generation” is
described as one in which life arises from sub-
stances that do not contain the reproductive ele-
ments of that life form. - B The important difference between the flask
with the neck intact and the flask with the neck
removed was the presence of microorganisms in
the fermentable material. When the neck was
removed, “microorganisms in the air promptly
entered the fermentable material and proliferated.” - C The experiment, Pasteur claimed, “killed” the
theory of spontaneous generation, so it dealt a
fatalblow. - A The “prebiotic assembly” is said to occur over
a “long period.” This must not be an example of
“spontaneous generation,” that is, generation of
life over a short period of time from nonliving
material, because the theory of spontaneous gen-
eration has been disproven.
5. C The author clearly believes that van Helmont’s
study was poorly controlled and that controlled
experiments can disprove widely held theories
because van Helmont’s theory was refuted when
Pasteur imposed tighter controls. He also states
that all living organisms derived from an ancestor
“that lived almost 4 billion years ago” (lines 52–53)
and that they “retain a fundamental chemical com-
position inherited from their ancient common
ancestor” (lines 58–60). However, the author
would not agree that “nonliving matter cannot
form units that can reproduce themselves” be-
cause he describes just such matter in lines 53–57.
6. B The theory of spontaneous generation
described in lines 1–11 mentions “damp earth,”
“dew,” and “moisture” as “factors that encouraged
spontaneous generation.” The theory of biogene-
sis described in lines 50–60 states that water is an
essential element of prebiotic assembly.