Answer Key 5:
Connecting the Questions to the Passage
192 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT
Concept Review 5
- (1) Read each question carefully, covering up the
answer choices for now, (2) translate it into a
“stand-alone” question, if possible, (3) formulate
your own answer to the translated question, and
(4) choose the best match among the choices. - A “stand-alone” question is one that can be an-
swered without needing to look at multiple
choices. It should be phrased like an open-ended
essay question, such as “What is the tone of line
35?” rather than “The tone of line 35 is best char-
acterized as... .” - Translating and answering the question as a
“stand-alone” question helps you to avoid the most
common “traps” in SAT Critical Reading questions.
Many of the choices will sound good because they
are “true” in some sense but in fact do not answer
the question. (More on this in Lesson 8.) - a. What is the author’s attitude toward the “oppo-
sition” in line 42?
b. Why has the garden become important to the
author?
c. What motivates Davis, according to the last
paragraph?
d. What is the author trying to emphasize by men-
tioning the freedom of estuary birds in lines 1–2?
e. Why does the author use the term “solid” in
line 16?- The “sandwich strategy” shows you where to look
when a Critical Reading question does not contain
a line reference. Because the questions follow the
order of the passage, the answer usually can be
found between the line reference in the previous
question and the line reference in the next
question. - The phrase “in order to” indicates that the ques-
tion is asking you to determine the purpose of the
passage as a whole or the purpose of some part of
the passage. To tackle purpose questions, first re-
mind yourself of the purpose of the passage over-
all, then of the purpose of the specific paragraph,
and then of the purpose of the specific word or
reference.
SAT I Practice 5
- E This passage analyzes (examines closely) the
phenomenon of group behavior, first in terms of
birds flying together, then in terms of human beings
acting as teams, and then in terms of human
group identification. This passage is not focused
on a “problem” because group behavior is often
depicted as a positive thing, particularly in the
first three paragraphs, so choice (A) is incorrect.
Since the passage discusses birds only in the first
couple of paragraphs, (B) must be incorrect. Also,
since no alternative to a situation or refutation of
a theory is presented, (C) and (D) cannot be right. - B The authors begin with a question: “Where
can freedom be found?” and a rhetorical answer:
“Perhaps in a flock of estuary birds?” This leads us
to believe that the author might use the example
of birds flying as an example of “freedom.” How-
ever, the paragraph (and the passage as a whole)
goes on to suggest that bird flight is not as “free”
as it seems and often typifies group behavior. - C The example of the marching soldiers follows
the examples of the estuary birds, the chorus line,
the jazz band, and the basketball team. All of these
examples reinforce the common theme of group
behavior being an organized whole.
4. C The sentence says that “The reason you be-
long to one group rather than another may be no
more than a preference for abstract artists, Paul
Klee rather than Wassily Kandinsky.” This means
that those who like the art of Klee might form a
distinct group from those who like Kandinsky.
5. A The authors indicate the positive benefits of
group behavior in the first three paragraphs, then
its “darker side” in the last two paragraphs. This is
an example of ambivalence,in which the authors
are not saying that group behavior is always good
or always bad.
6. E According to the passage, the “psychology”
mentioned in line 72 is the mind-set by which
people become blind “to the humanity we share
with ‘them’” (lines 70–71) and which leads to
scourges such as “‘ethnic cleansing,’ genocide,
racial prejudice, and global terrorism” (lines
73–75). Therefore, it is closest to the mind-set of
an ideologue trying to inspire hatred of an enemy.