Introduction: Information and Ideas | Reading and Writing for Digital SAT PDF Download

Choice C is the best answer. The passage focuses on the idea that the artist Lillie Taylor uses resources such as plants and vegetables from where she lives in Arizona to make dyes for wool.

Distractor Explanations:

• Choice A is incorrect because the passage offers no evidence that reds and browns are unusual colors in Taylor’s rugs; in fact, it offers an example of a rug that does feature those colors.
• Choice B is incorrect because the passage offers no indication of whether In the Path of the Four Seasons is widely acclaimed; it also does not mention whether the weaving techniques are innovative.
• Choice D is incorrect because the passage offers no evidence that Taylor has a hard time finding Arizona dock root

Key Explanation: Choice D is the best answer. The passage states that Gimsa and colleagues’ hypothesis was that the sail-like structure on the back of S. aegyptiacus enhanced the dinosaur’s ability to travel underwater to hunt down “prey species capable of making quick, evasive movements.” This choice’s finding would effectively support the hypothesis because it would indicate that the sail-like structure would enable a dinosaur moving underwater to maneuver more quickly than a dinosaur moving underwater without the structure.

Distractor Explanations:

• Choice A is incorrect because it would essentially contradict the hypothesis by suggesting that a dinosaur moving underwater with the sail-like structure would move more slowly than a dinosaur moving underwater without the structure.
• Choice B is incorrect because there is no clear passagebased relationship between the amount of water displaced and the hypothesis.
• Choice C is incorrect because there is no clear passage-based relationship between the amount of battery power used and the hypothesis.

Choice B is the best answer. The quotation addresses both aspects of the claim: cycles of anticipation (“Each, coming, brings ambitions high”) and regretful reflection (“And each, departing, leaves a sigh / Linked to the past”).

Distractor Explanations:

• Choice A is incorrect because the quotation focuses on anticipation (“An ominous stillness fills the night, / A pause—a hush”) but not regretful reflection.
• Choice C is incorrect because the quotation focuses on worry and anxiety (“. . . a sense of care / Akin to fright?”) rather than anticipation and regretful reflection.
• Choice D is incorrect because the quotation focuses on regretful reflection (“It tells of many a squandered day”) but not anticipation.

Choice A is the best answer. This choice supports the claim by contrasting two occupations that survey participants gave widely divergent probabilities of robots working effectively in: tour guide (82 percent) and surgeon (16 percent).

Distractor Explanations:

• Choice B is incorrect because it focuses on only one occupation—that of teacher—and therefore does not illustrate how survey participants’ views of the likelihood of robots working effectively vary widely by occupation.
• Choice C is incorrect because although it does compare survey participants’ views of robots working effectively in two occupations, the percentages cited for television news anchor and surgeon are the same, not widely varied.
• Choice D is incorrect because it focuses on only one occupation— that of firefighter—and therefore does not illustrate how survey participants’ views of the likelihood of robots working effectively vary widely by occupation.

Choice B is the best answer. The passage indicates that although scientists recognize that sleep, which is widespread among animal species, has benefits, some scientists believe that deep, prolonged sleep is so risky from the perspective of animal species’ survival and well-being that there must be some so-farundiscovered advantage(s) to sleep to make it worthwhile from an evolutionary standpoint.

Distractor Explanations:

• Choice A is incorrect because the passage suggests that the extent of deep, prolonged sleep among animal species is well understood by scientists and that the real question for scientists is why so many animal species engage in deep, prolonged sleep.
• Choice C is incorrect because the passage offers no evidence that any trait other than deep, prolonged sleep poses both benefits and risks for animal species.
• Choice D is incorrect because the passage offers no evidence that any trait other than deep, prolonged sleep has one or more functions that are hard for scientists to understand.

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately states the main purpose of the text. After providing a brief introduction to computer scientist Luis von Ahn, the text focuses on discussing how von Ahn’s digitization work led to the invention of a digital security test known as reCAPTCHA.

Choice B is incorrect because the text doesn’t address how digital scanners work.

Choice C is incorrect. Although the text mentions von Ahn’s book-digitizing project, that information is provided as a detail, not as the main purpose of the text.

Choice D is incorrect because the text doesn’t provide any indication of reCAPTCHA’s popularity; instead, it describes reCAPTCHA’s origin.

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately states the main purpose of the text. In the first part of the text, the speaker addresses Paul Laurence Dunbar’s ability to understand people (he has “read the hearts and souls of men” and written of their “joy and mirth”). In the second part of the text, the speaker describes Dunbar’s thorough understanding of the natural world (he has read “the language of the flowers” and engaged with “the little brook”). Thus, the text mainly praises Dunbar for being especially perceptive about people and nature.

Choice B is incorrect because the speaker describes Dunbar as having read the “hearts and souls of men” and the “language of flowers” to convey Dunbar’s ability to comprehend people and nature, not to suggest that Dunbar has literally read any of these things or has read a great deal about them.

Choice C is incorrect because the text notes how well Dunbar has made sense of the topics he’s written about but doesn’t address any specific parts of Dunbar’s writing process beyond the suggestion that he used a pen.

Choice D is incorrect because the text focuses on Dunbar’s understanding of people and nature as expressed in his writing. Nothing in the text suggests that the speaker is recalling a particular afternoon actually spent in nature with Dunbar; even if there had been a shared experience, the text isn’t focused on reminiscing

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text, which is to show that while Jane calmly goes about her daily tasks, she is experiencing internal agitation about possibly seeking a new job. At the start of the text, Jane says, “I went on with my day’s business tranquilly,” indicating that she is outwardly calm. This outward calmness is then contrasted with her intense internal restlessness, as Jane says that thoughts of leaving her job keep running through her mind, that she is “involuntarily framing advertisements” (meaning that she can’t stop herself from thinking up potential listings for jobs), and that she often wonders what new “situations” (or jobs) would be like.

Choice B is incorrect because the text gives no indication of Jane’s feelings, either positive or negative, about the people she works for at Thornfield Hall. And rather than emphasizing that Jane feels particularly loyal to her employers, the text focuses on her constant consideration of leaving her job.

Choice C is incorrect because the text gives no indication that Jane finds her current situation fulfilling, or satisfying. Given that much of the text is focused on Jane’s thoughts about possibly leaving her job for a new one, it might be the case that she finds her situation challenging, but there is no evidence in the text that Jane also finds that situation satisfying—she says nothing positive about her current job at all, in fact.

Choice D is incorrect because the text describes Jane as wondering about getting a new job, not as determined to definitely do so. Jane keeps thinking about reasons why she “should” quit her current job (indicating that she hasn’t yet decided to) and imagining possible new situations she could find, but she says at the end of the text that these thoughts “might germinate and bear fruit if they could,” meaning that the thoughts haven’t yet led to a decision—that Jane isn’t yet determined to get a new job somewhere else.

Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately states the main idea of the text. The speaker describes the experience of being “weary” and “tired” and going to bed to seek “dear repose” (that is, sleep), but instead of sleeping, the speaker is kept awake (“keep my drooping eyelids open wide”) by thoughts of a friend (“my thoughts... [Begin] a zealous pilgrimage to thee”).

Choice A is incorrect because the text makes it clear that the speaker isn’t asleep; thoughts about the friend are keeping the speaker awake (“keep my drooping eyelids open wide”).

Choice B is incorrect because the speaker isn’t talking about taking a literal trip when referring to “a zealous pilgrimage.” Rather, the speaker is referring to the experience of thinking about the friend, of taking “a journey in my head.”

Choice C is incorrect because the text indicates that the speaker and the friend aren’t in the same place and having a conversation. Rather, the speaker is at home and thinking of the friend, who is somewhere else (“from far where I abide”).

Choice B is the best answer because it provides the most direct support from the table for the claim that two languages can convey similar amounts of information even if they’re spoken at different rates. The table shows the approximate rates at which five languages are spoken and the rates at which those five languages convey information. Vietnamese is spoken at around 5.3 syllables per second, whereas Spanish is spoken at around 7.7 syllables per second, but the two languages convey information at very similar rates: Vietnamese at a rate of around 42.5 bits per second and Spanish at a rate of around 42.0 bits per second. Thus, the description of Vietnamese conveying information at around the same rate that Spanish does despite being spoken more slowly supports the claim in the text that languages can convey the same amount of information even if spoken at different rates.

Choice A is incorrect because it isn’t true that Thai and Hungarian have the lowest rates of speech of the five languages shown. According to the table, Hungarian is spoken at around 5.9 syllables per second, which is faster than Vietnamese (5.3 syllables per second). Additionally, even if this statement were true, the assertion that two languages are spoken the slowest and convey information the slowest wouldn’t support the claim that languages can convey the same amount of information even if they’re spoken at different rates.

Choice C is incorrect because it isn’t true that the fastest-spoken language (Spanish, at 7.7 syllables per second) also conveys information the fastest: Spanish conveys information at 42.0 bits per second, which is slower than the 42.5 bits-per-second rate at which Vietnamese conveys information. Additionally, even if this statement were true, the assertion that the language spoken the fastest also conveys information the fastest has no bearing on the claim that languages can convey the same amount of information even if they’re spoken at different rates.

Choice D is incorrect because it isn’t true that Serbian conveys information faster than Spanish does. According to the table, Serbian conveys information at a rate of around 39.1 bits per second, which is slower than the 42.0 bits-per-second rate at which Spanish conveys information.