100 RCs for Digital SAT - 2 | 100 Reading Comprehensions for Digital SAT PDF Download

Directions:

• The questions in this section address a number of important reading and writing skills.
• Each question includes one or more passages, which may include a table or graph.
• Read each passage and question carefully, and then choose the best answer to the question based on the passage(s).
• All questions in this section are multiple-choice with four answer choices. Each question has a single best answer. 

Q11: Passage
Text 1
Most animals can regenerate some parts of their bodies, such as skin. But when a three-banded panther worm is cut into three pieces, each piece grows into a new worm. Researchers are investigating this feat partly to learn more about humans’ comparatively limited abilities to regenerate, and they’re making exciting progress. An especially promising discovery is that both humans and panther worms have a gene for early growth response (EGR) linked to regeneration.
Text 2
When Mansi Srivastava and her team reported that panther worms, like humans, possess a gene for EGR, it caused excitement. However, as the team pointed out, the gene likely functions very differently in humans than it does in panther worms. Srivastava has likened EGR to a switch that activates other genes involved in regeneration in panther worms, but how this switch operates in humans remains unclear.

Q. Based on the texts, what would the author of Text 2 most likely say about Text 1’s characterization of the discovery involving EGR?
(a) It is reasonable given that Srivastava and her team have identified how EGR functions in both humans and panther worms.
(b) It is overly optimistic given additional observations from Srivastava and her team.
(c) It is unexpected given that Srivastava and her team’s findings were generally met with enthusiasm.
(d) It is unfairly dismissive given the progress that Srivastava and her team have reported.
Ans: (b)

• Choice B is the best answer because it reflects how the author of Text 2 would most likely respond to Text 1 based on the information provided. Text 1 discusses the discovery of a regeneration-linked gene, EGR, in both threebanded panther worms (which are capable of full regeneration) and humans (who have relatively limited regeneration abilities). Text 1 characterizes this discovery as “especially promising” and a sign of “exciting progress” in understanding human regeneration. The author of Text 2, on the other hand, focuses on the fact that the team that reported the EGR finding pointed out that while EGR’s function in humans isn’t yet known, it’s likely very different from its function in panther worms. Therefore, the author of Text 2 would most likely say that Text 1’s enthusiasm about the EGR discovery is overly optimistic given Srivastava’s team’s observations about EGR in humans.
• Choice A is incorrect because the author of Text 2 explains that Srivastava and her team explicitly reported that they haven’t yet identified how EGR functions in humans; therefore, the author of Text 2 wouldn’t say that Text 1’s excitement is reasonable for the stated reason. Instead, the author of Text 2 would likely characterize Text 1’s excitement as premature and overly optimistic.
• Choice C is incorrect because Text 1 does treat Srivastava’s team’s findings with enthusiasm; it describes the discovery of EGR in both three-banded panther worms and humans as promising and exciting. It would be illogical for the author of Text 2 to say that because most others treat the discovery with enthusiasm, Text 1’s enthusiastic characterization of the discovery is unexpected.
• Choice D is incorrect because Text 1 isn’t at all dismissive of Srivastava’s team’s findings; instead, Text 1 is optimistic about the EGR discovery, characterizing it as promising and exciting. There’s nothing in Text 2 to suggest that the author of Text 2 would say that Text 1’s praise for the discovery is dismissive, or disdainful.

Q12: Passage
The following text is adapted from William Shakespeare’s 1609 poem “Sonnet 27.” The poem is addressed to a close friend as if he were physically present.

Weary with toil, I [hurry] to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head
To work my mind, when body’s work’s expired:
For then my thoughts—from far where I abide—
[Begin] a zealous pilgrimage to thee,
And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
Q. What is the main idea of the text?
(a) The speaker is asleep and dreaming about traveling to see the friend.
(b) The speaker is planning an upcoming trip to the friend’s house.
(c) The speaker is too fatigued to continue a discussion with the friend.
(d) The speaker is thinking about the friend instead of immediately falling asleep.
Ans: (d)

• 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”).

Q13: Passage
The following text is adapted from Lewis Carroll’s 1889 satirical novel Sylvie and Bruno. A crowd has gathered outside a room belonging to the Warden, an official who reports to the Lord Chancellor.
One man, who was more excited than the rest, flung his hat high into the air, and shouted (as well as I could make out) “Who roar for the Sub-Warden?” Everybody roared, but whether it was for the Sub-Warden, or not, did not clearly appear: some were shouting “Bread!” and some “Taxes!”, but no one seemed to know what it was they really wanted. All this I saw from the open window of the Warden’s breakfast-saloon, looking across the shoulder of the Lord Chancellor. “What can it all mean?” he kept repeating to himself. “I never heard such shouting before—and at this time of the morning, too! And with such unanimity!”

Q. Based on the text, how does the Lord Chancellor respond to the crowd?
(a) He asks about the meaning of the crowd’s shouting, even though he claims to know what the crowd wants.
(b) He indicates a desire to speak to the crowd, even though the crowd has asked to speak to the Sub-Warden.
(c) He expresses sympathy for the crowd’s demands, even though the crowd’s shouting annoys him.
(d) He describes the crowd as being united, even though the crowd clearly appears otherwise.
Ans: (d)

• Choice D is the best answer because it presents a statement about how the Lord Chancellor responds to the crowd that is supported by the text. The text indicates that the people in the crowd are roaring and shouting “Bread!” or “Taxes!” and presents them as not knowing what they really want. The Lord Chancellor’s response is to ask what their shouting means but also to observe that they’re shouting with “unanimity,” or total agreement. Clearly, this isn’t the case, which supports the statement that the Lord Chancellor describes the crowd as being united even though it’s not.
• Choice A is incorrect because it isn’t supported by the text. Although the text indicates that the Lord Chancellor asks about the meaning of the crowd’s shouting, it doesn’t suggest that he knows what the crowd really wants.
• Choice B is incorrect because the text doesn’t suggest that the Lord Chancellor wants to speak to the crowd. Furthermore, the text doesn’t indicate that the crowd wants to hear from the Sub-Warden. Although the crowd roars when asked “Who roar for the Sub-Warden?” it’s unclear what the roaring means.
• Choice C is incorrect because the text doesn’t suggest that the Lord Chancellor knows of or sympathizes with the crowd’s demands. In addition, the text doesn’t indicate that the crowd’s shouting annoys the Lord Chancellor, just that it causes him to keep repeating “What can it all mean?”

Q14: Passage
Psychologists Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt have argued that experiencing awe—a sensation of reverence and wonder typically brought on by perceiving something grand or powerful—can enable us to feel more connected to others and thereby inspire us to act more altruistically. Keltner, along with Paul K. Piff, Pia Dietze, and colleagues, claims to have found evidence for this effect in a recent study where participants were asked to either gaze up at exceptionally tall trees in a nearby grove (reported to be a universally awe-inspiring experience) or stare at the exterior of a nearby, nondescript building. After one minute, an experimenter deliberately spilled a box of pens nearby.

Q. Which finding from the researchers’ study, if true, would most strongly support their claim?
(a) Participants who had been looking at the trees helped the experimenter pick up significantly more pens than did participants who had been looking at the building.
(b) Participants who helped the experimenter pick up the pens used a greater number of positive words to describe the trees and the building in a postexperiment survey than did participants who did not help the experimenter.
(c) Participants who did not help the experimenter pick up the pens were significantly more likely to report having experienced a feeling of awe, regardless of whether they looked at the building or the trees.
(d) Participants who had been looking at the building were significantly more likely to notice that the experimenter had dropped the pens than were participants who had been looking at the trees.
Ans: (a)

• Choice A is the best answer because it presents a finding that, if true, would most strongly support the researchers’ claim that they found evidence that experiencing awe can make people feel more connected to others and thus more likely to behave altruistically (with beneficial and unselfish concern for others). According to the text, the researchers tested for this effect by first having participants look at either something known to be awe-inspiring (very tall trees) or something ordinary (a plain building) and then purposely spilling pens near the participants. The finding that participants who had looked at the trees helped pick up significantly more pens than did participants who had looked at the building would support the researchers’ claim by demonstrating that the people who had experienced awe behaved more altruistically when the experimenter needed help than the other participants did.
• Choice B is incorrect because a finding about helpful participants using positive words to describe the trees and the building after the experiment was over wouldn’t have any bearing on the researchers’ claim that experiencing awe increases altruistic behavior. The text doesn’t address the use of positive words to describe things or suggest any connection between using such words and having experienced awe, so that behavior wouldn’t serve as evidence that experiencing awe played a role in promoting helpful behavior.
• Choice C is incorrect because a finding that participants who didn’t help the experimenter were significantly more 

Q15: Passage
Many archaeologists will tell you that categorizing excavated fragments of pottery by style, period, and what objects they belong to relies not only on standard criteria, but also on instinct developed over years of practice. In a recent study, however, researchers trained a deep-learning computer model on thousands of images of pottery fragments and found that it could categorize them as accurately as a team of expert archaeologists. Some archaeologists have expressed concern that they might be replaced by such computer models, but the researchers claim that outcome is highly unlikely.
Q. Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers’ claim?
(a) In the researchers’ study, the model was able to categorize the pottery fragments much more quickly than the archaeologists could.
(b) In the researchers’ study, neither the model nor the archaeologists were able to accurately categorize all the pottery fragments that were presented.
(c) A survey of archaeologists showed that categorizing pottery fragments limits the amount of time they can dedicate to other important tasks that only human experts can do.
(d) A survey of archaeologists showed that few of them received dedicated training in how to properly categorize pottery fragments.

Ans: (c)

• Choice C is the best answer because it presents a finding that, if true, would support the researchers’ claim that archaeologists are unlikely to be replaced by certain computer models. The text explains that although archaeologists hold that categorizing pottery fragments relies on both objective criteria and instinct developed through direct experience, researchers have found that a computer model can categorize the fragments with the same degree of accuracy as the humans can—a finding that has caused some archaeologists to worry that their own work won’t be needed any longer. If survey results indicate that categorizing pottery fragments limits the amount of time archaeologists can dedicate to other important tasks that only human experts can do, that would mean that computer models aren’t able to do all of the important things archaeologists do, thus supporting the researchers’ claim that computer models are unlikely to replace human archaeologists.
• Choice A is incorrect because if it were true that the computer model could categorize the pottery fragments much more quickly than the archaeologists could, that would weaken the researchers’ claim that archaeologists are unlikely to be replaced by certain computer models, since it would demonstrate that the models could conduct the archaeologists’ work not only with equal accuracy but also at a faster pace.
• Choice B is incorrect because the inability of both the computer model and the archaeologists to accurately categorize all of the pottery fragments presented wouldn’t support the researchers’ claim that archaeologists are unlikely to be replaced by certain computer models. The text indicates that some archaeologists are worried because the computer model’s accuracy is equal to their own, and that could be the case whether both were perfectly accurate or were unable to achieve complete accuracy.
• Choice D is incorrect because survey results showing that few archaeologists received special training in properly categorizing pottery fragments wouldn’t support the researchers’ claim that archaeologists are unlikely to be replaced by certain computer models. The amount of special training in categorizing pottery fragments that archaeologists have received has no direct bearing on whether computer models’ success at categorizing fragments will lead to the models replacing the archaeologists.

Q16: Passage
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• The Seikan Tunnel is a rail tunnel in Japan.
• It connects the island of Honshu to the island of Hokkaido.
• It is roughly 33 miles long.
• The Channel Tunnel is a rail tunnel in Europe.
• It connects Folkestone, England, to Coquelles, France.
• It is about 31 miles long.

Q. The student wants to compare the lengths of the two rail tunnels. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
(a) Some of the world’s rail tunnels, including one tunnel that extends from Folkestone, England, to Coquelles, France, are longer than 30 miles.
(b) The Seikan Tunnel is roughly 33 miles long, while the slightly shorter Channel Tunnel is about 31 miles long.
(c) The Seikan Tunnel, which is roughly 33 miles long, connects the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido.
(d) Both the Seikan Tunnel, which is located in Japan, and the Channel Tunnel, which is located in Europe, are examples of rail tunnels.
Ans: (b)

• Choice B is the best answer. The sentence compares the lengths of the two rail tunnels, noting that the Channel Tunnel (about 31 miles long) is slightly shorter than the Seikan Tunnel (roughly 33 miles long).
• Choice A is incorrect. The sentence makes a generalization about the length of some rail tunnels; it doesn’t compare the lengths of the two rail tunnels.
• Choice C is incorrect. The sentence describes a single rail tunnel; it doesn’t compare the lengths of the two rail tunnels.
• Choice D is incorrect. While the sentence mentions the two rail tunnels, it doesn’t compare their lengths.

Q17: Passage

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• Jon Ching is a Los Angeles-based painter.
• He uses the term “flauna” to describe the plant-animal hybrids that he depicts in his surreal paintings.
• “Flauna” is a combination of the words “flora” and “fauna.”
• His painting Nectar depicts a parrot with leaves for feathers.
• His painting Primaveral depicts a snow leopard whose fur sprouts flowers.

Q. The student wants to provide an explanation and example of “flauna.” Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
(a) The term “flauna,” used by Los Angeles-based painter Jon Ching, is a combination of the words “flora” and “fauna.”
(b) Jon Ching uses the term “flauna,” a combination of the words “flora” and “fauna,” to describe the subjects of his surreal paintings: plant-animal hybrids such as a parrot with leaves for feathers.
(c) Jon Ching, who created Nectar, refers to the subjects of his paintings as “flauna.”
(d) The subjects of Nectar and Primaveral are types of “flauna,” a term that the paintings’ creator, Jon Ching, uses when describing his surreal artworks.
Ans: (b)

• Choice B is the best answer because it provides both an explanation and an example of “flauna.” The sentence explains that flauna, a combination of the words “flora” and “fauna,” is a term used by Jon Ching to describe the plant-animal hybrids in his paintings. The sentence also mentions an example of Ching’s flauna: a parrot with leaves for feathers.
• Choice A is incorrect. While the sentence partially explains what “flauna” is, it doesn’t provide a full explanation or specific example of Ching’s flauna.
• Choice C is incorrect. While the sentence partially explains what “flauna” is and includes a title of a Ching painting, it doesn’t provide a full explanation or specific example of Ching’s flauna.
• Choice D is incorrect. While the sentence partially explains what “flauna” is and includes the titles of two Ching paintings, it doesn’t provide a full explanation of Ching’s flauna.

Q18: Passage
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• In the midst of the US Civil War, Susie Taylor escaped slavery and fled to Union-army-occupied St. Simons Island off the Georgia coast.
• She began working for an all-Black army regiment as a nurse and teacher.
• In 1902, she published a book about the time she spent with the regiment.
• Her book was the only Civil War memoir to be published by a Black woman.
• It is still available to readers in print and online.

Q. The student wants to emphasize the uniqueness of Taylor’s accomplishment. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
(a) Taylor fled to St. Simons Island, which was then occupied by the Union army, for whom she began working.
(b) After escaping slavery, Taylor began working for an all-Black army regiment as a nurse and teacher.
(c) The book Taylor wrote about the time she spent with the regiment is still available to readers in print and online.
(d) Taylor was the only Black woman to publish a Civil War memoir.

Ans: (d)

• Choice D is the best answer. By indicating that Taylor’s book was the only Civil War memoir published by a Black woman, this sentence emphasizes the uniqueness, or one-of-a-kind nature, of Taylor’s accomplishment.
• Choice A is incorrect. While the sentence describes some of Taylor’s accomplishments, it doesn’t emphasize the uniqueness of them.
• Choice B is incorrect. While the sentence describes some of Taylor’s accomplishments, it doesn’t emphasize that they were unique.
• Choice C is incorrect. While the sentence provides information about Taylor’s book, it doesn’t emphasize what made the book unique.

Q19: Passage
The following text is from Georgia Douglas Johnson’s 1922 poem “Benediction.”
Go forth, my son, Winged by my heart’s desire! Great reaches, yet unknown, Await For your possession. I may not, if I would, Retrace the way with you, My pilgrimage is through, But life is calling you!
Q. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
(a) To express hope that a child will have the same accomplishments as his parent did
(b) To suggest that raising a child involves many struggles
(c) To warn a child that he will face many challenges throughout his life
(d) To encourage a child to embrace the experiences life will offer
Ans: (d)

• Choice D is the best answer because it accurately states the text’s main purpose. The poem begins with the speaker urging a child to “go forth” with her encouragement (“my heart’s desire”). The speaker goes on to suggest that new experiences (“Great reaches, yet unknown”) lie ahead for the son that “life is calling” him to seek out. Thus, the main purpose is to encourage a child to embrace the experiences available to him in his life.
• Choice A is incorrect because the speaker encourages the child to pursue new experiences (“Great reaches”) without knowing exactly what those experiences will be (“yet unknown”) or suggesting that they should match the speaker’s own accomplishments.
• Choice B is incorrect because the speaker focuses on positive possibilities for her son (“Great reaches, yet unknown”) and her enthusiastic encouragement to embrace those possibilities (“life is calling you!”), while there is no mention of raising a child or associated struggles.
• Choice C is incorrect because the speaker frames the possibilities for her son in a positive light when she says that “great reaches, yet unknown” are waiting for him, and this positive outlook for the son is consistent throughout the text.

Q20: Passage
The following text is adapted from Indian Boyhood, a 1902 memoir by Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman), a Santee Dakota writer. In the text, Ohiyesa recalls how the women in his tribe harvested maple syrup during his childhood.
Now the women began to test the trees—moving leisurely among them, axe in hand, and striking a single quick blow, to see if the sap would appear. The trees, like people, have their individual characters; some were ready to yield up their life-blood, while others were more reluctant. Now one of the birchen basins was set under each tree, and a hardwood chip driven deep into the cut which the axe had made. From the corners of this chip—at first drop by drop, then more freely—the sap trickled into the little dishes.
Q. Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
(a) It portrays the range of personality traits displayed by the women as they work.
(b) It foregrounds the beneficial relationship between humans and maple trees.
(c) It demonstrates how human behavior can be influenced by the natural environment.
(d) It elaborates on an aspect of the maple trees that the women evaluate.
Ans: (d)

• Choice D is the best answer because it best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text’s overall portrayal of how the women in Ohiyesa’s tribe harvested maple syrup. The text states that the women used an axe to strike the maple trees in order to find out which ones would produce sap. The underlined sentence compares the trees to people, with the sap described as the trees’ “life-blood.” Some of the trees are ready to give out their sap, while others are unwilling to do so. Using personification, the sentence provides greater detail about the aspect of the maple trees—their potential to give sap—that the women are evaluating.
• Choice A is incorrect because the personalities of the women are not discussed in the text. Although the underlined sentence does mention “individual characters,” this reference is not to the women in the text but rather to the maple trees, which the sentence compares to people with individual character traits.
• Choice B is incorrect because the underlined sentence focuses on the trees’ willingness or refusal to yield sap, not on the beneficial relationship between the women and the trees.
• Choice C is incorrect because the underlined sentence is comparing maple trees to humans, not addressing the influence of the natural environment on how the actual humans in the text, the women, behave.