SAT Test Critical Reading Answers

Please, please, please don't tell us that you actually read the entire SAT critical reading passage. If you did, you need to review our critical reading tips and advice page. Come on, that was actually painful for us to write, it shouldn't have been very exciting to read!

In all honesty though, the SAT passages are often times a bit more interesting. Do not use the test time to read these though. If, by some weird chance, you become captivated by a passage, you can read more about the passage's material after the test on your time.

1.)  C.  This is one of the "vocabulary" questions we told you about. Hopefully, you were able to very quickly eliminate choice B. As you will recall, we told you that the correct answer to a vocabulary type question in the SAT critical reading section is never as obvious as its primary meaning.

2.)  E.  The author is giving reasons why he/she enjoys teaching. Choices A and D are mainly secondary points raised in this three-line argument. Choice C is a poor literal interpretation of one secondary point and choice B is not even referred to until much later in the passage -- which you should not have known when you answered this question because you were not supposed to read the passage first.

3.)  B.  Choice E is too general in its wording. Choice D is in out in proverbial right field. It is an answer choice you can easily eliminate. (Just be sure not to spend your valuable SAT test taking time determining why it is wrong.) Choice A is too far a leap to be an inference and it is worded a little more strongly than most of the correct SAT critical reading questions you will see. 

So, what about choice C you ask? Choice C is also incorrect because it is NOT inferred, it is actually stated in the passage. This is a common mistake we see test takers make on the SAT. 

4.)  D.  Did you read the line above and below the one referenced? If so, this should not have been too difficult. If you are the spokesperson announcing to the public that war has been declared, you would not want to sound compassionate. According to the passage, you would want to sound monotonous in your tone. The relative lack of emotion can signal that heads are remaining cool and problems are being dealt with effectively. The passage goes on to state on lines 23 and 24, "This was illustrated wonderfully by the U.S. military spokespeople during the first Persian Gulf war."

5.)  D.  The speaker's tone is informative. Too many straight-forward facts are given for this passage to be persuasive, although the speaker is enthusiastic about the topic. Elegiac means sorrowful and soporific means to make someone sleepy. Despite any good arguments for this, it was clearly not the fictitious speaker's intention.

Hopefully, you were able to answer the fifth question based on your research for the first 4 questions. Remember to always do these tone questions last. It is in your best time management interests to do so.

Remember we have a money-back guarantee on all of our FREE practice questions and answers. In all seriousness though, if you think you discovered an error that slipped past our crack team of test question writers, email us at info@collegeadmissioninfo.com.  We appreciate all constructive feedback and criticisms.

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