SAT Practice Test: collegeboard

1

• A

• B

• C

• D

Answer explanation

The correct answer is B. In the passage, a young man (Akira) asks a mother (Chie) for permission to marry her daughter (Naomi). The request was certainly surprising to the mother, as can be seen from line 47, which states that prior to Akira’s question Chie “had no idea” the request was coming.

2

• A

• B

• C

• D

Answer explanation

The correct answer is B. The passage centers on a night when a young man tries to get approval to marry a woman’s daughter. The passage includes detailed descriptions of setting. She stood a full half minute looking straight into Chie’s eyes. Finally, she spoke,” lines 88-89).

3

• A

• B

• C

• D

Answer explanation

Choice C is the best answer. Akira “came directly, breaking all tradition,” (line 1) when he approached Chie and asked to marry her daughter, and he “ask[ed] directly,” without “a go-between” (line 65) or “mediation,” because doing otherwise would have taken too much time.

4

• A

• B

• C

• D

Answer explanation

Choice A is the best answer. Akira is very concerned Chie will find his marriage proposal as inappropriate because he did not follow traditional protocol.

5

• A

• B

• C

• D

Answer explanation

Choice C is best. In lines 63-64, Akira says to Chie, “Please don’t judge my candidacy by the unseemliness of this proposal.” This reveals Akira’s concern that Chie may say no to the proposal simply because Akira did not follow traditional practices.

6

• A

• B

• C

• D

Answer explanation

Choice D is best. Akira clearly treats Chie with respect. Akira does not offer Chie utter deference, though, as he asks to marry Naomi after he concedes that he is not following protocol and admits to disruptions.

7

• A

• B

• C

• D

Answer explanation

Choice D is the best answer. Akira approached Chie to ask for her daughter’s hand in marriage. The narrator is wondering whether Chie would have been more likely to say yes to Akira’s proposal if Akira had followed tradition: “Akira came directly, breaking all tradition. Was that it? Had he followed form — had he asked his mother to speak to his father to approach a go-between — would Chie have been more receptive?” Thus, the main purpose of the first paragraph is to examine why Chie reacted a certain way to Akira's poposal.

8

• A

• B

• C

• D

Answer explanation

Choice B is the best answer. In line 1, the narrator suggests that Akira’s direct approach broke “all tradition.” The narrator then wonders if Akira had “followed form,” or the tradition expected of him, would Chie have been more receptive to his proposal. In this context, following “form” thus means following a certain tradition or custom.

9

• A

• B

• C

• D

Answer explanation

Choice C is the best answer. Akira states that his unexpected meeting with Chie occurred only because of a “matter of urgency,” which he explains as “an opportunity to go to America, as dentist for Seattle’s Japanese community” (lines 41-42). Akira decides to directly speak to Chie because Ch's response to his marriage proposal affects whether Akira accepts the job offer.

10

• A

• B

• C

• D

Answer explanation

Choice B is best. Akira needs Chie's answer to his marriage proposal so he can decide whether or not to accept the job in Seattle.