SAT Inferences and Text Structure and Purpose (Hard)

Marta Coll and colleagues’ 2010 Mediterranean Sea biodiversity census reported approximately 17,000 species, nearly double the number reported in Carlo Bianchi and Carla Morri’s 2000 census—a difference only partly attributable to the description of new invertebrate species in the interim. Another factor is that the morphological variability of microorganisms is poorly understood compared to that of vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, and algae, creating uncertainty about how to evaluate microorganisms as species. Researchers’ decisions on such

matters therefore can be highly consequential. Indeed, the two censuses reported similar counts of vertebrate, plant, and algal species, suggesting that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

• A. Coll and colleagues reported a much higher number of species than Bianchi and Morri did largely due to the inclusion of invertebrate

  species that had not been described at the time of Bianchi and Morri’s census.

• B. some differences observed in microorganisms may have been treated as variations within species by Bianchi and Morri but treated as

  indicative of distinct species by Coll and colleagues.

• C. Bianchi and Morri may have been less sensitive to the degree of morphological variation displayed within a typical species of

  microorganism than Coll and colleagues were.

• the absence of clarity regarding how to differentiate among species of microorganisms may have resulted in Coll and colleagues

  underestimating the number of microorganism species.

While attending school in New York City in the 1980s, Okwui Enwezor encountered few works by African artists in exhibitions, despite New York’s reputation as one of the best places to view contemporary art from around the world. According to an arts journalist, later in his career as a renowned curator and art historian, Enwezor sought to remedy this deficiency, not by focusing solely on modern African artists, but by showing how their work fits into the larger context of global modern art and art history.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the journalist’s claim?

• 1. As curator of the Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany, Enwezor organized a retrospective of Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui’s work entitled El Anatsui: Triumphant Scale, one of the largest art exhibitions devoted to a Black artist in Europe’s history.

• 1. In the exhibition Postwar: Art Between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 1945–1965, Enwezor and cocurator Katy Siegel brought works by African artists such as Malangatana Ngwenya together with pieces by major figures from other countries, like US artist Andy Warhol and Mexico’s David Siqueiros.

• Enwezor’s work as curator of the 2001 exhibition The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945–1994 showed how African movements for independence from European colonial powers following the Second World War profoundly influenced work by African artists of the period, such as Kamala Ibrahim Ishaq and Thomas Mukarobgwa.

• 1. Enwezor organized the exhibition In/sight: African Photographers, 1940 to the Present not to emphasize a particular aesthetic trend but to demonstrate the broad range of ways in which African artists have approached the medium of photography.

Researchers recently found that disruptions to an enjoyable experience, like a short series of advertisements during a television show, often increase viewers’ reported enjoyment. Suspecting that disruptions to an unpleasant experience would have the opposite effect, the researchers had participants listen to construction noise for 30 minutes and anticipated that those whose listening experience was frequently interrupted with short breaks of silence would thus ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

• A. find the disruptions more irritating as time went on.

• 1. rate the listening experience as more negative than those whose listening experience was uninterrupted.

• C. rate the experience of listening to construction noise as lasting for less time than it actually lasted.

• D. perceive the volume of the construction noise as growing softer over time.

Many of William Shakespeare’s tragedies address broad themes that still appeal to today’s audiences. For instance, Romeo and Juliet, which is set in the Italy of Shakespeare’s time, tackles the themes of parents versus children and love versus hate, and the play continues to be read and produced widely around the world. But understanding Shakespeare’s so-called history plays can require a knowledge of several centuries of English history. Consequently, ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

• A. many theatergoers and readers today are likely to find Shakespeare’s history plays less engaging than the tragedies.

• B. some of Shakespeare’s tragedies are more relevant to today’s audiences than twentieth-century plays.

• C. Romeo and Juliet is the most thematically accessible of all Shakespeare’s tragedies.

• D. experts in English history tend to prefer Shakespeare’s history plays to his other works.

The field of study called affective neuroscience seeks instinctive, physiological causes for feelings such as pleasure or displeasure. Because these sensations are linked to a chemical component (for example, the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain when one receives or expects a reward), they can be said to have a partly physiological basis. These processes have been described in mammals, but Jingnan Huang and his colleagues have recently observed that some behaviors of honeybees (such as foraging) are also motivated by a dopamine-based signaling process.

What choice best describes the main purpose of the text?

• A. It describes an experimental method of measuring the strength of physiological responses in humans.

• B. It illustrates processes by which certain insects can express how they are feeling.

• C. It summarizes a finding suggesting that some mechanisms in the brains of certain insects resemble mechanisms in mammalian brains.

• D. It presents research showing that certain insects and mammals behave similarly when there is a possibility of a reward for their

  actions.

According to historian Vicki L. Ruiz, Mexican American women made crucial contributions to the labor movement during World War II. At the time, food processing companies entered into contracts to supply United States armed forces with canned goods. Increased production quotas conferred greater bargaining power on the companies’ employees, many of whom were Mexican American women: "employees insisted on more favorable benefits, and employers, who were anxious to fulfill the contracts, complied." Thus, labor activism became a platform for Mexican American women to assert their agency.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion (in quotes) in the text as a whole?

• A. It elaborates on a claim about labor relations in a particular industry made earlier in the text.

• B. It offers an example of a trend in the World War II–era economy discussed earlier in the text.

• C. It notes a possible exception to the historical narrative of labor activism sketched earlier in the text.

• D. It provides further details about the identities of the workers discussed earlier in the text.

The following text is from Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre. Jane, the narrator, works as a governess at Thornfield Hall.

I went on with my day’s business tranquilly; but ever and anon vague suggestions kept wandering across my brain of reasons why I should quit Thornfield; and I kept involuntarily framing advertisements and pondering conjectures about new situations: these thoughts I did not think to check; they might germinate and bear fruit if they could.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

• A. To convey a contrast between Jane’s outward calmness and internal restlessness

• B. To emphasize Jane’s loyalty to the people she works for at Thornfield Hall

• C. To demonstrate that Jane finds her situation both challenging and deeply fulfilling

• D. To describe Jane’s determination to secure employment outside of Thornfield Hall