American

Study | SAT

READING PRACTICE #1
Question 1. shoppers significantly purchased more items and
Large competitors are often viewed as a major threat spent more money at the store, compared to shoppers
to startups and small companies. However, our reading the “small competitors” or “no competition”
research finds that a smaller brand can actually versions.
benefit if consumers can see the competitive threat it B. Upon entering the bookstore, 163 prospective
faces from a larger organization. When a U.S.-based shoppers were exposed to one of three versions of an
ice cream chain with about 1,400 stores moved in-store ad, emphasizing either the store’s large
within 50 steps of J.P. Licks ice cream store in competitors, small competitors, or no competition.
Newton, Massachusetts, some people expected that C. Shoppers who read the ‘large competitors”
J.P. Licks, a small, locally owned company, would version were told that the store’s main competitors
be beaten out of the Newton market. But consumers are large corporations that have the ability to put
rallied around J.P. Licks, and the national chain later small businesses such as this bookstore out of
closed its nearby location. business
As used in the text, what does the word D. Consumers' support translates into higher
"expected" most nearly mean? purchase intention, more purchases, and more
A. anticipated favorable online reviews.
B. demanded
C. hoped Question 3.
D. admitted It was Jade's habit to walk swiftly in the street even
by day and whenever he found himself in the city late
Question 2. at night he hurried on his way apprehensively and
In six lab and field studies, we explored the effects of excitedly. Sometimes, however, he courted the
having a large, dominant competitor and found that causes of his fear. He chose the darkest and
highlighting a large competitor's size and close narrowest streets and, as he walked boldly forward,
proximity can help smaller brands, instead of the silence that was spread about his footsteps
harming them. Compared to when they are in troubled him, the wandering, silent figures troubled
competition with brands that are similar to them in him; and at times a sound of low fugitive laughter
size or when consumers view them outside of a made him tremble like a leaf.
competitive context, small brands see consumer Based on the text, which is true about Jade?
support go up when they are faced with a competitive A. He fixates on a social world that he ultimately
threat from large brands. In addition, consumers' believes to be a hollow spectacle.
promotion of a small company may extend beyond B. He immerses himself in sights and sounds that
shopping at its stores. strike him as ultimately frivolous.
Based on researchers’ findings, which statement C. He scorns a historical era that he concedes is
can be inferred? preferable in some ways to the present.
A. Analyzing shoppers’ sales receipts and the D. He derives excitement from placing himself in
number of redeemed coupons, we found that settings he finds menacing.

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Question 4. This passage is adapted from James Joyce, Text 2

“A Little Cloud.” Originally published in 1914. Ignatius Photographic capture-recapture and large-scale
Gallaher who is Little Chandler's old friend has become occupancy modeling are now used to estimate tiger
a prominent man. One day, Gallaher sent Chandler a numbers and ranges in several countries across Asia.
lunch invitation which prompted Chandler to reflect on Speculative tiger numbers for countries and regions
both the past and the present.
undermine efforts to save tigers by distracting
Little Chandler’s thoughts ever since lunch-time had
conservationists and the public from what should be
been of his meeting with Gallaher, of Gallaher’s
our top priority: guarding and growing the source
invitation, and of the great city of London where
populations. In a way, the overall number of wild
Gallaher lived. He turned to the right towards Capel
tigers, if we could even get an accurate count, may
Street. Ignatius Gallaher on the London Press! Who
not matter. The source populations are the ones we
would have thought it possible eight years before?
need to monitor vigilantly, using the best science
Still, now that he reviewed the past, Little Chandler
available to track their numbers.
could remember many signs of future greatness in his
Based on the texts, the author of Text 2 most likely
friend.
respond to the conclusions in the first text by
Which choice best states the main purpose of the
asserting that________
text?
A. only apply to certain subspecies of tigers and are
A. to convey Little Chandler’s sense that hindsight
therefore inconclusive.
has lent a degree of inevitability to Gallaher’s
B. will offer incentive for countries and regions to
success.
invest further in wildlife preservation programs.
B. to suggest the extent to which the news of
C. prove that rigorous efforts to protect endangered
Gallaher’s success has altered Little Chandler’s
species result in quick recovery of populations.
memory of him.
D. may lead people to believe that tigers are
C. to demonstrate that Little Chandler’s confidence
recovering when in fact they continue to require
in Gallaher has been vindicated by Gallaher’s
vigilant protection.
success.
D. to characterize Little Chandler as regretful that he
Question 6.
had failed to foresee Gallaher’s success.
Counting wild tigers, however, isn’t easy. While tens
Question 5. of thousands of tigers once roamed Asia from Turkey
Text 1 to Indonesia, their habitats have become tiny and
After years of hard work by conservationists scattered during the last century. Wild tigers are
throughout Asia, a new study brings good news for notoriously elusive, preferring to hide out in hard-to-
the world’s wild tigers. According to a new report by reach places in jungle undergrowth and high
the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the number of mountains.
tigers living in the wild may have been slowly rising
over the last several years. If continued surveys prove Why counting tigers is difficult?
this to be true, this would mark the first time in more
than a century that tiger populations have grown. A. Tigers move extremely quickly from one location
to another.

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B. Tigers reside in environments that are relatively Question 8.

inaccessible to humans. In an experiment run by researchers at Yale
C. Tigers bear a superficial resemblance to other University during the 2006 primary election in
related species. Michigan, potential voters received direct mail
D. Tigers exhibit behavior that is potentially noting that both they and their neighbors would be
threatening to humans. informed of who had voted after the election.
Amazingly, this led to an 8.1 percent increase in
Question 7. The text is adapted from a speech delivered turnout--one of the most successful get-out-the-vote
in 1905 by Lucy Eldine Gonzalez Parsons, “The tactics studied to date. Conventional direct-mail
Principles of Anarchism.” Parsons was a political reminders, in contrast, _________ just a 0.162
activist. percent increase in turnout on average, according to
I came to understand how organized governments a 2013 estimate based on 110 studies.
used their concentrated power to retard progress by Which choice completes the text with the most
their ever-ready means of silencing the voice of logical and precise word or phrase?
discontent if raised in vigorous protest against the A) reward
machinations of the scheming few, who always did, B) produce
always will, and always must rule in the councils of C) surrender
nations where majority rule is recognized as the only D) acknowledge
means of adjusting the affairs of the people.
I came to understand that such concentrated power Question 9.
can be always wielded in the interest of the few and Of course, Polly had been introduced to Art as an
at the expense of the many. Government in its last infant. Of course, the local school provided her—
analysis is this power reduced to a science. indiscriminately, as it did all children—with paint
Governments never lead; they follow progress. and clay and crayons, and she had made, as all
When the prison, stake, or scaffold can no longer children make, representations of her home and
silence the voice of the protesting minority, progress family—triangular-shaped father and mother holding
moves on a step, but not until then. hands, box-shaped brother in outsized shorts
Which choice best states the main idea of the standing apart—as well as of daisies in a vase, and
text? even a lopsided teacup or two, each of them intensely
A. The author once believed that majority rule satisfying for a day or two, then desperately
eliminates the need for individual activism. unsatisfying thereafter. But what Miss Abigail at the
B. The author once believed that mobilization of the camp introduced her to was Real Art: in her
few benefits the majority. whispery, bubbly, disquieting voice she had urged
C. The author once believed that progress occurs them to ‘paint your dreams—show me what you
when everyone works together toward a common dreamed last night’.
goal. Which choice best states the main purpose of the
D. The author once believed that government can be text?
used to make changes that citizens hope for. A) establish that Polly’s talent for art was evident at
an early age.

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B) criticize shortcomings the narrator perceives in Which choice best describes the function of the
Polly’s art education at school. underlined sentence in the text?
C) set up a contrast between Polly’s earliest A) To convey that Evelyn’s color choices have
experiences with art and her later ones. influenced her art teacher.
D) emphasize the reliability of the narrator's account B) To hint at a possible explanation for an artistic
of Polly’s art education. choice Evelyn makes.
C) To emphasize the unexpected nature of the
Question 10. similarity between Evelyn and her art teacher.
It is not easy to develop new habits in a new D) To suggest Evelyn’s reluctance to experiment
environment. Many animals have been compelled to with different colors and techniques.
adjust their behavior, gradually learning to avoid,
outsmart, or even befriend their new urban Question 12.
neighbors. Now, a recent study conducted by For a while, researchers have long warned of
University of Minnesota biologist Emilie C. Snell- salinization, the increasing concentration of
Rood and undergraduate Naomi Wick suggests that dissolved salts, in freshwater ecosystems. Less
some animals have adapted to the presence of attention, however, has been paid to the role of
humans by developing bigger brains. alkalinization, or rising pH, in the salinization
The function of the underlined sentence in the text process. As observed in a 2018 study led by
is to indicate that the animals____ University of Maryland geology professor Sujay
A) exercise no caution when entering areas inhabited Kaushal, alkalinization and salinization are crucially
by humans. linked occurrences in North American fresh
B) lose the ability to forage for food not provided by waterways. Given the environmental threat of what
humans. Kaushal terms “freshwater salinization syndrome,” it
C) take advantage of the benefits provided by is imperative that scientists_______________.
humans. Which choice most logically completes the text?
D) allow themselves to become domesticated by A. take a more holistic approach and account for
humans. alkalinization processes when studying waterway
salinization.
Question 11. B. keep in mind that the syndrome is most prevalent
When Evelyn presented a particularly lurid or in densely populated areas
mysterious painting—headless, shrouded figures in C. recognize symptoms of the syndrome, such as
shades of purple appearing on the surface of a lake infrastructure corrosion and contaminant
with large, many-pointed stars shining down on them mobilization.
out of a streaky sky, or purple pigeons swooping D. consider the research methods and technologies
down out of a pink sky to light upon lilac roofs used
(Evelyn was very attached to the color purple, and
perhaps it was only a coincidence but that was the Question 13.
color that dominated her art teacher’s tie-dyed shifts Together, alkalinization and salinization pose a
too). double threat to the health of freshwater ecosystems
and the animals that rely on them. Among its many

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effects, higher salinity can cause greater levels of this case, listening to a favorite audiobook) with a so-
phosphates to be leached into rivers and streams, called “should behavior” (___________.
fostering the growth of harmful algae and bacteria. Which choice most logically completes the text?
Elevated pH, meanwhile, ______________. A. (one which they should be doing anyway).
Which choice most logically completes the text? B. (audiobooks were available to them while they
A. could have several causes such as changes in exercised).
weathering, certain fertilizers, or even the process of C. (a behavior they might not enjoy).
photosynthesis. D. (exercising at a gym).
B. was slightly mitigated in some areas following the
Clean Air Act Amendments in 1990. Question 16. This passage is adapted from Robertson
C. can cause ammonium, a nutrient already present Davies, What's Bred in the Bone. ©1985 by Robertson
in water, to convert into toxic ammonia gas, resulting Davies. Frank Cornish is a young boy in Canada during
in decreased biodiversity. World War I.
D. is the opposite of acidification and can stimulate Frank’s life was not at all dark; he was not clever at
the production of nitrate. school, but he attracted Miss McGladdery’s attention
by the seriousness with which he applied himself in
Question 14. the weekly half-hour that was given to Art. Shading
Economic models vary, according to scholars in the was said to be done by scuffling down one side of the
emerging field of behavioral economics: humans object with the flat of the pencil’s point. But Frank
aren’t rational. In the real world, people make did not think that was good enough; he had learned a
irrational economic decisions all the time. For craft at home in which shading was done with tiny
instance, studies of savings behavior show that many parallel lines, achieved with great patience, and even
workers choose not to enroll in retirement-savings by cross- hatching.
plans offered by their employers even when these Which statement about Frank’s attitude toward
plans are ____________ in the workers’ interest. drawing can most reasonably be inferred from
Behavioral economists who have studied the issue the text?
blame the “default effect,” according to which people A. He believes that his creativity will earn him
given a choice tend to favor the option presented as special recognition from others.
the default or status quo. B. He is committed to his work regardless of the
Which choice completes the text with the most diligence it requires.
logical and precise word or phrase? C. He accepts the fact that while he is talented, he
A. ostentatiously must still strive to improve.
B. expansively D. He pursues his interest in art because it gives him
C. overwhelmingly a rare chance to excel.
D. extravagantly
Question 17.
Question 15. An episode—locally pronounced “esipode”—of a
In a 2013 study, Katherine Milkman and two serial, in which, every week, a noble cowboy was
coauthors examined what they call “temptation brought to the point of a horrible death by
bundling”: tying a so-called “want experience” (in remorseless villains who sought to rob him of the
equally noble girl he loved. Fortunately, it all came
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out _______ at the end of Esipode Twelve, and then people in the United States toward war with the
another great adventure was announced for the Soviet Union is by__________
weeks to follow. A. citing several examples of black people in the
Which choice completes the text with the most United States who hold views contrary to those of the
logical and precise word or phrase? speaker of Text 1.
A. favorably B. arguing that the speaker of Text 1 has exaggerated
B. precisely the views of black people in the United States for
C. reasonably rhetorical effect.
D. normally. C. implying that the speaker of Text 1 cannot know
or represent the views of black people in the United
Question 18. Text 1 is adapted from a speech delivered States in general.
by Paul Robeson at a peace conference in Paris during a D. suggesting that black people in the United States
time of high tension between the United States and the have already demonstrated their attitude toward the
communist Soviet Union, also called Russia. Text 2 is Soviet Union in ways ignored by the speaker of Text
adapted from a speech delivered by Jackie Robinson who 1.
was called before the House of Representatives to
respond to Robeson’s remarks.
Question 19.
Text 1
I’ve got too much invested for my wife and child and
I love [the] Soviet people more than any other nation,
myself in the future of this country, and I and other
because of their suffering and sacrifices for us, the
Americans of many races and faiths have too much
Negro people, the progressive people, the - people of
invested in our country’s welfare, for any of us to
the future in this world. At the Paris Peace
throw it away. But that doesn’t mean that we’re
Conference I said it was unthinkable that the Negro
going to stop fighting race discrimination in this
people of America or elsewhere in the world could
country until we've got it licked. It means that we're
be drawn into war with the Soviet Union. I repeat it
going to fight it all the harder because our stake in
with hundred-fold emphasis. THEY WILL NOT...
the future is so big.
Text 2
Based on the text, what is the main purpose of the
What I’m trying to get across is that the American
word “invested”?
public is off on the wrong foot when it begins to think
A. To convey the speaker’s sense that he and other
of radicalism in terms of any special minority group.
Americans have a personal interest in seeing the
It is thinking of this sort that gets people scared
United States flourish.
because one Negro, speaking to a Communist group
B. To emphasize the speaker’s point that his
in Paris, threatens an organized boycott by
responsibilities to his family supersede his
15,000,000 members of his race. I can’t speak for any
responsibilities to his country.
15,000,000 people any more than any other one
C. To foreshadow the speaker’s claim that racial
person can, but I know that I’ve got too much
discrimination is incompatible with essential
invested for my wife and child and myself in the
American values.
future of this country.
D. To reveal the speaker’s concern about the
Based on the texts, one way in which the speaker
potential for communist activity to negatively affect
of Text 2 responds to the claim made by the
the American economy.
speaker of Text 1 regarding the attitude of black

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Question 20. C. identifies them as one of the oldest birds to have

For her Wish Trees series, which is perhaps her best- had a beak.
known interactive project; Ono was inspired by the D. reveals them to be one of the earliest birds to have
temple courtyards she visited as a child in Japan, fused facial bones.
where people could write wishes on small paper tags
and then tie them to trees. Ono once compared the Question 22.
stunning visual result to “white flowers blossoming Text 1
from afar.” ______________, she created Wish “We’re trying to identify genes that transformed an
Trees, an ongoing project that showcases trees and ancestral snout into a bird’s bill,” says Harvard
invites visitors to write and attach their own wishes University evolutionary biologist Arhat Abzhanov,
to the branches. By encouraging people to reflect on who, with his colleagues, describes the work in
their aspirations and to attribute to a large, collective Evolution. Specifically, Bhullar and Abzhanov
project, Ono believes Wish Trees will promote treated bird embryos with inhibitors of the WNT and
global harmony. Fgf8 proteins. When the two signals were curbed, the
Which choice most logically completes the text? premaxillary bones became round and never fused,
A. Often using everyday items to create her art, she as in birds’ dinosaur relatives, instead of growing
created Wish Trees long and pointy. The studies suggest that Fgf8 and
B. Having left Japan after the Second World War, WNT signaling changes allowed skulls of ancient
C. To bring this experience to more people, birds “to evolve in a whole new direction” and form
D. In between her many other artistic endeavors, a beak, Abzhanov says.
Text 2
Question 21. According to the work and experiments by Marcucio
In ancestral reptiles, a pair of small bones make up in 2009, the activity of another gene, SHH (for sonic
the tip of the snout. In today’s birds, those hedgehog), was critical for forming the beak. Unlike
premaxillary bones are long, narrow, and fused, Fgf8, he says, it’s active in the right place and at the
producing the upper bill. The ancient bird right time in bird embryos. Marcucio, a
Archaeopteryx reveals an intermediate step. Its developmental biologist, also worries that the
premaxillary bones were not very expanded, but in changes in facial structure observed by the Harvard
later avian species the bones are progressively more; team may stem from unintended cell death caused by
fused. Other work had also implicated the the inhibitors they used. “Adding the fossil record to
premaxillary bones in beak evolution. this work is really an important step, but I think they
According to the text, the ancient bird are just looking at the wrong pathway,” he says.
Archaeopteryx is significant to the evolution of Abzhanov and Bhullar counter that Fgf8 and SHH
beaks in birds because, based on the fossil record, are often coexpressed and may work together.
the facial structure of Archaeopteryx________ Which choice best describes Marcucio's response
A. provides evidence of the existence of an to the findings of Bhullar and Abzhanov?
evolutionary step between a snout and a beak. A. Marcucio offered an alternative interpretation of
B. possesses physical characteristics directly linking the evidence that Abzhanov and Bhullar had used to
them to present-day alligators. carry out the experiment.

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B. Marcucio previewed upcoming research that may students in our marketing courses raise all the time,”
support the findings in the study analyzed in Text 1. she said.
C. Marcucio implied that the sponsors of the study As used in the text, “raise” most nearly
analyzed in the passage might have influenced its means_____
results. A. broach.
D. Marcucio challenged the underlying intentions of B. nurture.
the researchers described in Text 1. C. elevate.
D. construct.
Question 23: This passage is adapted from Robert
Cialdini, Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Question 25.
Influence and Persuade. ©2016 by Robert Cialdini. “Fortunately for me,” she continued, “the best of the
Suppose you've started an online furniture store that students in those classes have never been satisfied
specializes in various types of sofas. Some are with that general advice. They'd say, “Yeah, but
attractive to customers because of their comfort and how?’ and I never really had a good answer for them,
- others because of their price. Is there anything you which gave me a great question to pursue my
can think to do that would incline visitors to your research project.”
website to focus on the feature of comfort and, Fortunately for us, after analyzing their results,
consequently, to prefer to make a sofa purchase that Mandel and Johnson were in a position to deliver a
prioritized it over cost? stunningly simple answer to the “Yeah, but how?”
The main purpose of the text is to_________ question.
A. offer a cultural background that explains the need The main function of the underlined part is
for further studies of online customer behavior. to_________
B. present a hypothetical situation that frames a A. indicate the author’s disapproval of the
discussion of research into a particular marketing experiment’s lack of complexity.
problem. B. express the author’s confusion about the
C. suggest the practical application of a scientific researchers’ initial inability to answer the students’
discovery that has been overlooked by many questions.
business managers. C. convey the author’s admiration of the
D. detail the factors that make the challenges faced experiment’s straightforward results.
by online marketers distinct from those presented in D. illustrate the author’s appreciation of the students’
traditional marketing. insights.

Question 24. Question 26.

One matter that had piqued Mandel’s interest is one In an article, Kate and Charles described how they
that has vexed merchandisers forever: how to avoid managed to implement a strategy to draw website
losing business to a poorer-quality rival whose only visitors’ attention to the goal of comfort merely by
competitive advantage is lower cost. That is why placing fluffy clouds on the background wallpaper of
Mandel chose to pit higher-quality furniture lines the site’s landing page. That maneuver led those
against less expensive, inferior ones in her study. visitors to assign elevated levels of importance to
“It’s a traditional problem that the business-savvy comfort when asked what they were looking for in a

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sofa. Those same visitors also became more likely to populations to develop in isolation for up to eighty-
search the site for information about the comfort six generations. But could they actually have become
features of the sofas in stock and, most notably, to that different after such a short period of time? No
choose a more comfortable (and more costly) sofa as one would really have expected this to be the case,
their preferred purchase. Subsequently, to make sure and the University of Montana researchers Daniel
their results were due to the landing page wallpaper Montesinos, Gilberto Santiago, and Ray Callaway
and not to some general human preference for were no exceptions—ecologists and evolutionary
comfort, Kate and Charles reversed their procedure biologists have been brought up on the ‘knowledge’
for other visitors, who saw wallpaper that pulled their that it takes a very long time for new species to form.
attention to the goal of the economy by depicting In fact, they were not thinking about it at all. The
pennies instead of clouds. main goal of their experiment was to obtain ‘pure’
It can reasonably be inferred from the passage seeds of each population and species to use in the rest
that Kate and Charles strengthened their of their research. However, just to amuse himself,
conclusions by___________ Montesinos, in his own words, ‘playfully decided’ to
A. anticipating a potential criticism of their transfer pollen from Spanish to Californian plants
experimental design. just to see what happened’.
B. recruiting subjects from a variety of economic It can reasonably be inferred from the passage
backgrounds. that the experiment was ultimately prompted
C. incorporating the input of business students in the by___________
interpretation of the results. A. professional competitiveness along with a
D. demonstrating the results’ applicability outside particular fascination with star thistles.
the context of online marketing. B. personal curiosity about star thistles in addition to
a clear scientific objective.
Question 27. C. a desire to corroborate an earlier study on star
Long established in California, there have been thistles rather than to gain new insights.
plenty of generations available for the two plants to D. an interest in studying other plants related to star
evolve in isolation from their Spanish ancestors—the thistles rather than an interest in star thistles
sulphur star-thistle was introduced to California themselves.
around 1923, allowing the Spanish and Californian

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