Informat… | SAT The Reading and Writing Section

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Mar 23, 2024

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Culinary anthropologist Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor may be known for her decades of work in national public television and radio, but her book Vibration Cooking: or, the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl is likely her most influential project. The 1970 book, whose title refers to Smart-Grosvenor's roots in the Low Country of South Carolina, was unusual for its time. It combined memoir, recipes, travel writing, and social commentary and challenged notions about conventions of food and cooking. Long admired by many, the book and its author have shaped contemporary approaches to writing about cuisine. Which choice best describes the main idea of the text?

Difficulty: Medium

Smart-Grosvenor's unconventional book Vibration Cooking: or, the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl is an important contribution to food writing.

Smart-Grosvenor held many different positions over her life, including reporter and food writer.

Smart-Grosvenor's groundbreaking book Vibration Cooking: or, the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl didn't receive the praise it deserved when it was first published in 1970.

Smart-Grosvenor was a talented chef whose work inspired many people to start cooking for themselves.

Microplastics are pieces of plastic that are smaller than a grain of rice. These small plastics can be found in large quantities in ocean waters. Ecologist Jessica Reichert and her team are studying the role reef-building corals have in capturing microplastics from ocean waters. Through research, her team has found that these corals may be storing up to 20 million kilograms of microplastics each year in their skeletons and tissues. Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Difficulty: Easy

Ecologists are interested in learning more about how certain corals build large reefs.

Questions remain around the impact certain corals have on ocean ecosystems.

Microplastics are small pieces of plastic that can be found in ocean waters.

Ecologists predict that corals store large amounts of microplastics from ocean waters.

Several artworks found among the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Pompeil depict a female figure fishing with a cupid nearby. Some scholars have asserted that the figure is the goddess Venus, since she is known to have been linked with cupids in Roman culture, but University of Leicester archaeologist Carla Brain suggests that cupids may have also been associated with fishing generally. The fact that a cupid is shown near the female figure, therefore, ________Which choice most logically completes the text?

Difficulty: Medium

is not conclusive evidence that the figure is Venus.

suggests that Venus was often depicted fishing.

eliminates the possibility that the figure is Venus.

would be difficult to account for if the figure is not Venus.

Psychologists wanted to test how young children think about rewards and fairness. In an experiment, two teachers handed out rewards while children (ages four to six) watched. The teachers gave out the same number of rewards, but one of them counted the rewards out loud. The children were then asked who was fairer. 73% chose the teacher who counted. The psychologists think that counting showed the children that the teacher wanted to be fair. The children may have believed that the teacher who did not count did not care about fairness. Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Difficulty: Easy

Psychologists think children cannot understand the concept of fairness until they are six years old.

An experiment found that counting out loud is the best way to teach mathematical concepts to children.

Psychologists think young children expect to be rewarded when the children show that they care about fairness.

An experiment showed that the way rewards are given out may affect whether young children think the situation is fairer.

During the Bourbon Restoration in France (1814-1830), the right to vote required in part that a person paid at least 300 francs in direct taxes to the government. The four most common taxes (the quatre viiilles) were levied on real estate (both land and buildings); the doors and windows in taxpayer homes; the rental values of homes; and the businesses of artisans and merchants. (Foreign investments were either exempt from taxation or taxed lightly.) Although relatively few people paid the tax on real estate, it was the main means of voter qualification and accounted for over two-thirds of government receipts during this period, suggesting that during the Bourbon Restoration _______Which choice most logically completes the text?

Difficulty: Hard

those people who had the right to vote most likely had substantial holdings of French real estate.

the voting habits of French artisans and merchants were effective in reducing tax burdens on businesses.

the number of doors and windows in French residences was kept to a minimum but increased after 1830.

French people with significant foreign investments were unlikely to have the right to vote.

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