📖 SAT Reading & Writing

SAT Reading & Writing Practice

SAT Reading & Writing practice questions with explanations

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📝 Sample Questions

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Easy
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? Catering can be a good fit for those who would like to work as a chef on a more part-time basis, _______ they could schedule their catering jobs around their family obligations.
  1. A. not be alone she will be standing in Ediths shadow.
  2. B. not be alone, she will be standing, in Edith’s shadow.
  3. C. not be alone; she will be standing in Edith’s shadow. ✓
  4. D. not be alone, she will be standing in Ediths shadow.
Explanation: The sentence presents two independent clauses that need to be joined correctly: the first clause about catering being a good fit, and the second clause explaining how they could schedule jobs. Choice (C) uses a semicolon appropriately to connect these two complete thoughts without a coordinating con
Medium
Which choice most logically completes the text? According to Florentine records between the end of the fourteenth century and the middle of the fifteenth, the number of women participating in tribunals dropped by 84 percent. The implications of this backslide are significant. By 1450, the power of women to defend themselves in court had suffered a significant blow. And while weakness in the courtroom may not have significantly impacted the elite women of the upper classes, its effects were undoubtedly felt by working women of the lower classes, who were, by the late 1460s, __________
  1. A. whether a bacteria could have any role in harming the environment.
  2. B. the capacity of microbiologists to analyze bacteria in a laboratory setting.
  3. C. this bacteria’s utility in consuming massive plastic deposits. ✓
  4. D. the possibility of plastic extending the length it needs to biodegrade.
Explanation: The previous sentence states that plastic-eating microorganisms could help solve the problem of plastic waste in the environment. The final sentence of the text begins by showing a contrast with the previous sentence—it states that “others are skeptical of the claims.” Thus, it makes sense that the
Medium
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase? During transcription, nucleotides are polymerized into a strand of mRNA whose sequence is complementary to that of the template DNA. This “pre-mRNA” typically contains several regions of non-coding material, or “introns,” that must be excised prior to translation of the protein-coding regions, which are referred to as “exons.” In a complex process known as splicing, the introns are extracted and degraded, while the adjacent ends of exons are adjoined, and trafficked out of the nucleus to the endoplasmic reticulum, where protein synthesis can at last begin.
  1. A. took
  2. B. spurred ✓
  3. C. used
  4. D. inspire
Explanation: The word "spurred" correctly completes the text because it logically describes how the removal of introns and joining of exons *caused* or *accelerated* the movement of mRNA to the endoplasmic reticulum, fitting the context of a sequence of events. The other options are incorrect: "took," "used," an
Medium
If the city of Detroit has a population of 4,900 persons per square mile, and there are 139 square miles of land within the city, what would most closely approximate the total population of the city?
  1. A. 35,000
  2. B. 47,000
  3. C. 681,000 ✓
  4. D. 1,240,000
Explanation: Multiply the number of persons per square mile by the total number of square miles to find an approximation of the total population of the city:
Easy
Which quotation from the poem most effectively completes the example? The buildings at Chaco Canyon pose a mystery for archeologists who seek to learn their purpose. A vast compound of buildings created by an ancient people, Chaco Canyon does not seem to be a permanent habitation, as there are no significant garbage piles. In addition, it is located in a remote and very harsh environment. It is questionable whether any peoples would have chosen such a place for a settlement. Modern archeologists believe that it could possibly be a spiritual site that is designed to align with astronomical cycles. They have turned to astronomy for answers and have shown how the roads and buildings at Chaco Canyon align not just with the regular cycles of the sun, but, they hypothesize, with the complicated multi-year dance of the moon. Since the moon’s rhythm has such a long cycle, however, it will take many more years to confirm this hypothesis.
  1. A. “I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, / And what can be the use of him is more than I can see. / He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head; / And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.”
  2. B. “The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow— / Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow; / For he sometimes shoots up taller like an India-rubber ball, / And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.”
  3. C. “He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play, / And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way. / He stays so close beside me, he’s a coward you can see; / I’d think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!”
  4. D. “One morning, very early, before the sun was up, / I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup; / But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head, / Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.” ✓
Explanation: Choice (D) is correct because it illustrates the concept of a shadow's dependence on light, which directly supports the passage's argument that Chaco Canyon buildings align with astronomical cycles like the sun and moon. The other options describe a shadow as a playful or mischievous companion rathe

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