Reading Practices for the Redesigned SAT 1.2 Literature Level 4
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Exercise 1
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This passage is excerpted from Jack London, The Scarlet Plague. Originally published in 1915.
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An old man and a boy travelled along this runway. They moved slowly, for the old man was very old, his movements tremulous, and he leaned heavily upon his staff. A rude skull-cap of goat-skin protected his head from the sun. From
beneath this fell a scant fringe of stained and dirty-white hair. A visor, ingeniously made from a large leaf, shielded his eyes, and from under this he peered at the way of his feet on the trail. His beard, which should have been snow-white but which showed the same weather-wear and camp-stain as his hair, fell nearly to his waist in a great tangled mass. About his chest and shoulders hung a single, mangy garment of goat-skin. His arms and legs, withered and skinny, betokened extreme age, as well as did their sunburn and scars and scratches betoken long years of exposure to the elements.The boy, who led the way, checking the eagerness of his muscles to the slow progress of the elder, likewise wore a single garment—a ragged-edged piece of bear-skin, with a hole in the middle through which he had thrust his head. He could not have been more than twelve years old. Tucked coquettishly over one ear was the freshly severed tail of a pig. In one hand he carried a medium-sized bow and an arrow.
On his back was a quiverful of arrows. From a sheath hanging about his neck on a thong, projected the battered handle of a hunting knife. He was as brown as a berry, and walked softly, with almost a catlike tread. In marked contrast with his sunburned skin were his eyes—blue, deep blue, but keen and sharp as a pair of gimlets. They seemed to bore into aft about him in a way that was habitual. As he went along he smelled things, as well, his distended, quivering nostrils carrying to his brain an endless series of messages from the outside world. Also, his hearing was acute, and had been so trained that it operated automatically. Without conscious effort, he heard all the slight sounds in the apparent quiet—heard, and differentiated, and classi?ed these sounds—whether they were of the wind rustling the leaves, of the humming of bees and gnats, of the distant rumble of the sea that drifted to him only in lulls, or of the gopher, just under his foot, shoving a pouchful of earth into the entrance of his hole.
Suddenly he became alertly tense. Sound, sight, and odor had given him a simultaneous warning. His hand went back to the old man, touching him, and the pair stood still. Ahead, at one side of the top of the embankment, arose a crackling sound, and the boy's gaze was ?xed on the tops of the agitated bushes. Then a large bear, a grizzly, crashed into view, and likewise stopped abruptly, at sight of the humans. He did not like them, and growled querulously. Slowly the boy ?tted the arrow to the bow, and slowly he pulled the bowstring taut. But he never removed his eyes from the bear.The old man peered from under his green leaf at the danger, and stood as quietly as the boy. For a few seconds this mutual
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scrutinizing went on; then, the bear betraying a growing irritability, the boy, with a movement of his head, indicated that the old man must step aside from the trail and go down the embankment. The boy followed, going backward, still holding the bow taut and ready. They waited till a crashing among the bushes from the opposite side of the embankment told them the bear had gone on. The boy grinned as he led back to the trail.
\The old man shook his head.
%undependable falsetto. \the time when a man would be afraid of his life on the way to the Cliff House. When I was a boy, Edwin, men and women and little babies used to come out here from San Francisco by tens of thousands on a nice day. And there weren't any bears then. No, sir. They used to pay money to look at them in cages, they were that rare.\\
Before the old man could answer, the boy recollected and triumphantly shoved his hand into a pouch under his bear-skin and pulled forth a battered and tarnished silver dollar. The old man's eyes glistened, as he held the coin close to them.
\make out the date, Edwin.\The boy laughed.
\making believe them little marks mean something.”
QUESTION 1 OF 11
Over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts from????????
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A an appreciative characterization of the wilderness to a critique of civilization. B the depiction of a particular place and time to a broad prediction about the future. C a physical description of characters and their environment to a discussion of one character’s memories. D the opinions held by a young character to the views asserted by an older character.
QUESTION 2 OF 11
The narrator characterizes Edwin as someone who????????
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A has never known a different way of life. B does not respect his elders. C has just begun to develop survival skills. D refuses education in any form.
QUESTION 3 OF 11
According to the passage, Edwin’s sensory skills are??
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A highly developed and give him a precise awareness of the environs.
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B ?nely tuned but fail to protect Edwin from imminent dangers. C equally as pro?cient as Granser’s sensory abilities. D solely responsible for Edwin and Granser’s continued safety.
growled querulously.”) ??
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C line 61 (“A . . . chuckled”)(“\chuckled.”) D lines 63–64 (“They . . . falsetto”)(“\day,\????
QUESTION 4 OF 11
In lines 8–10 (“His beard, which should have been snow-white but which showed the same weather-wear and camp-stain as his hair, fell nearly to his waist in a great tangled mass.”), the description of the beard mainly serves to????????
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A demonstrate that Granser is negligent. B emphasize Granser’s advanced age. C highlight Granser’s concern about appearances. D show that Granser intimidates others.
QUESTION 9 OF 11
It can reasonably be inferred from Edwin and Granser’s conversation that????????
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A citizens have recently become aware of changes in their environment. B the social changes Granser refers to are his own imaginary inventions. C society underwent a drastic change relatively early in Granser’s life. D Edwin and Granser have made a deliberate choice to leave society.
QUESTION 5 OF 11
In paragraph 3 (lines 26–32(“catlike tread. In marked contrast with his sunburned skin were his eyes—blue, deep blue, but keen and sharp as a pair of gimlets. They seemed to bore into aft about him in a way that was habitual. As he went along he smelled things, as well, his
distended, quivering nostrils carrying to his brain an endless series of messages from the outside world. Also, his hearing was acute,”)), the words “catlike,” “keen,” and “acute” primarily serve to????????
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A describe the way Edwin relates to animals. B characterize Edwin’s interaction with his surroundings. C describe Edwin’s innate personality traits. D reveal Edwin’s superiority to Granser.
QUESTION 10 OF 11
Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question???
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A lines 64–66(“\when a man would be afraid of his life on the way to the Cliff House.”)(“Who’d. . . House) B lines 66–68 (“When . . . day”)(“ When I was a boy, Edwin, men and women and little babies used to come out here from San Francisco by tens of thousands on a nice day. ”) C lines 72–74 (“Before . . . dollar”)(“Before the old man could answer, the boy recollected and triumphantly shoved his hand into a pouch under his bear-skin and pulled forth a battered and tarnished silver dollar.”) D line 77 (“I . . muttered”)(“\????
QUESTION 6 OF 11
As used in line 45 (“?xed on”), “?xed on” most nearly means????????
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A attached to. B locked on. C established on. D secured to.
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QUESTION 11 OF 11
Edwin’s reaction to the date on the coin primarily serves to????????
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A demonstrate Edwin’s lack of intelligence. B represent a belief that is rapidly becoming common. C show that Edwin does not trust Granser. D emphasize the extent to which social practices have changed.
QUESTION 7 OF 11
Based on the description of the encounter with the bear, it can reasonably be inferred that????????
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A Granser and Edwin have previously come across bears on their journey. B Granser and Edwin are not concerned by the presence of animals in the forest. C Granser is surprised to see a bear that is not in a cage. D Edwin is distracted by the constant threat posed by wildlife.
QUESTION 8 OF 11
Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question???
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A lines 41–42 (“Sound . . . warning”)(“Sound, sight, and odor had given him a simultaneous warning.”) ??
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B line 48 (“He . . . querulously”)(“He did not like them, and
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Exercise 2
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This passage is excerpted from J.D. Beresford, The Looking Glass. Originally published in 1921.
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This was the ?rst communication that had come from her aunt in Rachel's lifetime.
\he passed the letter across the table.
Rachel looked ?rst at the signature. It seemed strange to see her own name there. It was as if her individuality, her very identity, was impugned by the fact that there should be two Rachel Deanes. Moreover there was a likeness between her aunt's autograph and her own, a characteristic turn in the looping of the letters, a hint of the same decisiveness and precision. If Rachel had been educated ?fty years earlier, she might have written her name in just that manner.
\still stared at the signature.
Rachel's eyelids drooped and her expression indicated a faint, suppressed intolerance of her father's remark. He said the same things so often, and in so precisely the same tone, that she had formed a habit of automatically rejecting the truth of certain of his statements. He had always appeared to her as senile. He had been over ?fty when she was born, and ever since she could remember she had doubted the
correctness of his information. She was, she had often told herself, \veneration for the more distant past, but none for her father's period. She had long since condemned alike the ethic and the aesthetic of the nineteenth century as represented by her father's opinions; so that, even now, when his familiar comment coincided so queerly with her own thought, she instinctively disbelieved him. Yet, as always, she was gentle in her answer. She condescended from the heights of her youth and vigour to pity him.
\Rachel was like, dear,\you've seen her?\
\\prided herself on being so modern. She read Darwin and
things like that. Altogether beyond me, I admit. Still, it seems to me that the old truths have endured, and will, in spite of all--in spite of all.\
Rachel straightened her shoulders and lifted her head; there was disdain in her face, but none in her voice as she replied: \
She was excited at the thought of meeting this traditional, almost mythical aunt whom she had so often heard about. Sometimes she had wondered if the personality of this remarkable relative had not been a ?gment of her father's imagination, long pondered, and reconstructed out of half-forgotten material. But this letter of hers that now lay on the breakfast table was admirable in character. There was
something of condescension and intolerance expressed in the very restraint of its tone. She had written a kindly letter, but
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the kindliness had an air of pity. It was all consistent enough with what her father had told her.
Mr. Deane came out of his reminiscences with a sigh.
\you had better accept this invitation to stay with her. She is rich, almost wealthy; and I, as you know, have practically nothing to leave you—practically nothing. If she took a fancy to you...\
He sighed again, and Rachel knew that for the hundredth time he was regretting his own past weakness. He had been so foolish in money matters, frittering away his once considerable capital in aimless speculations.
\Rachel said. \the way, how old is she?\
\said, \three. Dear, dear. Fancy Rachel being seventy-three! I always think of her as being about your age. It seems so absurd to think of her as old….\
He continued his re?ections, but Rachel was not listening. He was asking for the understanding of the young; quite
unaware of his senility, reaching out over half a century to try to touch the comprehension and sympathy of his daughter. But she was already bent on her own adventure, looking forward eagerly to a visit to London that promised delights other than the inspection of the mysterious, traditional aunt whom she had so long known by report.
QUESTION 1 OF 11
Over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts from????????
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A a depiction of a family’s strained dynamic to a character’s wandering recollections of the distant past. B one character's reception of new information to a frank discussion of money and inheritances. C two characters' reactions to an unexpected message to a character's anticipation of a journey. D a comparison between two characters to one character’s thoughts about memories and aging.
QUESTION 2 OF 11
Which statement best describes Rachel's perspective regarding her aunt?????????
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A She is curious about her similarities to her aunt and intrigued by the idea of meeting her. B She is disdainful of her aunt because she has ignored her family for years. C She is suspicious of her aunt's intentions but excited about the possibility of an inheritance. D She is puzzled by her aunt's sudden interest in meeting her.
QUESTION 3 OF 11
In line 7 (“impugned”), “impugned” most nearly means
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A contradicted. B challenged. C opposed. D resisted.
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B detail the differences between Rachel's generation and her father's. C validate Rachel's sense that her father is untrustworthy. D provide insight into Rachel's view of the past.
QUESTION 4 OF 11
The narrator implies that Rachel’s attitude towards her father is????????
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A overtly disrespectful. B generally loving. C mildly contemptuous. D wholly patronizing.
QUESTION 8 OF 11
It can reasonably be inferred that the relationship between Rachel's father and her aunt????????
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A has been damaged by a misunderstanding. B is strained as a result of their past con?icts. C has become less tense as time has passed. D is uneasy due to their different ?nancial situations.
QUESTION 5 OF 11
Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question???
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A lines 15–16 (“Rachel’s . . . remark”)(“Rachel's eyelids drooped and her expression indicated a faint, suppressed intolerance of her father's remark.”) ??
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B lines 22–23 (“She . . . modern”)(“She was, she had often told herself, \ C lines 23–25 (“She had . . . period”)(“She had a certain veneration for the more distant past, but none for her father's period.”) D lines 32–33 (“I should . . . said”)(“\almost have forgotten what Aunt Rachel was like, dear,\said.”) QUESTION 9 OF 11
Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question???
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A lines 13–14 (“You're . . . signature”)(“\in some ways,\signature.”) ??
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B lines 33–36 (“How . . . disagreed”)(“\since you've seen her?\ C lines 61–64 (“He sighed . . . speculations”)(“He sighed again, and Rachel knew that for the hundredth time he was regretting his own past weakness. He had been so foolish in money matters, frittering away his once considerable capital in aimless speculations.”) D lines 68–72 (“There . . . old”)(“\months between us,\dear me, yes;—she must be seventy-three. Dear, dear. Fancy Rachel being seventy-three! I always think of her as being about your age. It seems so absurd to think of her as old….\????
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QUESTION 6 OF 11
As used in line 24 (“veneration”), “veneration” most nearly means????????
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A distaste. B reverence. C deference. D awe.
QUESTION 10 OF 11
Which conclusion does Rachel make based on the letter from her aunt?????????
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A Her aunt’s personality is consistent with her father’s stories. B Her father has made up a great deal about her due to his forgetfulness. C Her aunt has taken pity on them and wants to leave them her fortune. D She and her aunt are remarkably alike in personality.
QUESTION 7 OF 11
The primary purpose of paragraph 5 (lines 15–31 (“Rachel's eyelids drooped and her expression indicated a faint, suppressed intolerance of her father's remark. He said the same things so often, and in so
precisely the same tone, that she had formed a habit of automatically rejecting the truth of certain of his statements. He had always appeared to her as senile. He had been over ?fty when she was born, and ever since she could remember she had doubted the correctness of his information. She was, she had often told herself, %ultra-modern.\but none for her father's period. She had long since condemned alike the ethic and the aesthetic of the nineteenth century as represented by her father's opinions; so that, even now, when his familiar comment coincided so queerly with her own thought, she instinctively disbelieved him. Yet, as always, she was gentle in her answer. She condescended from the heights of her youth and vigour to pity him.”)) is to??
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A establish Rachel's lack of interest in ethics and aesthetics.
QUESTION 11 OF 11
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