Question ID c966ad55

Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: c966ad55
The following text is from Srimati Svarna Kumari Devi’s 1894 novel The Fatal Garland (translated by A. Christina Albers in
1910). Shakti is walking near a riverbank that she visited frequently during her childhood.

She crossed the woods she knew so well. The trees seemed to extend their branches like welcoming arms. They
greeted her as an old friend. Soon she reached the river-side.

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

A. It suggests that Shakti feels uncomfortable near the river.

B. It indicates that Shakti has lost her sense of direction in the woods.

C. It emphasizes Shakti’s sense of belonging in the landscape.

D. It conveys Shakti’s appreciation for her long-term friendships.

ID: c966ad55 Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer because it most accurately describes how the underlined sentence functions in the text as a
whole. The first sentence of the text states that Shakti knows the woods she is walking in well. The next sentence, which is
underlined, emphasizes Shakti’s familiarity with, and sense of security within, the woods by describing how the tree branches
are friendly and “welcoming,” as they are depicted as extending open arms to her. The remainder of the text also shows that
Shakti is comfortable and content in the woods by describing her as “an old friend” of the trees. Thus, the function of the
underlined portion is to emphasize Shakti’s sense of belonging in the wooded landscape that she visits.

Choice A is incorrect because the text and underlined portion suggest that Shakti is comfortable, not uncomfortable, in her
surroundings: the trees around her are described as welcoming and reassuring. Moreover, the underlined portion discusses
Shakti’s feelings in the forest, not the river, since she hasn’t reached the river yet. Choice B is incorrect because the text and
underlined portion emphasize Shakti’s familiarity with the woods. The trees are inviting, and she feels like “an old friend” to
the woods, so she isn’t lost or confused there. Choice D is incorrect because the third sentence uses the phrase “as an old
friend” figuratively in reference to Shakti’s sense of familiarity with the landscape, not in reference to her long-standing
friendships with other people, and the text and underlined portion never discuss her feelings about such friendships.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID e13171c4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: e13171c4
Historians Tiya Miles and Roy E. Finkenbine have both documented the assistance Indigenous peoples gave to Black
freedom seekers leaving the South before the US Civil War. Much of the historical evidence of this help comes from
Indigenous oral traditions and from autobiographies written by the freedom seekers. One such narrative is Jermain Loguen’s
autobiography, which tells about how Neshnabé (Potawatomi) villagers offered him food, lodging, and directions during his
1835 journey from Tennessee to Canada.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?

A. It provides an example of an autobiography that describes help given by an Indigenous people to a Black freedom seeker.

B. It shows why Loguen decided to write in great detail about his experiences traveling from Tennessee to Canada in his
autobiography.

C. It argues that autobiographies are particularly important sources of information about geography in the United States
before the Civil War.

D. It suggests that most historians believe that Neshnabé villagers were more successful in assisting freedom seekers than
other people were.

ID: e13171c4 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer. The previous sentence broadly mentions "autobiographies written by the freedom seekers." This
sentence identifies Loguen’s autobiography as a specific example.

Choice B is incorrect. The sentence never explains why Loguen chose to write about his experiences. Choice C is incorrect.
The previous sentence identifies autobiographies as useful sources of historical information about a specific topic, but not
for "information about geography." The underlined sentence provides details of one autobiography as an example of a source
of information about that specific topic (interactions between Indigenous people and Black freedom seekers). Choice D is
incorrect. The text never discusses other specific people who helped freedom seekers, and therefore can’t make a
comparison between the Neshnabé and anyone else.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID 066a3295
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 066a3295
Researchers have found a nearly 164,000-year-old molar from a member of the archaic human species known as
Denisovans in a cave in Laos, suggesting that Denisovans lived in a wider range of environments than indicated by earlier
evidence. Before the discovery, Denisovans were thought to have lived only at high altitudes in relatively cold climates in
what are now Russia and China, but the discovery of the tooth in Laos suggests that they may have lived at low altitudes in
relatively warm climates in Southeast Asia as well.

Which choice best states the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?

A. It dismisses as untrue the research presented in the previous sentence.

B. It defines a term used in the description that follows in the rest of the sentence.

C. It emphasizes the main goal of the research introduced in the previous sentence.

D. It provides context that clarifies the significance of the information that follows in the rest of the sentence.

ID: 066a3295 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer. The text describes how a new discovery expands our understanding of Denisovans. The
underlined portion describes what we used to believe about Denisovans, which helps the reader understand the significance
of the discovery of the molar: it suggests that they lived in more places than we’d previously thought.

Choice A is incorrect. The underlined portion doesn’t do this. Instead, it explains what we used to believe about Denisovans
before the discovery—it doesn’t dismiss the new discovery as false. Choice B is incorrect. The underlined portion doesn’t do
this. No term is defined here. Choice C is incorrect. The underlined portion doesn’t do this. The text never tells us what the
“goal” of the research was, just what its discovery was.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID e929fe98
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: e929fe98
Composer Florence Price won first place for her score Symphony in E Minor at the 1932 Wanamaker Foundation Awards.
The piece was performed the following year by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a significant recognition of its quality.
Price continued to compose many musical pieces throughout her career, blending traditional Black spirituals with classical
European Romantic musical traditions. In recent years, Price’s concertos and symphonies have been performed and
recorded by several major orchestras, further preserving her work for others to enjoy.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To provide examples of Price’s importance as a composer

B. To argue that more major orchestras should perform Price’s compositions

C. To describe the musical styles that inspired many of Price’s symphonies

D. To compare Price’s scores with those of classical European composers

ID: e929fe98 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer. The text provides an overview of Florence Price’s importance by describing her success at the
1932 Wanamaker Foundation Awards, her blending of Black spirituals and classical European Romantic musical traditions,
and the recent performances and recordings of her concertos and symphonies by major orchestras.

Choice B is incorrect. The text does mention that Price’s compositions have been performed and recorded by major
orchestras, but it doesn’t argue that more orchestras should do so. Choice C is incorrect. The text does mention the blending
of Black spirituals and classical European Romantic musical traditions, but only briefly, as part of a broader overview of
Price’s career. Choice D is incorrect. The text mentions Price’s blending of Black spirituals with classical European Romantic
musical traditions, but it doesn’t directly compare Price’s scores with those of classical European composers.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID 2aaee77f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 2aaee77f
Some bird species don’t raise their own chicks. Instead, adult females lay their eggs in other nests, next to another bird
species’ own eggs. Female cuckoos have been seen quickly laying eggs in the nests of other bird species when those birds
are out looking for food. After the eggs hatch, the noncuckoo parents will typically raise the cuckoo chicks as if they were
their own offspring, even if the cuckoos look very different from the other chicks.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It introduces a physical feature of female cuckoos that is described later in the text.

B. It describes the appearance of the cuckoo nests mentioned earlier in the text.

C. It offers a detail about how female cuckoos carry out the behavior discussed in the text.

D. It explains how other birds react to the female cuckoo behavior discussed in the text.

ID: 2aaee77f Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer because it best describes how the underlined sentence functions in the text as a whole. The first
two sentences establish that birds of some species don’t raise their own young; instead, they lay their eggs in the nests of
birds of other species. The underlined sentence then states that female cuckoo birds engage in this behavior, having been
observed specifically laying their eggs in other nests while the other birds are out finding food. According to the text, the
cuckoo chicks are then raised by the other birds. Thus, the underlined sentence provides a particular detail about how female
cuckoos carry out the behavior of laying eggs for other birds to raise.

Choice A is incorrect. Rather than mentioning a physical feature of female cuckoos, the underlined sentence introduces a
specific behavior of female cuckoos: laying eggs in the nests of birds of other species when the other birds are away. The
only reference to physical features is the last sentence’s general mention of cuckoo chicks looking different from chicks of
other species. Choice B is incorrect because the underlined sentence refers to the nests of birds other than cuckoos and
doesn’t describe how any nests look, cuckoo or otherwise. Instead, the sentence addresses how female cuckoos use other
birds’ nests. Choice D is incorrect because the underlined sentence describes only female cuckoo behavior (laying eggs in
the nests of birds of other species when the other birds are away); it’s the last sentence of the text that addresses the other
birds’ reaction, indicating that those birds usually raise the cuckoo chicks once they’ve hatched.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID ea971260
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: ea971260
The following text is adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s 1869 novel An Old-Fashioned Girl. Polly, a teenager, is visiting her
friend Fanny.

Fanny’s friends did not interest Polly much; she was rather afraid of them [because] they seemed so much older and
wiser than herself, even those younger in years. They talked about things of which she knew nothing and when Fanny
tried to explain, she didn’t find them interesting; indeed, some of them rather shocked and puzzled her.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To portray Polly’s reaction to Fanny’s friends

B. To identify the topics Polly talks about with Fanny’s friends

C. To explain how Fanny met some of her friends

D. To illustrate how Fanny’s friends feel about Polly

ID: ea971260 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text, which is to show how Polly
reacted to some of Fanny’s other friends. The text describes Polly as being frightened of Fanny’s friends because they
seemed “much older and wiser” to her and elaborates that they “talked about things of which” Polly was unfamiliar,
uninterested, and shocked. Thus, the main purpose of the text is to describe Polly’s impressions of Fanny’s other friends.

Choice B is incorrect because the text does not provide any of the topics Polly discussed with Fanny’s friends, stating only
that Polly found the topics unfamiliar, uninteresting, and shocking. Choice C is incorrect because the text says nothing about
how Fanny and her other friends first met. Choice D is incorrect because the focus of the text is on Polly’s feelings about
Fanny’s other friends, not on the other friends’ feelings about Polly.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID 9c759a09
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 9c759a09
The following text is from Georgia Douglas Johnson’s 1922 poem “Benediction.”
Go forth, my son,
Winged by my heart’s desire!
Great reaches, yet unknown,
Await
For your possession.
I may not, if I would,
Retrace the way with you,
My pilgrimage is through,
But life is calling you!

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To express hope that a child will have the same accomplishments as his parent did

B. To suggest that raising a child involves many struggles

C. To warn a child that he will face many challenges throughout his life

D. To encourage a child to embrace the experiences life will offer

ID: 9c759a09 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer because it accurately states the text’s main purpose. The poem begins with the speaker urging a
child to “go forth” with her encouragement (“my heart’s desire”). The speaker goes on to suggest that new experiences
(“Great reaches, yet unknown”) lie ahead for the son that “life is calling” him to seek out. Thus, the main purpose is to
encourage a child to embrace the experiences available to him in his life.

Choice A is incorrect because the speaker encourages the child to pursue new experiences (“Great reaches”) without
knowing exactly what those experiences will be (“yet unknown”) or suggesting that they should match the speaker’s own
accomplishments. Choice B is incorrect because the speaker focuses on positive possibilities for her son (“Great reaches,
yet unknown”) and her enthusiastic encouragement to embrace those possibilities (“life is calling you!”), while there is no
mention of raising a child or associated struggles. Choice C is incorrect because the speaker frames the possibilities for her
son in a positive light when she says that “great reaches, yet unknown” are waiting for him, and this positive outlook for the
son is consistent throughout the text.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID a68239ed
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: a68239ed
The following text is adapted from Oscar Wilde’s 1897 nonfiction work De Profundis.

People whose desire is solely for self-realisation never know where they are going. They can’t know. In one sense of the
word it is of course necessary to know oneself: that is the first achievement of knowledge. But to recognise that the
soul of a man is unknowable, is the ultimate achievement of wisdom. The final mystery is oneself. When one has
weighed the sun in the balance, and measured the steps of the moon, and mapped out the seven heavens star by star,
there still remains oneself. Who can calculate the orbit of his own soul?

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a whole?

A. It reinforces the text’s skepticism about the possibility of truly achieving self-knowledge.

B. It speculates that some readers will share the doubts expressed in the text about the value of self-knowledge.

C. It cautions readers that the text’s directions for how to achieve self-knowledge are hard to follow.

D. It concedes that the definition of self-knowledge advanced in the text is unpopular.

ID: a68239ed Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer. The text repeatedly claims that true self-knowledge can’t possibly be achieved, and this
rhetorical question emphasizes that point.

Choice B is incorrect. The underlined question doesn’t do this. The text never expresses doubts about the value of self-
knowledge—rather, the text expresses doubts about the possibility of achieving self-knowledge. Choice C is incorrect. The
underlined question doesn’t do this. The text doesn’t provide directions for how to achieve self-knowledge—rather, it claims
that true self-knowledge is impossible to achieve. Choice D is incorrect. The underlined question doesn’t do this. The text
doesn’t ever define self-knowledge, and popularity isn’t mentioned in the text at all.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID a2dd51c1
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: a2dd51c1
In most building demolitions, the building materials are destroyed and sent to landfills. City officials in Portland, Oregon,
wanted to reduce this waste. The officials passed a law requiring demolition companies to deconstruct some buildings
instead. Deconstruction involves carefully taking buildings apart piece by piece. Damage to the materials is avoided so that
they can be reused in new constructions. A 2019 study found that 27 percent of materials from deconstructions in Portland
were able to be reused. The remaining materials were processed for recycling instead of going to a landfill.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To explain an effort made by the city of Portland to reduce demolition waste and some results of that effort

B. To show that popular support for measures that reduce demolition waste has increased since 2019

C. To argue that building deconstruction is not as effective as other measures at reducing demolition waste

D. To discuss laws aimed to reduce demolition waste in Portland and compare them to similar laws in other cities

ID: a2dd51c1 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer. The author first describes a Portland law aimed at reducing demolition waste, and then goes on
to explain that 27% of materials from building deconstructions were able to be reused and the rest were recycled.

Choice B is incorrect. The text never discusses the popularity of the law. Choice C is incorrect. The text never compares
building deconstruction to other measures designed to reduce demolition waste. Choice D is incorrect. The text never
mentions laws in cities other than Portland, Oregon.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID e5da61f1
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: e5da61f1
The following text is adapted from Charles Chesnutt’s 1899 short story “Mars Jeems’s Nightmare.” The narrator and his wife
have recently moved to the southern United States, and Julius is their carriage driver.

Julius [was] very useful when we moved to our new residence. He had a thorough knowledge of the neighborhood, was
familiar with the roads and the watercourses, knew the qualities of the various soils and what they would produce, and
where the best hunting and fishing were to be had. He was a marvelous hand in the management of horses and dogs.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To compare the narrator’s reaction to a new home with his wife’s reaction

B. To give an example of Julius’s knowledge about soil

C. To show that the narrator and Julius often hunt and fish together

D. To explain different ways in which Julius was helpful

ID: e5da61f1 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text, which is to explain different
ways in which Julius was helpful. The text begins with the narrator stating that Julius was very helpful to him and his wife
when they moved to their new residence. The narrator then provides a list of examples to illustrate Julius’s helpfulness. For
instance, the narrator states that Julius was familiar with the neighborhood’s roads, which suggests that he was helpful in
navigating them, and that Julius helped manage the horses and dogs. The text’s many examples of Julius’s usefulness
reinforce just how helpful he was and in how many different ways.

Choice A is incorrect because the text doesn’t portray either the narrator’s or his wife’s reaction to their new home. Rather,
the text focuses on how Julius was useful to the narrator and his wife in their new home. Choice B is incorrect. Although the
text states that Julius was knowledgeable about the soil, this is one of several supporting details that illustrate how helpful
Julius was. Moreover, the text merely states that Julius was knowledgeable about soil; it doesn’t provide an example of that
knowledge. Choice C is incorrect because there’s nothing in the text to suggest the frequency with which the narrator and
Julius hunted and fished together. In fact, it’s unclear from the text whether the narrator and Julius hunted and fished
together at all. The text merely indicates that Julius knew the best places to hunt and fish—a detail that supports the text’s
main purpose by conveying Julius’s usefulness.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID 0ed94d4c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 0ed94d4c
Jackie Ormes’s Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem (1937–38) was the first comic strip by a Black woman to appear in a widely
read newspaper. The strip tells the story of Torchy, a young woman who leaves Mississippi to become a performer in New
York City. Torchy’s story reflects the experience of the Great Migration (1910–1970), when millions of Black Americans left
the South in search of opportunities in other parts of the United States. Torchy Brown thus shows how Ormes used comics
to comment humorously on issues affecting Black Americans, which she continued to do throughout her career.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To show how Ormes’s Torchy Brown inspired other Black women to write comic strips in the 1930s

B. To illustrate how the subjects Ormes addressed in her comic strips changed over the course of her career

C. To give an example of how Ormes presented the experiences of Black Americans in her comic strips

D. To claim that several characters in Torchy Brown were based on people that Ormes knew personally

ID: 0ed94d4c Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer. The text describes how Torchy Brown depicted the experiences of a young Black woman
experiencing America’s Great Migration. It further states that Ormes continued to use comics throughout her career to
humorously comment on important issues impacting Black Americans.

Choice A is incorrect. The text never mentions other Black women comic strip writers. Choice B is incorrect. The text never
mentions any changes in the subjects Ormes addressed. Choice D is incorrect. The text never mentions the inspiration for
characters in Torchy Brown.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID fcc328c6
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: fcc328c6
Streams and rivers carry soil and rocks from one location to another. But there is another way for these geological materials
to move. Scientists call this process “aeolian transport.” In aeolian transport, winds move small particles of soil or rock over
potentially great distances. Geologist Melisa Diaz and her team studied dust in Antarctica to find out if it was moved by
aeolian transport. They discovered that the dust matched geological material in Australia. Aeolian transport had carried it
from one continent to another, across thousands of miles of open ocean.

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

A. It presents Melisa Diaz’s remarks about difficulties that her team encountered.

B. It introduces a scientific term that is used in the discussion that follows.

C. It emphasizes the surprising nature of the findings that are presented.

D. It explains the difference between two kinds of geological material.

ID: fcc328c6 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer because it most accurately describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a
whole. The first two sentences introduce the idea that soil and rocks can be moved from one location to another by
something other than rivers and streams. The underlined sentence then states that the term used by scientists to refer to
this process is “aeolian transport.” The discussion that follows explains what aeolian transport is (the movement of small
geological materials over potentially great distances by the wind) and describes an example of a study that found that dust
particles had been moved by aeolian transport from Australia to Antarctica. Thus, the underlined portion introduces a
scientific term that is used in the discussion that follows.

Choice A is incorrect because the underlined portion of the text doesn’t present any remarks from Melisa Diaz, nor does it
suggest that Diaz and her team encountered difficulties in their study. Instead, the phrase in quotation marks in the
underlined portion simply presents a term that is used by scientists to refer to a specific process discussed in the
text. Choice C is incorrect because nothing in either the underlined portion or the text as a whole suggests that the findings
of the study presented in the text were surprising or unexpected. In fact, the text suggests that Diaz and her team wanted to
see if aeolian transport could explain the appearance of certain geological materials in Antarctica, and their findings did
indeed confirm the involvement of aeolian transport. Choice D is incorrect. Although the first sentence of the text mentions
soil and rocks, which are two different kinds of geological material, the underlined portion doesn’t refer to these materials,
nor does it explain the difference between them. Rather, the underlined portion introduces the scientific term “aeolian
transport,” which is used in the discussion that follows.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID 56ec23a0
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 56ec23a0
Hiroshi Senju is known worldwide for his paintings of waterfalls. These paintings are large and tend not to show the entire
waterfall. Instead, Senju focuses on just the point where the falling water reaches the pool below, keeping the top of the
waterfall out of view. While Senju’s paintings are rooted in art movements originating in the United States, the artist uses
traditional Japanese techniques and materials that make his work instantly recognizable.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It introduces an artist and then explains some common characteristics of well-known paintings by that artist.

B. It explains a specific painting technique and then provides examples of artists who use the technique.

C. It describes a famous painting and then compares it to a lesser-known painting from the same time period.

D. It gives an opinion on an artist and then suggests multiple reasons why the artist’s work has been largely overlooked.

ID: 56ec23a0 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer. The first sentence introduces Senju as a famous artist, while the next three sentences describe
the defining features of his art, such as it only showing part of the waterfall and its origins in US art movements and
Japanese techniques.

Choice B is incorrect. The text doesn’t provide examples of any other artists who use Senju’s techniques. Choice C is
incorrect. The text doesn’t describe any single famous painting or make comparisons between paintings. Choice D is
incorrect. The text doesn’t provide an opinion on Senju (just facts), nor does it suggest that his art has been overlooked—in
fact, it states that he is “known worldwide.”

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID 1c6b1fa0
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 1c6b1fa0
In 1801, a Blackfoot chief named Ac Ko Mok Ki drew a finely detailed map of the Upper Missouri region. This work
demonstrates a vast amount of topographic knowledge, as the map features specific names of mountains and rivers, as well
as the first-known sketch of the drainage network of the Missouri River. The map is especially notable because Ac Ko Mok Ki
also included details about the numerous tribes that lived in the area.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It emphasizes Ac Ko Mok Ki’s desire to represent other tribes on the map.

B. It explains how Ac Ko Mok Ki developed an interest in mapmaking.

C. It identifies some reasons why the map is impressive.

D. It details how the map was used for hunting and trading purposes.

ID: 1c6b1fa0 Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer because it best describes how the underlined sentence functions in the text as a whole. The text
presents information about a map drawn by Blackfoot chief Ac Ko Mok Ki in 1801. The underlined sentence states that the
map "demonstrates a vast amount of topographic knowledge" and mentions that it features the "specific names of
mountains and rivers" and includes the first-known sketch of the Missouri River’s drainage network. These are all
characteristics that indicate that the map was executed with remarkable skill. Thus, the underlined sentence identifies some
reasons why the map is impressive.

Choice A is incorrect. Though the sentence after the underlined sentence in the text mentions that Ac Ko Mok Ki included
information about other tribes on his map, the underlined sentence itself does not address this topic. Choice B is incorrect
because nothing in the underlined sentence indicates how Ac Ko Mok Ki became interested in mapmaking, only that his
mapmaking skills are impressive. Choice D is incorrect because though the underlined sentence describes several features
of the map, it does not specifically describe how the map was used.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID 1782cdd7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 1782cdd7
In many agricultural environments, the banks of streams are kept forested to protect water quality, but it’s been unclear what
effects these forests may have on stream biodiversity. To investigate the issue, biologist Xingli Giam and colleagues studied
an Indonesian oil palm plantation, comparing the species richness of forested streams with that of nonforested streams.
Giam and colleagues found that species richness was significantly higher in forested streams, a finding the researchers
attribute to the role leaf litter plays in sheltering fish from predators and providing food resources.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It discusses research intended to settle a debate about how agricultural yields can be increased without negative effects
on water quality.

B. It explains the differences between stream-protection strategies used in oil palm plantations and stream-protection
strategies used in other kinds of agricultural environments.

C. It describes findings that challenge a previously held view about how fish that inhabit streams in agricultural
environments attempt to avoid predators.

D. It presents a study that addresses an unresolved question about the presence of forests along streams in agricultural
environments.

ID: 1782cdd7 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer. The author first describes an unresolved question: what effect do bank forests have on stream
biodiversity? Then the author presents a study that answers the question: bank forests increase stream biodiversity.

Choice A is incorrect. This isn’t the main purpose of the text. The text never mentions agricultural yields. Choice B is
incorrect. This isn’t the main purpose of the text. The text never mentions other kinds of agricultural environments. Choice C
is incorrect. This isn’t the main purpose of the text. The text never mentions any previously held view about how fish in these
streams try to avoid predators.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID 02e49a0c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 02e49a0c
Genetic studies have led researchers to suggest that turtles are most closely related to the group that includes modern
crocodiles. But studies of fossils have suggested instead that turtles are most closely related to other groups, such as the
one that contains modern snakes. However, many of the fossil studies have relied on incomplete data sets. For a 2022
investigation, biologist Tiago R. Simões and colleagues examined more than 1,000 reptile fossils collected worldwide. From
this large data set, they found clear agreement with the results of the genetic studies.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?

A. It offers an overview of the tools scientists use to examine fossils.

B. It describes a limitation of some studies about the origin of turtles.

C. It summarizes previous research on the evolution of crocodiles.

D. It criticizes a widely held belief about genetic studies of reptiles.

ID: 02e49a0c Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer. The sentence mentions that some fossil studies have relied on incomplete data sets,
suggesting that these studies are limited in what they can tell us about turtles’ origins.

Choice A is incorrect. While the sentence mentions the incompleteness of the data sets studied, it doesn’t mention any tools
or techniques used to examine fossils. Choice C is incorrect. The sentence doesn’t mention anything about the evolution of
crocodiles. Choice D is incorrect. This sentence doesn’t directly mention or criticize any "widely held belief," and it focuses on
a limitation of fossil studies of reptiles, not genetic studies.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID 9421ed62
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 9421ed62
In 2007, computer scientist Luis von Ahn was working on converting printed books into a digital format. He found that some
words were distorted enough that digital scanners couldn’t recognize them, but most humans could easily read them. Based
on that finding, von Ahn invented a simple security test to keep automated “bots” out of websites. The first version of the
reCAPTCHA test asked users to type one known word and one of the many words scanners couldn’t recognize. Correct
answers proved the users were humans and added data to the book-digitizing project.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To discuss von Ahn’s invention of reCAPTCHA

B. To explain how digital scanners work

C. To call attention to von Ahn’s book-digitizing project

D. To indicate how popular reCAPTCHA is

ID: 9421ed62 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately states the main purpose of the text. After providing a brief
introduction to computer scientist Luis von Ahn, the text focuses on discussing how von Ahn’s digitization work led to the
invention of a digital security test known as reCAPTCHA.

Choice B is incorrect because the text doesn’t address how digital scanners work. Choice C is incorrect. Although the text
mentions von Ahn’s book-digitizing project, that information is provided as a detail, not as the main purpose of the text.
Choice D is incorrect because the text doesn’t provide any indication of reCAPTCHA’s popularity; instead, it describes
reCAPTCHA’s origin.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID 5e732e67
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 5e732e67
Many films from the early 1900s have been lost. These losses include several films by the first wave of Black women
filmmakers. We know about these lost movies only from small pieces of evidence. For example, an advertisement for Jennie
Louise Touissant Welcome’s documentary Doing Their Bit still exists. There’s a reference in a magazine to Tressie Souders’s
film A Woman’s Error. And Maria P. Williams’s The Flames of Wrath is mentioned in a letter and a newspaper article, and one
image from the movie was discovered in the 1990s.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The text identifies a complex problem, then presents examples of unsuccessful attempts to solve that problem.

B. The text summarizes a debate among researchers, then gives reasons for supporting one side in that debate.

C. The text describes a general situation, then illustrates that situation with specific examples.

D. The text discusses several notable individuals, then explains commonly overlooked differences between those
individuals.

ID: 5e732e67 Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer. The first three sentences describe the general situation: these early films have been lost, and we
only know about them from small pieces of evidence. The rest of the text offers specific examples of the small pieces of
evidence.

Choice A is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. The fact that we only know about these lost early films from small
pieces of evidence isn’t presented as a “complex problem”—that’s too extreme. And the examples presented are not
“unsuccessful attempts” to solve it. If anything, the examples represent a success, because we discovered that these films
existed in the first place. Choice B is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. There’s no “debate” presented in the text, so
there’s no “side” for the text to support. Choice D is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. The text doesn’t discuss any
“differences” between the filmmakers.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID c8603ed7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: c8603ed7
San Francisco is known for the colorful murals painted on many of its buildings. The densest collection of murals is found
on Balmy Alley in the Mission District neighborhood. In the 1970s, Latina artists painted vivid scenes of community life on
walls along this block. As the original murals have faded, later generations of artists have painted new ones over them. As a
result, Balmy Alley has become a living showcase of San Francisco’s artistic spirit, with its murals reflecting changes in the
cultural life of the city.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To compare the Balmy Alley murals to other murals in San Francisco

B. To offer an overview of the history and importance of the Balmy Alley murals

C. To urge people to protect the murals of San Francisco from decay

D. To describe the rise of mural painting in San Francisco beginning in the 1970s

ID: c8603ed7 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer because it best states the main purpose of the text. The text begins by briefly stating that San
Francisco is known for its murals, then transitions to a discussion of a single collection of murals, which is found on Balmy
Alley in the city’s Mission District. The text explains that the murals in this area were originally created in the 1970s, then
observes that they have changed over time: as some have faded through the decades, others have been painted in their
place. The text ends by emphasizing that these murals are significant because they reflect San Francisco’s artistic spirit and
cultural life. Therefore, the text provides an overview of the history and importance of the Balmy Alley murals.

Choice A is incorrect. Although it can be inferred from the text that there are murals in other areas of San Francisco besides
Balmy Alley, the text doesn’t specifically discuss murals in other areas or compare the murals of Balmy Alley to those in other
areas. Choice C is incorrect. By observing that some of the murals of Balmy Alley have been replaced due to fading, the text
implies that murals can decay, but it never urges readers to protect this specific collection of murals—or any murals
elsewhere in San Francisco, for that matter. Indeed, by describing the ever-changing murals of Balmy Alley as “a living
showcase of San Francisco’s artistic spirit,” the text emphasizes the positive aspects of the fact that the original Balmy Alley
murals have faded and been replaced with new murals. Choice D is incorrect because the text doesn’t describe the rise of
mural painting in San Francisco generally or note when this occurred. The only historical development of the 1970s
mentioned in the text is the origin of the murals in a specific area of the city: Balmy Alley in the Mission District.

Question Difficulty: Easy

Question ID b13378c8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: b13378c8
Early in the Great Migration of 1910–1970, which involved the mass migration of Black people from the southern to the
northern United States, political activist and Chicago Defender writer Fannie Barrier Williams was instrumental in helping
other Black women establish themselves in the North. Many women hoped for better employment opportunities in the North
because, in the South, they faced much competition for domestic employment and men tended to get agricultural work. To
aid with this transition, Barrier Williams helped secure job placement in the North for many women before they even began
their journey.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To introduce and illustrate Barrier Williams’s integral role in supporting other Black women as their circumstances
changed during part of the Great Migration

B. To establish that Barrier Williams used her professional connections to arrange employment for other Black women,
including jobs with the Chicago Defender

C. To demonstrate that the factors that motivated the start of the Great Migration were different for Black women than they
were for Black men

D. To provide an overview of the employment challenges faced by Black women in the agricultural and domestic spheres in
the southern United States

ID: b13378c8 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the text’s purpose, which is to discuss the important role
Barrier Williams played in supporting many other Black women as they relocated to the northern United States during the
early years of the Great Migration. After introducing Barrier Williams, the text describes how she helped find jobs for other
Black women, who in many cases relocated in search of better employment prospects than the South could offer at the time.
The text indicates that by doing so, she eased these women’s transition as their circumstances changed.

Choice B is incorrect. Although the text mentions Barrier Williams’s work as a political activist and writer for the Chicago
Defender, it doesn’t discuss any professional connections she made in these roles or indicate that she used any such
connections in her work to secure employment for other Black women. Choice C is incorrect. Although the text discusses a
factor that caused many women to relocate during the Great Migration, their difficulty finding employment in the South, the
text doesn’t indicate that this factor motivated the start of the Great Migration. Moreover, the text doesn’t discuss the factors
that motivated Black men to migrate. Choice D is incorrect. Although the text mentions the difficult employment prospects
for Black women in the domestic and agricultural sectors in the South during the Great Migration, the text’s main purpose
isn’t to provide an overview of the employment challenges Black women faced in these sectors. Rather, it provides this
information to show that Barrier Williams played a crucial role in supporting many Black women who relocated to the North
by helping them achieve one of their main goals, securing a job.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 236fee8e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 236fee8e
Archeological excavation of Market Street Chinatown, a nineteenth-century Chinese American community in San Jose,
California, provided the first evidence that Asian food products were imported to the United States in the 1800s: bones from
a freshwater fish species native to Southeast Asia. Jinshanzhuang—Hong Kong–based import/export firms—likely
coordinated the fish’s transport from Chinese-operated fisheries in Vietnam and Malaysia to North American markets. This
route reveals the (often overlooked) multinational dimensions of the trade networks linking Chinese diaspora communities.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It explains why efforts to determine the country of origin of the items mentioned in the previous sentence remain
inconclusive.

B. It provides information that helps support a claim about a discovery’s significance that is presented in the following
sentence.

C. It traces the steps that were taken to locate and recover the objects that are described in the previous sentence.

D. It outlines a hypothesis that additional evidence discussed in the following sentence casts some doubt on.

ID: 236fee8e Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer. The underlined sentence provides information about import/export firms, showing how Chinese
communities across the world were connected by trade routes.

Choice A is incorrect. The underlined sentence never suggests that the countries of origin of the fish are in question—in fact,
it tells us exactly where they came from. Choice C is incorrect. The passage never describes the steps taken to discover the
fish bones described in the previous sentence. Choice D is incorrect. The underlined sentence doesn’t outline a hypothesis
but instead provides evidence. And the following sentence agrees with the underlined sentence, so we could eliminate this
choice just for saying that the following sentence "casts some doubt on" the underlined one—partly wrong is all wrong.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 2903a041
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 2903a041
Using NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Mercedes López-Morales and colleagues measured the
wavelengths of light traveling through the atmosphere of WASP-39b, an exoplanet, or planet outside our solar system.
Different molecules absorb different wavelengths of light, and the wavelength measurements showed the presence of
carbon dioxide (CO₂) in WASP-39b’s atmosphere. This finding not only offers the first decisive evidence of CO₂ in the
atmosphere of an exoplanet but also illustrates the potential for future scientific breakthroughs held by the JWST.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It discusses a method used by some researchers, then states why an alternative method is superior to it.

B. It describes how researchers made a scientific discovery, then explains the importance of that discovery.

C. It outlines the steps taken in a scientific study, then presents a hypothesis based on that study.

D. It examines how a group of scientists reached a conclusion, then shows how other scientists have challenged that
conclusion.

ID: 2903a041 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer. The text begins by describing how the researchers used the JWST to detect CO₂ in WASP-39b’s
atmosphere. Then the text discusses the significance of this finding, both as the first evidence of CO₂ in an exoplanet’s
atmosphere and as an illustration of the JWST’s potential for making new discoveries in general.

Choice A is incorrect. The text doesn’t compare two different methods, but rather focuses on one study that used the JWST.
Choice C is incorrect. The text doesn’t present a hypothesis, but rather reports on the findings of a study. Choice D is
incorrect. The text doesn’t mention any scientists challenging the conclusion reached by López-Morales and colleagues.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 47598085
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 47598085
Yawn contagion occurs when one individual yawns in response to another’s yawn. Studies of this behavior in primates have
focused on populations in captivity, but biologist Elisabetta Palagi and her colleagues have shown that it can occur in wild
primate populations as well. In their study, which focused on a wild population of gelada monkeys (Theropithecus gelada) in
Ethiopia, the researchers further reported that yawn contagion most commonly occurred in males and across different
social groups instead of within a single social group.

Which choice best describes the function of the first sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It defines a phenomenon that is discussed in the text.

B. It introduces a problem that is examined in the text.

C. It makes a claim that is challenged in the text.

D. It presents a hypothesis that is evaluated in the text.

ID: 47598085 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes how the first sentence functions in the text as a whole.
The first sentence introduces what yawn contagion is, explaining that it occurs when an individual yawns in response to the
yawn of another individual. The text goes on to describe Elisabetta Palagi and her colleagues’ study of this phenomenon in a
wild population of gelada monkeys. According to the text, the study showed that wild primate populations experience yawn
contagion and that the behavior occurs most commonly in male monkeys and across social groups. Thus, the function of
the first sentence is to define the phenomenon of yawn contagion that is discussed in the text.

Choice B is incorrect. Although the first sentence introduces the text’s discussion of yawn contagion, it doesn’t present this
behavior, or anything else, as a problem. Choice C is incorrect because the first sentence doesn’t present a claim but instead
explains what yawn contagion is. Moreover, the text doesn’t challenge anything; it’s an informative text that describes the
findings of a research study about yawning in wild primate populations. Choice D is incorrect. Although the text describes a
scientific study, and most scientific studies are guided by a hypothesis, the text doesn’t say what Palagi and her colleagues’
hypothesis was; the text discusses their findings instead.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID ff97fd53
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: ff97fd53
In 1973, poet Miguel Algarín started inviting other writers who, like him, were Nuyorican—a term for New Yorkers of Puerto
Rican heritage—to gather in his apartment to present their work. The gatherings were so well attended that Algarín soon had
to rent space in a cafe to accommodate them. Thus, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe was born. Moving to a permanent location in
1981, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its original scope beyond the written word, hosting art exhibitions and musical
performances as well. Half a century since its inception, it continues to foster emerging Nuyorican talent.

Which choice best describes the overall purpose of the text?

A. To explain what motivated Algarín to found the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

B. To situate the Nuyorican Poets Cafe within the cultural life of New York as a whole

C. To discuss why the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its scope to include art and music

D. To provide an overview of the founding and mission of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

ID: ff97fd53 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer. The text presents a brief history of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, from how it got started in the ’70s,
to its expansion in the ’80s, to its ongoing mission today.

Choice A is incorrect. This isn’t the overall purpose. The text never mentions Algarín’s motivations. Choice B is incorrect. This
isn’t the overall purpose. The text never discusses the cultural life of New York as a whole. Choice C is incorrect. This is too
narrow. One sentence mentions that the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its scope to include art and music, but this is only
one point in the broader history of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, which is the overall focus of the text.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID acb852e7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: acb852e7
The following text is from the 1923 poem “Black Finger” by Angelina Weld Grimké, a Black American writer. A cypress is a
type of evergreen tree.
I have just seen a most beautiful thing,
Slim and still,
Against a gold, gold sky,
A straight black cypress,
Sensitive,
Exquisite,
A black finger
Pointing upwards.
Why, beautiful still finger, are you black?
And why are you pointing upwards?

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The speaker assesses a natural phenomenon, then questions the accuracy of her assessment.

B. The speaker describes a distinctive sight in nature, then ponders what meaning to attribute to that sight.

C. The speaker presents an outdoor scene, then considers a human behavior occurring within that scene.

D. The speaker examines her surroundings, then speculates about their influence on her emotional state.

ID: acb852e7 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer because it most accurately describes the overall structure of the text. First, the speaker
describes observing a “most beautiful” sight: a tree (“black cypress”) standing out from the golden sky behind it, looking like
a person’s finger “pointing upwards” and appearing “sensitive” and “exquisite.” Then the speaker wonders about the image’s
meaning, asking why the finger is black and why it’s pointing upward. Thus, the text moves from the speaker’s description of
a distinctive sight in nature to her pondering about what meaning to attribute to that sight.

Choice A is incorrect because the speaker assesses a natural sight—a “black cypress” tree standing “against a gold, gold
sky” like a pointed finger—but doesn’t question the accuracy of her own assessment. Although she wonders why the finger,
which is really a tree, is black and why it’s pointing, the speaker doesn’t suggest that her belief that the tree resembles a
finger is wrong. Choice C is incorrect. Although the speaker describes seeing a “black cypress” tree standing “against a gold,
gold sky” like a pointed finger, she wonders about that natural image (asking why the finger, which is really a tree, is black
and why it’s pointing) and doesn’t give any indication that any people are present in the scene. Choice D is incorrect.
Although the speaker examines and wonders about one thing in her surroundings—a “black cypress” tree standing “against a
gold, gold sky” like a pointed finger—she doesn’t address her own emotional state or consider how it’s affected by her
surroundings.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 6f5fc289
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 6f5fc289
The following text is adapted from Charles Dickens’s 1854 novel Hard Times. Coketown is a fictional town in England.
[Coketown] contained several large streets all very like one another, and many small streets still more like one another,
inhabited by people equally like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same sound upon the same
pavements, to do the same work, and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and tomorrow, and every year the
counterpart of the last and the next.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To emphasize the uniformity of both the town and the people who live there

B. To explain the limited work opportunities available to the town’s residents

C. To reveal how the predictability of the town makes it easy for people lose track of time

D. To argue that the simplicity of life in the town makes it a pleasant place to live

ID: 6f5fc289 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer. The author describes Coketown as having streets that are all very similar and residents who live
similarly and do the same work. This repetition of similarities emphasizes how everything in Coketown is alike.

Choice B is incorrect. While the text mentions that all the residents “do the same work,” it never explains what that work is or
why everyone does it. Besides, the idea that they all do the same work is just one of several similarities among the
townspeople described in the text. Choice C is incorrect. While the last sentence states that “every day was the same as
yesterday and tomorrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next,” it never suggests that people actually “lose
track of time.” This is also too narrow to be the main idea, since time is just one of many aspects of Coketown that the text
describes as always being the same. Choice D is incorrect. The text never mentions whether life is simple in Coketown, and
the town sounds as though it’s probably a pretty dull place to live, rather than a pleasant one.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 2b085bc6
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 2b085bc6
The following text is adapted from Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 1902 novel The Sport of the Gods. Joe and some of his family
members have recently moved to New York City.

[Joe] was wild with enthusiasm and with a desire to be a part of all that the metropolis meant. In the evening he saw the
young fellows passing by dressed in their spruce clothes, and he wondered with a sort of envy where they could be
going. Back home there had been no place much worth going to, except church and one or two people’s houses.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It illustrates a character’s reaction to a new environment.

B. It explains why a character has traveled to a city.

C. It compares a character’s thoughts about an event at two different times of day.

D. It presents a character feeling regret over leaving home.

ID: 2b085bc6 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text. The narrator describes how
Joe responds to being in “the metropolis”: he’s excited and “wild with enthusiasm.” He also envies the young fellows who
walk by because, dressed as they are, they look as if they have somewhere special to go. The text contrasts this new place
with the place Joe comes from, where apparently there wasn’t as much to do. Thus, the main purpose of the text is to
illustrate Joe’s reaction to a new environment.

Choice B is incorrect because the text makes no reference to why Joe has moved. The narrator indicates that Joe is
enthusiastic about being in a city, but there’s no explanation provided for the move. Choice C is incorrect because the text
makes no reference to how Joe thinks about an event. The narrator describes young men passing by in the evening and then
recalls places worth going to at home—church and a few people’s houses—but there’s no explicit comparison made nor is a
time of day mentioned for these events back home. Choice D is incorrect because the text doesn’t support the idea that Joe
feels regret over leaving home. Instead, Joe is described as “wild with enthusiasm” at being in the city. Joe’s home is
mentioned, but only to compare it unfavorably with the city.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID c4900368
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: c4900368
The following text is from the 1924 poem “Cycle” by D’Arcy McNickle, who was a citizen of the Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes.
There shall be new roads wending,
A new beating of the drum—
Men’s eyes shall have fresh seeing,
Grey lives reprise their span—
But under the new sun’s being,
Completing what night began,
There’ll be the same backs bending,
The same sad feet shall drum—
When this night finds its ending
And day shall have come.....

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To consider how the repetitiveness inherent in human life can be both rewarding and challenging

B. To question whether activities completed at one time of day are more memorable than those completed at another time
of day

C. To refute the idea that joy is a more commonly experienced emotion than sadness is

D. To demonstrate how the experiences of individuals relate to the experiences of their communities

ID: c4900368 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it accurately states the main purpose of the text. The text begins by discussing the
promise of the future, with positive references to renewal such as “new roads,” “new beating of the drum,” and “fresh seeing.”
But with the “new sun,” the text continues, there will still be “the same backs bending” and “the same sad feet” drumming,
indicating that these difficulties will follow people into this new day. The poem thus considers both the rewards and
challenges associated with the repetitiveness of human life.

Choice B is incorrect because the text doesn’t say anything about how memorable activities are, let alone compare the
memorability of activities completed at different times of the day. Choice C is incorrect. Although the text contrasts hope
with difficulty, it does not compare the relative frequency of joyful feelings with that of sad feelings. Choice D is incorrect
because the text makes no distinction between the experiences of individuals and the experiences of their communities.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 74446089
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 74446089
For his 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies, Beverly Glenn-Copeland wrote songs grounded in traditional soul and folk music,
then accompanied them with futuristic synthesizer arrangements featuring ambient sounds and complex rhythms. The
result was so strange, so unprecedented, that the album attracted little attention when first released. In recent years,
however, a younger generation of musicians has embraced the stylistic experimentation of Keyboard Fantasies. Alternative
R&B musicians Blood Orange and Moses Sumney, among other contemporary recording artists, cite the album as an
influence.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It urges contemporary musicians to adopt the unique sound of Keyboard Fantasies.

B. It responds to criticism of Keyboard Fantasies by some younger musicians.

C. It offers examples of younger musicians whose work has been impacted by Keyboard Fantasies.

D. It contrasts Keyboard Fantasies with the recordings of two younger musicians.

ID: 74446089 Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer because it most accurately describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a
whole. The text’s subject is Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies, notable for its innovative,
experimental arrangements. According to the text, the album was not initially admired, but in recent years it has become
popular among younger musicians. The underlined portion of the text mentions two of those musicians, Blood Orange and
Moses Sumney, who “cite the album as an influence.” Therefore, the underlined portion of the text offers examples of
younger musicians whose work has been impacted by Keyboard Fantasies.

Choice A is incorrect because even though the underlined sentence states that Blood Orange and Moses Sumney were
influenced by Keyboard Fantasies, it doesn’t say that all other musicians should also embrace the album’s experimental style.
Choice B is incorrect. Although the text states that Keyboard Fantasies was not admired on its first release, the text doesn’t
present any criticism of the album by younger musicians: it only presents two younger musicians who cite it as an influence.
Choice D is incorrect because the underlined sentence doesn’t mention any differences between Keyboard Fantasies and the
work of Blood Orange and Moses Sumney.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID f2c48e47
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: f2c48e47
The following text is from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1910 poem “The Earth’s Entail.”
No matter how we cultivate the land,
Taming the forest and the prairie free;
No matter how we irrigate the sand,
Making the desert blossom at command,
We must always leave the borders of the sea;
The immeasureable reaches
Of the windy wave-wet beaches,
The million-mile-long margin of the sea.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The speaker argues against interfering with nature and then gives evidence supporting this interference.

B. The speaker presents an account of efforts to dominate nature and then cautions that such efforts are only temporary.

C. The speaker provides examples of an admirable way of approaching nature and then challenges that approach.

D. The speaker describes attempts to control nature and then offers a reminder that not all nature is controllable.

ID: f2c48e47 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer. This best describes the overall structure of the text. In the first half of the text, the speaker
describes our attempts to control nature: cultivating, taming, and irrigating different kinds of land. In the second half, the
speaker states that we can never tame the sea or the beach.

Choice A is incorrect. This doesn’t describe the overall structure of the text. The speaker never argues that we should not
interfere with nature. Rather, the speaker says that we are able to tame many different kinds of land, but we are unable to
tame the sea or beaches. Choice B is incorrect. This doesn’t describe the overall structure of the text. The speaker never
describes our cultivation, taming, and irrigation of land as “temporary.” Rather, the speaker says that we are able to tame
many different kinds of land, but we are unable to tame the sea or beaches. Choice C is incorrect. This doesn’t describe the
overall structure of the text. The speaker never describes our cultivation, taming, and irrigation of land as an “admirable”
approach to nature.” Rather, the speaker says that we are able to tame many different kinds of land, but we are unable to
tame the sea or beaches.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID c0e1b70a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: c0e1b70a
The following text is adapted from Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto’s 1925 memoir A Daughter of the Samurai. As a young woman,
Sugimoto moved from feudal Japan to the United States.

The standards of my own and my adopted country differed so widely in some ways, and my love for both lands was so
sincere, that sometimes I had an odd feeling of standing upon a cloud in space, and gazing with measuring eyes upon
two separate worlds. At first I was continually trying to explain, by Japanese standards, all the queer things that came
every day before my surprised eyes; for no one seemed to know the origin or significance of even the most familiar
customs, nor why they existed and were followed.

Which choice best describes the main purpose of the text?

A. To convey the narrator’s experience of observing and making sense of differences between two cultures she embraces

B. To establish the narrator’s hope of forming connections with new companions by sharing customs she learned as a child

C. To reveal the narrator’s recognition that she is hesitant to ask questions about certain aspects of a culture she is newly
encountering

D. To emphasize the narrator’s wonder at discovering that the physical distance between two countries is greater than she
had expected

ID: c0e1b70a Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text. The narrator asserts that she
loves both her “own” country (Japan) and her “adopted country” (the United States) even though the two countries differ
“widely.” She also indicates that, at first, she would try to explain unfamiliar experiences that she had in the United States
using the standards ingrained in her from growing up in Japan. Thus, the main purpose of the text is to convey the narrator’s
experience of observing and making sense of the differences between two cultures she embraces.

Choice B is incorrect because the text makes no reference to possible companions. Although the text does indicate that the
narrator sometimes used the cultural framework she acquired growing up in Japan to explain some experiences she’s had,
there is no suggestion that this was in service of making friends. And although “no one seemed to know” strongly implies
that the narrator has interacted with other people in the United States, there is no indication that these conversations
involved her discussing Japanese customs. Choice C is incorrect because nothing in the text suggests that the narrator was
hesitant to ask questions. In fact, the narrator indicates that “no one seemed to know the origin” of various customs, which
provides evidence that, rather than being hesitant, she sought information from several people. Choice D is incorrect
because the text makes no reference to the physical distance between Japan and the United States. Although the narrator
indicates that the two countries differ “widely” and likens them to “two separate worlds,” these descriptions relate to cultural
aspects of the countries and the narrator’s feelings about the two countries, not the physical distance between them.
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 749f3334
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 749f3334
The following text is from Charlotte Forten Grimké’s 1888 poem “At Newport.”
Oh, deep delight to watch the gladsome waves
Exultant leap upon the rugged rocks;
Ever repulsed, yet ever rushing on—
Filled with a life that will not know defeat;
To see the glorious hues of sky and sea.
The distant snowy sails, glide spirit like,
Into an unknown world, to feel the sweet
Enchantment of the sea thrill all the soul,
Clearing the clouded brain, making the heart
Leap joyous as it own bright, singing waves!

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

A. It portrays the surroundings as an imposing and intimidating scene.

B. It characterizes the sea’s waves as a relentless and enduring force.

C. It conveys the speaker’s ambivalence about the natural world.

D. It draws a contrast between the sea’s waves and the speaker’s thoughts.

ID: 749f3334 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer because it most accurately describes how the underlined portion functions in the text as a
whole. The text presents the speaker’s experience of viewing the sea. In the underlined portion, the speaker focuses on the
idea that the waves hitting rocks on the shore are a relentless and enduring force: they are constantly pushed back (“ever
repulsed”) but always return (“ever rushing on”), as though they have an energy that can’t be overcome (“a life that will not
know defeat”).

Choice A is incorrect. Although the underlined portion characterizes the waves as a relentless force (always “repulsed” but
still “rushing on” and never being defeated), the speaker doesn’t suggest that the surroundings are intimidating. Instead, the
speaker presents the scene in a positive way, describing the “deep delight” of the “gladsome,” or cheerful, waves and feeling
“the heart / Leap joyous” while viewing the sea. Choice C is incorrect because the underlined portion doesn’t suggest that
the speaker is ambivalent, or has mixed feelings about, the natural world. Instead, it presents a single view of one part of the
immediate surroundings: the speaker characterizes the sea’s waves as an unstoppable force, since they are constantly
pushed back but always return (“ever repulsed, yet ever rushing on”). Choice D is incorrect. Although the text later suggests
the speaker’s view of her own thoughts by referring to a “clouded brain” and a heart that leaps joyously, this reference neither
occurs within the underlined portion nor establishes a clear contrast with the relentless determination of the waves. The
underlined portion addresses only the speaker’s view of the waves and doesn’t suggest what her own thoughts might be.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 54c6128b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 54c6128b
When ancient oak planks were unearthed during subway construction in Rome, Mauro Bernabei and his team examined the
growth rings in the wood to determine where these planks came from. By comparing the growth rings on the planks to
records of similar rings in oaks from Europe, the team could trace the wood to the Jura region of France, hundreds of
kilometers from Rome. Because timber could only have been transported from distant Jura to Rome by boat, the team’s
findings suggest the complexity of Roman trade routes.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It presents a conclusion about Roman trade routes based on the team’s findings.

B. It questions how the team was able to conclude that the planks were used to build a boat.

C. It explains why the planks were made from oak rather than a different kind of wood.

D. It describes common methods used in Roman subway construction.

ID: 54c6128b Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes how the underlined sentence functions in the text as a
whole. The first sentence explains that Bernabei and his team studied growth rings to obtain information about the ancient
oak planks found during a construction project in Rome. The next sentence presents what the researchers learned: the wood
from the planks came from France’s Jura region, which is far from Rome. The underlined sentence then presents the
implications of the findings about the planks: the wood must have been brought to Rome by boat, a difficult task that
suggests Roman trade routes were complex. Thus, the underlined sentence mainly functions to present a conclusion about
Roman trade routes based on the team’s findings.

Choice B is incorrect because the text doesn’t suggest that the team thought the ancient planks were used in the
construction of a boat, nor does the underlined sentence question that conclusion. Instead, the text states that the wood
could only have been transported from Jura to Rome in a boat. Choice C is incorrect because the underlined sentence simply
offers a conclusion drawn from the team’s findings about the likely place of origin of the ancient planks; the text never
mentions why oak was chosen for the planks instead of other wood. Choice D is incorrect because neither the underlined
sentence nor the text as a whole addresses any methods that Romans used in constructing subways. Instead, the underlined
sentence offers a conclusion drawn from the team’s findings about the likely place of origin of the ancient wooden planks
discovered.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID a2be625e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: a2be625e
The following text is from Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1899 short story “Martha’s Lady.” Martha is employed by Miss Pyne as a
maid.
Miss Pyne sat by the window watching, in her best dress, looking stately and calm; she seldom went out now, and it was
almost time for the carriage. Martha was just coming in from the garden with the strawberries, and with more flowers in
her apron. It was a bright cool evening in June, the golden robins sang in the elms, and the sun was going down behind the
apple-trees at the foot of the garden. The beautiful old house stood wide open to the long-expected guest.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To convey the worries brought about by a new guest

B. To describe how the characters have changed over time

C. To contrast the activity indoors with the stillness outside

D. To depict the setting as the characters await a visitor’s arrival

ID: a2be625e Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately reflects the main purpose of the text. The text portrays Miss Pyne as
awaiting the arrival of a carriage while Martha brings strawberries and flowers from the garden into the house. The text also
describes the surroundings of the scene, stating that Miss Pyne looks “stately and calm,” the evening is bright and cool, and
birds are singing in the garden as the sun sets. Then the last sentence states that the house was “wide open to the long-
expected guest,” which strongly suggests that Miss Pyne’s anticipation and Martha’s activities were in preparation for the
guest who is expected to arrive in the carriage. Thus, the text depicts the setting and conveys what these characters are
doing as they await the arrival of their visitor.

Choice A is incorrect because there is nothing in the text to indicate that the characters feel any worry about the guest’s
arrival. The text indicates that the guest was “long-expected,“ but characterizing Miss Pyne as “stately and calm” conflicts
with the idea that the characters are worried about the guest. Choice B is incorrect because the text describes a moment in
time when two characters are awaiting the arrival of a visitor rather than an extended period over which characters could be
seen changing. Choice C is incorrect. Although the text describes the activity indoors (Miss Pyne sitting calmly), it describes
a higher level of activity, not stillness, outside (Martha bringing fruit and flowers and birds singing).

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 14b7dced
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 14b7dced
The following text is from Walt Whitman’s 1860 poem “Calamus 24.”
I HEAR it is charged against me that I seek to destroy institutions;
But really I am neither for nor against institutions
(What indeed have I in common with them?—Or what with the destruction of them?),
Only I will establish in the Mannahatta [Manhattan] and in every city of These States, inland and seaboard,
And in the fields and woods, and above every keel [ship] little or large, that dents the water,
Without edifices, or rules, or trustees, or any argument,
The institution of the dear love of comrades.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The speaker questions an increasingly prevalent attitude, then summarizes his worldview.

B. The speaker regrets his isolation from others, then predicts a profound change in society.

C. The speaker concedes his personal shortcomings, then boasts of his many achievements.

D. The speaker addresses a criticism leveled against him, then announces a grand ambition of his.

ID: 14b7dced Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer because it best describes the overall structure of the text. The speaker begins by stating that he
has heard that others are accusing him of seeking to destroy institutions. The speaker then addresses this criticism by
stating that he is “neither for nor against institutions.” Instead, the speaker states that his ultimate goal is to instill “the
institution of the dear love of comrades” everywhere in the country. Therefore, the overall structure of the text is best
described as an address of criticism followed by an announcement of a grand ambition.

Choice A is incorrect. While the speaker does address an opinion of him that he believes to be untrue, he doesn’t indicate
that this attitude has become increasingly prevalent. The speaker also concludes by explaining his goal for the future rather
than his current worldview. Choice B is incorrect because the text doesn’t portray the speaker as isolated or regretful, and the
speaker gestures toward a hope for societal change but doesn’t offer an explicit prediction that it will happen. Choice C is
incorrect because the speaker addresses a criticism of him that he believes to be false; he doesn’t admit any personal
shortcomings. Moreover, the speaker concludes by stating a goal he has rather than showcasing his achievements.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 590f0ad2
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 590f0ad2
Industrial activity is often assumed to be a threat to wildlife, but that isn’t always so. Consider the silver-studded blue
butterfly (Plebejus argus): as forest growth has reduced grasslands in northern Germany, many of these butterflies have left
meadow habitats and are now thriving in active limestone quarries. In a survey of multiple active quarries and patches of
maintained grassland, an ecologist found silver-studded blue butterflies in 100% of the quarries but only 57% of the
grassland patches. Moreover, butterfly populations in the quarries were four times larger than those in the meadows.

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

A. It challenges a common assumption about the species under investigation in the research referred to in the text.

B. It introduces discussion of a specific example that supports the general claim made in the previous sentence.

C. It suggests that a certain species should be included in additional studies like the one mentioned later in the text.

D. It provides a definition for an unfamiliar term that is central to the main argument in the text.

ID: 590f0ad2 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer because it most accurately describes how the underlined portion functions in the text as a
whole. The first sentence presents the general claim that industrial activity is not always a threat to wildlife. The underlined
portion of the sentence that follows suggests that the silver-studded blue butterfly is an example of wildlife thriving in areas
of industrial activity: active limestone quarries. Thus, the function of the underlined portion is to introduce a specific example
in support of the general claim in the previous sentence.

Choice A is incorrect. Although the first sentence indicates that “industrial activity is often assumed” to harm wildlife, in the
case of the silver-studded blue butterfly the text mentions neither an assumption about this species nor any challenge to
such an assumption. Choice C is incorrect because the text mentions only one study: the “survey.” Additional studies are not
mentioned in the text. Choice D is incorrect because neither the underlined portion nor any other portion of the text provides
a definition for any of the terms used in the text’s argument.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 19688783
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 19688783
The following text is from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables. Anne, an eleven-year-old girl, has
come to live on a farm with a woman named Marilla in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Anne reveled in the world of color about her.

“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so
glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November,
wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room
with them.”
“Messy things,” said Marilla, whose aesthetic sense was not noticeably developed. “You clutter up your room entirely
too much with out-of-doors stuff, Anne. Bedrooms were made to sleep in.”

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To demonstrate that Anne has a newly developed appreciation of nature

B. To describe an argument that Anne and Marilla often have

C. To emphasize Marilla’s disapproval of how Anne has decorated her room

D. To show that Anne and Marilla have very different personalities

ID: 19688783 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text. The text begins by noting
that Anne “reveled in the world of color about her”—that is, she takes great delight in colorful things. It then relates a scene
when she enthusiastically enters the house with autumn foliage and announces that she will decorate her room with it. The
focus of the text then shifts to Marilla, who has an undeveloped “aesthetic sense,” or appreciation of beauty, as can be seen
when she dismisses the maple leaves as “messy things” and criticizes Anne for cluttering her room with objects from
outside. This episode thus illustrates that Anne and Marilla differ in their appreciation of beauty and, more generally, in their
basic character: Anne is exuberant and joyful, while Marilla is stern and critical. Therefore, the purpose of the text is to show
that Anne and Marilla have very different personalities.

Choice A is incorrect because the text presents Anne’s appreciation of nature as a basic personality trait, not as a newfound
enthusiasm, and never indicates how recently she developed that appreciation. Choice B is incorrect. Although the text
portrays Anne and Marilla as having different personalities and attitudes toward natural beauty and home decoration, it
doesn’t show them engaging in an argument about this difference or suggest that they often argue about it. Choice C is
incorrect. Although the text does indicate that Marilla disapproves of how Anne plans to decorate her room, Marilla’s
disapproval is a supporting detail that serves to develop her personality, which the text as a whole contrasts with Anne’s
personality.
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID d69bc408
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: d69bc408
The following text is adapted from Aphra Behn’s 1689 novel The Lucky Mistake. Atlante and Rinaldo are neighbors who have
been secretly exchanging letters through Charlot, Atlante’s sister.
[Atlante] gave this letter to Charlot; who immediately ran into the balcony with it, where she still found Rinaldo in a
melancholy posture, leaning his head on his hand: She showed him the letter, but was afraid to toss it to him, for fear it
might fall to the ground; so he ran and fetched a long cane, which he cleft at one end, and held it while she put the letter
into the cleft, and stayed not to hear what he said to it. But never was man so transported with joy, as he was at the
reading of this letter; it gives him new wounds; for to the generous, nothing obliges love so much as love.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It describes the delivery of a letter, and then portrays a character’s happiness at reading that letter.

B. It establishes that a character is desperate to receive a letter, and then explains why another character has not yet written
that letter.

C. It presents a character’s concerns about delivering a letter, and then details the contents of that letter.

D. It reveals the inspiration behind a character’s letter, and then emphasizes the excitement that another character feels
upon receiving that letter.

ID: d69bc408 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the overall structure of the text. The narrator begins by
explaining how Charlot carefully delivers Atlante’s letter to Rinaldo, and then relates that Rinaldo feels “transported with joy”
after reading the letter. Therefore, the overall structure of the text is best described as a description of the delivery of a letter
followed by the portrayal of a character’s happiness after reading the letter.

Choice B is incorrect because the text indicates that the letter has been written; there’s no explanation why another character
hasn’t written one. In addition, the text’s description of Rinaldo “in a melancholy posture” suggests that he’s sad and
thoughtful, not that he’s desperate to receive the letter. Choice C is incorrect. Although the text states that Charlot won’t toss
the letter to Rinaldo because she doesn’t want it to fall, the text doesn’t refer to the contents of the letter. Instead, the text
describes how happy Rinaldo feels after reading it. Choice D is incorrect. Although the text does describe Rinaldo’s reaction
to the letter, the text doesn’t begin by discussing Atlante’s inspiration for writing the letter. Instead, the text begins by
discussing the delivery of the letter.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 97360a00
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 97360a00
The following text is adapted from Gwendolyn Bennett’s 1926 poem “Street Lamps in Early Spring.”
Night wears a garment
All velvet soft, all violet blue...
And over her face she draws a veil
As shimmering fine as floating dew...
And here and there
In the black of her hair
The subtle hands of Night
Move slowly with their gem-starred light.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It presents alternating descriptions of night in a rural area and in a city.

B. It sketches an image of nightfall, then an image of sunrise.

C. It makes an extended comparison of night to a human being.

D. It portrays how night changes from one season of the year to the next.

ID: 97360a00 Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer because it most accurately describes the overall structure of the text. Throughout the text, the
speaker characterizes nighttime as if it were a person who wears clothing (“a garment” that is “velvet soft” and “violet blue”)
and a veil “over her face” and who moves her hands “slowly with their gem-starred light” through her dark hair. Thus, the text
is structured as an extended comparison of night to a human being.

Choice A is incorrect because the text never mentions any particular location; instead, it focuses on presenting a single
description of night as a person with certain clothing and features. Choice B is incorrect because the text doesn’t make any
reference to the sun or sunrise; instead, it focuses on presenting a single image of night as a person with certain clothing
and features. Choice D is incorrect. Rather than describing how nighttime changes seasonally (or in any other way), the text
presents a single image of night as a person with certain clothing and features.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 48555763
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 48555763
The following text is from Herman Melville’s 1854 novel The Lightning-rod Man.
The stranger still stood in the exact middle of the cottage, where he had first planted himself. His singularity impelled a
closer scrutiny. A lean, gloomy figure. Hair dark and lank, mattedly streaked over his brow. His sunken pitfalls of eyes were
ringed by indigo halos, and played with an innocuous sort of lightning: the gleam without the bolt. The whole man was
dripping. He stood in a puddle on the bare oak floor: his strange walking-stick vertically resting at his side.

Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?

A. It elaborates on the previous sentence’s description of the character.

B. It introduces the setting that is described in the sentences that follow.

C. It establishes a contrast with the description in the previous sentence.

D. It sets up the character description presented in the sentences that follow.

ID: 48555763 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer. This best states the function of the underlined sentence. The sentence basically says: “He
stood out, so I looked more closely at him.” Then the rest of the text describes him in detail.

Choice A is incorrect. This doesn’t state the function of the underlined sentence. The previous sentence basically says: “He
was still standing in the middle of the cottage”—it doesn’t include any description of the character himself. Choice B is
incorrect. This doesn’t state the function of the underlined sentence. The following sentences describe the character, not the
setting. Choice C is incorrect. This doesn’t state the function of the underlined sentence. The underlined sentence basically
says: “He stood out, so I looked more closely at him.” The previous sentence basically says: “He was still standing in the
middle of the cottage.” There’s no contrast between these two sentences.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID e7247766
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: e7247766
Horizontal gene transfer occurs when an organism of one species acquires genetic material from an organism of another
species through nonreproductive means. The genetic material can then be transferred “vertically” in the second species—
that is, through reproductive inheritance. Scientist Atma Ivancevic and her team have hypothesized infection by invertebrate
parasites as a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer between vertebrate species: while feeding, a parasite could acquire a
gene from one host, then relocate to a host from a different vertebrate species and transfer the gene to it in turn.

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

A. It explains why parasites are less susceptible to horizontal gene transfer than their hosts are.

B. It clarifies why some genes are more likely to be transferred horizontally than others are.

C. It contrasts how horizontal gene transfer occurs among vertebrates with how it occurs among invertebrates.

D. It describes a means by which horizontal gene transfer might occur among vertebrates.

ID: e7247766 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer. The text defines horizontal gene transfer and then gives one possibility for how it happens in
vertebrates (via infection by parasites). The underlined part describes how that mechanism could work.

Choice A is incorrect. The underlined portion doesn’t do this. Parasites are only described as the mechanism that does the
transferring, not the species that gives or receives the genes. Choice B is incorrect. The underlined portion doesn’t do this.
The text never discusses which genes are more likely to be transferred. Choice C is incorrect. The underlined portion doesn’t
do this. The text never discusses how horizontal gene transfer occurs among invertebrates.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID ae2b3112
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: ae2b3112
By combining Indigenous and classical music, Cree composer and cellist Cris Derksen creates works that reflect the diverse
cultural landscape of Canada. For her album Orchestral Powwow, Derksen composed new songs in the style of traditional
powwow music that were accompanied by classical arrangements played by an orchestra. But where an orchestra would
normally follow the directions of a conductor, the musicians on Orchestral Powwow are led by the beat of a powwow drum.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To examine how Derksen’s musical compositions blend cultures

B. To argue that Derksen should be recognized for creating a new style of music

C. To describe the difficulties Derksen encountered when producing her album

D. To establish a contrast between Derksen’s classical training and her Cree heritage

ID: ae2b3112 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text, which is to discuss how
Derksen’s compositions incorporate elements from both Indigenous and classical music. After introducing Derksen, the text
describes how the songs Derksen composed for her album Orchestral Powwow feature aspects of the two musical
traditions. Specifically, the text notes that Derksen wrote songs in the style of traditional powwow music but accompanied
them with classical arrangements played by an orchestra that followed the beat of a powwow drum rather than the
directions of a conductor. In this way, Derksen’s compositions blend different cultures.

Choice B is incorrect because although the text suggests that Derksen’s songs contain innovative elements since they blend
styles from two different musical traditions, it doesn’t discuss whether her compositions constitute a new style of music, let
alone whether Derksen should be recognized for creating a new style of music. Choice C is incorrect because the text
doesn’t mention any difficulties Derksen encountered when producing her album. Rather, the text describes how the songs
on the album exemplify how Derksen combines music from two different cultures. Choice D is incorrect because although
the text mentions Derksen’s Cree heritage and suggests that she relies on knowledge of both Indigenous and classical music
when she composes her songs, it doesn’t discuss her musical training. Additionally, the text is primarily focused on how
Derksen combines different cultural traditions, not on contrasting Derksen’s training with her heritage.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 8bc66f89
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 8bc66f89
Part of the Atacama Desert in Peru has surprisingly rich plant life despite receiving almost no rainfall. Moisture from winter
fog sustains plants once they’re growing, but the soil’s tough crust makes it hard for seeds to germinate in the first place.
Local birds that dig nests in the ground seem to be of help: they churn the soil, exposing buried seeds to moisture and
nutrients. Indeed, in 2016 Cristina Rengifo Faiffer found that mounds of soil dug up by birds were far more fertile and
supported more seedlings than soil in undisturbed areas.

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

A. It elaborates on the idea that the top layer of Atacama Desert soil forms a tough crust.

B. It describes the process by which seeds are deposited into Atacama Desert soil.

C. It identifies the reason particular bird species dig nests in Atacama Desert soil.

D. It explains how certain birds promote seed germination in Atacama Desert soil.

ID: 8bc66f89 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately describes how the underlined portion functions in the text as a
whole. The first two sentences establish a natural phenomenon: there is a richness of plant life found in the Atacama Desert
despite the hard soil that makes it challenging for seeds to germinate. The next sentence, which contains the underlined
portion, offers a potential explanation for the phenomenon: local birds dig ground nests exposing seeds to moisture and
materials in the soil necessary for germination. The last sentence summarizes a study that compared the fertileness of
mounds of dirt dug up by birds to mounds that were undisturbed to support the explanation in the underlined portion. Thus,
the underlined portion mainly functions to explain how certain birds promote seed germination in the Atacama Desert soil.

Choice A is incorrect because the underlined portion doesn’t address the topic of the soil’s tough crust or its formation.
Instead, the text elaborates on the idea that local birds that build ground nests may help seeds germinate in the hard
soil. Choice B is incorrect because the underlined portion describes how some birds may support seed germination in
Atacama Desert soil but doesn’t describe how the seeds are deposited into the soil before germination begins. Choice C is
incorrect because neither the underlined portion nor the text as a whole identifies a reason that a particular bird species may
choose to dig ground nests in the Atacama Desert soil.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID f6352bd3
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: f6352bd3
Many archaeologists assume that large-scale engineering projects in ancient societies required an elite class to plan and
direct the necessary labor. However, recent discoveries, such as the excavation of an ancient canal near the Gulf Coast of
Alabama, have complicated this picture. Using radiocarbon dating, a team of researchers concluded that the 1.39-kilometer-
long canal was most likely constructed between 576 and 650 CE by an Indigenous society that was relatively free of social
classes.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It describes a common view among archaeologists, then discusses a recent finding that challenges that view.

B. It outlines a method used in some archaeological fieldwork, then explains why an alternative method is superior to it.

C. It presents contradictory conclusions drawn by archaeologists, then evaluates a study that has apparently resolved that
contradiction.

D. It identifies a gap in scientific research, then presents a strategy used by some archaeologists to remedy that gap.

ID: f6352bd3 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer. The text starts by introducing a common view among archaeologists about the need for an elite
class to direct large-scale engineering projects. Then, it discusses the discovery of a large canal most likely built by a society
without an elite class, which challenges the first view.

Choice B is incorrect. Although the text discusses carbon dating as an archaeological method, it doesn’t compare it to any
other alternative methods. Choice C is incorrect. The study doesn’t resolve any contradictions—rather, it introduces a
contradiction to the one view presented at the beginning of the text. Choice D is incorrect. The text never identifies any gaps
in scientific research.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID b4d29611
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: b4d29611
Michelene Pesantubbee, a historian and citizen of the Choctaw Nation, has identified a dilemma inherent to research on the
status of women in her tribe during the 1600s and 1700s: the primary sources from that era, travel narratives and other
accounts by male European colonizers, underestimate the degree of power conferred on Choctaw women by their traditional
roles in political, civic, and ceremonial life. Pesantubbee argues that the Choctaw oral tradition and findings from
archaeological sites in the tribe’s homeland supplement the written record by providing crucial insights into those roles.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It details the shortcomings of certain historical sources, then argues that research should avoid those sources
altogether.

B. It describes a problem that arises in research on a particular topic, then sketches a historian’s approach to addressing
that problem.

C. It lists the advantages of a particular research method, then acknowledges a historian’s criticism of that method.

D. It characterizes a particular topic as especially challenging to research, then suggests a related topic for historians to
pursue instead.

ID: b4d29611 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer. The text begins by stating a problem with research on the status of Choctaw women in the
1600s and 1700s: written primary sources underestimate the power they had in their traditional roles. Then it presents one
historian’s solution: looking to oral tradition and archeological findings for more insight into these roles.

Choice A is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. The text never says that research should avoid written primary sources,
just that research should also use oral tradition and archeological sites as sources. Choice C is incorrect. This isn’t the
overall structure. The text never mentions the advantages of using written primary sources. Choice D is incorrect. This isn’t
the overall structure. The text never says that the status of Choctaw women during the 1600s and 1700s is too challenging
to research. And it doesn’t mention any other topics to research instead.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID aa7fc89b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: aa7fc89b
The following text is adapted from Susan Glaspell’s 1912 short story “‘Out There.’” An elderly shop owner is looking at a
picture that he recently acquired and hopes to sell.
It did seem that the picture failed to fit in with the rest of the shop. A persuasive young fellow who claimed he was closing
out his stock let the old man have it for what he called a song. It was only a little out-of-the-way store which subsisted
chiefly on the framing of pictures. The old man looked around at his views of the city, his pictures of cats and dogs, his
flaming bits of landscape. “Don’t belong in here,” he fumed.
And yet the old man was secretly proud of his acquisition. There was a hidden dignity in his scowling as he shuffled about
pondering the least ridiculous place for the picture.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To reveal the shop owner’s conflicted feelings about the new picture

B. To convey the shop owner’s resentment of the person he got the new picture from

C. To describe the items that the shop owner most highly prizes

D. To explain differences between the new picture and other pictures in the shop

ID: aa7fc89b Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text. The text begins by stating
that the new picture “failed to fit in” with the other items that the shop owner has. The text goes on to illustrate that point by
describing the other pictures the shop owner has, indicating that the shop owner is fuming because he doesn’t think the new
picture belongs in the store. In the second paragraph, however, the text indicates that the shop owner is “secretly proud of
his acquisition.” The main purpose of the text is thus to reveal the shop owner’s conflicted feelings about the new picture.

Choice B is incorrect because the text doesn’t suggest that the shop owner resents the young man who sold him the new
picture; in fact, the text gives no indication of the owner’s feelings about the young man at all. Choice C is incorrect. Although
the text indicates that the new picture is different from the other items in the shop, there’s no suggestion that the shop owner
prizes either the new picture or the pictures of the city, pets, and landscapes more than he prizes any other items. Choice D
is incorrect because the text doesn’t describe what the new picture looks like; rather, the text identifies some of the other
kinds of images that the shop owner has and states that they’re different from the new picture without explaining how
they’re different.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID f631132b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: f631132b
In the Here and Now Storybook (1921), educator Lucy Sprague Mitchell advanced the then controversial idea that books for
very young children should imitate how they use language, since toddlers, who cannot yet grasp narrative or abstract ideas,
seek reassurance in verbal repetition and naming. The most enduring example of this idea is Margaret Wise Brown’s 1947
picture book Goodnight Moon, in which a young rabbit names the objects in his room as he drifts off to sleep. Scholars note
that the book’s emphasis on repetition, rhythm, and nonsense rhyme speaks directly to Mitchell’s influence.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The text outlines a debate between two authors of children’s literature and then traces how that debate shaped theories
on early childhood education.

B. The text summarizes an argument about how children’s literature should be evaluated and then discusses a contrasting
view on that subject.

C. The text lists the literary characteristics that are common to many classics of children’s literature and then indicates the
narrative subjects that are most appropriate for young children.

D. The text presents a philosophy about what material is most suitable for children’s literature and then describes a book
influenced by that philosophy.

ID: f631132b Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer. The text starts by introducing Mitchell’s philosophy about using simple, repetitive language in
books for young children. Then it describes a book influenced by that philosophy, Goodnight Moon.

Choice A is incorrect. Although two authors are mentioned in the text, they both agree about the type of language that should
be contained in books for young children. Choice B is incorrect. The text never discusses the evaluation of children’s
literature. It does provide one view of how children’s books should be written, but never introduces a competing view. Choice
C is incorrect. The text doesn’t mention “many classics of children’s literature.” Instead, it describes an educational theory
and identifies one example of a famous children’s book that was influenced by that theory.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID df46a2ee
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: df46a2ee
The following text is from Joseph Conrad’s 1907 novel The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale. Mr. Verloc is navigating the London
streets on his way to a meeting.
Before reaching Knightsbridge, Mr. Verloc took a turn to the left out of the busy main thoroughfare, uproarious with the traffic
of swaying omnibuses and trotting vans, in the almost silent, swift flow of hansoms [horse-drawn carriages]. Under his hat,
worn with a slight backward tilt, his hair had been carefully brushed into respectful sleekness; for his business was with an
Embassy. And Mr. Verloc, steady like a rock—a soft kind of rock—marched now along a street which could with every
propriety be described as private.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined phrase in the text as a whole?

A. It qualifies an earlier description of Mr. Verloc.

B. It emphasizes an internal struggle Mr. Verloc experiences.

C. It contrasts Mr. Verloc with his surroundings.

D. It reveals a private opinion Mr. Verloc holds.

ID: df46a2ee Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer. The underline phrase qualifies (meaning adds limits or conditions to) the description of Mr.
Verloc as “steady like a rock,” adding that he is a “soft” rock.

Choice B is incorrect. In fact, the passage never mentions Mr. Verloc experiencing any internal struggles. Choice C is
incorrect. The underlined phrase doesn’t contrast Mr. Verloc with his surroundings, but is instead modifying the description
of him as a rock. Choice D is incorrect. The underlined phrase doesn’t reveal a private opinion Mr. Verloc holds: instead, it
further describes his character for the reader.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID ca50de52
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: ca50de52
“How lifelike are they?” Many computer animators prioritize this question as they strive to create ever more realistic
environments and lighting. Generally, while characters in computer-animated films appear highly exaggerated, environments
and lighting are carefully engineered to mimic reality. But some animators, such as Pixar’s Sanjay Patel, are focused on a
different question. Rather than asking first whether the environments and lighting they’re creating are convincingly lifelike,
Patel and others are asking whether these elements reflect their films’ unique stories.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a whole?

A. It reflects a primary goal that many computer animators have for certain components of the animations they produce.

B. It represents a concern of computer animators who are more interested in creating unique backgrounds and lighting
effects than realistic ones.

C. It conveys the uncertainty among many computer animators about how to create realistic animations using current
technology.

D. It illustrates a reaction that audiences typically have to the appearance of characters created by computer animators.

ID: ca50de52 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a
whole. The text begins with the underlined question, “How lifelike are they?” The text then explains that many computer
animators pose this question about the environments and lighting that they create for animated films, striving for realistic
animation of those components even if the characters themselves aren’t portrayed in realistic terms. The focus of the text
then shifts to describe how some animators strive to create environments and lighting that reflect the film’s unique stories
rather than making them appear realistic. Therefore, the function of the underlined question is to reflect a primary goal that
many computer animators have for certain components of the animations they produce.

Choice B is incorrect because, as the text makes clear, the underlined question is one posed by computer animators who
wish to create realistic backgrounds and lighting effects, not by those who, instead, wish to create effects that reflect films’
unique stories and aren’t necessarily realistic; this latter group of animators is discussed later in the text. Choice C is
incorrect. As the text explains, many computer animators strive for realistic environments and lighting, while others do not;
this difference of approach relates to whether these components should be realistic, not to how realism can be achieved
using current technology, and the text never suggests that animators are uncertain how to achieve it. Choice D is incorrect
because the underlined question pertains to the perspective of computer animators, not the audience, and the text never
considers audience’s reactions to characters in animated films.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 82cb7dda
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 82cb7dda
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.

ID: 82cb7dda Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text, which is to summarize a
finding suggesting that some mechanisms in the brains of certain insects resemble mechanisms in mammalian brains. The
text begins by explaining that feelings such as pleasure and displeasure are linked to chemical processes in the brain, such
as the release of dopamine when one receives a reward. The text then indicates that such processes have been seen in
mammals but that researchers have recently observed similar processes involving dopamine in honeybees. Taken together,
this information serves to sum up the discovery that some mechanisms in the brains of certain insects may resemble
mechanisms linked to feelings such as pleasure and displeasure in mammals.

Choice A is incorrect because the text doesn’t describe any experiments or experimental methods. Instead, the text
describes a phenomenon that has been observed in mammals and then presents the recent observations of Huang and
colleagues that this phenomenon is also seen in honeybees. Choice B is incorrect because there’s nothing in the text to
suggest that certain insects can express how they’re feeling through particular processes. The text does indicate that certain
honeybee behaviors such as foraging are linked to dopamine, but it doesn’t suggest that these behaviors enable honeybees
to communicate feelings or sensations. Choice D is incorrect because the text presents research showing that certain
honeybee behaviors such as foraging are linked to dopamine and therefore may be motivated by similar mechanisms to
those in mammalian brains, not that honeybees and mammals behave similarly when there is the possibility of reward for
their actions.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID d4732483
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: d4732483
Studying late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artifacts from an agricultural and domestic site in Texas, archaeologist
Ayana O. Flewellen found that Black women employed as farm workers utilized hook-and-eye closures to fasten their clothes
at the waist, giving themselves a silhouette similar to the one that was popular in contemporary fashion and typically
achieved through more restrictive garments such as corsets. Flewellen argues that this sartorial practice shows that these
women balanced hegemonic ideals of femininity with the requirements of their physically demanding occupation.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To describe an unexpected discovery that altered a researcher’s view of how rapidly fashions among Black female
farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas changed during the period

B. To discuss research that investigated the ways in which Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century Texas used fashion practices to resist traditional gender ideals

C. To evaluate a scholarly work that offers explanations for the impact of urban fashion ideals on Black female farmworkers
in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas

D. To summarize the findings of a study that explored factors influencing a fashion practice among Black female
farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas

ID: d4732483 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer. The text provides an overview of a scholarly work discussing the fashion practices of Black
female farmworkers in late 19th- and early 20th-century Texas, and how these practices were influenced by both the fashion
ideals of the time and the demands of farmwork.

Choice A is incorrect. The text never discusses the rate of fashion change among Black female farmworkers. The text also
never categorizes Flewellen’s findings as "unexpected." Choice B is incorrect. The text actually explains that Black female
farmworkers were trying to achieve traditional feminine ideals, not resist them. Choice C is incorrect. The text doesn’t
evaluate a scholarly work but rather simply describes it. Furthermore, the text is focused on "agricultural and domestic"
fashion, not urban fashion as this choice suggests.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID e818241b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: e818241b
Astronomers are confident that the star Betelgeuse will eventually consume all the helium in its core and explode in a
supernova. They are much less confident, however, about when this will happen, since that depends on internal
characteristics of Betelgeuse that are largely unknown. Astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance and colleagues recently
investigated whether acoustic waves in the star could be used to determine internal stellar states but concluded that this
method could not sufficiently reveal Betelgeuse’s internal characteristics to allow its evolutionary state to be firmly fixed.

Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the overall structure of the text?

A. It describes a serious limitation of the method used by Nance and colleagues.

B. It presents the central finding reported by Nance and colleagues.

C. It identifies the problem that Nance and colleagues attempted to solve but did not.

D. It explains how the work of Nance and colleagues was received by others in the field.

ID: e818241b Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer because it best describes how the second sentence functions in the text as a whole. The first
sentence establishes something astronomers believe with some certainty: that Betelgeuse will explode in a supernova. The
second sentence then introduces a problem: astronomers aren’t certain when Betelgeuse will explode because they don’t
have enough information about the star’s internal characteristics. Finally, the third sentence indicates that researcher
Sarafina El-Badry Nance and colleagues investigated a possible method of obtaining the necessary information about
Betelgeuse’s internal characteristics, though they found that the method wouldn’t be sufficient. Thus, the function of the
second sentence is to identify the problem that Nance and colleagues attempted to solve but didn’t.

Choice A is incorrect because the second sentence introduces the general problem Nance and colleagues hoped to solve,
not a serious limitation of how Nance and colleagues tried to solve it. It is the third sentence that introduces Nance and
colleagues, but no serious limitation of their approach to studying a method of determining internal stellar states is
described. Choice B is incorrect because the second sentence introduces the general problem Nance and colleagues hoped
to solve, not the central finding they ultimately reported. It is the third sentence that presents Nance and colleagues’
conclusion that a potential method for determining internal stellar states would be insufficient. Choice D is incorrect
because the second sentence doesn’t indicate how other astronomers or astrophysicists responded to the work done by
Nance and colleagues; the text doesn’t address this information at all.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID ac9a3a26
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: ac9a3a26
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 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.

ID: ac9a3a26 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it best describes how the underlined portion functions in the text as a whole. The text
says that the increased production quotas of food processing companies during World War II enabled employees to make
better bargains in exchange for their labor. The underlined portion presents an example of this increased bargaining power:
employees requested more favorable benefits, and employers complied because they were under pressure to fulfill the
demanding terms of their contracts. Thus, the underlined portion of the text elaborates on a claim about labor relations in a
particular industry (food processing) made earlier in the text.

Choice B is incorrect because there is no indication in the text that the economic factors that influenced food processing
also influenced other parts of the economy; thus, the bargaining described in the underlined portion of the text cannot be
called an example of a trend. Choice C is incorrect because the underlined portion supports the historical narrative of labor
activism in food processing that is sketched in the text, instead of noting an exception to that narrative. Choice D is incorrect
because while the underlined portion does discuss the demands that workers made in exchange for their labor, it does not
discuss the identities of the workers.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 03c9f327
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 03c9f327
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

ID: 03c9f327 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text, which is to show that while
Jane calmly goes about her daily tasks, she is experiencing internal agitation about possibly seeking a new job. At the start
of the text, Jane says, “I went on with my day’s business tranquilly,” indicating that she is outwardly calm. This outward
calmness is then contrasted with her intense internal restlessness, as Jane says that thoughts of leaving her job keep
running through her mind, that she is “involuntarily framing advertisements” (meaning that she can’t stop herself from
thinking up potential listings for jobs), and that she often wonders what new “situations” (or jobs) would be like.

Choice B is incorrect because the text gives no indication of Jane’s feelings, either positive or negative, about the people she
works for at Thornfield Hall. And rather than emphasizing that Jane feels particularly loyal to her employers, the text focuses
on her constant consideration of leaving her job. Choice C is incorrect because the text gives no indication that Jane finds
her current situation fulfilling, or satisfying. Given that much of the text is focused on Jane’s thoughts about possibly leaving
her job for a new one, it might be the case that she finds her situation challenging, but there is no evidence in the text that
Jane also finds that situation satisfying—she says nothing positive about her current job at all, in fact. Choice D is incorrect
because the text describes Jane as wondering about getting a new job, not as determined to definitely do so. Jane keeps
thinking about reasons why she “should” quit her current job (indicating that she hasn’t yet decided to) and imagining
possible new situations she could find, but she says at the end of the text that these thoughts “might germinate and bear
fruit if they could,” meaning that the thoughts haven’t yet led to a decision—that Jane isn’t yet determined to get a new job
somewhere else.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID c61a7c4a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: c61a7c4a
Some studies have suggested that posture can influence cognition, but we should not overstate this phenomenon. A case in
point: In a 2014 study, Megan O’Brien and Alaa Ahmed had subjects stand or sit while making risky simulated economic
decisions. Standing is more physically unstable and cognitively demanding than sitting; accordingly, O’Brien and Ahmed
hypothesized that standing subjects would display more risk aversion during the decision-making tasks than sitting subjects
did, since they would want to avoid further feelings of discomfort and complicated risk evaluations. But O’Brien and Ahmed
actually found no difference in the groups’ performance.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It argues that research findings about the effects of posture on cognition are often misunderstood, as in the case of
O’Brien and Ahmed’s study.

B. It presents the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to critique the methods and results reported in previous studies of the effects
of posture on cognition.

C. It explains a significant problem in the emerging understanding of posture’s effects on cognition and how O’Brien and
Ahmed tried to solve that problem.

D. It discusses the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to illustrate why caution is needed when making claims about the effects of
posture on cognition.

ID: c61a7c4a Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text. The text notes that although
some studies have suggested that posture may have an effect on cognition, this phenomenon should not be overstated. In
other words, the text begins by urging caution and restraint when discussing the effects of posture on cognition, implying
that even though some studies have shown posture to affect cognition, we should not assume that posture always affects
cognition or does so in a strong way. The text goes on to discuss O’Brien and Ahmed’s study as a "case in point" (that is, as
an example of the point made previously). According to the text, O’Brien and Ahmed hypothesized that since standing is
more cognitively demanding than sitting, standing subjects in their experiment would respond differently to decision-making
tasks than sitting subjects would, which would show an effect of posture on cognition. What the researchers actually found,
however, was that the standing and sitting subjects performed the same—posture did not affect cognition. By presenting a
circumstance in which posture does not appear to affect cognition, the discussion of O’Brien and Ahmed’s study shows why
it is important not to overstate the phenomenon. The purpose of the text, therefore, is to discuss O’Brien and Ahmed’s study
to illustrate why caution is needed when making claims about posture’s effects on cognition.

Choice A is incorrect because the text discusses O’Brien and Ahmed’s study as an example of why caution is needed when
discussing posture’s effects on cognition, not as an example of how research findings related to posture and cognition are
often misunderstood. Although the text does warn against misunderstanding the scope of the relationship between posture
and cognition that has been reported in some previous studies, O’Brien and Ahmed’s study is not one of those studies, and
there is no suggestion that anyone has misunderstood O’Brien and Ahmed’s findings. Choice B is incorrect because the text
makes no mention of the methods used in previous studies of the effects of posture on cognition. Although the text does
urge caution when discussing posture’s effects on cognition, it does not critique the results of studies that suggested that
posture can affect cognition. Instead, the text suggests that such results should not be exaggerated or taken too broadly.
Choice C is incorrect because although the text implies that overstating posture’s effects on cognition would be a problem,
nothing in the text suggests that O’Brien and Ahmed share that view or that they attempted to solve that problem. O’Brien
and Ahmed are presented as hypothesizing that posture would affect cognition in their study, not as trying to resolve the
problem the text describes.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID aa5897b8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: aa5897b8
In Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park, an almost imperceptible smile from potential suitor Henry Crawford causes the
protagonist Fanny Price to blush; her embarrassment grows when she suspects that he is aware of it. This moment—in
which Fanny not only infers Henry’s mental state through his gestures, but also infers that he is drawing inferences about her
mental state—illustrates what literary scholar George Butte calls “deep intersubjectivity,” a technique for representing
interactions between consciousnesses through which Austen’s novels derive much of their social and psychological drama.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It states a claim about Austen’s skill at representing psychological complexity that is reinforced by an example presented
in the following sentence.

B. It advances an interpretation of an Austen protagonist who is contrasted with protagonists from other Austen novels
cited in the following sentence.

C. It describes a recurring theme in Austen’s novels that is the focus of a literary scholar’s analysis summarized in the
following sentence.

D. It provides a synopsis of an interaction in an Austen novel that illustrates a literary concept discussed in the following
sentence.

ID: aa5897b8 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer. The underlined sentence provides a concrete example to ground readers’ understanding of the
“deep intersubjectivity” described in the next sentence as central to Austen’s work.

Choice A is incorrect. There is no evaluation made of Austen’s skill in this sentence, and no examples are given in the
following sentence. This choice essentially flips the paragraph: it’s this first sentence that provides an example. Choice B is
incorrect. There are no other Austen protagonists mentioned in this passage, so this couldn’t be the answer. Choice C is
incorrect. The underlined sentence doesn’t identify any “recurring theme,” but instead simply describes one interaction from
one book. This interaction exemplifies the literary technique of “deep intersubjectivity” that is introduced in the next
sentence.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 39857700
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 39857700
The following text is from Edith Wharton’s 1905 novel The House of Mirth. Lily Bart and a companion are walking through a
park.
Lily had no real intimacy with nature, but she had a passion for the appropriate and could be keenly sensitive to a scene
which was the fitting background of her own sensations. The landscape outspread below her seemed an enlargement of
her present mood, and she found something of herself in its calmness, its breadth, its long free reaches. On the nearer
slopes the sugar-maples wavered like pyres of light; lower down was a massing of grey orchards, and here and there the
lingering green of an oak-grove.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It creates a detailed image of the physical setting of the scene.

B. It establishes that a character is experiencing an internal conflict.

C. It makes an assertion that the next sentence then expands on.

D. It illustrates an idea that is introduced in the previous sentence.

ID: 39857700 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer because it best describes how the underlined sentence functions in the text as a whole. The first
sentence of the text establishes that Lily can be “keenly sensitive to” scenes that serve as a “fitting background” for her
feelings—that is, she’s very aware of when a setting seems to reflect her mood. The next sentence, which is underlined, then
demonstrates this awareness: Lily views the landscape she’s in as a large-scale reflection of her current mood, identifying
with elements such as its calmness. Thus, the function of the underlined sentence is to illustrate an idea introduced in the
previous sentence.

Choice A is incorrect because the underlined sentence describes the scene only in very general terms, referring to its
calmness, breadth, and long stretches of land. It’s the next sentence that adds specific details about colors, light, and various
trees nearby. Choice B is incorrect because nothing in the underlined sentence suggests that Lily is experiencing an internal
conflict. In fact, the sentence indicates that Lily thinks the landscape reflects her own feeling of calmness. Choice C is
incorrect because the only assertion in the underlined sentence is that Lily feels that broad aspects of the landscape, such
as its calmness, reflect her current mood, and that assertion isn’t expanded on in the next sentence. Instead, the next
sentence describes specific details of the scene without connecting them to Lily’s feelings.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID b4887dae
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: b4887dae
Mathematician Claude Shannon is widely regarded as a foundational figure in information theory. His most important paper,
“A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” published in 1948 when he was employed at Bell Labs, utilized a concept called
a “binary digit” (shortened to “bit”) to measure the amount of information in any signal and determine the fastest rate at
which information could be transmitted while still being reliably decipherable. Robert Gallagher, one of Shannon’s colleagues,
said that the bit was “[Shannon’s] discovery, and from it the whole communications revolution has sprung.”

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It presents a theoretical concept, illustrates how the name of the concept has changed, and shows how the name has
entered common usage.

B. It introduces a respected researcher, describes an aspect of his work, and suggests why the work is historically
significant.

C. It names the company where an important mathematician worked, details the mathematician’s career at the company,
and provides an example of the recognition he received there.

D. It mentions a paper, offers a summary of the paper’s findings, and presents a researcher’s commentary on the paper.

ID: b4887dae Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer. The text starts with a general statement that introduces Shannon, then describes a specific
contribution from one of his papers, then provides a quote that illustrates just how important this contribution was.

Choice A is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. The text only mentions very briefly, in parentheses, that “binary digit”
was shortened to “bit.” It doesn’t go into detail about this name change, and it doesn’t discuss any “common usage” of the
name at all. Choice C is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. Shannon’s employment at Bell Labs is only mentioned once,
very briefly: the text never goes into detail about his career there, and it never mentions any recognition he received there.
Choice D is incorrect. This is too narrow. Overall, the text is about Shannon’s importance in his field, not just this one paper of
his.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 3e6ad72d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 3e6ad72d
A study by a team including finance professor Madhu Veeraraghavan suggests that exposure to sunshine during the
workday can lead to overly optimistic behavior. Using data spanning from 1994 to 2010 for a set of US companies, the team
compared over 29,000 annual earnings forecasts to the actual earnings later reported by those companies. The team found
that the greater the exposure to sunshine at work in the two weeks before a manager submitted an earnings forecast, the
more the manager’s forecast exceeded what the company actually earned that year.

Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?

A. To summarize the results of the team’s analysis

B. To present a specific example that illustrates the study’s findings

C. To explain part of the methodology used in the team’s study

D. To call out a challenge the team faced in conducting its analysis

ID: 3e6ad72d Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer because it best describes how the underlined sentence functions in the text as a whole. The first
sentence presents the implications of Veeraraghavan’s team’s study: sunshine exposure during work hours can cause overly
optimistic behavior. The underlined sentence then describes the data the team consulted and how they were used
(comparing predictions about earnings to what the companies actually earned), and the final sentence presents what the
team found in their examination of the data. Thus, the underlined sentence mainly functions to explain part of the
methodology used in the team’s study.

Choice A is incorrect because the underlined sentence explains in part how the team conducted their analysis of the effect
of sunshine but doesn’t address what the team found; a broad summary is instead given in the other two sentences. Choice
B is incorrect because the underlined sentence doesn’t present any specific examples from the team’s comparisons of
29,000 earnings predictions to actual earnings; it simply explains in part how the team conducted their analysis. Choice D is
incorrect because the underlined sentence simply explains in part how the team conducted their analysis; the text never
mentions any challenges that the team encountered in their study.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 5336f2e4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 5336f2e4
The following text is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston’s 1921 short story “John Redding Goes to Sea.” John is a child who
lives in a town in the woods.
Perhaps ten-year-old John was puzzling to the folk there in the Florida woods for he was an imaginative child and fond of
day-dreams. The St. John River flowed a scarce three hundred feet from his back door. On its banks at this point grow
numerous palms, luxuriant magnolias and bay trees. On the bosom of the stream float millions of delicately colored
hyacinths. [John Redding] loved to wander down to the water’s edge, and, casting in dry twigs, watch them sail away down
stream to Jacksonville, the sea, the wide world and [he] wanted to follow them.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It provides an extended description of a location that John likes to visit.

B. It reveals that some residents of John’s town are confused by his behavior.

C. It illustrates the uniqueness of John’s imagination compared to the imaginations of other children.

D. It suggests that John longs to experience a larger life outside the Florida woods.

ID: 5336f2e4 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer because it accurately describes how the underlined sentence functions in the text as a whole.
The text establishes that John has a strong imagination and then goes on to describe the St. John River near John’s home in
the Florida woods. The underlined sentence depicts John sending twigs sailing down the river while he imagines them
reaching “Jacksonville, the sea, the wide world,” where he wishes he could follow. This suggests that John longs to expand
his life experiences beyond the Florida woods.

Choice A is incorrect because the second and third sentences of the text provide an extended description of the riverbank
where John likes to go, whereas the underlined sentence describes what John does at that location. Choice B is incorrect
because the first sentence of the text suggests that John’s behavior “was puzzling” to others around him, whereas the
underlined sentence concerns the content of John’s imaginings. Choice C is incorrect because the underlined sentence
elaborates on John’s imagination but doesn’t mention any other children to whom John could be compared.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 34d7bb25
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 34d7bb25
According to Indian economist and sociologist Radhakamal Mukerjee (1889–1968), the Eurocentric concepts that informed
early twentieth-century social scientific methods—for example, the idea that all social relations are reducible to struggles
between individuals—had little relevance for India. Making the social sciences more responsive to Indians’ needs, Mukerjee
argued, required constructing analytical categories informed by India’s cultural and ecological circumstances. Mukerjee thus
proposed the communalist “Indian village” as the ideal model on which to base Indian economic and social policy.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. The text recounts Mukerjee’s early training in the social scientific disciplines and then lists social policies whose
implementation Mukerjee oversaw.

B. The text mentions some of Mukerjee’s economic theories and then traces their impact on other Indian social scientists of
the twentieth century.

C. The text presents Mukerjee’s critique of the social sciences and then provides an example of his attempts to address
issues he identified in his critique.

D. The text explains an influential economic theory and then demonstrates how that theory was more important to
Mukerjee’s work than other social scientists have acknowledged.

ID: 34d7bb25 Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer. The text does indeed present Mukerjee’s critique of the social sciences—that they were too
Eurocentric—and then provides an example of how he attempted to address the issues he identified: by suggesting a social
science model based on the Indian village.

Choice A is incorrect. The text doesn’t discuss Mukerjee’s early training or his oversight of the implementation of social
policies at all. Choice B is incorrect. The text never discusses any other Indian social scientists. Choice D is incorrect. The
text never mentions other social scientists’ responses to Mukerjee’s work.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 570970cd
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 570970cd
The following text is adapted from Indian Boyhood, a 1902 memoir by Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman), a Santee Dakota writer.
In the text, Ohiyesa recalls how the women in his tribe harvested maple syrup during his childhood.
Now the women began to test the trees—moving leisurely among them, axe in hand, and striking a single quick blow, to
see if the sap would appear. The trees, like people, have their individual characters; some were ready to yield up their life-
blood, while others were more reluctant. Now one of the birchen basins was set under each tree, and a hardwood chip
driven deep into the cut which the axe had made. From the corners of this chip—at first drop by drop, then more freely—the
sap trickled into the little dishes.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It portrays the range of personality traits displayed by the women as they work.

B. It foregrounds the beneficial relationship between humans and maple trees.

C. It demonstrates how human behavior can be influenced by the natural environment.

D. It elaborates on an aspect of the maple trees that the women evaluate.

ID: 570970cd Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer because it best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text’s overall portrayal
of how the women in Ohiyesa’s tribe harvested maple syrup. The text states that the women used an axe to strike the maple
trees in order to find out which ones would produce sap. The underlined sentence compares the trees to people, with the sap
described as the trees’ “life-blood.” Some of the trees are ready to give out their sap, while others are unwilling to do so.
Using personification, the sentence provides greater detail about the aspect of the maple trees—their potential to give sap—
that the women are evaluating.

Choice A is incorrect because the personalities of the women are not discussed in the text. Although the underlined
sentence does mention “individual characters,” this reference is not to the women in the text but rather to the maple trees,
which the sentence compares to people with individual character traits. Choice B is incorrect because the underlined
sentence focuses on the trees’ willingness or refusal to yield sap, not on the beneficial relationship between the women and
the trees. Additionally, although the text does suggest that the women and their tribe benefit from the maple trees since the
trees allow the women to harvest syrup, there is nothing in the text to suggest that the trees benefit from this relationship in
turn. Choice C is incorrect because the underlined sentence is comparing maple trees to humans, not addressing the
influence of the natural environment on how the actual humans in the text, the women, behave.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 0a04cac5
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 0a04cac5
The following text is adapted from Jane Austen’s 1814 novel Mansfield Park. The speaker, Tom, is considering staging a play
at home with a group of his friends and family.
We mean nothing but a little amusement among ourselves, just to vary the scene, and exercise our powers in something
new. We want no audience, no publicity. We may be trusted, I think, in choosing some play most perfectly unexceptionable;
and I can conceive no greater harm or danger to any of us in conversing in the elegant written language of some
respectable author than in chattering in words of our own.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To offer Tom’s assurance that the play will be inoffensive and involve only a small number of people

B. To clarify that the play will not be performed in the manner Tom had originally intended

C. To elaborate on the idea that the people around Tom lack the skills to successfully stage a play

D. To assert that Tom believes the group performing the play will be able to successfully promote it

ID: 0a04cac5 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately portrays the main purpose of the text. At the beginning of the text,
Tom asserts that he and the other people staging the play are doing so only for “a little amusement among ourselves” and
aren’t interested in attracting an audience or any attention with the production. Then, Tom promises that the play they chose
is modest and appropriate, and he further reasons that using the well-written prose of “some respectable author” is better
than using their own words. Overall, the main purpose of the text is to convey Tom’s promise that the play will be inoffensive
and involve only a few people.

Choice B is incorrect because the text doesn’t indicate that Tom had earlier intentions for the play’s performance or that
anything has changed since the group first decided to stage a play. Instead, the text focuses on how harmless the entire
endeavor will be. Choice C is incorrect. Although Tom mentions that using the words of a “respectable author” will be better
than using their own words, he never addresses the idea that the people around him generally aren’t skilled enough to stage
a play. Choice D is incorrect because in the text Tom specifically says that they “want no audience, no publicity,” which
indicates that they don’t plan on promoting the play at all.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 4eee64fa
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 4eee64fa
Space scientists Anna-Lisa Paul, Stephen M. Elardo, and Robert Ferl planted seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana in samples of
lunar regolith—the surface material of the Moon—and, serving as a control group, in terrestrial soil. They found that while all
the seeds germinated, the roots of the regolith-grown plants were stunted compared with those in the control group.
Moreover, unlike the plants in the control group, the regolith-grown plants exhibited red pigmentation, reduced leaf size, and
inhibited growth rates—indicators of stress that were corroborated by postharvest molecular analysis.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It describes an experiment that addressed an unresolved question about the extent to which lunar regolith resembles
terrestrial soils.

B. It compares two distinct methods of assessing indicators of stress in plants grown in a simulated lunar environment.

C. It presents evidence in support of the hypothesis that seed germination in lunar habitats is an unattainable goal.

D. It discusses the findings of a study that evaluated the effects of exposing a plant species to lunar soil conditions.

ID: 4eee64fa Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer. The text describes an experiment wherein space scientists compared plant growth in terrestrial
and lunar soil conditions. It then discusses the findings of the study, including the fact that all the seeds germinated but that
the plants grown in lunar soil exhibited signs of stress.

Choice A is incorrect. The text doesn’t address this question, and never describes any specific characteristics of either soil. It
merely describes the outcome of an experiment that exposed a plant species to lunar soil conditions. Choice B is incorrect.
The text never compares methods of assessing indicators of stress—instead, it simply mentions several stress indicators
observed in the study (red pigmentation, reduced leaf size, and inhibited growth rates). Choice C is incorrect. The text doesn’t
present any evidence that we could never achieve seed germination in lunar habitats, and in fact states that the seeds in the
lunar soil did germinate.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID a70cbc53
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: a70cbc53
Raymond Antrobus, an accomplished poet and writer of prose, recently released his debut spoken word poetry album, The
First Time I Wore Hearing Aids, in collaboration with producer Ian Brennan. The album contains both autobiographical and
reflective pieces combining Antrobus’s spoken words with Brennan’s fragmented audio elements and pieces of music to
convey how people who are deaf may experience sound, both its presence and absence. Some critics suggest that the
album questions the function of sound in the world, highlighting that the experience of sound is multifaceted.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It introduces a collaborative spoken word poetry project, details the approach taken to produce the work, and then
provides an example of critique the album received upon release.

B. It mentions a collection of spoken word poems, distinguishes one poem as being an exemplar on the album, and then
offers a summary of the subject matter of the whole collection.

C. It summarizes the efforts to produce a collection of spoken word poems, presents biographies of two people who
worked on the album, and speculates about the meaning behind the poetry.

D. It connects two artists to the same spoken word poetry project, explains the extent of their collaboration on each poem,
and then provides an overview of the technique used to produce the work.

ID: a70cbc53 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer. The text first introduces the album as being a collaboration between Antrobus and Brennan,
then describes the approach taken to produce it, then mentions how critics have said that it calls into question the function
of sound.

Choice B is incorrect. While the text does mention a collection of spoken word poems, it doesn’t single out one poem as
being particularly noteworthy. Additionally, the text doesn’t simply summarize the subject matter—it goes into detail about
the content and production of the album. Choice C is incorrect. The text doesn’t provide biographical information about the
two artists, and the text doesn’t speculate about the meaning behind the poetry—instead, it relays what some critics have
said about the album. Choice D is incorrect. The text doesn’t provide just an overview of the production techniques used but
instead goes into more detail about the content and audio elements of the album, as well as critical response to the album.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 6bc0ba75
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 6bc0ba75
The mimosa tree evolved in East Asia, where the beetle Bruchidius terrenus preys on its seeds. In 1785, mimosa trees were
introduced to North America, far from any B. terrenus. But evolutionary links between predators and their prey can persist
across centuries and continents. Around 2001, B. terrenus was introduced in southeastern North America near where
botanist Shu-Mei Chang and colleagues had been monitoring mimosa trees. Within a year, 93 percent of the trees had been
attacked by the beetles.

Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the overall structure of the text?

A. It states the hypothesis that Chang and colleagues had set out to investigate using mimosa trees and B. terrenus.

B. It presents a generalization that is exemplified by the discussion of the mimosa trees and B. terrenus.

C. It provides context that clarifies why the species mentioned spread to new locations.

D. It offers an alternative explanation for the findings of Chang and colleagues.

ID: 6bc0ba75 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer because it most accurately describes the function of the third sentence within the overall
structure of the text. The third sentence makes a generalization, asserting that evolutionary links between predators and prey
can persist across great expanses of time and distance. This generalization is exemplified by the text’s discussion of the
relationship between mimosa trees and B. terrenus beetles. When mimosa trees were introduced to North America in 1785,
no B. terrenus beetles were present, so the relationship between the trees and the beetles that exists in their native East Asia
was disrupted. When the beetles were introduced to North America more than 200 years later, however, they quickly attacked
mimosa trees, illustrating the generalization that links between predators and prey "can persist across centuries and
continents."

Choice A is incorrect because the third sentence doesn’t indicate that Chang and colleagues were investigating any
hypothesis. According to the text, Chang and colleagues were simply monitoring mimosa trees when the beetles happened
to be introduced to the area. Choice C is incorrect because the third sentence doesn’t discuss any particular species, let
alone the species mentioned elsewhere in the text, nor does the sentence explain why species spread to new locations.
Choice D is incorrect because the third sentence offers a generalization about the relationship between predators and prey,
not an explanation for the findings by Chang and colleagues that’s an "alternative" to an explanation presented elsewhere in
the text.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 9b01bcf4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 9b01bcf4
The 1967 release of Harold Cruse’s book The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual isolated him from almost all other scholars and
activists of the American Civil Rights Movement—though many of those thinkers disagreed with each other, he nonetheless
found ways to disagree with them all. He thought that activists who believed that Black people such as himself should
culturally assimilate were naïve. But he also sharply criticized Black nationalists such as Marcus Garvey who wanted to
establish independent, self-contained Black economies and societies, even though Cruse himself identified as a Black
nationalist.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A. It describes a direction that Cruse felt the Civil Rights Movement ought to take.

B. It indicates that Cruse’s reputation as a persistent antagonist of other scholars is undeserved.

C. It describes a controversy that Cruse’s work caused within the Black nationalist movement.

D. It helps explain Cruse’s position with respect to the community of civil rights thinkers.

ID: 9b01bcf4 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is the best answer. The text as a whole claims that Cruse disagreed with virtually all other Civil Rights scholars and
activists. The underlined sentence describes one way that Cruse both did and didn’t fit in with those thinkers: he criticized
Black nationalists, even though he identified as one.

Choice A is incorrect. The underlined sentence doesn’t do this. It describes Cruse’s criticisms—it never mentions what Cruse
did want the movement to do instead. Choice B is incorrect. This conflicts with the text, which argues that Cruse did disagree
with almost all other scholars of the Civil Rights Movement. Choice C is incorrect. This is a step too far. The text never says
that Cruse’s work caused controversy within the Black nationalist movement.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 975b0602
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 975b0602
A number of Indigenous politicians have been elected to the United States Congress since 2000 as members of the country’s
two established political parties. In Canada and several Latin American countries, on the other hand, Indigenous people have
formed their own political parties to advance candidates who will advocate for the interests of their communities. This
movement has been particularly successful in Ecuador, where Guadalupe Llori, a member of the Indigenous party known as
Pachakutik, was elected president of the National Assembly in 2021.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To trace the history of an Indigenous political movement and speculate about its future development

B. To argue that Indigenous politicians in the United States should form their own political party

C. To highlight two approaches to achieving political representation for Indigenous people

D. To consider how Indigenous politicians in the United States have influenced Indigenous politicians in Canada and Latin
America

ID: 975b0602 Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text, which is to illustrate two
approaches that Indigenous politicians have taken to achieve political representation for their communities. The text begins
by explaining that one approach is exemplified by Indigenous politicians in the United States who, in an effort to ensure that
the interests of their communities are represented in government, joined preexisting political parties and were subsequently
elected to Congress. The text goes on to highlight a second approach adopted by Indigenous leaders in Canada and several
Latin American countries: rather than joining established political parties, many Indigenous politicians in these countries
have instead formed their own parties to promote candidates for office who support causes that are important to their
communities.

Choice A is incorrect because the text’s focus is on the contrasting approaches adopted by different Indigenous political
movements in different countries; thus, it isn’t accurate to say that the text traces the history of one political movement.
Moreover, the text only discusses examples from 2000 to 2021, a relatively short period of time; therefore, it provides very
little in the way of discussion of larger historical developments, nor does it make any predictions about how these
movements might continue to develop in the future. Choice B is incorrect because the text never urges Indigenous
politicians in the US to alter their strategy of striving for representation through the established political parties, nor does it
suggest that this strategy is inferior to that of Indigenous politicians in Canada and Latin America, who have formed their
own parties. In fact, the text notes that both strategies have resulted in the election of Indigenous politicians to national
governments. Choice D is incorrect because the text never suggests that Indigenous politicians in the US have influenced
those in Canada and Latin America; instead, it stresses how Indigenous politicians’ approach toward achieving
representation in the US government has differed from the approach Indigenous politicians have taken to achieve
representation in national governments elsewhere in the Americas.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID b0f7541b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: b0f7541b
The following text is adapted from Herman Melville’s 1857 novel The Confidence-Man. Humphry Davy was a prominent
British chemist and inventor.

Years ago, a grave American savant, being in London, observed at an evening party there, a certain coxcombical fellow,
as he thought, an absurd ribbon in his lapel, and full of smart [banter], whisking about to the admiration of as many as
were disposed to admire. Great was the savant’s disdain; but, chancing ere long to find himself in a corner with the
jackanapes, got into conversation with him, when he was somewhat ill-prepared for the good sense of the jackanapes,
but was altogether thrown aback, upon subsequently being [informed that he was] no less a personage than Sir
Humphry Davy.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It portrays the thoughts of a character who is embarrassed about his own behavior.

B. It presents an account of a misunderstanding.

C. It offers a short history of how a person came to be famous.

D. It explains why one character dislikes another.

ID: b0f7541b Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

Choice B is the best answer. The text tells a story of a first impression that turned out to be wrong: a serious American
savant was dismissive of a goofy-looking, wisecracking guest at a British party, and then was shocked to learn that the guest
was actually a prominent British chemist and inventor.

Choice A is incorrect. This is too strong and too narrow. Only at the very end is the savant "thrown aback" by the fact that the
man was Sir Humphry Davy—he’s not "embarrassed about his own behavior." Choice C is incorrect. This isn’t the main
purpose. The text never provides the history of how Sir Humphry Davy came to be famous. Nor does it provide any history for
the American savant. Choice D is incorrect. This is too narrow. It doesn’t include the second half of the text, where the savant
gets into a conversation with the man and then finds out that the man is Sir Humphry Davy.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 6d44060a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 6d44060a
Works of moral philosophy, such as Plato’s Republic or Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, are partly concerned with how to live
a morally good life. But philosopher Jonathan Barnes argues that works that present a method of living such a life without
also supplying a motive are inherently useful only to those already wishing to be morally good—those with no desire for
moral goodness will not choose to follow their rules. However, some works of moral philosophy attempt to describe what
constitutes a morally good life while also proposing reasons for living one.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It provides a characterization about a field of thought by noting two works in it and then details a way in which some
works in that field are more comprehensive than others.

B. It mentions two renowned works and then claims that despite their popularity it is impossible for these works to serve
the purpose their authors intended.

C. It summarizes the history of a field of thought by discussing two works and then proposes a topic of further research for
specialists in that field.

D. It describes two influential works and then explains why one is more widely read than the other.

ID: 6d44060a Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is the best answer. The text starts by stating what moral philosophy is concerned with and naming two examples
of works in the field. Then it describes a shortcoming of some works in that field (they say how but not why), and finally it
states that other works try to avoid that shortcoming (by including both how and why to live a morally good life).

Choice B is incorrect. This is too extreme. The text never mentions whether the two works are popular or not, and it never
argues that these works don’t serve their intended purpose of describing how to live a morally good life. Rather, the text
claims that works of moral philosophy that don’t include both how and why to be moral are not useful to readers who don’t
already want to be moral. Choice C is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. The text never discusses the history of moral
philosophy at all, and it doesn’t propose any topic for further research. Choice D is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure.
The text never discusses which of the two works is more widely read.

Question Difficulty: Medium