How to Attack the SAT Critical Reading Section Effectively - Page 14

Noitaraperp · 02-01-2010, 12:48 AM

It's back up now but a lot of my changes have disappeared magically. I'm sort of afraid to edit it because it will go into another month of "editorial review." Now I'm back into SAT tutoring (since I'm more adjusted after the first semester of college), so I will reawaken (hopefully) my insights on writing progressively. I will definitely then work on a writing guide.

sporty04 · 02-13-2010, 02:03 PM

Hey noitaraperp this is a really random and weirdly worded question but...this was one of the problems in the BB 2nd edition, 7th test.

18. In the second paragraph (lines 6-13), the references to animals primarily serve to...
A.....
B. prove a controversial point about animal behavior.
C. ....
D......
E. show the variety of animal play.

The correct answer is E but I think B kind of fits too... Is B definitely wrong because the word "prove" is too extreme?

Thanks!!

kevmschmid · 02-13-2010, 03:30 PM

Here is the explanation provided from the College Board website.

ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS

Explanation for Correct Answer E :

Choice (E) is correct. In the second paragraph, different sorts of play—stalking and wrestling, playing tag, playing by oneself with rocks and sticks, and tickling others—are associated with different kinds of animals. Thus the varied nature of animal play is displayed.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer A :

Choice (A) is incorrect. In the third paragraph there is mention of an assumption held by biologists that play among animals "was too nebulous a concept either to define or to study" (line 19). But the kinds of play included in the second paragraph do not support this assumption, nor are they offered in its support.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer B :

Choice (B) is incorrect. The point that the second paragraph primarily addresses—that there are many animals that play when young and that they play in a variety of ways—is not presented in the passage as a controversial point that needs to be proven. It is presented as a point that had long been ignored but which has, in the last two decades, attracted some of the attention that, according to the passage, it deserves.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer C :

Choice (C) is incorrect. The descriptions of animal play in the second paragraph are not offered as contrasting in any way with "a previous description of animal play." The first paragraph of the passage contains a description of animal play, but the sorts of play described are much the same as in the second paragraph. For example, chasing and wrestling occur in both paragraphs. The passage gives no indication of any historically earlier descriptions of animal play with which the descriptions in the second paragraph are contrasted. Rather, the passage says that "play among animals was ignored by scientists for most of this [the 20th] century" (lines 15-16).

Explanation for Incorrect Answer D :

Choice (D) is incorrect. The second paragraph does include the sentence, "From human children to whales to sewer rats, many groups of mammals and even some birds play for a significant fraction of their youth" (lines 7-9). What this emphasizes, however, is behavioral and developmental similarities between animals and humans, not physical similarities.

I'm not Noitararerp, but the above is totally correct. ^

sporty04 · 02-14-2010, 07:03 PM

ok thanks kevmschmid

sansiro · 02-18-2010, 08:14 AM

reading some good novels will really help rather than taking too many practice tests. I believe CR is a test of concentration. I didn't take so much practice tests but I improved my score from 470 to 690 in a year.

MattNC · 02-19-2010, 11:07 PM

This has inspired me to do so well on the SAT even if it's just CR, because it's what I struggle on most. If I go all out on the SAT I can probably get a 700 on writing and close to that on math, but I just cant decipher the CR. Thank you for these great tips that I will surely use, 3 weeks from now.
- Matt.

xrCalico23 · 02-25-2010, 01:23 PM

^thanks for advertising that site on every single thread

AvidStudent · 02-26-2010, 11:39 PM

Did you ever make a "Writing How To Guide"?

I do well on M (high 700s) & CR (low/mid 700s), but absolutely dreadful on W (mid 500s).
Do you or anyone else have any tips on the W section?

alberttkimm · Yesterday, 12:34 AM

Hi, are you suppose to answer the line-reference questions as you encounter them? And skip the non-reference questions so you can answer them after reading it all?

And how do you tackle long-passages that have 2 passages?

Noitaraperp · Yesterday, 07:57 PM

^"Yes" and "sometimes" to your first two questions. You can find the answers to some of your questions in my original post:

Quote:

Once you have marked up all the line references as fast as humanly possible, then the real art begins. You must read the passage. There is no way around reading every single word. But HOW you read it is the true art. Read the unmarked sections quickly yet efficiently, absorbing it briefly but not truly pausing to analyze. ONCE you hit a marked section, slow down and absorb it. If you feel that it would not disrupt your flow to answer the corresponding question, do so. If not, keep going a little more. A vast majority of the line reference questions (even complex ones such as inferences) can be answered after reading from the beginning to the point of reference. In a few instances, it may help to read past the point of reference, but NEVER read the whole passage through without pausing to answer questions.

For long paired passages, do mark up #1, read#1 while doing specific questions #1, do general questions #1, do mark up #2, read #2 while doing specific questions #2, do general questions #2, and last do general questions that cover BOTH #1 and #2. Again, I think this approach is the best, because you are answering questions at the points during your attack when you are most focused on the relevant sections.