2009 May SAT

indelliblename · August 10, 2014, 9:09pm

The following passage is by an Italian writer and chemist.
Here he discusses a former college classmate whom he first
met in 1939
I had noticed with amazement and delight that some-

thing was happening between Sandro and me. It was not

at all a friendship born from affinity; on the contrary, the
Line
difference in our origins made us rich in “exchangeable goods,”
5
like two merchants who meet after coming from

remote and mutually unknown regions. Nor was it the

normal, momentous intimacy of twenty-year-olds: with

Sandro I never reached this point. I soon realized that he

was generous, subtle, tenacious, and brave, even with a
10

touch of insolence, but he had an elusive, untamed quality

Although we were at the age when one always had the need,

instinct, and immodesty of inflicting on one another every-

thing that swarms in one’s head and elsewhere, nothing had

gotten through Sandro’s shell of reserve, nothing of his inner
15

world, which nevertheless one felt was dense and fertile
—

nothing save a few occasional, dramatically truncated hints.

He had the nature of a cat with whom one can live for decades

without ever being permitted to penetrate its sacred pelt.

We began studying chemistry together, and Sandro
20

was surprised when I tried to explain to him some of the

ideas that at the time I was cultivating. That the nobility

of Humankind, acquired in a hundred centuries of trial and

error, lay in making ourselves the conqueror of matter, and

that I had enrolled in chemistry because I wanted to remain
25

faithful to this nobility. That conquering matter is under-

standing it, and understanding matter is necessary to

understand the universe and ourselves; and that therefore

the periodic table of elements, which just during those weeks

we were laboriously learning to unravel, was poetry, loftier
30

and more solemn than all the poetry we had swallowed down

in high school. That if one looked for the bridge, the missing

link between the world of words and the world of things,

one did not have to look far: it was there, in our textbook,

in our smoke-filled labs, and in our future trade.
35

Sandro listened to me with ironical attention, always

ready to deflate me with a couple of civil and terse words

when I trespassed into rhetoric. He took an interest in my

education and made it clear to me that it had gaps. I might

even be right: it might be that Matter is our teacher; but he
40

had another form of matter to lead me to, another teacher:

not the powders of the Analytical Lab but the true, authentic,

timeless, primary matter: the rocks and ice of the nearby

mountains. He proved to me without too much difficulty

that I didn’t have the proper credentials to talk about matter.
45

What commerce had I had, until then, with Empedocles’

four elements?* Did I know how to light a stove? Wade

across a torrent? Was I familiar with a storm high up in

the mountains? The sprouting of seeds? No. So he too had

something vital to teach me.

<ol>
<li>Which statement best describes the way Sandro reacted to the author’s ideas expressed in lines </li>
</ol>

19-34 ?

(A) He saw them as a challenge to his own beliefs.

(B) He was awed by the author’s intelligence.

(C) He thought the author was overly rigid in his beliefs.

(D) He felt the author lacked knowledge of much that was important in life.

(E) He shared the author’s assumptions and respected his methods.

<ol>
<li>It can be inferred that Sandro considered “rhetoric” (line 37) to be </li>
</ol>

(A) an inadequate way to develop substantive ideas

(B) a questionable method of explanation for a professor to use

(C) an interesting means of describing the world of matter

(D) a stimulating form of discourse for debate among peers

(E) an enticing but forbidden attraction for students

<ol>
<li>A significant difference between Sandro and the author is that Sandro </li>
</ol>

(A) believed in learning through experience, whereas the author was bookish

(B) was not interested in chemistry, whereas the author found it fascinating

(C) was ambitious, whereas the author was modest in his expectations

(D) was a poor student, whereas the author had an excellent academic record

(E) was uncertain of his own opinions, whereas the author was self-assured in his views

Frankly, I don’t know what the last paragraph is talking about. What’s the meaning behind “I might be right”? Who does “he” refer to in the last sentence?

Phongtheha · August 12, 2014, 9:58am

12, The answer is D. from lines 19-34, the author is just talking about something that seems really far away, something sounds schorlarly. Yet Sandro points out that the author’s education has “gaps”: it lacked things that are closer to real life: “not the powders of the Analytical Lab but the true, authentic, timeless, primary matter: the rocks and ice of the nearby mountains” or things like “to light a stove? Wade across a torrent? Was I familiar with a storm high up in the mountains? The sprouting of seeds?”

That’s it, these thus directly translate to “(D) He felt the author lacked knowledge of much that was important in life”

Let’s check the other answers:
(A) Sanro doesn’t mention his belief, thus there is no “his own belief” to be mentioned here
(B) The passage doesn’t say anything about awe in here. In fact, Sandro listens but sometimes mocks the author
© The author is not being “overly rigid”, in fact he was listening to Sandro and is ready to admit (fact:the author says they learn from each other)
(E) Again, Sandro listens but mocks the author sometimes with “terse words,…”

14, I think it is A
Let’s consider the other answers:
the others are wrong because of their key terms, which needed to be cross-off
CROSS-OFF:
(B) “for a professor to use”
© “an interesting means”
(D) “debate” - this is tricky because normally a debate needs an attacker and a defender. In here, there is just the author telling his stuffs, Sandro sometimes mocks the author, and he just listens and admits
(E) “for students”

15, this can be done easily by eliminating answer choices.
I’m pretty sure the answer is (A), since it is the generally it is what this whole passage is about

CROSS-OFF:
(B) “not interestedin chemistry”-not mentioned
© “was ambitious”-same
(D) “a poor student” -same
(E) “uncertain” - same

“I might be right” means that the author thinks both are right, which further clarify the first paragraph (the “exchangable goods” and “merchants” stuffs)

Obviously “he” refers to Sandro, who else could it be?

BassGuitar · August 12, 2014, 6:27pm

Grr. I hate ambiguous Critical Reading.

One could argue that 14 could be E. Sandro criticizes the author for talking about deep topics while having gaps in his knowledge. A student by definition has gaps in his knowledge. It makes perfect sense; Sandro thinks that chemistry is forbidden for students because they do not yet have a grasp on worldly, real-life-encountered, macro-phenomena, which is E.

One could also argue that 15 could be B. Last time I checked, lighting stoves, sprouting seeds, and storms high up in mountains are not chemistry, they sound like some mesh of natural sciences. Maybe they were chemistry then though.

Phongtheha · August 13, 2014, 12:47am

@BassGuitar‌ You have to rely on the passage
Like I have said.
14 cannot be E because we must cross-off “students”, as far as I notice, there are just 2 and only 2 characters there in the passage - the author and Sandro, no more no less. Sure, these “gaps” here are somehow true to describe the author, yet they apparently do not apply to Sandro, thus “students” must be cross-off here.

Your argument “A student by definition has gaps in his knowledge” is difinitely self-knowledge. Who says that a students HAS to have gaps in his knowledge? The passage doesn’t say so, so you must NOT assume it is a right statement.

15 The passage itself never said that if Sandro is interested in Chem or not. You are thinking too far, the secret of SAT CR is to, paradoxically, simplify your thought.
Anyways, yes indeed “lighting stoves, sprouting seeds, and storms high up in mountains” definitely are NOT chemistry! That’s why they make sense because they refer to “the true, authentic, timeless, primary matter: the rocks and ice of the nearby mountains”

BassGuitar · August 13, 2014, 4:36pm

@Phongtheha You’re absolutely right about simplifying your thought to do well on CR. I got you now.

Phongtheha · August 14, 2014, 12:16am

@BassGuitar‌ Well I’m glad it helps you in anyway Feel free to ask me if you have any further question regarding the SAT

2009 May SAT

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