<p>The whole passage is about this baseball player, DiMaggio. And the questions are about a section where his manger talks about him:</p>
<p>excerpt (lines 5-10)–> " Stengel, his new manager, was equally impressed, and when DiMaggio was on base he would point to him as an example of the perfect base runner. “Look at him,” Stengel would say as DiMaggio ran out a base hit, “he’s always watching the ball. He isn’t watching second base. He isn’t watching third base. He knows they haven’t been moved. He isn’t watching the ground, because he knows they haven’t built a canal or a swimming pool since he was last there. He’s watching the ball and the out-fielder, which is the one thing that is different on every play.”</p>
<ol>
<li>Stengel’s comments in lines 5-10 serve chiefly to</li>
</ol>
<p>A. point up the stupidity of the sort of error he condemns
B. suggest the inevitability of mistakes in running bases
C. show it is easier to spot problems than to come up with answers
D. answer the criticisms of DiMaggio’s base running
E. modify his earlier position on DiMaggio’s ability</p>
<p>Answer: A</p>
<p>MY QUESTION:
Doesn’t Stengel’s comments in that paragraph “serve chiefly” to point out “what a good player DiMaggio is?” And not “how stupid the mistakes he didn’t make are?” You could infer that Stengel would “consider those mistake stupid”, but the passage doesn’t “serve chiefly” to do that right? </p>
<p>I can read all the passages just fine, but my comprehension of the problems are killing me, help?</p>
<p>Well, one could certainly infer one or the other (whether it’s primarily praise for DiMaggio or if it’s pointing out the mistakes other players make). This is why College Board didn’t even make “point out what a good player DiMaggio is” a choice. All the other choices can be eliminated, thus leaving A as the answer.</p>
<p>Also, notice how Stengel uses the word “isn’t” 3 times. He’s clearly using DiMaggio to exemplify his actions and expose what other players are doing wrong.</p>
<p>It is a pretty strange question though. I didn’t realize this was from Barron’s-- most likely College Board won’t ask a question this strange (but there are similar “type” questions). I suggest simply sticking to official SAT tests. Have you completed the official SAT study guide yet?</p>
<p>@alihaq717
erm, i sort of skimped the blue book… I have a pretty old version, and the techniques are quite obvious with the answers unexplained. I thought Barron’s would be pretty good, and I got the newest version.</p>
<p>there is nothing really different in the new blue book, compared to the old blue book. all that are added are three QAS’s from May 2007 Saturday, January 2007 and October 2006.</p>
<p>The CollegeBoard does like to throw in the NOT/negative questions. Just be aware that a similar question can and have appeared on past SAT exams. I do admit when I read it I had the same inference that Stengel was praising DiMaggio for his stellar baseball skills. In this situation I would choose A not because I liked it, but because all the other answers simply are erroneous or are illogical.</p>