SAT II Spanish--ridiculously easy?

Westmere
Sun, 04 May 2008 20:25:05 +0000

Yes, I am more certain than I would be had I chosen “Juanito’s love” as the answer. I went with my gut feeling, that answer seemed more correct.

I think that College Board was trying to trick us with that “Ella era de Portugalete” since a cursory analysis of the text yields the impression that she was from Erandio. This is true, to some extent, but open to interpretation – she danced with Juanito at Portugalete. I believe the “de Portugalete” in the answer meant “originated/hailed from Portugalete” less than it did “the girl he knew from having danced at Portugalete.”

Plus, consider the situation: Juanito is, what? Ten years old approximately? No where in the text did it say he was in love with this girl, and his age doesn’t justify such an answer based on common sense. As a matter of fact, the passage made it a point to communicate that she was “half” his girlfriend. I hardly consider that on the level of the “amor de Juanito.”

This was a confusing question, to be sure; the fact that it can be answered in two different ways doesn’t say much for College Board’s ability to write effective questions.