Sat Oct 21, 2006 PSAT Answer Consolidation

Test Preparation
1

<p>Although we’ve already discussed most of the questions on the October 21, 2006 PSAT, no one has attempted to make a comprehensive list of correct answers in the critical reading and writing sections. Off the top of my head, here are some responses that are either established or controversial. (Unresolved questions will have an exclamation point next to them.)</p>

<p>Critical Reading:</p>

<p>Sentence Completions</p>

<p>! 1. court/accomplish (architects)
2. profound/sophisticated (choice A for Baldwin, I think)
3. itinerant (peregrine falcons)
4. diatribe (bitter employer)
5. disenfranchise/register (voting and discontent)
! 6. euphemism (not explicitly)
7. stopgap (temporary legislation)
8. dislike/flavorful (maybe choice B for sashimi)
9. pieces/positioned (mosaic)</p>

<p>Short Passages</p>

<p>Chimpanzees</p>

<p>! 10. technical skills (choice E)
11. termite example (choice D, because raw materials needed to be present
on both sides of the river)</p>

<p>Uncle to Nephew</p>

<p>! 12. wry (tone of parenthetical asides, but some claim that surly is correct)
13. unconvinced by uncle’s advice</p>

<p>Biographer</p>

<p>! 14. either talented writer or influence on genre (?) (what both passages
agreed on–I chose the former)
15. impact on future biographers (what only 2nd passage mentioned)
16. uncritical of their subjects (overall trend in 19th-century biographies)</p>

<p>Long Passages</p>

<p>Hiking</p>

<p>! 17. humorous/earnest (tones of the two passages, although some have
argued for conversational/scholarly)
18. astonishment (reaction after meeting the two hikers)
19. two men (author of 1st passage wants to emulate them)
20. unreasonable anxiety that can be lessened through understanding of
personal limitations and equipment (choice A) (how the author of 2nd
passage would react to fears expressed by author of 1st passage)
21. physical description (how passage 2 best supports rationalization in
passage 1 about getting more fit)
! 22. justify impulsive decision (purpose of rationalizations in passage 1)
23. blithe outlook (interpretation of the idealistic voice in narrator’s head)
24. emphasize arduous undertaking (repetition of beyond–way beyond)
25. extending (meaning of running when viewed in context)</p>

<p>Korea</p>

<p>! 26. unrealistic/naive (initial expectations for trip to Korea)
! 27. esteem (how she regards her grandmother)
28. inconspicuous (concept of freedom)
29. ability to endure change (significance of monuments)
30. indifference/fascination (initial and final attitudes toward her past)
! 31. self-awareness (can’t remember what the question stated!)
32. insight into identity (what knowledge of one’s history provides)</p>

<p>Stars</p>

<li>explain natural phenomenon (purpose of rhetorical question)</li>
<li>if stars didn’t twinkle (what would make scientists happy)
! 35. attempt at humor by using different definitions of the same word (best
function of the line “clouds are gross,” which possibly could have been
to cite an authority–Newton)
! 36. interstellar space vs. lower atmosphere (describe contrast found in
excerpt “swift yet peaceful journey”; I’m still not convinced that choice
E, or scientific vs. romantic vision, is necessarily incorrect, though.)
! 37. specific barrier (choice C)
! 38. acknowledge adaptive optics (?) (Once again, I’m not sure what the
question asked.)</li>
</ol>

<p>Since sleep deprivation has finally caught up with me, I must put a premature end to this ambitious project. Nevertheless, I hope that you continue to edit this list so that we can somewhat accurately predict our PSAT scores.</p>

2

<p>A repost, but for reference: here’s the math section.</p>

<p>Over 3/4ths of the multiple choice questions (23/28)
Area of square circle=32
Paint Mixture=30
=0 question, x^2=y^2
Perpendicular Slope where m < 0
21st Sunday
x^2+xy area of rectangle+square
volume of two cubes 10
x, when f(x) = x+1
Graph with girl in bike-starts with a steep slope, goes to a 0 slope, then even steeper
4 is a tripable number with 11
X circle Y 314 is 24
Median of kids watching TV is 14
Probability of selecting a girl speaking more than one language is 8/27
t+w+x+y=360 parallel line angles
Number line CD=7
10 numbers with 7_5
f(x)=3x^3-x+1 f(-1)=-1
If the horizontal and vertical crosses add up to the same thing then x=1
Digits question 3(x+y)=10x+y (try 27)
Y coordinate was t=-9
10 for the 50/x = x percent x=10
3^100 for the 3,9,27,81 sequence
17 for the two isoceles triangles</p>

<p>ALL gridins, more or less in order
11 or 12 for the <50, >50
7 artists submitting 2 paintings
2400 people total
52.5 chairs made
19 < x < 23 for the third triangle leg
0.25 for ar+br
4 for the exponent 2y+1
141 degrees for parallel lines
80 cars
0.5 diameter of circle</p>

<p>If anyone can remember the remaining 5 questions, post if you like…and feel free to add any corrections, I know I messed up somewhere. After all, I did miss three, and all were stupid mistakes. (i misread the question on two, and filled in the grid incorrectly for the other one). Ugh, I think I filled out the wrong bubble for another-we’ll see.</p>

<p>Edit-Remarkable work on the CR Section. I hope somebody can compile writing…</p>

3

<p>how do you get the median of kids watching TV is 14? I think I put 11.</p>

4

<p>“Y coordinate was t=-9”</p>

<p>I put t = 2, hmmmmm; i might be remembering the wrong one tho,</p>

<p>I put 9 for the median one; just take the weighted average and medianize em</p>

5

<p>i feel so incredibly stupid, i put 4 for the ar + br one… grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr</p>

6

<p>Anand, you’re thinking of a different problem that wasn’t mentioned, to the best of my knowledge, in the official list of math questions. The question went something like:</p>

<p>In order to make x=6, what must t equal in the following equation?</p>

<p>30 = x + 2xt</p>

<p>I forget what the equation was, but I clearly remember that t=2 was the correct answer and that x=6.</p>

7

<p>the median was definatly 14, because you have to write out the sequence and see which one is in the middle</p>

8

<p>Probability of selecting a girl speaking more than one language is 8/27…</p>

<p>Is this one a definite? Wouldn’t it be out of all the girls instead of everyone?</p>

<p>I think I picked 8/12 or something like that for this one</p>

9

<p>ben, which one was teh y coordinate equal to -9?</p>

<p>ie. what was the question</p>

10

<p>i think the way the question was worded, it wanted out of everyone…8/27. It said what was the chance of picking a girl that spoke more than one language, rather than something like…what would be the probablility that a chosen girl would speak more than 1 language</p>

<p>hm…counting 4 wrong in CR so far…i cant get more than 5 or i’m in trouble…</p>

11

<p>what did we decide for the conversational/scholarly one?</p>

12

<p>For the math section, there was something with coins…like if 4 items cost $0.32, how much do 13 items cost? The answer was $1.04.</p>

<p>The -9 one had a coordinate plane with a triangle shape, so starting from a point, one side went diagonally up to the right and the other went diagonally down to the right. They were straight up and down from each other. (Bad description…)</p>

<p>Edit: Also, is the voting one definitely not compromised/something else?</p>

13

<p>we decided humorous/earnest…i put conversational and scholarly too, but i think scholalarly was too strong of a word.</p>

14

<p>Thanks cory123. That makes sense…unfortunately lol.</p>

15

<p>ohhhhhh, yeah i put the y-coordinate as -9… okay good</p>

<p>hmmm, was the second passage really earnest though? Cause he had already done what he wanted to do and was writing a book about it. I thought that pretty well explained why it wasnt earnest… the intro blurb said that it was a 1968 book about backpacking</p>

16

<p>does anyone know what specific date in December the saturday scores are being given back, or is it just whenever collegeboard is done grading them???</p>

17

<p>I think it was earnest because he was trying really really hard to debunk the misconception that it’s always dangerous to go into the wilderness. Think of a doe-eyed little kid going, “but Santa DOES exist!” Which, of course, he does.</p>

18

<p>no lobgent, santa doesnt exist… your parents give you the presents!</p>

19

<p>i think scores are shipped out from december 4-8</p>

20

<p>for the disenfranchise/register…are you guys positive thats the right answer? I remember I put another answer that I thought also pertained to the question.</p>