Sat - MC Grawhill part 21 docx

SAT Practice 5:
Connecting the Questions to the Passage
190 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT
group members protect them. The bonds
among group members may make them treat
the whistle-blower, not the wrongdoer, as the
50 criminal. They do this especially if the whistle-
blower is a member of their in-group—one
does not squeal, tell tales, or inform on one’s
comrades.
Social psychologists find that we easily
55 become prejudiced. It takes the smallest hint
that you belong to one group and other people
to another for you to favor “your own” group.
The reason you belong to one group rather
than another may be no more than a prefer-
60 ence for abstract artists, Paul Klee rather than
Wassily Kandinsky. You need not even meet
and interact with the members of your own
group, but prejudice will nonetheless rear its
ugly head. It may be our football team, school,
65 town or nation, or the color of our skin. Once
fully identified with that “we,” people become
sensitive to the needs of their group and
callous toward other groups. Outsiders cease
to matter. The stronger our identification with
70 the “we,” the blinder we become to the
humanity we share with “them.” Out of this
psychology comes the nasty side of history
and the human race: the world of “ethnic
cleansing,” genocide, racial prejudice, and

75 global terrorism. Thus, we may be born alone,
but we quickly learn to identify ourselves with
a group, leading, in some cases, to barbaric
consequences.
1. The primary purpose of this passage is to
(A) examine a problem
(B) compare human behavior with bird behavior
(C) disprove a theory
(D) suggest an alternative
(E) analyze a phenomenon
The following is an excerpt from a recent book by
two science writers on the evolution of human
intelligence.
Where can freedom be found? Perhaps in a
flock of estuary birds? Flying together at high
Line speeds, thousands of birds maneuver with
precise coordination. The flock flies this way
5 and then that. It turns as if a wave has passed
through it. These “maneuver waves” start
slowly in a few individuals but quickly spread.
Unless the individual birds reacted together,
the flock would disperse, exposing isolated
10 birds to predators. Sometimes it is “smart,” in
a survival sense, to give up your freedom and
fit in with a group.
Once started, a wave travels through a flock
at about 70 birds a second. Surprisingly, this
15 is much faster than a single bird’s reaction
time. Thus, individual birds cannot have seen
their neighbors and said to themselves,

“Hey, they’ve changed direction—I’d better
copy them.” Something else besides copying is
20 synchronizing the birds. Somehow they see
themselves, if only for a short time, as part of
a whole. They see the wave maneuver and
time their own change of flight with it.
Individuals cease to be individuals in many
25 ways—not just when flying together. Humans
can react physically as a group; a wave of
legs passes down a chorus line at roughly 10
dancers every second. As with birds taking off,
this is too fast for movements made in reaction
30 to neighbors. A similar thing, no doubt at a
deeper level, organizes a jazz jam or a basket-
ball team. This suggests that people are
good—surprisingly good—at synthesizing
their actions into a larger whole. Soldiers
35 marching in step with each other are not
doing so as individuals.
We all have a sense of “we” that identifies
with “our” group and favors “us” against out-
siders. We have our fraternities, sororities,
40 and other old boy and girl networks. We seek
out people who share the same club, school
tie, or accent. Much of this activity is harm-
less, but our loyalties also have their darker
side. When loyal group members are found to
45 be doing wrong—committing sexual or physi-
cal abuse, faking data, or taking bribes—other
John R. Skoyles and Dorion Sagan, Up from Dragons. © 2002

McGraw-Hill. Reprinted by permission of The McGraw-Hill
Companies.
CHAPTER 4 / CRITICAL READING SKILLS 191
5. On the whole, the authors’ attitude toward group
behavior is one of
(A) ambivalence
(B) disdain
(C) admiration
(D) skepticism
(E) fear
6. The “psychology” mentioned in line 72 is closest
to the mindset of
(A) an orchestra conductor working to perfect a
performance
(B) a scientist studying the nature of cooperation
(C) a football player trying to become a produc-
tive member of a team
(D) an artist seeking isolation in which to work
(E) an ideologue trying to inspire hatred of an
enemy
2. The passage refers to the “freedom” of estuary
birds in lines 1–2 in order to emphasize the fact
that
(A) birds are more physically free than humans
(B) something is not as it appears
(C) scientists do not yet understand how birds
move in flocks
(D) the coordination of birds in flight is
distinctly different from the coordination
of human political movements

(E) birds do not appreciate the complexity of
their actions
3. By saying that soldiers do not march “as individuals”
(line 36), the authors suggest that the soldiers
(A) are compelled to march through coercion
(B) must obey the orders of their superiors
(C) react as a part of an organized whole
(D) lack leadership skills
(E) are reluctant
4. Klee and Kandinsky (lines 60–61) are mentioned
as examples of
(A) artists whose works are closely related
(B) people who do not act as individuals
(C) men whose followers may form distinct
groups
(D) those who belong to a privileged group
(E) individuals who express prejudice
Answer Key 5:
Connecting the Questions to the Passage
192 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT
Concept Review 5
1. (1) Read each question carefully, covering up the
answer choices for now, (2) translate it into a
“stand-alone” question, if possible, (3) formulate
your own answer to the translated question, and
(4) choose the best match among the choices.
2. A “stand-alone” question is one that can be an-
swered without needing to look at multiple
choices. It should be phrased like an open-ended
essay question, such as “What is the tone of line

35?” rather than “The tone of line 35 is best char-
acterized as. . . .”
3. Translating and answering the question as a
“stand-alone” question helps you to avoid the most
common “traps” in SAT Critical Reading questions.
Many of the choices will sound good because they
are “true” in some sense but in fact do not answer
the question. (More on this in Lesson 8.)
4. a. What is the author’s attitude toward the “oppo-
sition” in line 42?
b. Why has the garden become important to the
author?
c. What motivates Davis, according to the last
paragraph?
d. What is the author trying to emphasize by men-
tioning the freedom of estuary birds in lines 1–2?
e. Why does the author use the term “solid” in
line 16?
5. The “sandwich strategy” shows you where to look
when a Critical Reading question does not contain
a line reference. Because the questions follow the
order of the passage, the answer usually can be
found between the line reference in the previous
question and the line reference in the next
question.
6. The phrase “in order to” indicates that the ques-
tion is asking you to determine the purpose of the
passage as a whole or the purpose of some part of
the passage. To tackle purpose questions, first re-
mind yourself of the purpose of the passage over-

all, then of the purpose of the specific paragraph,
and then of the purpose of the specific word or
reference.
SAT I Practice 5
1. E This passage analyzes (examines closely) the
phenomenon of group behavior, first in terms of
birds flying together, then in terms of human beings
acting as teams, and then in terms of human
group identification. This passage is not focused
on a “problem” because group behavior is often
depicted as a positive thing, particularly in the
first three paragraphs, so choice (A) is incorrect.
Since the passage discusses birds only in the first
couple of paragraphs, (B) must be incorrect. Also,
since no alternative to a situation or refutation of
a theory is presented, (C) and (D) cannot be right.
2. B The authors begin with a question: “Where
can freedom be found?” and a rhetorical answer:
“Perhaps in a flock of estuary birds?” This leads us
to believe that the author might use the example
of birds flying as an example of “freedom.” How-
ever, the paragraph (and the passage as a whole)
goes on to suggest that bird flight is not as “free”
as it seems and often typifies group behavior.
3. C The example of the marching soldiers follows
the examples of the estuary birds, the chorus line,
the jazz band, and the basketball team. All of these
examples reinforce the common theme of group
behavior being an organized whole.
4. C The sentence says that “The reason you be-

long to one group rather than another may be no
more than a preference for abstract artists, Paul
Klee rather than Wassily Kandinsky.” This means
that those who like the art of Klee might form a
distinct group from those who like Kandinsky.
5. A The authors indicate the positive benefits of
group behavior in the first three paragraphs, then
its “darker side” in the last two paragraphs. This is
an example of ambivalence, in which the authors
are not saying that group behavior is always good
or always bad.
6. E According to the passage, the “psychology”
mentioned in line 72 is the mind-set by which
people become blind “to the humanity we share
with ‘them’” (lines 70–71) and which leads to
scourges such as “‘ethnic cleansing,’ genocide,
racial prejudice, and global terrorism” (lines
73–75). Therefore, it is closest to the mind-set of
an ideologue trying to inspire hatred of an enemy.
CHAPTER 4 / CRITICAL READING SKILLS 193
Lesson 6:
Finding Alternatives in Attacking the Questions
“Whole-Passage Attack” versus “Paragraph
Attack”
Although many students do best by reading the
whole passage before attacking the questions, some
prefer to attack the questions sooner. This approach,
called the “paragraph attack,” takes advantage of the
ordering of SAT CR questions. In this mode of attack,
you read the first paragraph or two, and then answer

the questions that pertain to just those paragraphs
(skipping any “big picture” questions for now). When
you reach a question that refers to a portion of the
passage that you haven’t read, go back and read the
next paragraph or two, and so on. Always read and
summarize whole paragraphs at a time before going
to the questions. Don’t stop in the middle of a
paragraph.
Experiment with the “whole-passage attack”
and the “paragraph attack” strategies as you
practice, and decide which works better for you.
Attacking Paired Passages
Every SAT contains “paired” passages—one pair of long
passages and one pair of short passages—that share a
common theme but are written by different authors.
They are followed by normal CR questions and then
questions comparing or contrasting the ideas and tone
of the two passages. For these passages, you’ll want to
change your attack strategy slightly.
Here’s how to attack paired passages:
• First, read Passage 1 with the key ques-
tions in mind, paying particular attention
to tone.
• After summarizing, attack the questions
that pertain only to Passage 1.
• Next, read Passage 2, again paying atten-
tion to tone. Ask, “How do the perspective
and tone of this passage differ from those
of Passage 1? How are they similar?”
• Then attack the questions that pertain to

Passage 2 and the comparison questions.
•Do not read the passages back-to-back
because then you will be more likely to
confuse the ideas in the passages.
Attacking SAT Passages from Hell
Hopefully, if you’ve practiced the College Hill Method
for attacking the SAT CR, you’ve learned that you can
attack even tough reading passages about, say, an-
cient Greek metaphysics. But what if you’re faced
with a real SAT passage from hell? What if you just
can’t get through the language or concepts in a really
tough SAT passage? Don’t panic. Just change your
mode of attack.
If a particular passage seems completely
incomprehensible, first see if there is another
passage to attack on that section, and move on
to that one. If not, just go to the questions that
require little reading: the “word in context”
questions and the “secondary idea” questions.
Usually these don’t require you to understand
the “big picture,” so they are easier to attack.
The Need for Speed
The SAT isn’t a speed-reading test, so don’t rush
through the passages. With practice in the College
Hill Method, your reading will become brisker and
more efficient on its own. But what if you still strug-
gle to finish the SAT CR sections on time? Here’s our
approach:
• Step 1: Don’t panic. Your efficiency will improve as
you practice with the College Hill Method, and the

problem may well take care of itself. But what if
you still struggle with time after weeks of practice?
• Step 2: Use your finger to “push” your eyes more
quickly over the words. Move your finger smoothly
over the words, and focus your eyes right next to
your finger. With just a little practice, you may be
amazed at how much faster you can read without
losing comprehension. Practice this strategy con-
tinuously with everything you read for two weeks—
use it when you’re reading the newspaper, your
homework assignments, magazines, everything.
But what if even this doesn’t work well enough?
• Step 3: Get tested to see if you can take the SAT with
extended time. If you have a diagnosable learning
disability that slows down your reading, you may
well qualify for extra time on the SAT. Talk to your
guidance counselor about getting tested, and do it
at least a few months before taking the SAT.
Concept Review 6:
Finding Alternatives in Attacking the Questions
194 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT
1. Briefly describe the difference between the “whole-passage attack” and the “paragraph attack.”
2. How should your attack strategy shift when reading paired passages?
3. How should your attack strategy shift when reading an extremely difficult passage?
4. What strategies should you try if you have trouble finishing the CR sections in time?
CHAPTER 4 / CRITICAL READING SKILLS 195
35 passion, for fits of anger and craving for
sensual pleasures and some such things do
unmistakenly produce a change in bodily
condition and in some instances actually

cause madness.
1. The last sentence of Passage 1 (“For normal
man . . . do not exist,’ lines 19–20) suggests that
(A) certain modern discoveries have hindered
our understanding of our bodily senses
(B) biological knowledge has grown rapidly in
recent decades
(C) we must work hard to maintain the pace of
technological progress
(D) recent studies of proprioception have been
misleading
(E) most people do not appreciate the function
of certain physical senses
2. According to Passage 2, wrongdoing “does not
seem strange” (line 27) when the wrongdoer
(A) applies moral knowledge to the situation
(B) is attacking a person incapable of self-defense
(C) is in full control of his or her faculties of
reason
(D) fails to think about what is right and wrong
before committing the act
(E) is doing something that he or she believes is
right
SAT Practice 6:
Finding Alternatives in Attacking the Questions
PASSAGE 1
We have five senses in which we glory, senses
that constitute the sensible world for us. But
Line there are other senses, equally vital, but
unrecognized and unlauded. These senses,

5 unconscious, automatic, had to be discovered.
What the Victorians vaguely called “muscle
sense”—the awareness of the relative position
of trunk and limbs, was only really defined,
and named “proprioception,” in the 1890s.
10 And the complex mechanisms and controls by
which our bodies are properly aligned and
balanced in space have only been defined in
the 20th century and still hold many myster-
ies. Perhaps it will only be in this space age,
15 with the paradoxical license and hazards of
gravity-free life, that we will truly appreciate
our inner ears, our vestibules, and all the
other obscure receptors and reflexes that gov-
ern our body orientation. For normal man, in
20 normal situations, they simply do not exist.
PASSAGE 2
A person can “know” something and apply
that knowledge but also can “know” something
Line without applying that knowledge. There is a
difference between doing wrong when one
25 knows but does not reflect on that knowledge
and doing wrong when one knows and
reflects. Wrongdoing does not seem strange in
the former case, but it does in the latter.
When a person has knowledge but does not
30 apply it, “having” has an unconventional
meaning. In fact, in one sense he has knowl-
edge and in another sense he does not, as in
sleep or madness or intoxication. This is the

condition of people under the influence of
First passage: Excerpted with permission of Simon and Schuster Adult Publishing Group from The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks. Copyright © 1970, 1981, 1984, 1985 by Oliver Sacks.
Second passage: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics. Public domain.
196 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT
3. Unlike Passage 2, Passage 1 is primarily con-
cerned with
(A) the nature of bodily senses
(B) knowledge that helps us to decide between
right and wrong
(C) technological innovations in science
(D) the importance of controlling our
consciousness
(E) the biological systems involved in emotion
4. The authors of both passages would most likely
agree that
(A) it is immoral to ignore knowledge gained
from our senses
(B) emotions often interfere with rational
thought
(C) certain kinds of ignorance are essential to
human survival
(D) people are not always conscious of the infor-
mation that their minds process
(E) moral knowledge is gained directly through
the physical senses
CHAPTER 4 / CRITICAL READING SKILLS 197
Answer Key 6:
Finding Alternatives in Attacking the Questions
back-to-back because then you will be more likely

to confuse the ideas in the passages.
3. Hopefully, the SAT “passages from hell” won’t
seem so hellish with some practice with the
College Hill Method. But if you’ve read through a
passage and its language or concepts seem incom-
prehensible, just (1) move on to an easier passage,
if it’s available, or, if not, (2) attack the questions
that require relatively little reading, namely, the
“word in context” questions and the “secondary
idea” questions.
4. First, don’t panic. Most students struggle a bit
with the time limit in their first few practice tests.
Often, with a bit of patient practice, the problem
will resolve itself. If it doesn’t, then practice “eye-
finger” coordination, using your finger to sweep
through the passage smoothly and at a quicker
pace than your eyes are inclined to go. Practice
this continually with everything you read for sev-
eral weeks. As a last resort, talk to your guidance
counselor to see if you qualify to take the SAT with
extended time.
Concept Review 6
1. The “whole-passage attack” involves reading the
entire passage—but with a focus on just answer-
ing the three key questions, not on absorbing
every detail—before attacking the questions.
Many students prefer this method because they
prefer to stay “in the flow” of the passage and to
absorb information in large chunks. The “para-
graph attack” involves reading the introduction

and first paragraph or two and then answering the
questions that pertain only to the parts you’ve
read, skipping any “big picture” questions for
now. Then go on to the next paragraph or two, and
answer those questions, and so on. Remember
only to read whole paragraphs. Don’t stop in the
middle of a paragraph. (And be sure to go back
and answer those “big picture” questions.)
2. First read Passage 1, paying particular attention to
tone. After Passage 1, attack the questions that
pertain only to Passage 1. Next, read Passage 2,
again paying attention to tone. Ask, “How do the
perspective and tone of this passage differ from
those of Passage 1? How are they similar?” Then
attack the questions that pertain to Passage 2 and
the comparison questions. Do not read the passages
SAT Practice 6
1. E The central idea of this passage is that “there
are other senses [that are] unrecognized and . . .
unconscious [and] automatic” (lines 3–5). Thus,
when the final sentence states that for “normal
man . . . they simply do not exist” (lines 19–20),
it suggests that most people do not appreciate
the functioning of certain physical senses.
2. D The passage states that a wrongdoing “does
not seem strange in the former case” (lines 27–28),
which is the case in which one knows something
but does not reflect on that knowledge. In the case
of a wrongdoing, this is a knowledge of right and
wrong. The author is suggesting that wrongdoing

only makes sense when the wrongdoer either does
not know right from wrong or does not reflect on
that knowledge.
3. A Passage 1 is primarily concerned with
“unconscious” and “automatic” bodily senses,
specifically the “awareness of the relative position
of trunk and limbs” (lines 7–8) and the “controls
by which our bodies are properly aligned and bal-
anced” (lines 10–12). Passage 2 is concerned with
moral knowledge but not knowledge that comes
directly from the bodily senses. Although Passage
1 does mention “the space age” (line 14) in pass-
ing, it is certainly not primarily concerned with
technological advances.
4. D Both authors would clearly agree that people
are not always conscious of the information their
minds process. Passage 1 states that there are
“senses [that are] unconscious [and] automatic”
(lines 4–5), and Passage 2 states that in certain
cases a person “has knowledge and [yet] in another
sense he does not, as in sleep or madness or intox-
ication” (lines 31–33).
198 MCGRAW-HILL’S SAT
Lesson 7:
Thinking Logically About the Questions
Using Logic on the Questions
Straightforward logic can help enormously on the
toughest SAT CR questions. For instance, if one
answer choice implies another answer choice, it can-
not be correct without both answers being correct;

therefore, it must be wrong. Okay, maybe that was a
little confusing. Let’s look at an example:
What is the author’s attitude toward the “transgres-
sions” mentioned in line 12?
(A) dismissiveness
(B) vehement opposition
(C) ambivalence
(D) disapproval
(E) resignation
Even if you didn’t read the passage, you should
know that the answer couldn’t possibly be (B). Why?
Because (B) implies (D). If someone is vehemently
opposed to something, he or she sure as heck disap-
proves of it too, right? So, if (B) were right, (D) would
have to be right, too. But there can’t be two right
answers! So (B) is out.
Okay, we kind of cheated there, in order to illus-
trate a concept (just like those physics problems that
ignore friction even though it’s always there). In fact,
questions that can be solved without reading the pas-
sage almost never appear on the SAT (although crack-
the-test folks want you to believe it’s chock full of
them). But logical thinking is still extremely helpful.
It’s just that on the real test, you have to pair it with a
solid understanding of the passage.
Meet Logic’s Best Bud, Common Sense
Logic shows you what must be true, given a set
of assumptions. Common sense shows you
what is probably true, given a set of assump-
tions. Using basic principles of common sense

pays off on the Critical Reading questions.
Let’s go back to the question above. Your common
sense tells you that writers write about things they care
about. And even if they’re only writing on assignment
and don’t really care about the subject, they at least
have to pretend that they care about the subject. So de-
cent writers almost never write with a dismissive tone
toward their subjects. So choice (A) dismissiveness is
probably not the right answer. But don’t be too
hasty—it’s remotely possible that the author is really
saying, “These transgressions are what other people
focus on, but they really don’t matter.” Just check the
passage quickly to see if this is the case—but chances
are, anyone who writes about transgressions isn’t in-
different about them.
So logical elimination, with quick passage checks,
can help a lot. So now you’re left with choices (C) am-
bivalence, (D) disapproval, and (E) resignation. The
answer is (C) if the author thinks the transgressions
are both good and bad (remember ambivalent means
“having conflicting feelings,” not “unclear and
vague”—that’s ambiguous), (D) if he criticizes it con-
sistently, and (E) if he thinks they’re bad, but he can’t
do anything about them.
What Can You Do in 500 Words?
Can you “delineate (describe precisely) the history of
European political reform” in 500 words? I sure can’t,
and neither can anyone who writes SAT passages. But
someone sure can “suggest a few political reforms” in
500 words. So, when answering purpose questions,

use common sense to eliminate unreasonable or petty
purposes.
Which of the following best expresses the purpose of
the passage as a whole?
(A) to describe the relationship between literature
and history (too big a task—eliminate)
(B) to belittle modern literary critics (possible, but
that seems petty—eliminate)
(C) to refute a misconception (very possible and
worthwhile—keep)
(D) to delineate a new mode of literary analysis (too
big a task—eliminate)
(E) to suggest several remedies for a problem (very
possible and worthwhile—keep)
When answering general purpose questions,
use your common sense when thinking about
the scope of a 500-word essay. It can’t be trivial
or petty, but it also can’t do too much.
CHAPTER 4 / CRITICAL READING SKILLS 199
Concept Review 7:
Thinking Logically About the Questions
1. If the answer to a CR question is either “extremely enthusiastic” or “positive,” which must be the correct
answer and why?
2. Why is it nearly impossible for an author’s attitude on a topic to be “indifferent?”
Using only logic and common sense, make your best guess on the following questions:
3. The first paragraph implies that art is primarily the product of
(A) desire for wealth
(B) anxiety
(C) exact imitation
(D) reason

(E) intuition
4. With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?
(A) Voters always choose incapable political candidates.
(B) Voters should be more educated about candidates.
(C) Political candidates rarely campaign
effectively.
(D) Politicans do not represent their
constituents well.
(E) Voters are not interested in critical political issues.
5. Which of the following best expresses the purpose of this passage?
(A) to dissuade students from studying political science
(B) to describe the evolution of ethics in American history
(C) to attack the credibility of politicians
(D) to refute a misconception
(E) to prescribe a solution to a problem