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Question ID 9b01bcf4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: 9b01bcf4
The 1967 release of Harold Cruse’s book The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual isolated him from almost all other scholars
and activists of the American Civil Rights Movement—though many of those thinkers disagreed with each other, he
nonetheless found ways to disagree with them all. He thought that activists who believed that Black people such as
himself should culturally assimilate were naïve. But he also sharply criticized Black nationalists such as Marcus Garvey
who wanted to establish independent, self-contained Black economies and societies, even though Cruse himself
identified as a Black nationalist.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It describes a direction that Cruse felt the Civil Rights Movement ought to take.
B. It indicates that Cruse’s reputation as a persistent antagonist of other scholars is undeserved.
C. It describes a controversy that Cruse’s work caused within the Black nationalist movement.
D. It helps explain Cruse’s position with respect to the community of civil rights thinkers.
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Question ID f6352bd3
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: f6352bd3
Many archaeologists assume that large-scale engineering projects in ancient societies required an elite class to plan
and direct the necessary labor. However, recent discoveries, such as the excavation of an ancient canal near the Gulf
Coast of Alabama, have complicated this picture. Using radiocarbon dating, a team of researchers concluded that the
1.39-kilometer-long canal was most likely constructed between 576 and 650 CE by an Indigenous society that was
relatively free of social classes.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It describes a common view among archaeologists, then discusses a recent finding that challenges that view.
It outlines a method used in some archaeological fieldwork, then explains why an alternative method is superior to
B. it.
It presents contradictory conclusions drawn by archaeologists, then evaluates a study that has apparently resolved
C. that contradiction.
D. It identifies a gap in scientific research, then presents a strategy used by some archaeologists to remedy that gap.
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Question ID b4d29611
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: b4d29611
Michelene Pesantubbee, a historian and citizen of the Choctaw Nation, has identified a dilemma inherent to research
on the status of women in her tribe during the 1600s and 1700s: the primary sources from that era, travel narratives
and other accounts by male European colonizers, underestimate the degree of power conferred on Choctaw women by
their traditional roles in political, civic, and ceremonial life. Pesantubbee argues that the Choctaw oral tradition and
findings from archaeological sites in the tribe’s homeland supplement the written record by providing crucial insights
into those roles.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
It details the shortcomings of certain historical sources, then argues that research should avoid those sources
A. altogether.
It describes a problem that arises in research on a particular topic, then sketches a historian’s approach to
B. addressing that problem.
C. It lists the advantages of a particular research method, then acknowledges a historian’s criticism of that method.
It characterizes a particular topic as especially challenging to research, then suggests a related topic for historians
D. to pursue instead.
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Question ID 8bc66f89
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: 8bc66f89
Part of the Atacama Desert in Peru has surprisingly rich plant life despite receiving almost no rainfall. Moisture from
winter fog sustains plants once they’re growing, but the soil’s tough crust makes it hard for seeds to germinate in the
first place. Local birds that dig nests in the ground seem to be of help: they churn the soil, exposing buried seeds to
moisture and nutrients. Indeed, in 2016 Cristina Rengifo Faiffer found that mounds of soil dug up by birds were far
more fertile and supported more seedlings than soil in undisturbed areas.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It elaborates on the idea that the top layer of Atacama Desert soil forms a tough crust.
B. It describes the process by which seeds are deposited into Atacama Desert soil.
C. It identifies the reason particular bird species dig nests in Atacama Desert soil.
D. It explains how certain birds promote seed germination in Atacama Desert soil.
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Question ID e7247766
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: e7247766
Horizontal gene transfer occurs when an organism of one species acquires genetic material from an organism of
another species through nonreproductive means. The genetic material can then be transferred “vertically” in the
second species—that is, through reproductive inheritance. Scientist Atma Ivancevic and her team have hypothesized
infection by invertebrate parasites as a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer between vertebrate species: while
feeding, a parasite could acquire a gene from one host, then relocate to a host from a different vertebrate species and
transfer the gene to it in turn.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It explains why parasites are less susceptible to horizontal gene transfer than their hosts are.
B. It clarifies why some genes are more likely to be transferred horizontally than others are.
C. It contrasts how horizontal gene transfer occurs among vertebrates with how it occurs among invertebrates.
D. It describes a means by which horizontal gene transfer might occur among vertebrates.
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Question ID 48555763
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: 48555763
The following text is from Herman Melville’s 1854 novel The Lightning-rod Man.
The stranger still stood in the exact middle of the cottage, where he had first planted himself. His singularity impelled a
closer scrutiny. A lean, gloomy figure. Hair dark and lank, mattedly streaked over his brow. His sunken pitfalls of eyes
were ringed by indigo halos, and played with an innocuous sort of lightning: the gleam without the bolt. The whole man
was dripping. He stood in a puddle on the bare oak floor: his strange walking-stick vertically resting at his side.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It elaborates on the previous sentence’s description of the character.
B. It introduces the setting that is described in the sentences that follow.
C. It establishes a contrast with the description in the previous sentence.
D. It sets up the character description presented in the sentences that follow.
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Question ID 6d44060a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: 6d44060a
Works of moral philosophy, such as Plato’s Republic or Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, are partly concerned with how
to live a morally good life. But philosopher Jonathan Barnes argues that works that present a method of living such a
life without also supplying a motive are inherently useful only to those already wishing to be morally good—those with
no desire for moral goodness will not choose to follow their rules. However, some works of moral philosophy attempt
to describe what constitutes a morally good life while also proposing reasons for living one.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
It provides a characterization about a field of thought by noting two works in it and then details a way in which
A. some works in that field are more comprehensive than others.
It mentions two renowned works and then claims that despite their popularity it is impossible for these works to
B. serve the purpose their authors intended.
It summarizes the history of a field of thought by discussing two works and then proposes a topic of further
C. research for specialists in that field.
D. It describes two influential works and then explains why one is more widely read than the other.
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Question ID a70cbc53
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: a70cbc53
Raymond Antrobus, an accomplished poet and writer of prose, recently released his debut spoken word poetry album,
The First Time I Wore Hearing Aids, in collaboration with producer Ian Brennan. The album contains both
autobiographical and reflective pieces combining Antrobus’s spoken words with Brennan’s fragmented audio elements
and pieces of music to convey how people who are deaf may experience sound, both its presence and absence. Some
critics suggest that the album questions the function of sound in the world, highlighting that the experience of sound is
multifaceted.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
It introduces a collaborative spoken word poetry project, details the approach taken to produce the work, and then
A. provides an example of critique the album received upon release.
It mentions a collection of spoken word poems, distinguishes one poem as being an exemplar on the album, and
B. then offers a summary of the subject matter of the whole collection.
It summarizes the efforts to produce a collection of spoken word poems, presents biographies of two people who
C. worked on the album, and speculates about the meaning behind the poetry.
It connects two artists to the same spoken word poetry project, explains the extent of their collaboration on each
D. poem, and then provides an overview of the technique used to produce the work.
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7/5/24, 2:31 PM
Question ID 4eee64fa
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: 4eee64fa
Space scientists Anna-Lisa Paul, Stephen M. Elardo, and Robert Ferl planted seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana in samples
of lunar regolith—the surface material of the Moon—and, serving as a control group, in terrestrial soil. They found that
while all the seeds germinated, the roots of the regolith-grown plants were stunted compared with those in the control
group. Moreover, unlike the plants in the control group, the regolith-grown plants exhibited red pigmentation, reduced
leaf size, and inhibited growth rates—indicators of stress that were corroborated by postharvest molecular analysis.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
It describes an experiment that addressed an unresolved question about the extent to which lunar regolith
A. resembles terrestrial soils.
It compares two distinct methods of assessing indicators of stress in plants grown in a simulated lunar
B. environment.
C. It presents evidence in support of the hypothesis that seed germination in lunar habitats is an unattainable goal.
D. It discusses the findings of a study that evaluated the effects of exposing a plant species to lunar soil conditions.
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Question ID f631132b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: f631132b
In the Here and Now Storybook (1921), educator Lucy Sprague Mitchell advanced the then controversial idea that books
for very young children should imitate how they use language, since toddlers, who cannot yet grasp narrative or
abstract ideas, seek reassurance in verbal repetition and naming. The most enduring example of this idea is Margaret
Wise Brown’s 1947 picture book Goodnight Moon, in which a young rabbit names the objects in his room as he drifts off
to sleep. Scholars note that the book’s emphasis on repetition, rhythm, and nonsense rhyme speaks directly to
Mitchell’s influence.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
The text outlines a debate between two authors of children’s literature and then traces how that debate shaped
A. theories on early childhood education.
The text summarizes an argument about how children’s literature should be evaluated and then discusses a
B. contrasting view on that subject.
The text lists the literary characteristics that are common to many classics of children’s literature and then
C. indicates the narrative subjects that are most appropriate for young children.
The text presents a philosophy about what material is most suitable for children’s literature and then describes a
D. book influenced by that philosophy.
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Question ID c0e1b70a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: c0e1b70a
The following text is adapted from Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto’s 1925 memoir A Daughter of the Samurai. As a young
woman, Sugimoto moved from feudal Japan to the United States.
The standards of my own and my adopted country differed so widely in some ways, and my love for both lands
was so sincere, that sometimes I had an odd feeling of standing upon a cloud in space, and gazing with
measuring eyes upon two separate worlds. At first I was continually trying to explain, by Japanese standards, all
the queer things that came every day before my surprised eyes; for no one seemed to know the origin or
significance of even the most familiar customs, nor why they existed and were followed.
Which choice best describes the main purpose of the text?
To convey the narrator’s experience of observing and making sense of differences between two cultures she
A. embraces
To establish the narrator’s hope of forming connections with new companions by sharing customs she learned as a
B. child
To reveal the narrator’s recognition that she is hesitant to ask questions about certain aspects of a culture she is
C. newly encountering
To emphasize the narrator’s wonder at discovering that the physical distance between two countries is greater than
D. she had expected
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Question ID 34d7bb25
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: 34d7bb25
According to Indian economist and sociologist Radhakamal Mukerjee (1889–1968), the Eurocentric concepts that
informed early twentieth-century social scientific methods—for example, the idea that all social relations are reducible
to struggles between individuals—had little relevance for India. Making the social sciences more responsive to Indians’
needs, Mukerjee argued, required constructing analytical categories informed by India’s cultural and ecological
circumstances. Mukerjee thus proposed the communalist “Indian village” as the ideal model on which to base Indian
economic and social policy.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
The text recounts Mukerjee’s early training in the social scientific disciplines and then lists social policies whose
A. implementation Mukerjee oversaw.
The text mentions some of Mukerjee’s economic theories and then traces their impact on other Indian social
B. scientists of the twentieth century.
The text presents Mukerjee’s critique of the social sciences and then provides an example of his attempts to
C. address issues he identified in his critique.
The text explains an influential economic theory and then demonstrates how that theory was more important to
D. Mukerjee’s work than other social scientists have acknowledged.
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Question ID f2c48e47
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: f2c48e47
The following text is from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1910 poem “The Earth’s Entail.”
No matter how we cultivate the land, Taming the forest and the prairie free; No matter how we irrigate the sand,
Making the desert blossom at command, We must always leave the borders of the sea; The immeasureable reaches
Of the windy wave-wet beaches, The million-mile-long margin of the sea.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. The speaker argues against interfering with nature and then gives evidence supporting this interference.
The speaker presents an account of efforts to dominate nature and then cautions that such efforts are only
B. temporary.
C. The speaker provides examples of an admirable way of approaching nature and then challenges that approach.
D. The speaker describes attempts to control nature and then offers a reminder that not all nature is controllable.
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Question ID 6f5fc289
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: 6f5fc289
The following text is adapted from Charles Dickens’s 1854 novel Hard Times. Coketown is a fictional town in England.
[Coketown] contained several large streets all very like one another, and many small streets still more like one another,
inhabited by people equally like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same sound upon the
same pavements, to do the same work, and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and tomorrow, and every
year the counterpart of the last and the next.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To emphasize the uniformity of both the town and the people who live there
B. To explain the limited work opportunities available to the town’s residents
C. To reveal how the predictability of the town makes it easy for people lose track of time
D. To argue that the simplicity of life in the town makes it a pleasant place to live
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Question ID b4887dae
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose
ID: b4887dae
Mathematician Claude Shannon is widely regarded as a foundational figure in information theory. His most important
paper, “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” published in 1948 when he was employed at Bell Labs, utilized a
concept called a “binary digit” (shortened to “bit”) to measure the amount of information in any signal and determine
the fastest rate at which information could be transmitted while still being reliably decipherable. Robert Gallagher, one
of Shannon’s colleagues, said that the bit was “[Shannon’s] discovery, and from it the whole communications revolution
has sprung.”
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
It presents a theoretical concept, illustrates how the name of the concept has changed, and shows how the name
A. has entered common usage.
It introduces a respected researcher, describes an aspect of his work, and suggests why the work is historically
B. significant.
It names the company where an important mathematician worked, details the mathematician’s career at the
C. company, and provides an example of the recognition he received there.
It mentions a paper, offers a summary of the paper’s findings, and presents a researcher’s commentary on the
D. paper.
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