SAT Section One : Critical Reading Sample Questions:

1. His ______ behavior toward her caused a considerable riff in the organization, partially because of the
size of the company and partially because he was a married man with children.

A) obsequious
B) periodic
C) snide
D) mysterious
E) untoward

2. Mathew ascended three flights of stairs--passed half-way down a long arched gallery--and knocked at
another old-fashioned oak door. This time the signal was answered. A low, clear, sweet voice, inside the
room, inquired who was waiting without? In a few hasty words Mathew told his errand. Before he had
done speaking the door was quietly and quickly opened, and Sarah Leeson confronted him on the
threshold, with her candle in her hand.
Not tall, not handsome, not in her first youth--shy and irresolute in manner--simple in dress to the utmost
limits of plainness--the lady's-maid, in spite of all these disadvantages, was a woman whom it was
impossible to look at without a feeling of curiosity, if not of interest. Few men, at first sight of her, could
have resisted the desire to find out who she was; few would have been satisfied with receiving for answer,
She is Mrs. Treverton's maid; few would have refrained from the attempt to extract some secret
information for themselves from her face and manner; and none, not even the most patient and practiced
of observers, could have succeeded in discovering more than that she must have passed through the
ordeal of some great suffering at some former period of her life. Much in her manner, and more in her face,
said plainly and sadly: I am the wreck of something that you might once have liked to see; a wreck that
can never be repaired--that must drift on through life unnoticed, unguided, unpitied--drift till the fatal shore
is touched, and the waves of Time have swallowed up these broken relics of me forever.
This was the story that was told in Sarah Leeson's face--this, and no more. No two men interpreting that
story for themselves, would probably have agreed on the nature of the suffering which this woman had
undergone. It was hard to say, at the outset, whether the past pain that had set its ineffaceable mark on
her had been pain of the body or pain of the mind. But whatever the nature of the affliction she had
suffered, the traces it had left were deeply and strikingly visible in every part of her face.
Her cheeks had lost their roundness and their natural color; her lips, singularly flexible in movement and
delicate in form, had faded to an unhealthy paleness; her eyes, large and black and overshadowed by
unusually thick lashes, had contracted an anxious startled look, which never left them and which piteously
expressed the painful acuteness of her sensibility, the inherent timidity of her disposition. So far, the
marks which sorrow or sickness had set on her were the marks common to most victims of mental or
physical suffering. The one extraordinary personal deterioration which she had undergone consisted in
the unnatural change that had passed over the color of her hair.
It was as thick and soft, it grew as gracefully, as the hair of a young girl; but it was as gray as the hair of an
old woman. It seemed to contradict, in the most startling manner, every personal assertion of youth that
still existed in her face. With all its haggardness and paleness, no one could have looked at it and
supposed for a moment that it was the face of an elderly woman. Wan as they might be, there was not a
wrinkle in her cheeks. Her eyes, viewed apart from their prevailing expression of uneasiness and timidity,
still preserved that bright, clear moisture which is never seen in the eyes of the old. The skin about her
temples was as delicately smooth as the skin of a child. These and other physical signs which never
mislead, showed that she was still, as to years, in the very prime of her life.
Sickly and sorrow-stricken as she was, she looked, from the eyes downward, a woman who had barely
reached thirty years of age. From the eyes upward, the effect of her abundant gray hair, seen in
connection with her face, was not simply incongruous--it was absolutely startling; so startling as to make it
no paradox to say that she would have looked most natural, most like herself if her hair had been dyed. In
her case, Art would have seemed to be the truth, because Nature looked like falsehood.
What shock had stricken her hair, in the very maturity of its luxuriance, with the hue of an unnatural old
age? Was it a serious illness, or a dreadful grief that had turned her gray in the prime of her womanhood?
That question had often been agitated among her fellow-servants, who were all struck by the peculiarities
of her personal appearance, and rendered a little suspicious of her, as well, by an inveterate habit that
she had of talking to herself. Inquire as they might, however, their curiosity was always baffled. Nothing
more could be discovered than that Sarah Leeson was, in the common phrase, touchy on the subject of
her gray hair and her habit of talking to herself, and that Sarah Leeson's mistress had long since forbidden
every one, from her husband downward, to ruffle her maid's tranquility by inquisitive questions.
What does the author mean with the statement "In her case, Art would have seemed to be the truth,
because Nature looked like falsehood"?

A) Normally Art is perceptibly copying that which is natural (Nature), and this is reversed in the case of
Sarah.
B) Artists would not have used Sarah for a pose unless it was from the eyes downward.
C) Usually women would have been presented in Art as natural as possible but in the case of Sarah, Art
would have made improvements to Nature.
D) Nature made Sarah look like a falsehood rather like Art.
E) Artists would have had to modify Nature by painting her hair a different color than gray.

3. Although often confused with each other, global warming and ozone depletion are two separate problems
threatening Earth's ecosystem today. Global warming is caused by the build-up of heat- trapping gases in
the atmosphere. It was dubbed the "greenhouse effect" because it is similar to a greenhouse in that the
sun's rays are allowed into the greenhouse but the heat from these rays in unable to escape. Ozone
depletion, however, is the destruction of the ozone layer. Chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons and
methyl bromide react with ozone, leaving a "hole" in the ozone layer that lets dangerous UV rays through.
Both are serious threats to life on Earth. While the greenhouse effect maintains the appropriate
temperature for life on Earth, problems are exacerbated when the quantity of greenhouse gases in the
Earth's atmosphere increases drastically. When this occurs, the amount of heat energy that is insulated
within the Earth's atmosphere increases correspondingly and results in a rise in global temperature.
An increase of a mere few degrees Celsius does not appear very threatening. However, numbers can be
deceiving. When you consider that the Ice Age resulted from temperatures only slightly cooler than those
today, it is obvious that even very subtle temperature changes can significantly impact global climate.
Global warming threatens to desecrate the natural habitats of organisms on Earth and disturb the stability
of our ecosystem. The climate changes that would result from global warming could trigger droughts, heat
waves, floods, and other extreme weather events.
Like most other environmental problems, humans are the cause of global warming. The burning of fossil
fuels is largely responsible for the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Every time someone drives a car or powers their home with energy derived from power plants that use
coal, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. The atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide
and methane have risen meteorically since preindustrial times, mainly due to the contributions of factories,
cars, and large-scale agriculture. Even if we immediately stopped emitting greenhouse gases, we would
continue to see the effects of global warming for decades because of the damage we have already
inflicted.
Despite the pessimistic outlook, there are things that can be done to reduce global warming. Although the
problem may seem overwhelming, individuals can make a positive difference in combating global
warming. Simple things like driving less, using public transportation, and conserving electricity generated
by combustion of fossil fuels can help reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases. It is important to realize
that it is not too late to make a difference.
If everyone does what they can to reduce their contributions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, the
efforts of people around the world will act in concert to thwart the progression of global warming. If the
effort is not made immediately, the delicate global ecosystem could be thrown irreversibly out of balance,
and the future of life on Earth may be jeopardized.
The greenhouse effect is so serious because

A) it leads to the destruction of the world's woodlands
B) it interferes with the ecosystem and changes weather patterns
C) no one really understands it
D) it has been going on for a very long time
E) it cannot be reversed

4. Mathew ascended three flights of stairs--passed half-way down a long arched gallery--and knocked at
another old-fashioned oak door. This time the signal was answered. A low, clear, sweet voice, inside the
room, inquired who was waiting without? In a few hasty words Mathew told his errand. Before he had
done speaking the door was quietly and quickly opened, and Sarah Leeson confronted him on the
threshold, with her candle in her hand.
Not tall, not handsome, not in her first youth--shy and irresolute in manner--simple in dress to the utmost
limits of plainness--the lady's-maid, in spite of all these disadvantages, was a woman whom it was
impossible to look at without a feeling of curiosity, if not of interest. Few men, at first sight of her, could
have resisted the desire to find out who she was; few would have been satisfied with receiving for answer,
She is Mrs. Treverton's maid; few would have refrained from the attempt to extract some secret
information for themselves from her face and manner; and none, not even the most patient and practiced
of observers, could have succeeded in discovering more than that she must have passed through the
ordeal of some great suffering at some former period of her life. Much in her manner, and more in her face,
said plainly and sadly: I am the wreck of something that you might once have liked to see; a wreck that
can never be repaired--that must drift on through life unnoticed, unguided, unpitied--drift till the fatal shore
is touched, and the waves of Time have swallowed up these broken relics of me forever.
This was the story that was told in Sarah Leeson's face--this, and no more. No two men interpreting that
story for themselves, would probably have agreed on the nature of the suffering which this woman had
undergone. It was hard to say, at the outset, whether the past pain that had set its ineffaceable mark on
her had been pain of the body or pain of the mind. But whatever the nature of the affliction she had
suffered, the traces it had left were deeply and strikingly visible in every part of her face.
Her cheeks had lost their roundness and their natural color; her lips, singularly flexible in movement and
delicate in form, had faded to an unhealthy paleness; her eyes, large and black and overshadowed by
unusually thick lashes, had contracted an anxious startled look, which never left them and which piteously
expressed the painful acuteness of her sensibility, the inherent timidity of her disposition. So far, the
marks which sorrow or sickness had set on her were the marks common to most victims of mental or
physical suffering. The one extraordinary personal deterioration which she had undergone consisted in
the unnatural change that had passed over the color of her hair.
It was as thick and soft, it grew as gracefully, as the hair of a young girl; but it was as gray as the hair of an
old woman. It seemed to contradict, in the most startling manner, every personal assertion of youth that
still existed in her face. With all its haggardness and paleness, no one could have looked at it and
supposed for a moment that it was the face of an elderly woman. Wan as they might be, there was not a
wrinkle in her cheeks. Her eyes, viewed apart from their prevailing expression of uneasiness and timidity,
still preserved that bright, clear moisture which is never seen in the eyes of the old. The skin about her
temples was as delicately smooth as the skin of a child. These and other physical signs which never
mislead, showed that she was still, as to years, in the very prime of her life.
Sickly and sorrow-stricken as she was, she looked, from the eyes downward, a woman who had barely
reached thirty years of age. From the eyes upward, the effect of her abundant gray hair, seen in
connection with her face, was not simply incongruous--it was absolutely startling; so startling as to make it
no paradox to say that she would have looked most natural, most like herself if her hair had been dyed. In
her case, Art would have seemed to be the truth, because Nature looked like falsehood.
What shock had stricken her hair, in the very maturity of its luxuriance, with the hue of an unnatural old
age? Was it a serious illness, or a dreadful grief that had turned her gray in the prime of her womanhood?
That question had often been agitated among her fellow-servants, who were all struck by the peculiarities
of her personal appearance, and rendered a little suspicious of her, as well, by an inveterate habit that
she had of talking to herself. Inquire as they might, however, their curiosity was always baffled. Nothing
more could be discovered than that Sarah Leeson was, in the common phrase, touchy on the subject of
her gray hair and her habit of talking to herself, and that Sarah Leeson's mistress had long since forbidden
every one, from her husband downward, to ruffle her maid's tranquility by inquisitive questions.
What may the reader infer from "and that Sarah Leeson's mistress. . .by inquisitive questions" at the end
of the passage?

A) Sarah had a close bond with her mistress, even to the extent that the mistress might have some
involvement with her pain.
B) Sarah is protected by her mistress, even when it comes to her husband, inasmuch as no one is allowed
to disturb Sarah.
C) Sarah knows something that the mistress does not want to get out and so she doesn't want Sarah
upset.
D) Sarah is a valuable servant and the mistress does not want the action of other servants to cause her
distress.
E) The mistress does not want to train another servant and does not want anything to upset Sarah and
cause her to leave.

5. Big earthquakes are naturally occurring events well outside the powers of humans to create or stop. An
earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. Stresses in the earth's outer layer push the side of the
fault together. The friction across the surface of the fault holds the rocks together so they do not slip
immediately when pushed sideways. Eventually enough stress builds up and the rocks slip suddenly,
releasing energy in waves that travel through the rock to cause the shaking that we feel during an
earthquake. Earthquakes typically originate several tens of miles below the surface of the earth. It takes
many years-- decades to centuries--to build up enough stress to make a large earthquake, and the fault
may be tens to hundreds of miles long. The scale and force necessary to produce earthquakes are well
beyond our daily lives. Likewise, people cannot prevent earthquakes from happening or stop them once
they've started--giant nuclear explosions at shallow depths, like those in some movies, won't actually stop
an earthquake.
The two most important variables affecting earthquake damage are the intensity of ground shaking cased
by the quake and the quality of the engineering of structures in the region. The level of shaking, in turn, is
controlled by the proximity of the earthquake source to the affected region and the types of rocks that
seismic waves pass through en route (particularly those at or near the ground surface). Generally, the
bigger and closer the earthquake, the stronger the shaking. But there have been large earthquakes with
very little damage either because they caused little shaking or because the buildings were built to
withstand that shaking. In other cases, moderate earthquakes have caused significant damage either
because the shaking was locally amplified or more likely because the structures were poorly engineered.
You can conclude from this passage that

A) there are steps that people can take to prevent or at least mitigate earthquakes
B) earthquakes occur all over the world
C) scientists understand a great deal about the origins of earthquakes but are powerless to stop them
D) all earthquakes are equally dangerous
E) very little is known about earthquakes

Solutions: