Chapter 13

Answering PSAT Reading Questions

Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Research the answer in the passage or your big picture summary
• Predict the correct answer
• Find the one correct answer choice

How Much Do You Know?

         

Directions

In this chapter, you’ll learn how best to research, predict, and find the correct answers to PSAT Reading questions. For this quiz, first take a couple of minutes to refresh your memory of this passage from chapter 11. Then, for each question (the stems of which you categorized in chapter 12), 1) research the answer in the passage text or from your big picture summary, 2) predict the correct answer in your own words, and 3) identify the one correct answer.

Questions 1-9 refer to the following passage.

Microcredit Passage Map

This passage is adapted from a 2018 article reviewing the benefits and shortcomings of a financial model called microcredit.

Until a few decades ago, it was virtually impossible for an impoverished person to obtain credit from an institutional source like a bank. Lacking collateral or verifiable

very poor
could not
get loans

income, such people—often citizens of developing nations—simply could not qualify for even a small loan from a traditional financial institution. As a result, these people were unable to start businesses that could free them from the trap of poverty.

theory:
microloans
could help

Some financial experts put forth an intriguing theory: if impoverished people had access to very small loans, called microloans, for the purpose of funding small businesses, they could lift themselves up from poverty to self-employment and perhaps even into a position to employ others. In 1976, an economics professor in Bangladesh extended a microloan of 27 dollars to a group of impoverished village women

– example

for the purpose of buying supplies for their business manufacturing bamboo stools. The loan allowed the women to make a modest profit and grow their business to a point of self-sufficiency. Advocates of microlending built on this initial success, maintaining that microcredit was an avenue to

promicroloan
arguments

widespread entrepreneurship among the poor that could increase individual wealth and, ultimately, reduce poverty. Additionally, since microloans were frequently extended to women borrowers, supporters contended that microfinance was a way to empower women. A variety of microcredit organizations sprang up to serve the needs of the poor in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe. A number of different microlending business models developed, and over the ensuing decades, the number of customers of microcredit grew from a few hundred to tens of millions

microloan
successes

worldwide. Microlenders and microcredit advocates told stories of desperately poor people who had lifted themselves out of poverty and into self-sufficiency, and of impoverished women who had become family breadwinners through the use of microloans. Microfinance, it seemed, was a tremendous success. Soon, however, another side of

microloan
failure
stories

the story came to light. Anecdotes emerged about impoverished borrowers who were unable to pay their interest from their business earnings, became imprisoned in debt, and were forced to sell off their meager possessions to meet their loan obligations. Other stories described customers who used their loans for consumption spending rather than to finance businesses, and who were thus unable either to pay their interest or to return the original money borrowed. A backlash developed against microlending. Members of the media, politicians, and public administrators harshly criticized the industry and its advocates for promoting a process that could harm rather than help the neediest and most vulnerable people. Nevertheless, economists were more cautious. They recognized that anecdotes were not adequate to support

economists:
need real
data

either side of the debate meaningfully. What was needed was solid scientific evidence that could quantify the real impacts of microlending. Academics focused on finance and development performed a number of studies exploring various aspects of microfinance. When researchers aggregated the findings of the best of these studies, they concluded that microlending was not the panacea claimed by its advocates. Poverty had not been alleviated on a widescale, or even measurably reduced. Moreover, there was little if any evidence that women

– research
results

had been substantially empowered by microcredit. Perhaps most tellingly, the average incomes of microloan customers had not risen above their previous levels.

anti:
microcredit
a failure

Critics jumped on these findings, claiming that they proved that microfinance as a whole was a failure. Undeterred, advocates could still point

VS.
pro:
still good
outcomes

to a variety of less dramatic yet still worthwhile positive outcomes that resulted from microcredit. While borrowers had not increased their incomes on average, they often replaced longer hours of grueling wage-work with more fulfilling and less onerous self-employment. In many cases, temptation spending—expenditures on things like tobacco, alcohol, and gambling—had been reduced in favor of greater savings and expenditures on durable goods, better food, and healthcare. There is also evidence that borrowers’ use of microcredit extended beyond financing small businesses to “income smoothing,” the use of microloans to ease the financial stresses of temporary or seasonal unemployment, crop failures, health crises, and the like. While the original lofty expectations for microfinance were overly optimistic,

author:
microloans
somewhat
helpful

it would be unfair and inaccurate to classify the practice as a failure. Rather, microfinance should be viewed as a useful tool to help impoverished people better their circumstances, even if only modestly.

Big Picture

Main Idea: Microcredit provides some relief for impoverished people even if it is not the total success its supporters imagined.

Author’s Purpose: To analyze the claims of microcredit advocates and critics in light of research on the subject

1. 1. Over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts from

      1. claims of success by advocates of microcredit to a complete refutation of these claims by critics of microcredit.
      2. a presentation of the theory of microcredit and its advantages to anecdotal evidence of its failure.
      3. claims of microcredit’s successes and failures by its advocates and critics to an evaluation of these claims based on research.
      4. the success of microcredit as a financial strategy for small, impoverished villages to its failure as a worldwide business model with tens of millions of borrowers.

   2. In the second paragraph, the discussion of the Bangladeshi women who manufacture bamboo stools (lines 20-28) serves mainly to

      1. highlight these women’s extreme poverty.
      2. critique the lending systems of traditional financial institutions.
      3. prove that microcredit is especially helpful to women borrowers.
         
      4. illustrate the theory of microlending in practice.

   3. As used in line 27, “modest” most nearly means

      1. small.
      2. self-effacing.
      3. immoderate.
      4. reserved.

   4. With which one of the following statements would the early advocates of microlending be most likely to agree?

      1. Microlending organizations should replace traditional financial institutions in many parts of the world.
      2. The growing number of female family breadwinners prompted a backlash against microlending.
      3. Opening small businesses is a viable way for some people to lift themselves out of poverty.
      4. Some microloans are appropriate to finance consumer spending among the desperately poor.

   5. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

      1. Lines 29–34(“Advocates . . . poverty”)
      2. Lines 39–42(“A variety . . . Europe”)
      3. Lines 48–55 (“Microlenders . . . microloans”)
      4. Lines 64–70(“Other stories . . . borrowed”)

   6. Which one of the following is cited in the passage as a finding reached by researchers studying the efficacy of microlending?

      1. Research data does not support any of the anecdotes offered by either advocates or critics of microlending.
      2. Customers who receive microloans often use the money for temptation spending.
      3. On average, microlending customers do not see their incomes rise after receiving a microloan.
      4. Women-owned businesses benefit disproportionately from microlending.

   7. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

      1. Lines 78–80(“They recognized . . . meaningfully”)
      2. Lines 88–92(“When researchers . . . advocates”)
      3. Lines 97–100(“Perhaps most . . . levels”)
      4. Lines 112–118(“In many . . . healthcare”)

   8. As used in line 78, “cautious” most nearly means

      1. discreet.
      2. bashful.
      3. cagey.
      4. wary.

   9. The author uses “temporary or seasonal unemployment, crop failures, [and] health crises” (lines 123-125) as examples of

      1. economic hardships exacerbated by the spread of microlending.
      2. unexpected expenses that can be offset by microloans.
      3. the causes of widespread poverty in many parts of the world.
      4. obstacles to those seeking a way out of grueling wage-work.

Check Your Work

1. C

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Global

   Strategic Advice: For Global questions that focus on the passage’s structure, consult your big picture summary for the main idea and your paragraph notes to see how the author developed the text.

   Getting to the Answer: In the passage, the author first presents the claims by both advocates and critics of microlending (paragraphs 1-4) and then turns to the results of research to evaluate those claims (paragraphs 5-9). That matches (C).

   (A) leaves out the evaluation of advocates’ and critics’ claims based on research, and it is extreme in suggesting a complete refutation of the advocates’ claims. (B) also neglects the research that the author uses to evaluate the successes and failures of microcredit. (D) distorts the passage by suggesting that the reason for microcredit’s disadvantages are related to its rapid growth.
   

2. D

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Function

   Strategic Advice: The phrase “serves mainly to” identifies this as a Function question. To predict the correct answer, check your notes for the paragraph in which the detail cited in the question stem appears and ask how the author is using the detail.

   Getting to the Answer: In paragraph 2, the author defines microcredit and cites the small loan to these Bangladeshi women as an example of it. That matches (D), the correct answer.

   (A) distorts the author’s purpose; the idea of microcredit arose to address the financial difficulties of people in poverty, but the author isn’t using the example to emphasize the conditions in which these women lived. (B) misuses a detail from paragraph 1; while it’s true that impoverished people weren’t able to get loans from “traditional financial institution[s],” it is not the author’s purpose to criticize standard banking systems. (C) misapplies the example in paragraph 2 to a broader point ascribed to advocates of microcredit in paragraph 3.

3. A

   Difficulty: Easy

   Category: Vocab-in-Context

   Strategic Advice: On Vocab-in-Context questions, read the sentence in which the word from the question stem appears. The correct answer will replace the word without changing the meaning of the sentence.

   Getting to the Answer: The sentence suggests that the microloan given to the Bangladeshi women allowed them to turn a small profit that they used to further grow their business. “Small” appears in (A), making it the correct answer.

   (B), “self-effacing,” which means displaying humility, fits the common definition of “modest,” but doesn’t work to modify “profits.” (C), “immoderate,” which means “excessive or extreme,” suggests the opposite of “modest.” (D), “reserved,” often used to describe people who are quiet or reticent, is similar to the common definition of “modest” but can’t be used to modify “profits.”

4. C

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Inference

   Strategic Advice: The phrase “most likely to agree” signals an Inference question, meaning that the correct answer follows from the passage text. In this case, the correct answer will be a statement that follows from what the passage told you about early advocates of microlending. The views and claims of the first wave of microlending advocates are laid out in paragraphs 3 and 4.

   Getting to the Answer: The passage characterizes the advocates of microlending as very optimistic. In particular, they saw microcredit as a path to entrepreneurship and to the empowerment of women. (C) supports the first of those; because microlending advocates argue that entrepreneurship can increase wealth and reduce poverty, they must view small business ownership as a viable way for some people to improve their financial situations.

   (A) distorts the viewpoint presented in the passage; microlending advocates never suggest that microcredit organizations should replace traditional financial institutions. (B) improperly ties together two different statements in the passage; the backlash, mentioned in paragraph 5, arose from stories indicating that microlending was not helping the poor or empowering women. (D) misuses a detail from paragraph 5; the fact that some customers were using funds for consumption spending was mentioned as a critique of microlending.

5. A

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Command of Evidence

   Strategic Advice: Most Command of Evidence questions ask you to locate a specific piece of text that supports the correct answer to the preceding question. Have your answer to the previous question in mind as you use the line references in each choice to research the passage.

   Getting to the Answer: In the preceding question, you may have deduced that advocates of microlending believe that getting money to open small businesses can help lift some people out of poverty. That follows directly from lines 29-34, where the author explains the view of advocates that poverty could be alleviated by means of “widespread entrepreneurship among the poor” (lines 32–33), so (A) is the correct answer here.

   The sentence cited in (B) tells of the worldwide spread of microlending organizations; it might be tempting to test takers who like choice (A) on the preceding question. (C) is incorrect because it doesn’t specifically mention starting businesses (entrepreneurship) as a means of alleviating poverty. The sentence cited in (D) comes from paragraph 5 and relates some of the negative stories offered by critics of microlending.

6. C

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Detail

   Strategic Advice: When a question stem calls for something “cited” in the passage, you have a Detail question. The correct answer will paraphrase an explicit statement or claim from the passage. Use the clues or references in the question stem to guide your research in the passage.

   Getting to the Answer: Here, the question stem asks about a research finding. Those are outlined in paragraphs 7 and 8. Paragraph 7 cites three broad findings: 1) microlending has not measurably reduced poverty, 2) microlending does not appear to have substantially empowered women, and 3) the average income of microlending customers has not risen. (C) paraphrases the last of those findings, making it the correct answer.

   (A) is extreme; economists seek data, not anecdotes, for their analyses, but that doesn’t mean that none of the anecdotes is supported. (B) distorts a detail from paragraph 8; research seems to indicate that microlending customers are actually less likely to indulge in temptation spending, such as gambling and buying tobacco or alcohol. (D) contradicts findings cited in paragraph 7, which show “little evidence” that microlending has empowered women.

7. C

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Command of Evidence

   Strategic Advice: Most Command of Evidence questions ask you to locate a specific piece of text that supports the correct answer to the preceding question. Have your answer to the previous question in mind as you use the line references in each choice to research the passage.

   Getting to the Answer: The correct answer to the preceding question states that the average incomes of microlending customers did not rise. That is directly supported by the sentence cited by (C).

   (A) says that the economists were not satisfied with anecdotal evidence; this answer might tempt a test taker who incorrectly chose (A) on the preceding question. (B) provides indirect support for the previous question’s answer by casting doubt on advocates’ views, but it does not specifically support the claim about income. (D) notes that temptation spending goes down among microloan recipients, which also does not support the claim about income.

8. D

   Difficulty: Hard

   Category: Vocab-in-Context

   Strategic Advice: On Vocab-in-Context questions, read the sentence in which the word from the question stem appears. The correct answer will replace the word without changing the meaning of the sentence.

   Getting to the Answer: The sentence contrasts economists, who were cautious, with both the advocates and critics, who rushed to their respective judgments of microlending. Predict a word that means “careful to make a conclusion.” That lines up with choice (D), which means “careful or watchful.”

   (A), “discreet,” refers to someone who is private or circumspect; while it relates to a kind of judicious behavior, it doesn’t describe the economists discussed in the passage. (B), “bashful,” means “shy or reserved,” and doesn’t fit the author’s use of “cautious” here. (C), “cagey,” may be used to describe a cautious person but carries the implication that the subject is being tricky or shrewd.

9. B

   Difficulty: Hard

   Category: Function

   Strategic Advice: Function questions ask you to describe how the author uses a detail in the passage or to identify the author’s reason for including it. Occasionally, in a Function question like this one, the test will give you a piece of the answer in the question stem. Here, you’re told that the three details are examples of something. Use the context provided by the paragraph to assess the answer choices.

   Getting to the Answer: The first sentence of paragraph 8 tells you that critics of microlending jumped on the researchers’ finding to declare microlending a total failure. After that, however, the paragraph shifts to the positive findings that microlending advocates use to refute the critics’ broad claim. The example in this question stem is from the paragraph’s final sentence on “income smoothing.” The sentence explains that microloans can help impoverished people survive sudden, severe financial stresses such as the three details cited in the question stem. (B) correctly describes how the details are used in the passage.

   (A) is a claim that microlending critics would make, but the part of the paragraph quoted in the question is outlining arguments made by microlending advocates. (C) is outside the scope of the passage; the author never discusses specific causes of poverty. (D) misuses a detail from earlier in the paragraph, which applied to a distinct advantage of microlending cited by its advocates.

How to Answer PSAT Reading Questions

Learning Objectives

After this lesson, you will be able to:

• Research the answer in the passage or your big picture summary
• Predict the correct answer
• Find the one correct answer choice

To answer questions like these:         

Directions

Choose the best answer choice for the following questions.

Questions 1-9 refer to the following passage and supplementary material.

Leafcutter Passage Map

Leafcutter ants are among the most ecologically important animals in the American tropics. At least forty-seven species of leafcutter ants range from as far south as Argentina to as far north as the southern United States. These ants, as their name implies, cut sections of vegetation—leaves, flowers, and grasses—from an array of plants, taking the cut sections back into their underground nests. However, the ants don’t feed on the vegetation they cut; in fact, they’re unable to digest the

leafcutter
ants “farm”
fungus
using cut
vegetation

material directly. Instead, they carry the fragments into dedicated chambers within their nests, where they cultivate a particular species of nutritious fungus on the cut vegetation. It is this fungus that the ants eat and feed to their larvae. Remarkably, each species of

unique
fungus for
each ant
species

leafcutter ant cultivates a different species of fungus, and each of these fungi grows nowhere but within the nests of its own species of leafcutter ant. According to entomologist Ted Schultz of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, “The fungi that [the ants] grow are never found in the wild, they are now totally dependent

ant domesticated
fungus

on the ants.” In other words, over millions of years, the ants have actually domesticated the fungi, much as we humans have domesticated the plants we grow for crops. The leafcutters’ foraging trails extend hundreds of meters throughout the landscape. The ants harvest a wide

ants’ plant
cutting
explained

range of vegetation but are selective, preferring particular plant species and picking younger growth to cut. Research has also shown that the ants often limit how much they cut from a single plant, possibly in response to chemical defenses the cut plant produces. In this way, the amount of damage they cause to individual plants is limited.

why ants
so impt to
environment

Leafcutters are probably the most important environmental engineers in the areas they occupy. A single leafcutter nest can extend as far as 21 meters underground, have a central mound 30 meters in diameter with branches extending out to a radius of 80 meters, contain upwards of 1,000 individual chambers, and house up to eight million ants. Where they are present, leafcutters are responsible for up to 25 percent or more of the total consumption of vegetation by all herbivores. Alejandro G. Farji-Brener of Argentina’s National Scientific and

2 scientists
research
LC ants

Technical Research Council and Mariana Tadey of the National University of Comahue wanted to better understand how the activities of

review prev
studies

leafcutter ants influence soil conditions. To do so, they analyzed the data from a large number of previous studies to determine how various environmental factors play into the ants’ behavior and their effects on local ecology.

findings:
soil better
where LC
ants are

  The researchers foundthat overall soil quality and fertility are dramatically higher where leafcutters are present. The ants affect the soil in two ways: first, the physical shifting of the soil that occurs as a

– reason 1

consequence of nest construction improves soil porosity, drainage, and aeration; additionally, the ants’ fungus-cultivating activities generate enormous amounts of plant waste,

– reason 2

which the ants carry away, either into specialized chambers within the nest or to dedicated refuse piles outside.

HUGE
impact

In fact, this movement of organic matter may be the largest performed by any animal in the environment. This transfer of huge volumes of organic material results in greatly enriched soil, with nutrient levels that are orders of magnitude higher than in areas where the ants are not present.

more
findings:
seeds and
plants grow
better

The researchers also determined that seeds germinate more easily and at higher rates in these soils. Additionally, plants grow substantially better in soils that have been modified by leafcutters. In effect, then, the ants create conditions that encourage the growth of plants, thereby greatly improving the conditions of the landscape in general. Furthermore, in areas of disturbance or degradation, such as lands that have been overgrazed or deforested, or those suffering from the effects of fire or drought, leafcutters are major contributors to the natural restoration of healthy plant communities and

recommendation:
protect LC
ant areas

the overall recovery of the land. The study concludes that “in terms of conservation, ant-nest areas should be especially protected . . . because they are hot spots of plant productivity and diversity.”

Relative Nutrient Content of Leafcutter Ant Soils—Ratios of Leafcutter Ant Soils to Control Soil
Nutrient	Nest Soil:Control Soil	Refuse Soil:Control Soil
Nitrogen	1.4:1	33:1
Phosphorus	2.0:1	48:1
Potassium	1.4:1	49:1
Carbon	4.2:1	47:1
Calcium	1.9:1	29:1
Magnesium	2.2:1	15:1

Big Picture

Main Idea: Leafcutter ants are impressive environmental engineers with profound and positive effects on their environments.

Author’s Purpose: To Describe the range, nests, and fungus cultivation of the ants and to summarize the research on how they alter and improve their environments

1. The passage is written from the viewpoint of someone who is

   1. actively involved in conducting research on leafcutter ants.
   2. an advocate for habitat restoration.
   3. knowledgeable about advances in leafcutter ant research.
   4. a participant in a recent conference on environmental issues.

2. According to the passage, which of the following explains the reason leafcutter ants bring cut vegetation into their nests?

   1. For use as nesting material
   2. To feed the vegetation to their larvae
   3. To add nutrients to the nest soil
   4. To cultivate edible fungus on the vegetation

3. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

   1. Lines 7–11(“These ants . . . nests”)
   2. Lines 14–20 (“Instead . . . larvae”)
   3. Lines 21–25(“Remarkably . . . ant”)
   4. Lines 31–35(“In other . . . crops”)

4. As used in line 15, “dedicated” most nearly means

   1. zealous.
   2. enthusiastic.
   3. faithful.
   4. special.

5. Which of the following can most reasonably be inferred about leafcutter ant activity?

   1. Leafcutter ants’ actions remain consistent across species and geographic areas.
   2. Changes in environmental conditions can influence how leafcutter ants behave.
   3. The leafcutter ants’ actions are the primary force for change in the environments in which they are present.
   4. Compared to the activities of large grazing animals, the activities of leafcutter ants have a less important effect on the landscape.

6. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

   1. Lines 7–11(“These ants . . . nests”)
   2. Lines 69–73(“To do so . . . ecology”)
   3. Lines 88–90(“In fact . . . environment”)
   4. Lines 105–112(“Furthermore . . . land”)

7. In the fourth paragraph (lines 48-61), the mathematical figures cited serve mainly to

   1. indicate the power leafcutter ants have to damage local ecosystems.
   2. demonstrate that leafcutter ants are more numerous than other insect species where they are present.
   3. underscore how much is known about the construction and configuration of leafcutter ant colonies.
   4. emphasize the great scope of the leafcutter ants’ impact on their environment.

8. According to the graph, the ratio of refuse soil to control soil is highest for which of the following nutrients?

   1. Potassium
   2. Phosphorus
   3. Magnesium
   4. Carbon

9. Which of the following statements is best supported by the data presented in the table?

   1. Leafcutter ants greatly increase the nutrients present in their refuse soil and increase it even more in their nest soil.
   2. Leafcutter ants greatly increase the nutrients present in their nest soil and increase it even more in their refuse soil.
   3. Potassium is critical in helping plants near leafcutter ants to grow.
   4. There is approximately twice as much calcium as magnesium in refuse soil.

You need to know this:

• Use clues to direct your research to a specific portion of the passage or to your big picture summary.
  • Line Numbers—Reread the indicated text and possibly the lines before and after; look for keywords indicating why the referenced text has been included or how it’s used.
  • Paragraph Numbers—Consult your margin notes to see the paragraph’s purpose and scope before rereading the text. Sometimes your passage map alone is enough to find an answer.
  • Quoted Text—Go back to the passage to read the entire quote if the stem or answer choices use ellipses ( . . . ). Then check the surrounding context of the quoted term or phrase to see what the author meant by it in the passage.
  • Proper Nouns—Use your map or look for capital letters in the text to find the term and then check the context to see why the author included it in the passage; note whether the author had a positive, negative, or neutral evaluation of it.
    
  • Specific Content Clues—Use your margin notes to help you search the passage for terms or ideas mentioned in the question stem; these clues will usually refer to something the author offered an opinion about or emphasized.
    
  • Whole Passage Clues—Begin by reviewing your big picture summary, and only go back to the passage if you can’t find the information you need. If you do get stuck, the first and last paragraphs are typically the best places to go for global takeaways.
    
• Predicting what you’re looking for in the correct answer saves time and reduces confusion as you read each choice.
• PSAT Reading questions always have one correct answer and three incorrect answers.
  • The correct answer will match what the passage says in a way that responds to the task set out in the question stem.
  • Wrong answers often fall into one of five categories. Not every incorrect choice matches one of these types exactly, but learning to spot them can help you eliminate some wrong answers more quickly.
    • Out of Scope—contains a statement that is too broad, too narrow, or beyond the purview of the passage
    • Extreme—contains language that is too strong (all, never, every, none) to be supported by the passage
    • Distortion—based on details or ideas from the passage but distorts or misstates what the author says or implies
    • Opposite—directly contradicts what the correct answer must say
      
    • Misused Detail—accurately states something from the passage but in a manner that incorrectly answers the question
      

You need to do this:

We focused on step 1, unpacking the question stem, in the last chapter. Now we'll focus on steps 2-4.

THE METHOD FOR PSAT READING QUESTIONS
Step 1.	Unpack the question stem
Step 2.	Research the answer
Step 3.	Predict the answer
Step 4.	Find the one correct answer

• Research the answer.
  • When clues point to a specific part of the passage (line or paragraph numbers, quotations, content discussed only in particular paragraphs), begin by rereading the specified text and immediate context.
    • If the immediate context does not provide enough info to answer the question, gradually expand outward, rereading sentences that come before and after.
  • With whole passage clues or questions that seem to lack clear content clues, begin by reviewing your big picture summary.
  • If you can’t figure out where to research the question and your big picture summary doesn’t help either, consider using process of elimination, skipping the question and coming back to it later, or just making a guess.
• Predict or characterize what the correct answer will say or suggest.
  • Don’t worry about phrasing your prediction as a complete sentence or about repeating exactly the language used in the passage. Just try to answer the question posed in your own words based on your research.
  • If you struggle to predict, use your active reading of the passage to characterize the correct answer, setting expectations about characteristics it must possess.
    • For example, if the author has a negative view of a topic in the question, expect a correct answer with negative language and eliminate choices that suggest a positive or neutral view.
• Find the one correct answer.
  • Identify the choice that matches your prediction, if possible.
    • Don’t expect a word-for-word match, but look for a correspondence of ideas.
      • For example, if you predict that the function of a detail is to “provide support for the main idea,” an answer choice that says it “supplies evidence for the author’s thesis” would likely be correct.
  • If there is no clear match, use process of elimination.
    • Eliminate any choice that contradicts your prediction or that clearly falls into one of the five wrong answer categories.
    • Choose the only answer remaining or guess among those you were unable to eliminate.

Finding the Correct Answer

One correct choice—three demonstrably incorrect choices:

Great PSAT test takers know that there is always one correct answer, written to match the meaning of the passage, and three demonstrably incorrect ones. The word “demonstrably” underscores that the wrong answers aren’t merely worse than the credited choice, but that they fail, for one or more reasons, to accurately answer the question. PSAT experts don’t compare answer choices to one another; they evaluate the choices based on the passage. They never ask themselves, “Do I like (B) or (C) more?” Instead, they ask, “Does the second paragraph imply (B)? Why or why not?”

Answers and Explanations

Question	Analysis
The passage is written from the viewpoint of someone who is actively involved in conducting research on leafcutter ants. an advocate for habitat restoration. knowledgeable about advances in leafcutter ant research. a participant in a recent conference on environmental issues.	Answer: C Difficulty: Medium Category: Global Strategic Advice: Use your big picture summary and paragraph notes to answer a Global question like this. Getting to the Answer: You know from the blurb that the article was written for a “popular biology magazine” in 2018, but this doesn’t reveal exactly what the author’s credentials are. What you do know from your notes is that the author cites research throughout the passage, including in paragraph 5. This paragraph discusses researchers who built on previous studies about leafcutter ants. This means that (C) is correct—the author is knowledgeable about advances in leafcutter ant research. The author discusses others’ research, but not his own, so there is no support for (A). (B) conflates two details from the final paragraph. Leafcutter ants can help restore “areas of disturbance,” and the author cites researchers who feel that areas with leafcutter ants should be protected. However, the author never advocates for restoring habitats, nor is it the author’s primary focus. Finally, there is no discussion of a “recent conference” in the passage, so (D) is out.
According to the passage, which of the following explains the reason leafcutter ants bring cut vegetation into their nests? For use as nesting material To feed the vegetation to their larvae To add nutrients to the nest soil To cultivate edible fungus on the vegetation	Answer: D Difficulty: Medium Category: Detail Strategic Advice: Use your paragraph notes to guide you toward the relevant portion of the passage, and research there. This is a Detail question, so the answer will be explicitly stated in the passage. Getting to the Answer: The discussion of the ants bringing vegetation into their nests is in paragraph 1, which states in lines 14-20: “they carry the fragments [of vegetation] into dedicated chambers within their nests, where they cultivate a particular species of nutritious fungus on the cut vegetation. It is this fungus that the ants eat and feed to their larvae.” (D) is correct. Although the ants bring vegetation into their nests, this doesn’t mean that the vegetation is a nesting material, so (A) is incorrect. They feed the fungus they grow (not the vegetation itself) to their larvae; eliminate (B). The ants do influence soil conditions, but adding nutrients to the nest soil is not the reason for bringing vegetation into the nest, as (C) would have you believe.
Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question? Lines 7–11(“These ants . . . nests”) Lines 14- 20 (“Instead . . . larvae”) Lines 21–25(“Remarkably . . . ant”) Lines 31–35(“In other . . . crops”)	Answer: B Difficulty: Medium Category: Command of Evidence Strategic Advice: Use the lines you researched for the previous question to make your prediction for a Command of Evidence question like this. Getting to the Answer: The answer for the previous question came from lines 14-20. These lines explain why the ants bring vegetation into their nests. (B) is correct. (A) reveals that the ants bring vegetation into their nests, but does not explain why. (C) and (D) deal with fungus cultivation, but do not not mention that the ants cultivate the fungus for food.
As used in line 15, “dedicated” most nearly means zealous. enthusiastic. faithful. special.	Answer: D Difficulty: Easy Category: Vocab-in-Context Strategic Advice: Use the information surrounding the given word to confirm how it’s being used. Getting to the Answer: The text surrounding the word says that these chambers are used specifically for fungus cultivation—that is, they are uniquely or specially dedicated to that task. (D), “special,” is correct. (A), (B), and (C) are all alternative meanings of “dedicated,” but none of them fit the context. They all describe attributes of active beings (like people or ants), rather than passive objects like chambers.
Which of the following can most reasonably be inferred about leafcutter ant activity? Leafcutter ants’ actions remain consistent across species and geographic areas. Changes in environmental conditions can influence how leafcutter ants behave. The leafcutter ants’ actions are the primary force for change in the environments in which they are present. Compared to the activities of large grazing animals, the activities of leafcutter ants have a less important effect on the landscape.	Answer: B Difficulty: Hard Category: Inference Strategic Advice: It’s difficult to make a specific prediction given how broad the question stem is. Use your big picture summary and paragraph notes to guide you, then check the answer choices one by one to see which is supported. Getting to the Answer: The author states in paragraph 5 that two scientists “analyzed the data from a large number of previous studies to determine how various environmental factors play into the ants’ behavior and their effects on local ecology” (lines 69-73). If environmental factors play into the ants’ behaviors, then changes in environmental factors could change those ants’ behaviors. Choice (B) is thus correct. The passage never indicates that leafcutter ants’ actions are always the same. Further, different leafcutter ant species cultivate different species of fungus, so (A) is incorrect. The author explains that these ants may move more organic material than other animals in their environment, but because animals are not the only factor in environmental change, it would be extreme to claim that they are the “primary force for change” in their environments, as (B) states. Finally, the passage notes that “leafcutters are responsible for up to 25 percent or more of the total consumption of vegetation by all herbivores” (lines 58–61), but does not note what percentage is consumed by large grazing animals. Further, the author never implies that the leafcutter ants are less important in general to the landscape than large grazers, so (D) is incorrect.
Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question? Lines 7–11(“These ants . . . nests”) Lines 69–73(“To do so . . . ecology”) Lines 88–90(“In fact . . . environment”) Lines 105–112(“Furthermore . . . land”)	Answer: B Difficulty: Medium Category: Command of Evidence Strategic Advice: Use your research from the previous question to make a prediction. Getting to the Answer: The answer to the previous question came from lines 69-73, which is (B). The lines in (A) provide a fact about leafcutter ant behavior that does not help to answer the previous question. (C) and (D) are incorrect because they offer ways that the ants affect the environment surrounding them, not how environmental conditions affect the ants’ behavior, as the answer to the previous question states. (C) or (D) might be a tempting trap answer if you had incorrectly answered (C) to the previous question.
In the fourth paragraph (lines 48-61), the mathematical figures cited serve mainly to indicate the power leafcutter ants have to damage local ecosystems. demonstrate that leafcutter ants are more numerous than other insect species where they are present. underscore how much is known about the construction and configuration of leafcutter ant colonies. emphasize the great scope of the leafcutter ants’ impact on their environment.	Answer: D Difficulty: Medium Category: Function Strategic Advice: To predict the correct answer for a Function question like this, check your notes for the cited portion of the passage and ask how the author is using the relevant details. Getting to the Answer: Paragraph 4 opens by noting what important “environmental engineers” the leafcutter ants are. All of the numbers cited reinforce this point, demonstrating how numerous they are, how large their nests are, and how much they consume. This purpose is consistent with (D). While the leafcutter ants impact their environments, the passage does not indicate that they damage it—in fact, the final paragraph explains that they can improve it—so (A) is incorrect. One statistic tells you how many ants can be present in a single nest, but there is no comparison given to other species, so (B) is incorrect as well. The point of the paragraph is how much the ants accomplish, not how much scientists know about them, so (C) is out.
According to the graph, the ratio of refuse soil to control soil is highest for which of the following nutrients? Potassium Phosphorus Magnesium Carbon	Answer: A Difficulty: Easy Category: Detail Strategic Advice: Read the graph for the detail that the question stem requests. Getting to the Answer: The graph shows the longest bar for potassium. So, the ratio of refuse soil to control soil is greater for potassium than for any other nutrient. (A) is correct. (B), (C), and (D) are all nutrients in the graph with lesser ratios.
Which of the following statements is best supported by the data presented in the table? Leafcutter ants greatly increase the nutrients present in their refuse soil and increase it even more in their nest soil. Leafcutter ants greatly increase the nutrients present in their nest soil and increase it even more in their refuse soil. Potassium is critical in helping plants near leafcutter ants to grow. There is approximately twice as much calcium as magnesium in refuse soil.	Answer: B Difficulty: Medium Category: Inference Strategic Advice: Consult your notes for the table to remind yourself of what information it contains, and then check to see which answer choice is supported by the data. Getting to the Answer: The ratios provided in the chart support the fact that the ants increase the amount of each nutrient in their nest soil. Further, the ratios comparing refuse soil to control soil are all greater than the ratios comparing nest soil to control soil. (B) is correct. (A) reverses the relationship between refuse and nest soil. (C) is incorrect because, while leafcutter ants greatly increase the potassium in their soil, there is no indication provided of which specific nutrients local plants require. (D) is unsupported because the chart does not give the total amount of any given element in any type of soil. It indicates only how much more prevalent a nutrient is in refuse soil or nest soil when compared to control soil.

Try on Your Own

Directions

Put the expert question strategies to work on the following passage. First, take a few minutes to refresh your memory of the passage, which first appeared in chapter 11. As you review the question stems (which you first saw in chapter 12 when you practiced step 1 of the Reading Question Method), try to recall the question type and research approach you previously identified, or simply repeat step 1 if you don’t recall. Then, for each question, 1) conduct the needed research, 2) jot down your prediction of the answer, and 3) find the one correct answer.

Predictions

On the real test, you won’t have time to write down your full prediction in complete sentences. If you feel the need to write something to help you hold on to your prediction, keep it very brief: a word or two, or even better, a single abbreviation. For example, if you predict that an author is including a detail as support for a broader point, you might just write “suppt” next to the choices.

Questions 1-10 are based on the following passage.

Norse Passage Map

This passage, about the decline of the Norse colonies that once existed in Greenland, is from a comprehensive 2015 research report examining this anthropological mystery.

In 1721, the Norwegian missionary

GL colony
gone by
1721—
reasons
debated

Hans Egede discovered that the two known Norse settlements on Greenland were completely deserted. Ever since, the reasons behind the decline and eventual disappearance of these people have been greatly debated. Greenland, established by the charismatic outlaw Erik the Red in about 986 c.e., was a colony of Norway by 1000 c.e., complete with a church hierarchy and trading community. After several relatively prosperous centuries, the colony had fallen on hard times and was not heard from in Europe, but it wasn’t until Egede’s discovery that the complete downfall of the settlement was confirmed.

1800s
researchers
said
cause was
war w/
Inuits

Throughout the nineteenth century, researchers attributed the demise of the Norse colonies to war between the colonies and Inuit groups. This is based largely on evidence from the work Description of Greenland, written by Norse settler Ivar Bardarson around 1364, which describes strained relationships between the Norse settlers

but no arch.
evid.

and the Inuits who had recently come to Greenland. However, because there is no archaeological evidence of a war or a massacre, and the extensive body of Inuit oral history tells of no such event, modern scholars give little credence to these theories. New theories about the reason for the decline of the Norse colonies

much new
info

are being proposed partially because the amount of information available is rapidly increasing. Advances in paleoclimatology, for example, have

climate
data

increased the breadth and clarity of our picture of the region. Most notably, recent analyses of the central Greenland ice core, coupled with data obtained from plant material and sea sediments,

big climate
change
b/4 colony
decline

have indicated severe climate changes in the region that some are now calling a “mini ice age.” Such studies point toward a particularly warm period for Greenland that occurred between the years 800 c.e. and 1300 c.e., which was then followed—unfortunately for those inhabiting even the most temperate portions of the island—by a steady decline in overall temperatures that lasted for nearly 600 years. The rise and fall of the Norse colonies in Greenland, not surprisingly, roughly mirrors this climate-based chronology.

fly remains

Researchers have also found useful data in a most surprising place—fly remains. The insect, not native to the island, was brought over inadvertently on Norse ships. Flies survived in the warm and unsanitary conditions of the Norse dwellings and barns and died out when these were no longer inhabited.

dating
shows
human
decline
–1350

By carbon dating the fly remains, researchers have tracked the occupation of the settlements and confirmed that the human population began to decline around 1350 c.e.

econ problems,
too

Changing economic conditions likely also conspired against the settlers. The colonies had founded a moderately successful trading economy based on exporting whale ivory,

ivory
market ↓

especially important given their need for the imported wood and iron that were in short supply on the island. Unfortunately, inexpensive and plentiful Asian and African elephant ivory flooded the European market during the fourteenth century, destroying Greenland’s standing in the European economy. At the same time, the trading fleet of the German Hanseatic League supplanted the previously dominant

+ German
traders
didn’t visit
GL

Norwegian shipping fleets. Because the German merchants had little interest in the Norse colonists, Greenland soon found itself visited by fewer and fewer ships each year until its inhabitants were completely isolated by 1480 c.e.

also
cultural
factors

Cultural and sociological factors may have also contributed to the demise of the Norse settlements. The Inuit tribes, while recent immigrants to Greenland, had come from nearby areas to the west and had time-tested strategies to cope with the severe environment. The Norse settlers, however, seem to have viewed themselves as fundamentally European and did not adopt Inuit techniques. Inuit apparel, for example, was far more appropriate for the cold, damp environment; the remains

Euro.
clothes

from even the last surviving Norse settlements indicate a costume that was undeniably European in design. Likewise, the Norse settlers failed to adopt Inuit hunting techniques and tools, such as the toggle harpoon, which

hunting vs.
farming

made it possible to capture calorie-rich seal meat. Instead, the Norse relied on the farming styles that had been so successful for their European ancestors, albeit in a radically different climate. It seems likely that this stubborn cultural inflexibility prevented the Norse civilization in Greenland from adapting to increasingly severe environmental and economic conditions.

Big Picture

Main Idea: New information shows that factors such as climate, economy, and culture may have caused the collapse of the Norse colonies in Greenland.

Author’s Purpose: To describe current theories (and evidence for them) of what happened to the Norse in Greenland

1. 1. The main purpose of the passage is to

      1. discuss possible theories explaining a historical event.
      2. refute a commonly held belief about a group of people.
      3. chronicle the conflict between immigrant settlers and a region’s indigenous people.
      4. analyze the motivations behind a number of conflicting explanations.

   2. The author implies that, during the period in which the Norse settlements were initially founded, the climate in the region was

      1. uncharacteristically mild.
      2. typically inhospitable.
      3. unusually harsh.
      4. increasingly cold.

   3. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

      1. Lines 42–47(“Most . . . region”)
      2. Lines 48–51(“Such . . . 1300 c.e.”)
      3. Lines 56–59(“The rise . . . chronology”)
      4. Lines 64–67(“Flies . . . inhabited”)

   4. In line 63, the word “inadvertently” most nearly means

      1. secretly.
      2. distractedly.
      3. unintentionally.
      4. deliberately.

   5. The passage indicates that the Inuit people on Greenland

      1. were responsible for the collapse of the Norse settlements.
      2. shared their knowledge with the Norse settlers.
      3. struggled with the difficult local climate.
      4. were recent immigrants, like the Norse themselves.

   6. What function does the discussion of the trade in whale and elephant ivory serve in the passage as a whole?

      1. It is evidence that strengthens the traditional view introduced in the second paragraph.
      2. It is an example that challenges the theory introduced in the fourth paragraph.
      3. It provides additional support for the main idea of the third paragraph.
      4. It contradicts the central argument of the whole passage.

   7. What can reasonably be inferred from the passage about the relationship between the shipping fleets of nations in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and the colonies established by those nations?

      1. Ships never traded with colonies not founded by the same country.
      2. Colonies were dependent upon deliveries by ships from their own country.
      3. Colonies would surely fail without regular deliveries by ships.
      4. Shipping fleets may not have prioritized deliveries to foreign colonies.

   8. The author claims the Norse settlers did not adopt the successful survival tactics of the Inuit because

      1. the Norse settlers had strained relations with the Inuit.
      2. the Inuit did not share their knowledge with the Norse settlers.
      3. the Norse settlers believed those tactics were incompatible with their culture.
      4. after attempting them, the Norse settlers found the tactics to be unsuccessful.

   9. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

      1. Lines 22–29(“This is . . . Greenland”)
         
      2. Lines 111–115(“Likewise . . . meat”)
         
      3. Lines 115–118(“Instead . . . climate”)
         
      4. Lines 118–123(“It seems . . . conditions”)

   10. Which of the following best summarizes the organization of the passage?

       1. An unusual event is described, the possible causes of the event are evaluated, and the most likely cause is determined.
       2. A mystery is presented, an accepted explanation is proposed but challenged, and alternative explanations are introduced.
       3. An anomaly is noted, the traditional interpretation of the anomaly is reported, and more recent evidence is cited to support that interpretation.
       4. A paradox is reported, the historical solution is proven to be false, and a more modern resolution is proven to be correct.

How Much Have You Learned?

         

Directions

Take 12 minutes to reread this passage (from chapter 11) and answer the associated questions (first seen in chapter 12). Try to use the various PSAT Reading question strategies you learned in this chapter.

Questions 11-20 refer to the following passage.

Infant Language Passage Map

This passage, about infant language acquisition, is adapted from a research paper written in 2017 that explored early childhood development.

1. Infants are born as scientists, constantly interacting with and questioning the world around them. However, as any good scientist knows, simply making observations

   babies
   start
   learning
   lang. b/4
   they can
   talk

   is not sufficient; a large part of learning is dependent on being able to communicate ideas, observations, and feelings with others. Though most infants do not produce discernible words until around age one or one-anda- half, they begin gaining proficiency in their native languages long before that. In fact, many linguists agree that a

   “pre-programmed”

   newborn baby’s brain is already preprogrammed for language acquisition, meaning that it’s as natural for a baby to talk as it is for a dog to dig.

   Cutler:
   learn lang.
   b/4 birth

   According to psycholinguist Anne Cutler, an infant’s language acquisition actually begins well before birth. At only one day old, newborns have demonstrated the ability to recognize the voices and rhythms heard during their last trimester in the muffled confines of the womb. In general, infants are more likely to attend to a specific voice stream if they perceive it as more familiar than other streams. Newborns tend to be especially

   –support

   partial to their mother’s voice and her native language, as opposed to another woman or another language. For example, when an infant is presented with a voice stream spoken by his mother and a background stream delivered by an unfamiliar voice, he will effortlessly attend to his mother while ignoring the background stream. Therefore, by using these simple yet important cues, and others like them, infants can easily learn the essential characteristics and rules of their native language. However, it is important to note that an infant’s ability to learn from the nuances of her mother’s speech is predicated upon her ability to separate

   need
   mom’s
   voice sep.
   from bkgd

   that speech from the sounds of the dishwasher, the family dog, the bus stopping on the street outside, and, quite possibly, other streams of speech, like a newscaster on the television down the hall or siblings playing in an adjacent room. Infants are better

   + louder
   than
   other
   voices

   able to accomplish this task when the voice of interest is louder than any of the competing background noises. Conversely, when two voices are of equal amplitude, infants typically demonstrate little preference for one stream over the other. Researchers have hypothesized that because an infant’s ability to selectively pay attention to one voice or sound, even in a mix of others, has not fully developed yet, the infant is actually interpreting competing voice streams that are equally loud as one single stream with unfamiliar patterns and sounds. During the first few months after birth, infants will subconsciously

   newborns
   learn
   patterns

   study the language being used around them, taking note of the rhythmic patterns, the sequences of sounds, and the intonation of the language. Newborns will also start to actively process how things like differences in pitch or accented syllables further

   <6 mos.:
   “hear”
   other
   lang. too

   affect meaning. Interestingly, up until six months of age, they can still recognize and discriminate between the phonemes (single units of sound in a language like “ba” or “pa”) of other languages. Though infants do display a preference for the language they heard in utero, most infants are not biased towards the specific phonemes of that language.

   ~1 yr.:
   prefer
   their own
   lang.

   This ability to recognize and discriminate between all phonemes comes to an end by the middle of their first year, at which point infants start displaying a preference for phonemes in their native language, culminating at age one, when they stop responding to foreign phonemes altogether. This is part of what is known as the “critical

   crit. pd.:
   still easier
   to learn
   other
   lang.

   period,” which begins at birth and lasts until puberty. During this period, as the brain continues to grow and change, language acquisition is instinctual, explaining why young children seem to pick up languages so easily.

Big Picture

Main Idea: Infants listen to voices in their environments to acquire language instinctually, possibly starting before they are even born.

Author’s Purpose: To explain the abilities and limitations of infants in acquiring language

1. 2. The primary purpose of the passage is to

      1. present the background of a recent medical discovery.
      2. trace the history of a scientific inquiry.
      3. explain the research that led to a new breakthrough.
      4. describe an aspect of early childhood development.

   3. According to the passage, when children begin to acquire their native language they

      1. are in about the middle of their first year.
      2. are at least one year old.
      3. are not yet able to speak.
      4. start to imitate the phonemes of that language.

   4. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

      1. Lines 9–14(“Though most . . . that”)
      2. Lines 80–85(“Interestingly . . . languages”)
      3. Lines 90–97(“This ability . . . altogether”)
      4. Lines 97–100(“This is . . . puberty”)

   5. As used in line 48, “predicated” most nearly means

      1. predicted.
      2. expressed.
      3. replaced.
      4. built.

   6. The main purpose of the third paragraph (lines 45-70) is to

      1. illustrate how distinct speech streams increase the speed of language acquisition.
      2. discuss the mechanism by which louder volumes of speech impede language acquisition.
      3. explain the role of the relative volumes of sounds on an infant’s ability to learn to process language.
      4. provide scientific data that measure the improvement in language acquisition as the volume of the speech stream increases.

   7. As used in line 82, “discriminate” most nearly means

      1. differentiate.
      2. perceive.
      3. prefer.
      4. persecute.

   8. According to the passage, children begin to learn the rhythms, pitches, and accents of speech

      1. before birth.
      2. in the first months of life.
      3. after the middle of the first year.
      4. at around one year of age.

   9. The passage most strongly suggests that a mother who wants to assist her child in language acquisition should

      1. expose her child to as many spoken languages as possible.
      2. use short words composed of the basic phonemes of her native language.
      3. be sure her voice is louder than other background noises.
      4. use as large a vocabulary as possible when speaking to her child.

   10. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
       

       1. Lines 14–18(“In fact . . . dig”)
       2. Lines 45–55(“However . . . room”)
       3. Lines 55–58(“Infants . . . noises”)
       4. Lines 85–89(“Though . . . language”)

   11. The most likely purpose of the discussion of phonemes is to

       1. identify important stages in the process of language acquisition in children.
       2. emphasize the importance of children acquiring only one language at a time.
       3. show how children gradually build larger words from the primary sounds around them.
       4. illustrate the importance of volume in the language acquisition of children.

Reflect

Directions: Take a few minutes to recall what you’ve learned and what you’ve been practicing in this chapter. Consider the following questions, jot down your best answer for each one, and then compare your reflections to the expert responses on the following page. Use your level of confidence to determine what to do next.

Why do PSAT experts research and predict the correct answer to Reading questions before reading the answer choices?

What are the types of research clues contained in PSAT Reading question stems?

What are the five common wrong answer types associated with PSAT Reading questions?

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

How will you approach the process of answering PSAT Reading questions more strategically going forward? Are there any specific habits you will practice to make your approach to PSAT Reading more effective and efficient?

Expert Responses

Why do PSAT experts research and predict the correct answer to Reading questions before reading the answer choices?

Expert test takers know that the correct answer to each PSAT Reading question is based on the text of the passage. They research to avoid answering based on memory or on a whim. Predicting the correct answer before reading the choices increases accuracy and speed by helping the test taker avoid rereading, confusion, and comparing answer choices to one another.

What are the types of research clues contained in PSAT Reading question stems?

Line numbers, paragraph numbers, proper nouns, quoted text, specific content clues, and whole passage clues.

What are the five common wrong answer types associated with PSAT Reading questions?

• Out of scope
• Opposite
• Distortion
• Extreme
• Misused detail

How will you approach the process of answering PSAT Reading questions more strategically going forward? Are there any specific habits you will practice to make your approach to PSAT Reading more effective and efficient?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer here. Reflect on your own habits in answering PSAT Reading questions and give yourself an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. Consider the strategies you’ve seen experts use in this chapter, and put them to work in your own practice to increase your accuracy, speed, and confidence.

Next Steps

If you answered most questions correctly in the “How Much Have You Learned” section, and if your responses to the Reflect questions were similar to those of the PSAT expert, then consider Answering PSAT Reading Questions an area of strength, and move on to the next chapter. Come back to this topic periodically to prevent yourself from getting rusty.

If you don’t yet feel confident, review the material in “How to Answer PSAT Reading Questions,” and then try the questions you missed again. As always, be sure to review the explanations closely.

Answers and Explanations

1. A

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Global

   Strategic Advice: Use your big picture summary to make a prediction on a Global question like this. For this question, you can simply use your summary of the author's purpose.

   Getting to the Answer: The author discusses the disappearance of a group of Norse settlers and offers a number of explanations for this occurrence, but doesn’t advocate for any one of them in particular. Thus, the primary purpose is to introduce readers to a number of possible explanations, as suggested in correct choice (A).

   (B) and (C) are too narrow. The belief that there was a conflict between the Inuit and the Norse settlers is refuted in the second paragraph, and the passage continues for three more paragraphs, so (B) isn’t the main purpose. The passage mentions “strained relations” between the groups at the start of the second paragraph, but does not go on to “chronicle the conflict,” as (C) suggests. The motivations behind the explanations are never discussed, nor is it clear that the explanations are in conflict (climatological, economic, and cultural factors could all be partial causes of the collapse), so (D) is also incorrect.

2. A

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Inference

   Strategic Advice: This question requires you to put together details from different parts of the passage to arrive at the appropriate inference.

   Getting to the Answer: The important clues in the question are “the period in which the Norse settlements were initially founded” and “climate.” The beginning of the passage states that the colony was founded around the year 1000 c.e. However, climate is not discussed until the third paragraph, where the author writes, “a particularly warm period for Greenland . . . occurred between the years 800 c.e. and 1300 c.e.” (lines 49-51). In fact, “particularly warm” is not bad for a prediction. Choice (A) matches and is correct. The “mild,” warm weather was uncharacteristic of the usually cold, harsh climate.

   All of the incorrect choices are misused details that are mentioned in the passage; they apply to the years after 1300 c.e., not to the specific time period indicated in the question stem.

3. B

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Command of Evidence

   Strategic Advice: If you used a line reference to answer the previous question, use that as your prediction and start by seeing whether that line reference is one of the answer choices.

   Getting to the Answer: In answering the previous question, it emerges that the climate during the initial founding of the Norse settlements was “uncharacteristically mild.” This strange, “particularly warm” weather is mentioned in line 49, making choice (B) correct.

   (A) and (C) mention the change in climate, but do not specifically mention the warmer years in the answer to the previous question. (D) connects the disappearance of the flies to that of the settlers, but does not address the climate change.

4. C

   Difficulty: Easy

   Category: Vocab-in-Context

   Strategic Advice: Use surrounding information to figure out the meaning of a challenging word. If you can’t think of a single word to use as a prediction, a short phrase is also fine.

   Getting to the Answer: Return to line 63, mentioned in the question, and read a little above and a little below the line. The flies were not on the island until the Norse ships arrived, and “inadvertently” is an adverb describing how the flies were brought to the island. The suggestion there is that the flies were not brought on purpose, so “by accident” is a good prediction. Choice (C) matches and is thus correct.

   The remaining choices are incorrect because they don’t fit the context. It makes little sense that the ships would hide the flies in secret as (A) suggests. (B) almost suggests that the flies somehow diverted the attention of the colonists to bring themselves on board, which also seems implausible. Finally, (D) presents the opposite of the intended meaning.
   

5. D

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Detail

   Strategic Advice: When an open-ended question makes prediction difficult, use elimination. Match information in the passage to the choices and eliminate choices as you go.

   Getting to the Answer: The Inuit people are mentioned in the second and final paragraphs. The second paragraph states in Lines 28–29that “Inuits . . . had recently come to Greenland.” In lines 97-98, in the final paragraph, this point is repeated, indicating that the Norse colonists were not the only recent settlers of Greenland. (D) is therefore correct.

   (A) is incorrect because the author dismisses the view that the Inuit are responsible for the Norse colony collapse (lines 29-34). (B) is incorrect because the author suggests in the final paragraph that the Norse were unwilling to abandon their European ways, so there’s no evidence that the Inuit successfully shared knowledge with them. (C) is incorrect because, in the final paragraph, the Inuit are said to have had “time-tested strategies to cope with the severe environment” (lines 100–101), suggesting they did not struggle with the climate.
   

6. C

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Function

   Strategic Advice: If your prediction ends up being more specific than the answer choices, try to fill in the generic descriptions with actual details from the passage to better assess which choice is a match. For example, if a choice mentions the main idea of a particular paragraph, then rephrase the choice in your mind to include that actual main idea.

   Getting to the Answer: At the beginning of the third paragraph, the author notes that new information is leading to novel theories that explain the Norse colonies’ decline. The author then goes on to provide some examples of these new theories and the evidence that supports them. The fourth paragraph continues this line of thought by turning to economic factors such as the changing ivory trade. Because that discussion provides additional support for the main idea of paragraph 3, (C) is correct.
   

   (A) is incorrect because the traditional view, that the colony was destroyed by war with the Inuits, is dismissed later in paragraph 2, not supported. (B) is incorrect because the discussion of the ivory trade supports, not challenges, the theory in paragraph 4 about economic factors of collapse. (D) is incorrect because the shift in the ivory trade away from whale ivory strengthens the author’s claim that new explanations are emerging, which is the central idea of the passage.

7. D

   Difficulty: Hard

   Category: Inference

   Strategic Advice: Inference questions may require you to put together pieces from different parts of the passage before arriving at a prediction.

   Getting to the Answer: The shipping fleets of Norway and Germany are part of the economic discussion in the fourth paragraph. Lines 86–94 indicate that the German fleets took over the trade routes from the Norse and lost interest in the Norse colony. The suggestion is that a country’s fleets are generally more interested in transacting with that country’s colonies than with foreign colonies. Choice (D) is thus correct.

   (A) is too extreme and contradicted by the passage, which suggests that at least a few non-Norwegian ships visited the colonies. (B) is incorrect because the colony was able to survive for a time even after the Norwegian fleets were supplanted, suggesting that essential deliveries could come from foreign sources. (C) is incorrect because the author presents another possibility in the last paragraph: the colonists could have adopted more of the well-adapted customs of the Inuit and learned to survive in Greenland’s natural environment, instead of sticking with European practices that didn’t suit the climate.
   

8. C

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Detail

   Strategic Advice: Follow the clue in the question stem to discover the relevant detail from the passage. For Detail questions, it’s fine to use phrases or sentences directly from the passage as predictions.

   Getting to the Answer: The discussion of the Norse colonists refusing to adapt to the changing climate occurs in the fifth paragraph. Lines 101–104 attribute this refusal to the Norse colonists thinking of themselves as European and clinging to European traditions. The author even concludes the passage by suggesting that the Norse colonists were likely guilty of a “stubborn cultural inflexibility” (lines 119–120) that led to their collapse. Choice (C) is therefore correct.

   (A) is a misused detail from the second paragraph. Although there were strained relations between the two groups, the text does not cite this poor relationship as the reason why the Norse did not adopt Inuit ways. (B) and (D) are not mentioned in the passage, making them incorrect as well.

9. D

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Command of Evidence

   Strategic Advice: Use your work on the previous question to make a prediction: wherever you went for research will likely be correct.

   Getting to the Answer: The author suggests in the concluding sentence that the Norse colonists died out because of their refusal to take on better-adapted cultural norms, which directly supports the previous question’s answer. (D) is thus correct.

   (A) is the line that supports the misused detail (from choice (A) in the previous question) in the second paragraph. There is no evidence that the difficult relations between the two groups led to the colonists’ refusal to adopt Inuit practices. (B) and (C) identify two of the Inuit’s survival tactics, but do not provide a reason these tactics were not adopted by the Norse.

10. B

    Difficulty: Global

    Category: Hard

    Strategic Advice: For a question about the organization of the passage, review the marginal notes of your passage map and try to construct a story of how the passage moves from one paragraph to the next, using this as your prediction. The correct answer will best reflect the story you’ve constructed.

    Getting to the Answer: The first paragraph introduces the topic of the unexplained disappearance of the Norse colonies and the second paragraph presents and refutes one historical explanation. In the remainder of the passage, the author presents a number of alternative explanations, but never advocates for one of them over the others. Rather, the author seems to suggest the theories are somewhat compatible, all representing factors that led to the colonies’ collapse. This structure is best reflected in (B), the correct answer.
    

    (A) is incorrect because no single cause is definitively determined. (C) is incorrect because the traditional view, war between the Norse colonists and the Inuit, is discredited, not supported. (D) is too extreme; the disappearance of the colonies is not really a “paradox” so much as a mystery, and the author doesn’t attempt to “prove” anything, but just offers possible explanations.

1. D

   Difficulty: Easy

   Category: Global

   Strategic Advice: Research the answer to a Global question in your big picture summary, and keep the author’s tone in mind. 

   Getting to the Answer: The author presented a factual description of several aspects of infant language acquisition, which matches choice (D).

   (A) and (C) are incorrect because the passage doesn’t identify a “recent medical discovery” or “new breakthrough.” (B) is incorrect because, although some of the steps in the process of language acquisition are described in the text, the history of the research into this process is not.

2. C

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Detail

   Getting to the Answer: The important context clue in this question is “begin to acquire their native language.” Although the entire passage is describing language acquisition, the context clue tells you to focus your research on the first paragraph. Lines 9–14state that babies start to learn their native language before they can speak, and this prediction matches (C), the correct answer.

   (A) and (B) are ages mentioned in the passage, but (A) gives the age when babies begin to produce recognizable words and (B) gives the age when babies begin to prefer the phonemes of their native languages. (D) is a distortion of information presented in the last paragraph. Although the passage says that babies prefer the phonemes of their native language, it does not say that babies imitate these phonemes, nor that this preference is evident at the beginning of the language acquisition process.

3. A

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Command of Evidence

   Getting to the Answer: Good research on the previous question pays off in efficient, correct answers to Command of Evidence questions. Since the answer to the previous question is found in lines 9-14, (A) is correct.

   (B) describes the age at which infants still discriminate among phonemes, (C) describes the age when children begin to prefer the phonemes of their native languages, and (D) defines the “critical period.” None of these incorrect choices identify the age when children begin to acquire their native languages.

4. D

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Vocab-in-Context

   Getting to the Answer: The word “predicated” connects the “ability to learn from . . . mother’s speech” to the “ability to separate that speech” from other sounds. Logically, it would not be possible to learn from something (mother’s speech) if you can’t even recognize that thing in the first place, so the noted word must mean something like “dependent.” (D) comes closest to this prediction, making it correct.
   

   (A) is incorrect because the ability to learn from a stream of speech comes after the ability to distinguish that speech, but “predicted” seems to reverse the chronology. (B) is incorrect because it suggests the two abilities are the same, that one is only the expression of another, but the author is clear to distinguish them. (C) is incorrect because the two abilities work together; the second doesn’t simply take the place of the first.
   

5. C

   Difficulty: Hard

   Category: Function

   Getting to the Answer: Keep the purpose of the passage in mind, then review the passage map and predict a reason the author included the third paragraph. Within the discussion of language acquisition in infants, the third paragraph describes the importance of the volume of the mother’s voice over the other background sounds. This prediction matches (C), the correct answer.

   Choice (A) subtly distorts the information in the paragraph. The ability of a baby to identify a specific speech stream is not connected to the speed of language acquisition. (B) is an opposite choice; louder volumes of speech assist, not impede, language acquisition. (D) is not discussed in the passage; no data is supplied to connect the improvement in language acquisition to different volumes of speech.

6. A

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Vocab-in-Context

   Getting to the Answer: Read the sentence without “discriminate” and ask what the author is trying to communicate. Because the sentence is about infants distinguishing sounds as belonging to one or another language, separate or tell the difference are good predictions. Choice (A) is correct because it matches.

   (B) is incorrect because it is synonymous with “recognize,” which the author combines with “discriminate,” so it would be redundant and lose the connotation of distinguishing between multiples phonemes. (C) is incorrect because it contradicts what the author says in the following sentence (lines 85-89) about the lack of preference toward specific phonemes. (D) is incorrect because “persecute” is a common meaning of “discriminate” that doesn’t fit the context.

7. B

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Detail

   Getting to the Answer: The clues in the question stem point to paragraph 4, where the author mentions “rhythmic patterns” and “differences in pitch or accented syllables.” That paragraph begins, “During the first few months after birth,” which directly matches with correct choice (B).
   

   (A), (C), and (D), the incorrect answers, all contain different ages of children that are mentioned in the passage, but each is associated with a different phase of language acquisition, not the stage mentioned in the question.

8. C

   Difficulty: Hard

   Category: Inference

   Getting to the Answer: Paragraph 3 discusses how infants have difficulty separating voice streams that have equal volumes, as well as how important it is for infants to recognize their mother’s speech in order to learn from it. Thus, it makes sense that a mother would aid her infant’s language acquisition by speaking louder than any background sounds, which makes (C) correct.
   

   (A) and (B) are distortions of information in the passage, making them incorrect. Although the passage mentions that young children learn languages easily, the text never recommends exposing children to multiple languages. Similarly, phonemes are discussed, but using phonemes to assist children in learning to speak is not. (D), using a large vocabulary, is never mentioned in the text, and so is incorrect.

9. C

   Difficulty: Medium

   Category: Command of Evidence

   Getting to the Answer: Since the support for the previous answer came from the third paragraph, return to that paragraph and identify the line numbers that most directly state that volume helps children to learn language. Lines 55-58, choice (C), are correct.

   You can eliminate (A) and (D) quickly because neither comes from the third paragraph. (A) and (D) are indeed incorrect because they identify different stages in the language acquisition process, not a specific action a mother could take to assist this process. (B) is incorrect because, although it identifies the need for babies to be able to differentiate the targeted speech stream from background noises, it does not suggest how this could be done by using a louder volume.

10. A

    Difficulty: Medium

    Category: Function

    Getting to the Answer: The author discusses phonemes in the fourth and fifth paragraphs, identifying two distinct ways that infants respond to phonemes. In paragraph 4, the author notes that infants can recognize phonemes from other languages until six months of age, while in paragraph 5, infants stop responding to foreign phonemes altogether in the “critical period.” Thus, the purpose of this discussion is to highlight some important stages in the process of language acquisition, as in correct choice (A).
    

    (B) and (C) are not mentioned in the text, and so are incorrect. (D) is incorrect because volume is discussed earlier in the passage where phonemes are not the topic.