Perform

Now, try a test-like SAT Reading passage and question set on your own. Give yourself 6 minutes to read the passage and answer the questions.

2. Questions 9-12 are based on the following passage.

3. The following passage is an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln’s second autobiography, published in a Pennsylvania newspaper in 1860.

   I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families—second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams, and others in Macon County, Illinois. My paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, Virginia, to Kentucky about 1781 or 1782, where a year or two later he was killed by the Indians, not in battle, but by stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks County, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them with the New England family of the same name ended in nothing more definite than a similarity of Christian names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solomon, Abraham, and the like. My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of age, and he grew up literally without education. He removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, Indiana in my eighth year. We reached our new home about the time the state came into the Union. It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up. There were some schools, so called, but no qualification was ever required of a teacher beyond “readin’, writin’, and cipherin’” to the rule of three. If a straggler supposed to understand Latin happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizard. There was absolutely nothing to excite ambition for education. Of course, when I came of age I did not know much. Still, somehow I could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three, but that was all. I have not been to school since. The little advance I now have upon this store of education I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity. I was raised to farm work, which I continued till I was twenty-two. At twenty-one I came to Illinois, Macon County. Then I got to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, now in Menard County, where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came the Black Hawk War, and I was elected a captain of volunteers, a success which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since. I went the campaign, was elated, ran for the legislature the same year (1832), and was beaten—the only time I have ever been beaten by the people. The next and three succeeding biennial elections I was elected to the legislature. I was not a candidate afterward. During this legislative period I had studied law, and removed to Springfield to practice it. In 1846 I was once elected to the lower house of Congress. I was not a candidate for reelection. From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, practiced law more assiduously than ever before. Always a Whig in politics; and generally on the Whig electoral tickets, making active canvasses. I was losing interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known. If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said I am, in height, six feet four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing on an average one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair and gray eyes. No other marks or brands recollected.

4. 1. The author’s stance is most similar to that of

      1. an ambitious politician campaigning for office.
      2. an education activist arguing for school reform.
      3. an accomplished storyteller spinning fanciful yarns.
      4. a common man describing his humble beginnings.

   2. The author’s central purpose for writing this passage is most likely to

      1. emphasize the influence his early education had on his later accomplishments.
      2. recount the important events that shaped his political philosophy.
      3. describe his life prior to his rise to national prominence.
      4. convey the idea that early hardship can strengthen an individual’s character.

   3. As used in line 38, “under the pressure of necessity” most nearly means

      1. when most convenient.
      2. when he needed to.
      3. whenever he could.
      4. when he was interested.

   4. Based on the passage, which answer choice best describes the effect of the Black Hawk War on the author’s life?

      1. It gave him an understanding of military tactics.
      2. It allowed him to escape the drudgery of working as a clerk.
      3. It launched his career into electoral politics.
      4. It informed his opinions on the necessity of the Civil War.