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Chapter 22
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Directions: In this chapter, you’ll learn to apply the SAT Reading strategies you’ve learned to Literature passages. Take 10 minutes to actively read this passage and answer the five accompanying questions. Pay close attention to the relationships between characters as you read. When you’re finished, compare your work to the explanations on the following pages.
Questions 1–5 refer to the following passage.
This passage is from Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club. ©1989 by G. P. Putnam’s Sons. The narrator recalls her mother’s death and the history of the Joy Luck Club.
My father has asked me to be the fourth corner at the Joy Luck Club. I am to replace my mother, whose seat at the mah jong table has been empty since she died two months ago. My father thinks she was killed by her own thoughts. “She had a new idea inside her head,” said my father. “But before it could come out of her mouth, the thought grew too big and burst. It must have been a very bad idea.” The doctor said she died of a cerebral aneurysm. And her friends at the Joy Luck Club said she died just like a rabbit: quickly and with unfinished business left behind. My mother was supposed to host the next meeting of the Joy Luck Club. The week before she died, she called me, full of pride, full of life: “Auntie Lin cooked red bean soup for Joy Luck. I’m going to cook black sesame- seed soup.” “Don’t show off,” I said. “It’s not showoff.” She said the two soups were almost the same, chabudwo. Or maybe she said butong, not the same thing at all. It was one of those Chinese expressions that means the better half of mixed intentions. I can never remember things I didn’t understand in the first place. My mother started the San Francisco version of the Joy Luck Club in 1949, two years before I was born. This was the year my mother and father left China with one stiff leather trunk filled only with fancy silk dresses. There was no time to pack anything else, my mother had explained to my father after they boarded the boat. Still his hands swam frantically between the slippery silks, looking for his cotton shirts and wool pants. When they arrived in San Francisco, my father made her hide those shiny clothes. She wore the same brown-checked Chinese dress until the Refugee Welcome Society gave her two hand-me- down dresses, all too large in sizes for American women. The society was composed of a group of white- haired American missionary ladies from the First Chinese Baptist Church. And because of their gifts, my parents could not refuse their invitation to join the church. Nor could they ignore the old ladies’ practical advice to improve their English through Bible study class on Wednesday nights and, later, through choir practice on Saturday mornings. This was how my parents met the Hsus, the Jongs, and the St. Clairs. My mother could sense that the women of these families also had unspeakable tragedies they had left behind in China and hopes they couldn’t begin to express in their fragile English. Or at least, my mother recognized the numbness in these women’s faces. And she saw how quickly their eyes moved when she told them her idea for the Joy Luck Club. Joy Luck was an idea my mother remembered from the days of her first marriage in Kweilin, before the Japanese came. That’s why I think of Joy Luck as her Kweilin story. It was the story she would always tell me when she was bored, when there was nothing to do, when every bowl had been washed and the Formica table had been wiped down twice, when my father sat reading the newspaper and smoking one Pall Mall cigarette after another, a warning not to disturb him. This is when my mother would take out a box ofPage 633 old ski sweaters sent to us by unseen relatives from Vancouver. She would snip the bottom of a sweater and pull out a kinky thread of yarn, anchoring it to a piece of cardboard. And as she began to roll with one sweeping rhythm, she would start her story. Over the years, she told me the same story, except for the ending, which grew darker, casting long shadows into her life, and eventually into mine.Over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts from
The main purpose of lines 12–18 (“And her . . . full of life”) is to
When discussing the food her mother cooked for the Joy Luck Club, the narrator indicates that she
With which of the following statements about her parents would the narrator most likely agree?
Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
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Suggested passage notes:
D
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Function
Strategic Advice: Function questions ask you why the writer included a certain detail.
Getting to the Answer: To determine how the focus shifts, review your passage map, particularly the first and last few paragraphs. The author describes the circumstances of her mother’s death, then goes on to explain her parents’ experience as new residents of San Francisco. Finally, she recounts a story her mother told her many times. Thus, the main focus shifts from the death of the author’s mother to a story the mother told to the author. (D) is a solid match for this prediction and is correct.
Choice (A) is unsupported since there is no analysis of mah jong. (B) is also unsupported because the “metaphor for unfinished business” is a detail, never the main focus, nor is there any depiction of Kweilin. (C) is unsupported since there isn’t any detailed description of the Joy Luck Club or an examination of the parents’ reasons for leaving China.
B
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Function
Strategic Advice: Function questions ask about the purpose of a specific element of the passage. Think about the author’s larger purpose for including the cited element; ask yourself, “Why is this here and what does it accomplish?”
Getting to the Answer: The author points out that her mother died “quickly and with unfinished business,” and that the week before, she was full of life. Therefore, it’s logical to conclude that the author’s purpose is to point out the sudden and unexpected nature of her mother’s death. (B) is correct.
While it’s true that the narrator’s mother is introduced and that she meant a lot to the narrator, the purpose of the cited lines is not merely to introduce important characters, so (A) can be eliminated. There is no discussion in these lines of the narrator’s parents’ relationship, so (B) is incorrect as well. Finally, there is nothing in this portion of text that indicates a “negative dynamic” between the narrator and her mother, so you can eliminate (D).
D
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Detail
Strategic Advice: Detail questions ask about a specific point or fact in the passage. Look up the answer in the passage and be aware that the correct answer will be directly stated there.
Getting to the Answer: In the paragraph starting in line 22, the narrator mentions two different Chinese terms her mother may have used to compare the two soups; she indicates that she can’t remember which of the two terms her mother used. This closely matches (D), the correct answer.
The narrator mentions the specific soup her mother made, so (A) can be eliminated. There is no comparison made between the narrator’s understanding and her mother’s, so (B) is incorrect as well. Finally, the narrator didn’t indicate that she couldn’t understand her mother’s desire to show off, so you can eliminate (C).
B
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Inference
Strategic Advice: The keywords “the author . . . would . . . most likely agree” indicate an Inference question. It may not be possible to make a clear and specific prediction for a “which of the following” Inference question, so check each choice against the text and eliminate those that are unsupported.
Getting to the Answer:
(A): the text states that the mother’s first marriage was in Kweilin, so the implication is that her husband at the time was a previous husband and not the author’s father. Furthermore, there is nothing in the text to suggest that the author’s parents lived in Kweilin until they left China. Eliminate (A).
Page 635(B): The text states that, the gifts from the American missionary ladies from the First Chinese Baptist Church put the narrator’s parents into a position where they couldn’t refuse the invitation to join the church. Her parents felt obligated to join, so (B) is correct.
(C): Nothing in the text suggests the parents disagreed about joining the church. Eliminate (C).
(D): There is little in the text to determine whether the parents had disagreements; therefore, the words “never” and “anything” in this choice signal an extreme answer. Eliminate (D).
C
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Command of Evidence
Getting to the Answer: Refer to the evidence in the text that you used to answer the previous question; lines 48–50 indicate the parents’ feeling of obligation to join the church. Thus, (C) is correct.
Strategic Advice: The keywords “provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question” indicate a Command of Evidence question. Scan the question set for these and be aware of where they are. When you see one of them coming, keep your finger on the lines you used to answer the preceding question.
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Exactly one passage in each SAT Reading section is a Literature passage: an excerpt from a novel or short story. The Literature passage is typically the first passage in the section, but that doesn’t mean you have to tackle it first. Some test takers may find fiction engaging and feel comfortable reading dialogue and interpreting an author’s descriptions of characters and settings. Others may find their strengths lie in more concrete, nonfiction passages on science and social studies. Don’t make a snap judgment based on how you feel now, though. Practice all of the passage types to give yourself an honest, informed assessment. You’ll find more tips and strategies on how best to approach the section in the chapter on SAT Reading section management. Page 637
The following passage is an excerpt from English novelist Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, published in 1848. The excerpt is part of a letter the narrator, Gilbert, has written.
My father, as you know, was a sort of gentleman farmer in —shire; and I, by his express desire, succeeded him in the same quiet occupation, not very willingly, for ambition urged me to higher aims, and self-conceit assured me that, in disregarding its voice, I was burying my talent in the earth, and hiding my light under a bushel. My mother had done her utmost to persuade me that I was capable of great achievements; but my father, who thought ambition was the surest road to ruin, and change but another word for destruction, would listen to no scheme for bettering either my own condition, or that of my fellow mortals. He assured me it was all rubbish, and exhorted me, with his dying breath, to continue in the good old way, to follow his steps, and those of his father before him, and let my highest ambition be, to walk honestly through the world, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left, and to transmit the paternal acres to my children in, at least, as flourishing a condition as he left them to me. “Well!—an honest and industrious farmer is one of the most useful members of society; and if I devote my talents to the cultivation of my farm, and the improvement of agriculture in general, I shall thereby benefit, not only my own immediate connections and dependents, but in some degree, mankind at large:—hence I shall not have lived in vain.” With such reflections as these, I was endeavouring to console myself, as I plodded home from the fields, one cold, damp, cloudy evening towards the close of October. But the gleam of a bright red fire through the parlour window, had more effect in cheering my spirits, and rebuking my thankless repinings, than all the sage reflections and good resolutions I had forced my mind to frame;—for I was young then, remember—only four and twenty—and had not acquired half the rule over my own spirit, that I now possess—trifling as that may be.The narrator’s attitude about becoming a farmer, as expressed in lines 23–38 (“Well!—an honest . . . mind to frame”), seems to be one of
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The SAT does not generally test symbolism, but it does test your ability to draw inferences about characters’ relationships and attitudes and to recognize how the author creates a specific tone or effect.
Be sure to read the little blurb that precedes an SAT Reading passage; this can be especially helpful on Literature passages. The blurb will always give you the author’s name, the title of the book or short story from which the passage was adapted, and the original publication date. When necessary, it may provide information about the main characters and setting.
The author. If you happen to know the author, great, but don’t expect to. If the name rings a bell that helps you identify the time frame or setting of the passage, take advantage of that, but otherwise, let it go. No questions will ask about the author’s identity or biographical information.
Title. A book’s title may help you identify its genre—tragedy, romance, coming-of-age stories, etc. It may also give you clues about the setting or theme of the passage.
Publication date. The SAT has used Literature passages drawn from various time periods over the last 200 years or so. Obviously, language use and references will be different in passages from the 1850s than those from the 1950s, and you can use that information to provide context about social conditions and historical events, or even about unusual vocabulary.
Characters and setting. When the test adds any information beyond author, title, and date, pay close attention. The people writing the test questions felt this information was essential for test takers to know, and it will always give you a head start in interpreting the passage and anticipating where the story is likely to go. Knowing, for example, that the main character is an adolescent or a mother, or knowing that a story takes place in a coal-mining town or an aristocratic palace, will change your understanding of the passage from the outset.
Within the first few lines, you will be able to distinguish a passage written in first person (the narrator as the main character, knowing only what that character knows) from one written in third person (the narrator is separate from the characters and has an omniscient point of view). Keeping this in mind as you read will help you spot the purpose of each paragraph and will help you later with Inference questions (“With which of the following would the narrator/character most likely agree?”).
In addition, take note of language that indicates the narrator’s or a character’s point of view. In a standard science or social studies passage, Opinion and Emphasis keywords help you keep track of an author’s ideas about a topic. In Literature passages, the author may put these ideas in the mind or the mouth of a character or in the way a scene or object is described. Take note of the passage’s tone (e.g., joyful, nostalgic, anxious, angry, hopeful, ironic, or satirical, etc.), especially if an event or conversation brings about a change in tone. Typically, one or more of the questions will reward your attention to the passage’s tone and characters’ points of view.
In a standard SAT Reading passage on science or social studies, you can use an author’s purpose to anticipate where the passage will go. When the author says there is a debate over a recent theory, you expect the next couple of paragraphs to lay out one side and then the other. If the author introduces a new idea, there will probably be an example to illustrate it. Literature passages unfold a little differently, but if you are reading actively, you can still anticipate and track the development of the story. Use what you know about a character to anticipate the action and to interpret the character’s reactions. If an older worker who is concerned aboutPage 639 having enough money for retirement has a conversation with her boss, you can understand what she’s after, even if she is using language that talks around the subject. If a studious young man absorbed in a book is interrupted by a boisterous group of revelers, you can expect some annoyance or judgment in his reaction, even if he doesn’t say anything to the newcomers. Keeping track of these things will help you jot down good paragraph summaries, just as you would in nonfiction passages.
When a character’s reaction or response to an event surprises you, consider whether this signals a change in the tone of the passage or indicates that you’ve glossed over or misunderstood something about the character or situation. In either case, it’s always valuable to track not only the plot but also the character’s reactions to and interpretations of what is happening.
While Literature passages have a distinct look and feel, the questions that accompany them are of the same types as those that follow standard science and social studies passages. Thus, while the best test takers apply a few unique reading strategies tailored to Literature, their overall approach remains similar to what they use for all passages. In every case, SAT experts read actively to prepare themselves for the question set. To do that, they read for the big picture, for the author’s (or in this case, narrator’s or characters’) opinions and point of view, and for the passage’s structure by noting the purpose and main idea of each paragraph.
For the most part, the questions that accompany Literature passages are worded similarly to those for Science or Social Studies passages. However, in Literature passages, you may also see questions that ask the following:
As long as you read actively for tone and characters’ motivations, you’ll be ready for questions like these.
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This is an Inference question: you need to infer the narrator’s attitude from clues in the text. The narrator says explicitly in line 4 that he became a farmer “not very willingly,” and that he had the “ambition” to pursue “higher aims.” This earlier context is important for understanding the tone of lines 23–38; without it, the second paragraph sounds very positive, even cheerful. Against the backdrop of the narrator’s unwillingness to become a farmer, however, the second paragraph sounds as if he were trying to talk himself into cheerfully accepting his occupation. Then, in line 31, the narrator states that he is “endeavouring to console [himself].” This is equivalent to “forced optimism.” Choice (C) is correct.Page 641
Directions: Actively read this Literature passage and answer the questions. Remember to note the tone of the story as you read and pay close attention to characters’ attitudes and relationships.
Questions 1–7 refer to the following passage.
This passage is adapted from Hortense Calisher’s short story “A Box of Ginger,” first published in 1948. The nine-year-old protagonist, Kinny, witnesses the events of the morning of his uncle’s funeral.
Five stories below, the hot white pavements sent the air shimmering upward. From the false dusk of the awning, Kinny, leaning out to watch the iridescent black top of the funeral car, smelled the indeterminate summer smell of freshly ironed linen and dust. Below, he could see his father help the aunts into the car and stumble in after them, and the car roll away to join the others at the cemetery. The winter before, at the funeral of his father’s other brother, everything had left from here, hearse and all. The house had been crowded with people who had entered without ringing and had seated themselves soundlessly in the parlor, greeting each other with a nod or a sidewise shake of the head, and for days there had been a straggling procession of long-faced callers, who had clasped hands with his father and mother and had been conducted, after a decent interval, to his grandmother’s rooms, where she lived somewhat apart from the rest of the family. They had all come out clucking, “She’s a wonderful woman, a won-der-ful old woman!,” had been given coffee, and had gone away. Today, there was no one, and the wide glaring street was blank with light. “Kinny, where are you?” “I’m in the parlor.” “How many times have I told you to say ‘living room?’ Parlor!” His mother clicked her tongue as she came into the room. “Why didn’t you go to the Park?” She walked toward him and looked at him squarely, something he had noticed grown people almost never seemed to have time to do. “Listen Kinny!” Her voice had the conspiratorial tone that made him uncomfortable. “You’re not to let on to Grandma anything—anything about the funeral. It’s a terrible thing to grow to a great age and see your children go before you.” Her gaze had already shifted back to normal, slightly to the right of him and just above his head. “Don’t lean so far out the window!” She turned and went into the kitchen to help Josie, the maid. His family never sat down to a dinner just themselves; there were always the aunts, or the innumerable cousins, who came to pay their short devoirs to Grandma and stayed interminably at her daughter-in-law’s table. “Kinny! Grandma wants you!” From the sitting room down the hall he heard the familiar clank- clank of the gadrooned brass handles on the sideboard. Grandma would be standing stiffly with the yellow box of preserved ginger, uglily lettered in black, clutched in one knuckled hand, waiting for the small afternoon ceremony that had been her only apparent notice of him for as long as he could remember. Reluctantly, he opened the door and went down the hall. She stood there just as he had known she would, a dainty death’s head no taller than he, in the black silk uniform of age, one hand wavering on her cane, the other tight on the yellow box. The sparse hair, dressed so closely on the skull, enlarged the effect of the ears and the high nose with its long nostrils; the mouth, a mere boundary line for tributary wrinkles, firmed itself now and again. She was neat as old vellum, and though time had shrunk her to waxwork, it had left her free of the warts and hairs and pendulous dewlaps he saw on other old people. Her admitted age was ninety- three, but the family was of the opinion that she had concealed a few years, out of vanity. “Here I am, Grandma.” He moved toward her. “Come here, child.” Steadying her hand with his, she fumblingly placed in his palm a few tawny sugared slices of ginger. Under herPage 642 waiting gaze, he placed a slice in his mouth and chewed. There was a small, acrid explosion in his throat; his eyes pinkened, but he swallowed obediently, knowing that she thought she was giving him a confection of which he was fond.Which of the following best describes a main theme of the passage?
Over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts from a
As used in line 17, “callers” most nearly means
The passage most clearly implies that the family is keeping which of the following secrets from Kinny’s grandmother?
Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
The author uses the phrase “they had all come out clucking” (line 22) to suggest
Kinny believes that adults don’t look directly at him because they are
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Directions: Now try a full-length Literature passage and question set under timed conditions. Take 13 minutes to read the passage and answer the accompanying questions.
Questions 8–17 are based on the following passage.
The following passage is adapted from Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days, first published in 1873.
Phileas Fogg, having shut the door of his house at half-past eleven, and having put his right foot before his left five hundred and seventy-five times, and his left foot before his right five hundred and seventy-six times, reached the Reform Club. He repaired at once to the dining-room and took his place at the habitual table, the cover of which had already been laid for him. A flunkey handed him an uncut Times, which he proceeded to cut with a skill which betrayed familiarity with this delicate operation. The perusal of this paper absorbed Phileas Fogg until a quarter before four, whilst the Standard, his next task, occupied him till the dinner hour. Dinner passed as breakfast had done, and Mr. Fogg re-appeared in the reading-room and sat down to the Pall Mall1 at twenty minutes before six. Half an hour later several members of the Reform came in and drew up to the fireplace. They were Mr. Fogg’s usual partners at whist:2 Andrew Stuart, an engineer; John Sullivan and Samuel Fallentin, bankers; Thomas Flanagan, a brewer; and Gauthier Ralph, one of the Directors of the Bank of England. “Well, Ralph,” said Thomas Flanagan, “what about that robbery?” “Oh,” replied Stuart, “the Bank will lose the money.” “On the contrary,” broke in Ralph, “I hope we may put our hands on the robber. Skillful detectives have been sent to all the principal ports of America and the Continent, and he’ll be a clever fellow if he slips through their fingers.” “But have you got the robber’s description?” asked Stuart. “In the first place, he is no robber at all,” returned Ralph, positively. “What! a fellow who makes off with fifty- five thousand pounds, no robber?” “No.” “Perhaps he’s a manufacturer, then.” “The Daily Telegraph says that he is a gentleman.” It was Phileas Fogg, whose head now emerged from behind his newspapers, who made this remark. A package of banknotes, to the value of fifty-five thousand pounds, had been taken from the principal cashier’s table, that functionary being at the moment engaged in registering the receipt of three shillings and sixpence. Let it be observed that the Bank of England reposes a touching confidence in the honesty of the public. There are neither guards nor gratings to protect its treasures; gold, silver, banknotes are freely exposed, at the mercy of the first comer. A keen observer of English customs relates that, being in one of the rooms of the Bank one day, he had the curiosity to examine a gold ingot weighing some seven or eight pounds. He took it up, scrutinized it, passed it to his neighbour, he to the next man, and so on until the ingot, going from hand to hand, was transferred to the end of a dark entry; nor did it return to its place for half an hour. Meanwhile, the cashier had not so much as raised his head. But in the present instance things had not gone so smoothly. The package of notes not being found when five o’clock sounded from the ponderous clock in the “drawing office,” the amount was passed to the account of profit and loss.Page 645 There were real grounds for supposing, as the Daily Telegraph said, that the thief did not belong to a professional band. On the day of the robbery a well-dressed gentleman of polished manners, and with a well-to-do air, had been observed going to and fro in the paying room where the crime was committed. A description of him was easily procured and sent to the detectives; and some hopeful spirits, of whom Ralph was one, did not despair of his apprehension. The papers and clubs were full of the affair, and everywhere people were discussing the probabilities of a successful pursuit; and the Reform Club was especially agitated, several of its members being Bank officials. Ralph would not concede that the work of the detectives was likely to be in vain, for he thought that the prize offered would greatly stimulate their zeal and activity. But Stuart was far from sharing this confidence; and, as they placed themselves at the whist-table, they continued to argue the matter. “I maintain,” said Stuart, “that the chances are in favour of the thief, who must be a shrewd fellow.” “Well, but where can he fly to?” asked Ralph. “No country is safe for him.” “Pshaw!” “Where could he go, then?” “Oh, I don’t know that. The world is big enough.” “It was once,” said Phileas Fogg, in a low tone. 1 Pall Mall: an evening newspaper (the Pall Mall Gazette) founded in London in 1865 2 whist: a trick-taking card game; modern derivatives include hearts and spadesWhat is the primary purpose of the passage?
The passage suggests that Phileas Fogg is a man who
Page 646Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
As used in line 6, “repaired” most nearly means
One impression created by the narrator’s description of Phileas Fogg in the first paragraph is that he
Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
As used in line 51, “functionary” most nearly means
According to the passage, which statement about the Bank of England is true?
The passage suggests that the thief was not part of a professional crime ring because
The purpose of lines 105–106 (“‘It was once,’ . . . a low tone”) is to
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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.Page 648
What are SAT Reading Literature passages? How do expert test takers adjust their active reading to tackle Literature passages most effectively?
How are the questions that accompany Literature passages different than those accompanying standard Science and Social Studies passages?
How confident do you feel with Literature passages? What can you do in practice to improve your performance and gain even more confidence with these types of passages?
What are SAT Reading Literature passages? How do expert test takers adjust their active reading to tackle Literature passages most effectively?
On each SAT test, one reading stimulus is taken from a work of fiction such as a novel or short story. Expert test takers actively read Literature passages by paying attention to what happens to the main character and how he or she responds to these events.
How are the questions that accompany Literature passages different than those accompanying standard Science and Social Studies passages?
For the most part, questions accompanying Literature passages are similar to those from standard nonfiction passages, but in literature, you may see 1) Global questions that focus on a change in the passage’s tone, 2) Inference questions that ask what the passage’s narrator (as opposed to its author) would agree with, or 3) Function questions that ask how or why a character (as opposed to the author) used a detail or reference from the text.
How confident do you feel with Literature passages? What can you do in practice to improve your performance and gain even more confidence with these types of passages?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer for this question. Give yourself honest self-assessment. If you feel that Literature passages are a strength. that’s great. Continue to practice them so that you’ll be able to rack up the points associated with these passages on test day. If you feel less confident about Literature passages, review the strategies in this chapter and try to consistently apply the expert approaches outlined here whenever you practice passages in this format.
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 SAT expert, then consider Literature passages 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 instructional text in this chapter, especially the sections on characters' responses and points of view. Then try the questions you missed again. As always, be sure to review the explanations closely.Page 649
Suggested passage notes:
D
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Global
Getting to the Answer: Look back at your notes on the passage and describe the author’s intention in your own words. The passage opens with the description of a funeral and then describes the family’s reaction: the fear of the effect the death will have on the grandmother causes the family to hide the death from her. (D) matches the prediction and is correct.
(A) is incorrect because, although the passage focuses on Kinny, his resilience in the face of the death of his uncle is not discussed. (B) is incorrect because, even though the passage does describe the day of a funeral, the author’s interest lies in the effect the death has on the other characters, not in the funeral itself. (C) is incorrect because there is no sense of “the redeeming power” of the social connections between the family and the mourners or of the connection between Kinny and his grandmother.
A
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Global
Getting to the Answer: Review the sequence of events in your passage notes and predict an answer. The first paragraph describes the two funerals of Kinny’s uncles: one today, when no one visited his grandmother, and one in the past, when many guests were received in Kinny’s home. The next section is an exchange between Kinny and his mother, during which his mother explains to Kinny that they are keeping his uncle’s death a secret from his grandmother. The next lines contain a description of Kinny’s grandmother: she’s very old and formal. The final lines introduce the relationship between Kinny and his grandmother. She calls for him daily to give him a treat of candied ginger, which he accepts and eats but doesn’t actually like.
Choice (A) matches this sequence of events and is correct. The funerals are the important events that are described, and the interaction of Kinny and his grandmother with the daily treat introduce their relationship. (B) is half-right, half-wrong. Kinny’s mother does correct his behavior, but the passage does not go on to describe Kinny behaving badly. (C) is a distortion. Kinny’s relationship with his mother is described, not his relationship with his father. (D) is a distortion of the information in the first part of the excerpt. Although some funeral customs are described, the focus of the passage is not on these customs, but rather on why the two funerals were different: the family is trying to hide the death of Kinny’s uncle from his grandmother. In addition, the impact of his uncle’s death on his grandmother is mentioned, but not “examined” or explained.
B
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Vocab-in-Context
Getting to the Answer: Reread the sentence containing “callers” that begins in line 12. Predict another word that could be substituted for “callers” and give the sentence the same meaning as the original one. People are quietly entering the home, holding the hands of family members, speaking with them, drinking coffee, and departing. “Guests” would be a good prediction. (B) is a match and is correct.
There is no mention of buying or selling, so the “callers” are not “customers,” and (A) is incorrect. In other contexts, “callers” could be suitors or those who shout, but that is not how the passage describes them, so (C) and (D) are incorrect as well.Page 650
C
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Inference
Strategic Advice: Notice that the next question after this one is a Command-of Evidence question. When you find the correct answer for this question, keep your finger on the part of the passage where you found it so you’ll be able to use it for the Command-of Evidence question that follows.
Getting to the Answer: In lines 37 and 38, the strong emotional connotations of “conspiratorial” and “uncomfortable” signal that something important is going to be discussed. Kinny’s mother is “conspiring” with him to keep his uncle’s death a secret from his grandmother. (C) is correct.
(A) is a distortion of information in the passage. Although the family suspects that Kinny’s grandmother is older than she says, the passage does not state that they actually know her true age. (B) is the opposite of what the passage says. Kinny does not like the ginger. (D) is incorrect because the fact that extended family frequently eat at Kinny’s home (lines 46–50) is not a secret kept from his grandmother.
B
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Command of Evidence
Getting to the Answer: Keep your finger on the lines where you found the answer to the previous question, lines 36–40, and match that section of the passage to the choices. (B) is correct.
(A) contains the visitors’ comments, not a secret kept from Kinny’s grandmother. (C) describes Kinny’s summons by his grandmother; no secret is mentioned. (D) depicts Kinny’s reaction to the ginger, which is not directly related to the secret of his uncle’s death.
A
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Function
Getting to the Answer: Read a little above and a little below line 22 and predict what the author intended when she used the phrase. The people who “had all come out clucking” had just visited the grandmother after the death of her son and were saying how “wonderful” she was in the face of this tragedy. They were all saying the same nice things. (A) is correct. (B) is incorrect because although Kinny’s mother is concerned for the health of his grandmother, the visitors do not mention it. (C) and (D) are incorrect because they are not discussed by the visitors and are in fact not mentioned in the text at all.
D
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Detail
Getting to the Answer: Find the relevant text in the passage: “Kinny believes that adults don’t look directly at him.” The idea is found in line 33 where his mother “looked at him squarely.” In the following lines, 33–35, the passage states, “something he had noticed grown people never seemed to have time to do.” Kinny believes adults are too preoccupied to look at him directly; (D) is a perfect match.
(A) is a correct detail from the passage; lines 14–17 describe the guests as silent and “long-faced,” but this is not the reason Kinny thinks they don’t look directly at him. Similarly, although his mother is scolding him, this isn’t why Kinny thinks adults don’t look squarely at him, so (B) is incorrect. (C) is the opposite of what the passage says. Kinny’s mother is likely looking directly at him in order to impress upon him how important her request is, but the question is asking why Kinny thinks adults do not look directly at him.
Suggested passage notes:
C
Difficulty: Hard
Category: Global
Getting to the Answer: Think about the passage as a whole and use one sentence to predict the purpose of this passage. Make sure the tone of the answer choice matches the tone of the passage. The excerpt provides a brief character sketch of Phileas Fogg and establishes the dynamics of his friendships at the Reform Club. (C) is correct; it accurately identifies the purpose of the excerpt.Page 651
Choice (A) addresses only a narrow aspect of the passage and ignores the author’s careful and extended description of Phileas Fogg. (B) is too broad: the passage describes the life of Fogg, not wealthy English men in general. (D) is extreme. The passage has a neutral tone; there is no evidence of parody.
C
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Inference
Getting to the Answer: Review the descriptions of Phileas Fogg and his actions in your passage map. Summarize what the beginning of the passage says about Fogg. Paragraph 1 describes Fogg counting out his steps on his way to the club. Upon arriving at the club, Fogg goes to his “habitual table” (line 8) and performs a routine series of actions. Choice (C) is correct, as the details in paragraph 1 depict a man who likes to keep to a set routine.
Choice (A) is incorrect because no cultural activities are described in the passage. (B) is incorrect because although the club, with its servants, fireplace, and dining room, may seem to be luxurious, there is no evidence in the passage that Fogg cannot comfortably pay for these services. (D) is contradicted in the passage starting in line 21 where Fogg’s card-playing partners are introduced, and in line 44 where Fogg inserts himself into his friends’ conversation. People who keep to themselves do not play cards or enter others’ conversations.
A
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Command of Evidence
Getting to the Answer: Review your answer to the previous question. Locate the answer choice that directly supports the conclusion you drew. (A) is correct. It provides the best support for the idea that Phileas Fogg is a man of habit and routine. The word “habitual” (line 8) and the fact that his table was prepared ahead of time for him suggest that Fogg followed this routine regularly.
None of the incorrect choices addresses Fogg’s fondness for routine. Choice (B) supports the idea that Fogg is skilled in cutting open his newspaper, not that he enjoys routine. (C) describes the routine passing of the time but does not mention Fogg. (D) describes the bank robber and does not mention Fogg at all.
D
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Vocab-in-Context
Getting to the Answer: Locate context clues to help determine the meaning of the word. Predict a meaning for the word and then match it to the closest answer choice. The sentence describes Fogg arriving at the club and going to his usual table. A good prediction is simply the word “went.” Look for the nearest match in the answers. (D) fits the tone and context of the sentence and is correct.
Choice (A) is a common definition for “repaired” but does not make sense in the context. You cannot fixed to the dining-room. (B) subtly changes the meaning of the sentence. Although you may think Fogg is returning to his table since it’s his “habitual” table, the text is describing events as they occur and not referring to what may have happened earlier. (C) is not supported by the passage; there is no evidence that Fogg is moving with great force or anger.
A
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Inference
Getting to the Answer: Review the first paragraph of the passage before choosing an answer. Fogg is very methodical, he walks to the club, reads two newspapers, has dinner, reads another newspaper, and is joined by the men with whom he plays cards. (A) is correct because not only does Fogg read three newspapers daily, but he also later chimes in with a comment on the robbery the other men are discussing based on the information he learned in the paper.
There is no mention of politics, so (B) is incorrect. Although Fogg does comment on the bank robbery, his comment is a neutral observation about the description of the perpetrator, not a “strong opinion about crime,” so (C) is incorrect. (D) is incorrect because Fogg’s occupation is not mentioned in the excerpt.Page 652
D
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Command of Evidence
Getting to the Answer: Review your answer to the previous question. Decide which lines of text show Fogg’s knowledge of current events. (D) is correct. In these lines, Fogg interjects with additional information from the newspaper about a crime that is a current event.
Choice (A) simply describes Fogg receiving and preparing one of his papers. (B) describes his partners gathering in the reading room and says nothing about Fogg himself. (C) is describing the bank robber, not Fogg.
A
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Vocab-in-Context
Getting to the Answer: Find context clues in the target sentence. Predict the meaning of the word and look for a match among the answer choices. “Functionary” (line 51) refers back to the “principal cashier” (line 50) mentioned earlier in the sentence. When you see two related answer choices, such as official and servant, pay attention to the tone and specific context clues to help you choose. (A) is correct; if substituted back into the sentence, the meaning of the sentence is unchanged.
Choice (B) is incorrect because you cannot refer to a “cashier” as money. (C), servant, is incorrect because it implies a hierarchy that is not present in the passage. Similarly, there is no evidence in the passage that the “cashier” is a criminal, so (D) is incorrect.
B
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Detail
Getting to the Answer: Locate the portion of the text that discusses the bank. Your passage map for paragraph 11 should note a lack of security at the bank. This paragraph describes the lack of security measures at the bank that led to a theft in broad daylight; lines 55–58 note a lack of guards or protective gratings. (B) is correct.
Choice (A) is a distortion of information in the excerpt. Lines 53–55 state that the bank had faith in its customers, not that the customers have faith in the bank. (C) and (D) are not mentioned in the passage at all.
C
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Inference
Getting to the Answer: Find the part of the passage that describes the thief. Locate sentences that focus on a description of the suspect. Summarize the details in a one-sentence description. Lines 76–80 (“On the day . . . crime was committed”) describe the suspect as a gentleman. (C) is correct because the passage suggests that the police do not believe the man to be a professional thief due to the description of his appearance and demeanor.
Choice (A) may be true but is not presented as a reason the thief was not professional. (B) and (D) are not mentioned in the passage at all.
B
Difficulty: Medium
Category: Function
Getting to the Answer: Reread the cited line. Concentrate on how the sentence affects the text surrounding it. Examining the surrounding text shows that this comment occurs during a discussion about the thief being on the run. Fogg has silently listened to the conversation to this point, but now quietly interjects. This suggests that Fogg will have more to say about the topic; (B) is correct.
(A) is extreme. “Ominous” foreshadows a bad or unpleasant event, and the text simply provides Fogg’s view without any negative connotations. (C) is a misused detail. The passage does describe Fogg’s demeanor, but the statement in the line reference for the question does not. (D) may be tempting if you’re familiar with the plot of the book from which this excerpt is drawn, but remember, your answers on the SAT must be based only on the given passage. Since the line reference is the last line in the passage, it cannot be introducing the conflict of the plot of this excerpt.