SAT SAT-Critical-Reading Exam : Section One : Critical Reading

The spring is fairly with us now. Outside my laboratory window the great chestnut-tree is all covered with
the big, glutinous, gummy buds, some of which have already begun to break into little green shuttlecocks.
As you walk down the lanes you are conscious of the rich, silent forces of nature working all around you.
The wet earth smells fruitful and luscious. Green shoots are peeping out everywhere. The twigs are stiff
with their sap; and the moist, heavy English air is laden with a faintly resinous perfume. Buds in the
hedges, lambs beneath them--everywhere the work of reproduction going forward!
I can see it without, and I can feel it within. We also have our spring when the little arterioles dilate, the
lymph flows in a brisker stream, the glands work harder, winnowing and straining. Every year nature
readjusts the whole machine. I can feel the ferment in my blood at this very moment, and as the cool
sunshine pours through my window I could dance about in it like a gnat. So I should, only that Charles
Sadler would rush upstairs to know what the matter was. Besides, I must remember that I am Professor
Gilroy. An old professor may afford to be natural, but when fortune has given one of the first chairs in the
university to a man of four-and-thirty he must try and act the part consistently.
In 1st paragraph, the word "lambs" is an example of which device?

• A. allusion
• B. metaphor
• C. simile
• D. flashback
• E. foreshadowing

Oliver Goldsmith (17301774) wrote criticism, plays, novels, biographies, travelogues, and nearly every
other conceivable kind of composition. This good-humored essay is from a series published in the Public
Ledger and then in book form as The Citizen of the World (1762).
Were we to estimate the learning of the English by the number of books that are every day published
among them, perhaps no country, not even China itself, could equal them in this particular. I have
reckoned not less than twenty-three new books published in one day, which, upon computation, makes
eight thousand three hundred and ninety-five in one year. Most of these are not confined to one single
science, but embrace the whole circle. History, politics, poetry, mathematics, metaphysics, and the
philosophy of nature, are all comprised in a manual no larger than that in which our children are taught the
letters. If then, we suppose the learned of England to read but an eighth part of the works which daily
come from the press and surely non can pretend to learning upon less easy terms), at this rate every
scholar will read a thousand books in one year. From such a calculation, you may conjecture what an
amazing fund of literature a man must be possessed of, who thus reads three new books every day, not
one of which but contains all the good things that ever were said or written.
And yet I know not how it happens, but the English are not, in reality so learned as would seem from this
calculation. We meet but few who know all arts and sciences to perfection; whether it is that the generality
are incapable of such extensive knowledge, or that the authors of those books are not adequate
instructors. In China, the Emperor himself takes cognizance of all the doctors in the kingdom who profess
authorship. In England, every man may be an author, that can write; for they have by law a liberty, not
only of saying what they please, but of being also as dull as they please.
Yesterday, as I testified to my surprise, to the man in black, where writers could be found in sufficient
number to throw off the books I saw daily crowding from the press. I at first imagined that their learned
seminaries might take this method of instructing the world. But, to obviate this objection, my companion
assured me that the doctors of colleges never wrote, and that some of them had actually forgot their
reading. "But if you desire," continued he, "to see a collection of authors, I fancy I can introduce you to a
club, which assembles every Saturday at seven . . . ." I accepted his invitation; we walked together, and
entered the house some time before the usual hour for the company assembling. My friend took this
opportunity of letting me into the characters of the principal members of the club . .
.
"The first person," said he, "of our society is Doctor Nonentity, a metaphysician. Most people think him a
profound scholar, but, as he seldom speaks, I cannot be positive in that particular; he generally spreads
himself before the fire, sucks his pipe, talks little, drinks much, and is reckoned very good company. I'm
told he writes indexes to perfection: he makes essays on the origin of evil, philosophical inquiries upon
any subject, and draws up an answer to any book upon 24 hours' warning . . . ."
The word obviate (paragraph 4) means

• A. clarify
• B. obscure
• C. negate
• D. turn
• E. facilitate

Only his truest and most ______ fans remained faithful followers following the news of his steroid use.

• A. ardent
• B. demonstrative
• C. boisterous
• D. reticent
• E. vocal

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

• A. criticize
• B. volcanic activity
• C. error
• D. responsibility
• E. the place where two rock plates come together

The proposal to forbid the use of indoor furniture on front porches has divided the town along ______
lines: the affluent feel the old couches are eyesores, while those who cannot afford new outdoor furniture
are ______ about what they feel is an attempt to restrict their lifestyle.

• A. aesthetic . . dismayed
• B. class . . pleased
• C. political . . nonplussed
• D. racial . . angry
• E. socioeconomic . . incensed