4 - ] Model SAT Tests - Test Four

4 - ] Model SAT Tests

 

Test 4

1 . Read each of the passages below , and then answer the questions that follow the passage , the correct response may be stated outright or merely suggested in the passage .

Questions 1 - 2 are based on the following passage .

            The Rosetta Stone ! What a providential find that was . And what a remarkable set of circumstances it took for people to be able to read Egyptian hieroglyphics after a hiatus of some 1400 years . It even took a military campaign . In 1798 , Napoleon Bonaparte’s army attacked British-held Egypt , seeking to cut off England from the riches of the Middle East . Rebuilding a fortress , a French soldier uncovered a block of basalt inscribed with writing in three distinct scripts ; Greek , demotic script ( an everyday cursive form of Egyptian ) , and Egyptian hieroglyphs . At that moment , modern Egyptology began .

1 . The primary purpose of lines 1 - 3 is to

(A) describe the physical attributes of an artifact

(B) underscore the difficulty of translating ancient texts

(C) indicate a new direction for linguistic research

(D) qualify an excessively sweeping generalization

(E) emphasize the unusual background of a discovery

2 .The author’s tone in writing of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone can best be characterized as

(A) ironic  (B) enthusiastic  (C) condescending  (D) nostalgic (E) objective

Questions 3 - 4 are based on the following passage .

            A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man recounts the tale of Stephen Dedalus , a sensitive young Dubliner . As a child , he suffers because of his classmates’ cruelty , his Jesuit teachers’ authoritarianism , and his country’s political turmoil . Growing older , Stephen becomes increasingly isolated from his friends , his church , and his country , viewing them all as heartless and hypocritical . Intent on becoming a writer , he eventually concludes he must sever all ties - family , friends , church , and country - to achieve fulfillment as an artist . The hero must leave Ireland ,leave the Church  , to set off alone “to forge in the sanity of [ his ] soul the uncreated conscience of [ his ] race .”

3 . The passage as a whole suggests that achieving ‘fulfillment as an artist” (  lines 6 - 7 ) might best be characterized as

(A) a modest accomplishment

(B) a worthwhile endeavor

(C) an unrealistic goal

(D)  a painful process

(E) a passing phase

4 . As used in the passage , the word “forge” most nearly means

(A) counterfeit (B) fashion  (C) duplicate  (D) alter  (E)  melt

Questions 5 - 12 are based on the following passage .

In this excerpt from a novel , Catherine’s Aunt Lavinia comes to make her home with Catherine and her father and becomes involved in Catherine’s upbringing

            When the child was about ten years old , he invited his sister , Mrs. Penniman , to come and stay with him . His sister Lavinia had married a poor clergyman , of a sickly constitution and a flowery style of eloquence , and then , at the age of thirty-three , had been left a widow - without children , without fortune - with nothing but the memory of Mr. Penniman’s flowers of speech , a certain vague aroma of which hovered about her own conversation . Nevertheless , he had offered her a home under his own roof , which Lavinia accepted with the alacrity of a woman who had spent the ten years of her married life in the town of Poughkeepsie . The Doctor had not proposed to Mrs. Penniman to come and live with him indefinitely ; he had suggested that she should make an asylum of his house while she looked about for unfurnished lodings . It is uncertain whether Mrs. Penniman ever instituted a search for unfurnished lodgings , but it is beyond dispute that she never found them . She settled herself with her brother and never went away , and , when Catherine was twenty years old , her Aunt Lavinia was still one of the most striking features of her immediate entourage . Mrs. Penniman’s own account of the matter was that she had remained to take charge of her niece’s education . She had given this account , at least , to everyone but the Doctor , who never asked for explanations which he could entertain himself any day with inventing . Mrs. Penniman , moreover , though she had a good deal of a certain sort of artificial assurance , shrunk , for indefinable reasons , from presenting herself to her brother as a fountain of instruction . She had not a high sense of humor , but she had enough to prevent her from making this mistake , and her brother , on his side , had enough to excuse her , in her situation , for laying him under contribution during a considerable part of a lifetime . He therefore assented tacitly to the proposition which Mrs. Penniman had tacitly laid down , that it was of importance that the poor motherless girl should have a brilliant woman near her . His assent could only be tacit , for he had never been dazzled by his sister’s intellectual luster . Save when he fell in love with Catherine Harrington , he had never been dazzled , indeed , by any feminine characteristics whatever , and though he was to a certain extent what nis called a ladies’ doctor , his private opinion of the more complicated sex was not exalted . He nevertheless , at the end of six months , accepted his sister’s permanent presence as an accomplished fact , and as Catherine grew older ,perceived that there were in effect good reasons why she should have a companion of her own imperfect sex . He was extremely polite to Lavinia , scrupulously , formally polite ; and she had never seen him in anger but once in her life , when he lost his temper in a theological discussion with her late husband . With herhe never discussed theology , nor , indeed , discussed anything ;he contented himself wjth making known , very distinctly in the form of a lucid ultimatum his wishes with regard to Catherine .

            Once , when the girl was about twelve years old , he had said to her -------

“Try and make a clever woman of her , Lavinia :I should like her to be a clever woman .” Mrs. Penniman , at this ,looked thoughtful a moment . “My dear Austin ,” she then inquired , “do you think it is better to be clever than to be good ?”

               From this assertion Mrs. Penniman saw no reason to dissent ; she possibly reflected that her own great use in the world was owing to her aptitude for many things .

               “Of course I wish Catherine to be good ,” the Doctor said next day : “but she won’t be any the less virtuous for not being a fool . I am not afraid of her being wicked ; she will never have the salt of malice in her character . She is ‘as good as good bread,’ as the French say ; but six years hence I don’t want to have to compare her to good bread- and-butter .”

            “Are you afraid she will be insipid ? My dear brother , it is I who supply the butter ; so you need not fear !” said Mrs. Penniman , who had taken in hand the child’s accomplishments,” overlooking her at the piano , where Catherine displayed a certain talent , and going with her to the dancing-class , where it must be confessed that she made but a modest figure .

5 . The word “ constitution” in line 3 means

(A) establishment  (B) charter  (C) ambience  (D) physique  (E) wit

6 . From the description of how Mrs. Penniman came to live in her brother’s home ( lines 1 - 8 ) we may infer all of the following EXCEPT that       

(A) she readily became dependent on her brother  

(B) she was married at the age of twenty-three

(C) she was physically delicate and in ill health  

(D) she had not found living in Poughkeepsie particularly gratifying

(E) she occasionally echoed an ornate manner of speech

7 .  The word “asylum” in line 9 means        

(A) institution (B) sanitarium  (C) refuge  (D) sanction  (E) shambles

8 . In the passage the Doctor is portrayed most specially as      

(A) benevolent and retiring

(B) casual and easy-going

(C) sadly ineffectual

(D) civil but imperious

(E) habitually irate

9 . Lines 17 - 19 introduce which aspect of the Doctor’s and Mrs. Penniman’s relationship ?    

(A) Their mutual admiration

(B) The guilt bMrs. Penniman feels about imposing on him

(C) The Doctor’s burdensome sense or responsibility

(D) His inability to excuse her shortcomings

(E) Her relative lack of confidence in dealing with him

10 . The reason the Doctor gives only tacit assent to Mrs. Penniman’s excuse for living with him is that he       

(A) actually regrets ever having allowed her to move in

(B) does not believe in his sister’s purported brilliance

(C) objects to her taking part in his daughter’s education

(D) is unable to reveal the depth of his respect for her

(E) does not wish to embarrass his sister with his praise

11 . It can be inferred that the Doctor views children primarily as       

(A) a source of joy and comfort in old age

(B) innocent sufferers for the sins of their fathers

(C) clay to be molded into an acceptable image

(D) the chief objective of the married state

(E) their parents’ sole chance for immortality

12 . The underlined word ‘reflected’ means       

(A) mirrored  (B) glittered  (C) considered  (D) indicated  (E) reproduced

13 .  The Underlined Doctor’s analogy to “good bread-and-butter” is used to emphasize     

(A) the wholesomeness of Catherine’s character

(B) his fear that his daughter may prove virtuous but uninteresting

(C) the discrepancy between Catherine’s nature and her education

(D) his hostility toward his sister’s notions of proper diet

(E) his appreciation of the simple things in life

14 . The underlined word “overlooking” means       

(A) ignoring  (B) slighting  (C) forgiving  (D) watching over  (E) towering above

15 . Mrs. Penniman’s opinion of her ability to mold Catherine successfully (  in the last paragraph ) can best be described as      

(A)  characteristically modest

(B) moderately ambivalent

(C) atypically judicious

(D) unrealistically optimistic

(E) cynically dispassionate

16 . The remarks about Catherine in the last paragraph reveal her      

(A) limited skill as a dancer

(B) virtuosity as a pianist

(C) shyness with her dancing partners

(D) indifference to cleverness

(E) reluctance to practice