53- ] Model SAT Tests - Test Fifty Three

53- ] Model SAT Tests

Test Fifty Three

The passages below are followed by questions based on their content ; questions following a pair of related passages may also be based on the relationship between the paired passages.  Answer the questions on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passages and in any introductory material that may be provided .

Questions 1 - 2 are based on the following passage .

Passage 1                                                                                                 

            In their heyday during the first half of the 19^th century , hydroelectric schemes were regarded as a proven technology with extremely high energy-conversion efficiencies and a seemingly limitless source of low-cost power . It has been roughly 70 years since the most ambitious American implementation of hydroelectric technology resulted in the massive Hoover Dam , yet the public is only just beginning to grasp the significant tradeoffs inherent in this type of power generation . While dams add to domestic water supplies , provide employment and flood control , and create recreational water parks in the form of reservoirs , the ratio of people displaced to wattage generated is surprisingly high .

Passage 2

            Hydroelectric dams have long been considered the cleanest , most environmentally friendly source of electricity . Unlike fossil-fueled plants , hydroelectric facilities themselves do not emit harmful atmospheric pollutants , such as carbon dioxide , that have been shown to cause global warming and acid rain . However , recent studies have begun to demonstrate convincingly that hydroelectric power is not quite as benign as many once thought . While the large reservoirs and flood plains that are a direct result of damming can be valuable resources the decaying of vegetation submerged by these watersheds creates gases largely equivalent to those generated from the burning of fossil fuels .

1 . The author of Passage 1 refers to The Hoover Dam to make the point that  

(A) the construction of this particular facility failed to provide much employment

(B) this dam is the most impressive American realization of energy-conversion technology

(C) this project became the catalyst for reducing the use of hydroelectric power in America

(D) it has taken decades for the public to grasp the costs of hydroelectric power

(E) large constructions like this dam have an unexplainably high displacement to wattage ratio

2 . The underlined word “benign” most nearly means

(A) kind (B) gentle (C) harmless (D) useful (E) effective

3 . The central focus of the two passages suggest that

(A) the environmental damage caused by hydroelectric dams is often overlooked

(B) the proliferation of hydroelectric technology cross America was unfortunate

(C) hydroelectric dams generate power more efficiently than fossil fuel plants

(D) the social tradeoffs presented by hydroelectric facilities must be considered

(E) some consequences of hydroelectric technology were previously overlooked

4 . The last sentence of each passage

(A) summarizes the author’s arguments

(B) provides conclusive evidence to support the author’s theory

(C) presents positive and negative effects

(D) introduces opposing opinions

(E) narrows the author’s statements to a single conclusion

Answer Key

1 . D 2 . C 3 . E 4 . C