INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
NOME:
Nº: TURMA: DATA: / /
SAT ENGLISH
Lesson 3: Information and ideas
APRIL 2024
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Applying the basic approach Extreme Language: These answers look
1. Read the question just about perfect except for a word or
phrase that goes too far beyond what the
2. Identify question type text can support.
3. Read the text(s)
4. Highlight Right Answer, Wrong Question: These
answer choices are true based on the text,
5. Process of elimination
but they don’t answer the question that was
asked.
Common exam traps:
Recycled Language: These answer choices Opposite: These answer choices use a
repeat exact words and phrases from the single word or phrase that make the answer
text but put the words together to say convey a tone, viewpoint, or meaning not
something that the text didn’t actually say. intended by the author.
Could Be True: These answers might Half-Right: These answers address part of
initially look good because they make sense but not the entire question task. They can
or seem logical based on outside reasoning, also have one half of the answer address
but they lack support within the text itself. the question perfectly and the other half
contain at least one of the traps mentioned
previously
Practice exercise 1: Retrieval
The following is adapted from George Eliot’s 1. According to the text, what
1871 novel Middlemarch. The author is is true about Dorothea?
describing Dorothea Brooke, one of the central
characters in the novel. a) She is skeptical of Mr.
Casaubon’s career as a
It had now entered Dorothea’s mind that Mr. messenger.
Casaubon might wish to make her his wife, and
the idea that he would do so touched her with a b) She wants to know Mr.
sort of reverential gratitude. How good of Casaubon’s feelings
him—nay, it would be almost as if a winged towards summer.
messenger had suddenly stood beside her path
and held out his hand towards her! For a long c) She is enthused by the
while she had been oppressed by the prospect of marriage to a
indefiniteness which hung in her mind, like a particular individual.
thick summer haze, over all her desire to make
her life greatly effective. d) She prefers marriage over
other types of relationships
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Practice exercise 2: Main idea
Fire photography, the practice of taking 2. Which choice best states
photographs of firefighting operations, has the main idea of the text?
numerous applications in both occupational
safety and criminal investigation. Fire a) Advanced cameras can now
photographers can also work with fire take pictures from a much
departments directly. Despite their numerous safer distance than fire
job prospects, all fire photographers must first photographers can. .
and foremost undergo rigorous safety training
before setting foot into the field. b) Although there are
numerous possible career
paths for fire
photographers, they must
prioritize safety given the
nature of their jobs.
c) While there are many
possible career paths, most
fire photographers prefer
working directly with fire
departments.
d) Fire photographers have
been charged with
documenting fires for a
century.
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“Retrieval” and “main idea” practice questions
1. The following text is from Oscar Wilde’s 1890 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Dorian is seeing his portrait, painted by Basil Hallward, for the first time. Dorian made
no answer, but passed listlessly in front of his picture and turned towards it. When he
saw it he drew back, and his cheeks flushed for a moment with pleasure. A look of joy
came into his eyes, as if he had recognized himself for the first time. He stood there
motionless and in wonder, dimly conscious that Hallward was speaking to him, but not
catching the meaning of his words. The sense of his own beauty came on him like a
revelation. He had never felt it before.
According to the text, what is true about Dorian?
A) Dorian is distracted by the beauty of the painting.
B) Dorian believes that what Hallward is saying is unimportant.
C) Dorian does not recognize his own image.
D) Dorian is prone to embarrassment
2. The following text is from Frederick Marryat’s 1847 novel The Children of the New
Forest.
The old forester lay awake the whole of this night, reflecting how he should act relative
to the children; he felt the great responsibility that he had incurred, and was alarmed
when he considered what might be the consequences if his days were shortened. What
would become of them—living in so sequestered a spot that few knew even of its
existence—totally shut out from the world, and left to their own resources?
Based on the text, what is true about the children?
A) They are isolated from people other than the old forester.
B) They are completely unable to take care of themselves.
C) The old forester is resentful of having to take care of them.
D) They attempt to help the old forester with his responsibilities.
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3. The following text is Baron George Gordon Byron’s poem “Answer to _______’s
Professions of Affection,” written around 1814. The poem is addressed to an unknown
person.
In hearts like thine ne’er may I hold a place
Till I renounce all sense, all shame, all grace—
That seat,—like seats, the bane of Freedom’s realm,
But dear to those presiding at the helm—
Is basely purchased, not with gold alone;
Add Conscience, too, this bargain is your own—
‘Tis thine to offer with corrupting art
The rotten borough of the human heart.
What is the main idea of the text?
A) The speaker is expressing disapproval towards the unknown person.
B) The speaker is unimportant to the unknown person.
C) The speaker is thinking of purchasing a seat.
D) The speaker holds a place in the heart of the unknown person.
4. Microplastics are pieces of plastic that are smaller than a grain of rice. These small
plastics can be found in large quantities in ocean waters. Ecologist Jessica Reichert and
her team are studying the role reef-building corals have in capturing microplastics from
ocean waters. Through research, her team has found that these corals may be storing
up to 20 million kilograms of microplastics each year in their skeletons and tissues.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
A) Ecologists are interested in learning more about how certain corals build large reefs.
B) Microplastics are small pieces of plastic that can be found in ocean waters.
C) Questions remain around the impact certain corals have on ocean ecosystems.
D) Ecologists predict that corals store large amounts of microplastics from ocean
waters.
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5. Activist and visual artist Ai Weiwei is known for his use of repetition and multiplicity.
In his piece Sunflower Seeds, Ai created over 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds,
which were then spread out in a huge installation to explore ideas of conformity and
individuality. In Forever Bicycles, Ai constructed a giant sculpture from over 1,200 bicycles
to recognize the importance of the bicycle in Chinese society. In both cases, the
repetition of a single element creates a whole that’s more impactful than its
unremarkable constituents.
Which choice best states the text’s main idea about Ai Weiwei?
A) He uses the repetition of similar objects to create more significant works of art.
B) He creates installation art in order to explore aspects of Chinese society and culture.
C) His most successful art installations include Sunflower Seeds and Forever Bicycles.
D) He is known for creating large scale installations that are visually impressive.
6. In a study of new technology adoption, Davit Marikyan et al. examined negative
disconfirmation (which occurs when experiences fall short of one’s expectations) to
determine whether it could lead to positive outcomes for users. The team focused on
established users of “smart home” technology, which presents inherent utilization
challenges but tends to attract users with high expectations, often leading to feelings of
dissonance. The researchers found that many users employed cognitive mechanisms to
mitigate those feelings, ultimately reversing their initial sense of disappointment.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
A) Research suggests that most users of smart home technology will not achieve a
feeling of satisfaction given the utilization challenges of such technology.
B) Research suggests that users with high expectations for a new technology can feel
content with that technology even after experiencing negative disconfirmation.
C) Although most smart home technology is aimed at meeting or exceeding users’ high
expectations, those expectations in general remain poorly understood.
D) Although negative disconfirmation has often been studied, little is known about the
cognitive mechanisms shaping users’ reactions to it in the context of new technology
adoption.
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Practice exercise 3: Claims questions
“A Dry Spell” is a 1905 short story by Einar H. 3. Which quotation from the
Kvaran. In the story, the narrator and his narrator’s musings best
companions wait out an ongoing rain torrent in illustrates the claim?
a store where they work as clerks. In his
musings, the narrator expresses a desire for the a) “We sat there and smoked,
presence of individuals that he formerly staring vacantly at the
considered an annoyance: __________. half-empty shelves, and all
but shivering in the damp
room.”
b) “We made clever comments
to the effect that the
farmers were now getting
plenty of moisture for the
hay-fields, and that it would
be a pity if rain should set
in now, right at the
beginning of the haying
season.”
c) “We were tired of the
store—indeed, I should like
to know who would have
enjoyed it.”
d) “We had often cursed their
lengthy visits, but now that
they had hired themselves
out during the haymaking,
we suddenly realized that
they had often been
entertaining.
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Practice exercise 4: Charts questions
In the field of nutrition, skim cow’s milk and 4. Which choice most
unsweetened oat milk are two popular effectively uses data from
substitutions for whole milk, which can be too the table that support the
high in fat and cholesterol for some individuals. scientist’s hypothesis?
Each whole milk substitute goes through
different processes that affect its final a) The skim cow’s milk has
nutritional value. For instance, unsweetened oat higher sugar content than
milk is made by straining a blend of rolled oats fat content, but it also
(which have less sugar than cow’s milk) and contains more sodium than
water. A scientist theorized that because skim does unsweetened oat
milk is whole milk that has been run through a milk.
centrifuge to separate out all of the fat droplets,
it would likely have less fat content but higher b) Both the skim cow’s milk
sugar content than would unsweetened oat and the unsweetened oat
milk. milk’s sodium contents
were over 100 milligrams
per cup
c) The skim cow’s milk and
unsweetened oat milk both
contain 90 calories in an
average 1 cup serving.
d) The unsweetened oat milk
has lower sugar content
but higher fat content than
does the skim cow’s milk.
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Practice exercise 5: Conclusion questions
Western honeybees (Apis mellifera) are social 5. Which choice most logically
insects that live inside rigid colonial nests made completes the text?
from wax, which can make it difficult to observe
bee behavior within the colony. Bees typically a) the pyramids formed by A.
form colonies with thousands to tens of mellifera swarms may
thousands of bees, the weight of which would reduce strain on the nest
seem to place immense strain on the nest structure.
structure. Using an x-ray machine, researchers
at CU Boulder have observed that swarms of A. b) any individual A. mellifera
mellifera inside the nest will form pyramids of bee can be in danger of
bees, with larger numbers of bees at the base of suffocation by the rest of
the pyramid and fewer bees in each level as you the bee swarm.
move up the swarm. These researchers
therefore imply that __________. c) improving the numbers of
A. mellifera requires
Western intervention.
d) colonial nests enable A.
mellifera to produce high
quantities of wax
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7.
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by the body’s response to an infection.
These infections are typically bacterial but may be fungal, parasitic, or viral. The body’s
response to these infections leads to increased inflammation and organ damage. This
damage, in turn, results in a weakened immune system, which increases the likelihood
of reinfection. In a recent study, a team of doctors and pharmacologists led by
Shubham Soni claims that administering ketone esters can reduce inflammation and
immune system weakening caused by sepsis.
Which finding from the team led by Soni, if true, would most directly support its claim?
A) Patients with sepsis who were administered ketone esters had fewer signs of
inflammation and less organ damage than those administered standard
antibiotics.
B) When administered, ketone esters are known to increase blood ketone levels,
which in turn are a source of energy for the brain.
C) Both those patients administered ketone esters and those administered
standard antibiotics did not have reduced inflammation when treated with
medication intended to reduce fever.
D) Those sepsis patients administered ketone esters had reduced inflammation but
greater organ damage than those administered standard antibiotics.
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8.
Horses have been domesticated for thousands of years. Therefore, they show great
sensitivity to the emotions of humans. Biologist Océane Liehrmann from the University
of Turku, Finland, led a team of researchers in a study of horses to determine the effect
of the number of handlers (either only one person or multiple people) on the horses’
responses to a novel object. The researchers determined that horses with only one
handler were less reluctant to interact with the novel object than were horses with
multiple handlers. For example, 45% of horses with only one handler had no reluctance
when interacting with a novel object while __________.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the example?
A) 13% of horses with only one handler had strong reluctance.
B) 25% of horses with multiple handlers had no reluctance.
C) 26% of horses with multiple handlers had strong reluctance.
D) 42% of horses with only one handler had mild reluctance.
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9.
India is the largest democracy in the world, with over 614 million people voting in the
2019 election for the Lok Sabha, the parliament of the federal government. In the early
years of Indian independence, from the first election in 1951–52 through the eighth Lok
Sabha in 1984, each election resulted in one party winning the majority of seats.
However, starting with the 1989 election, the party with the largest number of seats
failed to win more than half of the total seats. This trend was eventually broken by the
Bharatiya Janata Party, which __________.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to illustrate the claim?
A) went from holding the second most seats among the top 3 parties in parliament in
2004 and 2009 to holding a majority of seats in 2014 and 2019.
B) reached its highest percentage of seats the same year that the Indian National
Congress had its lowest percentage of seats over the same time period.
C) won a lower percentage of seats in the 2009 election than in the 2004 election.
D) had a lower percentage of seats than the Indian National Congress in 2004 but a
higher percentage of seats than the Indian National Congress in 1999.
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10.
Fatty liver disease (FLD) occurs when excess fat builds up in the liver. While there are
often few or no symptoms of FLD, if left untreated, it can lead to cirrhosis or liver
cancer. Because FLD is often asymptomatic, doctors and researchers rely on indicators
such as steatosis (retention of fat in the liver), fibrosis (scarring), blood glucose (sugar),
serum insulin, and insulin resistance to measure and track the development of FLD. A
group of researchers led by radiologist Hamid Reza Talari hypothesized that those who
take vitamin B12 would experience improvements in fibrosis and insulin resistance
when compared to a control group over the same time period.
Which choice best describes data from the table that support the researchers’
hypothesis?
A) Those in the control group had decreases in their steatosis values and fasting blood
glucose but had increases in fibrosis values and HOMA-IR.
B) Those in the vitamin B12 group had decreases in fibrosis values and HOMA-IR levels,
whereas those in the control group had increases in these same values.
C) Both those in the vitamin B12 group and the control group had decreases in their
steatosis values.
D) Those in the control group had a decrease in their fasting blood glucose, but those in
the vitamin B12 group had an increase in their fasting blood glucose.
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11.
The air pollution produced in an area is only one factor in that area’s air quality.
Weather patterns, in particular wind and the movement of air masses, can affect the
concentration of pollutants such as carbon monoxide. During a smog event that
occurred in the northeastern United States in November 1966, levels of carbon
monoxide were recorded in Newark, New Jersey, the origin of the smog event, as well as
neighboring city New York, NY, and more distant cities such as Philadelphia, PA, and
Washington, D.C. The localized nature of weather patterns during this event can be seen
by comparing Newark, NJ, and New York, NY, with __________.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
A) Washington, D.C., on the 18th and the 19th.
B) Philadelphia, PA, on the 23rd and the 25th
C) Philadelphia, PA, on the 24th and the 26th.
D) Washington, D.C., on the 23rd and the 24th.
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12.
Neurons respond to stimuli from sensory organs or other neurons. Learning occurs
when neurons change how they respond to stimuli based on previous experience,
which is a property of memory. Electrical engineers seek to replicate similar processes
in their development of computer memory. Recently, research by electrical engineer
Mohammad Samizadeh Nikoo has demonstrated that vanadium dioxide (VO2 ) has a
similar memory property to that of neurons, suggesting that __________.
Which choice most logically completes the text?
A) VO2 could be used in the development of computer memory
B) neurons use VO2 when forming memories.
C) VO2 can learn to respond to stimuli from sensory organs.
D) electrical engineers can now use neurons to develop computer memory.
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NOTES
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