CR Q's

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>When The Souls of Black Folk, by W. E B. DuBois,
was published a century ago. the book was something
entirely different in American letters. In 14 essays that
swooped from music to history to politics, it was both a
depiction of Black life in the United States and a meditation
on the meaning of Blackness. It was also aground
breaking challenge to White supremacy. In 1903 it was
both embraced and reviled. Today it is widely viewed
as having recast the Black struggle as a quest for constitutional
rights and social equality, rather than the
accommodation advocated by Booker T. Washington
at the turn of the twentieth century.</p>

<ol>
<li>The word "swooped" in line 4 helps to emphasize the
<a href="C">b</a> broad range of DuBois' intellectual inquiry<a href="D">/b</a> ease with which DuBois evaded categorization</li>
</ol>

<p>The answer is C but I still think D is better because it says "it was both a
depiction of Black life in the United States and a meditation
on the meaning of Blackness."</p>

<hr>

<p>This one may be hard to answer without the entire passage but give it a shot.</p>

<p>"Once memories begin to accumulate in permanent
storage, we embark on the lifelong process of creating
and re-creating mental autobiographies, using—in lieu
of pencil, paper, and word processor—the cell assemblies
of the brain."</p>

<ol>
<li>The reference to "pencil, paper, and word processor"
(line 4) suggests that:</li>
</ol>

<p>(A) written records are significantly more accurate
than personal recollection.
<a href="C">b</a> keeping a journal can enhance the accuracy of
one's memories**</p>

<p>The answer is C, even though I think it is too specific and A is better..</p>

2

<p>My guess for the first one is: the passage doesn’t say that he puts all of those topics in ONE essay. The answer says he EVADED categorization, but the rest of the passage does not indicate a dislike or a lack of categorization.</p>

3

<p>This one may also be hard since it is only one paragraph from the passage
The passage talks about roman numerals and explores why the numbers 1, 2, and 3 can be represented simply by I, II, and III, but the numbers beyond that require some knowledge to figure out their value.)</p>

<p>“Is ii just a historical accident? Did some chance events
preside over the fate of Roman number notation and its
survival till the present? The answer seems to be “No.”
The singularity of the Roman numbers I, II, and III has
a universal character that transcends the history of the
Mediterranean countries. A comprehensive study has
shown that in all civilizations, the first three numbers
were initially denoted by repeatedly writing down the
symbol for “one” as many times as necessary, exactly
as in Roman numerals. And most, if not all, civilizations
stopped using this system beyond the number three. The
Chinese, for instance, denote the numbers 1. 2, and 3 using
one, two, and three horizontal bars—yet they employ a
radically different symbol for number 4. Even our own
Arabic digits, although they seem arbitrary, derive from the
same principle. Our digit 1 is a single bar, and our digits 2
and 3 actually derive from two or three horizontal bars that
became tied together when they were deformed by being
handwritten. Only the Arabic digits 4 and beyond can thus
be considered as genuinely arbitrary. Such a remarkable
cross-cultural convergence calls for general explanation.”</p>

<p>The author suggests that a “cross-cultural convergence”
(line 49) most likely results from a
(A) consensus among nations to adopt a shared system
<a href=“B”>b</a> noncultural factor in human mental processes<a href=“C”>/b</a> biological cause of contradictory social conduct
(D) history of competition among neighboring
societies
(E) single ancient origin of all cultures</p>

<p>I chose E… but the answer is B…</p>

4

<p>Bumppppppppp</p>

5

<p>For the first one on W.E.B. DuBois, find the word “swooped”. Look at what directly follows it - “from music to history to politics”. Nowhere in that passage does it mention anything about categorization. Instead, the three prepositional phrases clearly indicate a diverse field of topics covered.</p>

<p>Golden Rule with CR: The answer will always be found in the text. No if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. You shouldn’t be applying your own ideas to the passages, because the answers are already given, you just need to look for them. Sure, DuBois may have easily avoided categorization, but nothing in the text supports that assertion. That leaves you with only one answer - C. The idea of covering a wide range of topics is supported quite well by the text with the phrases “from music to history to politics”.</p>

<p>For the third one, you made the same mistake. Nowhere in the passage is a common origin mentioned. A convergence, sure, but not an origin. That underlined sentence at the end supports B. Something that brings cultures together - a cross-cultural convergence - is greater than a single culture itself, so therefore is noncultural. The convergence is something outside of cultures, something common on the basest scale - to humans themselves. Additionally, the line “transcends the history of Mediterranean countries” supports the idea of something not tied solely to culture, but to humans as a whole.</p>

<p>Admittedly, choosing B right away isn’t exactly easy, but following the golden rule allows for a fairly easy process of elimination that leaves you with B as the only remaining, possibly correct answer.</p>

<p>Lastly, read the question. “The author suggests…”. Not “What could be discovered by further scientific study…”. What the author says is strictly in the passage.</p>

<p>The second question is harder to do… It’d be nice to have the rest of the passage, in particular the few lines following “…of the brain”. Right now, it’s very tough to choose one as more right or less wrong than the other.</p>

<p>Hope I didn’t get too long-winded.</p>

6

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

<p>Here is more of the passage for the second question (not the whole passage but the first paragraph):</p>

<p>Once memories begin to accumulate in permanent
storage, we embark on the lifelong process of creating
and re-creating mental autobiographies, using—in lieu
of pencil, paper, and word processor—the cell assemblies
of the brain. Autobiographical memory, writes psychologist
John Kotre, is “memory for the people, places, objects,
events, and feelings that go into the story of your life.”
Autobiographical memory encompasses your first day of
school, your grandmother’s raisin pies, your first fishing
trip, and your last summer’s vacation—weaving them
all into a continuous and more or less true tale. Autobiographical
memory, however, despite its convincing aura
of accuracy, is more historical novel than history. For one
thing, in the realm of memory, we are all stars, planted
squarely and triumphantly at the center of the action.
Psychologist Anthony Greenwald explains that in the
making of memory, we’re all “totalitarian egos”: we
remember ourselves as important and assign ourselves
central roles in successful decisions or performances.
Conversely, we weasel out of failure. Autobiographical
memory is big on scapegoats: “we” win, but “they” lose.
The totalitarian ego, ever eager to put its best foot forward,
determinedly clears our memories of blame.</p>

7

<p>another question…</p>

<p>Many in the village regarded their chief as ----- of -----; he epitomized extreme economy.
(a) an ambassador … benevolence
(c) a paragon … frugality</p>

<p>answer is C. why doesn’t A work?</p>

8

<p>Because C is better. He may have been a super-sweet guy, but the sentence mentions economy. Therefore you want the choice with frugality in it, because the dude was good with money.</p>

9

<p>makes sense, thank you.</p>

10

<p>another one from a passage</p>

<p>“As people trade and travel across the globe, they serve as unwitting vehicles for all manner of arboreal pathogens – disease-causing microbes and insects that can destroy trees in epidemic proportions. Each year in the United States, federal and state inspectors intercept thousands of these harmful pathogens – after examining no more than 2 percent of all arriving cargo and baggage.”</p>

<p>The author cites the figure of “2 percent” in order to suggest the likelihood that…
(c) most of the cargo and baggage not examined by government inspectors contains arboreal pathogens.
(d) government inspectors fail to intercept the vast majority of arboreal pathogens that arrive at the country’s borders.</p>

<p>why is it D and not C?</p>

11

<p>bump
10 char</p>

12

<p>bump to first page :(</p>

13

<p>

</p>

<p>The initial point of the paragraph is to express how widespread pathogens are. The author wants to express this even further. He or she continues to say that each year inspectors intercept thousands of pathogens. This statement in itself is reasonable, and almost unnecessary by itself. But by stating that these pathogens come from only “2 percent” of cargo and baggage, we see the larger scope of things–that there really ARE a LOT of pathogens out there, perhaps more than you had thought before reading that sentence.</p>

<p>Think about what the statements are saying in expression. The purpose of the figure “2 percent” is to let the reader know that there are a lot of pathogens, not just that they are widespread. Look at (D). The statement in (D) gives you the same impression; if inspectors fail to intercept the vast majority of pathogens, then either the inspectors aren’t doing their job or there are simply too many pathogens out there. The latter is obviously the most relevant truth here. Now look at (C). It may be a true statement, but it doesn’t fit in the context of things. If the figure were 98%, (C) would still be true. It just isn’t relevant to the question.</p>

<p>The statement of the figure is supposed to surprise you. (D) does as well. (C) doesn’t.</p>

14

<p>thanks again :)</p>