SAT critical reading question!

Test Preparation
1

<p>passage:</p>

<p>In the summer of 1911, the explorer Hiram Bingham III bushwhacked his way to a high ridge in the Andes of Peru and beheld a dreamscape out of the past. There, set against looming peaks cloaked in snow and wreathed in clouds, was Machu pichu, the famous "lost city" of the Incas. This expression, popularized by Bingham, served as a magical elixir for rundown imaginations. The words evoked the romanticism of exploration and archaeology at the time. But finding Machu Picchu was easier than solving the mystery of its place in the rich and powerful Inca empire. The imposing architecture attested to the skill and audacity of the Incas. But who had lived at this isolated site and for what purpose?</p>

<p>The mystery discussed in lines 10-13 is most analogous to that encountered in which of the following situations?</p>

<p>A) Being unable to locate the source of materials used to construct an ancient palace.
B) Being unable to reconcile archaeological evience with mythical descriptions of an ancient city
C) being unable to explain how ancient peoples constructed imposing monuments using only primitive technology
D) being unable to udnerstand the religious function of a chamber found inside an ancient temple
E) being unable to discover any trace of a civilization repeatedly mentioned by ancient authors</p>

<p>I put down C, but the answer is actually D. Can anyone explain this to me? and this is from the 2007-2008 practice booklet</p>

<p>thanks!!</p>

2

<p>They are saying the mystery of the place/purpose of the city in Inca empire is the same type of mystery as the place/purpose of chamber inside an ancient temple. Asking for analogous answer not a restatement of one line about building…bigger question was why and what purpose, not how. On cr questions it is important not to read just the lines referenced but whole passage.</p>

3

<p>ohhhhhh okay it makes sense now thanks!</p>