Weird SAT Answer Choices?

<p>I noticed that the SAT puts these weird answer choices that, sometimes, no matter how hard I look at it, it just doesn't make much sense to me. And sometimes that's sometimes the reason I get questions wrong (nerves + lack of comprehension--i guess-- is an awful combination...).</p>

<p>For instance in this thread: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/722770-pg-455-cr-12-bb-section-2-a.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/722770-pg-455-cr-12-bb-section-2-a.html&lt;/a> (Test 4, Section 2, Q. 12 in Blue Book ED. 2) the word "role model" kinda confused me, as with someone else. I feel like if the test simplified the choice from 'perception of her father as a ROLE MODEL' to just 'perception of her father' it would work a lot better. But prepbooks have said that EVERY word of the correct answer was carefully selected... The Blue Book explanations are vague sometimes too... I feel like sometimes my way of reasoning is better than theirs.</p>

<p>The explanation says, "Choice (C) is correct. The passage mostly reflects on the ways in which Jane Wright’s father influenced her career as a doctor. Louis Wright was a prominent surgeon himself, and his fame brought unwelcome comparisons with his daughter. Furthermore, his cautionary advice influenced her perceptions of a career in medicine." </p>

<p>But that's talking about how he influenced her, not her perception of her father as a ROLE MODEL. The fact that his prestige influenced her to work harder, to earn a name for herself, does not NECCESSARILY mean that he was her role model.</p>

<p>Argh, maybe I'm thinking too hard! Anyways, so what I'm asking is can someone explain to me about the choice 'perception of her father as a role model' to me? and how can I avoid getting questions wrong due to tricky/wordy choices?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>You are thinking too hard. Use the process of elimination. </p>

<p>A, B, D, and E don’t make any sense. </p>

<p>C is the only one that makes an iota of sense.</p>

<p>^That’s what I did… but I want to KNOW why the answer is the answer, not by just POE.</p>

<p>The passage subtly suggests that Jane Wright looked up to her father as a role model. </p>

<p>Below is my subjective interpretation of the passage; the salient parts have been underlined. </p>

<p>“His very fame, within and beyond the African American community, made her training harder in some ways … his being so good really makes it [training] very difficult, Wright told an interviewer…”</p>

<p>Jane’s father was a renown doctor. This is corroborated by the underlined sections. </p>

<p>Here is where I go off on a tangent: </p>

<p>She felt as if she had to live up to his name; that’s why she described her training as “very difficult.” </p>

<p>If your father was Stephen Hawking, wouldn’t you feel a modicum of pressure to become something more than a high school dropout :)?</p>

<p>I get that people compared him to her, which made it difficult for her.</p>

<p>But that doesn’t mean that she looked to him as her role model?</p>

<p>EDIT: Oh! So, because people compared him to her, she had to follow him, which made her look to her father as her role model? But I feel like I’m thinking too hard…</p>

<p>EDIT 2: Actually… is it possible that I misunderstood what the choice was saying? It’s her perception of her father as a role model and because she people looked up to him, he was a role model, comparing her to him.</p>

<p>That’s why the sat is a stupid test. Rather than test intelligence it tests one’s test taking ability. If this were a real English class you can approach a topic from various angles and prove your point. Therefore there could be hundreds of angles but with the sat you have to be lucky enough to read the passage tue way the test makers do.</p>

<p>Aha! Thanks! </p>

<p>And I like how we discussed through edits. :P</p>

<p>No problem :).</p>

<p>Eh, I felt that just because she wanted to be just as great as her father, if not greater, that it did not necessarily mean that she looked up to her father.</p>