SAT Reading and Writing Practice Test: Practice Test 49

In readings of the tragic drama The Falconer's Oath, some critics praise the protagonist as a paragon of heroic ambition. I disagree: the play presents his drive as fundamentally self-destructive. From his first promotion, he repeatedly chooses advancement over relationships, dismissing warnings that his methods endanger others. The turning point is not his triumph over rivals but the collateral harm he ignores; by act four, he has ruined his mentor's reputation and alienated allies, setting in motion the downfall that ends with his exile. The text signals that these outcomes are not accidental but consequences of his choices. Thus, the best evidence will depict ambition as the direct cause of harm to himself or those around him, rather than as a virtuous striving rewarded by the world of the play.

Which quotation from the play most effectively illustrates the claim?

Facing increasingly frequent heat waves, city officials announced incentives for installing reflective surfaces and rooftop gardens. Studies show such measures can lower surrounding temperatures and ease demand on electrical grids. While critics question the upfront costs, planners argue that delaying action will ultimately be more expensive. The policies aim to   urban heat island effects, reducing risks to residents during extreme weather without relying solely on energy-intensive air conditioning.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Archaeologists dated bone samples from two layers at a site using radiocarbon analysis. Initial measurements, performed without collagen pretreatment, suggested the lower layer was centuries older than the layer above it. However, subsequent pretreatment to remove contaminants, followed by repeated measurements in two independent labs, yielded statistically indistinguishable ages for the layers. The team also tested soil carbon and found modern root intrusion in both strata. The original report had proposed that the layers represented different periods of occupation. Given the later evidence of contamination and the convergence of dates after proper preparation, the data undermine the initial age gap. Accordingly, the inference best supported by the full set of results is that  

Which choice most logically completes the text?

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• In 1843, Ada Lovelace published extensive notes on Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine.
• Her notes include an algorithm for computing Bernoulli numbers on the proposed machine.
• She described concepts resembling looping and conditional branching long before electronic computers.
• Lovelace argued the machine could manipulate symbols, potentially composing music as well as numbers.
• The Analytical Engine was never built during her lifetime, leaving ideas untested in practice.
• Surviving letters reveal careful mathematical reasoning and collaboration with Babbage.

The student wants to emphasize that Lovelace anticipated modern computing concepts. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

The committee members, along with the chair,   reviewing the proposal this week and expect to vote tomorrow after the public forum. Because the project would affect traffic patterns near several schools, the city has invited parents to submit questions in advance and will post responses on its website before the meeting.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• A 2015 study linked increased street trees with reduced cardiovascular and metabolic conditions in cities.
• Urban trees lower summer surface temperatures by shading pavement and evaporative cooling.
• Maintenance costs include pruning, pest control, and sidewalk repairs from root growth.
• Neighborhoods with fewer trees often overlap with historically redlined areas lacking green investment.
• City tree planting programs increasingly consult residents to choose species and planting sites.

The student wants to emphasize health benefits of urban trees. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• Electric vehicle packs arrive with mixed chemistries, including NMC, LFP, and NCA, complicating standardized processing.
• Manual disassembly remains labor-intensive, with safety risks from residual charge and damaged cells.
• Low cobalt content in newer chemistries weakens revenue streams that previously subsidized recovery operations.
• Hydrometallurgical processes require large volumes of reagents and produce wastewater needing careful treatment.
• Government incentives focus on collection targets, with fewer funds directed to scaling processing plants.
• Existing pilot facilities operate far below the volume expected from projected end-of-life packs by 2030.

The student wants to emphasize technological barriers to scaling. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A documentary about coral reefs avoids dramatic narration and instead lets scientists explain what they observe underwater. Some viewers found the film slow, but others argued that its restraint is   to the topic, since sensational language can make complex ecosystems seem like simple morality tales. The director says the goal was urgency without exaggeration.

To test the sensitivity of climate models, researchers often turn to paleoclimate records such as tree rings and sediment cores, which preserve evidence of past temperature and precipitation. By comparing reconstructed conditions with simulations, they evaluate whether models reproduce known climate swings. However, these reconstructions rely on calibration relationships that can shift as ecosystems or depositional environments change. Recent work, for instance, shows that drought stress alters the tree growth-temperature link in some regions, complicating direct translation of ring widths into thermometers. Acknowledging this issue, several teams now combine multiple proxies and incorporate calibration uncertainty directly into model-data comparisons, thereby strengthening inferences about future climate response.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?

In discussing the novel Riverstone, a critic claims that the protagonist, Mara, comes to equate silence with strength. Early in the story she is portrayed as quiet because she fears reprisal, but by the final chapters her restraint is a deliberate choice in confrontations that would otherwise spiral. The critic argues that this shift is not merely about withholding information; it is an ethical stance that treats measured quiet as a form of moral endurance. To illustrate this claim, a quotation should not simply show Mara being silent or others speaking loudly. Instead it should reveal her explicit valuation of silence as protective or powerful, especially in moments of conflict when speaking would satisfy impulse but undermine her resolve. Lines that frame quiet as weakness, tradition, or passivity would fail to capture the critic's point.

Which quotation from the novel most effectively illustrates the claim?

A transportation analyst argues that remote work alone does not significantly reduce peak-hour congestion unless employers also stagger schedules for those who still commute. He reasons that if most on-site employees continue to start at the same time, traffic will remain compressed into narrow windows, even if overall commuter numbers drop. According to the analyst, real relief arises when start and end times spread demand over more hours, flattening the peak. He points to case studies where telework adoption coincided with staggered shifts, but he acknowledges that the two policies often travel together, making causation difficult to isolate. He therefore stakes a specific claim: without staggered schedules, telework will not meaningfully ease rush-hour bottlenecks.

Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken the scholar's claim?

After the city converted several downtown corridors into protected bike lanes, traffic engineers tracked commute times, collision rates, and air quality for six months, while survey teams gathered residents' impressions of congestion and local business owners tracked customer foot traffic to see whether the redesign genuinely improved mobility and safety.  , average car travel times during rush hour fell, bicycle crashes dropped, and particulate pollution near the corridor edges declined noticeably across the study area compared with measurements taken before the changes.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

Urban economist Priya Shah claims that planting shade trees reduces citywide summer electricity consumption by cutting air-conditioning demand. She notes that many studies document cooler street temperatures beneath tree canopies, but argues the key evidence must show that targeted plantings cause measurable reductions in electricity use, after accounting for income, building age, and electricity rates. Correlations alone, Shah warns, can mislead if greener neighborhoods also have better insulation or fewer large appliances. Her claim is specifically about a causal effect during hot months, not about aesthetics or winter heating.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the scholar's claim?

Although the city touts dozens of miles of bike lanes on paper, many routes end abruptly at busy intersections, forcing riders to merge with traffic. Crash reports cluster at those gaps, and commuter counts stagnate outside a few well-connected corridors. Transportation planners argue the issue is not public interest but a   of continuous, protected networks that would make cycling viable for average residents.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Popular accounts often claim that the invention of the printing press instantly democratized knowledge across Europe. Yet early print shops mainly served elite clients who could already read Latin. Surviving account books and correspondence indicate that presses concentrated on legal manuals, scholastic commentaries, and devotional works commissioned by universities and wealthy patrons. Cheaper vernacular editions and broader distribution networks developed only gradually in the decades that followed. Recognizing this timeline does not diminish the press's importance; instead, it clarifies that technological change interacts with social and economic conditions. That perspective helps explain regional differences in readership and production.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?

After an unusually dry spring, the reservoirs feeding the town began to expose cracked beds, and officials urged residents to limit lawn watering, car washing, and other nonessential uses. Fire crews checked hydrants and found pressure dipping each week. Grocery stores reported runs on bottled water, and park fountains were shut off. In this context, potable water had become   rather than assumed, a resource to be planned for rather than casually consumed.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

The team of volunteers, along with the project coordinator,   preparing the community garden for opening day after months of planning, fundraising, and gathering supplies from local businesses that agreed to sponsor the neighborhood effort. Despite the bustle, each participant focuses on a specific task so that the work proceeds efficiently and the garden welcomes visitors on schedule.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Mobile apps now allow volunteers to log bird sightings, expanding datasets for migration research. Early analyses suggest these records can fill gaps left by professional surveys, especially in under-sampled regions. However, because volunteers vary in skill and effort, their reports must be calibrated before researchers can draw reliable conclusions. One approach is to weight observations based on a participant's past accuracy; another is to model detectability as a function of time and weather. After such adjustments, volunteer data can reveal patterns in arrival dates that align with radar observations. The result is not a replacement for expert fieldwork but a complement that increases geographic and temporal coverage.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?

To assess how urban trees affect summer electricity use, researchers compared matched pairs of city blocks with similar building ages, incomes, appliance ownership, and total tree counts. In each pair, one block had mature trees shading west-facing facades; the other had most trees in open medians that shaded pavement but not buildings. Smart-meter data showed that, on hot afternoons, blocks with west-facing shade used about 10 percent less electricity, while blocks with trees mainly in medians showed no reduction relative to their matches. Because the pairs were matched on tree quantity and other key factors, the systematic difference was tree placement, so  .

Which choice most logically completes the text?

It is commonly assumed that adding more data invariably improves the performance of predictive algorithms. In many contexts, additional variables do sharpen estimates, especially when they directly measure relevant behavior. Yet in credit scoring, incorporating attributes like zip code can amplify demographic disparities without yielding meaningful gains in prediction accuracy. Recognizing such cases has prompted regulators and designers to evaluate not only error rates but also fairness metrics when expanding data inputs. As a result, some systems now exclude variables that, while easy to collect, introduce inequitable outcomes.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?

In response to expanded outreach, several high schools have launched information sessions about college-credit options, inviting families to meet advisers and ask detailed questions. Over the past three years, the number of applicants who list community-college coursework on their resumes   steadily, a trend the admissions office links to these initiatives and to additional dual-enrollment seats.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

The consulting group compared two time-management approaches across several departments, tracking daily output, meeting length, and approval bottlenecks over a three-month pilot. Neither of the approaches met all benchmarks; instead, the researchers advised revising   structure to reduce unnecessary handoffs, clarify which roles authorize changes, and ensure that deadlines are visible to everyone on the team.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

From Plot by Plot (2019) by Elena Park: The vacant lot on Alder Street used to collect windblown cups and the occasional broken chair. Now, on Saturday mornings, neighbors lean on trowels and talk as they water chard and tomatoes. No one pretends a few raised beds will fix every city problem, but the garden has done small, measurable things: fewer dumped mattresses, more faces known by name, a safer-feeling walk home after dusk. When the fence needed mending, a retired carpenter taught teenagers how to square a corner; when fruit came in, people traded recipes. The point was not just produce. It was the steady practice of showing up together, week after week, and discovering that shared work can turn strangers into a neighborhood.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

Along a stretch of coast dotted with towering shell mounds, anthropologist Ren Ito contends that these monuments were built primarily as territorial markers signaling control of fisheries, not as dwellings or burial sites. He notes their standardized placement at headlands, their visibility from sea lanes, and the absence, in preliminary probes, of house floors. If Ito is correct, most mounds should lack dense mortuary deposits, instead showing features suited to conspicuous display—steep flanks, summit beacons, or emblematic arrangements of shells. Occasional feasting or later reuse, he allows, might occur without contradicting a predominantly territorial function. Skeptics argue that many such mounds elsewhere prove to be cemeteries, cautioning against assuming a single purpose. The debate turns on what comprehensive excavations reveal about the mounds' primary use at the time of construction.

Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken the scholar's claim?

To reconstruct ancient atmospheres, climate scientists drill ice cores that trap tiny air bubbles, preserving snapshots of greenhouse gases. By measuring the concentrations of carbon dioxide in layers corresponding to specific years, researchers can chart long-term fluctuations spanning hundreds of thousands of years. They then compare those historical baselines to readings from modern monitoring stations. This comparison reveals how sharply modern emissions depart from natural variability. The divergence, they note, is not subtle: recent increases far exceed the range seen in glacial-interglacial cycles. Because the ice-core method yields both dates and gas levels, it allows scientists to align climate changes with human industrial activity and evaluate causation.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?