SAT ®
The SAT is a registered trademark of the College Board. The Princeton Review
is not affiliated with the College Board or Princeton University.
1 1
Reading Test
65 MINUTES, 52 QUESTIONS
Turn to Section 1 of
...
SAT ®
The SAT is a registered trademark of the College Board. The Princeton Review
is not affiliated with the College Board or Princeton University.
1 1
Reading Test
65 MINUTES, 52 QUESTIONS
Turn to Section 1 of your answer sheet to answer the questions in this section.
DIRECTIONS
Each passage or pair of passages below is followed by a number of questions. After reading
each passage or pair, choose the best answer to each question based on what is stated or
implied in the passage or passages and in any accompanying graphics (such as a table or
graph).
Questions 1-10 are based on the following passage.
This passage is adapted from Jane Austen’s Persuasion,
originally published in 1818.
Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire,
was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up
any book but the Baronetage; there he found occupation
for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one;
there his faculties were roused into admiration and
respect, by contemplating the limited remnant of the
earliest patents; there any unwelcome sensations, arising
from domestic affairs changed naturally into pity and
contempt as he turned over the almost endless creations
of the last century; and there, if every other leaf were
powerless, he could read his own history with an
interest which never failed. This was the page at which
the favorite volume always opened:
ELLIOT OF KELLYNCH HALL.
“Walter Elliot, born March 1, 1760, married, July
15, 1784, Elizabeth, daughter of James Stevenson,
Esq. of South Park, in the county of Gloucester, by
which lady (who died 1800) he has issue Elizabeth,
born June 1, 1785; Anne, born August 9, 1787;
a still-born son, November 5, 1789; Mary, born
November 20, 1791.”
Precisely such had the paragraph originally stood
from the printer’s hands; but Sir Walter had improved
it by adding, for the information of himself and his
family, these words, after the date of Mary’s birth—
“Married, December 16, 1810, Charles, son and heir of
Charles Musgrove, Esq. of Uppercross, in the county of
Somerset,” and by inserting most accurately the day of
the month on which he had lost his wife.
Then followed the history and rise of the ancient and
respectable family, in the usual terms; how it had been
first settled in Cheshire; how mentioned in Dugdale,
serving the office of high sheriff, representing a borough
in three successive parliaments, exertions of loyalty,
and dignity of baronet, in the first year of Charles II,
with all the Marys and Elizabeths they had married;
forming altogether two handsome duodecimo pages,
and concluding with the arms and motto:
“Principal seat, Kellynch Hall, in the county
of Somerset,” and Sir Walter’s handwriting again
in this finale:
—“Heir presumptive, William Walter Elliot,
Esq., great grandson of the second Sir Walter.”
Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter
Elliot’s character; vanity of person and of situation.
He had been remarkably handsome in his youth; and,
at fifty-four, was still a very fine man. Few women
could think more of their personal appearance than
he did, nor could the valet of any new made lord be
more delighted with the place he held in society. He
considered the blessing of beauty as inferior only to
the blessing of a baronetcy; and the Sir Walter Elliot,
who united these gifts, was the constant object of his
warmest respect and devotion.
His good looks and his rank had one fair claim on
his attachment; since to them he must have owed a
wife of very superior character to anything deserved
by his own. Lady Elliot had been an excellent woman,
sensible and amiable; whose judgment and conduct, if
they might be pardoned the youthful infatuation which
made her Lady Elliot, had never required indulgence
afterwards. She had humored, or softened, or concealed
Line
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
603
1 1
his failings, and promoted his real respectability for
seventeen years; and though not the very happiest being
in the world herself, had found enough in her duties,
her friends, and her children, to attach her to life, and
make it no matter of indifference to her when she
was called on to quit them. Three girls, the two eldest
sixteen and fourteen, was an awful legacy for a mother
to bequeath, an awful charge rather, to confide to the
authority and guidance of a conceited, silly father.
She had, however, one very intimate friend, a
sensible, deserving woman, who had been brought,
by strong attachment to herself, to settle close by her,
in the village of Kellynch; and on her kindness and
advice, Lady Elliot mainly relied for the best help and
maintenance of the good principles and instruction
which she had been anxiously giving her daughters.
This friend, and Sir Walter, did not marry, whatever
might have been anticipated on that head by their
acquaintance. Thirteen years had passed away since
Lady Elliot’s death, and they were still near neighbors
and intimate friends, and one remained a widower, the
other a widow.
1
The main purpose of the passage is to
A) describe a main character and his personal and
family history.
B) provide an overview of a family and a nearby
neighbor.
C) discuss some unfortunate traits in a main
character’s nature.
D) explain the relationship between a main character
and his deceased wife’s friend.
2
Which choice best summarizes the first two
paragraphs of the passage (lines 1-21)?
A) A prominent and important family has had its
history recorded for posterity’s sake.
B) A long-established family is celebrated in one of the
most popular books in England.
C) Published family lineages were historically brief
accounts, with many details omitted.
D) A widower takes a great deal of pleasure in reading
an account of his own family history.
3
The author most likely includes the phrase “with
all the Marys and Elizabeths they had married” in
the description of the family history in the fourth
paragraph (lines 30-38) in order to
A) indicate that such family histories often read very
repetitively.
B) establish the type of woman most commonly
married by the elite.
C) inform the reader of the most common British
names for women.
D) provide the reader with as much detailed
information as possible.
4
Sir Walter can best be described as
A) the head of one of the most foremost families in
England.
B) a man known to be a voracious reader.
C) one who values personal beauty second only to
title.
D) someone who takes great pride in the vanity of his
family.
5
Which choice provides the best evidence for the
answer to the previous question?
A) Lines 1-3 (“Sir Walter . . . Baronetage”)
B) Lines 22-29 (“Precisely such . . . wife.”)
C) Lines 30-31 (“Then followed . . . terms.”)
D) Lines 50-54 (“He considered . . . devotion.”)
6
As used in line 47, “fine” most nearly means
A) adequate.
B) attractive.
C) reasonable.
D) light.
65
70
75
804
1 1
7
It can most reasonably be inferred that Lady Elliot
A) had a positive effect on Sir Walter.
B) died after a long illness.
C) suffered from unhappiness most of her life.
D) was surrounded by friends who supported and
guided her.
8
Which choice provides the best evidence for the
answer to the previous question?
A) Lines 58-62 (“Lady Elliot . . . afterwards”)
B) Lines 62-64 (“She had . . . years”)
C) Lines 64-68 (“And though . . . them”)
D) Lines 72-75 (“She had . . . Kellynch”)
9
[Show More]
.png)
 Block 1 to 7.png)
.png)
