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SAT Reading & Writing Practice Test

SAT Practice Test
SAT
English

SAT Reading & Writing Practice Test

Question 1

The following text is adapted from Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa Dalloway is preparing for a party she will host that evening.
For Lucy had her work cut out for her. The doors would be taken off their hinges; Rumpelmayer's men were coming. And then, thought Clarissa Dalloway, what a morning—fresh as if issued to children on a beach. What a lark! What a plunge! For so it had always seemed to her when, with a little squeak of the hinges, which she could hear now, she had burst open the French windows and plunged at Bourton into the open air.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It emphasizes the difficulty of the physical labor required to prepare for the party.
B. It marks a transition from describing external preparations to revealing Clarissa's internal thoughts and memories.
C. It contrasts Lucy's perspective on the preparations with Clarissa's perspective.
D. It provides a chronological account of the morning's events leading up to the party.

Question 2

Biologist Maria Chen and her research team studied the foraging patterns of honeybees (Apis mellifera) in urban versus rural environments. The team tracked individual bees using radio-frequency identification tags and recorded their flight distances and flower visitation rates. In urban areas, bees traveled an average of 800 meters per foraging trip and visited flowers from 12 different plant species. In rural areas, bees traveled an average of 1,200 meters per trip but visited flowers from only 6 different plant species. The urban bees returned to their hives with pollen loads that were 15% smaller by mass than those of rural bees.
Based on the text, what can most reasonably be concluded about honeybee foraging behavior?
A. Urban environments provide honeybees with access to greater plant diversity within shorter distances than rural environments.
B. The number of plant species visited by honeybees is directly proportional to their flight distance.
C. Honeybees in urban areas must travel farther to find adequate food sources than those in rural areas.
D. Rural honeybees are more efficient foragers because they collect larger pollen loads per trip.

Question 3

The Nazca Lines, massive geoglyphs created by the ancient Nazca culture in Peru between 500 BCE and 500 CE, have puzzled researchers for ______ some scholars propose the lines served astronomical purposes, recent evidence suggests they may have been part of ritual pathways connected to water worship and agricultural ceremonies.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
A. decades, subsequently
B. decades, therefore
C. decades, because
D. decades. While

Question 4

During the 1960s, architect Moshe Safdie revolutionized urban housing design with Habitat 67 in Montreal. The complex featured 354 identical prefabricated concrete modules stacked in various combinations. ______ each unit had access to natural light, privacy, and outdoor terraces—amenities typically unavailable in conventional high-density housing.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A. Similarly,
B. Alternatively,
C. For instance,
D. Remarkably,

Question 5

Text 1 Historian James Morrison argues that the decline of the Roman Empire resulted primarily from internal political instability and economic crisis. He points to the rapid succession of emperors during the third century, currency devaluation, and the growing wealth gap between classes as evidence that Rome collapsed from within rather than from external military pressure.
Text 2 Archaeologist Sarah Chen's recent excavations along the Rhine frontier reveal extensive destruction layers dating to the fifth century, coinciding with increased Germanic migrations. Her findings include burned military installations, abandoned settlements, and hoards of buried coins—suggesting that populations fled in response to external threats. Chen concludes that military pressure from outside groups was the decisive factor in Rome's fall.
Based on the texts, how would Chen (Text 2) most likely respond to Morrison's argument (Text 1)?
A. By proposing that both internal and external factors were equally responsible and cannot be separated in historical analysis.
B. By arguing that archaeological evidence of destruction and population displacement demonstrates external military threats were more significant than internal factors.
C. By conceding that internal political instability occurred but maintaining it had no connection to external military pressure.
D. By agreeing that economic factors were important but suggesting they resulted from military conflicts rather than causing them.