SAT Exam Reading Practice Questions (1-12)

Directions: Each passage or pair of passages below is followed by several 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 any accompanying graphics (such as a table or graph).

Passage 1

This passage is from the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. The setting is Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression. The narrator, Scout Finch, describes her experiences growing up in a racially segregated town.

Jem and I were accustomed to our father’s last-will-and-testament diction, and we were at all times free to interrupt Atticus for a translation when it was beyond our understanding.

“Atticus, what is a compromise?”

Atticus said, “An agreement reached by mutual concessions. It works this way,” he said. “If you concede the necessity of going to school, we’ll go on reading every night just as we always have. Is it a bargain?”

“Yes sir!”

“We’ll consider it sealed without the usual formality,” Atticus said when he saw me preparing to spit on my palm.

As a result of this conversation, Scout begins to understand the importance of compromise and realizes that sometimes it is necessary to make concessions to achieve harmony.

Questions

1. What does Atticus mean by “mutual concessions”?

A) Both parties making sacrifices

B) Only one party giving up something

C) A legal agreement

D) A formal contract

Answer: A) Both parties making sacrifices

Explanation: Atticus explains that a compromise involves both parties giving up something to reach an agreement.

2. Why does Scout prepare to spit on her palm?

A) To show disrespect

B) To seal the bargain traditionally

C) To express her excitement

D) To show her disapproval

Answer: B) To seal the bargain traditionally

Explanation: Scout’s action reflects a traditional way of sealing a deal, indicating her agreement with Atticus.

3. What lesson does Scout learn from her conversation with Atticus?

A) The importance of compromise

B) The necessity of school

C) How to make a formal agreement

D) How to express disagreement

Answer: A) The importance of compromise

Explanation: Scout learns that making mutual concessions is important to achieve harmony.

Passage 2

This passage is from Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”. The setting is early 19th-century England. Elizabeth Bennet receives a proposal of marriage from Mr. Darcy.

In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.

Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression. She stared, colored, doubted, and was silent. This he considered sufficient encouragement, and the avowal of all that he felt and had long felt for her immediately followed. He spoke well, but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.

Questions

4. How does Elizabeth initially react to Mr. Darcy’s proposal?

A) With joy

B) With surprise and silence

C) With anger

D) With laughter

Answer: B) With surprise and silence

Explanation: Elizabeth’s astonishment is described as being beyond expression, leading her to be silent.

5. What does Mr. Darcy emphasize in his proposal besides his feelings of love?

A) His wealth

B) Elizabeth’s beauty

C) Her inferiority and family obstacles

D) His travels

Answer: C) Her inferiority and family obstacles

Explanation: Mr. Darcy talks about Elizabeth’s inferiority and the family obstacles, which he believes are significant issues.

6. Why is Mr. Darcy’s proposal unlikely to recommend his suit?

A) Because he lacks wealth

B) Because he criticizes Elizabeth’s family

C) Because he is too shy

D) Because he speaks too softly

Answer: B) Because he criticizes Elizabeth’s family

Explanation: His emphasis on her family’s inferiority and the obstacles makes his proposal less appealing.

Passage 3

This passage is from George Orwell’s “1984”. The setting is a dystopian future where the government exerts total control over its citizens.

Winston was struck, as he had been struck before, by the tiredness of her face. It was evident even through the makeup and the carefully-styled hair. It was the face of a woman who was thirty-five, but looked older. Party women never looked beautiful. There was something in the life they led that battered their features, and so it was with this woman.

Questions

7. How does Winston describe the woman’s appearance?

A) Youthful and vibrant

B) Tired and aged

C) Beautiful and radiant

D) Strong and healthy

Answer: B) Tired and aged

Explanation: Winston observes the tiredness in her face and notes that she looks older than her actual age.

8. What does Winston suggest about the lives of Party women?

A) They lead luxurious lives

B) They enjoy freedom

C) Their lives batter their features

D) They are always happy

Answer: C) Their lives batter their features

Explanation: Winston believes that the lives Party women lead have a negative impact on their appearance.

9. What is the significance of the woman’s appearance in the context of the passage?

A) It highlights the oppressive nature of the society

B) It shows the effectiveness of makeup

C) It emphasizes the woman’s beauty

D) It indicates the woman’s wealth

Answer: A) It highlights the oppressive nature of the society

Explanation: The woman’s tired and aged appearance reflects the harsh and oppressive nature of the society in which she lives.

Passage 4

This passage is from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”. The setting is 1920s America, and the narrator, Nick Carraway, describes his neighbor, Jay Gatsby.

He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced—or seemed to face—the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.

Questions

10. How does Nick describe Gatsby’s smile?

A) Rare and reassuring

B) Common and ordinary

C) Mocking and dismissive

D) Cold and distant

Answer: A) Rare and reassuring

Explanation: Nick describes Gatsby’s smile as rare and having a quality of eternal reassurance.

11. What effect does Gatsby’s smile have on others?

A) It makes them feel uneasy

B) It reassures them and makes them feel understood

C) It intimidates them

D) It makes them laugh

Answer: B) It reassures them and makes them feel understood

Explanation: Gatsby’s smile gives people a feeling of reassurance and understanding.

12. What does Nick imply about the frequency of encountering such a smile?

A) It is very common

B) It happens only a few times in life

C) It happens daily

D) It never happens

Answer: B) It happens only a few times in life

Explanation: Nick suggests that such a smile is encountered only four or five times in life, indicating its rarity.

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