Cisco
CompTIA
ISC
EC-Council
EXIN
Fortinet
ITIL
Juniper
Microsoft
VMware
Avaya
SAP
Google
NVIDIA
Salesforce
Amazon
Palo Alto Networks
ISC2
Splunk
ServiceNow
All Vendors
  2. Home
  3. Exams
  4. Test Prep
  5. SAT Section 1: Critical Reading

Test Prep SAT Section 1: Critical Reading Exam
Section One : Critical Reading (Page 25 )

Updated On: 1-Feb-2026
Page 11 of 55
PDF with 271 Questions

For the last hour I have been watching President Lincoln and General McClellan as they sat together in earnest conversation on the deck of a steamer closer to us. I am thankful, I am happy, that the President has come--has sprung across the dreadful intervening Washington, and come to see and hear and judge for his own wise and noble self.
While we were at dinner someone said, "Why, there's the President!" and he proved to be just arriving on the Ariel, at the end of the wharf. I stationed myself at once to watch for the coming of McClellan. The President stood on deck with a glass, with which, after a time, he inspected our boat, waving his handkerchief to us. My eyes and soul were in the direction of the general headquarters, over which the great balloon was slowly descending.
The "great balloon slowly descending" is apparently

  1. the sun setting
  2. remnants of a firestorm of the Potomac
  3. the moon over the river
  4. a mirage
  5. McClellan's transport arriving

Answer(s): E

Explanation:

This is a literal question; McClellan is arriving via hot air balloon.



Big earthquakes are naturally occurring events well outside the powers of humans to create or stop. An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. Stresses in the earth's outer layer push the side of the fault together. The friction across the surface of the fault holds the rocks together so they do not slip immediately when pushed sideways. Eventually enough stress builds up and the rocks slip suddenly, releasing energy in waves that travel through the rock to cause the shaking that we feel during an earthquake. Earthquakes typically originate several tens of miles below the surface of the earth. It takes many years-- decades to centuries--to build up enough stress to make a large earthquake, and the fault may be tens to hundreds of miles long. The scale and force necessary to produce earthquakes are well beyond our daily lives. Likewise, people cannot prevent earthquakes from happening or stop them once they've started--giant nuclear explosions at shallow depths, like those in some movies, won't actually stop an earthquake.
The two most important variables affecting earthquake damage are the intensity of ground shaking cased by the quake and the quality of the engineering of structures in the region. The level of shaking, in turn, is controlled by the proximity of the earthquake source to the affected region and the types of rocks that seismic waves pass through en route (particularly those at or near the ground surface). Generally, the bigger and closer the earthquake, the stronger the shaking. But there have been large earthquakes with very little damage either because they caused little shaking or because the buildings were built to withstand that shaking. In other cases, moderate earthquakes have caused significant damage either because the shaking was locally amplified or more likely because the structures were poorly engineered.
The word fault means?

  1. error
  2. the place where two rock plates come together
  3. criticize
  4. responsibility
  5. volcanic activity

Answer(s): B

Explanation:

Infer the answer from the context clues "the earth's outer layer push the side of the fault together" and "friction across the surface of the fault holds the rocks together."



Big earthquakes are naturally occurring events well outside the powers of humans to create or stop. An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. Stresses in the earth's outer layer push the side of the fault together. The friction across the surface of the fault holds the rocks together so they do not slip immediately when pushed sideways. Eventually enough stress builds up and the rocks slip suddenly, releasing energy in waves that travel through the rock to cause the shaking that we feel during an earthquake. Earthquakes typically originate several tens of miles below the surface of the earth. It takes many years-- decades to centuries--to build up enough stress to make a large earthquake, and the fault may be tens to hundreds of miles long. The scale and force necessary to produce earthquakes are well beyond our daily lives. Likewise, people cannot prevent earthquakes from happening or stop them once they've started--giant nuclear explosions at shallow depths, like those in some movies, won't actually stop an earthquake.
The two most important variables affecting earthquake damage are the intensity of ground shaking cased by the quake and the quality of the engineering of structures in the region. The level of shaking, in turn, is controlled by the proximity of the earthquake source to the affected region and the types of rocks that seismic waves pass through en route (particularly those at or near the ground surface). Generally, the bigger and closer the earthquake, the stronger the shaking. But there have been large earthquakes with very little damage either because they caused little shaking or because the buildings were built to withstand that shaking. In other cases, moderate earthquakes have caused significant damage either because the shaking was locally amplified or more likely because the structures were poorly engineered.
The amount of shaking during an earthquake is determined by

  1. the amount of damage
  2. how soon people take action to stop the earthquake
  3. how close the epicenter of the earthquake is to the area
  4. how well the offices and homes have been built in the region
  5. the duration of the quake

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

The answer is directly stated: "The level of shaking, in turn, is controlled by the proximity of the earthquake source to the affected region and the types of rocks that seismicwaves pass through en route (particularly those at or near the ground surface).



(1) On my nineteenth birthday, I began my trip to Mali, West Africa.
(2) Some 24 hours later I arrived in Bamako, the capital of Mali.
(3) The sun had set and the night was starless.
(4) One of the officials from the literacy program I was working was there to meet me.
(5) After the melee in the baggage claim, we proceeded to his car.
(6) Actually, it was a truck.
(7) I was soon to learn that most people in Mali that had automobiles actually had trucks or SUVs.
(8) Apparently, there not just a convenience but a necessity when you live on the edge of the Sahara.
(9) I threw my bags into the bed of the truck, and hopped in to the back of the cab.
(10) Riding to my welcome dinner, I stared out the windows of the truck and took in the city.
(11) It was truly a foreign land to me, and I knew that I was an alien there.
(12) "What am I doing here?" I thought.
(13) It is hard to believe but seven months later I returned to the same airport along the same road that I had traveled on that first night in Bamako, and my perspective on the things that I saw had completely changed.
(14) The landscape that had once seemed so desolate and lifeless now was the homeland of people that I had come to love.
(15) When I looked back at the capital, Bamako, fast receding on the horizon, I did not see a city foreboding and wild in its foreignness.
(16) I saw the city which held so many dear friends.
(17) I saw tea drinking sessions going late into the night.
(18) I saw the hospitality and open- heartedness of the people of Mali.
(19) The second time, everything looked completely different, and I knew that it was I who had changed and not it.

Which of the following is the best way to revise sentence 7 (reproduced below)? I was soon to learn that most people in Mali that had automobiles actually had trucks or SUVs.

  1. Change "I was soon to learn" to "I was soon learning"
  2. Change "that had automobiles" to" who had automobiles"
  3. Replace "or" with "and"
  4. Add commas after "Mali" and" automobiles"
  5. Add an apostrophe to make "SUVs" read "SUV's

Answer(s): B

Explanation:

That had automobiles should not be separated by commas because it is an integral part of the category being described, not an added description. But it isn't correct in written English to write people that. It has to be people who(or people whom if what follows positions the people as the object of a verb). The answer is (B).



Big earthquakes are naturally occurring events well outside the powers of humans to create or stop. An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. Stresses in the earth's outer layer push the side of the fault together. The friction across the surface of the fault holds the rocks together so they do not slip immediately when pushed sideways. Eventually enough stress builds up and the rocks slip suddenly, releasing energy in waves that travel through the rock to cause the shaking that we feel during an earthquake. Earthquakes typically originate several tens of miles below the surface of the earth. It takes many years-- decades to centuries--to build up enough stress to make a large earthquake, and the fault may be tens to hundreds of miles long. The scale and force necessary to produce earthquakes are well beyond our daily lives. Likewise, people cannot prevent earthquakes from happening or stop them once they've started--giant nuclear explosions at shallow depths, like those in some movies, won't actually stop an earthquake.
The two most important variables affecting earthquake damage are the intensity of ground shaking cased by the quake and the quality of the engineering of structures in the region. The level of shaking, in turn, is controlled by the proximity of the earthquake source to the affected region and the types of rocks that seismic waves pass through en route (particularly those at or near the ground surface). Generally, the bigger and closer the earthquake, the stronger the shaking. But there have been large earthquakes with very little damage either because they caused little shaking or because the buildings were built to withstand that shaking. In other cases, moderate earthquakes have caused significant damage either because the shaking was locally amplified or more likely because the structures were poorly engineered.
This passage was most likely written to

  1. explain some basic facts about the causes and effects of earthquakes
  2. reassure people who are considering moving into regions prone to earthquakes that they will be safe from harm
  3. teach people the methods they need to all eviate earthquake damage
  4. persuade people to allocate more funding to earthquake research
  5. describe the damage that earthquakes can cause and the reason for varying degrees of damage

Answer(s): A

Explanation:

Using process of elimination, choices B and C are directly contradicted by information in the text. Choice D is never mentioned. The second half of choice E is correct, but not the first half. Thus, the only possible correct response is choice A.



Viewing page 25 of 55
Viewing questions 121 - 125 out of 271 questions



Post your Comments and Discuss Test Prep SAT Section 1: Critical Reading exam prep with other Community members:

Join the SAT Section 1: Critical Reading Discussion