Free SAT Test Practice Test & Exam Questions (Page 13 )

The raisin business in America was born by accident. It happened in 1873 in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Many farmers raised grapes in this valley. That year, just before the grape harvest, there was a heat wave. It was one of the worst heat waves ever known. It was so hot the grapes dried on the vines.
When they were picked, California had its first raisin crop. People were surprised to find how good raisins were. Everybody wanted more. So the San Joaquin farmers went into the raisin business. Today, of course, they do not let the grapes dry on the vines. They treat them with much more care. In late August the grapes start to ripen. They are tested often for sweetness. The growers wait until the sugar content is twenty-one percent. Then they know the grapes are ripe enough to be picked. Skilled workers come to the vineyards. They pick the bunches of grapes by hand. The workers fill their flat pans with grapes. They gently empty the pans onto squares of paper. These squares lie between the long rows of vines. They sit in the sun. Here the grapes stay while the sun does its work. It may take two weeks or longer. The grapes are first dried on one side.
When they have reached the right color, they are turned to dry on the other side. The grapes are dried until only fifteen percent of the moisture is left. Then they have turned into raisins. The raisins are rolled up in the paper on which they have dried. Trucks take them from the fields. They are poured into big boxes called sweatboxes. Each box holds one hundred and sixty pounds of raisins. Here, any raisins that are a bit too dry take moisture from those that have a bit too much. After a while they are all just moist enough. The big boxes are trucked next to the packaging plant. They are emptied onto a conveyor belt that shakes the raisins gently. This knocks them from their stems. A blast of air whisks the stems away. The water bath is next. Then the plump brown raisins have a last inspection. They are again checked for moisture and sugar. Then they go on a belt to packing machines. Here they are poured into packages, which are automatically weighed and sealed. The raisins are now ready for market.
What is the main idea of this passage?

The creation of raisins in America was an accident.
The process of raisin development requires multiple steps.
Raisins on the grocery store shelf undergo a brief fermentation process.
Raisins are cleaned thoroughly at the packing plant.
California has been the leader in American raisin development.

Answer(s): B

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QUESTION: 404 Exam Topic: 30 Sec Thirty (401 to 410)

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Most people think it's fine to be “busy as a beaver.” Little do they know. Beavers may work hard, but often they don't get much done. Beavers are supposed to be great tree cutters. It is true that a beaver can gnaw through a tree very quickly. (A six-inch birch takes about ten minutes.) But then what? Often the beaver does not make use of the tree. One expert says that beavers waste one out of every five trees they cut. For one thing, they do not choose their trees wisely. One bunch of beavers cut down a cottonwood tree more than one hundred feet tall. Then they found that they could not move it. In thick woods a tree sometimes won't fall down. It gets stuck in the other trees. Of course, doesn't think to cut down the trees that are in the way. So a good tree goes to waste. Some people think that beavers can make a tree fall the way they want it to. Not true. (In fact, a beaver sometimes gets pinned under a falling tree.) When beavers cut a tree near a stream, it usually falls into the water. But they do not plan it that way. The fact is that most trees lean toward the water to start with. Now what about dam building? Most beaver dams are wonders of engineering. The best ones are strongly built of trees, stones, and mud. They are wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. Beavers think nothing of building a dam more than two hundred feet long. One dam, in Montana, was more than two thousand feet long. The largest one ever seen was in New Hampshire. It stretched four thousand feet. It made a lake large enough to hold forty beaver homes. So beavers do build good dams. But they don't always build them in the right places. They just don't plan. They will build a dam across the widest part of the stream. They don't try to find a place where the stream is narrow. So a lot of their hard work is wasted. Beavers should learn that it's not enough to be busy. You have to know what you're doing, too. For example, there was one Oregon beaver that really was a worker. It decided to fix a leak in a man-made dam. After five days of work it gave up. The leak it was trying to block was the lock that boats go through.
What is the main idea of this passage?

Beaver's may be hard working animals, but they don't always choose the mostefficient mechanisms.
Beavers are excellent dam builders.
New Hampshire was the site of the largest beaver dam.
Beavers are well developed tree cutters.
Beavers are poor surveyors of aquatic environments in some cases.

Answer(s): A

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Test Prep SAT Test Exam
Scholastic Assessment Test: Reading, Writing and Language, Mathematics (Page 13 )

QUESTION: 365 Exam Topic: 22 Sec Twenty Two (363 to 369)

QUESTION: 364 Exam Topic: 22 Sec Twenty Two (363 to 369)

QUESTION: 363 Exam Topic: 22 Sec Twenty Two (363 to 369)

QUESTION: 405 Exam Topic: 30 Sec Thirty (401 to 410)

QUESTION: 404 Exam Topic: 30 Sec Thirty (401 to 410)

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Test Prep SAT Test Exam Scholastic Assessment Test: Reading, Writing and Language, Mathematics (Page 13 )

QUESTION: 365 Exam Topic: 22 Sec Twenty Two (363 to 369)

QUESTION: 364 Exam Topic: 22 Sec Twenty Two (363 to 369)

QUESTION: 363 Exam Topic: 22 Sec Twenty Two (363 to 369)

QUESTION: 405 Exam Topic: 30 Sec Thirty (401 to 410)

QUESTION: 404 Exam Topic: 30 Sec Thirty (401 to 410)

Join the SAT Test Discussion

Test Prep SAT Test Exam
Scholastic Assessment Test: Reading, Writing and Language, Mathematics (Page 13 )