CliffsNotes SAT Cram Plan - Softcover

Ma, William; Burstein, Jane R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470470585 ISBN 13: 9780470470589

Publisher: Cliffs Notes Inc.,U.S., 2009

Synopsis

Today's most trusted study guide brand introduces a breakthrough new test-prep seriesAs a direct outcome of recent market research, CliffsNotes is launching the Cram Plan series to answer the unmet needs of today's “snippet-study" test-takers who need to cram for the SAT, ACT, GMAT, and GRE exams just weeks--or days--before the test. These students are extremely pressed for time and want study aids that are highly time-boxed. Unlike any other test-prep product on the market, the Cram Plan series truly calendarizes a study plan for time-crunched test-takers according to their unique situation. The closer the test date approaches, the more granular the guidance and direction becomes. Each book contains a detailed calendar with tasks for each study-plan step; they include multiple checklists throughout. Plus, test-takers can take advantage of online tools such as searchable PDFs, calendar widgets, and e-mail reminders. Each book is divided into six parts and includes: * Diagnostic test* Two-months-to-prepare stand-alone study plan* One-month-to-prepare stand-alone study plan* One-week-to-prepare stand-alone study plan* Subject reviews* Full-length practice test with answers and detailed explanations

About this title

About the Author

William Ma is Chair of the math department at Herricks High School in New Hyde Park,New York. Jane R. Burstein is a private SAT tutor and a Reader for the Advanced Placement English Language exam.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

CliffsNotes SAT Cram Plan

By William Ma Jane R. Burstein

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-470-47058-9

Chapter One

Diagnostic Test

This Diagnostic Test, excluding the essay, is half the length of a full-length SAT Test. The Diagnostic Test has four sections: The Essay, Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing. The tests are designed to measure your ability in these four areas and to predict your success in college. Each question on the test is numbered. Choose the best answer for each question and fill in the corresponding circle on the answer sheet provided.

When you take this exam, try to simulate the test conditions by following the time allotments carefully. On the actual SAT, if you finish a section before the allotted time runs out, you may not work on any other section. You may not go back to a previous section or move ahead to work on the next section.

You will need 1 hour and 53 minutes to complete the Diagnostic Test:

Essay: 25 minutes

Critical Reading: 35 minutes

Mathematics: 35 minutes

Writing: 18 minutes

Answer Sheet

Section 1

Section 1: Writing-Essay

Time: 25 minutes

Directions: This essay gives you a chance to develop your own ideas and express them in essay form. Read the question carefully, think about your point of view, present your ideas clearly in logical fashion, and be sure to use standard written English.

You must write your essay in the space provided; you must use only the lines within the margin. You should write on every line (do not skip lines), avoid wide margins, and keep your handwriting to a reasonable size. You may write or print, but try to write as legibly as you can.

You will have 25 minutes for this section. Be sure to write on the topic. An off-topic essay, no matter how well written, will receive a score of zero.

Think about the issue presented below:

Some students of human nature say people are driven by selfish desires. They say every action is motivated by a self-serving impulse. Others disagree and point to all the selfless and humanitarian deeds done by people throughout the ages. Human actions, they say, are primarily motivated by the desire to help others.

Assignment: Are human beings by nature primarily selfish or unselfish? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this question. Be sure to support your position with reasons and examples taken from personal experience, observation, reading, or studies.

Be sure to write only in the space provided on your answer sheet.

Section 2: Critical Reading

Time: 25 minutes

Directions: Each sentence below has either one or two blanks. Each blank indicates that a word has been left out. Beneath the sentence are five words or sets of words labeled A through E. Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

EXAMPLE:

The regeneration of the Pine Barrens after the devastating wildfire did not take place overnight; on the contrary, the regrowth was __________. A. expected B. encouraged C. gradual D. infinite E. rapid

The correct answer is C.

1. Charlie preferred to remain unnoticed in the crowd, for his natural __________ led him to shun attention.

A. dogmatism B. affability C. jocularity D. slyness E. diffidence

2. Rather than __________ the signs warning picnickers to remain on the paths, Ella and Alex decided to spread their blanket on the rocky cliff. A. disregard B. apply C. appease D. heed E. evade

3. Although they are twins, Jessica and Jonathan are nothing alike; Jessica is reserved and __________ while her brother is __________ and extroverted.

A. distant ... guileful B. insightful ... unskillful C. introspective ... ebullient D. congenial ... reticent E. jolly ... amiable

4. Not an __________ by nature, Sophie declined to __________ her ideals for a quicker, more expedient solution to the problems plaguing her community. A. organizer ... denounce B. enabler ... supplant C. opportunist ... compromise D. authoritarian ... discern E. instigator ... incite

5. In his most recent book, A Concise Pocket Guide to Birds, Dr. Gonzalez includes all the species of North America; hence, while his work is __________, it lacks __________. A. compendious ... independence B. unique ... energy C. comprehensive ... depth D. serious ... frivolity E. useful ... pragmatism

6. Edgar Allan Poe's much-vaunted detective C. Auguste Dupin often astonishes his cohort with his acumen: this __________ sleuth often reveals the solution with an uncanny display of __________.

A. acclaimed ... perspicacity B. gullible ... equanimity C. notorious ... mettle D. nondescript ... ostentation E. officious ... astuteness

7. In his later, more secular verse, the Cavalier poet leavens the __________ piety of his youthful religious sonnets with irreverent and suggestive __________.

A. sober ... wit B. devout ... indictment C. flippant ... accuracy D. urbane ... provincialism E. callow ... cacophony

8. The sophists, Greek philosophers who used the art of rhetoric to deceive, were often accused of __________ reasoning.

A. munificent B. propitiatory C. hapless D. specious E. salutary

9. Because computer-generated digital painting is still neither totally accepted nor completely rejected as an art form by curators, its placement in museums remains __________.

A. aggrandized

B. arbitrary

C. ubiquitous

D. evanescent

E. perfidious

Directions: Carefully read the following passages and answer the questions that follow each passage. The questions after the pair of related passages may ask you about the relationship between the passages. Answer the questions based on the content of the passages: both what is stated and what is implied in the passages as well as any introductory material before each passage.

Questions 10-11 are based on the following passage.

This passage is taken from the introduction to a British novel published in 1766.

There are an hundred faults in this thing and an hundred things might be said to prove them beauties. But it is needless. A book may be amusing with numerous errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity. The hero (5) of this piece unites in himself the three greatest characters upon earth: he is a priest, an husbandman, and the father of a family. He is drawn as ready to teach, and ready to obey; as simple in affluence, and majestic in adversity. (10) In this age of opulence and refinement whom can such a character please? Such as are fond of high life will turn from the simplicity of his country friends. Such as mistake ribaldry for humour will find no wit in his harmless conversation; (15) and such as have been taught to deride religion will laugh at one whose chief stores of comfort are drawn from futurity.

10. The author refers to the "faults in this thing" (line 1) in order to

A. suggest that the novel needs to be revised. B. recommend ways to make the novel beautiful. C. acknowledge that the novel is not a perfect work. D. apologize for the displeasing nature of the characters. E. mock those critics who found fault with this novel.

11. The reference in line 11 to "this age of opulence and refinement" is used to

A. indicate that the main characters will be drawn from the aristocracy of the time. B. set up a contrast to the modest life of the main character. C. refer to the wealth accumulated by the church. D. amuse the reader with an irrelevant detail. E. satirize the hero of the novel.

Questions 12-13 are based on the following passage.

In 1966, Eddie Arnold earned induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. With his long string of hits, Arnold ranked among the most popular country singers in U.S. history. Arnold used his smooth voice to escape (5) from poverty. When his father died, the family farm was lost to creditors and the Arnolds were forced to become sharecroppers. Even when Arnold achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a top-selling artist, this country boy (10) never lost touch with his roots. Although he gained a rather sophisticated fan base with his succession of hits, he always referred to himself as the "Tennessee Plowboy." In his mind, his background as a hard-working farm hand (15) prepared him for the demanding role of successful singer. From the beginning, he cut a different figure from most of his contemporaries in the world of country singers. Unlike most of the country singers who appeared (20) either in jeans and plaid shirts or glittering sequins and spangles, Arnold always dressed in debonair attire. When he died in May 2008, the music world lost an immensely popular crooner of romantic ballads. (25)

12. By stating that "Arnold never lost touch with his roots" (line 11), the author implies that

A. Arnold remained connected to the family farm and continued to pursue agriculture. B. Arnold eschewed his humble beginnings and indulged in a more sophisticated lifestyle. C. Arnold liked to be known as a farm hand and favored jeans and cowboy boots when he performed. D. Arnold continued to identify himself with the attitudes and values of hardworking rural Americans. E. Arnold's smooth singing voice was a direct contrast to the roughness of his upbringing.

13. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. contrast the world of country singers with that of the more urbane pop singers. B. explain the method by which poor farm children can become successful singers. C. argue that only by rejecting their poverty can entertainers reach the height of popularity. D. depict the specific conditions that caused a young boy to escape the life of a sharecropper. E. present an overview of an artist who accomplished his goals while remaining unspoiled by his success.

Questions 14-23 are based on the following passage.

The following is an excerpt from a novel written in 1921 by an American author.

There is another sound in the room now-a sound no one could have noticed before, it is so small and monotonous-the sound of even breathing. It comes from the great oak bed by the wall and the chair rocked close to the (5) grate. Hearing it makes the room seem stiller and warmer. The fire shifts suddenly, throwing a gay flare on the face of the drowser before it, and the procession of dull-blue peacocks that parade the ivory chintz of the deep (10) chairs and tall curtains. From the bed comes an indistinguishable sleepy sound that, finding itself nonsense, stops, and a little later begins again, this time enough waked up to be in words. (15)

"Nurse!" it says. "Oh, Nurse!"

The rumple of starched linen in the rocker moves infinitesimally and relapses without answering.

"Nurse!" repeats the voice from the bed, (20) this time with a tickle of laughter in it. "Miss Hollis! Sorry to wake you!"

And now the linen hears and crackles. The figure in the chair rises, a tall strapping girl with a tumble of blond hair coming out from (25) under her nurse's cap. She looks as vigorous and healthy as a young tree, but the pulled-down droop of the corners of her mouth shows that she recently has been thoroughly tired. She stands now with her arms over her head, (30) yawning magnificently, and then suddenly realizing what she is doing, straightens and starts to look very professional. But the next minute her hands are at her eyes again, trying desperately to rub away the sleep. (35)

The voice from the bed is contrite.

"I'm awfully sorry. I know I shouldn't have waked you. I've been counting peacocks and peacocks getting the cruelty to. Because if you were as sleepy as I was-" (40)

"You should have waked me long ago, Mrs. Sellaby." The full dignity of an expert has been recovered. "I had no business to sleep like that. I don't know how I-" A yawn splits this in the middle, but she goes on determinedly, (45) "I don't know what I-" Again the annihilating yawn. This time she gives up. "Oh, dear," she says frankly, "I was so tired... ."

She busies herself with bottle and trays and pillows, hiding what yawns will come behind (50) four fingers. The girl in the bed lies flat back, looking at the ceiling. Her hair, which is the color of pine smoke, is in thick, soft waves about her face.

It is a face with that delicate tense strength (55) you may see in the hands of a great surgeon-the soul beneath it has been tempered steely, is as exquisitely balanced and direct at the long springing blade of an old rapier. And at present, in spite of the weight and heaviness of (60) exhaustion upon it, so deep as to be almost visible and clinging like a netted veil, it is overwhelmed with peace, absorbed with peace.

14. The passage can primarily be described as A. a confrontation between two hostile characters. B. a reconciliation between previously estranged women. C. a narration that establishes a sympathetic relationship. D. an account of an employer reprimanding a lazy employee. E. a satire of a situation from a bystander's point of view.

15. The first paragraph (lines 1-15) sets the mood of

A. grandeur. B. quietude. C. disappointment. D. nostalgia. E. melodrama.

16. The phrase finding itself nonsense (lines 12-13) suggests that

A. the listener does not understand the speaker. B. the speaker does not understand herself. C. the speaker is unable to hear the listener. D. the noise of the fire drowns out the speaker's words. E. the peacocks are making an indistinguishable sound.

17. The phrase the rumple of starched linen (line 17) suggests that

A. the sick woman is sleeping on linen sheets. B. the rocking chair is covered in linen fabric. C. the peacocks parade across the deep chairs of linen. D. the nurse wears a uniform of stiff linen. E. the linen curtains move in the breeze. 18. The second call to the nurse (line 20) suggests that the speaker is

A. impatient with the lack of response. B. amused that the nurse is sleeping.

C. dissatisfied with the nursing care she receives.

D. experiencing severe pain and needs attention.

E. feeling vigorous and wishes to get out of bed.

19. The initial description of the nurse ("The figure ... tired"; lines 23-29) suggests

A. an exhausted but healthy young woman. B. a sleepy waif who tries to shirk her duties. C. an arrogant girl who believes that caring for others is beneath her. (Continues...)

Excerpted from CliffsNotes SAT Cram Planby William Ma Jane R. Burstein Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cliffs Notes Inc.,U.S.
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470470585
• ISBN 13: 9780470470589
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312