SAT Reading Practice Paper

Adapted from “A Defense of Slang” in The Romance of the Commonplace by Gelett Burgess (1902)

Could Shakespeare come to Chicago and listen curiously to "the man in the street," he would find himself
more at home than in London. In the mouths of messenger boys and clerks he would find the English
language used with all the freedom of unexpected metaphor and the plastic, suggestive diction that was
the privilege of the Elizabethan dramatists; he would say, no doubt, that he had found a nation of poets.
There was hardly any such thing as slang in his day, for no graphic trope was too virile or uncommon for
acceptance, if its meaning were patent. His own heroes often spoke what corresponds to the slang of
today.

The word, indeed, needs precise definition, before we condemn all unconventional talk with vigor. Slang
has been called "poetry in the rough," and it is not all coarse or vulgar. There is a prosaic as well as a
poetic license. The man in the street calls a charming girl, for instance, a "daisy." Surely this is not
inelegant, and such a reference will be understood a century from now. Slang, to prove adjuvant to our
speech, which is growing more and more rigid and conventional, should be terse; it should make for force
and clarity, without any sacrifice of beauty.

1. Why does the author believe there was no slang in Shakespeare’s time?

 Slang was considered too vulgar and its usage was discouraged by Queen Elizabeth I.
 Even strong, offensive, and unusual language was widely accepted and understood.
 The people of Elizabethan England were too serious for such prosaic creativity.
 There were too few laboring classes from which slang could be drawn.
 English dramatists refused to employ slang in their work.

2. The primary purpose of this passage is to __________.

 refute an argument
 honor an accomplishment
 predict an outcome
 establish an argument
 explain a situation
3. The author believes that slang should primarily be used __________.

 when writing plays and sonnets

 to describe something inelegantly
 sparingly, so as not to cause offense
 to praise or insult an individual
 to add color and clarity to language

Choose the word or set of words that best completes the following sentence.

4. Most people were impressed with George’s grasp of __________ trivia, but Susan saw it as a mere
parlor trick.
  Arcane
 Common
 Significxant
 Popular
 Useful

5. Despite the advice he had received to project a confident __________, James realized that
being __________ with the interviewers made him much more endearing than bragging about
his accomplishments could have.

 attitude . . . distinguished
 description . . . illusioned
 countenance . . . disingenuous
 persona . . . distinguished
 demeanor . . . forthright

6. Desperate to __________ the results of the survey, which indicated that he was strongly disliked
by the general public, the congressman attempted to __________ the company not to publish it.

 Mollify…disregard
 Distract…suspend
 Galvanize…malign
 Sustain…conceal
 Suppress….induce

Adapted from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (1839)

There was a great bustle in Bishopsgate Street Within, as they drew up, and (it being a windy day) half-a-
dozen men were tacking across the road under a press of paper, bearing gigantic announcements that a
Public Meeting would be held at one o'clock precisely, to take into consideration the propriety of
petitioning Parliament in favour of the United Metropolitan Improved Hot Muffin and Crumpet Baking
and Punctual Delivery Company, capital five millions, in five hundred thousand shares of ten pounds
each; which sums were duly set forth in fat black figures of considerable size. Mr. Bonney elbowed his
way briskly upstairs, receiving in his progress many low bows from the waiters who stood on the landings
to show the way; and, followed by Mr. Nickleby, dived into a suite of apartments behind the great public
room: in the second of which was a business-looking table, and several business-looking people.

"Hear!" cried a gentleman with a double chin, as Mr. Bonney presented himself. "Chair, gentlemen,
chair!"
The new-comers were received with universal approbation, and Mr. Bonney bustled up to the top of the
table, took off his hat, ran his fingers through his hair, and knocked a hackney-coachman's knock on the
table with a little hammer: whereat several gentlemen cried "Hear!" and nodded slightly to each other, as
much as to say what spirited conduct that was. Just at this moment, a waiter, feverish with agitation, tore
into the room, and throwing the door open with a crash, shouted "Sir Matthew Pupker!"

The committee stood up and clapped their hands for joy, and while they were clapping them, in came Sir
Matthew Pupker, attended by two live members of Parliament, one Irish and one Scotch, all smiling and
bowing, and looking so pleasant that it seemed a perfect marvel how any man could have the heart to vote
against them. Sir Matthew Pupker especially, who had a little round head with a flaxen wig on the top of
it, fell into such a paroxysm of bows, that the wig threatened to be jerked off, every instant. When these
symptoms had in some degree subsided, the gentlemen who were on speaking terms with Sir Matthew
Pupker, or the two other members, crowded round them in three little groups, near one or other of which
the gentlemen who were NOT on speaking terms with Sir Matthew Pupker or the two other members,
stood lingering, and smiling, and rubbing their hands, in the desperate hope of something turning up
which might bring them into notice. All this time, Sir Matthew Pupker and the two other members were
relating to their separate circles what the intentions of government were, about taking up the bill; with a
full account of what the government had said in a whisper the last time they dined with it, and how the
government had been observed to wink when it said so; from which premises they were at no loss to draw
the conclusion, that if the government had one object more at heart than another, that one object was the
welfare and advantage of the United Metropolitan Improved Hot Muffin and Crumpet Baking and
Punctual Delivery Company.

Meanwhile, and pending the arrangement of the proceedings, and a fair division of the speechifying, the
public in the large room were eyeing, by turns, the empty platform, and the ladies in the Music Gallery. In
these amusements the greater portion of them had been occupied for a couple of hours before, and as the
most agreeable diversions pall upon the taste on a too protracted enjoyment of them, the sterner spirits
now began to hammer the floor with their boot-heels, and to express their dissatisfaction by various hoots
and cries. These vocal exertions, emanating from the people who had been there longest, naturally
proceeded from those who were nearest to the platform and furthest from the policemen in attendance,
who having no great mind to fight their way through the crowd, but entertaining nevertheless a
praiseworthy desire to do something to quell the disturbance, immediately began to drag forth, by the coat
tails and collars, all the quiet people near the door; at the same time dealing out various smart and tingling
blows with their truncheons, after the manner of that ingenious actor, Mr. Punch: whose brilliant example,
both in the fashion of his weapons and their use, this branch of the executive occasionally follows.

Several very exciting skirmishes were in progress, when a loud shout attracted the attention even of the
belligerents, and then there poured on to the platform, from a door at the side, a long line of gentlemen
with their hats off, all looking behind them, and uttering vociferous cheers; the cause whereof was
sufficiently explained when Sir Matthew Pupker and the two other real members of Parliament came to
the front, amidst deafening shouts, and testified to each other in dumb motions that they had never seen
such a glorious sight as that, in the whole course of their public career.

7. As it is used in the fourth paragraph, the underlined word “paroxysm” most nearly
means __________.

 Convulsion
 Vibration
 Sequence
  Ailment
 Short pronunciation

8. Which of these most accurately restates the meaning of the underlined independent clause?

 The meeting was stated with a shout from the stage which gained everyone's attention except
those who were fighting.
 Lots of people were trying to move seats unsuccessfully, when the meeting was started with a
shout.
 No one paid attention to the belligerents who were shouting at the skirmishers.
 A battle was breaking out when the members of parliament approached the stage.
 There were lots of small fights going on until a vocalisation gained the attention of everyone.
 The information about Mr. Bonney found in the first three paragraphs serves to __________.

9. The information about Mr. Bonney found in the first three paragraphs serves to __________.

 Top of Form
 Bottom of Form
 show he is inept
 show he is a prominent member at the meeting
 signal his resignation from the meeting
 demonstrate his musical ability
 make the reader dislike him

10. For what purpose does the author reference the character Punch from “Punch and Judy” shows
in the underlined sentence?

 To make the reader reminisce about a carnival where one could see such a show
 To endear the readers to the policemen
 To demonstrate how the entire scene was like something out of a play
 To show how the law enforcement was all just an act
 To caricature the policemen, and their indiscriminate use of their truncheons.

11. The tone of this passage could best be described as __________.

 bored
 severe
 didactic
 whimsical
 abashed

12. What is the main idea of the passage?

 There is a party for a baking organisation attended by government members.
  There is a petition against starting a baked goods company.
 There is a meeting which quickly becomes violent.
 There is a quite unruly meeting to petition the government in favour of starting a company.
 There is a meeting to incorporate different nationalities into the investment of a beverage
company.
13. The fifth paragraph establishes all of the following EXCEPT __________.
 The main body of the public were in another room than the members of Parliament, waiting for
the meeting to start.
 The policemen could not reach the bottom of the platform because of the density of the crowd.
 The men were equally looking at the empty stage and the women.
 The men were impatient and began to stamp and shout.
 The policemen were just in their actions.

14. Which of the following statements about the committee is supported by the passage?
 They are, in part, self-centred.
 They are anarchists.
 They are all in favor of the members of Parliament.
 They wear wigs.
 They form three groups in the room when the members of parliament arrive.

15. It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that __________.

 The policemen have been bribed.
 It is too loud to hear Sir Pupker speaking.
 The members of parliament were not nice to look at.
 The men do not want to be at the meeting.
 None of these answers