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SAT Reading & Writing: Inferences (Drill 1)

Drill 1 · Reading & Writing · Inferences

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About This Drill

SAT Reading & Writing: Inferences (Drill 1) is a Reading & Writing practice drill covering Inferences. It contains 5 original questions created by Brian Stewart, a Barron's test prep author with over 20 years of tutoring experience.

Inference questions ask you to determine which conclusion is most strongly supported by the information in a text. You must identify what logically follows from the evidence presented without going beyond what the text supports.

Questions & Explanations

Text
Architectural historian Mariana Sheldon has studied the clay brick buildings constructed by the Wari civilization in what is now Peru between approximately 600 and 1000 CE. Sheldon notes that although the Wari had access to stone quarries near many of their building sites, they consistently chose to manufacture clay bricks instead, a process that required considerably more labor. Sheldon's analysis of the bricks reveals that they were produced in standardized sizes across Wari settlements separated by hundreds of miles, suggesting a centralized system of production oversight. Sheldon argues that this preference for labor-intensive brick production over readily available stone likely reflects ______

Question 1. Which choice most logically completes the text?

  • A) a lack of the specialized tools needed to quarry and shape stone into building materials.
  • B) a deliberate effort by Wari leaders to demonstrate administrative control through coordinated labor projects. ✓
  • C) a belief among Wari builders that clay brick was more structurally durable than quarried stone.
  • D) an indication that Wari settlements were established before the stone quarries in the region became accessible.

Explanation: Choice B is the best answer because it most logically completes the text's discussion of Wari building practices. The text establishes two key points: that the Wari chose a more labor-intensive material (clay bricks) despite having easier access to stone, and that the bricks were produced in standardized sizes across distant settlements, suggesting centralized oversight. Taken together, these details support the conclusion that brick production was a coordinated, large-scale activity managed by a central authority, a deliberate effort by Wari leaders to demonstrate administrative control through organized labor projects. Choice A is incorrect because the text explicitly states that stone quarries were near many building sites; it does not suggest the Wari lacked the ability to work with stone. Choice C is incorrect because the text provides no information comparing the structural properties of clay brick and stone; the argument centers on labor and administrative coordination, not material durability. Choice D is incorrect because the text indicates stone quarries were accessible near building sites; it does not suggest the quarries became available only after settlements were already established.

Text
Researchers studying the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) have long observed that individual puffins return to the same breeding colony year after year, a behavior called site fidelity. Marine biologist Annette Fayet and colleagues used miniature tracking devices to monitor the winter migration routes of puffins from several colonies across the North Atlantic. They found that although puffins from different colonies share overlapping feeding grounds during winter, each bird follows a distinct migratory route that it repeats with remarkable precision across years. Fayet's team also observed that young puffins on their first migration follow routes that differ from those of experienced adults, but by their third year these younger birds converge on individually consistent paths. This pattern suggests that ______

Question 2. Which choice most logically completes the text?

  • A) puffins from different colonies are unlikely to interbreed because their winter migration routes prevent them from encountering one another.
  • B) puffin migratory routes are primarily determined by inherited genetic traits rather than by individual learning.
  • C) puffins develop their individual migratory routes through a process of trial and refinement over their early years. ✓
  • D) experienced adult puffins actively guide younger birds along established migratory routes during winter.

Explanation: Choice C is the best answer because it most logically completes the text's discussion of puffin migration. The text states that young puffins on their first migration follow routes that differ from those of experienced adults, but by their third year these younger birds converge on individually consistent paths. This progression, from variable early routes to stable individual patterns, suggests a process of trial and refinement, in which young puffins gradually develop their personal migratory routes through experience. Choice A is incorrect because the text explicitly states that puffins from different colonies share overlapping feeding grounds during winter, meaning they do encounter one another. Choice B is incorrect because if migratory routes were primarily determined by genetics, young puffins would be expected to follow consistent routes from the start rather than showing significant variation in their early years. Choice D is incorrect because the text does not mention adult puffins guiding younger birds; the text indicates that young puffins follow different routes from adults initially, which would not be the case if adults were actively leading them.

Text
In the early twentieth century, commercial publishers in the United States printed most novels on paper made from wood pulp treated with acid, which caused the paper to yellow and become brittle within decades. By the 1980s, librarians recognized that millions of books in their collections were physically deteriorating. To preserve the content, many libraries launched large-scale microfilming projects, photographing book pages onto rolls of microfilm. Historian Nicholson Baker criticized these efforts, however, noting that some libraries discarded the original books after microfilming them. Baker argued that the microfilm copies failed to capture important features of the originals, such as illustrations, marginal notes by previous readers, and the texture and color of the pages, and that these features constitute valuable historical evidence. Baker's criticism implies that ______

Question 3. Which choice most logically completes the text?

  • A) libraries that discarded original books after microfilming them may have inadvertently destroyed historically significant material. ✓
  • B) microfilming was a more expensive method of preservation than other technologies available to libraries at the time.
  • C) the acid-treated paper used in most twentieth-century novels was of higher quality than the paper used in earlier centuries, according to the passage.
  • D) commercial publishers in the early twentieth century were aware that acid-treated paper would deteriorate over time.

Explanation: Choice A is the best answer because it most logically follows from Baker's criticism as described in the text. Baker argued that microfilm copies failed to capture important features of the original books, such as illustrations, marginal notes, and the texture and color of pages, and that these features constitute valuable historical evidence. Since some libraries discarded the originals after microfilming, and the microfilm did not preserve these historically significant features, Baker's criticism implies that the libraries may have inadvertently destroyed material of historical value. Choice B is incorrect because the text does not discuss the cost of microfilming relative to other preservation methods. Choice C is incorrect because the text describes acid-treated paper as deteriorating rapidly, not as being of higher quality than earlier paper; in fact, the text suggests the opposite. Choice D is incorrect because the text does not address whether publishers knew the paper would deteriorate; it focuses on the later efforts of libraries to address the deterioration.

Text
Linguist Carmen Fought has observed that in films produced by a major American animation studio between 1989 and 1999, characters who speak with nonstandard dialects, such as those associated with working-class or minority communities, are overwhelmingly portrayed as villains or comic relief, whereas characters who speak with a standard American dialect are almost always cast as heroes or romantic leads. Fought's findings are notable because children are a primary audience for animated films and are in the process of forming attitudes about social groups. Fought argues that the consistent pairing of dialect with character type in these films is significant because ______

Question 4. Which choice most logically completes the text?

  • A) it may reinforce in young viewers the assumption that people who speak in nonstandard dialects are less admirable than those who speak in a standard dialect. ✓
  • B) it demonstrates that the animation studio intentionally designed its films to discourage children from using nonstandard dialects.
  • C) it suggests that animated films produced after 1999 are unlikely to feature characters who speak with nonstandard dialects.
  • D) it proves that children who watch animated films develop negative attitudes toward speakers of nonstandard dialects.

Explanation: Choice A is the best answer because it most logically completes the text's discussion of dialect and character portrayal in animated films. The text establishes that nonstandard-dialect speakers are cast as villains or comic relief while standard-dialect speakers are cast as heroes, and that children, who are forming attitudes about social groups, are the primary audience. Fought argues this pairing is significant, and the most logical completion is that such consistent associations may reinforce assumptions in young viewers that nonstandard-dialect speakers are less admirable. Choice B is incorrect because the text does not suggest the studio had a deliberate intention to discourage children from using nonstandard dialects; Fought's argument concerns the effect of the pattern, not the studio's motivations. Choice C is incorrect because the text provides no information about films produced after 1999 or any trends in later casting decisions. Choice D is incorrect because it overstates the finding; the text describes a pattern that "may" shape attitudes, not one that has been proven to cause specific outcomes in children.

Text
Soil scientist Asmeret Asefaw Berhe studies how soil carbon storage is affected by erosion on hillslopes. When topsoil erodes from a hillslope, the eroded soil, along with the carbon it contains, is deposited in low-lying areas such as valleys. It was previously assumed that this process merely relocated carbon from one place to another, resulting in no net change in the total amount of carbon stored in soil. Berhe and colleagues discovered, however, that the eroded hillslope, once stripped of its carbon-rich topsoil, begins to accumulate new carbon through fresh plant growth, while the carbon buried in the valley deposit is largely shielded from decomposition. Berhe's findings therefore suggest that ______

Question 5. Which choice most logically completes the text?

  • A) erosion on hillslopes may actually increase the total amount of carbon stored in soil rather than simply relocating it. ✓
  • B) carbon stored in valley deposits is more likely to be released into the atmosphere than carbon in hillslope topsoil is.
  • C) hillslope erosion occurs more frequently in regions with high levels of plant growth than in regions with low levels of plant growth.
  • D) the total amount of carbon stored in soil worldwide has remained constant despite increases in erosion rates.

Explanation: Choice A is the best answer because it most logically completes the text's discussion of erosion and soil carbon storage. The text explains that after erosion moves carbon-rich topsoil to a valley, two things happen: the stripped hillslope begins accumulating new carbon through fresh plant growth, and the buried valley carbon is largely shielded from decomposition. The previous assumption was that erosion merely relocated carbon with no net change. But because the hillslope gains new carbon while the valley retains the old carbon, the total amount of stored carbon may actually increase. Choice B is incorrect because the text states the opposite: valley carbon is "largely shielded from decomposition," meaning it is less likely, not more likely, to be released. Choice C is incorrect because the text does not discuss the frequency of erosion in different regions or relate erosion rates to levels of plant growth. Choice D is incorrect because Berhe's findings suggest a net increase in soil carbon from erosion, not that the total has remained constant; moreover, the text does not address global erosion rates.