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A quick taste of the SAT Reading & Writing bank — every question below is a real, quality-reviewed item. Answer them, then see how you did.
- The protagonist of Gabriel García Márquez's *One Hundred Years of Solitude* is Ursula Iguarán, who lives for over a century and serves as the moral backbone of the Buendía family. ______, her son José Arcadio Buendía, the family patriarch, is driven by an insatiable curiosity that leads him to found the town of Macondo and later become obsessed with alchemy.
Choose the transition that best fits the logic of the passage.
- In the late 19th century, public health officials began to recognize that cholera outbreaks were not caused by 'miasma' or bad air, but by contaminated water supplies. This shift in understanding led to significant infrastructure changes, including the construction of modern sewage systems and the filtration of drinking water. However, despite these advancements, cholera persisted in certain impoverished urban areas where access to clean water remained limited. This disparity highlighted that while scientific understanding and technological solutions were crucial, social and economic factors also played a significant role in disease prevention.
Choose the option that best captures the text's central idea.
- A recent study by the Media Analysis Institute suggests that algorithmic curation on social media platforms ______ users toward content that reinforces their existing beliefs, a phenomenon known as echo chamber formation.
Choose the option that follows the conventions of standard written English.
- During the Civil Rights Movement, many activists argued that nonviolent resistance was not merely a tactical preference but a moral imperative. They believed that by absorbing violence without retaliating, protesters could expose the brutality of segregationist policies and awaken the conscience of the nation. This approach required immense discipline; any deviation into aggression would undermine the ____ of their cause and validate their opponents’ claims that the movement was inherently violent.
Choose the word or phrase that fits the blank most logically and precisely.
- Recent excavations at the site of an ancient Mesopotamian temple have yielded numerous clay tablets. ____ these artifacts, archaeologists can reconstruct details about the daily economic activities of the city's inhabitants.
Choose the option that follows the conventions of standard written English.
- In many rapidly growing cities, the phenomenon of 'gentrification' often leads to rising property values. While this can increase municipal tax revenues, it frequently forces long-term, lower-income residents to relocate. Urban planners therefore argue that development projects should be ____ by strict affordable housing mandates to ensure that economic growth does not come at the expense of social displacement.
Choose the word or phrase that fits the blank most logically and precisely.
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GRE · Analyze an Issue Governments should invest more heavily in public transportation than in new highways.
Whether to prioritize public transportation over new highways is ultimately a question of what kind of future a city wants to build. While highways promise immediate relief from congestion, governments should indeed invest more heavily in public transportation, because it addresses the root causes of urban gridlock rather than temporarily masking them.
The strongest case for transit is that highways tend to create the very demand they aim to satisfy. Planners call this 'induced demand': when a city widens a road, the extra capacity draws more drivers until traffic returns to its former crawl. Los Angeles, despite decades of highway expansion, remains among the most congested cities in the world. A dollar spent on a new lane often buys only a few years of relief, whereas a dollar spent on reliable rail removes cars from the road permanently.
Transit also distributes opportunity more fairly. A household that cannot afford a car is effectively cut off from jobs in a highway-dependent city, and efficient transit reconnects those residents to the economy while lowering emissions per passenger.
None of this means highways are worthless. In sparsely populated regions, and for freight, roads remain essential. The claim is not that highways should be abandoned, but that, at the margin, the next public dollar does more good on rails than under asphalt.
Sample response · scroll to read
AWA score
- Position5/6
Takes a clear, appropriately qualified stance and holds it throughout.
- Development4/6
A strong central idea (induced demand) with a concrete example; the equity and environmental points are asserted more than developed.
- Organization5/6
A logical arc from claim to reasons to concession; transitions guide the reader well.
- Language4/6
Fluent and largely precise, though a few sentences run long and could be tightened.
- Conventions5/6
Solid command of grammar and mechanics, with only minor slips.
Strengths
- Clear, nuanced thesis that avoids overclaiming
- The 'induced demand' argument is well-chosen and genuinely persuasive
- Concedes the strongest counterpoint (rural roads, freight) rather than ignoring it
To improve
- Develop the equity/environment paragraph with a specific example or figure
- Trim wordy sentences to sharpen the prose
- Address a likely objection to transit (cost, ridership risk) head-on
A focused, well-structured response with a persuasive core argument and a fair concession. Deepening the supporting evidence and tightening the language would lift it toward the top of the scale.
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lasting for a very short time; temporary
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