SAT Central Ideas (Easy) - English – Real Collegeboard Practice Questions with Answers and Explanations

Choice B is the best answer because it most effectively states the main idea of the text, which is that Heidi is delighted and fascinated by an image she sees in one of Grandmama’s books. In the text, Heidi screams upon first seeing the picture of the green pasture. In another context, such a reaction might suggest fear, but here the reaction is followed by descriptions of an image that’s peaceful rather than scary. The text goes on to describe Heidi’s eyes as “glowing” and states that she “devoured the scene,” suggesting that the image delights and fascinates her so much that she wants to examine every detail. Together, these descriptions suggest that Heidi is thrilled and intrigued by the image in the book. Choice A is incorrect because there’s nothing in the text to suggest that Heidi is upset before seeing the peaceful image of the green pasture. Before Heidi sees that image, the text describes her as “looking with wondering eyes at the splendid pictures” in the book, suggesting that Heidi is intrigued, not that she’s unhappy. Choice C is incorrect. Although Heidi screams upon first seeing the image, the text’s description of the image and Heidi’s other reactions to it suggest that she is screaming with delight, not fear. The text describes the images in the book as “splendid” and the particular image that causes her to scream as peaceful rather than frightening. It also describes Heidi’s eyes as “glowing” and states that she “devoured the scene,” suggesting that the image of the green pasture delights and fascinates her so much that she wants to examine every detail. Choice D is incorrect because it’s unclear from the text whether Heidi has ever seen a shepherd with his sheep before. The text merely suggests that she is delighted and fascinated by the image of the shepherd and his sheep.

Choice B is the best answer. The text states that archaeologists are interested in using scents to better understand "ancient rituals, trade, social hierarchies, and medicine," all of which are important aspects of ancient life. Choice A is incorrect. The text doesn’t say anything about investigating if people’s sense of smell has declined in recent centuries. It says that scents fade over time—not that people have gotten worse at smelling scents. Choice C is incorrect. The text says that archaeologists are interested in using scents to better understand "ancient rituals, trade, social hierarchies, and medicine," but it doesn’t say anything about ancient scents being enjoyable to people today. Choice D is incorrect. The text doesn’t say anything about developing new medicines. Rather, it says that archaeologists are interested in using scents to better understand "ancient rituals, trade, social hierarchies, and medicine."

Choice A is the best answer. The text discusses how the mass production of bicycles in the late nineteenth century allowed people to travel longer distances, live farther from their workplaces, visit neighboring towns, and participate in new activities and social clubs. All of these are new opportunities that were provided by the widespread adoption of the bicycle. Choice B is incorrect. The text never says this. It does say that the bicycle was “affordable,” and that the “freedom to travel longer distances quickly and comfortably” made the bicycle “popular,” but it never says that the bicycle was more popular than any other way of traveling (like cars or trains or horses). Choice C is incorrect. This is a detail mentioned in the text, but not the main idea. Cycling clubs are only one of the new opportunities that arose from the popularity of the mass-produced bicycle. A “main idea” should capture more of the information in the text. Choice D is incorrect. The text never says this. It doesn’t mention the safety of the mass-produced bicycle at all.

Choice B is the best answer. The text describes Favela’s approach to sculpture, and then describes the lowrider car that he depicted in 2017. Choice A is incorrect. This isn’t what the text says. The Petersen Automotive Museum is located in Los Angeles, but Favela’s artwork isn’t a painting, and it doesn’t depict L.A. Choice C is incorrect. This isn’t what the text says. Favela makes sculptures similar to piñatas, not paintings of them. Choice D is incorrect. This isn’t what the text says. Jesse Valadez owned the lowrider car that Favela depicted in sculpture.

Choice C is the best answer because it gives the age for the fossil discovered by Wang and colleagues that is directly supported by the text. According to the text, Xin Wang and colleagues discovered a 164-million-year-old plant fossil. This plant fossil included a flower bud, which the researchers believe provides evidence that flowering plants emerged in the Jurassic period, which falls between 145 million and 201 million years ago. Choice A is incorrect because the text states that Wang and colleagues discovered a 164-million-year-old flowering plant fossil in China, not one that is 150 million years old. Although 150 million years ago would fall within the Jurassic period, according to the text it isn’t the age of the discovered fossil. Choice B is incorrect because the text states that Wang and colleagues discovered a 164-million-year-old flowering plant fossil in China, not one that is 145 million years old. Although 145 million years ago would fall at the end of the Jurassic period, according to the text it isn’t the age of the discovered fossil. Choice D is incorrect because the text states that Wang and colleagues discovered a 164-million-year-old flowering plant fossil in China, not one that is 201 million years old. Although 201 million years ago would fall at the beginning of the Jurassic period, according to the text it isn’t the age of the discovered fossil.

Choice D is the best answer. The text describes the very low ceiling of the cave, making it impossible to photograph the very wide glyphs all at once. Choice A is incorrect. The text doesn’t say this. It never suggests that the cave was remote or difficult to access, just that the cave itself was difficult to photograph well. Choice B is incorrect. The text doesn’t say this. The glyphs were so wide that they couldn’t be photographed completely. Choice C is incorrect. The text states the opposite of this. The researchers “used a technique called photogrammetry to assemble numerous photos of the walls into a 3D model.”

Choice C is the best answer. The text states that the narrator couldn’t remember what his Radha Aunty looked like, so he went to look at the family photographs she was in. Choice A is incorrect. There’s no mention of any story that the narrator is writing. Rather, we’re told that the narrator couldn’t remember what his aunt looked like, so he went to look at the family photographs she was in. Choice B is incorrect. The text doesn’t mention how the narrator’s father dressed. Rather, we’re told that the narrator couldn’t remember what his aunt looked like, so he went to look at the family photographs she was in. Choice D is incorrect. The text doesn’t mention any events shown in the photographs. Rather, we’re told that the narrator couldn’t remember what his aunt looked like, so he went to look at the family photographs she was in.

Choice D is the best answer. The study isn’t definitive, but it says that Mimas’s wobbly rotation could be explained by the hidden ocean. Choice A is incorrect. This choice goes too far beyond the information in the text. Rhoden’s team proposed that one moon of Saturn could have a liquid ocean beneath its surface, and that other moons should also be examined, but no one has confirmed anything. Choice B is incorrect. This choice conflicts with the text. Research has identified at least one sign—the unusual wobble in Mimas’s rotation—that might be due to a hidden ocean beneath its surface. Choice C is incorrect. This choice doesn’t reflect the text. The computer model studies “gravitational interactions,” which seem to account for the wobbly rotation of Mimas.

Choice B is the best answer. The text describes a study about how giant honeybees use shimmering to defend against hornets, but not other predators. The researchers conclude that shimmering could be a specialized defense response to hornets. Choice A is incorrect. The text says that giant honeybees don’t appear to use shimmering against other, larger predators. However, it never suggests that researchers don’t know which other defenses giant honeybees do use for those predators. Choice C is incorrect. The text says that hornets are one predator of giant honeybees, but it doesn’t say that hornets are the main predator of giant honeybees. This choice also fails to mention “shimmering,” which is a major focus of the text. Choice D is incorrect. The text only discusses the shimmering of giant honeybees—it doesn’t discuss other insects’ defense responses at all.

Choice B is the best answer because it describes a reason that Moejoh and team founded U-recycle Initiative Africa. The text mentions two reasons the initiative was founded: to teach young people about how they affect the environment and to teach them “why recycling is important.” Thus, teaching the importance of recycling to young people accurately describes a motivation that the text cites as a reason for the initiative’s founding. Choice A is incorrect. Although art is mentioned in the text, there are no details about artists or whether they are being overlooked. Choice C is incorrect because the text is explicitly about young people and their relationship to the environment and recycling. There is no mention of adults or outdoor skills. Choice D is incorrect. Although the text discusses young people, which likely includes teenagers, there is no mention of starting businesses.

Choice D is the best answer. The text describes a study about how reef-building corals capture microplastics from ocean waters, which found that these corals are storing 20 million kilograms of microplastics in their skeletons and tissues. Choice A is incorrect. While the researchers are studying “reef-building corals,” the focus of their study isn’t how the corals build the reefs. Rather, they’re studying how corals may be storing microplastics from ocean waters. Choice B is incorrect. The text doesn’t mention any unanswered questions about the impact of corals on ocean ecosystems—rather, the study assesses one interaction between corals and microplastics. Choice C is incorrect. The text does say this, but it’s a detail—not the main idea. The main idea of the text is about the study that found that corals may be storing microplastics from ocean waters in their skeletons and tissues.

Choice D is the best answer. The text describes a study assessing how children think of rewards and fairness and its results. It concludes that the children in the study may have thought that a teacher who counted out loud when giving rewards cared more about fairness than a teacher who did not count out loud. Choice A is incorrect. The children in the study are described as being “four to six,” and the text doesn’t mention any differences among the different ages. Choice B is incorrect. The experiment wasn’t about teaching math—rather, it was about how counting out loud affected the children’s perception of fairness. Choice C is incorrect. The experiment doesn’t focus on whether the children care about fairness, and the text never mentions the children’s expectations of being rewarded.

Choice D is correct. The text describes how Alspaugh’s scrapbook is both a record of her life and a historical record of nineteenth-century textiles and dressmaking. Choice A is incorrect. The text says that it was common for American women to keep scrapbooks of fabric pieces in the nineteenth century, and it says that Alspaugh was one of these women. However, it never says that other women were inspired by Alspaugh. Choice B is incorrect. This is too general and too strong. The text says that Alspaugh’s scrapbook is a historical record of nineteenth-century textiles and dressmaking, but it never says that historians rely on such scrapbooks in general to understand how fashions changed throughout that time period. This choice also fails to even mention Alspaugh, who is the real focus of the text. Choice C is incorrect. The text does say this, but it’s a detail—not the main idea. The text is mainly about one woman’s scrapbook (Alspaugh’s), and this choice doesn’t even mention her.

Choice B is the best answer. The last sentence states that the linocut process “supported her [Catlett’s] aim to unite Black women through her art.” Choice A is incorrect. The text briefly describes the linocut printing process but doesn’t discuss the availability of the materials used in the process. Choice C is incorrect. The text says that the linocut process “enabled Catlett’s work to reach a wide audience,” but that doesn’t mean that linocuts made her “commercially successful.” In other words, we don’t know how much money she made off her linocuts—we only know that more people were able to see her work. Choice D is incorrect. The text says that Catlett depicted Black women in her linocuts, but not that she was one of the first Black artists to use linocut printing.

Choice A is the best answer. The text lists complaints about the house made by the mother and father, but then it says that the children thought the house was a "Fairy Palace" and "Earthly Paradise." Choice B is incorrect. The text states the opposite of this. It describes how the mother and father dislike the house and says the children think the house seems like paradise. Choice C is incorrect. This isn’t what the text says. Only the children are said to admire the house; mother and father both complain about the house. Choice D is incorrect. The text states the opposite of this. It tells us the house was ugly and poorly built ("an architect’s nightmare") and suggests the children were tired of London.