Question ID ca50de52

Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: ca50de52
“How lifelike are they?” Many computer animators prioritize this question as they strive to create ever more realistic
environments and lighting. Generally, while characters in computer-animated films appear highly exaggerated,
environments and lighting are carefully engineered to mimic reality. But some animators, such as Pixar’s Sanjay
Patel, are focused on a different question. Rather than asking first whether the environments and lighting they’re
creating are convincingly lifelike, Patel and others are asking whether these elements reflect their films’ unique
stories.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a whole?
A. It reflects a primary goal that many computer animators have for certain components of the animations they
produce.
B. It represents a concern of computer animators who are more interested in creating unique backgrounds and
lighting effects than realistic ones.
C. It conveys the uncertainty among many computer animators about how to create realistic animations using
current technology.
D. It illustrates a reaction that audiences typically have to the appearance of characters created by computer
animators.
Question ID 82cb7dda
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 82cb7dda
The field of study called affective neuroscience seeks instinctive, physiological causes for feelings such as pleasure
or displeasure. Because these sensations are linked to a chemical component (for example, the release of the
neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain when one receives or expects a reward), they can be said to have a partly
physiological basis. These processes have been described in mammals, but Jingnan Huang and his colleagues have
recently observed that some behaviors of honeybees (such as foraging) are also motivated by a dopamine-based
signaling process.
What choice best describes the main purpose of the text?
A. It describes an experimental method of measuring the strength of physiological responses in humans.
B. It illustrates processes by which certain insects can express how they are feeling.
C. It summarizes a finding suggesting that some mechanisms in the brains of certain insects resemble mechanisms
in mammalian brains.
D. It presents research showing that certain insects and mammals behave similarly when there is a possibility of a
reward for their actions.
Question ID c966ad55
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: c966ad55
The following text is from Srimati Svarna Kumari Devi’s 1894 novel The Fatal Garland (translated by A. Christina
Albers in 1910). Shakti is walking near a riverbank that she visited frequently during her childhood.
She crossed the woods she knew so well. The trees seemed to extend their branches like welcoming arms.
They greeted her as an old friend. Soon she reached the river-side.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It suggests that Shakti feels uncomfortable near the river.
B. It indicates that Shakti has lost her sense of direction in the woods.
C. It emphasizes Shakti’s sense of belonging in the landscape.
D. It conveys Shakti’s appreciation for her long-term friendships.
Question ID b13378c8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: b13378c8
Early in the Great Migration of 1910–1970, which involved the mass migration of Black people from the southern to
the northern United States, political activist and Chicago Defender writer Fannie Barrier Williams was instrumental in
helping other Black women establish themselves in the North. Many women hoped for better employment
opportunities in the North because, in the South, they faced much competition for domestic employment and men
tended to get agricultural work. To aid with this transition, Barrier Williams helped secure job placement in the North
for many women before they even began their journey.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To introduce and illustrate Barrier Williams’s integral role in supporting other Black women as their
circumstances changed during part of the Great Migration
B. To establish that Barrier Williams used her professional connections to arrange employment for other Black
women, including jobs with the Chicago Defender
C. To demonstrate that the factors that motivated the start of the Great Migration were different for Black women
than they were for Black men
D. To provide an overview of the employment challenges faced by Black women in the agricultural and domestic
spheres in the southern United States
Question ID d4732483
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: d4732483
Studying late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artifacts from an agricultural and domestic site in Texas,
archaeologist Ayana O. Flewellen found that Black women employed as farm workers utilized hook-and-eye closures
to fasten their clothes at the waist, giving themselves a silhouette similar to the one that was popular in
contemporary fashion and typically achieved through more restrictive garments such as corsets. Flewellen argues
that this sartorial practice shows that these women balanced hegemonic ideals of femininity with the requirements
of their physically demanding occupation.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To describe an unexpected discovery that altered a researcher’s view of how rapidly fashions among Black
female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas changed during the period
B. To discuss research that investigated the ways in which Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century Texas used fashion practices to resist traditional gender ideals
C. To evaluate a scholarly work that offers explanations for the impact of urban fashion ideals on Black female
farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas
D. To summarize the findings of a study that explored factors influencing a fashion practice among Black female
farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas
Question ID e818241b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: e818241b
Astronomers are confident that the star Betelgeuse will eventually consume all the helium in its core and explode in
a supernova. They are much less confident, however, about when this will happen, since that depends on internal
characteristics of Betelgeuse that are largely unknown. Astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance and colleagues
recently investigated whether acoustic waves in the star could be used to determine internal stellar states but
concluded that this method could not sufficiently reveal Betelgeuse’s internal characteristics to allow its
evolutionary state to be firmly fixed.
Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It describes a serious limitation of the method used by Nance and colleagues.
B. It presents the central finding reported by Nance and colleagues.
C. It identifies the problem that Nance and colleagues attempted to solve but did not.
D. It explains how the work of Nance and colleagues was received by others in the field.
Question ID 236fee8e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 236fee8e
Archeological excavation of Market Street Chinatown, a nineteenth-century Chinese American community in San
Jose, California, provided the first evidence that Asian food products were imported to the United States in the
1800s: bones from a freshwater fish species native to Southeast Asia. Jinshanzhuang—Hong Kong–based
import/export firms—likely coordinated the fish’s transport from Chinese-operated fisheries in Vietnam and Malaysia
to North American markets. This route reveals the (often overlooked) multinational dimensions of the trade networks
linking Chinese diaspora communities.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It explains why efforts to determine the country of origin of the items mentioned in the previous sentence remain
inconclusive.
B. It provides information that helps support a claim about a discovery’s significance that is presented in the
following sentence.
C. It traces the steps that were taken to locate and recover the objects that are described in the previous sentence.
D. It outlines a hypothesis that additional evidence discussed in the following sentence casts some doubt on.
Question ID 2903a041
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 2903a041
Using NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Mercedes López-Morales and colleagues measured
the wavelengths of light traveling through the atmosphere of WASP-39b, an exoplanet, or planet outside our solar
system. Different molecules absorb different wavelengths of light, and the wavelength measurements showed the
presence of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in WASP-39b’s atmosphere. This finding not only offers the first decisive
evidence of CO₂ in the atmosphere of an exoplanet but also illustrates the potential for future scientific
breakthroughs held by the JWST.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It discusses a method used by some researchers, then states why an alternative method is superior to it.
B. It describes how researchers made a scientific discovery, then explains the importance of that discovery.
C. It outlines the steps taken in a scientific study, then presents a hypothesis based on that study.
D. It examines how a group of scientists reached a conclusion, then shows how other scientists have challenged
that conclusion.
Question ID 066a3295
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 066a3295
Researchers have found a nearly 164,000-year-old molar from a member of the archaic human species known as
Denisovans in a cave in Laos, suggesting that Denisovans lived in a wider range of environments than indicated by
earlier evidence. Before the discovery, Denisovans were thought to have lived only at high altitudes in relatively cold
climates in what are now Russia and China, but the discovery of the tooth in Laos suggests that they may have lived
at low altitudes in relatively warm climates in Southeast Asia as well.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It dismisses as untrue the research presented in the previous sentence.
B. It defines a term used in the description that follows in the rest of the sentence.
C. It emphasizes the main goal of the research introduced in the previous sentence.
D. It provides context that clarifies the significance of the information that follows in the rest of the sentence.
Question ID ac9a3a26
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: ac9a3a26
According to historian Vicki L. Ruiz, Mexican American women made crucial contributions to the labor movement
during World War II. At the time, food processing companies entered into contracts to supply United States armed
forces with canned goods. Increased production quotas conferred greater bargaining power on the companies’
employees, many of whom were Mexican American women: employees insisted on more favorable benefits, and
employers, who were anxious to fulfill the contracts, complied. Thus, labor activism became a platform for Mexican
American women to assert their agency.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It elaborates on a claim about labor relations in a particular industry made earlier in the text.
B. It offers an example of a trend in the World War II–era economy discussed earlier in the text.
C. It notes a possible exception to the historical narrative of labor activism sketched earlier in the text.
D. It provides further details about the identities of the workers discussed earlier in the text.
Question ID 03c9f327
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 03c9f327
The following text is from Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre. Jane, the narrator, works as a governess at
Thornfield Hall.
I went on with my day’s business tranquilly; but ever and anon vague suggestions kept wandering across my brain
of reasons why I should quit Thornfield; and I kept involuntarily framing advertisements and pondering
conjectures about new situations: these thoughts I did not think to check; they might germinate and bear fruit if
they could.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To convey a contrast between Jane’s outward calmness and internal restlessness
B. To emphasize Jane’s loyalty to the people she works for at Thornfield Hall
C. To demonstrate that Jane finds her situation both challenging and deeply fulfilling
D. To describe Jane’s determination to secure employment outside of Thornfield Hall
Question ID 47598085
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 47598085
Yawn contagion occurs when one individual yawns in response to another’s yawn. Studies of this behavior in
primates have focused on populations in captivity, but biologist Elisabetta Palagi and her colleagues have shown
that it can occur in wild primate populations as well. In their study, which focused on a wild population of gelada
monkeys (Theropithecus gelada) in Ethiopia, the researchers further reported that yawn contagion most commonly
occurred in males and across different social groups instead of within a single social group.
Which choice best describes the function of the first sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It defines a phenomenon that is discussed in the text.
B. It introduces a problem that is examined in the text.
C. It makes a claim that is challenged in the text.
D. It presents a hypothesis that is evaluated in the text.
Question ID b0f7541b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: b0f7541b
The following text is adapted from Herman Melville’s 1857 novel The Confidence-Man. Humphry Davy was a
prominent British chemist and inventor.
Years ago, a grave American savant, being in London, observed at an evening party there, a certain
coxcombical fellow, as he thought, an absurd ribbon in his lapel, and full of smart [banter], whisking about to
the admiration of as many as were disposed to admire. Great was the savant’s disdain; but, chancing ere long
to find himself in a corner with the jackanapes, got into conversation with him, when he was somewhat ill-
prepared for the good sense of the jackanapes, but was altogether thrown aback, upon subsequently being
[informed that he was] no less a personage than Sir Humphry Davy.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. It portrays the thoughts of a character who is embarrassed about his own behavior.
B. It presents an account of a misunderstanding.
C. It offers a short history of how a person came to be famous.
D. It explains why one character dislikes another.
Question ID e13171c4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: e13171c4
Historians Tiya Miles and Roy E. Finkenbine have both documented the assistance Indigenous peoples gave to Black
freedom seekers leaving the South before the US Civil War. Much of the historical evidence of this help comes from
Indigenous oral traditions and from autobiographies written by the freedom seekers. One such narrative is Jermain
Loguen’s autobiography, which tells about how Neshnabé (Potawatomi) villagers offered him food, lodging, and
directions during his 1835 journey from Tennessee to Canada.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?
A. It provides an example of an autobiography that describes help given by an Indigenous people to a Black
freedom seeker.
B. It shows why Loguen decided to write in great detail about his experiences traveling from Tennessee to Canada
in his autobiography.
C. It argues that autobiographies are particularly important sources of information about geography in the United
States before the Civil War.
D. It suggests that most historians believe that Neshnabé villagers were more successful in assisting freedom
seekers than other people were.
Question ID df46a2ee
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: df46a2ee
The following text is from Joseph Conrad’s 1907 novel The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale. Mr. Verloc is navigating the
London streets on his way to a meeting.
Before reaching Knightsbridge, Mr. Verloc took a turn to the left out of the busy main thoroughfare, uproarious with
the traffic of swaying omnibuses and trotting vans, in the almost silent, swift flow of hansoms [horse-drawn
carriages]. Under his hat, worn with a slight backward tilt, his hair had been carefully brushed into respectful
sleekness; for his business was with an Embassy. And Mr. Verloc, steady like a rock—a soft kind of rock—marched
now along a street which could with every propriety be described as private.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined phrase in the text as a whole?
A. It qualifies an earlier description of Mr. Verloc.
B. It emphasizes an internal struggle Mr. Verloc experiences.
C. It contrasts Mr. Verloc with his surroundings.
D. It reveals a private opinion Mr. Verloc holds.
Question ID ff97fd53
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: ff97fd53
In 1973, poet Miguel Algarín started inviting other writers who, like him, were Nuyorican—a term for New Yorkers of
Puerto Rican heritage—to gather in his apartment to present their work. The gatherings were so well attended that
Algarín soon had to rent space in a cafe to accommodate them. Thus, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe was born. Moving
to a permanent location in 1981, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its original scope beyond the written word,
hosting art exhibitions and musical performances as well. Half a century since its inception, it continues to foster
emerging Nuyorican talent.
Which choice best describes the overall purpose of the text?
A. To explain what motivated Algarín to found the Nuyorican Poets Cafe
B. To situate the Nuyorican Poets Cafe within the cultural life of New York as a whole
C. To discuss why the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its scope to include art and music
D. To provide an overview of the founding and mission of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe
Question ID c61a7c4a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: c61a7c4a
Some studies have suggested that posture can influence cognition, but we should not overstate this phenomenon.
A case in point: In a 2014 study, Megan O’Brien and Alaa Ahmed had subjects stand or sit while making risky
simulated economic decisions. Standing is more physically unstable and cognitively demanding than sitting;
accordingly, O’Brien and Ahmed hypothesized that standing subjects would display more risk aversion during the
decision-making tasks than sitting subjects did, since they would want to avoid further feelings of discomfort and
complicated risk evaluations. But O’Brien and Ahmed actually found no difference in the groups’ performance.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. It argues that research findings about the effects of posture on cognition are often misunderstood, as in the
case of O’Brien and Ahmed’s study.
B. It presents the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to critique the methods and results reported in previous studies of
the effects of posture on cognition.
C. It explains a significant problem in the emerging understanding of posture’s effects on cognition and how
O’Brien and Ahmed tried to solve that problem.
D. It discusses the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to illustrate why caution is needed when making claims about the
effects of posture on cognition.
Question ID acb852e7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: acb852e7
The following text is from the 1923 poem “Black Finger” by Angelina Weld Grimké, a Black American writer. A
cypress is a type of evergreen tree.
I have just seen a most beautiful thing,
Slim and still,
Against a gold, gold sky,
A straight black cypress,
Sensitive,
Exquisite,
A black finger
Pointing upwards.
Why, beautiful still finger, are you black?
And why are you pointing upwards?
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. The speaker assesses a natural phenomenon, then questions the accuracy of her assessment.
B. The speaker describes a distinctive sight in nature, then ponders what meaning to attribute to that sight.
C. The speaker presents an outdoor scene, then considers a human behavior occurring within that scene.
D. The speaker examines her surroundings, then speculates about their influence on her emotional state.
Question ID aa5897b8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: aa5897b8
In Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park, an almost imperceptible smile from potential suitor Henry Crawford causes
the protagonist Fanny Price to blush; her embarrassment grows when she suspects that he is aware of it. This
moment—in which Fanny not only infers Henry’s mental state through his gestures, but also infers that he is drawing
inferences about her mental state—illustrates what literary scholar George Butte calls “deep intersubjectivity,” a
technique for representing interactions between consciousnesses through which Austen’s novels derive much of
their social and psychological drama.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It states a claim about Austen’s skill at representing psychological complexity that is reinforced by an example
presented in the following sentence.
B. It advances an interpretation of an Austen protagonist who is contrasted with protagonists from other Austen
novels cited in the following sentence.
C. It describes a recurring theme in Austen’s novels that is the focus of a literary scholar’s analysis summarized in
the following sentence.
D. It provides a synopsis of an interaction in an Austen novel that illustrates a literary concept discussed in the
following sentence.
Question ID 9421ed62
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 9421ed62
In 2007, computer scientist Luis von Ahn was working on converting printed books into a digital format. He found
that some words were distorted enough that digital scanners couldn’t recognize them, but most humans could
easily read them. Based on that finding, von Ahn invented a simple security test to keep automated “bots” out of
websites. The first version of the reCAPTCHA test asked users to type one known word and one of the many words
scanners couldn’t recognize. Correct answers proved the users were humans and added data to the book-digitizing
project.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To discuss von Ahn’s invention of reCAPTCHA
B. To explain how digital scanners work
C. To call attention to von Ahn’s book-digitizing project
D. To indicate how popular reCAPTCHA is
Question ID 39857700
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 39857700
The following text is from Edith Wharton’s 1905 novel The House of Mirth. Lily Bart and a companion are walking
through a park.
Lily had no real intimacy with nature, but she had a passion for the appropriate and could be keenly sensitive to a
scene which was the fitting background of her own sensations. The landscape outspread below her seemed an
enlargement of her present mood, and she found something of herself in its calmness, its breadth, its long free
reaches. On the nearer slopes the sugar-maples wavered like pyres of light; lower down was a massing of grey
orchards, and here and there the lingering green of an oak-grove.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It creates a detailed image of the physical setting of the scene.
B. It establishes that a character is experiencing an internal conflict.
C. It makes an assertion that the next sentence then expands on.
D. It illustrates an idea that is introduced in the previous sentence.
Question ID e929fe98
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: e929fe98
Composer Florence Price won first place for her score Symphony in E Minor at the 1932 Wanamaker Foundation
Awards. The piece was performed the following year by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a significant recognition
of its quality. Price continued to compose many musical pieces throughout her career, blending traditional Black
spirituals with classical European Romantic musical traditions. In recent years, Price’s concertos and symphonies
have been performed and recorded by several major orchestras, further preserving her work for others to enjoy.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To provide examples of Price’s importance as a composer
B. To argue that more major orchestras should perform Price’s compositions
C. To describe the musical styles that inspired many of Price’s symphonies
D. To compare Price’s scores with those of classical European composers
Question ID 2aaee77f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 2aaee77f
Some bird species don’t raise their own chicks. Instead, adult females lay their eggs in other nests, next to another
bird species’ own eggs. Female cuckoos have been seen quickly laying eggs in the nests of other bird species when
those birds are out looking for food. After the eggs hatch, the noncuckoo parents will typically raise the cuckoo
chicks as if they were their own offspring, even if the cuckoos look very different from the other chicks.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It introduces a physical feature of female cuckoos that is described later in the text.
B. It describes the appearance of the cuckoo nests mentioned earlier in the text.
C. It offers a detail about how female cuckoos carry out the behavior discussed in the text.
D. It explains how other birds react to the female cuckoo behavior discussed in the text.
Question ID b4887dae
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: b4887dae
Mathematician Claude Shannon is widely regarded as a foundational figure in information theory. His most important
paper, “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” published in 1948 when he was employed at Bell Labs, utilized a
concept called a “binary digit” (shortened to “bit”) to measure the amount of information in any signal and
determine the fastest rate at which information could be transmitted while still being reliably decipherable. Robert
Gallagher, one of Shannon’s colleagues, said that the bit was “[Shannon’s] discovery, and from it the whole
communications revolution has sprung.”
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It presents a theoretical concept, illustrates how the name of the concept has changed, and shows how the
name has entered common usage.
B. It introduces a respected researcher, describes an aspect of his work, and suggests why the work is historically
significant.
C. It names the company where an important mathematician worked, details the mathematician’s career at the
company, and provides an example of the recognition he received there.
D. It mentions a paper, offers a summary of the paper’s findings, and presents a researcher’s commentary on the
paper.
Question ID 3e6ad72d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 3e6ad72d
A study by a team including finance professor Madhu Veeraraghavan suggests that exposure to sunshine during the
workday can lead to overly optimistic behavior. Using data spanning from 1994 to 2010 for a set of US companies,
the team compared over 29,000 annual earnings forecasts to the actual earnings later reported by those
companies. The team found that the greater the exposure to sunshine at work in the two weeks before a manager
submitted an earnings forecast, the more the manager’s forecast exceeded what the company actually earned that
year.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. To summarize the results of the team’s analysis
B. To present a specific example that illustrates the study’s findings
C. To explain part of the methodology used in the team’s study
D. To call out a challenge the team faced in conducting its analysis
Question ID 5336f2e4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 5336f2e4
The following text is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston’s 1921 short story “John Redding Goes to Sea.” John is a
child who lives in a town in the woods.
Perhaps ten-year-old John was puzzling to the folk there in the Florida woods for he was an imaginative child and
fond of day-dreams. The St. John River flowed a scarce three hundred feet from his back door. On its banks at
this point grow numerous palms, luxuriant magnolias and bay trees. On the bosom of the stream float millions of
delicately colored hyacinths. [John Redding] loved to wander down to the water’s edge, and, casting in dry twigs,
watch them sail away down stream to Jacksonville, the sea, the wide world and [he] wanted to follow them.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It provides an extended description of a location that John likes to visit.
B. It reveals that some residents of John’s town are confused by his behavior.
C. It illustrates the uniqueness of John’s imagination compared to the imaginations of other children.
D. It suggests that John longs to experience a larger life outside the Florida woods.
Question ID 6f5fc289
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 6f5fc289
The following text is adapted from Charles Dickens’s 1854 novel Hard Times. Coketown is a fictional town in
England.
[Coketown] contained several large streets all very like one another, and many small streets still more like one
another, inhabited by people equally like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same
sound upon the same pavements, to do the same work, and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and
tomorrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To emphasize the uniformity of both the town and the people who live there
B. To explain the limited work opportunities available to the town’s residents
C. To reveal how the predictability of the town makes it easy for people lose track of time
D. To argue that the simplicity of life in the town makes it a pleasant place to live
Question ID ea971260
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: ea971260
The following text is adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s 1869 novel An Old-Fashioned Girl. Polly, a teenager, is
visiting her friend Fanny.
Fanny’s friends did not interest Polly much; she was rather afraid of them [because] they seemed so much
older and wiser than herself, even those younger in years. They talked about things of which she knew nothing
and when Fanny tried to explain, she didn’t find them interesting; indeed, some of them rather shocked and
puzzled her.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To portray Polly’s reaction to Fanny’s friends
B. To identify the topics Polly talks about with Fanny’s friends
C. To explain how Fanny met some of her friends
D. To illustrate how Fanny’s friends feel about Polly
Question ID 975b0602
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 975b0602
A number of Indigenous politicians have been elected to the United States Congress since 2000 as members of the
country’s two established political parties. In Canada and several Latin American countries, on the other hand,
Indigenous people have formed their own political parties to advance candidates who will advocate for the interests
of their communities. This movement has been particularly successful in Ecuador, where Guadalupe Llori, a member
of the Indigenous party known as Pachakutik, was elected president of the National Assembly in 2021.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To trace the history of an Indigenous political movement and speculate about its future development
B. To argue that Indigenous politicians in the United States should form their own political party
C. To highlight two approaches to achieving political representation for Indigenous people
D. To consider how Indigenous politicians in the United States have influenced Indigenous politicians in Canada and
Latin America
Question ID 2b085bc6
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 2b085bc6
The following text is adapted from Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 1902 novel The Sport of the Gods. Joe and some of his
family members have recently moved to New York City.
[Joe] was wild with enthusiasm and with a desire to be a part of all that the metropolis meant. In the evening he
saw the young fellows passing by dressed in their spruce clothes, and he wondered with a sort of envy where
they could be going. Back home there had been no place much worth going to, except church and one or two
people’s houses.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. It illustrates a character’s reaction to a new environment.
B. It explains why a character has traveled to a city.
C. It compares a character’s thoughts about an event at two different times of day.
D. It presents a character feeling regret over leaving home.
Question ID c8603ed7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: c8603ed7
San Francisco is known for the colorful murals painted on many of its buildings. The densest collection of murals is
found on Balmy Alley in the Mission District neighborhood. In the 1970s, Latina artists painted vivid scenes of
community life on walls along this block. As the original murals have faded, later generations of artists have painted
new ones over them. As a result, Balmy Alley has become a living showcase of San Francisco’s artistic spirit, with its
murals reflecting changes in the cultural life of the city.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To compare the Balmy Alley murals to other murals in San Francisco
B. To offer an overview of the history and importance of the Balmy Alley murals
C. To urge people to protect the murals of San Francisco from decay
D. To describe the rise of mural painting in San Francisco beginning in the 1970s
Question ID 9c759a09
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 9c759a09
The following text is from Georgia Douglas Johnson’s 1922 poem “Benediction.”
Go forth, my son,
Winged by my heart’s desire!
Great reaches, yet unknown,
Await
For your possession.
I may not, if I would,
Retrace the way with you,
My pilgrimage is through,
But life is calling you!
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To express hope that a child will have the same accomplishments as his parent did
B. To suggest that raising a child involves many struggles
C. To warn a child that he will face many challenges throughout his life
D. To encourage a child to embrace the experiences life will offer
Question ID 8963273a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 8963273a
Musician Joni Mitchell, who is also a painter, uses images she creates for her album covers to emphasize ideas
expressed in her music. For the cover of her album Turbulent Indigo (1994), Mitchell painted a striking self-portrait
that closely resembles Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889). The image calls attention to the
album’s title song, in which Mitchell sings about the legacy of the postimpressionist painter. In that song, Mitchell
also hints that she feels a strong artistic connection to Van Gogh—an idea that is reinforced by her imagery on the
cover.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It presents a claim about Mitchell, then gives an example supporting that claim.
B. It discusses Van Gogh’s influence on Mitchell, then considers Mitchell’s influence on other artists.
C. It describes a similarity between two artists, then notes a difference between them.
D. It describes the songs on Turbulent Indigo, then explains how they relate to the album’s cover.
Question ID c4900368
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: c4900368
The following text is from the 1924 poem “Cycle” by D’Arcy McNickle, who was a citizen of the Confederated Salish
and Kootenai Tribes.
There shall be new roads wending,
A new beating of the drum—
Men’s eyes shall have fresh seeing,
Grey lives reprise their span—
But under the new sun’s being,
Completing what night began,
There’ll be the same backs bending,
The same sad feet shall drum—
When this night finds its ending
And day shall have come.....
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To consider how the repetitiveness inherent in human life can be both rewarding and challenging
B. To question whether activities completed at one time of day are more memorable than those completed at
another time of day
C. To refute the idea that joy is a more commonly experienced emotion than sadness is
D. To demonstrate how the experiences of individuals relate to the experiences of their communities
Question ID a68239ed
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: a68239ed
The following text is adapted from Oscar Wilde’s 1897 nonfiction work De Profundis.
People whose desire is solely for self-realisation never know where they are going. They can’t know. In one
sense of the word it is of course necessary to know oneself: that is the first achievement of knowledge. But to
recognise that the soul of a man is unknowable, is the ultimate achievement of wisdom. The final mystery is
oneself. When one has weighed the sun in the balance, and measured the steps of the moon, and mapped out
the seven heavens star by star, there still remains oneself. Who can calculate the orbit of his own soul?
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a whole?
A. It reinforces the text’s skepticism about the possibility of truly achieving self-knowledge.
B. It speculates that some readers will share the doubts expressed in the text about the value of self-knowledge.
C. It cautions readers that the text’s directions for how to achieve self-knowledge are hard to follow.
D. It concedes that the definition of self-knowledge advanced in the text is unpopular.
Question ID 74446089
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 74446089
For his 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies, Beverly Glenn-Copeland wrote songs grounded in traditional soul and folk
music, then accompanied them with futuristic synthesizer arrangements featuring ambient sounds and complex
rhythms. The result was so strange, so unprecedented, that the album attracted little attention when first released.
In recent years, however, a younger generation of musicians has embraced the stylistic experimentation of
Keyboard Fantasies. Alternative R&B musicians Blood Orange and Moses Sumney, among other contemporary
recording artists, cite the album as an influence.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It urges contemporary musicians to adopt the unique sound of Keyboard Fantasies.
B. It responds to criticism of Keyboard Fantasies by some younger musicians.
C. It offers examples of younger musicians whose work has been impacted by Keyboard Fantasies.
D. It contrasts Keyboard Fantasies with the recordings of two younger musicians.
Question ID a2dd51c1
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: a2dd51c1
In most building demolitions, the building materials are destroyed and sent to landfills. City officials in Portland,
Oregon, wanted to reduce this waste. The officials passed a law requiring demolition companies to deconstruct
some buildings instead. Deconstruction involves carefully taking buildings apart piece by piece. Damage to the
materials is avoided so that they can be reused in new constructions. A 2019 study found that 27 percent of
materials from deconstructions in Portland were able to be reused. The remaining materials were processed for
recycling instead of going to a landfill.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To explain an effort made by the city of Portland to reduce demolition waste and some results of that effort
B. To show that popular support for measures that reduce demolition waste has increased since 2019
C. To argue that building deconstruction is not as effective as other measures at reducing demolition waste
D. To discuss laws aimed to reduce demolition waste in Portland and compare them to similar laws in other cities
Question ID 48e4021d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 48e4021d
The following text is from Holly Goldberg Sloan’s 2017 novel Short.
More than two years ago my parents bought a piano from some people who were moving to Utah. Mom and
Dad gave it to my brothers and me for Christmas. I had to act really happy because it was such a big present,
but I pretty much hated the thing from the second it was carried into the hallway upstairs, which is right next to
my bedroom. The piano glared at me. It was like a songbird in a cage. It wanted to be set free.
©2017 by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. It explains why the narrator always wanted a piano close to her bedroom.
B. It establishes how the narrator feels about the piano.
C. It suggests that the narrator’s brothers are talented piano players.
D. It describes the event that led the narrator’s parents to buy a piano.
Question ID f2c48e47
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: f2c48e47
The following text is from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1910 poem “The Earth’s Entail.”
No matter how we cultivate the land,
Taming the forest and the prairie free;
No matter how we irrigate the sand,
Making the desert blossom at command,
We must always leave the borders of the sea;
The immeasureable reaches
Of the windy wave-wet beaches,
The million-mile-long margin of the sea.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. The speaker argues against interfering with nature and then gives evidence supporting this interference.
B. The speaker presents an account of efforts to dominate nature and then cautions that such efforts are only
temporary.
C. The speaker provides examples of an admirable way of approaching nature and then challenges that approach.
D. The speaker describes attempts to control nature and then offers a reminder that not all nature is controllable.
Question ID 34d7bb25
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 34d7bb25
According to Indian economist and sociologist Radhakamal Mukerjee (1889–1968), the Eurocentric concepts that
informed early twentieth-century social scientific methods—for example, the idea that all social relations are
reducible to struggles between individuals—had little relevance for India. Making the social sciences more
responsive to Indians’ needs, Mukerjee argued, required constructing analytical categories informed by India’s
cultural and ecological circumstances. Mukerjee thus proposed the communalist “Indian village” as the ideal model
on which to base Indian economic and social policy.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. The text recounts Mukerjee’s early training in the social scientific disciplines and then lists social policies whose
implementation Mukerjee oversaw.
B. The text mentions some of Mukerjee’s economic theories and then traces their impact on other Indian social
scientists of the twentieth century.
C. The text presents Mukerjee’s critique of the social sciences and then provides an example of his attempts to
address issues he identified in his critique.
D. The text explains an influential economic theory and then demonstrates how that theory was more important to
Mukerjee’s work than other social scientists have acknowledged.
Question ID c0e1b70a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: c0e1b70a
The following text is adapted from Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto’s 1925 memoir A Daughter of the Samurai. As a young
woman, Sugimoto moved from feudal Japan to the United States.
The standards of my own and my adopted country differed so widely in some ways, and my love for both lands
was so sincere, that sometimes I had an odd feeling of standing upon a cloud in space, and gazing with
measuring eyes upon two separate worlds. At first I was continually trying to explain, by Japanese standards,
all the queer things that came every day before my surprised eyes; for no one seemed to know the origin or
significance of even the most familiar customs, nor why they existed and were followed.
Which choice best describes the main purpose of the text?
A. To convey the narrator’s experience of observing and making sense of differences between two cultures she
embraces
B. To establish the narrator’s hope of forming connections with new companions by sharing customs she learned
as a child
C. To reveal the narrator’s recognition that she is hesitant to ask questions about certain aspects of a culture she is
newly encountering
D. To emphasize the narrator’s wonder at discovering that the physical distance between two countries is greater
than she had expected
Question ID f631132b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: f631132b
In the Here and Now Storybook (1921), educator Lucy Sprague Mitchell advanced the then controversial idea that
books for very young children should imitate how they use language, since toddlers, who cannot yet grasp narrative
or abstract ideas, seek reassurance in verbal repetition and naming. The most enduring example of this idea is
Margaret Wise Brown’s 1947 picture book Goodnight Moon, in which a young rabbit names the objects in his room
as he drifts off to sleep. Scholars note that the book’s emphasis on repetition, rhythm, and nonsense rhyme speaks
directly to Mitchell’s influence.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. The text outlines a debate between two authors of children’s literature and then traces how that debate shaped
theories on early childhood education.
B. The text summarizes an argument about how children’s literature should be evaluated and then discusses a
contrasting view on that subject.
C. The text lists the literary characteristics that are common to many classics of children’s literature and then
indicates the narrative subjects that are most appropriate for young children.
D. The text presents a philosophy about what material is most suitable for children’s literature and then describes a
book influenced by that philosophy.
Question ID 570970cd
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 570970cd
The following text is adapted from Indian Boyhood, a 1902 memoir by Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman), a Santee
Dakota writer. In the text, Ohiyesa recalls how the women in his tribe harvested maple syrup during his childhood.
Now the women began to test the trees—moving leisurely among them, axe in hand, and striking a single quick
blow, to see if the sap would appear. The trees, like people, have their individual characters; some were ready to
yield up their life-blood, while others were more reluctant. Now one of the birchen basins was set under each tree,
and a hardwood chip driven deep into the cut which the axe had made. From the corners of this chip—at first drop
by drop, then more freely—the sap trickled into the little dishes.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It portrays the range of personality traits displayed by the women as they work.
B. It foregrounds the beneficial relationship between humans and maple trees.
C. It demonstrates how human behavior can be influenced by the natural environment.
D. It elaborates on an aspect of the maple trees that the women evaluate.
Question ID 749f3334
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 749f3334
The following text is from Charlotte Forten Grimké’s 1888 poem “At Newport.”
Oh, deep delight to watch the gladsome waves
Exultant leap upon the rugged rocks;
Ever repulsed, yet ever rushing on—
Filled with a life that will not know defeat;
To see the glorious hues of sky and sea.
The distant snowy sails, glide spirit like,
Into an unknown world, to feel the sweet
Enchantment of the sea thrill all the soul,
Clearing the clouded brain, making the heart
Leap joyous as it own bright, singing waves!
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It portrays the surroundings as an imposing and intimidating scene.
B. It characterizes the sea’s waves as a relentless and enduring force.
C. It conveys the speaker’s ambivalence about the natural world.
D. It draws a contrast between the sea’s waves and the speaker’s thoughts.
Question ID e5da61f1
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: e5da61f1
The following text is adapted from Charles Chesnutt’s 1899 short story “Mars Jeems’s Nightmare.” The narrator and
his wife have recently moved to the southern United States, and Julius is their carriage driver.
Julius [was] very useful when we moved to our new residence. He had a thorough knowledge of the
neighborhood, was familiar with the roads and the watercourses, knew the qualities of the various soils and
what they would produce, and where the best hunting and fishing were to be had. He was a marvelous hand in
the management of horses and dogs.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To compare the narrator’s reaction to a new home with his wife’s reaction
B. To give an example of Julius’s knowledge about soil
C. To show that the narrator and Julius often hunt and fish together
D. To explain different ways in which Julius was helpful
Question ID 54c6128b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 54c6128b
When ancient oak planks were unearthed during subway construction in Rome, Mauro Bernabei and his team
examined the growth rings in the wood to determine where these planks came from. By comparing the growth rings
on the planks to records of similar rings in oaks from Europe, the team could trace the wood to the Jura region of
France, hundreds of kilometers from Rome. Because timber could only have been transported from distant Jura to
Rome by boat, the team’s findings suggest the complexity of Roman trade routes.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It presents a conclusion about Roman trade routes based on the team’s findings.
B. It questions how the team was able to conclude that the planks were used to build a boat.
C. It explains why the planks were made from oak rather than a different kind of wood.
D. It describes common methods used in Roman subway construction.
Question ID 0ed94d4c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 0ed94d4c
Jackie Ormes’s Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem (1937–38) was the first comic strip by a Black woman to appear in a
widely read newspaper. The strip tells the story of Torchy, a young woman who leaves Mississippi to become a
performer in New York City. Torchy’s story reflects the experience of the Great Migration (1910–1970), when millions
of Black Americans left the South in search of opportunities in other parts of the United States. Torchy Brown thus
shows how Ormes used comics to comment humorously on issues affecting Black Americans, which she continued
to do throughout her career.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To show how Ormes’s Torchy Brown inspired other Black women to write comic strips in the 1930s
B. To illustrate how the subjects Ormes addressed in her comic strips changed over the course of her career
C. To give an example of how Ormes presented the experiences of Black Americans in her comic strips
D. To claim that several characters in Torchy Brown were based on people that Ormes knew personally
Question ID 0a04cac5
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 0a04cac5
The following text is adapted from Jane Austen’s 1814 novel Mansfield Park. The speaker, Tom, is considering
staging a play at home with a group of his friends and family.
We mean nothing but a little amusement among ourselves, just to vary the scene, and exercise our powers in
something new. We want no audience, no publicity. We may be trusted, I think, in choosing some play most
perfectly unexceptionable; and I can conceive no greater harm or danger to any of us in conversing in the elegant
written language of some respectable author than in chattering in words of our own.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To offer Tom’s assurance that the play will be inoffensive and involve only a small number of people
B. To clarify that the play will not be performed in the manner Tom had originally intended
C. To elaborate on the idea that the people around Tom lack the skills to successfully stage a play
D. To assert that Tom believes the group performing the play will be able to successfully promote it
Question ID fcc328c6
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: fcc328c6
Streams and rivers carry soil and rocks from one location to another. But there is another way for these geological
materials to move. Scientists call this process “aeolian transport.” In aeolian transport, winds move small particles of
soil or rock over potentially great distances. Geologist Melisa Diaz and her team studied dust in Antarctica to find
out if it was moved by aeolian transport. They discovered that the dust matched geological material in Australia.
Aeolian transport had carried it from one continent to another, across thousands of miles of open ocean.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It presents Melisa Diaz’s remarks about difficulties that her team encountered.
B. It introduces a scientific term that is used in the discussion that follows.
C. It emphasizes the surprising nature of the findings that are presented.
D. It explains the difference between two kinds of geological material.
Question ID 4eee64fa
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 4eee64fa
Space scientists Anna-Lisa Paul, Stephen M. Elardo, and Robert Ferl planted seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana in
samples of lunar regolith—the surface material of the Moon—and, serving as a control group, in terrestrial soil. They
found that while all the seeds germinated, the roots of the regolith-grown plants were stunted compared with those
in the control group. Moreover, unlike the plants in the control group, the regolith-grown plants exhibited red
pigmentation, reduced leaf size, and inhibited growth rates—indicators of stress that were corroborated by
postharvest molecular analysis.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. It describes an experiment that addressed an unresolved question about the extent to which lunar regolith
resembles terrestrial soils.
B. It compares two distinct methods of assessing indicators of stress in plants grown in a simulated lunar
environment.
C. It presents evidence in support of the hypothesis that seed germination in lunar habitats is an unattainable goal.
D. It discusses the findings of a study that evaluated the effects of exposing a plant species to lunar soil conditions.
Question ID a70cbc53
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: a70cbc53
Raymond Antrobus, an accomplished poet and writer of prose, recently released his debut spoken word poetry
album, The First Time I Wore Hearing Aids, in collaboration with producer Ian Brennan. The album contains both
autobiographical and reflective pieces combining Antrobus’s spoken words with Brennan’s fragmented audio
elements and pieces of music to convey how people who are deaf may experience sound, both its presence and
absence. Some critics suggest that the album questions the function of sound in the world, highlighting that the
experience of sound is multifaceted.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It introduces a collaborative spoken word poetry project, details the approach taken to produce the work, and
then provides an example of critique the album received upon release.
B. It mentions a collection of spoken word poems, distinguishes one poem as being an exemplar on the album, and
then offers a summary of the subject matter of the whole collection.
C. It summarizes the efforts to produce a collection of spoken word poems, presents biographies of two people
who worked on the album, and speculates about the meaning behind the poetry.
D. It connects two artists to the same spoken word poetry project, explains the extent of their collaboration on each
poem, and then provides an overview of the technique used to produce the work.
Question ID a2be625e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: a2be625e
The following text is from Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1899 short story “Martha’s Lady.” Martha is employed by Miss Pyne
as a maid.
Miss Pyne sat by the window watching, in her best dress, looking stately and calm; she seldom went out now, and
it was almost time for the carriage. Martha was just coming in from the garden with the strawberries, and with
more flowers in her apron. It was a bright cool evening in June, the golden robins sang in the elms, and the sun
was going down behind the apple-trees at the foot of the garden. The beautiful old house stood wide open to the
long-expected guest.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To convey the worries brought about by a new guest
B. To describe how the characters have changed over time
C. To contrast the activity indoors with the stillness outside
D. To depict the setting as the characters await a visitor’s arrival
Question ID 5e732e67
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 5e732e67
Many films from the early 1900s have been lost. These losses include several films by the first wave of Black women
filmmakers. We know about these lost movies only from small pieces of evidence. For example, an advertisement for
Jennie Louise Touissant Welcome’s documentary Doing Their Bit still exists. There’s a reference in a magazine to
Tressie Souders’s film A Woman’s Error. And Maria P. Williams’s The Flames of Wrath is mentioned in a letter and a
newspaper article, and one image from the movie was discovered in the 1990s.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. The text identifies a complex problem, then presents examples of unsuccessful attempts to solve that problem.
B. The text summarizes a debate among researchers, then gives reasons for supporting one side in that debate.
C. The text describes a general situation, then illustrates that situation with specific examples.
D. The text discusses several notable individuals, then explains commonly overlooked differences between those
individuals.
Question ID 14b7dced
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 14b7dced
The following text is from Walt Whitman’s 1860 poem “Calamus 24.”
I HEAR it is charged against me that I seek to destroy institutions;
But really I am neither for nor against institutions
(What indeed have I in common with them?—Or what with the destruction of them?),
Only I will establish in the Mannahatta [Manhattan] and in every city of These States, inland and seaboard,
And in the fields and woods, and above every keel [ship] little or large, that dents the water,
Without edifices, or rules, or trustees, or any argument,
The institution of the dear love of comrades.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. The speaker questions an increasingly prevalent attitude, then summarizes his worldview.
B. The speaker regrets his isolation from others, then predicts a profound change in society.
C. The speaker concedes his personal shortcomings, then boasts of his many achievements.
D. The speaker addresses a criticism leveled against him, then announces a grand ambition of his.
Question ID 56ec23a0
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 56ec23a0
Hiroshi Senju is known worldwide for his paintings of waterfalls. These paintings are large and tend not to show the
entire waterfall. Instead, Senju focuses on just the point where the falling water reaches the pool below, keeping the
top of the waterfall out of view. While Senju’s paintings are rooted in art movements originating in the United States,
the artist uses traditional Japanese techniques and materials that make his work instantly recognizable.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It introduces an artist and then explains some common characteristics of well-known paintings by that artist.
B. It explains a specific painting technique and then provides examples of artists who use the technique.
C. It describes a famous painting and then compares it to a lesser-known painting from the same time period.
D. It gives an opinion on an artist and then suggests multiple reasons why the artist’s work has been largely
overlooked.
Question ID 1c6b1fa0
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 1c6b1fa0
In 1801, a Blackfoot chief named Ac Ko Mok Ki drew a finely detailed map of the Upper Missouri region. This work
demonstrates a vast amount of topographic knowledge, as the map features specific names of mountains and
rivers, as well as the first-known sketch of the drainage network of the Missouri River. The map is especially notable
because Ac Ko Mok Ki also included details about the numerous tribes that lived in the area.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It emphasizes Ac Ko Mok Ki’s desire to represent other tribes on the map.
B. It explains how Ac Ko Mok Ki developed an interest in mapmaking.
C. It identifies some reasons why the map is impressive.
D. It details how the map was used for hunting and trading purposes.
Question ID 1782cdd7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 1782cdd7
In many agricultural environments, the banks of streams are kept forested to protect water quality, but it’s been
unclear what effects these forests may have on stream biodiversity. To investigate the issue, biologist Xingli Giam
and colleagues studied an Indonesian oil palm plantation, comparing the species richness of forested streams with
that of nonforested streams. Giam and colleagues found that species richness was significantly higher in forested
streams, a finding the researchers attribute to the role leaf litter plays in sheltering fish from predators and providing
food resources.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. It discusses research intended to settle a debate about how agricultural yields can be increased without
negative effects on water quality.
B. It explains the differences between stream-protection strategies used in oil palm plantations and stream-
protection strategies used in other kinds of agricultural environments.
C. It describes findings that challenge a previously held view about how fish that inhabit streams in agricultural
environments attempt to avoid predators.
D. It presents a study that addresses an unresolved question about the presence of forests along streams in
agricultural environments.
Question ID 6d44060a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 6d44060a
Works of moral philosophy, such as Plato’s Republic or Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, are partly concerned with
how to live a morally good life. But philosopher Jonathan Barnes argues that works that present a method of living
such a life without also supplying a motive are inherently useful only to those already wishing to be morally good—
those with no desire for moral goodness will not choose to follow their rules. However, some works of moral
philosophy attempt to describe what constitutes a morally good life while also proposing reasons for living one.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It provides a characterization about a field of thought by noting two works in it and then details a way in which
some works in that field are more comprehensive than others.
B. It mentions two renowned works and then claims that despite their popularity it is impossible for these works to
serve the purpose their authors intended.
C. It summarizes the history of a field of thought by discussing two works and then proposes a topic of further
research for specialists in that field.
D. It describes two influential works and then explains why one is more widely read than the other.
Question ID 590f0ad2
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 590f0ad2
Industrial activity is often assumed to be a threat to wildlife, but that isn’t always so. Consider the silver-studded
blue butterfly (Plebejus argus): as forest growth has reduced grasslands in northern Germany, many of these
butterflies have left meadow habitats and are now thriving in active limestone quarries. In a survey of multiple active
quarries and patches of maintained grassland, an ecologist found silver-studded blue butterflies in 100% of the
quarries but only 57% of the grassland patches. Moreover, butterfly populations in the quarries were four times
larger than those in the meadows.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It challenges a common assumption about the species under investigation in the research referred to in the text.
B. It introduces discussion of a specific example that supports the general claim made in the previous sentence.
C. It suggests that a certain species should be included in additional studies like the one mentioned later in the
text.
D. It provides a definition for an unfamiliar term that is central to the main argument in the text.
Question ID 19688783
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 19688783
The following text is from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables. Anne, an eleven-year-old
girl, has come to live on a farm with a woman named Marilla in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Anne reveled in the world of color about her.
“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs,
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to
November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to
decorate my room with them.”
“Messy things,” said Marilla, whose aesthetic sense was not noticeably developed. “You clutter up your room
entirely too much with out-of-doors stuff, Anne. Bedrooms were made to sleep in.”
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To demonstrate that Anne has a newly developed appreciation of nature
B. To describe an argument that Anne and Marilla often have
C. To emphasize Marilla’s disapproval of how Anne has decorated her room
D. To show that Anne and Marilla have very different personalities
Question ID d69bc408
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: d69bc408
The following text is adapted from Aphra Behn’s 1689 novel The Lucky Mistake. Atlante and Rinaldo are neighbors
who have been secretly exchanging letters through Charlot, Atlante’s sister.
[Atlante] gave this letter to Charlot; who immediately ran into the balcony with it, where she still found Rinaldo in a
melancholy posture, leaning his head on his hand: She showed him the letter, but was afraid to toss it to him, for
fear it might fall to the ground; so he ran and fetched a long cane, which he cleft at one end, and held it while she
put the letter into the cleft, and stayed not to hear what he said to it. But never was man so transported with joy,
as he was at the reading of this letter; it gives him new wounds; for to the generous, nothing obliges love so much
as love.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It describes the delivery of a letter, and then portrays a character’s happiness at reading that letter.
B. It establishes that a character is desperate to receive a letter, and then explains why another character has not
yet written that letter.
C. It presents a character’s concerns about delivering a letter, and then details the contents of that letter.
D. It reveals the inspiration behind a character’s letter, and then emphasizes the excitement that another character
feels upon receiving that letter.
Question ID 02e49a0c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 02e49a0c
Genetic studies have led researchers to suggest that turtles are most closely related to the group that includes
modern crocodiles. But studies of fossils have suggested instead that turtles are most closely related to other
groups, such as the one that contains modern snakes. However, many of the fossil studies have relied on
incomplete data sets. For a 2022 investigation, biologist Tiago R. Simões and colleagues examined more than 1,000
reptile fossils collected worldwide. From this large data set, they found clear agreement with the results of the
genetic studies.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?
A. It offers an overview of the tools scientists use to examine fossils.
B. It describes a limitation of some studies about the origin of turtles.
C. It summarizes previous research on the evolution of crocodiles.
D. It criticizes a widely held belief about genetic studies of reptiles.
Question ID 97360a00
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 97360a00
The following text is adapted from Gwendolyn Bennett’s 1926 poem “Street Lamps in Early Spring.”
Night wears a garment
All velvet soft, all violet blue...
And over her face she draws a veil
As shimmering fine as floating dew...
And here and there
In the black of her hair
The subtle hands of Night
Move slowly with their gem-starred light.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It presents alternating descriptions of night in a rural area and in a city.
B. It sketches an image of nightfall, then an image of sunrise.
C. It makes an extended comparison of night to a human being.
D. It portrays how night changes from one season of the year to the next.
Question ID aa7fc89b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: aa7fc89b
The following text is adapted from Susan Glaspell’s 1912 short story “‘Out There.’” An elderly shop owner is looking
at a picture that he recently acquired and hopes to sell.
It did seem that the picture failed to fit in with the rest of the shop. A persuasive young fellow who claimed he was
closing out his stock let the old man have it for what he called a song. It was only a little out-of-the-way store
which subsisted chiefly on the framing of pictures. The old man looked around at his views of the city, his pictures
of cats and dogs, his flaming bits of landscape. “Don’t belong in here,” he fumed.
And yet the old man was secretly proud of his acquisition. There was a hidden dignity in his scowling as he
shuffled about pondering the least ridiculous place for the picture.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To reveal the shop owner’s conflicted feelings about the new picture
B. To convey the shop owner’s resentment of the person he got the new picture from
C. To describe the items that the shop owner most highly prizes
D. To explain differences between the new picture and other pictures in the shop
Question ID 48555763
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 48555763
The following text is from Herman Melville’s 1854 novel The Lightning-rod Man.
The stranger still stood in the exact middle of the cottage, where he had first planted himself. His singularity
impelled a closer scrutiny. A lean, gloomy figure. Hair dark and lank, mattedly streaked over his brow. His sunken
pitfalls of eyes were ringed by indigo halos, and played with an innocuous sort of lightning: the gleam without the
bolt. The whole man was dripping. He stood in a puddle on the bare oak floor: his strange walking-stick vertically
resting at his side.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It elaborates on the previous sentence’s description of the character.
B. It introduces the setting that is described in the sentences that follow.
C. It establishes a contrast with the description in the previous sentence.
D. It sets up the character description presented in the sentences that follow.
Question ID e7247766
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: e7247766
Horizontal gene transfer occurs when an organism of one species acquires genetic material from an organism of
another species through nonreproductive means. The genetic material can then be transferred “vertically” in the
second species—that is, through reproductive inheritance. Scientist Atma Ivancevic and her team have
hypothesized infection by invertebrate parasites as a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer between vertebrate
species: while feeding, a parasite could acquire a gene from one host, then relocate to a host from a different
vertebrate species and transfer the gene to it in turn.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It explains why parasites are less susceptible to horizontal gene transfer than their hosts are.
B. It clarifies why some genes are more likely to be transferred horizontally than others are.
C. It contrasts how horizontal gene transfer occurs among vertebrates with how it occurs among invertebrates.
D. It describes a means by which horizontal gene transfer might occur among vertebrates.
Question ID ae2b3112
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: ae2b3112
By combining Indigenous and classical music, Cree composer and cellist Cris Derksen creates works that reflect the
diverse cultural landscape of Canada. For her album Orchestral Powwow, Derksen composed new songs in the style
of traditional powwow music that were accompanied by classical arrangements played by an orchestra. But where
an orchestra would normally follow the directions of a conductor, the musicians on Orchestral Powwow are led by
the beat of a powwow drum.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To examine how Derksen’s musical compositions blend cultures
B. To argue that Derksen should be recognized for creating a new style of music
C. To describe the difficulties Derksen encountered when producing her album
D. To establish a contrast between Derksen’s classical training and her Cree heritage
Question ID 8bc66f89
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 8bc66f89
Part of the Atacama Desert in Peru has surprisingly rich plant life despite receiving almost no rainfall. Moisture from
winter fog sustains plants once they’re growing, but the soil’s tough crust makes it hard for seeds to germinate in
the first place. Local birds that dig nests in the ground seem to be of help: they churn the soil, exposing buried
seeds to moisture and nutrients. Indeed, in 2016 Cristina Rengifo Faiffer found that mounds of soil dug up by birds
were far more fertile and supported more seedlings than soil in undisturbed areas.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It elaborates on the idea that the top layer of Atacama Desert soil forms a tough crust.
B. It describes the process by which seeds are deposited into Atacama Desert soil.
C. It identifies the reason particular bird species dig nests in Atacama Desert soil.
D. It explains how certain birds promote seed germination in Atacama Desert soil.
Question ID 6bc0ba75
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 6bc0ba75
The mimosa tree evolved in East Asia, where the beetle Bruchidius terrenus preys on its seeds. In 1785, mimosa
trees were introduced to North America, far from any B. terrenus. But evolutionary links between predators and their
prey can persist across centuries and continents. Around 2001, B. terrenus was introduced in southeastern North
America near where botanist Shu-Mei Chang and colleagues had been monitoring mimosa trees. Within a year, 93
percent of the trees had been attacked by the beetles.
Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It states the hypothesis that Chang and colleagues had set out to investigate using mimosa trees and B.
terrenus.
B. It presents a generalization that is exemplified by the discussion of the mimosa trees and B. terrenus.
C. It provides context that clarifies why the species mentioned spread to new locations.
D. It offers an alternative explanation for the findings of Chang and colleagues.
Question ID b4d29611
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: b4d29611
Michelene Pesantubbee, a historian and citizen of the Choctaw Nation, has identified a dilemma inherent to
research on the status of women in her tribe during the 1600s and 1700s: the primary sources from that era, travel
narratives and other accounts by male European colonizers, underestimate the degree of power conferred on
Choctaw women by their traditional roles in political, civic, and ceremonial life. Pesantubbee argues that the
Choctaw oral tradition and findings from archaeological sites in the tribe’s homeland supplement the written record
by providing crucial insights into those roles.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It details the shortcomings of certain historical sources, then argues that research should avoid those sources
altogether.
B. It describes a problem that arises in research on a particular topic, then sketches a historian’s approach to
addressing that problem.
C. It lists the advantages of a particular research method, then acknowledges a historian’s criticism of that method.
D. It characterizes a particular topic as especially challenging to research, then suggests a related topic for
historians to pursue instead.
Question ID f6352bd3
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: f6352bd3
Many archaeologists assume that large-scale engineering projects in ancient societies required an elite class to plan
and direct the necessary labor. However, recent discoveries, such as the excavation of an ancient canal near the
Gulf Coast of Alabama, have complicated this picture. Using radiocarbon dating, a team of researchers concluded
that the 1.39-kilometer-long canal was most likely constructed between 576 and 650 CE by an Indigenous society
that was relatively free of social classes.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. It describes a common view among archaeologists, then discusses a recent finding that challenges that view.
B. It outlines a method used in some archaeological fieldwork, then explains why an alternative method is superior
to it.
C. It presents contradictory conclusions drawn by archaeologists, then evaluates a study that has apparently
resolved that contradiction.
D. It identifies a gap in scientific research, then presents a strategy used by some archaeologists to remedy that
gap.
Question ID 9b01bcf4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
Purpose

ID: 9b01bcf4
The 1967 release of Harold Cruse’s book The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual isolated him from almost all other
scholars and activists of the American Civil Rights Movement—though many of those thinkers disagreed with each
other, he nonetheless found ways to disagree with them all. He thought that activists who believed that Black
people such as himself should culturally assimilate were naïve. But he also sharply criticized Black nationalists such
as Marcus Garvey who wanted to establish independent, self-contained Black economies and societies, even
though Cruse himself identified as a Black nationalist.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It describes a direction that Cruse felt the Civil Rights Movement ought to take.
B. It indicates that Cruse’s reputation as a persistent antagonist of other scholars is undeserved.
C. It describes a controversy that Cruse’s work caused within the Black nationalist movement.
D. It helps explain Cruse’s position with respect to the community of civil rights thinkers.