SAT Skills Insight
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6/1
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Select a score band
Organization and Ideas
Skills needed to score in this band
SKILL 1: Integrate ideas within and across sentences and texts
SKILL 2: Comprehend generalizations about texts
SKILL 3: Analyze and compare concepts across texts
SKILL 4: Draw text-based conclusions beyond the main idea
SKILL 5: Determine the function of a selected portion of text within a longer text
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1
Integrate ideas within and across sentences and texts
ExampleThe passages below discuss the possibility of locating intelligent life on other planets. Passage 1 has been adapted from a 1999 book on the history of the universe. Passage 2 was excerpted from a 2000 book on the scientific quest for extraterrestrial life.
View Passage
Passage 1
A reading passage Line Number Text Generations of science-fiction movies have conditioned
us to consider bug-eyed monsters, large-brained intellectual
humanoids, and other rather sophisticated extraterrestrial
creatures as typical examples of life outside Earth. The
Line 5 reality, however, is that finding any kind of life at all, even
something as simple as bacteria, would be one of the most
exciting discoveries ever made.
The consensus within the scientific community seems to
be that we eventually will find not only life in other parts of
Line 10 the galaxy but also intelligent and technologically advanced
life. I have to say that I disagree. While I believe we will
find other forms of life in other solar systems (if not in
our own), I also feel it is extremely unlikely that a large
number of advanced technological civilizations are out
Line 15 there, waiting to be discovered. The most succinct support
for my view comes from Nobel laureate physicist
Enrico Fermi, the man who ran the first nuclear reaction
ever controlled by human beings. Confronted at a 1950
luncheon with scientific arguments for the ubiquity of
Line 20 technologically advanced civilizations, he supposedly
said, “So where is everybody?”
This so-called Fermi Paradox embodies a simple logic.
Human beings have had modern science only a few hun-
dred years, and already we have moved into space. It is not
Line 25 hard to imagine that in a few hundred more years we will
be a starfaring people, colonizing other systems. Fermi’s
argument maintains that it is extremely unlikely that many
other civilizations discovered science at exactly the same
time we did. Had they acquired science even a thousand
Line 30 years earlier than we, they now could be so much more
advanced that they would already be colonizing our solar
system.
If, on the other hand, they are a thousand years behind
us, we will likely arrive at their home planet before they
Line 35 even begin sending us radio signals. Technological
advances build upon each other, increasing technological
abilities faster than most people anticipate. Imagine, for
example, how astounded even a great seventeenth-century
scientist like Isaac Newton would be by our current global
Line 40 communication system, were he alive today. Where are
those highly developed extraterrestrial civilizations so dear
to the hearts of science-fiction writers? Their existence is
far from a foregone conclusion.
View Passage
Passage 2
A reading passage Line Number Text Although posed in the most casual of circumstances,
Line 45 the Fermi Paradox has reverberated through the decades
and has at times threatened to destroy the credibility
of those scientists seriously engaged in the Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) research program.
One possible answer to Fermi’s question (“If there are
Line 50 extraterrestrials, where are they?”) is that extraterrestrials
have in fact often visited Earth, and continue to do so.
This is the answer of those who believe in the existence
of unidentified flying objects, or UFO’s. But few scien-
tists, even those engaged in SETI, take the UFO claims
Line 55 seriously. “You won’t find anyone around here who
believes in UFO’s,” says Frank Drake, a well-known
SETI scientist. If one discounts the UFO claims, yet still
believes that there are many technological civilizations in
the galaxy, why have they not visited us? Drake’s answer
Line 60 is straightforward: “High-speed interstellar travel is so
demanding of resources and so hazardous that intelligent
civilizations don’t attempt it.” And why should they
attempt it, when radio communication can supply all
the information they might want?
Line 65 At first glance, Drake’s argument seems very persua-
sive. The distances between stars are truly immense.
To get from Earth to the nearest star and back, traveling
at 99 percent of the speed of light, would take 8 years.
And SETI researchers have shown that, to accelerate
Line 70 a spacecraft to such a speed, to bring it to a stop, and
to repeat the process in the reverse direction, would
take almost unimaginable amounts of energy.
Astronomer Ben Zuckerman challenges Drake’s
notion that technological beings would be satisfied with
Line 75 radio communication. “Drake’s implicit assumption is
that the only thing we’re going to care about is intelli-
gent life. But what if we have an interest in simpler
life-forms? If you turn the picture around and you have
some advanced extraterrestrials looking at the Earth, until
Line 80 the last hundred years there was no evidence of intelligent
life but for billions of years before that they could have
deduced that this was a very unusual world and that there
were probably living creatures on it. They would have had
billions of years to come investigate.” Zuckerman contends
Line 85 that the reason extraterrestrials haven’t visited us is that so
few exist.
Which statement about the Fermi Paradox is supported by both passages?
-
2
Comprehend generalizations about texts
ExampleThe passages below discuss the possibility of locating intelligent life on other planets. Passage 1 has been adapted from a 1999 book on the history of the universe. Passage 2 was excerpted from a 2000 book on the scientific quest for extraterrestrial life.
View Passage
Passage 1
A reading passage Line Number Text Generations of science-fiction movies have conditioned
us to consider bug-eyed monsters, large-brained intellectual
humanoids, and other rather sophisticated extraterrestrial
creatures as typical examples of life outside Earth. The
Line 5 reality, however, is that finding any kind of life at all, even
something as simple as bacteria, would be one of the most
exciting discoveries ever made.
The consensus within the scientific community seems to
be that we eventually will find not only life in other parts of
Line 10 the galaxy but also intelligent and technologically advanced
life. I have to say that I disagree. While I believe we will
find other forms of life in other solar systems (if not in
our own), I also feel it is extremely unlikely that a large
number of advanced technological civilizations are out
Line 15 there, waiting to be discovered. The most succinct support
for my view comes from Nobel laureate physicist
Enrico Fermi, the man who ran the first nuclear reaction
ever controlled by human beings. Confronted at a 1950
luncheon with scientific arguments for the ubiquity of
Line 20 technologically advanced civilizations, he supposedly
said, “So where is everybody?”
This so-called Fermi Paradox embodies a simple logic.
Human beings have had modern science only a few hun-
dred years, and already we have moved into space. It is not
Line 25 hard to imagine that in a few hundred more years we will
be a starfaring people, colonizing other systems. Fermi’s
argument maintains that it is extremely unlikely that many
other civilizations discovered science at exactly the same
time we did. Had they acquired science even a thousand
Line 30 years earlier than we, they now could be so much more
advanced that they would already be colonizing our solar
system.
If, on the other hand, they are a thousand years behind
us, we will likely arrive at their home planet before they
Line 35 even begin sending us radio signals. Technological
advances build upon each other, increasing technological
abilities faster than most people anticipate. Imagine, for
example, how astounded even a great seventeenth-century
scientist like Isaac Newton would be by our current global
Line 40 communication system, were he alive today. Where are
those highly developed extraterrestrial civilizations so dear
to the hearts of science-fiction writers? Their existence is
far from a foregone conclusion.
View Passage
Passage 2
A reading passage Line Number Text Although posed in the most casual of circumstances,
Line 45 the Fermi Paradox has reverberated through the decades
and has at times threatened to destroy the credibility
of those scientists seriously engaged in the Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) research program.
One possible answer to Fermi’s question (“If there are
Line 50 extraterrestrials, where are they?”) is that extraterrestrials
have in fact often visited Earth, and continue to do so.
This is the answer of those who believe in the existence
of unidentified flying objects, or UFO’s. But few scien-
tists, even those engaged in SETI, take the UFO claims
Line 55 seriously. “You won’t find anyone around here who
believes in UFO’s,” says Frank Drake, a well-known
SETI scientist. If one discounts the UFO claims, yet still
believes that there are many technological civilizations in
the galaxy, why have they not visited us? Drake’s answer
Line 60 is straightforward: “High-speed interstellar travel is so
demanding of resources and so hazardous that intelligent
civilizations don’t attempt it.” And why should they
attempt it, when radio communication can supply all
the information they might want?
Line 65 At first glance, Drake’s argument seems very persua-
sive. The distances between stars are truly immense.
To get from Earth to the nearest star and back, traveling
at 99 percent of the speed of light, would take 8 years.
And SETI researchers have shown that, to accelerate
Line 70 a spacecraft to such a speed, to bring it to a stop, and
to repeat the process in the reverse direction, would
take almost unimaginable amounts of energy.
Astronomer Ben Zuckerman challenges Drake’s
notion that technological beings would be satisfied with
Line 75 radio communication. “Drake’s implicit assumption is
that the only thing we’re going to care about is intelli-
gent life. But what if we have an interest in simpler
life-forms? If you turn the picture around and you have
some advanced extraterrestrials looking at the Earth, until
Line 80 the last hundred years there was no evidence of intelligent
life but for billions of years before that they could have
deduced that this was a very unusual world and that there
were probably living creatures on it. They would have had
billions of years to come investigate.” Zuckerman contends
Line 85 that the reason extraterrestrials haven’t visited us is that so
few exist.
In line 63, “radio communication” is cited as a
-
3
Analyze and compare concepts across texts
ExampleThe passages below discuss the possibility of locating intelligent life on other planets. Passage 1 has been adapted from a 1999 book on the history of the universe. Passage 2 was excerpted from a 2000 book on the scientific quest for extraterrestrial life.
View Passage
Passage 1
A reading passage Line Number Text Generations of science-fiction movies have conditioned
us to consider bug-eyed monsters, large-brained intellectual
humanoids, and other rather sophisticated extraterrestrial
creatures as typical examples of life outside Earth. The
Line 5 reality, however, is that finding any kind of life at all, even
something as simple as bacteria, would be one of the most
exciting discoveries ever made.
The consensus within the scientific community seems to
be that we eventually will find not only life in other parts of
Line 10 the galaxy but also intelligent and technologically advanced
life. I have to say that I disagree. While I believe we will
find other forms of life in other solar systems (if not in
our own), I also feel it is extremely unlikely that a large
number of advanced technological civilizations are out
Line 15 there, waiting to be discovered. The most succinct support
for my view comes from Nobel laureate physicist
Enrico Fermi, the man who ran the first nuclear reaction
ever controlled by human beings. Confronted at a 1950
luncheon with scientific arguments for the ubiquity of
Line 20 technologically advanced civilizations, he supposedly
said, “So where is everybody?”
This so-called Fermi Paradox embodies a simple logic.
Human beings have had modern science only a few hun-
dred years, and already we have moved into space. It is not
Line 25 hard to imagine that in a few hundred more years we will
be a starfaring people, colonizing other systems. Fermi’s
argument maintains that it is extremely unlikely that many
other civilizations discovered science at exactly the same
time we did. Had they acquired science even a thousand
Line 30 years earlier than we, they now could be so much more
advanced that they would already be colonizing our solar
system.
If, on the other hand, they are a thousand years behind
us, we will likely arrive at their home planet before they
Line 35 even begin sending us radio signals. Technological
advances build upon each other, increasing technological
abilities faster than most people anticipate. Imagine, for
example, how astounded even a great seventeenth-century
scientist like Isaac Newton would be by our current global
Line 40 communication system, were he alive today. Where are
those highly developed extraterrestrial civilizations so dear
to the hearts of science-fiction writers? Their existence is
far from a foregone conclusion.
View Passage
Passage 2
A reading passage Line Number Text Although posed in the most casual of circumstances,
Line 45 the Fermi Paradox has reverberated through the decades
and has at times threatened to destroy the credibility
of those scientists seriously engaged in the Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) research program.
One possible answer to Fermi’s question (“If there are
Line 50 extraterrestrials, where are they?”) is that extraterrestrials
have in fact often visited Earth, and continue to do so.
This is the answer of those who believe in the existence
of unidentified flying objects, or UFO’s. But few scien-
tists, even those engaged in SETI, take the UFO claims
Line 55 seriously. “You won’t find anyone around here who
believes in UFO’s,” says Frank Drake, a well-known
SETI scientist. If one discounts the UFO claims, yet still
believes that there are many technological civilizations in
the galaxy, why have they not visited us? Drake’s answer
Line 60 is straightforward: “High-speed interstellar travel is so
demanding of resources and so hazardous that intelligent
civilizations don’t attempt it.” And why should they
attempt it, when radio communication can supply all
the information they might want?
Line 65 At first glance, Drake’s argument seems very persua-
sive. The distances between stars are truly immense.
To get from Earth to the nearest star and back, traveling
at 99 percent of the speed of light, would take 8 years.
And SETI researchers have shown that, to accelerate
Line 70 a spacecraft to such a speed, to bring it to a stop, and
to repeat the process in the reverse direction, would
take almost unimaginable amounts of energy.
Astronomer Ben Zuckerman challenges Drake’s
notion that technological beings would be satisfied with
Line 75 radio communication. “Drake’s implicit assumption is
that the only thing we’re going to care about is intelli-
gent life. But what if we have an interest in simpler
life-forms? If you turn the picture around and you have
some advanced extraterrestrials looking at the Earth, until
Line 80 the last hundred years there was no evidence of intelligent
life but for billions of years before that they could have
deduced that this was a very unusual world and that there
were probably living creatures on it. They would have had
billions of years to come investigate.” Zuckerman contends
Line 85 that the reason extraterrestrials haven’t visited us is that so
few exist.
Both the author of Passage 1 and Ben Zuckerman (line 73, Passage 2) imply that researchers seeking life on another planet should focus on which of the following?
Skills needed to score in the next band
Find two challenging essays by different authors on the same topic. Consider how each author addresses the topic. How does each author treat the main idea? Do the authors use similar evidence and supporting ideas, or do they support their main ideas differently?
As you read an argumentative text, try to identify the parts of the author's argument. What is the thesis? What evidence does the author provide? Does the author cite others? How does he or she conclude the argument?
