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SAT Reading 5.4 Passage Comparison 166 Views


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Description:

SAT Reading: Passage Comparison Drill 5, Problem 4

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by melting glaciers--

00:07

--turning the Arctic Ocean into a giant, salty slush. Yum.

01:01

In line 33, the word "draconian" indicates that the author...what?

01:13

The author of Passage 2 makes it clear by the first paragraph that "global warming"

01:18

isn't something he thinks we should worry about. "Outcries of agony"? Whining.

01:22

"Touch people's hearts to get them alarmed"? According to the author, environmentalists

01:27

are using blatant fear tactics.

01:29

Well, maybe not that blatant...

01:31

The context tells us that the author isn't saying anything nice about possible government

01:36

controls when he calls them "draconian."

01:39

After we figured this out, (A) is easy to eliminate. This guy definitely doesn't appreciate

01:44

much of what's going on and will do anything to stop it.

01:47

We can get rid of choice (D) for the same reason as (A). The author isn't on the side

01:51

of the government whatsoever when it comes to environmental controls.

01:55

Choices (B) and (E) both sound like our author at least. He does seem like the kind of guy

02:00

who would resist environmental laws to the bitter end, and would refuse to listen to

02:04

anyone else's point of view.

02:06

However, the author is describing the government's proposed environmental policies, not himself,

02:12

so both (B) and (E) are off the list.

02:15

Choice (C) makes total sense to us. Judging from tone and context, we can guess that "draconian"

02:20

controls are strict controls—and in the opinion of this author, unnecessarily so.

02:26

Choice (C) is the best answer.

02:28

Are we the only ones who think of Draco Malfoy when we hear the word "draconian?"

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