SAT Reading Practice Test Questions – Science based -Set 4

Questions 11-12 are based on the following passage.

Summer 1995. School children collecting frogs from a pond in Minnesota discover one frog after another with deformities. The story immediately seizes the attention of national media. Is this an Line 5 isolated occurrence or a widespread trend? What is causing these deformities? Malformations have since been reported in more than 60 species of amphibians in 46 states. Surprising numbers of deformed amphibians have also been Line 10 found in Asia, Europe, and Australia. Investigators have blamed the deformities on amphibians’ increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the chemical contamination of water, even a parasite epidemic. Every time another report appears, the media tout the new position, Line 15 thus providing a misleading view. Most likely, all of these factors have been working in tandem.

11. The opening paragraph primarily serves to

1. highlight a phenomenon by dramatizing it
2. advocate a particular course of action
3. illustrate how a story can cause general panic
4. compare a local situation to a national one
5. demonstrate children’s inherent interest in science

12. The author’s attitude toward the “media” (line 14) might best be described as

1. respectful
2. indifferent
3. ambivalent
4. resentful
5. critical