Quiz Yourself With An Evolving SAT

Which three of the following words are most closely related?

• chops liver round fore-quarter rump sirloin Submit

  The correct answers are round, rump and sirloin. The comparison section had all kinds of confusing questions — at one point, the test even asked students to pick the three brand names that were most closely related of a list of six. The '26 test also had some sections that quickly got the ax, like the "imagined language" section, where test takers were given the rules for a new language and asked to translate sentences from the language into English.

runner : marathon ::

• envoy : embassy
• martyr : massacre
• oarsman : regatta

  The analogies section of the test got a lot of scrutiny. Questions about regattas and ballet terminology put lower-income students at a disadvantage. Also, critics argued that analogies mostly tested memorized vocabulary, not critical thinking. The section was eventually removed altogether.

• referee : tournament
• horse : stable

The Lyndhurst High School twelfth graders are represented in the circle graph in Figure 1. Figure 2 is another way to illustrate the use of computers by these twelfth graders. If the same 200 twelfth graders are represented in both figures, what is the total number of twelfth graders represented by the shaded circle in Figure 2?

• Submit

  The correct answer is 180. After the 1995 SAT makeover, the College Board aimed to give math questions a more "real world" focus. Antonyms were eliminated, grid in math questions and calculator use added. This question is from the 2001 SAT.

Newspaper editor and political commentator Henry Louis Mencken was a force of nature, brushing aside all objects animal and mineral in his headlong rush to the publicity that surely awaited him. He seized each day, shook it to within an inch of its life, and then gaily went on to the next. No matter where his writing appeared, it was quoted widely, his pungently outspoken opinions debated hotly. Nobody else could make so many people so angry, or make so many others laugh so hard.

The words "seized" and "shook" help establish which aspect of Mencken's personality?

• His code of honor
• His sense of humor
• His vindictiveness
• His intensity

  After 2005, analogies were killed off and replaced by a new emphasis on critical reading of short passages. Some Algebra II content was added as well. This question is from the CollegeBoard's 2014 practice exam.

• His petulance