Sat practice Test #8 Answer Explanations

Choice C is the best answer. The tenth paragraph shows that upon 
returning home, the narrator hides the gift (the “new friend”) that 
Sempere had given him: “That afternoon I took my new friend home, 
hidden under my clothes so that my father wouldn’t see it.” It can be 
inferred from this sentence that the narrator’s concern arises from an 
awareness that his father would disapprove of the gift.
Choice A is incorrect because although the passage discusses the 
father’s hostility toward the narrator’s love of reading, there is no 
indication that the father is not affectionate to the narrator more 
generally; indeed, the third paragraph depicts the father’s generosity 
toward the narrator. Choice B is incorrect because the father’s 
generosity toward the narrator, as depicted in the third paragraph, 
clearly shows that the father encourages unnecessary purchases of 
such things as candy. Choice D is incorrect because although the first 
paragraph shows that the father is hostile toward books in general, 
there is no indication in the passage that Dickens or any other author 
is a specific object of the father’s disdain.
QUESTION 4
Choice D is the best answer. The previous question asks which 
statement about the narrator’s father would the narrator most likely agree 
with. The answer, that his father wouldn’t have approved of Sempere’s gift 
to the narrator, is best supported in the tenth paragraph: “That afternoon 
I took my new friend home, hidden under my clothes so that my father 
wouldn’t see it.” It can be inferred from this sentence that the narrator is 
aware of his father’s likely disapproval of the gift (the “new friend”).
Choices A, B, and C are incorrect because the cited lines don’t support 
the answer to the previous question. Instead, they show the father 
giving his own gift to the narrator (choice A) and illustrate how the 
narrator was treated when in Sempere’s bookshop (choices B and C).
QUESTION 5