Sat practice Test #8 Answer Explanations

Choice A is the best answer. In the first paragraph of Passage 1, 
Douglas discusses the issue of slavery in the context of the division 
of free states and slave states throughout the period when the United 
States “extended our territory from the Mississippi to the Pacific 
Ocean” and “acquired the Floridas and Texas, and other territory 
sufficient to double our geographical extent.” In the second paragraph 
of Passage 2, Lincoln asserts that the controversy over slavery has 
historically been “excited by the effort to spread [slavery] into new 
territory,” as in the case of Missouri, Texas, and “the territory acquired 
by the Mexican War.” Therefore, it can be said that, notwithstanding 
their differences of opinion, both Douglas and Lincoln discuss the 
issue of slavery in relationship to the expansion of the Union.

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ANSwER ExPlANATIONS
| SAT Practice Test #8
Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because it is in relationship to the 
nation’s expansion that both passages discuss the issue of slavery, not 
in relationship to questions of morality (choice B), religious toleration 
(choice C), or laws regulating commerce (choice D).
QUESTION 41
Choice D is the best answer. In the second paragraph of Passage 1, 
Douglas asks the rhetorical question: “why cannot this Union exist 
forever, divided into Free and Slave States, as our fathers made 
it?” The remainder of the paragraph amounts to an answer to this 
rhetorical question and a refutation of Lincoln’s viewpoint on slavery, 
as represented by Douglas. In the second paragraph of Passage 2, 
Lincoln asks a series of rhetorical questions: “But has it been so 
with this element of slavery? Have we not always had quarrels and 
difficulties over it? And when will we cease to have quarrels over it?” 
These questions imply that there are flaws in Douglas’s equating the 
division into slave states and free states with other, more unambiguously 
beneficial differences from state to state. The remainder of the second 
paragraph expands on these flaws. Therefore, it can be said that 
in context, the rhetorical questions asked by each speaker serve to 
undermine the argument of the other speaker.
Choice A is incorrect because in asking rhetorical questions, neither 
Douglas nor Lincoln casts doubt on the sincerity of his opponent. 
Choices B and C are incorrect because although Douglas and Lincoln 
find fault with each other’s ideas, they don’t criticize each other’s 
methods (choice B) or reproach each other’s actions (choice C).
QUESTION 42