Sat practice Test #8 Answer Explanations

Choice D is the best answer. The second paragraph states that “TESS 
allows scientists to order up Internet-based surveys.” In the context 
of the service that the TESS program provides to scientists, “allows” 
most nearly means enables.
Choices A, B, and C are incorrect because in the context of the 
passage’s discussion of TESS, “allows” most nearly means enables, 
not admits (choice A), tolerates (choice B), or grants (choice C).
QUESTION 13
Choice D is the best answer. The fifth paragraph of the passage 
addresses the “statistical strength” of certain scientific findings. In this 
context, “strength” most nearly means significance, or importance.
Choices A, B, and C are incorrect because in the context of the 
statistical importance of scientific findings, “strength” most nearly 
means significance, not attribution (choice A), exertion (choice B), or 
toughness (choice C).
QUESTION 14
Choice A is the best answer. The seventh paragraph discusses the 
negative consequences of not publishing null results, emphasizing 
that “worse, if researchers publish significant results from similar 
experiments in the future, they could look stronger than they should 
because the earlier null studies are ignored.” In other words, failing to 
document null results means that the results of later, related studies 
will not be as accurate as they appear.
Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because the passage does not 
indicate that failing to document null results can cause promising 
areas of research to be overlooked (choice B), cause errors in data 
collection practices that lead to null results being overlooked 
(choice C), or lessen bias against null results (choice D).

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QUESTION 15
Choice D is the best answer. The previous question asks what the 
passage indicates could result from failing to document null results. 
The answer, that the results of future studies will be misleading, 
is best supported in the seventh paragraph: “Worse, if researchers 
publish significant results from similar experiments in the future, they 
could look stronger than they should because the earlier null studies 
are ignored.”
Choices A, B, and C are incorrect because the cited lines don’t 
support the answer to the previous question. Instead, choice A 
suggests how the findings of a study about null results may 
affect existing beliefs about such results; choice B explains 
how infrequently null results had been written up, according to 
Malhotra’s study; and choice C illustrates a problem resulting from 
the failure to document null results, but one that is unrelated to the 
fact that this documentation failure may make the results of future, 
related studies appear more valid than they are.
QUESTION 16