Question 103·Easy·Inferences
The city library recently installed self-checkout kiosks so patrons can borrow books without staff assistance. According to library director Maya Gupta, the new machines will allow librarians to spend more time leading reading programs and community workshops. The library invested in the kiosks because ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For SAT "complete the text" questions, first read the entire sentence or short passage carefully and identify the logical role of the blank (cause, effect, contrast, example, etc.). Before looking at the choices, briefly predict in your own words what kind of idea should go in the blank, based only on the surrounding text. Then, scan the answer choices and pick the one that most closely paraphrases or matches that predicted idea. Quickly eliminate any choice that introduces new information, different reasons, or off-topic details that the passage never mentions, even if they sound plausible in real life.
Hints
Focus on the word "because"
Look at the sentence containing the blank: what kind of information has to come after the word "because"?
Use the sentence before the blank
Reread the sentence about what the new machines will allow librarians to do. How does that sentence suggest a benefit of installing the kiosks?
Watch out for new, unsupported ideas
Check each answer choice and ask: does the passage mention this idea anywhere, or is it adding something completely new?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the blank is asking for
Read the sentence up to and including the blank:
"The city library recently installed self-checkout kiosks so patrons can borrow books without staff assistance. According to library director Maya Gupta, the new machines will allow librarians to spend more time leading reading programs and community workshops. The library invested in the kiosks because ______"
The word "because" signals that the blank must give the reason the library invested in the kiosks.
Use the information already given as the reason
Right before the blank, the passage says the kiosks "will allow librarians to spend more time leading reading programs and community workshops."
Ask yourself: Why did the library invest in kiosks, according to this text? The only stated benefit is that the machines change how librarians use their time, shifting them away from checkout tasks and toward programs and workshops.
Check each option against the passage
Now compare each option to the information in the passage:
- One choice repeats the idea that librarians will have more time for programs and workshops because they are not doing checkout tasks.
- The other choices talk about patron requests for technology, maintenance costs, or late fees, none of which are mentioned anywhere in the passage.
The correct answer must be directly supported by the text, not just something that sounds generally reasonable.
Select the option that matches the stated reason
The only option that matches and restates the explicit reason given (that kiosks free librarians from checkout work so they can spend more time on reading programs and community workshops) is:
A) freeing librarians from checkout tasks will give them more time for programs and workshops.