Question 142·Easy·Inferences
A city park recently installed small cameras inside several wooden birdhouses. The live video feeds stream on the park’s website, showing viewers how bluebirds build nests, hatch eggs, and raise their chicks. According to the park manager, the real-time footage was added mainly because ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For SAT “complete the text” inference questions, first summarize in your own words what the sentence is doing right before the blank (focus on who is involved and what they care about). Then quickly predict the kind of idea that should come next (purpose, cause, contrast, etc.). Check each answer against the exact wording and focus of the passage, eliminating choices that introduce new people or goals, add strong claims not supported by the text, or shift attention away from the main subject. Choose the option that best continues the sentence’s logic and matches its focus and tone.
Hints
Focus on what the cameras are used for
Reread the part about the live video streaming on the park’s website. Who is watching these videos, and what is being shown to them?
Think about whose needs are highlighted
Does the sentence focus more on park staff and scientists, or on people viewing the website and what they see there?
Eliminate choices that add new, unsupported ideas
Ask yourself: Which options bring in information the passage never mentions, such as visitors’ preferences or research requests? Cross those out first, then choose from what remains.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what the question is asking
The question says, “According to the park manager, the real-time footage was added mainly because ______”. You are being asked to identify the primary purpose of adding the live video, from the park manager’s point of view.
Use the context around the blank
Look closely at the sentence just before the blank:
“The live video feeds stream on the park’s website, showing viewers how bluebirds build nests, hatch eggs, and raise their chicks.”
The cameras send video to the park’s website, and the sentence highlights what viewers get to see: the whole nesting process. This suggests the project is meant to involve or affect people who watch, not mainly to help staff or scientists.
Test each option against the context
Now, compare each choice to what the sentence emphasizes:
- Choice A talks about staff needing an easier way to check whether cameras work. But the sentence describes cameras already installed and focuses on viewers watching birds, not staff checking equipment.
- Choice B claims most visitors prefer screens to the outdoors. The text never mentions visitors’ preferences or compares screens to real-life viewing.
- Choice D says scientists asked for detailed data on every nesting attempt. Scientists and data collection are never mentioned; the focus stays on website viewers.
Only one option connects directly to the idea of people watching the birds on the website and getting something positive from that experience.
Match the best-fitting purpose
The only option that logically matches the idea of streaming bird activity on the park’s website for viewers is “watching the birds online could inspire more people to care about the park’s wildlife.” This explains why the manager would support adding the real-time footage: to use the website video to encourage greater interest in and concern for the park’s animals.