Question 166·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure
Studies of bilingual word retrieval have yielded seemingly inconsistent results. In one experiment, participants named pictures more slowly on trials that required them to switch from one language to another; in another experiment, switching added almost no delay. The first experiment displayed the required-language cue at the same moment as each picture, whereas the second displayed the cue before each picture appeared. Cue timing was not the only difference: participants in the second experiment had more experience switching languages in daily life, and the experiments used image sets of differing familiarity. Repeating either experiment with the other experiment’s participants would therefore still leave image familiarity entangled with cue timing. To learn whether advance notice itself affects switching delay, researchers would need a new experiment that varies cue timing while holding participant experience and image familiarity constant.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
For a function question, identify what information the underlined sentence introduces and then track how later sentences use or qualify it. When several choices accurately describe part of the sentence, compare their claims about certainty, emphasis, and the passage’s conclusion to determine which one captures the sentence’s role in the full argument.
Hints
Track the comparison
Identify the specific difference between the two experiments described in the underlined sentence.
Consider all the variables
Notice whether the rest of the text discusses only the difference named in the underlined sentence or introduces additional differences.
Evaluate the certainty
Distinguish between identifying a possible explanation and establishing that explanation as the cause.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the apparent conflict
The opening reports different findings: one experiment found a substantial switching delay, while the other found almost none.
Determine what the underlined sentence adds
The underlined sentence points out that the experiments provided the required-language cue at different times. This difference makes cue timing a possible explanation for the conflicting results.
Examine the qualification that follows
The text then identifies additional differences involving participant experience and image familiarity. Because these factors vary along with cue timing, the existing experiments cannot establish which difference caused the divergent results.
Connect the sentence to the conclusion
The proposed new experiment would vary cue timing while controlling the other factors. Thus, the underlined sentence introduces a possible source of the discrepancy that the remaining text says must be tested separately.