Question 38·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Expression of Ideas
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett argues that emotions are constructed by the brain using context and past experience.
- Barrett’s 2017 book How Emotions Are Made cites cross-cultural data showing that the same facial expression can convey different feelings in different societies.
- Psychologist Paul Ekman’s influential work claims that six basic emotions are universal and each is linked to a distinct facial expression.
- Ekman’s 1972 study used photographs of actors displaying emotions; participants from several countries correctly identified the emotions more often than chance.
- Anthropologist Carlos Crivelli observed that Trobriand Islanders interpreted the wide-eyed, open-mouthed “fear face” as a signal of aggression or threat, not of personal fear.
- Crivelli’s findings were published in 2016 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The student is drafting a paragraph about how recent research calls the universality of facial expressions into question and wants to include a sentence that highlights cultural variation in interpreting a specific facial expression.
Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions with notes, translate the goal into a checklist (here: “cultural variation” + “specific facial expression”). Then pick the option that satisfies every checklist item using details that clearly come from a note. Treat choices that are on-topic but miss one checklist requirement (for example, cross-cultural but not tied to a specific expression) as traps.
Hints
Clarify the task words
Underline or mentally highlight the key parts of the task: the sentence must “highlight cultural variation” and refer to “a specific facial expression.” Keep those two requirements in mind as you review the choices.
Look for a concrete example
Which note mentions a particular facial expression (not just emotions in general) and describes how a specific group of people interprets it?
Check whether the choice supports or challenges universality
The student’s paragraph is about how recent research calls universality into question. Eliminate any choice that seems to support the claim that facial expressions are universal rather than challenge it.
Match choice to note, not just topic
Make sure the wording of the answer choice closely reflects one of the notes and directly serves the stated purpose, instead of just being loosely related to emotions or facial expressions.
Step-by-step Explanation
Restate the goal precisely
The sentence must do two things:
- refer to a specific facial expression, and
- highlight cultural variation in how that expression is interpreted (supporting the idea that universality is in question).
Identify the note that best fits
Crivelli’s observation is the only note that names a particular expression (the wide-eyed, open-mouthed “fear face”) and reports a culture-specific interpretation (aggression/threat rather than fear).
Eliminate close-but-not-quite matches and choose
Barrett’s cross-cultural evidence is about facial expressions in general and does not name a specific expression; Ekman’s points and his 1972 results emphasize similarity/universality.
Therefore, the best choice is: Crivelli observed that Trobriand Islanders read the wide-eyed, open-mouthed “fear face” as aggression or threat, not as fear.