Question 72·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Information and Ideas
During the late nineteenth century, several European city governments imposed "window taxes" that charged homeowners based on the number of windows in a building. Surviving architectural records reveal that immediately after each tax increase, the average number of windows in newly constructed houses fell by 20 percent, and builders began installing noticeably smaller panes. Personal diaries from the same period, however, rarely mention the tax; instead, writers describe their design choices as matters of "practicalities" or "fashion."
Taken together, these facts most strongly support the inference that the window tax ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For SAT inference questions, translate the passage into a short set of facts, then choose the option that is most directly supported without adding assumptions. When two sources of evidence conflict (here, records vs. diaries), prefer the inference that explains both—and eliminate choices that require new, unstated claims about public reaction, duration, or intent.
Hints
Focus on behavior versus explanation
Notice the difference between what the architectural records say and what the personal diaries say. What does each type of evidence show?
Think about cause and effect
Right after the tax increases, the average number of windows drops by 20% and panes get smaller. What does this timing suggest might be causing the design changes?
Use both pieces of evidence together
The question says “Taken together.” Ask yourself: if design changes line up with the tax changes, but people don’t talk about the tax in their diaries, what can you infer about the relationship between the tax and their design decisions?
Beware answers that add new facts
Eliminate any choices that go beyond the passage by claiming something the text doesn’t establish (for example, comparing which factor mattered most, or claiming a specific motive for what diarists did or didn’t say).
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the key facts in the passage
First, restate the important information:
- Governments imposed a tax based on the number of windows.
- After each tax increase, new houses had 20% fewer windows, and builders used smaller panes.
- Personal diaries rarely mention the tax and instead say design choices were about “practicalities” or “fashion.”
So we have behavior clearly changing after the tax increases and people not openly crediting the tax for those changes.
Interpret what the behavior change suggests
If right after each tax increase builders start making houses with fewer windows and smaller panes, that strongly suggests they are reacting to the tax. Fewer taxable windows would presumably lower the tax bill.
This means the tax is very likely affecting architectural choices, even if that influence is not mentioned in words anywhere.
Interpret what the diaries’ silence suggests
The diaries rarely mention the tax, even though the building designs are clearly changing when the tax changes.
Instead, writers say they chose certain designs because of “practicalities” or “fashion.” This contrast suggests that people’s explanations in diaries do not fully reveal the tax’s influence—they might be downplaying it or simply not discussing it directly.
Match the combined idea to the answer choices
The question asks what is most strongly supported when we take the records and the diaries together.
We need an answer that fits both: (1) the clear design changes after tax increases, and (2) the fact that diarists do not explicitly say the tax drove their choices.
Therefore, the best completion is: influenced architectural choices even when builders did not explicitly acknowledge it.