PSAT Reading Question 76: Answer and Explanation

Question: 76

The author of the passage most likely believes South Chicago

• A. should be a more popular vacation destination.
• B. will soon have no working steel mills.
• C. is isolated from the rest of the city.
• D. embodies the dirty, smelly nature of American industry.

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

C

The question asks what the author believes about South Chicago. Notice that this is the first question in a paired set, so it can be done in tandem with Q20. Look at the answer choices for Q20 first. In the lines in (20A), the author describes South Chicago as the city's most isolated community. Check the answers for Q19 to see if any of the answers are supported by these lines. They support (19C), so draw a line connecting (20A) and (19C). The lines in (20B) mention the aesthetics of the area but do not go as far as to suggest it should be a popular vacation destination like (19A). The lines for (20B) don't support any of the answers for Q19, so eliminate (20B). Choice (20C) is a Deceptive Language trap answer: the description powerful stench seems to match the phrase smelly nature in (19D), but (19D) says that South Chicago embodies the dirty, smelly nature of American industry in general, and the author does not make this comparison in the passage. Eliminate (20C). The lines for (20D) describe South Chicago as the heart of American industrial might, which does not directly support any answer choice from Q19. Eliminate (20D). Without any support from the answer choices in Q20, (19A), (19B), and (19D) can be eliminated. The correct answers are (19C) and (20A).