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Must Know SAT Cynthia Knable

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Contents

Introduction
The Flashcard App

Introducing the SAT® Test


The Purpose and Structure of the SAT
How to Register for the SAT
How the Tests Are Scored
Test-Taking Tips
How to Use This Book to Prepare Yourself

READING AND WRITING


Evidence-Based Reading and Writing

1 Reading for Information and Ideas

2 Reading for Rhetoric

3 Reading for Synthesis

4 Writing: Standard English Conventions


5 Writing: Expression of Ideas

MATHEMATICS

6 Working with Expressions

7 Solving Equations and Inequalities

8 Functions and Graphs

9 Ratios, Rates, Proportions, and


Percentages

10 Statistics

11 Additional Topics

SAT PRACTICE TESTS


SAT Practice Test 1
Practice Test Answer Sheet
Reading Test
Writing and Language Test
Math Test—No Calculator
Math Test—Calculator
SAT Practice Test 2
Practice Test Answer Sheet
Reading Test
Writing and Language Test
Math Test—No Calculator
Math Test—Calculator

PRACTICE TESTS ANSWER KEYS


SAT Practice Test 1 Answer Key
Reading Test
Writing and Language Test
Math Test—No Calculator
Math Test—Calculator

SAT Practice Test 2 Answer Key


Reading Test
Writing and Language Test
Math Test—No Calculator
Math Test—Calculator

Exercise Answer Key


Introduction

Welcome to your new SAT book! Let us try to explain why we


believe you’ve made the right choice. This probably isn’t your first
rodeo with either a textbook or other kind of study guide. You’ve
probably had your fill of books asking you to memorize lots of terms.
This book isn’t going to do that—although you’re welcome to
memorize anything you take an interest in. You may also have found
that a lot of books jump the gun and make a lot of promises about
all the things you’ll be able to accomplish by the time you reach the
end of a given chapter. In the process, those books can make you
feel as though you missed out on the building blocks that you
actually need to master those goals.
With Must Know SAT, we’ve taken a different approach. When you
start a new chapter, right off the bat you will immediately see one or
more must know ideas. These are the essential concepts behind
what you are going to study, and they will form the foundation of
what you will learn throughout the chapter. With these must know
ideas, you will have what you need to hold it together as you study,
and they will be your guide as you make your way through each
chapter.
To build on this foundation, you will find easy-to-follow
discussions of the topic at hand, and these are accompanied by
comprehensive examples that show you how to apply what you’re
learning to solve typical SAT questions. Each chapter ends with
review questions—more than 300 throughout the book—that are
designed to instill confidence as you practice your new skills.
This book has other features that will help you on this SAT
journey of yours. It has a number of sidebars that will either
provide helpful information or just serve as a quick break from
your studies. The sidebars (“by the way”) point out
important information, as well as tell you what to be careful about
SAT-wise. Every once in a while, an sidebar (“in real life”)
will tell you what you’re studying has to do with the real world;
other IRLs may just be interesting factoids.

In addition, this book is accompanied by a flashcard app that will


give you the ability to test yourself at any time. The app includes
more than 100 “flashcards” with a review question on one “side” and
the answer on the other. You can either work through the flashcards
by themselves or use them alongside the book. To find out where to
get the app and how to use it, go to “The Flashcard App.”
Before you get started, though, let me introduce you to your
guide throughout this book. Cynthia Knable has more than 20 years
of experience in writing and editing test prep guides (which may
sound familiar if you read the back cover). She has a clear idea
about what you should get out of an SAT Prep guide and has
developed strategies to help you get there. She also has seen the
kinds of trouble that students can run into, and she is an
experienced hand at solving those difficulties. In this book, she
applies that experience both to showing you the most effective way
to learn a given concept as well as how to extricate yourself from
traps you may have fallen into. She will be a trustworthy guide as
you expand your SAT knowledge and develop new skills.

Before we leave you to your author’s capable guidance, let us


give you one piece of advice. Although we know that saying
something “is the worst” is a cliché, if anything about the SAT is
the worst, it’s formal SAT guides. Let your new teacher introduce
you to the must know concepts and show you how to apply
them confidently to your SAT problems. Mastering SAT questions
will give you an invaluable advantage for the rest of your
academic career.

Good luck with your studies!


The Editors at McGraw Hill
The Flashcard App

This book features a bonus flashcard app. It will help you test
yourself on what you’ve learned as you make your way through the
book (or in and out). It includes 100-plus “flashcards,” both “front”
and “back.” It gives you two options as to how to use it. You can
jump right into the app and start from any point that you want. Or
you can take advantage of the handy QR codes at the end of each
chapter in the book; they will take you directly to the flashcards
related to what you’re studying at the moment.
To take advantage of this bonus feature, follow these easy steps:
Introducing the SAT® Test

Welcome to McGraw Hill’s Must Know SAT. Congratulations on


choosing a preparation guide from America’s leading educational
publisher. When your preparation time is tight but you still want a
thorough subject review and plenty of practice, this book is your
best choice.
This chapter will give you a brief introduction to the SAT. You’ll
find out:

The purpose and structure of the SAT


How to register for the SAT
How the tests are scored
Test-taking tips
How to use this book to prepare yourself

The Purpose and Structure of the SAT


The SAT is a program run by a nonprofit organization called the
College Board. The SAT tests you on skills and concepts you have
learned in school. Your score on the SAT is one of the factors—along
with your high school grades, recommendations, and extracurricular
activities—colleges and universities will consider when making an
admission decision. The current version of the SAT debuted in the
spring of 2016.
Here's what you need to know about the structure of the test:
There is an Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section and a
Math section. You can earn a score between 200 and 800 for
each section for a maximum total of 1600.
Beginning in June of 2021, there will be no Essay portion of
the test.
You may have the option of taking a paper-and-pencil test or
taking a computer-based version of the test.
There is no guessing penalty, so be sure to answer every
question. You won’t lose anything by guessing, and that’s
good news.
There are four answer choices for each multiple-choice
question.
The test lasts for 180 minutes, not including breaks.

The Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Test


The passages on the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing test are
drawn not just from literature, but from history and science. You will
see charts and graphs in some of these passages. The idea is for
you to be able to apply your reasoning skills to the kinds of text you
will encounter in college or in your professional life. Why is it called
the “Evidence-Based” Reading and Writing test? Because you will be
asked over and over to support your answers to questions using
evidence from the passages you read. This approach is meant to test
your ability, not only to read and comprehend a passage, but to
think about it critically. It won’t be enough to find the right answer.
You will need to show that you understand why a correct answer is
correct. Critics of the earlier version of the test sometimes argued
that the reading and writing sections were mostly vocabulary tests
that you could ace by studying the dictionary. That is no longer the
case, but you will definitely encounter some advanced vocabulary in
the passages on the test.
The Math Test
On the Math test, you will find multistep problems and advanced
math topics. It’s not just arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. You will
find some trigonometry in there, too. You will also find questions
that don’t just ask you to solve an equation—you will need to apply
your math skills to “real-world” situations in science, social studies,
and business environments. The Math test has two sections: one
with a calculator and one without.

How to Register for the SAT


The number of people taking the SAT climbs each year. In 2019,
over 2.2 million people took the SAT. That’s a lot of people, which is
good news for test takers because it means there is likely a testing
location convenient to you. You may even be able to take the SAT at
your school during the school day.
Registering online is pretty straightforward. Just go to:

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register

Follow the instructions on the website. You will be asked to set up


an account. Definitely read through the “Before You Start” section. It
tells you what you will need in order to set up an account—including
an appropriate photo of yourself for uploading.
You will also pick the time and location of your test. If you want
to find out in advance what your options are for testing locations,
use this online tool:

https://sat.collegeboard.org/register/test-center-code-
search

You can look up test centers by your state and city name. You will
also need to provide College Board codes for your high school and
any college or university you want your scores sent to. You can look
up the codes here:
https://sat.collegeboard.org/register/sat-code-search

When registering online, be prepared to pay the fee using a credit


card or PayPal. The fee is $52. If you cannot afford the fee, you can
apply for a fee waiver. Guidelines for applying for a fee waiver can
be found here:

https://sat.collegeboard.org/register/sat-fee-waivers

You can also ask your school counselor for more information. The
College Board website will let you know of any changes that are
taking place as well. Check back before your test date to find out
any updates on social distancing or other public health guidelines.
Speaking of school counselors, if you want to register for the SAT
by mail, your school counselor is the person to see. She can give you
the Student Registration Guide for the SAT and SAT Subject Tests,
which includes the registration form.
If you need to request accommodations, get an early start on
registration. You will need to get your request approved by the
College Board first, and that process can take several weeks. Forms
and further information can be found here:

https://accommodations.collegeboard.org/?navId=gf-ssd

How the Tests Are Scored


Standardized test scoring is something that baffles and annoys most
people. You know that at the end of your test, you will have gotten a
certain number of questions right, gotten a certain number wrong,
and maybe left some blank. You may ask, why can’t you just get a
score that reflects the percentage of questions you answered
correctly, just as you usually do in school? The answer is that the
test makers are trying to be fair to you. No two SATs are exactly
equal. The people who make the tests try hard to make them equal,
but their own analysis of the tests shows that the test some people
receive can be either harder or easier than the version other people
receive. You can receive a “scaled” score of 200 to 800 on the Math
and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing tests. Someone who took a
relatively easy test might answer more questions correctly than
someone taking a harder test. That means that a direct comparison
of their raw scores would be unfair to the person who took the
harder test. In order to correct for that, scores are converted to the
scale.

Test-Taking Tips
Some of the most basic test-taking strategies for the SAT are ones
you have probably heard many times before:

Use the process of elimination. Remember that on


multiple-choice questions, the correct answer is right there. If
you aren’t sure which is the correct answer, use your
reasoning skills to try to eliminate answers that you know are
wrong. Sometimes you can arrive at the correct answer just
by eliminating wrong answers.
If you are stumped, guess. There is no guessing penalty.
You have nothing to lose. If you just have no idea what the
correct answer is, guess and move on.
Don’t spend a lot of time wrestling with a tricky
question. Remember that easy multiple-choice questions are
worth the same as hard ones. Don’t miss your chance to rack
up points on the easy questions. Your time is limited.
Speaking of time, keep an eye on it. It will fly by faster
than you think, and you need to get to as many questions as
you possibly can. If you have five minutes to go and there are
questions left to be answered, move quickly and guess on
everything.
If you think you might be able to figure out a hard
question if you have a little more time . . . guess first.
If you have answered every question in one way or another
(with correct responses or guesses) and you still have time
left, definitely go back and try to get the points on the hard
questions. Just don’t leave anything blank.

If you have extra time at the end of a section, go back and check
your work. If you notice a real error—something you are positive is
wrong—definitely fix it, but do not start second-guessing your first
guesses. If you used process of elimination and made a choice, stick
with your choice. You don’t want to start erasing answers while time
is running out. Besides, your first choice is usually the best choice.
Taking standardized tests makes most people nervous. There are
a few things you can do to de-stress:

Take practice tests. There are two full-length tests in this


book. Being familiar with the test will help you feel calm
because you won’t have some surprise question type pop out
at you.
Make sure you know exactly where your test center is,
how to get there, how long it takes to get there, where to
park, and how to get to the room you are supposed to be in.
Do a practice run. On the day of the test, leave yourself plenty
of time for surprises like bad traffic. If you have to sprint
across a parking lot and scramble through a hallway to arrive
at the test room in the nick of time, you have definitely
started off on the wrong foot.
Get a good night’s sleep. Being sleepy will hurt your
performance.
Eat before you go to the test. Same as being sleepy. Being
hungry will hurt you.
Prepare for a room that is way too hot. Or way too
cold. You don’t know what you’ll get, so dress in layers and
bring a sweater even if you are taking the test in June.
Be sure to bring your admission ticket, photo ID, two
No. 2 pencils with erasers, and an approved calculator.
You may also be required to bring a face-covering if public
health requirements suggest it.

How to Use This Book to Prepare Yourself


You are probably reading this book because you want to get ready
for the SAT quickly. Just how quickly is up to you. This book is
broken into manageable chunks that you can use to go at your own
pace. Each chapter begins with the must know items for the topics
in the chapter. Each topic is followed by an exercise that gives you
practice on the topic or skill that has just been covered.
If you are getting ready to take the SAT as a junior or senior in
high school, you are probably quite busy with your usual schoolwork.
Try to treat your SAT preparation as homework for one extra class.
Set aside time for it each day, and be as realistic as you can. Thirty
minutes a day is a good goal. If you spend too little time each day
preparing, you won’t make headway. If you try to cram too much
into each study session, you probably won’t remember everything
you have read.
Take some time to skim through the instructional parts of this
book and decide what is reasonable given your schedule and study
habits; then write down a specific plan on a calendar. You should
finish your SAT preparation shortly before test day (but not the night
before, hopefully!). Stick to your goals.
Best of luck on the SAT and beyond!
Reading and Writing
Evidence-Based Reading and
Writing

The Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Tests


The Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section of the SAT exam
tests your ability to read and understand not only the content of all
types of passages, but also their structure and language use. The
Reading Test assesses how well you read and comprehend various
texts. The Writing and Language Test assesses your ability to revise
a wide range of texts so that they follow the rules of Standard
English and contain proper grammar, usage, and punctuation.
The Reading Test requires you to answer 52 multiple-choice
questions in 65 minutes. The breakdown of questions is up to 10
Words in Context questions, up to 10 Command of Evidence
questions, up to 21 Analysis in History/Social Studies questions, and
up to 21 Analysis in Science questions.
All questions evaluate your ability to understand reading passages
500 to 750 words in length. One of these passages will be a piece of
U.S. or world literature (fiction). The remaining will be informational
(nonfiction): two history/social studies passages and two science
passages. Four of these passages will be stand-alone pieces, and
one will be a paired set of texts you will study together. Graphics
such as tables, charts, and graphs will also be included among the
passages.
The Evidence-Based Writing section includes 44 multiple-choice
questions. You will have 35 minutes to answer these questions. The
breakdown of these writing questions is up to 24 Expression of Ideas
questions, up to 20 Standard English Conventions questions, up to 8
Words in Context questions, up to 8 Command of Evidence
questions, up to 6 Analysis in History/Social Studies questions, and
up to 6 Analysis in Science questions.
All writing questions are based on passages 400 to 450 words in
length. There are four passages on the Evidence-Based Writing
section of the SAT in the following categories: careers, history/social
studies, humanities, and science. These passages are all nonfiction:
one or two argumentative passages, one or two
informational/explanatory passages, and one narrative passage. A
set of 11 questions follows each passage, and graphics such as
tables, charts, and graphs will also be included among the passages.

Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Review


The following section will give you a thorough overview of each skill
tested in the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing sections of the
SAT. In each lesson, you will find examples of all the passage types
from the exam, accompanied by test-like practice questions.
The correct answers to these questions can be found in the
Exercise Answer Keys at the end of this book.
1 Reading for Information
and Ideas

MUST KNOW
Explicit information is stated clearly in the passage
while implicit information is implied.

Every correct answer is supported by the passage.


You should be able to prove every answer you
choose.

While you are reading a passage, look for overall


themes and relationships.

Context clues can help you figure out the meaning


of unfamiliar words.

The Evidence-Based Reading section of the SAT exam assesses


how well you are able to comprehend different types of writing.
Effective reading comprehension requires the mastery of a
number of essential skills. You will be expected to do more than
simply recall information on the SAT—the test assesses your ability
to determine information and ideas both stated explicitly and merely
implied in a text and cite evidence for your conclusions. You will
have to identify important ideas and themes and interpret the
meanings of words and phrases used in context. You will also have
to understand the relationships between ideas in a text and be able
to summarize paragraphs or the text as a whole. These skills fall
under the heading of “Information and Ideas” and are the most
basic reading comprehension skills tested on the SAT.
In this chapter, we will be paying close attention to the
information and ideas presented in a text. Some of these pieces of
information and ideas are stated explicitly. Some are merely
suggested and require you to draw educated conclusions about the
messages the writers want to communicate.

A good strategy for dealing with reading


comprehension is to first read the passage through
quickly and focus on the main idea, structure of the
passage, and the author’s tone. Then read the
question and go back to the relevant part of the
passage to read it more carefully with the question in
mind.

Explicit Information
Stating information and ideas explicitly is the simplest and most
direct way a writer communicates. Information that is stated
explicitly does not require you to figure out what the writer means.
All you need to do is pay close attention while reading. Don’t you
wish that every reading passage was like that? By reading the
sentence “The shoe was red,” you would know that the color of the
shoe is red because the writer stated this information explicitly.
To answer an SAT question about an explicit detail, you will need
to read the passage closely to identify that information and then
match it to an answer choice.

EXAMPLE
Let’s look at a question involving explicit meaning. Read this
paragraph from a reading passage:
Katherine Mansfield’s short story “Prelude” was originally written
in 1915 as “The Aloe” and was first published as “Prelude” by
Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s Hogarth Press in 1918. The
impressionistic style of the story and the introspective natures of
the characters shattered the traditional short story form.
Mansfield foregrounds the family dynamic, deemphasizing the
simple plot of a family moving to a new house.
Now let’s see the question:
1. “Prelude” was considered a new type of short story when it
was published because
Go back to the passage and read the part where it says
“Prelude” shattered the traditional short story form. Read a line
or two before that and a line or two after it to find the answer to
the question. The passage says that it was the impressionistic
style and the characters’ introspective natures that made the
story different.
Now we just need to match our answer to one of the answer
choices given:
A. the title of the story had changed.
B. the story showed the inner thoughts and feelings of the
characters.
C. the story has no plot.
D. it was the first short story published by a female author.
We need an answer choice that says something about
impressionism or introspection. The only one that does that is
choice B, so it is the best answer.

Reading comprehension questions about explicit details are the


easiest questions to answer because the answers are directly stated
in the passage and are usually found easily by looking for key words
in the question. Proper nouns (the name of a person, place, or
thing) are the best key words because they begin with capital letters
and those are easy to spot when you scan the passage.

EXAMPLE
Read this paragraph from the same reading passage:
Mansfield explores how a character's consciousness is invaded
by unconscious forces and changed by the vagaries of
perception. Each character in the story feels oppressed by the
role he or she is required to play: breadwinner, mother, spinster,
servant, or obedient child. Mansfield's focus is on the women
and girls; for example, Mansfield explores in depth Kezia’s
relationships with her siblings, her struggle to find an identity
she can live with, and the ways she perceives the world.
Here’s the question:
2. The author of the passage uses Kezia as an example of
Having that name in the question gives us a great key word to
search for in the passage. Go back to the passage and find
Kezia. The passage says Mansfield explores in depth Kezia’s
relationships with her siblings, her struggle to find an identity
she can live with, and the ways she perceives the world.
Since that is the last sentence of the paragraph, just read a line
or two before that to be sure you have the answer to the
question. The passage says Mansfield focuses on women and
girls and gives Kezia as an example.
Let’s match our answer to one of these answer choices:
A. someone who cannot live with herself.
B. Mansfield’s view that everyone sees the world differently.
C. a girl who does not get along with her family.
D. Mansfield’s centering of female characters.
Choice D expresses the idea that the author mentions Kezia as
an example of Mansfield’s focus on females, so it is the best
answer.

Questions involving explicit information are among the easiest


types of reading comprehension questions, but they appear less
often on the SAT than do questions involving implicit information.

Implicit Information
Unlike explicitly stated information, implicitly stated information calls
for a bit of decoding. You will need to locate clues in the passage to
draw reasonable inferences and logical conclusions. These questions
may ask what the passage infers, implies, or suggests.

EXAMPLE
What can be inferred from this sentence?
Bill embraced me and asked how I’ve been.
First, the fact that Bill embraced the narrator implies that they
may have a close relationship. Notice that I didn’t say Bill loves
the narrator. Perhaps Bill likes to hug his enemies. All we know is
that Bill hugged the narrator, which means they probably have
some sort of close relationship.
Second, the fact that Bill asks how the narrator has been
indicates they have not seen each other in a while. How long a
while? No idea. That’s about all we can infer.

Drawing a logical conclusion requires you to think outside the text


a little. However, there will always be a reason for you to draw that
conclusion. The SAT requires you to draw reasonable inferences and
logical conclusions based on textual clues.

EXAMPLE
Read this paragraph from the reading passage about “Prelude”:
Mansfield's narrative slides smoothly from conscious to
unconscious to express this tense duality and she frequently
uses the image of glass to symbolize the two worlds in which
her characters exist. In "Prelude," Mansfield often has her
characters look out of windows or into mirrors. The focus shifts
from the subject to the object of view and creates a glass barrier
between them. This glass barrier acts as a lens, magnifying the
distance between the public self and the private self, the
conscious and the unconscious.
Here's the question:
3. The passage suggests that glass symbolizes
Let’s try to answer the question, using information in the
passage, before we even look at the answer choices.
What does the passage say about glass? It says she uses glass
to symbolize the two worlds in which her characters exist. It
shifts focus from the subject to the object of view. It magnifies
the distance between the public self and the private self, the
conscious and the unconscious. That sounds like glass
symbolizes the two roles people play (public versus private or
internal versus external).

For an implicit information question, you need to find the best


answer. More than one answer may seem logical or reasonable, but
only one will be the best answer. That answer will have textual
evidence to support it.

EXAMPLE
Let’s put it all together. Here is the paragraph and question, this
time with answer choices.
Mansfield's narrative slides smoothly from conscious to
unconscious to express this tense duality and she frequently
uses the image of glass to symbolize the two worlds in which
her characters exist. In "Prelude," Mansfield often has her
characters look out of windows or into mirrors. The focus shifts
from the subject to the object of view and creates a glass barrier
between them. This glass barrier acts as a lens, magnifying the
distance between the public self and the private self, the
conscious and the unconscious.
3. The passage suggests that glass symbolizes
A. that people have more than one side.
B. the clarity with which a person can view herself.
C. the barrier between rich and poor.
D. that no one is ever totally alone.
In the example before this one, we concluded that glass
symbolizes the two roles people play. That’s answer choice A.
Don’t get tripped up by the other choices. Any of them are
possible if you use your imagination, but that’s not what we are
asked to do. We need textual evidence for our answer, and we
could underline several phrases in that paragraph that support
answer choice A.

Watch out for answer choices that use the exact


language that the passage used. Those are often
traps. Sometimes an answer will be in the passage,
but not at all relevant to the question. Sometimes, as
is the case here with answer choice C, the first part of
the answer choice is a direct quote from the passage,
but then the rest of the answer choice is all wrong.

Implicit information questions are quite popular on the SAT, so be


sure you are confident in your ability to infer and draw conclusions,
while supporting your ideas with evidence from the text.

Using Analogical Reasoning


Analogical reasoning questions entail connecting information in a
passage with a new, analogous situation. Analogous means similar,
so an analogical reasoning question may ask you to make a
reasonable connection between two situations that on the surface
seem quite different. You will have to think about whether they are
similar in some way.

EXAMPLE
Let’s say you are reading a passage about a girl who really
wants a pet. She finds a lost dog wandering around her
neighborhood and must decide what to do with the dog.
You read another passage about a child who went to a store
with his mother and found a $20 bill on the floor of an aisle with
no other people present.
Although a dog and a $20 bill are very unlike things, the decision
to keep what is found or locate the rightful owner is very similar.

Analogical reasoning questions may ask you about similarities


between two paired passages or they may ask you to match a single
passage with a scenario in the answer choices. If so, watch out for
answers that are about the same topic as the passage. If the
passage is about fruit, the correct answer probably isn’t about fruit.
The correct answer may be about shoes. The point here is to find a
connection between things that seem different. You will probably see
only one of these single-passage questions on your SAT, but being
able to make connections is a valuable skill for other question types
too.

Citing Textual Evidence


Citing textual evidence involves finding details in a passage to
support claims about its ideas. This evidence may include
descriptions, examples, and facts.

EXAMPLE
A question may claim that a character in a passage is kind and
ask you to support this claim by citing an example of the
character’s kindness in the passage. Maybe the author describes
her as understanding and supportive. Perhaps the character
helps someone who is in trouble, or says to a friend, “I would be
happy to lend a sympathetic ear while you tell me all your
troubles.” Such details would be good textual evidence that the
character is a kind person.

Textual evidence questions are quite common on the SAT and


many of them are paired with implicit information questions. The
first question asks you to infer something and then the second
question asks you to cite evidence for your inference in the passage.

EXAMPLE
Let’s use a longer excerpt from the “Prelude” passage and pair
one of our previous example questions with a textual evidence
question.
3. The passage suggests that glass symbolizes
A. that people have more than one side.
B. the clarity with which a person can view herself.
C. the barrier between rich and poor.
D. that no one is ever totally alone.
4. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the
previous question?
A. lines 1–3 “Mansfield’s…exist”
B. line 3 “In…mirrors”
C. lines 3–4 “The…them”
D. lines 7–9 “Each…child”
We previously answered question 3 and chose A. Question 4
asks where we found evidence of that answer.
We highlighted several phrases when we originally answered
question 3. Let’s see where in the passage we found them:
the two worlds in which her characters exist was in line 2
from the subject to the object of view was in line 4
the distance between the public self and the private self, the
conscious and the unconscious was in lines 5–6
The only match we find in the answer choices is choice A:
Mansfield's narrative slides smoothly from conscious to
unconscious to express this tense duality and she frequently
uses the image of glass to symbolize the two worlds in which
her characters exist. Choice A is the best answer.

When you answer a textual evidence question, be sure that you


can literally put your finger on the point in the passage that says
whatever it is you are asked about. If you can’t do that, you’re
choosing the wrong answer.

Determining Central Ideas and Themes


Central ideas and themes are very similar, but they are not
exactly the same. The theme of a passage is more like the overall
topic or lesson, while a central idea is a main idea or thesis. In fact,
you may see these terms used interchangeably on the test. Think of
theme and central idea like this: Ask yourself what topic the passage
is about. That’s the theme. Then ask yourself what point the
passage is making about that topic. That’s the central idea. Central
idea questions are more common on the SAT than are theme
questions.

EXAMPLE
Here are a few examples of themes:
The theme of a passage about a boy who learns to do long
division may be education.
The theme of a paragraph about cell division may be growth.
The themes of The Emancipation Proclamation are freedom
and equality.

The central idea of a passage is its most important point. You’ve


probably been asked many times to find the main idea of a
passage. Central ideas are the same thing, though on the SAT you
may be asked about both the main idea of the whole passage and
the main idea of certain paragraphs.

EXAMPLE
Here are central ideas for the passages described in the last
example:
The central idea of a passage about a boy who learns to do
long division may be that education should be the most
important focus for children.
The central idea of a paragraph about cell division may be
that there are two ways cells divide.
The central idea of The Emancipation Proclamation is that
people held as slaves in the Confederate states are now free.

Let’s see how theme and central idea questions might look for an
excerpt from the “Prelude” passage.

EXAMPLE

5. What is the central idea expressed by this paragraph?


A. No one is truly happy with the role they are forced to play
in society.
B. People often hide their true feelings, even from those close
to them.
C. The way in which people present themselves may be
different from the way they feel inside.
D. People are sometimes unaware of their true motives.
This paragraph is the one about how Mansfield uses glass to
symbolize the dual nature of her characters’ public lives versus
their inner, private lives. Read the answer choices carefully. Look
for what we already said this paragraph was about and don’t be
distracted by anything else. You could probably justify any of
them if you try hard enough, so don’t do that. That’s why it is so
important to answer the question in your own words before you
look at the answer choices.
Choice C is very close to our answer, while the others go further
than what is presented in the passage.
6. What theme does Mansfield explore in “Prelude”?
A. Honesty
B. Politeness
C. Insanity
D. Duality
Do you see how this question is different from the first one? This
is the topic, in one word. What’s it all about? Duality.

Watch out for answer choices that use extreme


language. Those are rarely the best answer. Answer
choice A in question 5 says “no one is truly happy.”
Really? No one? Not a single person in the entire
world? That’s a pretty extreme statement and it’s easy
to argue with it, so it is not likely to be the credited
answer.
Determining central ideas and themes questions usually require
decoding, because writers rarely state their ideas and themes
explicitly. For example, instead of ending a story by stating “Better
late than never,” a writer will more likely illustrate this theme with a
character who wants something to happen and waits patiently until
it does.

Summarizing
When you summarize, you boil down the most important details and
ideas in a passage to a relatively brief statement. A good summary
addresses the passage as a whole, eliminating unnecessary details.
Summarizing questions may require you to identify the best
summary of an entire passage, a single paragraph, or key idea in the
passage. A summary of a story about a farmer probably will not
include details about what the farmer was wearing unless those
articles of clothing are integral to the overall story.
Consider these questions:
Who are the most important people or characters in the
passage?
What are the most important things they do?
What are the passage’s essential ideas?

EXAMPLE
Let’s look at an excerpt from “Nasty Women” by Isabella
Matthews.
1. Which of the following provides the best summary of the
passage?
A. Women had few rights or public roles in the seventeenth
century, except for widows.
B. Anne Bradstreet and Anne Hutchinson did not conform to
traditional women’s roles in the seventeenth century.
C. Anne Bradstreet and Anne Hutchinson were condemned for
their attempts to break out of the traditional roles for
women in the seventeenth century.
D. Colonial American women had more rights than did other
women of the same time period in Europe.
Before you look at the answer choices, summarize the passage
yourself. The first paragraph is about traditional roles for women
in the seventeenth century. The second paragraph is about two
exceptions: Anne Bradstreet and Anne Hutchinson. We can
summarize the passage by combining those topics: Anne
Bradstreet and Anne Hutchinson were exceptions to the
traditional roles for women in the seventeenth century. Now,
when we look at the answer choices, it is easy to see that choice
B is the closest to our summary and is the best answer.

Summarizing is a really important skill that you will use


throughout your life. Friends may ask you what that new
movie is about. Your boss may ask you to present an
overview of your research on a topic. Both of those
require you to summarize a lot of content into just a few
sentences.

Understanding Relationships
Certain common relations link the individuals, events, and ideas in a
passage. Such basic relationships include:
Cause and effect: One action makes another occur.
Comparison and contrast: One thing is different from
another or the same as another.
Problem and solution: One thing is a problem and the
other solves it.
Sequential order: One thing comes before or after another.
EXAMPLE
Let’s look at a paragraph from the excerpt in the last example.

2. Anne Bradstreet and Anne Hutchinson both


A. were smarter than the men leading their society.
B. submitted their ideas to the public.
C. were disliked for their boldness.
D. were famous for most of their adult lives.
Here we are asked what the two Annes have in common. Let’s
go back to the passage and see what we know about each of
them.
Hutchinson:
from Rhode Island
active Protestant preacher
controversial
preached publicly for 13 years
died 1643
Bradstreet
from Massachusetts
poet
published book of poetry in London 1650
considered to be the first important American poet
What do they have in common?
from New England
lived around the same time
spoke/wrote in public
Let’s look at the answer choices and see what we’ve got. There
is no textual evidence for either choice A or choice D, so
eliminate them. Choice B is one of our points in common, so
keep it. Choice C might be true of Hutchinson, but there is no
evidence that it was true of Bradstreet. Eliminate C and choose
B.

Other common relationships include how individuals, events, and


ideas copy, contradict, confirm, correct, and cancel each other. A
passage may include one or more of these kinds of relationships,
which you will have to identify on the SAT.

Interpreting Words and Phrases in Context


You will have to interpret the meanings of words and phrases on the
SAT. These will not necessarily be unfamiliar words and phrases, so
studying lists of new vocabulary is not the best way to prepare for
the questions. Interpreting words and phrases in context questions
actually test your ability to define words and phrases based on how
writers use them.
A single word can have a number of meanings. Green most often
refers to a secondary color. However, green can also be used to
mean “naïve,” or it may be used to mean “new.” In recent years, the
word green has become a common term for “environmentally
friendly,” as in an individual, item, or process that causes little or no
damage to the natural environment. You can decipher which
definition of green a writer intends to use based on how that writer
uses the word in the context of a passage or sentence.

EXAMPLE
Paolo was so green he did not realize he would have to bring a
notebook with him on his first day of school.
As used in this sentence, green most nearly means
A. the color of grass.
B. naïve.
C. new.
D. environmentally friendly.
The best way to figure out how green is used in the context of
this particular sentence is to substitute each answer choice for
green in the sentence. The only choices that make any sense in
place of green are B, naïve, and C, new. However, “naïve” is a
much more specific substitute for green than “new” is, so the
best answer choice is B.

These vocabulary questions are more about interpreting meaning


than they are about simply knowing the definition of a word. You
must determine the context in which the word is used.

EXERCISES
EXERCISE 1–1
Directions: Read the passage, then choose the best answer to each
of the questions that follow.
Excerpt from Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift

1. How many younger brothers does the narrator have?


A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Four
2. Who is the narrator’s master?
A. Mr. Bates
B. Captain Abraham Pannell
C. Mrs. Mary Burton
D. Mr. Edmund Burton

EXERCISE 1–2
Directions: Read the passage, then choose the best answer to each
of the questions that follow.

Excerpt from House of Mirth


by Edith Wharton
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build a scaffold for the trial of the lords now in the Tower.’ The mob
watched its progress eagerly. By the next day, as we read in the
papers, ‘the platform of the same scaffolding was laid, being even
with the uppermost step of that leading to the Courts of Chancery
and King’s Bench.’ All the colours that hung there since 1704, the
trophies of Marlborough’s victories, were taken down, and all the
canopies were removed from the shops or stations, in the hall, in
order to make way for the galleries and scaffolding, which, it was
said, would be kept up for some years, in case of future trials of
Jacobites of lordly degree! All the following Sunday night, fifty
workmen were plying saw, nail, and hammer; but the gates were
shut to keep out a mob which, by pressure, noise, and drinking,
impeded the work in hand. A favoured many, however, gazed at the
royal box, for the Prince and Princess of Wales, on the right of the
throne, and one on the left, for the Duke of Cumberland and his
friends. Boxes were also erected for the foreign ministers next to the
duke’s. No member of the royal family had the bad taste to be
present, but the Duke of Cumberland took the oaths which would
enable him to sit, as a peer, in Judgment on the lords whom he had
captured. Happily, he thought better of it, or he was better advised,
and he was becomingly absent from Westminster Hall, both as judge
and as spectator.
At this juncture, when the feeling in London against the late
Jacobite army was intensified by the accounts of the reckless and
cruel acts which marked both the advance to Derby and the retreat,
every Scotchman, and especially every Highlander, was looked upon
as a horrible savage; but the Londoners got good counsel from the
old seat of war itself. A letter from Fort Augustus, dated July 8th,
appeared in most of the London papers, and it was well calculated to
moderate the superabundant wrath of the metropolis. ‘We see,’ says
the writer, ‘a good many letters here from London, that treat these
people with the opprobrious name of savages, which is a term which
I think they don’t deserve, for, excepting what relates to the rebellion,
I can see nothing in their behaviour worse than other people, and, I
am sorry to say, in many respects better, bringing rank to rank, and I
only wish some fair measure was pursued, the better to understand
their morals and dispositions by a friendly intercourse, which, I hope,
when the rebellion is over, will be worth thinking on.’
On Monday, July 28th, the Lord High Steward set
THE LORD
out in great pomp from his house in Great Ormond HIGH
Street to open the proceedings in Westminster Hall. STEWARD.
There were in the procession ’6 led coaches and six,’
and a stupendous state carriage, of which much had been previously
said in the papers. The carriage was not so remarkable as the
attendants upon it. Ten footmen, bareheaded, were clustered upon
the platform which served for footboard in the rear. When the
spectators had done admiring them, they turned to the vehicle itself,
and rather contemptuously remarked that it was nothing more than
the old faded state carriage of the mad Duchess of Buckingham,
who used to go to Court in it, as a sprig of royalty, she being an
illegitimate daughter of James II. However, there was mock
splendour enough to satisfy reasonable spectators. The great Earl of
Hardwicke, Lord High Steward, moved, according to the
arrangements of the Master of the Ceremonies, with six maces
before him as well as ten bareheaded footmen behind him; and less
ceremony would not have suited the circumstance that was to begin
at the bar, in the House of Lords, and end at the block, on Tower Hill.
Lord Orford’s gallery, on the south side of the hall,
THE
was filled by his friends. While it was building, a SPECTATORS’
marriage took place which was thus announced in the GALLERY.
papers. ‘On Wednesday, July the 23rd, Walford, Esq.,
clerk of certificates at the custom house, was married to Miss Rachel
Norsa, daughter of Mr. Norsa, steward to the Earl of Orford, a
beautiful young lady with a very considerable fortune’.... We learn
from Horace Walpole that among the spectators was ‘the Old Jew
tavern-keeper, Norsa, now retired from business.’ He had sanctioned
(for money) an arrangement whereby his daughter, a singer of some
eminence, was to live with Lord Walpole, my lord signing a contract
to marry Miss Norsa when his wife happened to die—but she
happened to survive him. The Jew and Horace Walpole were in the
extensive gallery, which the latter’s brother, Lord Orford, had at his
disposal as auditor of the exchequer. Horace, not disdaining to
speak to this rascal, Norsa, remarked: ‘I really feel for the prisoners!’
Old Sparker, as Walpole calls him, replied, ‘Feel for them! Pray, if
they had succeeded, what would have become of all us?’
They who could not get tickets for the official galleries thought that
there might as well have been no rebellion! The grand jury of Surrey
having found true bills, the curious order was issued that, on the
above Monday, July 28th, Lord Kilmarnock should be tried in
Westminster Hall at 9 o’clock, Lord Cromartie at 10, and Lord
Balmerino at 11. The three lords were brought to the hall in three
separate carriages, heavily escorted. It was at starting that the little
difficulty occurred as to which carriage should convey the official and
significant axe; difficulty which Balmerino terminated by exclaiming,
‘Come, come! put it in here with me.’ He needed not to have been in
a hurry, for the Lord High Steward kept everybody waiting, and
eleven had struck when the three lords were brought into the hall
together, and then Lord Hardwick addressed them prosily, yet
sharply, on their alleged wickedness, and he did not particularly
interest them by remarking that their lordships were the first of their
rank who had been brought to trial upon indictments for high treason,
since the passing of the Act of William III.
On being arraigned, the tall, slender, and dignified KILMARNOCK
Kilmarnock, and Cromartie, without dignity, or self- AND
possession, disappointed half the audience by CROMARTIE.
pleading ‘Guilty.’ They were at once removed,
Cromartie almost swooning. Balmerino was left standing, with the
gentleman-gaoler at his side, holding the ominous axe, with its edge
turned away from the prisoner. The latter conversed with the axe-
bearer as unconcernedly as if both were mere spectators; while
talking, he played with his fingers on the axe, and when a bystander
listened to what Balmerino was saying, the stout old lord himself
turned the blade of the axe in such a way as to partly hide his face,
and to enable him the better to speak with the gentleman-gaoler
without being heard. Balmerino, on being asked to
BALMERINO.
plead, fenced rather than fought for his life. He was
not, he said, what the indictment styled him, ‘Arthur, Lord Balmerino,
of the city of Carlisle.’ He could prove, he said, that he was never
within twelve miles of it. On this and other trifling objections being
over-ruled, he bluntly pleaded, Not Guilty, and the clerk of arraigns
as bluntly called out, ‘Culprit, how will you be tried?’ and Balmerino,
looking at the clerk with some disgust for assuming his guilt,
muttered the formula, ‘by God and my peers’; whereupon Sir Richard
Lloyd opened the case against him. In a few words to the purpose he
accused Balmerino with waging war against the king, and with
slaughtering the king’s subjects. Sir Richard was followed by careful
Serjeant Skinner, who spoke of Balmerino as ‘this unfortunate peer,’
adding: ‘I will not bring a railing accusation against this unhappy
lord,’ but he marred this fair precedent by a fierce denunciation of the
traitor whose treason merited death, and whose condemnation
would cover his posterity with infamy.
The serjeant committed a few plagiarisms from THE
various loyal sermons, such as,—that rebellion was PROSECUTIO
as wicked as witchcraft, and as absurd as N.
transubstantiation; and that, had it succeeded, it
would have reduced England to the degraded position of being a
mere province of France. Then, having traced the progress of the
‘rebels’ from the landing of the Pretender, in June 1745, to the battle
of Preston Pans, the serjeant heaved a sigh, and added: ‘I wish we
could forget the miscarriages of that day!’ Having noted at what
period Kilmarnock and Cromartie had joined the Pretender’s army,
and added some forcible comments on the alleged murdering of the
king’s wounded soldiers on the field at Clifton, the serjeant alluded to
Balmerino having held a commission in the king’s service, and
deserting that service to side with traitors, whereby ‘he heightened
every feature of the deformity of treason.’ Having sketched the
career of Balmerino from his first entry into Carlisle till his capture
near Culloden, the serjeant gave place to the Attorney-General, who
began by sympathetically remarking that it was ‘disagreeable to try a
noble person, one of their lordships’ high order,’ and then Mr.
Attorney did what he could to condemn him by insisting that failing to
prove a single event in the indictment could not invalidate it. On the
contrary, if but one alleged criminal act was proved, a verdict of
Guilty must follow.
Balmerino protested against such interpretation of
BALMERINO
the law. But, being asked if he would have counsel AND MURRAY.
assigned to him to argue the question, he curtly
replied: ‘I don’t want any.’ Only four witnesses were called. They
made brief and simple statements, and not a question was put to
them by way of cross-examination. William M‘Ghee swore to
Balmerino’s active offices in the rebel army. The accused peer only
remarked that M‘Ghee confused his dates. ‘I can’t tell the time
myself,’ said Balmerino, ‘unless I was at home to look at my notes.’
He declined, however, to ask M‘Ghee any questions. Next, Hugh
Douglas gave similar evidence, with the additional circumstance that,
at Falkirk, where the cavalry were not engaged, he was with them,
and saw Balmerino, Kilmarnock, and Lord Pitsligo, with the reserve
of horse. One James Patterson corroborated this testimony, and
Balmerino asked him what he was. ‘I am a gentleman’s servant,’ was
the reply. ‘What regiment?’ rejoined Balmerino. Patterson intimated
that he was a soldier, servant to a gentleman in the first troop of
Horse Guards. ‘Horse Guards!’ cried the Lord High Steward, ‘whose
Horse Guards?’ ‘The Pretender’s,’ answered the ‘approver.’ One
Roger Macdonald deposed to similar purpose, and closed the case
for the Crown. Balmerino had ‘nothing to say,’ except that all the acts
laid in the indictment had not been made out. Long pleadings
ensued, the end of which was unfavourable to the prisoner. ‘My
solicitor, Mr. Ross,’ he said, ‘thought as the king’s counsel thinks, but
I thought Mr. Ross was wrong. I was mistaken. I heartily beg your
lordships’ pardon for taking up so much of your present time.’ It was
at this juncture that the Solicitor-General (brother of the Pretender’s
secretary) officiously and insolently went up to Balmerino and asked
how he dared to give the lords so much trouble, when his solicitor
had told him his plea could be of no use to him. ‘Who is this person?’
asked Balmerino, and being told it was Mr. Murray, ‘Oh!’ exclaimed
Balmerino, ‘Mr. Murray! I am glad to see you. I have been with
several of your relations: the good lady, your mother, was of great
use to us at Perth!’ When the votes were about to be taken, Lord
Foley withdrew, ‘as too well a wisher,’ says Walpole. Lord Moray and
Lord Stair also withdrew, being kinsmen of Balmerino; and Lord
Stamford ‘would not answer to the name of Henry, having been
christened Harry. All the remaining peers put their hands to their
breasts and said, ‘Guilty, upon my honour,’ except
Lord Windus, who remarked, ‘I am sorry I must say,‘GUILTY, UPON
MY HONOUR!’
“Guilty, upon my honour.”’ When Lord Townshend
uttered the usual formula, his wife, with her well-known audacity,
applied it to himself, and said, ‘Yes, I knew he was guilty, but I never
thought he would own it upon his honour!’ The joking and the
solemnity being over, the gentleman-gaoler turned the edge of his
axe towards the traitor, and Balmerino bowed to his judges and was
ushered out of the hall. On going out he remarked: ‘They call me a
Jacobite. I am no more a Jacobite than any that tried me; but if the
Great Mogul had set up his standard, I should have followed it, for I
could not starve!’ and he good-naturedly remarked, that if he had
pleaded Not Guilty, it was chiefly that the ladies might not be
disappointed of their show.
Walpole spoke of Balmerino as the most natural, brave old fellow
he had ever seen, his intrepidity amounting to indifference. While the
lords were in consultation in their own house, Balmerino shook
hands and talked with the witnesses who had sworn against him.
Among the spectators was a little boy who could see nothing.
Balmerino alone was unselfish enough to think of him. ‘He made
room for the child,’ says Walpole, ‘and placed him near himself.’
On Wednesday, July 30th, the three Jacobite lords, KILMARNOCK’
Kilmarnock, Cromartie, and Balmerino, were brought S APOLOGY.
from the Tower to Westminster Hall, to receive
judgment. On being asked what they had to say why sentence
should not be passed upon them, Kilmarnock was the first to speak.
Walpole says that, ‘with a very fine voice he read a very fine speech.’
It was a very curious speech. Lord Kilmarnock stated that his father
had been a loyal officer of the late King George in 1715, and that he
had since followed his father’s example, practising and inculcating
loyalty on his estate, till he was unhappily led away. (It was said that
his wife’s rich aunt, the old Countess of Errol, had forced him into
joining Charles Edward, under the threat that she would leave all her
money elsewhere if he refused. The old lady did, ultimately, leave
her property to Kilmarnock’s widow.) Lord Kilmarnock passed over
the fact that he had led away his second son into rebellion; but he
made a merit of another fact, that his eldest son, Lord Boyd, was in
the Duke of Cumberland’s army at Culloden, fighting there, as
Walpole remarks, for the liberties of his country, ‘where his unhappy
father was in arms to destroy them!’ He could have escaped, Lord
Kilmarnock said, when he resolved to surrender. He trusted to King
George’s mercy, and he expressed great indignation that the King of
France (through his ambassador) had been impudent enough to
interfere in the affairs of this kingdom, by interceding in his behalf.
On this point, Walpole remarks, ‘he very artfully mentioned Von
Hoey’s letter, and said how much he should scorn to owe his life to
such intercession!’ Lord Kilmarnock also referred to his tenderness
towards the English prisoners, but, according to Walpole, it was
stated,—that the Duke of Cumberland had spoken aloud, at a levee,
to the effect that Kilmarnock was guilty of an atrocious proposal to
murder his English prisoners, and that the statement hardened the
king’s heart, who was otherwise disposed to be merciful. If it had
been true, Kilmarnock could hardly have had the audacity to insist on
his kindness towards the English prisoners, as one ground for mercy
being extended towards him. When Lord Kilmarnock had read, with
dignity and effect, his apology for his rebellion, Lord Leicester,
remembering that the Ministry had lately given the paymastership of
the army to Pitt, out of fear of his abusive eloquence, went up to the
Duke of Newcastle, and said, ‘I never heard so great an orator as
Lord Kilmarnock. If I was your grace, I would pardon him and make
him paymaster!’
Lord Cromartie’s reply could only be heard by CROMARTIE’S
those who sat near him, as he read it with a low and PLEA.
tremulous voice. They who heard it are said to have
preferred it to Kilmarnock’s address—an opinion in which they who
now read both will not concur. Cromartie expressed sorrow at having
drawn his eldest son (who was captured with him) into the rebellion,
and while he hoped for mercy, professed to be resigned to God’s will,
if mercy were denied him; but the substance of his reply was that he
had never thought of rebelling till there was a rebellion! Walpole has
put on record that if Lord Cromartie had pleaded ‘Not Guilty,’ there
was ready to be produced against him a paper, signed with his own
hand, for putting the English prisoners to death. The best proof that
the statement is unfounded is the fact that Cromartie was ultimately
pardoned.
Last came bold Balmerino. He had little to say, but BALMERINO’S
it was to the purpose. Before the three lords left the DEFENCE.
Tower, that morning, a good friend had sent them a
suggestion, in the form of a plea which, if successfully made, would
not only save the lives of the lords, but stop the further execution of
the Jacobites at Kennington. The plea was,—that as the Act for
regulating the trials of these lords did not take place till after their
crime was committed, judgment ought not to be pronounced. The
plea had been handed to the Lieutenant of the Tower, who had made
it over to the Governor, the Earl of Cornwallis, by whom it was laid
before the Lords sitting in Westminster Hall, who ‘tenderly and
rightly,’ says Walpole, sent it to the Jacobite peers awaiting
judgment. Balmerino alone made use of it, and he demanded
counsel to assist him in establishing it. ‘The High Steward,’ almost in
a passion, told him that when he had been offered counsel he did
not accept it! After some discussion, Messrs. Forester and
Wilbraham were named as counsel, and as they needed time to
consider the question, the Court adjourned to Friday, August 1st, on
which day Balmerino’s counsel confessed that the plea was invalid,
and simply apologised for having wasted their lordships’ time, and
Lord Hardwicke, after a tedious speech, pronounced sentence. The
worst point in the Lord High Steward’s speech was in a taunting
expression of surprise at the two earls, who, with so much loyal
feeling as they pretended to possess, had gone into rebellion. ‘Your
lordships,’ he remarked, ‘have left that a blank in your apologies,’ a
course, he added, which might be safely left to the construction of
others.
In the room to which the condemned lords were BALMERINO’S
conducted after sentence, refreshment was served to CONDUCT.
them, previous to their removal to the Tower. When
this had nearly come to an end, Balmerino, ever self-possessed,
proposed that they ‘might have t’other bottle,’ for, said he, alluding to
their being now condemned to separate cells: ‘We shall never meet
again till—’ and here he pointed to his neck. Kilmarnock was more
depressed than Cromartie. Balmerino did not greatly encourage him
by showing how he should lay his head. He bade him ‘not wince, lest
the stroke should cut his skull or his shoulders, and advised him to
bite his lips.’ In some of the idle half-hours in Court, during
adjournments, Balmerino had played with the tassels of the axe, and
affected to try its edge with his finger. His good humour towards it did
not last. On this eventful day, after he had gone into his coach, the
symbolic weapon was rather carelessly flung in, before the
gentleman-gaoler himself took his seat. ‘Take care!’ cried Balmerino
to that official, ‘or you will break my shins with that damned axe!’
However, he recovered his good humour by the time he arrived at
Charing Cross, where he stopped the coach at a fruit stall, that he
might buy ‘honeyblobs,’ as the Scotch call gooseberries. Balmerino
had lost his playful indifference for the gaoler’s weapon. He
observed, with a grim expression, that, as the Lord High Steward
proceeded with his address, the gentleman-gaoler gradually turned
the edge of the axe towards the condemned peers. On entering the
Tower, he thought no more of himself. ‘I am extremely afraid,’ he
said, ‘that Lord Kilmarnock will not behave well!’
George Selwyn, of course, contrived to get a GEORGE
dreary joke out of the solemnity. He saw plain and SELWYN.
meagre Mrs. Christopher Bethel, her sharp hatchet
visage looking wistfully towards the rebel lords. ‘What a shame it is,’
said Selwyn, ‘to turn her face to the prisoners till they are
condemned!’ Selwyn, who was fond of keeping memorials of capital
trials and executions at which he was present, begged Sir William
Saunderson to get him the High Steward’s wand, after it was broken,
when the trials were over. When that time came, Selwyn had no
longer a fancy for the fragments. Lord Hardwicke, he said, behaved
so like an attorney the first day, and so like a pettifogger the second,
that he wouldn’t take it to light his fire with. Walpole gives an
illustration of the foreign idea which found expression in the hall, in
which he seems to have discerned some wit, which might escape
the detection of less acute personages. One foreign ambassador,
addressing another, said, ‘Vraiment, cela est auguste.’ ‘Oui,’ replied
the other, ‘mais cela n’est pas royal!’
There was something about both lords which
diminishes in a certain degree our pity for them. KILMARNOCK’
S PRINCIPLES.
Kilmarnock and Balmerino were both brave men,
each in his way. The first had a terror of death, but heroically
concealed it. The latter had nothing to conceal, for he was insensible
to fear. But both were void of lofty principles. Kilmarnock childishly
pleaded that his poverty and not his will drove him to join the young
Prince Charles Edward. This plea was put forth in his apologetic
speech, as well as in private. ‘My lord,’ he said to the Duke of Argyle,
who had expressed his sorrow at seeing Lord Kilmarnock in such an
unhappy condition, ‘for the two kings and their rights, I cared not a
farthing which prevailed; but I was starving; and by God, if Mahomet
had set up his standard in the Highlands, I had been a good
Mussulman for bread, and stuck close to the party, for I must eat!’
This poor hungry and noble Scot was not nice as to the company
with whom he dined. So miserable had been his condition in London
that he was not above taking his dinner with a dealer in pamphlets
sold in the street. This circumstance was told to Horace Walpole by
an attendant at the Tennis Court in the Haymarket, where
Kilmarnock occasionally showed himself. ‘He would often have been
glad,’ said the professional tennis-player, ‘if I would have taken him
home to dinner!’ The tennis-player was above stooping to take up
with a Scotch lord who could condescend to dine with a dealer in
ballads, broadsides, and pamphlets. And yet this Scottish peer had
an estate, and a steward upon it, in Scotland. In neither was there
much profit. Lady Kilmarnock once importuned the steward, for a
whole fortnight, for money. All that she could obtain from him at last,
to send to her lord in London, was three shillings! The steward
seems an unnecessary luxury, and his place a sinecure. Horace
Walpole’s father had settled a pension on Kilmarnock, which Lord
Wilmington, on coming into power, had taken away. Thenceforth, in
London, at least, he often wanted a dinner.
Balmerino had even less of noble principle than THE
Kilmarnock. In the Rebellion year of 1715, he was on PRINCIPLES
the Hanoverian side. The Commander-in-Chief, the OF
Duke of Argyle, was warned not to trust him; but the BALMERINO.
duke relied on him, and Balmerino did his duty under the duke at
Sheriff-Muir. When that rather indecisive victory had been ‘snatched’
on the Whig side, Balmerino went off with his troops to the
Pretender, ‘protesting,’ as Walpole says, ‘that he had never feared
death but that day, as he had been fighting against his conscience.’
He was treated very leniently by the Government in London. They
pardoned
a crime which, according to military men, made LENIENCY OF
him infamous for ever. The pardon lost some of its THE
grace from the fact that it was granted simply to GOVERNMENT
engage the vote of Balmerino’s brother at the election .
of Scotch Peers! The deserter at Sheriff-Muir took up arms against
the side that had pardoned his desertion. Like Lord Kilmarnock, he
pleaded the pressure of poverty.
CHAPTER X.

(1746.)
etween condemnation and execution, Drury Lane, as if
London had not had enough of trials and judgments,
got up a showy spectacle, in one act, partly obtained
from Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V.,’ called ‘The Conspiracy
Discovered, or French Policy Defeated,’ with ‘a
representation of the Trial of the Lords for High Treason, in the reign
of Henry V.’ This was first acted on the 5th of August. But the
populace knew where to find a ‘spectacle, gratis.’
Gazing at the heads above Temple Bar became a pastime.
Pickpockets circulated among the well-dressed crowd, reaping rich
harvest; but, when detected, they were dragged down to the
adjacent river, and mercilessly ‘ducked,’ which was barely short of
being drowned. A head, called ‘Layer’s,’ had been there for nearly a
quarter of a century. An amiable creature, in a letter to a newspaper,
thus refers to it, in connection with those recently spiked there:
—‘Thursday, August 7.—Councillor Layer’s head on Temple Bar
appears to be making a reverend Bow to the heads of Towneley and
Fletcher, supposing they are come to relieve him after his long Look-
out, but as he is under a mistake, I think it would be proper to put
him to Rights again, which may be done by your means.—An
Abhorrer of Rebellion.’
About this time Walpole offers, with questionable
THE DUKE AT
alacrity, evidence against the character of the Duke of VAUXHALL.
Cumberland. The duke had fixed an evening for
giving a ball at Vauxhall, in honour of a not too reputable Peggy
Banks. The evening proved to be that of the day on which the lords
were condemned to death, the 1st of August. The duke immediately
postponed the ball, but Walpole says he was ‘persuaded to defer it,
as it would have looked like an insult to the prisoners.’ After all, the
unseemly festivity was only deferred from the 1st of August to the
4th; and Walpole was one of the company. He saw the royalties
embark at Whitehall Stairs, heard the National Anthem played and
sung on board state city-barges; and saw the duke nearly suffocated
by the crowds that greeted him on his landing at Vauxhall. He was
got safely ashore, not being helped by the awkward officiousness of
Lord Cathcart who, a few evenings previously, at the same place,
stepping on the side of the boat to lend his arm to the duke, upset it;
and the conqueror at Culloden and my lord were soused into the
Thames up to their chins.
In another letter Walpole declares that the king
OPINION IN
was inclined to be merciful to the condemned THE CITY.
Jacobites, ‘but the Duke, who has not so much of
Cæsar after a victory as in gaining it, is for the utmost severity.’
Walpole adds the familiar incident: ‘It was lately proposed in the city
to present him with the freedom of some company;’ one of the
aldermen said aloud: ‘Then let it be of the Butchers!’ If this alderman
ever said so, he represented the minority among citizens.
‘Popularity,’ writes Walpole (August 12th, 1746), ‘has changed sides
since the year ’15, for now, the city and the generality are very angry
that so many rebels have been pardoned. Some of those taken at
Carlisle dispersed papers at their execution, saying they forgave all
men but three, the Elector of Hanover, the pretended Duke of
Cumberland, and the Duke of Richmond, who signed the capitulation
of Carlisle.’ This bravado in the North was not calculated to inspire
mercy in the members of the administration (who were the real
arbiters of doom) in London.
People of fashion went to the Tower to see the
IN THE
prisoners as persons of lower ‘quality’ went there to TOWER.
see the lions. Within the Tower, the spectator was
lucky who, like Walpole, in August, ‘saw Murray, Lord Derwentwater
(Charles Radcliffe), Lord Traquair, Lord Cromartie and his son, and
the Lord Provost, at their respective windows.’ The two lords already
condemned to death were in dismal towers; and one of Lord
Balmerino’s windows was stopped up, ‘because he talked to the
populace, and now he has only one which looks directly upon all the
scaffolding.’ Lady Townshend, who had fallen in love with Lord
Kilmarnock, at the first sight of ‘his falling shoulders,’ when he
appeared to plead at the bar of the Lords, was to be seen under his
window in the Tower. ‘She sends messages to him, has got his dog
and his snuff-box, has taken lodgings out of town for to-morrow and
Monday night; and then goes to Greenwich; foreswears conversing
with the bloody English, and has taken a French master. She
insisted on Lord Hervey’s promising her he would not sleep a whole
night for Lord Kilmarnock! And, in return, says she, “Never trust me
more if I am not as yellow as a jonquil for him!” She said gravely the
other day, “Since I saw my Lord Kilmarnock, I really think no more of
Sir Harry Nisbett than if there was no such man in the world.” But of
all her flights, yesterday was the strongest. George Selwyn dined
with her, and not thinking her affliction so serious as she pretends,
talked rather jokingly of the executions. She burst into a flood of
tears and rage, told him she now believed all his father and mother
had said of him; and with a thousand other reproaches, flung
upstairs. George coolly took Mrs. Dorcas, her woman, and made her
sit down to finish the bottle. “And pray, Sir,” said Dorcas, “do you
think my mistress will be prevailed upon to let me go see the
execution? I have a friend that has promised to take care of me, and
I can lie in the Tower the night before.”—My lady has quarrelled with
Sir Charles Windham, for calling the two lords, malefactors. The idea
seems to be general, for ’tis said, Lord Cromartie is to be
transported, which diverts me for the dignity of the peerage. The
Ministry really gave it as a reason against their casting lots for
pardon, that it was below their dignity.’ Walpole, who has thus
pictured one part of London, in 1746, says, in a subsequent letter,
—‘My Lady Townshend, who fell in love with Lord Kilmarnock, at his
trial, will go nowhere to dinner, for fear of meeting with a rebel-pie.
She says, everybody is so bloody-minded that they eat rebels.’
The Earl of Cromartie, the smallest hero of the LORD
Jacobite group, was among the most fortunate. He CROMARTIE.
owed his comparative good luck to the energy of his
countess who, having driven him into rebellion, moved heaven and
earth to save him from the consequences. One Sunday, she
obtained admission to St. James’s, and presented a petition to the
king, for her husband’s pardon. The sovereign was civil, but he
would not at all give her any hope. He passed on, and Lady
Cromartie swooned away. On the following Wednesday, she
presented herself at Leicester House, to procure the good offices of
the Princess of Wales, accompanied by her four children. The
princess, seeing the force and tendency of this argument, ‘made no
other answer,’ says Gray, in a letter to Wharton, ‘than by bringing in
her own children, and placing them by her; which, if true, is one of
the prettiest things I ever heard.’ Lady Cromartie and her daughter,
who was as actively engaged as her mother, prevailed in the end.
Her lord was pardoned; and Walpole made this comment thereupon:
‘If wives and children become an argument for saving rebels, there
will cease to be a reason against their going into rebellion.’ Walpole’s
remarks are only the ebullition of a little ill-temper. Writing to Mann,
in August, 1746, he says, ‘The Prince of Wales, whose intercession
saved Lord Cromartie, says he did it in return for old Sir William
Gordon (Lady Cromartie’s father), coming down out of his death-bed,
to vote against my father in the Chippenham election. If His Royal
Highness,’ adds Walpole, ‘had not countenanced inveteracy, like that
of Sir Gordon, he would have no occasion to exert his gratitude now,
in favour of rebels.’
The doomed peers bore themselves like men, and LORD
awaited fate with a patience which the unpleasantly KILMARNOCK.
circumstantial old Governor Williamson could not
disturb for more than a moment. On the Saturday before the fatal
Monday, he told Lord Kilmarnock every detail of the ceremony, in
which he and Balmerino were to bear such important parts. The
summoning, the procession, the scaffold in sables, the whole
programme was minutely dwelt upon, as if the governor took a
sensual delight in torturing his captive. There was something grim in
the intimation that my lord must not prolong his prayers beyond one
o’clock, as the warrant expired at that hour; and, of course, he could
not lose his head, that day, if he was unreasonably long in his
orisons. There was not much, moreover, of comforting in the
assurance that the block, which had been raised to the height of two
feet, to make it comfortable for Lord Kenmure, had been so steadied,
that Lord Kilmarnock need not fear any unpleasantness from its
shaking. They talked of the heads and the bodies as if they belonged
to historical personages. ‘The executioner,’ said the governor, ‘is a
good sort of man.’ Kilmarnock thought his moral character might
make him weak of purpose and performance. My lord hoped his
head would not be allowed to roll about the scaffold. The governor
satisfied him on that point; but, he added, ‘it will be held up and
proclaimed as the head of a traitor.’ ‘It is a thing of no significance,’
said the earl, ‘and does not affect me at all.’—The governor then
visited Lord Balmerino, whose wife, ‘my Peggy,’ was with him. At an
allusion to the fatal day, the poor lady swooned. ‘Damn you!’ said the
old lord, ‘you’ve made my lady faint away.’
The details of the last scene on Tower Hill are ON TOWER
better known than those of any similar circumstances. HILL.
It was nobly said by Balmerino, when he met
Kilmarnock, on their setting out, ‘My Lord, I greatly regret to have
you with me on this expedition.’ Careful of the honour of his prince,
he questioned Kilmarnock on the alleged issue of the order to give
no quarter to the English, at Culloden. Lord Kilmarnock believed that
the order was in the hands of the Duke of Cumberland, signed only
by Lord George Murray. ‘Then, let Murray,’ said Balmerino, ‘and not
the Prince, bear the blame.’ He exhorted Kilmarnock, who preceded
him to the scaffold, ‘not to wince;’ and, when he himself appeared
there, he prayed for King James, requested that his head might not
be exposed, and that he might be buried in the grave where lay the
Marquis of Tullebardine. These requests were granted.
The sight-seers were disappointed in one respect.
THE
The papers had announced that Lord Balmerino had EXECUTIONS.
bespoken a flannel waistcoat, drawers, and night-
gown, in which he had resolved to make his appearance on the
scaffold. But he came in his old uniform, and had nothing eccentric
about him. The newspapers compared the two sufferers much to
Balmerino’s disadvantage. ‘Lord Kilmarnock’s behaviour,’ says the
‘General Advertiser,’ ‘was so much the Christian and gentleman that
it drew tears from thousands of spectators.’ Then, remarking that ‘the
executioner was obliged to shift himself by reason of the quantity of
blood that flew over him,’ the ‘Advertiser’ announces that, ‘Balmerino
died with the utmost resolution and courage, and seemed not the
least concerned; nor even the generality of spectators for him.’
A sympathising Jacobite lady honoured Balmerino with the
following epitaph:—
Here lies the man to Scotland ever dear,
Whose honest heart ne’er felt a guilty fear.
A much more remarkable, and altogether uncomplimentary,
effusion was to be found in verses addressed ‘to the pretended Duke
of Cumberland, on the execution of the Earl of Kilmarnock, who
basely sued for life by owning the usurper’s power, whereby he
became a traitor, and, though apprehended and condemned for a
loyalist, died a rebel:—
The only rebel thou hast justly slain
Was base Kilmarnock, &c.
But this censure sprang from the fact of Kilmarnock’s declaration that
Charles Edward had no religious principle at all, and that he was
prompt to profess membership with every community where a
shadow of advantage was to be derived from the profession.
There remained two other rebels of quality who were destined to
afford another savage holiday to the metropolis.
On the 21st of November, the road from the Tower CHARLES
to Westminster was crowded, in spite of the weather, RADCLIFFE.
to see Charles Radcliffe ride, under strong military
escort, to his arraignment in the Court of King’s Bench. He was the
pink of courtesy on his way, but spoilt the effect by his swagger in
Court. He denied that he was the person named in the indictment,
asserted that he was Earl of Derwentwater; and, it is supposed, he
wished to create a suspicion that he might be his elder brother,
Francis. He would not address the Chief Justice as ‘my Lord,’ since
he himself was not recognised as a peer. He also refused to hold up
his hand, on being arraigned, though the Attorney-General appealed
to him as a gentleman, and assured him there was nothing
compromising in what was a mere formality. In short, Mr. Radcliffe,
according to the news-writers, behaved very ‘ungentlemanly to
Governor Williamson as also to Mr. Sharpe for addressing a letter to
him as Mr. Radcliffe. He said he despised the Court and their
proceedings, and he behaved in every respect indecent and even
rude and senseless. He appeared very gay, being dressed in scarlet
faced in black velvet, and gold buttons, a gold-laced waistcoat, bag
wig, and hat and white feather.’
On the above Friday, his trial was fixed for the THE TRIAL.
24th, the following Monday. On the Friday evening,
Radcliffe had one more chance of escape, if he had only had friends
at hand to aid him. ‘As the Guards,’ says the ‘Daily Post,’ ‘were
conveying him back through Watling Street to the Tower, the coach
broke down at the end of Bow Lane, and they were obliged to walk
up to Cheapside before they could get another.’ This last chance
was unavailable, and the captive remained chafed and restless till he
was again brought, in gloomy array, on the long route from the Tower
to the presence of his judges and of a jury whose mission was not to
try him for any participation in the ’45 Rebellion, but to pronounce if
he were the Charles Radcliffe who, when under sentence of death
for high treason, in 1716, broke prison, and fled the country. Two
Northumbrian witnesses, who had seen him in arms in ’15, and who
had been taken to the Tower to refresh their memories, swore to his
being Charles Radcliffe, by a scar on his cheek. A third witness,
whose name has never transpired, but who seems to have been
‘planted’ on Radcliffe, swore that the prisoner, when drunk, had told
him he was Charles Radcliffe, and that he had described the way in
which he had escaped from Newgate. This witness said, he was not
himself drunk at the time; but Radcliffe, who had evidently treated
him to wine in the Tower, flung at him the sarcasm,—that there were
people ready enough to get drunk if other people would pay for it.
The jury very speedily found that the prisoner was the traitor who,
when under sentence of death, had escaped to the Continent. This
old sentence must, therefore, now be executed. There seemed no
room for mercy. Mr. Justice Foster, however, made an
MR. JUSTICE
effort to save the prisoner. The latter had pleaded that FOSTER.
he was not the Charles Radcliffe named in the
indictment. The jury had found that he was. At this point the prisoner
pleaded the king’s general pardon. The other judges held that the
prisoner must stand or fall by his first plea; it failed him, and
execution, it was said, must follow. ‘Surely,’ remarked the benevolent
Foster, ‘the Court will never in any state of a cause award execution
upon a man who plainly appeareth to be pardoned.’ He thought that
if anyone could show that Mr. Radcliffe was entitled to the benefit of
the Act of Pardon, he should be heard. The Chief Justice ruled
otherwise, and it was ultimately shown that as the prisoner had
broken prison when under attainder, he came within certain clauses
of exception in the Act—and could therefore not be benefitted by it.
The papers of the day make an almost incredible statement,
namely, that Radcliffe was informed, if he himself would swear he
was not the person named in the indictment, he should have time to
bring witnesses to support him; but he remained silent. Still, ‘he was
very bold,’ is the brief journalistic comment on his hearing. It is quite
clear that Charles Radcliffe did not keep his temper, and he therefore
lost some dignity on the solemn occasion of his being brought up to
Westminster Hall to have the day of his execution fixed. He is
described, in the Malmesbury correspondence, as acting with
unheard-of insolence, and apparently wishing to set the whole
Government at defiance. This is the evidence of a contemporary.
Lord Campbell (in the ‘Life of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke’) says, on
the contrary, that the calmness of his demeanour, added to his
constancy to the Stuart cause, powerfully excited the public
sympathy in his favour. Moreover, Lord Campbell does not think that
the identity of the Charles Radcliffe of ’45 with him of ’15 was
satisfactorily established by legal evidence, though he has no doubt
as to the fact.
Radcliffe was condemned to die on the 8th of CONDUCT OF
December. His high pitch (naturally enough, and with RADCLIFFE.
no disparagement to his courage) was lowered after
his sentence; and he stooped to write in a humble strain to the Duke
of Newcastle, for at least a reprieve. His niece, the dowager Lady
Petre, presented the letter to the duke, and seconded her uncle’s
prayer with extreme earnestness, as might be expected of a
daughter whose father had suffered, thirty years before, the terrible

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