Central Ideas & Details on the Digital SAT

Believing that living in an impractical space can heighten awareness and even improve health, conceptual artists Madeline Gins and Shusaku Arakawa designed an apartment building in Japan to be more fanciful than functional. A kitchen counter is chest-high on one side and knee-high on the other; a ceiling has a door to nowhere. The effect is disorienting but invigorating: after four years there, filmmaker Nobu Yamaoka reported significant health benefits.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

1. Although inhabiting a home with fanciful features like the Gins and Arakawa building can be rejuvenating, it is unsustainable.
2. Designing disorienting spaces like the Gins and Arakawa building is the most effective way to create a physically stimulating environment.
3. As a filmmaker, Yamaoka has long supported the designs of conceptual artists such as Gins and Arakawa.
4. Although impractical, the design of the apartment building by Gins and Arakawa may improve the well-being of its residents.

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In 1934 physicist Eugene Wigner posited the existence of a crystal consisting entirely of electrons in a honeycomb-like structure. The so-called Wigner crystal remained largely conjecture, however, until Feng Wang and colleagues announced in 2021 that they had captured an image of one. The researchers trapped electrons between two semiconductors, cooled the apparatus, and used an ultrathin sheet of graphene above the crystal to obtain an impression — the first visual confirmation of the Wigner crystal.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

1. Researchers have obtained the most definitive evidence to date of the existence of the Wigner crystal.
2. Researchers have identified an innovative new method for working with unusual crystalline structures.
3. Graphene is the most important of the components required to capture an image of a Wigner crystal.
4. It's difficult to acquire an image of a Wigner crystal because of the crystal's honeycomb structure.

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In 2014, Amelia Quon and her team at NASA set out to build a helicopter capable of flying on Mars. Because Mars's atmosphere is only one percent as dense as Earth's, the air of Mars would not provide enough resistance to the rotating blades of a standard helicopter for the aircraft to stay aloft. For five years, Quon's team tested designs in a lab that mimicked Mars's atmospheric conditions. The craft they ultimately designed can fly on Mars because its blades are longer and rotate faster than those of a helicopter of the same size built for Earth.
According to the text, why would a helicopter built for Earth be unable to fly on Mars?

1. Because Mars and Earth have different atmospheric conditions
2. Because the blades of helicopters built for Earth are too large to work on Mars
3. Because the gravity of Mars is much weaker than the gravity of Earth
4. Because helicopters built for Earth are too small to handle the conditions on Mars

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Elinor, this eldest daughter, whose advice was so effectual, possessed a strength of understanding, and coolness of judgment, which qualified her, though only nineteen, to be the counsellor of her mother, and enabled her frequently to counteract, to the advantage of them all, that eagerness of mind in Mrs. Dashwood which must generally have led to imprudence.
According to the text, what is true about Elinor?

1. Elinor often argues with her mother but fails to change her mind.
2. Elinor can be overly sensitive with regard to family matters.
3. Elinor thinks her mother is a bad role model.
4. Elinor is remarkably mature for her age.

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Every day when Bill came back from his stroll he would ask if any seafaring men had gone by along the road. At first we thought it was the want of company of his own kind that made him ask this question, but at last we began to see he was desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did stay at the Admiral Benbow, he would look in at him through the curtained door before he entered the parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a mouse when any such was present.
According to the text, why does Bill regularly ask about "seafaring men"?

1. He's hoping to find an old friend and fellow sailor.
2. He's trying to secure a job as part of the crew on a new ship.
3. He isn't sure that other guests at the inn will be welcoming of sailors.
4. He doesn't want to encounter any other sailor unexpectedly.

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Mother did not spend all her time in paying dull visits to dull ladies, and sitting dully at home waiting for dull ladies to pay visits to her. She was almost always there, ready to play with the children, and read to them, and help them to do their home-lessons. Besides this she used to write stories for them while they were at school, and read them aloud after tea, and she always made up funny pieces of poetry for their birthdays and for other great occasions.
According to the text, what is true about Mother?

1. She wishes that more ladies would visit her.
2. Birthdays are her favorite special occasion.
3. She creates stories and poems for her children.
4. Reading to her children is her favorite activity.

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A common assumption among art historians is that the invention of photography in the mid-nineteenth century displaced the painted portrait. The diminishing popularity of the portrait miniature, which coincided with the rise of photography, seems to support this claim. However, photography's impact on the portrait miniature may be overstated. Although records from art exhibitions in the Netherlands from 1820 to 1892 show a decrease in the number of both full-sized and miniature portraits submitted, this trend was established before the invention of photography.
Based on the text, what can be concluded about the diminishing popularity of the portrait miniature?

1. Factors other than the rise of photography may be more directly responsible for the portrait miniature's decline.
2. Although portrait miniatures became less common than photographs, they were widely regarded as having more artistic merit.
3. The popularity of the portrait miniature likely persisted for longer than art historians have assumed.
4. As demand for portrait miniatures decreased, portrait artists likely shifted their creative focus to photography.

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Algae living within the tissues of corals play a critical role in keeping corals thriving. Some coral species appear brown when healthy due to the algae living in their tissues. In the event of an environmental stressor, the algae can die or be expelled, causing the corals to appear white. To recover the algae, the bleached corals then begin to produce bright colors, which block intense sunlight, encouraging the light-sensitive algae to recolonize the corals.
What does the text most strongly suggest about corals that produce bright colors?

1. These corals have likely been subjected to stressful environmental conditions.
2. These corals are likely more vulnerable to exposure from intense sunlight than white corals are.
3. These corals have likely recovered from an environmental event without the assistance of algae colonies.
4. These corals are more likely to survive without algae colonies than brown corals are.

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