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SAT Reading 2.4 Long Passages 176 Views
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Description:
Reading Long Passages: Drill 2, Problem 4
Transcript
- 00:03
Here's your shmoop du jour... If you need to review your old friend, Mr.
- 00:06
Long Passage, feel free to press the pause.
- 00:33
In line 32, "alight" most nearly means...what?
- 00:37
And here are the potential answers...
- 00:41
Our narrator's waiting by the train—but
Full Transcript
- 00:43
where's Aunt Georgiana? Oh, she's just busy being the "last of the passengers to alight."
- 00:51
Though these days "alight" is usually used to describe when something lands from
- 00:55
the sky--like an airplane or a flying monkey...
- 00:57
The context of this passage makes it crystal clear that the narrator is simply referring
- 01:02
to his aunt exiting the train--which apparently took her a very long time.
- 01:07
What, did she get locked in the bathroom or something?
- 01:14
Just turn and push, Auntie G. Armed with this context, we can start throwing
- 01:18
incorrect answers from the train.
- 01:20
Let's begin by eliminating (C), since she must have had a ticket to board the train
- 01:24
in the first place--unless she's an evil master of deception.
- 01:28
We find that quite doubtful. (B) is easy to nix as well. It seems highly
- 01:32
unlikely that such an old and weathered woman is going to be taking any leaps, or giant
- 01:36
jumps from the train.
- 01:38
The narrator probably would have seen her if she went to retrieve her baggage, so (D)
- 01:42
is out as well.
- 01:43
"Attend" is usually used to describe when somebody shows up at an event.
- 01:47
Though Auntie G is showing up somewhere, exiting a train isn't much of an event--for most
- 01:52
people anyway.
- 01:53
Really, (A) just doesn't make any sense at all, so ... buh-bye.
- 01:57
The prefix "dis" can sometimes mean to separate from something, while "embark"
- 02:02
means "to begin a journey."
- 02:03
Aunt Georgiana is at last separating herself from this train and heading off to meet her
- 02:08
nephew. Knowing all this, we're proud to declare (E) the correct answer.
- 02:12
Maybe Auntie G should take some disembarking lessons before her next train ride.
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