ข้อสอบ SAT Reading ทักษะการอ่าน เตรียมต่อ ป.ตรี ภาคอินเตอร์

Passage adapted from "Of One Defect in Our Government" in Essays of Michael, Seigneur de Montaigne in The Complete Works of Michael de Montaigne (1580, trans. C. Cotton, ed. W. Hazlitt 1842)

My late father, a man that had no other advantages than experience and his own natural parts, was nevertheless of a very clear judgment, formerly told me that he once had thoughts of endeavoring to introduce this practice; that there might be in every city a certain place assigned to which such as stood in need of anything might repair, and have their business entered by an officer appointed for that purpose. As for example: I want a chapman to buy my pearls; I want one that has pearls to sell; such a one wants company to go to Paris; such a one seeks a servant of such a quality; such a one a master; such a one such an artificer; some inquiring for one thing, some for another, every one according to what he wants. And doubtless, these mutual advertisements would be of no contemptible advantage to the public correspondence and intelligence: for there are evermore conditions that hunt after one another, and for want of knowing one another's occasions leave men in very great necessity.

I have heard, to the great shame of the age we live in, that in our very sight two most excellent men for learning died so poor that they had scarce bread to put in their mouths: Lilius Gregorius Giraldus in Italy and Sebastianus Castalio in Germany: and I believe there are a thousand men would have invited them into their families, with very advantageous conditions, or have relieved them where they were, had they known their wants. The world is not so generally corrupted, but that I know a man that would heartily wish the estate his ancestors have left him might be employed, so long as it shall please fortune to give him leave to enjoy it, to secure rare and remarkable persons of any kind, whom misfortune sometimes persecutes to the last degree, from the dangers of necessity; and at least place them in such a condition that they must be very hard to please, if they are not contented.

My father in his domestic economy had this rule (which I know how to commend, but by no means to imitate), namely, that besides the day-book or memorial of household affairs, where the small accounts, payments, and disbursements, which do not require a secretary's hand, were entered, and which a steward always had in custody, he ordered him whom he employed to write for him, to keep a journal, and in it to set down all the remarkable occurrences, and daily memorials of the history of his house: very pleasant to look over, when time begins to wear things out of memory, and very useful sometimes to put us out of doubt when such a thing was begun, when ended; what visitors came, and when they went; our travels, absences, marriages, and deaths; the reception of good or ill news; the change of principal servants, and the like. An ancient custom, which I think it would not be amiss for every one to revive in his own house; and I find I did very foolishly in neglecting it.

1. Based on the context in which it is used, what is the meaning of the underlined word "contemptible" in the first paragraph?

2. What is implied about the condition described in the underlined selection, “in such a condition that they must be very hard to please, if they are not contented”?

3. Based on the context in which the word is used, which of the following is the definition of the underlined word “chapman”?

4. What can be inferred from the underlined phrase “My late father, a man who had no other advantages than experience and his own natural parts”?

5. Based on context, what is the meaning of the underlined clause “he ordered him whom he employed to write for him”?

6. Based on the passage, which of the following is true?

7. How many books did the narrator's father have kept concerning his house, and what were they?

8. The second paragraph suggests that the narrator's view of the mankind is __________.

9. How does the narrator feel about the fact that famous intellectuals sometimes perish poor without receiving help from others?

10. What function do Lilius Gregorius Giraldus and Sebastianus Castalio serve in the passage?

11. The household journal described in the third paragraph could potentially solve all but one of the following problems. Which problem would it NOT help to solve?

12. The second paragraph recommends a financial relationship similar to which of the following?

13. The Era of Good Feelings was __________ in the United States after the Presidency of James Monroe; ten years of political calm came to an end.

14. The young prince was famously __________, often sulking and complaining for days at a time when he did not get his way.

15. Although Thomas wished to __________ his remarks to one section of the talk, he in fact had found many aspects suitable for __________.

Adapted from “In Mammoth Cave” by John Burroughs (1894)

Some idea of the impression which Mammoth Cave makes upon the senses, irrespective even of sight, may be had from the fact that blind people go there to see it, and are greatly struck with it. I was assured that this is a fact. The blind seem as much impressed by it as those who have their sight. When the guide pauses at a more interesting point, or lights the scene up with a great torch or with small flares, and points out the more striking features, the blind exclaim, "How wonderful! How beautiful!" They can feel it, if they cannot see it. They get some idea of the spaciousness when words are uttered. The voice goes forth in these colossal chambers like a bird. When no word is spoken, the silence is of a kind never experienced on the surface of the earth, it is so profound and abysmal. This, and the absolute darkness, to a sighted person makes him feel as if he were face to face with the primordial nothingness. The objective universe is gone; only the subjective remains; the sense of hearing is inverted, and reports only the murmurs from within. The blind miss much, but much remains to them. The great cave is not merely a spectacle to the eye; it is a wonder to the ear, a strangeness to the smell and to the touch. The body feels the presence of unusual conditions through every pore.

16. Which of the following answer choices is supported by the author’s statement that inside Mammoth Cave, “The objective universe is gone”?

17. Why does the author describe the experience of the blind in Mammoth Cave?

18. The primary purpose of this passage is to __________.

19. In context, the reference to sound going forth in the “colossal chambers like a bird” conveys a sense of __________.

20. While working in retail, I encountered many __________ customers, who always considered thelmselves superior to me.

21. The Mongol Empire was the largest collection of territory that the world has ever seen; yet the ­­__________ of Mongolian hegemony means it is scarcely remembered today.

22. Cindy's habit of being __________ often leads to her getting __________; for example, the other day, she paid one hundred dollars for a gold-painted pendant and thought she was getting a deal because the seller claimed that it was made of pure gold.

Adapted from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft (1792)

In the middle rank of life, to continue the comparison, men, in their youth, are prepared for professions, and marriage is not considered as the grand feature in their lives; whilst women, on the contrary, have no other scheme to sharpen their faculties. It is not business, extensive plans, or any of the excursive flights of ambition, that engross their attention; no, their thoughts are not employed in rearing such noble structures. To rise in the world, and have the liberty of running from pleasure to pleasure, they must marry advantageously, and to this object their time is sacrificed, and their persons often legally prostituted. A man when he enters any profession has his eye steadily fixed on some future advantage (and the mind gains great strength by having all its efforts directed to one point) and, full of his business, pleasure is considered as mere relaxation; whilst women seek for pleasure as the main purpose of existence. In fact, from the education, which they receive from society, the love of pleasure may be said to govern them all; but does this prove that there is a sex in souls? It would be just as rational to declare that the courtiers in France, when a destructive system of despotism had formed their character, were not men, because liberty, virtue, and humanity, were sacrificed to pleasure and vanity.—Fatal passions, which have ever domineered over the whole race!

The same love of pleasure, fostered by the whole tendency of their education, gives a trifling turn to the conduct of women in most circumstances: for instance, they are ever anxious about secondary things; and on the watch for adventures, instead of being occupied by duties.

A man, when he undertakes a journey, has, in general, the end in view; a woman thinks more of the incidental occurrences, the strange things that may possibly occur on the road; the impression that she may make on her fellow travelers; and, above all, she is anxiously intent on the care of the finery that she carries with her, which is more than ever a part of herself, when going to figure on a new scene; when, to use an apt French turn of expression, she is going to produce a sensation.—Can dignity of mind exist with such trivial cares? This observation should not be confined to the fair sex; however, at present, I only mean to apply it to them.

23. What is the main idea of the underlined question, "Can dignity of mind exist with such trivial cares?"

24. In the second paragraph the information about love of pleasure serves to __________.

25. The author's tone can best be described as __________.

26. Which of the following sentences best summarizes the second paragraph?

27. Which of the following most fully lists pursuits considered by the author to be “noble structures"?

28. The third paragraph establishes all of the following EXCEPT __________.

29. One of the main points made in the last paragraph is that __________.

30. Which of the following statements about the author’s attitude toward marriage is supported by the passage?

31. __________ in paying heed to every detail of the project, Katherine erected an impressive end product in which not a single __________ was mediocre.

32. The __________ Achilles could not be restrained from leading the charge against the Trojans.

33. Their relations were perhaps not extremely warm, but they were nevertheless __________. One does not need to be __________ in order to be friendly.

Adapted from Once on a Time by A. A. Milne (1922)

The Princess was still puzzled. "But I'm grown up," she said. "I don't want a mother so much now."

The King turned his flagon round and studied the other side of it.

"A mother's—er—tender hand," he said, "is—er—never——" and then the outrageous thing happened.


It was all because of a birthday present to the King of Barodia, and the present was nothing less than a pair of seven-league boots. The King being a busy man, it was a week or more before he had an opportunity of trying those boots. Meanwhile he used to talk about them at meals, and he would polish them up every night before he went to bed. When the great day came for the first trial of them to be made, he took a patronizing farewell of his wife and family, ignored the many eager noses pressed against the upper windows of the palace, and sailed off. The motion, as perhaps you know, is a little disquieting at first, but one soon gets used to it. After that it is fascinating. He had gone some two thousand miles before he realized that there might be a difficulty about finding his way back. The difficulty proved at least as great as he had anticipated. For the rest of that day he toured backwards and forwards across the country, and it was by the merest accident that a very angry King shot in through an open pantry window in the early hours of the morning. He removed his boots and went softly to bed.

It was, of course, a lesson to him. He decided that in the future he must proceed by a recognized route, sailing lightly from landmark to landmark. Such a route his geographers prepared for him—an early morning constitutional, of three hundred miles or so, to be taken ten times before breakfast. He gave himself a week in which to recover his nerve and then started out on the first of them.

34. As it is used in the passage, the underlined word “flagon” most nearly means __________.

35. The closest antonym to the underlined word “disquieting” is __________.

36. The author’s tone in this passage could best be described as __________.

37. What is the main idea of the first five lines?

38. The last paragraph establishes all of the following EXCEPT __________.

39. Which of the following statements about the King of Barodia is supported by the passage?

40. In the second paragraph, the information about the King of Barodia's birthday present __________.