SAT Reading Comprehension: One Person vs. Two People

Beginning with this lesson, we will turn our attention to dealing with the answer choices in reading passages more quickly and efficiently. Many of these ideas will seem obvious, and they are in isolation. The trick is to make them just as obvious on the SAT, where wrong and irrelevant answer choices often sound very good.

In real life, the distinction between singular and plural is important. Imagine that you get a penguin for your birthday. That's cool. Now imagine that you get 30 penguins. That's a whole different thing. With 30 penguins, you could form a whole army. You could take over the world. Think about it.

The distinction between singular and plural is just as important on the SAT. To play this game well, you have to figure out whether the lines in a line question deal with one person or more than one person.

If the lines include only one individual, so too must the correct answer choice. If the lines include two individuals, then the correct answer choice must also include two people.

PRACTICE QUESTION FOR 1 PERSON VS. TWO PEOPLE

From that point forward, Crump and I shared an intimate understanding. He would do his best to nurture the solitude I required for artistic achievement, while I would work to immortalize the man in epic verse. This unspoken arrangement would remain steadfast.

1. The above lines primarily suggest that
   (A) Crump is adept at isolating people
   (B) the narrator is the primary beneficiary of the arrangement
   (C) Crump and the narrator are old friends
   (D) the narrator is adroit in the genre of epic verse
   (E) Crump and the narrator each provide a service to the other

Focus on the people in the lines, and see if you can get the answer.

Think you've got the answer? Let's make sure.

Within the lines are two people, the narrator and Crump. So, they must be included in the answer choice.

This fact allows you to quickly eliminate wrong answer choices:

(A) [Crump]
(B) [the narrator]
(D) [the narrator]

The above choices are all wrong because they don't include both people. Only choices (C) and (E) contain both individuals. Nothing in the lines support the "old friends" in choice (C).

So, only choice (E) can be correct.

Reading: One Person vs. Two People

Lesson Includes:

—Overview of One Person vs. Two Person

—Practice Question for 1 Person vs. Two People

SAT Math

SAT Writing

SAT Reading

SAT Vocabulary