sat-practice-test-3-essay.pdf

DIRECTIONSThe essay gives you an opportunity to show how effectively you can read and comprehend a passage and write an essay analyzing the passage.In your essay,you should demonstrate that you have read the passage carefully,present a clear and logical analysis,and use language precisely.Your essay must be written on the lines provided in your answer booklet;except for the Planning Page of the answer booklet,you will receive no other paper on which to write.You will have enough space if you write on every line,avoid wide margins,and keep your handwriting to a reasonable size.Remember that people who are not familiar with your handwriting will read what you write.Try to write or print so that what you are writing is legible to those readers.You have 50 minutes to read the passage and write an essay in response to the prompt provided inside this booklet.REMINDERS Do not write your essay in this booklet.Only what you write on the lined pages of your answer booklet will be evaluated.An off-topic essay will not be evaluated.SAT Practice Essay#3THIS TEST BOOKLET MUST NOT BE TAKEN FROM THE ROOM.UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION OR USE OF ANY PART OF THIS TEST BOOKLET IS PROHIBITED.Follow this link for more information on scoring your practice test:www.sat.org/scoringthis cover is representative of what youll see on test day.2015 The College Board.College Board,SAT,and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board.As you read the passage below,consider how Eliana Dockterman uses evidence,such as facts or examples,to support claims.reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims and evidence.stylistic or persuasive elements,such as word choice or appeals to emotion,to add power to the ideas expressed.Adapted from Eliana Dockterman,“The Digital Parent Trap.”2013 byTime Inc.Originally published August 19,2013.1By all measures,this generation of American kids(ages 3 to 18)is the tech-savviest inhistory:27%of them use tablets,43%use smartphones,and 52%use laptops.And injust a few weeks they will start the most tech-saturated school year ever:Los AngelesCounty alone will spend$30 million on classroom iPads this year,outfitting640,000 kids by late 2014.2Yet,according to the latest findings from the research firm Grunwald Associates,barely half of U.S.parents agree that mobile technology should play a moreprominent role in schools.Some are even paying as much as$24,000 to send theirkids to monthlong“digital detox”programs like the one at Capio NightingaleHospital in the U.K.3So who s rightthe mom trying to protect her kids from the perils of new technologyor the dad who s coaching his kids to embrace it?It s an urgent question at a timewhen more than 80%of U.S.school districts say they are on the cusp of incorporatingWeb-enabled tablets into everyday curriculums.4For years,the Parental Adage was simple:The less time spent with screens,thebetter.That thinking stems from,among other things,reports about the rise ofcyberbullying.as well as the fact that social mediaspecifically the sight of otherslooking happy in photoscan make kids feel depressed and insecure.5There s also a fundamental aversion to sitting kids in front of screens,thanks todecades of studies proving that watching too much TV can lead to obesity,violenceand attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.6In that vein,the Waldorf Schoolsa consortium of private K-12 schools inNorth America designed to“connect children to nature”and“ignite passion forlifelong learning”limit tech in the classroom and bar the use of smartphones,laptops,televisions and even radios at home.“You could say some computer gamesdevelop creativity,”says Lucy Wurtz,an administrator at the Waldorf School inLos Altos,Calif.,minutes from Silicon Valley.“But I don t see any benefit.Waldorfkids knit and build things and painta lot of really practical and creative endeavors.”7But it s not that simple.While there are dangers inherent in access to Facebook,newresearch suggests that social-networking sites also offer unprecedented learningopportunities.“Online,kids can engage with specialized communities of interest,”says Mimi Ito,an anthropologist at the University of California at Irvine who sstudying how technology affects young adults.“They re no longer limited by what soffered in school.”8Early tech use has cognitive benefits as well.Although parenting experts havequestioned the value of educational gamesas Jim Taylor,author of RaisingGeneration Tech,puts it,“they re a load of crap.meant to make money”newstudies have shown they can add real value.In a recent study by SRI,a nonprofitresearch firm,kids who played games like Samorost(solving puzzles)did 12%betteron logic tests than those who did not.And at MIT s Education Arcade,playing theempire-building game Civilization piqued studentsinterest in history and wasdirectly linked to an improvement in the quality of their history-class reports.9The reason:engagement.On average,according to research cited by MIT,studentscan remember only 10%of what they read,20%of what they hear and 50%of whatthey see demonstrated.But when they re actually doing something themselvesinthe virtual worlds on iPads or laptopsthat retention rate skyrockets to 90%.10This is a main reason researchers like Ito say the American Academy of Pediatricsrecommendation of a two-hour screen-time limit is an outdated concept:activelybrowsing pages on a computer or tablet is way more brain-stimulating than veggingout in front of the TV.11The most convincing argument for early-age tech fluency,however,is more basic:staying competitive.“If you look at applying for college or a job,that s on thecomputer,”says Shawn Jackson,principal of Spencer Tech,a public school in one ofChicago s lower-income neighborhoods.Ditto the essential skills for jobs infast-growing sectors such as programming,engineering and biotechnology.“If we renot exposing our students to this stuff early,”Jackson continues,“they re going to beleft behind.”.12None of this means kids deserve unfettered access to the gadget of theirchoiceespecially if,as McGrath notes,they ve already been caught abusing it.Aswith any childhood privilege,monitoring is key.But parents should keep an openmind about the benefits of tech fluency.Write an essay in which you explain how Eliana Dockterman builds anargument to persuade her audience that there are benefits to early exposureto technology.In your essay,analyze how Dockterman uses one or more ofthe features listed in the box above(or features of your own choice)tostrengthen the logic and persuasiveness of her argument.Be sure that youranalysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Dockterman s claims,but rather explain how Dockterman builds an argument to persuade heraudience.do not oPen tHis Book Until tHe sUPerVisor tells YoU to do so.Ideas contained in the passage for this test,which is excerpted or adapted from published material,do not necessarily represent the opinions of the College Board.YoUr naMe(Print)LAST FIRST MItest center NUMBER NAME OF TEST CENTER ROOM NUMBER5LS06E