新
在题目设计上，这篇文章的五个题目依次考察了文章结构(text structure), 措辞与态度(use of specific words and phrases to shape meaning and tone), 人物观点(point of view or perspective)，文本依据(citing textual evidence)和隐含语义(implicit meanings)这五个考点。
对照老SAT相关题型和考点发现，刘琼歌老师发现，这五个题目中只有第四题是新题型，考查的是文本依据(citing textual evidence)，这种题目要求在文中找出支持上一题答案的依据，目的是引导学生有理有据地解读原文，非常符合新SAT阅读改革的大方向：Evidence-based reading.
其余四个题目在考点设计上与旧SAT类似，只是选项由旧SAT的五个减为四个，且答错不再倒扣分数。
【文章大意】
Mattie Silver是Ethan家的年轻女佣，这篇文章讲述了男主人Ethan对这位女佣的感情。
在第一段里，Ethan初见Mattie时就喜欢上了她，觉得她给自己原本冷清的生活带来了活力(But it was not only that the coming to his house of a bit of hopeful young life was like the lighting of a fire on a cold hearth. The girl was more than the bright serviceable creature he had thought her.)。
第二段里，Ethan觉得自己对自然美景有一种常人无法理解的感伤情绪(He did not even know whether anyone else in the world felt as he did, or whether he was the sole victim of this mournful privilege.)而当他和Mattie在一起时，他觉得终于有人能够跟他心灵相通，做他的知己(When she said to him once: “It looks just as if it was painted!” it seemed to Ethan that the art of definition could go no farther, and that words had at last been found to utter his secret soul....)。
第三段，Ethan看到社交场合的Mattie，才意识到他原本以为Mattie只有跟他在一起时才会流露的感情和动作，其实并非他独有(The face she lifted to her dancers was the same which, when she saw him, always looked like a window that has caught the sunset.)，而自己居然以为她真的对自己无聊的谈话感兴趣。
【题目解析】
Question 1.Over the course of the passage, the main focus of the narrative shifts from the
A. reservations a character has about a person he has just met to a growing appreciation that character has of the person’s worth.
B. ambivalence a character feels about his sensitive nature to the character’s recognition of the advantages of having profound emotions.
C. intensity of feeling a character has for another person to the character’s concern that that intensity is not reciprocated.
D. value a character attaches to the wonders of the natural world to a rejection of that sort of beauty in favor of human artistry.
答案：C
解析：前两段是Ethan对Mattie的强烈感情，第三段Ethan意识到这种感情其实只是自己一厢情愿，并不是相互的。
考点:文章结构(text structure)
Question2. In the context of the passage, the author’s use of the phrase “her light step flying to keep time with his long stride” (line 6) is primarily meant to convey the idea that
A. Ethan and Mattie share a powerful enthusiasm.
B. Mattie strives to match the speed at which Ethan works.
C. Mattie and Ethan playfully compete with each other.
D. Ethan walks at a pace that frustrates Mattie.
答案：A
解析：由第二段可以看出，黄昏时Mattie和Ethan手挽手一起回农场的这段路上，两人分享着自然美景给他们带来的感受，步伐轻快强调他们心情愉悦兴奋。
考点: 措辞与态度(use of specific words and phrases to shape meaning and tone)
Question 3. The description in the first paragraph indicates that what Ethan values most about Mattie is her
A. fitness for farm labor
B. vivacious youth
C. receptive nature.
D. freedom from worry
答案：C
解析：在第一段，Ethan第一次见到Mattie就喜欢上她了，因为她活泼，可爱，阳光，有活力。但是最重要的，在第一段结尾，Ethan强调“The girl was more than the bright serviceable creature he had thought her.She had an eye to see and an ear to hear: he could show her things and tell her things, and taste the bliss of feeling that all he imparted left long reverberations and echoes he could wake at will.”这说明，Ethan更看重的是，这个女孩能感知这个世界，能够跟他交流，以此引出下一段他们能心灵相通的内容。
考点:人物观点(point of view or perspective)
Question 4. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. LINES 2-7( mattie… farm)
B. lines 7-14 (“he had …. anyhow”)
C. lines 14-16 ( but it ….. hearth)
D. lines 17-21 ( she had …wil)
答案：D
解析：支持第三题答案“C. receptive nature.”的证据在第17-21行，即“She had an eye to see and an ear to hear: he could show her things and tell her things, and taste the bliss of feeling that all he imparted left long reverberations and echoes he could wake at will.”
考点: 文本依据(citing textual evidence)
Question 5.The author includes the descriptions of the sunset, the clouds, and the hemlock shadows (lines 46–49)primarily to
A. suggest the peacefulness of the natural world
B. emphasize the acuteness of two characters’ sensations.
C. foreshadow the declining fortunes of two characters.
D. offer a sense of how fleeting time can be.
答案：B
解析：由“And there were other sensations, less definable but more exquisite, which drew them together with a shock of silent joy: the cold red of sunset behind winter hills, the flight of cloud-flocks over slopes of golden stubble, or the intensely blue shadows of hemlocks on sunlit snow.”可知，眼前的日落、云朵和树木给他们两人一种较难定义却更加精致的感觉，让他们两人陷入一种无声的愉悦。结合后文，“When she said to him once: ‘It looks just as if it was painted!’ it seemed to Ethan that the art of definition could go no farther, and that words had at last been found to utter his secret soul….”当Mattie说眼前的景象好像一幅油画时，Ethan觉得这句话终于说出了他的心声。因此，这些景色描写的作用是突出Ethan和Mattie都对自然美景感觉敏锐，所以两人在非常细微的感官差别上似乎都能心灵相通。
考点: 隐含语义(implicit meanings)