Central Ideas and Details

SAT Reading and Writing· difficulty 2/5

Sound travels as a wave, but unlike light, it requires a physical medium — air, water, or solids — to propagate. In the vacuum of outer space, no sound can travel at all. This is why, despite the vivid explosions in many science-fiction films, a real spacecraft detonating in space would be eerily silent.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

  • A

    Light travels faster than sound.

  • B

    Solids carry sound better than gases.

  • C

    Sound, unlike light, cannot travel through a vacuum.

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  • D

    Science-fiction films are scientifically inaccurate.

Explanation

The passage's central point is that sound needs a medium and so cannot travel through vacuum — A. B is an example; C and D are not stated.

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