SAT Example (Short Reading Comprehension)

One of the most enduring American myths has been our image of the West. Two features of Western novels and films justify the use of the term myth. First, the Western cowboy is an idealized figure, far removed from the cowboy in real life.

Second, the landscape of the American West is usually a generalized, imaginary locale rather than a real representation. An enormous mural of the West by painter Emanuel Leutze offers a spectacular illustration of such an imaginary locale.

Created in 1861 for the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., Leutze's mural shows the snow-capped Rockies together with a glowing sunset over San Francisco Bay thousands of miles away.