SAT Practice Test #4 — Worked Solutions

Passage: In 2020 the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touched the asteroid Bennu. Despite finding a surface mostly covered in boulders, the craft successfully ______ a sample of the surface, gathering pieces of it to bring back to Earth.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. attached
2. collected
3. followed
4. replaced

Passage: Research by planetary scientist Katarina Miljkovic suggests the Moon's surface may not accurately ______ early impact events: while the Moon was still forming, its soft surface kept less of an impression from impacts, so evidence of them may have disappeared.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. reflect
2. receive
3. evaluate
4. mimic

Passage: Handedness (preferring the left or right hand) is usually easy to observe in humans. Because the trait is present but less ______ in many other animals, researchers use specially designed tasks to reveal an individual animal's hand or paw preference.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. recognizable
2. intriguing
3. significant
4. useful

Passage: It is by no means ______ to recognize Hieronymus Bosch's influence on Ali Banisadr's paintings — indeed, Banisadr names Bosch as an inspiration. However, some scholars think the ancient Epic of Gilgamesh may have influenced his work even more.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. substantial
2. satisfying
3. unimportant
4. appropriate

Passage: From Susan Glaspell's 1912 story "Out There." An old framing-shop owner grumbles that a picture he recently bought cheaply doesn't belong among his city views, pet pictures and landscapes. Yet the second paragraph says he is secretly proud of it, and he carries a hidden dignity as he looks for a place to display it.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

1. To reveal the shop owner's conflicted feelings about the new picture
2. To convey the shop owner's resentment of the person he got the new picture from
3. To describe the items that the shop owner most highly prizes
4. To explain differences between the new picture and other pictures in the shop

Passage: Angelina Weld Grimké's 1923 poem "Black Finger." The speaker describes a slim black cypress tree against a golden sky, likening it to a black finger pointing upward, and then asks the tree why it is black and why it points upward.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

1. The speaker assesses a natural phenomenon, then questions the accuracy of her assessment.
2. The speaker describes a distinctive sight in nature, then ponders what meaning to attribute to that sight.
3. The speaker presents an outdoor scene, then considers a human behavior occurring within that scene.
4. The speaker examines her surroundings, then speculates about their influence on her emotional state.

Passage: Walt Whitman's 1860 poem "Calamus 24." The speaker says he hears he is accused of wanting to destroy institutions, replies that he is neither for nor against them, and then declares that he will establish — in every city, field and ship of the nation — "the institution of the dear love of comrades."

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

1. The speaker questions an increasingly prevalent attitude, then summarizes his worldview.
2. The speaker regrets his isolation from others, then predicts a profound change in society.
3. The speaker concedes his personal shortcomings, then boasts of his many achievements.
4. The speaker addresses a criticism leveled against him, then announces a grand ambition of his.

Passage: Mimosa trees evolved in East Asia alongside a seed-eating beetle, Bruchidius terrenus, and were brought to North America in 1785, far from the beetle. The third sentence says evolutionary links between predators and prey can last across centuries and continents. Around 2001 the beetle arrived near trees Shu-Mei Chang's team was monitoring, and within a year 93% of the trees had been attacked.

Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the overall structure of the text?

1. It states the hypothesis that Chang and colleagues had set out to investigate using mimosa trees and B. terrenus.
2. It presents a generalization that is exemplified by the discussion of the mimosa trees and B. terrenus.
3. It offers an alternative explanation for the findings of Chang and colleagues.
4. It provides context that clarifies why the species mentioned spread to new locations.

Passage: Text 1: The traditional view: human societies developed in stages — egalitarian hunter-gatherer bands, then (after farming, ~12,000 years ago) clans, chiefdoms and finally states. Text 2: Graeber and Wengrow argue humans have always been socially flexible, switching between hierarchical and collective systems; some hunter-gatherers 50,000 years ago changed structure with the seasons, including groups with high-status members.

Based on the texts, how would Graeber and Wengrow (Text 2) most likely respond to the "conventional wisdom" presented in Text 1?

1. By conceding the importance of hierarchical systems but asserting the greater significance of decentralized collective societies
2. By disputing the idea that developments in social structures have followed a linear progression through distinct stages
3. By acknowledging that hierarchical roles likely weren't a part of social systems before the rise of agriculture
4. By challenging the assumption that groupings of hunter-gatherers were among the earliest forms of social structure

Passage: From Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden (1911). Mary, a determined girl, is absorbed in working the hidden garden — digging and weeding steadily, growing more pleased each hour rather than tired, as if it were fascinating play.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

1. Mary hides in the garden to avoid doing her chores.
2. Mary is getting bored with pulling up so many weeds in the garden.
3. Mary is clearing out the garden to create a space to play.
4. Mary feels very satisfied when she's taking care of the garden.

Passage: Ezra Pound's 1909 poem "Hymn III." A flower blooms if dew and rain draw it out; likewise the speaker's mind flourishes if fed the "sweet dew" of the spirit — and without it, the mind withers like a flower on dry ground.

Based on the text, in what way is the human mind like a flower?

1. It becomes increasingly vigorous with the passage of time.
2. It draws strength from changes in the weather.
3. It requires proper nourishment in order to thrive.
4. It perseveres despite challenging circumstances.

Passage: From Jack London's The Call of the Wild (1903). Only Thornton matters to Buck; other people are nothing to him. He is cold to travellers who pet him, ignores Thornton's partners until he learns they are close to Thornton, and then merely tolerates them.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

1. Buck has become less social since he began living with Thornton.
2. Buck mistrusts humans and does his best to avoid them.
3. Buck has been especially well liked by most of Thornton's friends.
4. Buck holds Thornton in higher regard than any other person.

Passage: A bar graph shows the six US states with the most organic farms in 2016: California (≈2,700), Wisconsin (≈1,280), New York (≈1,060), Pennsylvania (≈800), Iowa (≈730) and Washington (≈680). The text says California had between 2,600 and 2,800 organic farms and ______.

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the text?

1. Washington had between 600 and 800 organic farms.
2. New York had fewer than 800 organic farms.
3. Wisconsin and Iowa each had between 1,200 and 1,400 organic farms.
4. Pennsylvania had more than 1,200 organic farms.

Passage: Two subspecies of fork-tailed flycatcher share a region of Colombia; one migrates, one doesn't. Migratory males' feathers make a higher-pitched sound in flight. The researchers hypothesize that females prefer their own subspecies' sound and that, over time, this preference will push the two subspecies further apart genetically and anatomically.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Gómez-Bahamón and her team's hypothesis?

1. The feathers located on the wings of the migratory fork-tailed flycatchers have a narrower shape than those of the nonmigratory birds, which allows them to fly long distances.
2. Over several generations, the sound made by the feathers of migratory male fork-tailed flycatchers grows progressively higher pitched relative to that made by the feathers of nonmigratory males.
3. Fork-tailed flycatchers communicate different messages to each other depending on whether their feathers create high-pitched or low-pitched sounds.
4. The breeding habits of the migratory and nonmigratory fork-tailed flycatchers remained generally the same over several generations.

Passage: A table gives ablation rates (how much vaporizes in the atmosphere) for iron, potassium and sodium in dust from four sources: SPC and AST (slower dust) and HTC and OCC (faster dust). Iron: 20%, 28%, 90%, 98%. The text claims material in slower SPC/AST dust ablates less than the same material in faster HTC/OCC dust, and begins an example: "whereas the average ablation rate for iron from AST dust is 28%, the average rate for ______."

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the example?

1. iron from SPC dust is 20%.
2. sodium from OCC dust is 100%.
3. iron from HTC dust is 90%.
4. sodium from AST dust is 75%.

Passage: Art collectives are groups of artists who agree to work together. Collaboration is usually involved, and a journalist claims this can be difficult for artists who are used to having sole control of their work.

Which quotation from the interviews best illustrates the journalist's claim?

1. "The first collective I joined included many amazingly talented artists, and we enjoyed each other's company, but because we had a hard time sharing credit and responsibility for our work, the collective didn't last."
2. "We work together, but that doesn't mean that individual projects are equally the work of all of us. Many of our projects are primarily the responsibility of whoever originally proposed the work to the group."
3. "Having worked as a member of a collective for several years, it's sometimes hard to recall what it was like to work alone without the collective's support. But that support encourages my individual expression rather than limits it."
4. "Sometimes an artist from outside the collective will choose to collaborate with us on a project, but all of those projects fit within the larger themes of the work the collective does on its own."

Passage: A student grew two mycorrhizal-host species (corn, marigold) and one non-host (broccoli) in soil with fungi and in soil treated to kill fungi. Average masses (with fungi / treated): corn 15.1 / 3.8 g, marigold 10.2 / 2.4 g, broccoli 7.5 / 7.0 g. Non-host species don't benefit from the fungi and may even be harmed. The student was surprised to discover that ______.

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?

1. broccoli grown in soil containing mycorrhizal fungi had a slightly higher average mass than broccoli grown in soil that had been treated to kill fungi.
2. corn grown in soil containing mycorrhizal fungi had a higher average mass than broccoli grown in soil containing mycorrhizal fungi.
3. marigolds grown in soil containing mycorrhizal fungi had a much higher average mass than marigolds grown in soil that had been treated to kill fungi.
4. corn had the highest average mass of all three species grown in soil that had been treated to kill fungi, while marigolds had the lowest.

Passage: Pompeii artworks show a woman fishing with a cupid nearby. Some scholars say she is Venus, because Venus is linked to cupids. But archaeologist Carla Brain suggests cupids may also have been associated with fishing in general. The presence of a cupid, therefore, ______.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

1. is not conclusive evidence that the figure is Venus.
2. suggests that Venus was often depicted fishing.
3. eliminates the possibility that the figure is Venus.
4. would be difficult to account for if the figure is not Venus.

Passage: Many celebrity nonfiction books are written by ghostwriters — professional authors paid to write other ______ but whose names never appear on the cover.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. people's stories
2. peoples story's
3. peoples stories
4. people's story's

Passage: Like other amphibians, the wood frog can't make its own heat, so during freezing periods it ______ by producing lots of glucose, which helps prevent ice forming in its cells.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. had survived
2. survived
3. would survive
4. survives

Passage: Wilma Rudolph, told as a child she might never walk again, didn't just walk — she ran, fast. ______ the 1960 Rome Olympics, she won the 100 m and 200 m and anchored the relay to become the first US woman to win three golds at one Games.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. ran--fast--during
2. ran--fast during
3. ran--fast, during
4. ran--fast. During

Passage: In her 1970s–80s landscapes, Etel Adnan used splotches of colour to represent the Mount Tamalpais region. Interestingly, the triangle representing the mountain itself ______ among the few defined figures in her paintings.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. are
2. have been
3. were
4. is

Passage: Marie Watt's blanket art varies in size. In 2004, she sewed strips of blankets into a 10-by-13-inch ______ in 2014, she stacked folded blankets and cast them in bronze to make two 18-foot pillars.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. sampler later,
2. sampler;
3. sampler,
4. sampler, later,

Passage: Percy Julian's work helped people see. "Named in 1999 as one of the greatest achievements by a US chemist in the past hundred years, ______ led to the first mass-produced treatment for glaucoma."

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. Julian synthesized the alkaloid physostigmine in 1935; it
2. in 1935 Julian synthesized the alkaloid physostigmine, which
3. Julian's 1935 synthesis of the alkaloid physostigmine
4. the alkaloid physostigmine was synthesized by Julian in 1935 and

Passage: Two botanical gardens are among many devoted to growing diverse plant ______ fostering scientific research; and educating the public about plant conservation.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. species, both native and nonnative,
2. species, both native and nonnative;
3. species; both native and nonnative,
4. species both native and nonnative,

Passage: Alton Okinaka sits on the board that adds sites to the Hawai'i Register of Historic Places. He doesn't make these decisions ______ all designations must be approved by nine other experts.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. single-handedly, however;
2. single-handedly; however,
3. single-handedly, however,
4. single-handedly however

Passage: In 1968 Congressman John Conyers proposed a national holiday honouring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The bill failed to reach a vote, but Conyers and Shirley Chisholm resubmitted it every session for fifteen years. ______ in 1983, the bill passed.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

1. Instead,
2. Likewise,
3. Finally,
4. Additionally,

Passage: Geoscientists long considered Mauna Loa the largest shield volcano by volume (~74,000 km³). ______ a 2020 study by Michael Garcia found Hawaii's Pūhāhonu volcano is much larger, about 148,000 km³.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

1. Secondly,
2. Consequently,
3. Moreover,
4. However,

Passage: Composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor emphasized his mixed-race ancestry — for example, calling himself Anglo-African. ______ he incorporated traditional African music into his classical compositions.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

1. In addition,
2. Actually,
3. However,
4. Regardless,

Passage: In 2019 two researchers cooked a stew from a 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian recipe called pašrūtum ("unwinding"). It tasted mild and made them feel calm. ______ knowing that dishes were sometimes named for their effects, they theorized the name referred to its purpose: to help diners relax.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

1. Therefore,
2. Alternately,
3. Nevertheless,
4. Likewise,

Passage: Notes: both baking soda and baking powder are chemical leavening agents that release CO₂ in batter. Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate and needs an acidic ingredient (like honey) plus liquid. Baking powder already contains an acid and needs only liquid.

The student wants to emphasize a difference between baking soda and baking powder. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. To make batters rise, bakers use chemical leavening agents such as baking soda and baking powder.
2. Baking soda and baking powder are chemical leavening agents that, when mixed with other ingredients, cause carbon dioxide to be released within a batter.
3. Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate, and honey is a type of acidic ingredient.
4. To produce carbon dioxide within a liquid batter, baking soda needs to be mixed with an acidic ingredient, whereas baking powder does not.

Passage: Notes: Soo Sunny Park is a Korean American artist whose main medium is light. In 2013 she made Unwoven Light: a chain-link fence fitted with iridescent plexiglass tiles; light passing through it formed colourful prisms.

The student wants to describe Unwoven Light to an audience unfamiliar with Soo Sunny Park. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. Park's 2013 installation Unwoven Light, which included a chain-link fence and iridescent tiles made from plexiglass, featured light as its primary medium of expression.
2. Korean American light artist Soo Sunny Park created Unwoven Light in 2013.
3. The chain-link fence in Soo Sunny Park's Unwoven Light was fitted with tiles made from iridescent plexiglass.
4. In Unwoven Light, a 2013 work by Korean American artist Soo Sunny Park, light formed colorful prisms as it passed through a fence Park had fitted with iridescent tiles.

Passage: Notes: Angkor Wat, in Cambodia, was built in the 1100s for Vishnu and has been a Buddhist temple since the 1500s. Archaeologist Noel Hidalgo Tan applied a new colour-contrast imaging technique (decorrelation stretch) to photos of its plaster walls and revealed hundreds of unknown images.

The student wants to present Tan's research to an audience unfamiliar with Angkor Wat. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. Tan photographed Angkor Wat's plaster walls and then applied decorrelation stretch analysis to the photographs.
2. Decorrelation stretch analysis is a novel digital imaging technique that Tan used to enhance the contrast between colors in a photograph.
3. Using a novel digital imaging technique, Tan revealed hundreds of images hidden on the walls of Angkor Wat, a Cambodian temple.
4. Built to honor a Hindu god before becoming a Buddhist temple, Cambodia's Angkor Wat concealed hundreds of images on its plaster walls.

Passage: The fashion resale market earned nearly $30 billion in 2019. Expecting continued growth, some analysts ______ that revenues will more than double by 2028.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. produced
2. denied
3. worried
4. predicted

Passage: Delivering biomolecules into plant cells helps protect plants from disease, but the cell wall makes it hard. Markita del Carpio Landry's team showed it may be possible to ______ this problem by sending molecules through carbon nanotubes, which can cross cell walls.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. conceptualize
2. neglect
3. illustrate
4. overcome

Passage: Particle physicists such as Ayana Holloway Arce and Aida El-Khadra spend much of their time ______ what is invisible to the naked eye: using advanced technology, they closely examine the behavior of subatomic particles.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. selecting
2. inspecting
3. creating
4. deciding

Passage: Kristian Carlson's team studied the shoulder bones of "Little Foot," a 3.6-million-year-old hominin. The bones were ______ those of modern apes that climb often, such as gorillas and chimpanzees, suggesting Little Foot was adapted to life in trees.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. surpassed by
2. comparable to
3. independent of
4. obtained from

Passage: Rydra Wong, the hero of Samuel R. Delany's Babel-17, is a poet — an occupation that is not ______ in Delany's work: nearly a dozen of his characters are poets or writers.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. infallible
2. atypical
3. lucrative
4. tedious

Passage: For a 2020 exhibition, photographer and neurobiologist Okunola Jeyifous ______ a series of new images based on 1970s alphabet posters (the "Black ABCs") featuring Black children from Chicago. He photographed the now-adult models and layered those photos over magnified images of their cells.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. validated
2. created
3. challenged
4. restored

Passage: Besides being an accomplished psychologist, Francis Cecil Sumner was a ______ increasing the opportunity for Black students to study psychology, helping found Howard University's psychology department in 1930.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. proponent of
2. supplement to
3. beneficiary of
4. distraction for

Passage: Whether a French monarch's reign (such as Hugh Capet's or Henry I's) was important or uneventful, its course was shaped by questions of legitimacy — so it can't be understood without knowing what factors allowed the monarch to ______ his right to the throne.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

1. reciprocate
2. annotate
3. buttress
4. disengage

Passage: Some bird species lay their eggs in other species' nests instead of raising their own chicks. The underlined sentence says female cuckoos have been seen quickly laying eggs in other birds' nests while those birds are away looking for food. After hatching, the host parents usually raise the cuckoo chicks as their own.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

1. It introduces a physical feature of female cuckoos that is described later in the text.
2. It describes the appearance of the cuckoo nests mentioned earlier in the text.
3. It offers a detail about how female cuckoos carry out the behavior discussed in the text.
4. It explains how other birds react to the female cuckoo behavior discussed in the text.

Passage: Cats can tell where an unseen person is from their voice, and are surprised when the same person calls from two places in quick succession. Saho Takagi's team measured surprise from the cats' ear and head movements while they heard their owners' voices from two widely spaced speakers.

According to the text, how did the researchers determine the level of surprise displayed by the cats in the study?

1. They watched how each cat moved its ears and head.
2. They examined how each cat reacted to the voice of a stranger.
3. They studied how each cat physically interacted with its owner.
4. They tracked how each cat moved around the room.

Passage: A student hypothesizes that slightly acidic soil is better for growing choy sum than neutral soil. She plants 16 seeds in soil mixed with acidic coffee grounds and 16 in plain potting soil (the control), then grows both under the same conditions for three weeks.

Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken the student's hypothesis?

1. The choy sum planted in the soil without coffee grounds were significantly taller at the end of the experiment than the choy sum planted in the mixture of soil and coffee grounds.
2. The choy sum grown in the soil without coffee grounds weighed significantly less at the end of the experiment than the choy sum grown in the mixture of soil and coffee grounds.
3. The choy sum seeds planted in the soil without coffee grounds sprouted significantly later in the experiment than did the seeds planted in the mixture of soil and coffee grounds.
4. Significantly fewer of the choy sum seeds planted in the soil without coffee grounds sprouted plants than did the seeds planted in the mixture of soil and coffee grounds.

Passage: In Katherine Mansfield's 1920 story "The Young Girl," the narrator takes a 17-year-old and her brother for a meal. The claim: Mansfield often contrasts the girl's pleasant appearance with her unpleasant attitude.

Which quotation from "The Young Girl" most effectively illustrates the claim?

1. "I heard her murmur, 'I can't bear flowers on a table.' They had evidently been giving her intense pain, for she positively closed her eyes as I moved them away."
2. "While we waited she took out a little, gold powder-box with a mirror in the lid, shook the poor little puff as though she loathed it, and dabbed her lovely nose."
3. "I saw, after that, she couldn't stand this place a moment longer, and, indeed, she jumped up and turned away while I went through the vulgar act of paying for the tea."
4. "She didn't even take her gloves off. She lowered her eyes and drummed on the table. When a faint violin sounded she winced and bit her lip again. Silence."

Passage: A bar graph shows three UK policy-uncertainty measures, 2005–2010 (approximate): 2005 tax ≈ 98, trade ≈ 160, general ≈ 90; 2007 tax ≈ 60, trade ≈ 75, general ≈ 77; 2009 tax ≈ 76, trade ≈ 70, general ≈ 80; 2010 tax ≈ 165, trade ≈ 70, general ≈ 118. The claim: a general measure may not fully reflect uncertainty about specific policy areas, as in the UK, where general uncertainty ______.

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to illustrate the claim?

1. aligned closely with uncertainty about tax and public spending policy in 2005 but differed from uncertainty about tax and public spending policy by a large amount in 2009.
2. was substantially lower than uncertainty about tax and public spending policy each year from 2005 to 2010.
3. reached its highest level between 2005 and 2010 in the same year that uncertainty about trade policy and tax and public spending policy reached their lowest levels.
4. was substantially lower than uncertainty about trade policy in 2005 and substantially higher than uncertainty about trade policy in 2010.

Passage: Linguist Deborah Tannen argues that presenting issues as a two-sided debate strips away complexity and can be less informative for an audience than presenting multiple perspectives in a noncompetitive format. Students tested this by showing participants a two-person debate, a three-person panel with various views, or a single commentator.

Which finding from the students' study, if true, would most strongly support Tannen's hypothesis?

1. On average, participants perceived commentators in the debate as more knowledgeable about the issue than commentators in the panel.
2. On average, participants perceived commentators in the panel as more knowledgeable about the issue than the single commentator.
3. On average, participants who watched the panel correctly answered more questions about the issue than those who watched the debate or the single commentator did.
4. On average, participants who watched the single commentator correctly answered more questions about the issue than those who watched the debate did.

Passage: In Shakespeare's King Lear, Lear tests his three daughters' devotion. The claim: he later expresses regret for his actions.

Which choice most effectively uses a quotation from King Lear to illustrate the claim?

1. says of himself, "I am a man / more sinned against than sinning."
2. says during a growing storm, "This tempest will not give me leave to ponder / On things would hurt me more."
3. says to himself while striking his head, "Beat at this gate that let thy folly in / And thy dear judgement out!"
4. says of himself, "I will do such things— / What they are yet, I know not; but they shall be / The terrors of the earth!"

Passage: Many of Shakespeare's tragedies explore broad themes that still appeal today — Romeo and Juliet is still widely read and staged. But understanding his history plays can require knowing centuries of English history. Consequently, ______.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

1. many theatergoers and readers today are likely to find Shakespeare's history plays less engaging than the tragedies.
2. some of Shakespeare's tragedies are more relevant to today's audiences than twentieth-century plays.
3. Romeo and Juliet is the most thematically accessible of all Shakespeare's tragedies.
4. experts in English history tend to prefer Shakespeare's history plays to his other works.

Passage: Ancestral Puebloans abandoned their villages (with farms for crops and turkeys) suddenly in the late 1200s. DNA analysis shows that modern turkeys in New Mexico's Rio Grande Valley descend partly from turkeys raised at Mesa Verde, with the shared markers appearing only after 1280. Thus, researchers concluded that ______.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

1. conditions of the terrains in the Rio Grande Valley and Mesa Verde had greater similarities in the past than they do today.
2. some Ancestral Puebloans migrated to the Rio Grande Valley in the late 1200s and carried farming practices with them.
3. Indigenous peoples living in the Rio Grande Valley primarily planted crops and did not cultivate turkeys before 1280.
4. the Ancestral Puebloans of Mesa Verde likely adopted the farming practices of Indigenous peoples living in other regions.

Passage: To see whether holding office changes behavior, researchers must compare office-holders with people who don't hold office but are otherwise similar. Since researchers can't control who wins elections, they therefore ______.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

1. struggle to find valid data about the behavior of politicians who do not currently hold office.
2. can only conduct valid studies with people who have previously held office rather than people who presently hold office.
3. should select a control group of people who differ from office holders in several significant ways.
4. will find it difficult to identify a group of people who can function as an appropriate control group for their studies.

Passage: In Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America, Vivek Bald uses articles, census records, ships' logs and memoirs to tell the ______ who made New York City their home in the early 1900s.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. story's of the South Asian immigrants
2. story's of the South Asian immigrants'
3. stories of the South Asian immigrants
4. stories' of the South Asian immigrant's

Passage: In her series "Memory Test" and "Autobiography," Howardena Pindell explored themes ______ healing, self-discovery, and memory by cutting and resewing canvas and adding personal artifacts.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. of
2. of,
3. of--
4. of:

Passage: Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton founded CAKE Literary in 2011, a book packaging ______ specializes in creating and promoting stories from diverse perspectives for young readers.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. company,
2. company that
3. company
4. company, that

Passage: Black bears that eat human food before hibernation have higher levels of a rare carbon isotope, ______ due to the higher ¹³C levels in corn and cane sugar.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. carbon-13, (13C)
2. carbon-13 (13C)
3. carbon-13, (13C),
4. carbon-13 (13C),

Passage: In 2010, archaeologist Noel Hidalgo Tan was visiting Angkor Wat when he noticed red paint markings on the temple ______ the help of digital imaging, he found they were part of a mural with over 200 paintings.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. walls, with
2. walls with
3. walls so with
4. walls. With

Passage: Building on an earlier discovery of Charpentier's, 2020 chemistry Nobel winners Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna re-created and then reprogrammed the "genetic scissors" of a DNA-cutting bacterium ______ a tool that is revolutionizing gene technology.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. to forge
2. forging
3. forged
4. and forging

Passage: In 2016 engineer Vanessa Galvez oversaw the installation of 164 bioswales — planted channels that absorb stormwater — in Queens, New York. "By reducing the runoff flowing into city sewers, ______"

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. the mitigation of both street flooding and the resulting pollution of nearby waterways has been achieved by bioswales.
2. the bioswales have mitigated both street flooding and the resulting pollution of nearby waterways.
3. the bioswales' mitigation of both street flooding and the resulting pollution of nearby waterways has been achieved.
4. both street flooding and the resulting pollution of nearby waterways have been mitigated by bioswales.

Passage: A 2019 study by Rice University geoscientist Ming Tang offers a new explanation for the origin of Earth's ______ structures called arcs, towering ridges that form when a dense oceanic plate slides under a continental plate, melts, rises and bursts through the crust.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

1. continents geological
2. continents: geological
3. continents; geological
4. continents. Geological

Passage: During a 2021 launch, Rocket Lab's Electron rocket failed unexpectedly when its second stage shut down after ignition. ______ instead of downplaying it, the CEO publicly acknowledged the failure and apologized for losing the two satellites it carried.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

1. Afterward,
2. Additionally,
3. Indeed,
4. Similarly,

Passage: Soil contaminated with toxic metals can be dug up and taken to a landfill. ______ it can be detoxified by phytoremediation, where metal-tolerant plants absorb the pollutants into their shoots, which are cut and disposed of.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

1. Alternatively,
2. Specifically,
3. For example,
4. As a result,

Passage: Notes: the Gregorian calendar has 365 days, which isn't divisible by 7, so dates shift weekday each year. The Hanke-Henry calendar has 364 days (divisible by 7), so dates fall on the same weekday every year, allowing more predictable scheduling.

The student wants to explain an advantage of the Hanke-Henry calendar. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. The Gregorian calendar has 365 days, which is one day longer than the Hanke-Henry permanent calendar.
2. Adopting the Hanke-Henry permanent calendar would help solve a problem with the Gregorian calendar.
3. Designed so calendar dates would occur on the same day of the week each year, the Hanke-Henry calendar supports more predictable scheduling than does the Gregorian calendar.
4. The Hanke-Henry permanent calendar was developed as an alternative to the Gregorian calendar, which is currently the most-used calendar in the world.

Passage: Notes: the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is a ~1,000-year-old alliance of six Native nations in the northeastern US, bound by the Great Law of Peace. Historian Bruce Johansen and others believe its principles influenced the US Constitution (the "influence theory"), citing that Franklin and Jefferson studied the Confederacy.

The student wants to present the influence theory to an audience unfamiliar with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. Historian Bruce Johansen believes that the Great Law of Peace was very influential.
2. The influence theory is supported by the fact that Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson both studied the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
3. The influence theory holds that the principles of the Great Law of Peace, a centuries-old agreement binding six Native nations in the northeastern US, influenced the US Constitution.
4. Native people, including the members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, influenced the founding of the US in many different ways.

Passage: Notes: the Sun's surface is about 9,800°F (a G star). Of 357 stars within 10 parsecs, 327 are cooler K or M stars (under 8,900°F) and 11 are hotter A or F stars (over 10,300°F).

The student wants to emphasize how hot the Sun is relative to nearby stars. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. At around 9,800°F, which classifies it as a G star, the Sun is hotter than most but not all of the stars within 10 parsecs of it.
2. Astronomer Todd Henry determined that the Sun, at around 9,800°F, is a G star, and several other stars within a 10-parsec range are A or F stars.
3. Of the 357 stars within ten parsecs of the Sun, 327 are classified as K or M stars, with surface temperatures under 8,900°F.
4. While most of the stars within 10 parsecs of the Sun are classified as K, M, A, or F stars, the Sun is classified as a G star due to its surface temperature of 9,800°F.

Passage: Notes: the Atlantic Monthly started in 1857 and covered politics, art and literature. In 2019, historian Cathryn Halverson published Faraway Women and the "Atlantic Monthly", about women whose autobiographies appeared in the magazine in the early 1900s — including Juanita Harrison.

The student wants to introduce Cathryn Halverson's book to an audience already familiar with the Atlantic Monthly. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. Cathryn Halverson's Faraway Women and the "Atlantic Monthly" discusses female authors whose autobiographies appeared in the magazine in the early 1900s.
2. A magazine called the Atlantic Monthly, referred to in Cathryn Halverson's book title, was first published in 1857.
3. Faraway Women and the "Atlantic Monthly" features contributors to the Atlantic Monthly, first published in 1857 as a magazine focusing on politics, art, and literature.
4. An author discussed by Cathryn Halverson is Juanita Harrison, whose autobiography appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in the early 1900s.

Passage: Notes: the magnificent frigatebird is a seabird that, unusually, doesn't dive for prey. It either snatches prey from the water's surface with its hooked bill, or steals food from weaker birds by force (kleptoparasitism).

The student wants to emphasize a similarity between the two ways a magnificent frigatebird acquires food. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. A magnificent frigatebird never dives into the water, instead using its hook-tipped bill to snatch prey from the surface.
2. Neither of a magnificent frigatebird's two ways of acquiring food requires the bird to dive into the water.
3. Of the magnificent frigatebird's two ways of acquiring food, only one is known as kleptoparasitism.
4. In addition to snatching prey from the water with its hook-tipped bill, a magnificent frigatebird takes food from other birds by force.

A group of students voted on five after-school activities. The bar graph shows the number of students who voted for each of the five activities. How many students chose activity 3?

1. 25
2. 39
3. 48
4. 50

What percentage of 300 is 75?

1. 25%
2. 50%
3. 75%
4. 225%

What is a solution to the given equation?

1. 6
2. 30
3. 450
4. 900

3 more than 8 times a number \(x\) is equal to 83. Which equation represents this situation?

1. \((3)(8)x = 83\)
2. \(8x = 83 + 3\)
3. \(3x + 8 = 83\)
4. \(8x + 3 = 83\)

Hana deposited a fixed amount into her bank account each month. The function \(f(t) = 100 + 25t\) gives the amount, in dollars, in Hana's bank account after \(t\) monthly deposits. What is the best interpretation of 25 in this context?

1. With each monthly deposit, the amount in Hana's bank account increased by $25.
2. Before Hana made any monthly deposits, the amount in her bank account was $25.
3. After 1 monthly deposit, the amount in Hana's bank account was $25.
4. Hana made a total of 25 monthly deposits.

A customer spent $27 to purchase oranges at $3 per pound. How many pounds of oranges did the customer purchase?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

Nasir bought 9 storage bins that were each the same price. He used a coupon for $63 off the entire purchase. The cost for the entire purchase after using the coupon was $27. What was the original price, in dollars, for 1 storage bin?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

For the linear function \(f\), the table shows three values of \(x\) and their corresponding values of \(f(x)\). Which equation defines \(f(x)\)?

1. \(f(x) = 3x + 29\)
2. \(f(x) = 29x + 32\)
3. \(f(x) = 35x + 29\)
4. \(f(x) = 32x + 35\)

Note: Figures not drawn to scale.

Right triangles \(PQR\) and \(STU\) are similar, where \(P\) corresponds to \(S\). If the measure of angle \(Q\) is 18°, what is the measure of angle \(S\)?

1. 18°
2. 72°
3. 82°
4. 162°

The scatterplot shows the relationship between two variables, \(x\) and \(y\). Which of the following equations is the most appropriate linear model for the data shown?

1. \(y = 0.9 + 9.4x\)
2. \(y = 0.9 - 9.4x\)
3. \(y = 9.4 + 0.9x\)
4. \(y = 9.4 - 0.9x\)

\(2.5b + 5r = 80\) describes the relationship between the number of birds, \(b\), and the number of reptiles, \(r\), that can be cared for at a pet care business on a given day. If the business cares for 16 reptiles on a given day, how many birds can it care for on this day?

1. 0
2. 5
3. 40
4. 80

What is an equation of the graph shown?

1. \(y = -2x - 8\)
2. \(y = x - 8\)
3. \(y = -x - 8\)
4. \(y = 2x - 8\)

If \(\dfrac{x}{8} = 5\), what is the value of \(\dfrac{8}{x}\)?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

The solution to the given system of equations is \((x, y)\). What is the value of \(y\)?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

Line \(t\) in the \(xy\)-plane has a slope of \(-\frac{1}{3}\) and passes through the point \((9, 10)\). Which equation defines line \(t\)?

1. \(y = 13x - \frac{1}{3}\)
2. \(y = 9x + 10\)
3. \(y = -\frac{x}{3} + 10\)
4. \(y = -\frac{x}{3} + 13\)

The function \(f(x) = 206(1.034)^x\) models the value, in dollars, of a certain bank account by the end of each year from 1957 through 1972, where \(x\) is the number of years after 1957. Which of the following is the best interpretation of "\(f(5)\) is approximately equal to 243" in this context?

1. The value of the bank account is estimated to be approximately 5 dollars greater in 1962 than in 1957.
2. The value of the bank account is estimated to be approximately 243 dollars in 1962.
3. The value, in dollars, of the bank account is estimated to be approximately 5 times greater in 1962 than in 1957.
4. The value of the bank account is estimated to increase by approximately 243 dollars every 5 years between 1957 and 1972.

For a certain rectangular region, the ratio of its length to its width is 35 to 10. If the width of the rectangular region increases by 7 units, how must the length change to maintain this ratio?

1. It must decrease by 24.5 units.
2. It must increase by 24.5 units.
3. It must decrease by 7 units.
4. It must increase by 7 units.

Square P has a side length of \(x\) inches. Square Q has a perimeter that is 176 inches greater than the perimeter of square P. The function \(f\) gives the area of square Q, in square inches. Which of the following defines \(f\)?

1. \(f(x) = (x + 44)^2\)
2. \(f(x) = (x + 176)^2\)
3. \(f(x) = (176x + 44)^2\)
4. \(f(x) = (176x + 176)^2\)

The given equation relates the distinct positive real numbers \(w\), \(x\), and \(y\). Which equation correctly expresses \(w\) in terms of \(x\) and \(y\)?

1. \(w = \sqrt{\dfrac{x}{y}} - 19\)
2. \(w = \sqrt{\dfrac{28x}{14y}} - 19\)
3. \(w = \left(\dfrac{x}{y}\right)^2 - 19\)
4. \(w = \left(\dfrac{28x}{14y}\right)^2 - 19\)

Point \(O\) is the center of a circle. The measure of arc \(RS\) on this circle is 100°. What is the measure, in degrees, of its associated angle \(ROS\)?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

The expression \(6\sqrt[5]{3^5x^{45}} \cdot \sqrt[8]{2^8x}\) is equivalent to \(ax^b\), where \(a\) and \(b\) are positive constants and \(x > 1\). What is the value of \(a + b\)?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

A right triangle has sides of length \(2\sqrt{2}\), \(6\sqrt{2}\), and \(\sqrt{80}\) units. What is the area of the triangle, in square units?

1. \(8\sqrt{2} + \sqrt{80}\)
2. 12
3. \(24\sqrt{80}\)
4. 24

The expression \(4x^2 + bx - 45\), where \(b\) is a constant, can be rewritten as \((hx + k)(x + j)\), where \(h\), \(k\), and \(j\) are integer constants. Which of the following must be an integer?

1. \(\dfrac{b}{h}\)
2. \(\dfrac{b}{k}\)
3. \(\dfrac{45}{h}\)
4. \(\dfrac{45}{k}\)

In the given system of equations, \(a\) is a constant. The graphs of the equations in the given system intersect at exactly one point, \((x, y)\), in the \(xy\)-plane. What is the value of \(x\)?

1. \(-8\)
2. \(-6\)
3. 6
4. 8

An isosceles right triangle has a hypotenuse of length 58 inches. What is the perimeter, in inches, of this triangle?

1. \(29\sqrt2\)
2. \(58\sqrt2\)
3. \(58 + 58\sqrt2\)
4. \(58 + 116\sqrt2\)

In the \(xy\)-plane, a parabola has vertex \((9, -14)\) and intersects the \(x\)-axis at two points. If the equation of the parabola is written in the form \(y = ax^2 + bx + c\), where \(a\), \(b\), and \(c\) are constants, which of the following could be the value of \(a + b + c\)?

1. \(-23\)
2. \(-19\)
3. \(-14\)
4. \(-12\)

Function \(f\) is defined by \(f(x) = -a^x + b\), where \(a\) and \(b\) are constants. In the \(xy\)-plane, the graph of \(y = f(x) - 15\) has a \(y\)-intercept at \(\left(0, -\frac{99}{7}\right)\). The product of \(a\) and \(b\) is \(\frac{65}{7}\). What is the value of \(a\)?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

The line graph shows the estimated number of chipmunks in a state park on April 1 of each year from 1989 to 1999. Based on the line graph, in which year was the estimated number of chipmunks in the state park the greatest?

1. 1989
2. 1994
3. 1995
4. 1998

A fish swam a distance of 5,104 yards. How far did the fish swim, in miles? (1 mile = 1,760 yards)

1. 0.3
2. 2.9
3. 3,344
4. 6,864

Which expression is equivalent to \(12x^3 - 5x^3\)?

1. \(7x^6\)
2. \(17x^3\)
3. \(7x^3\)
4. \(17x^6\)

What is the solution \((x, y)\) to the given system of equations?

1. \((15, 3)\)
2. \((16, 2)\)
3. \((17, 1)\)
4. \((18, 0)\)

The point \((8, 2)\) in the \(xy\)-plane is a solution to which of the following systems of inequalities?

1. \(x > 0\) and \(y > 0\)
2. \(x > 0\) and \(y < 0\)
3. \(x < 0\) and \(y > 0\)
4. \(x < 0\) and \(y < 0\)

What is one possible solution to the given equation?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

The function \(f(x) = 7x + 1\) gives the total number of people on a company retreat with \(x\) managers. What is the total number of people on a company retreat with 7 managers?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

For the function \(h(x) = x^2 - 3\), which table gives three values of \(x\) and their corresponding values of \(h(x)\)?

1. \(x = 1, 2, 3 \to h(x) = 4, 5, 6\)
2. \(x = 1, 2, 3 \to h(x) = -2, 1, 6\)
3. \(x = 1, 2, 3 \to h(x) = -1, 1, 3\)
4. \(x = 1, 2, 3 \to h(x) = -2, 1, 3\)

The function \(f\) is defined by \(f(x) = 270(0.1)^x\). What is the value of \(f(0)\)?

1. 0
2. 1
3. 27
4. 270

To estimate the proportion of a population that has a certain characteristic, a random sample was selected from the population. Based on the sample, it is estimated that the proportion of the population that has the characteristic is 0.49, with an associated margin of error of 0.04. Based on this estimate and margin of error, which of the following is the most appropriate conclusion about the proportion of the population that has the characteristic?

1. It is plausible that the proportion is between 0.45 and 0.53.
2. It is plausible that the proportion is less than 0.45.
3. The proportion is exactly 0.49.
4. It is plausible that the proportion is greater than 0.53.

A moving truck can tow a trailer if the combined weight of the trailer and the boxes it contains is no more than 4,600 pounds. What is the maximum number of boxes this truck can tow in a trailer with a weight of 500 pounds if each box weighs 120 pounds?

1. 34
2. 35
3. 38
4. 39

What is the positive solution to the given equation?

1. \(\frac{7}{4}\)
2. \(\frac{9}{4}\)
3. 4
4. 7

The table summarizes the distribution of color and shape for 100 tiles of equal area. If one of these tiles is selected at random, what is the probability of selecting a red tile? (Express your answer as a decimal or fraction, not as a percent.)

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

For the function \(f(x) = 2x + 3\), the graph of \(y = f(x)\) in the \(xy\)-plane is parallel to line \(j\). What is the slope of line \(j\)?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

A proposal for a new library was included on an election ballot. A radio show stated that 3 times as many people voted in favor of the proposal as people who voted against it. A social media post reported that 15,000 more people voted in favor of the proposal than voted against it. Based on these data, how many people voted against the proposal?

1. 7,500
2. 15,000
3. 22,500
4. 45,000

Note: Figure not drawn to scale.

In the figure, lines \(m\) and \(n\) are parallel. If \(x = 6k + 13\) and \(y = 8k - 29\), what is the value of \(z\)?

1. 3
2. 21
3. 41
4. 139

In the given equation, \(p\) is a constant. The equation has no solution. What is the value of \(p\)?

1. 0
2. \(\frac{1}{7}\)
3. \(\frac{4}{3}\)
4. 4

The function \(f\) is defined by \(f(x) = (x - 10)(x + 13)\). For what value of \(x\) does \(f(x)\) reach its minimum?

1. \(-130\)
2. \(-13\)
3. \(-\frac{23}{2}\)
4. \(-\frac{3}{2}\)

The function \(f(x) = \frac{1}{9}(x - 7)^2 + 3\) gives a metal ball's height above the ground \(f(x)\), in inches, \(x\) seconds after it started moving on a track, where \(0 \le x \le 10\). Which of the following is the best interpretation of the vertex of the graph of \(y = f(x)\) in the \(xy\)-plane?

1. The metal ball's minimum height was 3 inches above the ground.
2. The metal ball's minimum height was 7 inches above the ground.
3. The metal ball's height was 3 inches above the ground when it started moving.
4. The metal ball's height was 7 inches above the ground when it started moving.

In triangle \(JKL\), \(\cos(K) = \frac{24}{51}\) and angle \(J\) is a right angle. What is the value of \(\cos(L)\)?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

In the given equation, \(b\) is a positive integer. The equation has no real solution. What is the greatest possible value of \(b\)?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.

If a new graph of three linear equations is created using the system of equations shown and the equation \(x + 4y = -16\), how many solutions \((x, y)\) will the resulting system of three equations have?

1. Zero
2. Exactly one
3. Exactly two
4. Infinitely many

The function \(f(x) = 5{,}470(0.64)^{x/12}\) gives the value, in dollars, of a certain piece of equipment after \(x\) months of use. If the value of the equipment decreases each year by \(p\%\) of its value the preceding year, what is the value of \(p\)?

1. 4
2. 5
3. 36
4. 64

The dot plot represents the 15 values in data set A. Data set B is created by adding 56 to each of the values in data set A. Which of the following correctly compares the medians and the ranges of data sets A and B?

1. The median of data set B is equal to the median of data set A, and the range of data set B is equal to the range of data set A.
2. The median of data set B is equal to the median of data set A, and the range of data set B is greater than the range of data set A.
3. The median of data set B is greater than the median of data set A, and the range of data set B is equal to the range of data set A.
4. The median of data set B is greater than the median of data set A, and the range of data set B is greater than the range of data set A.

The equation \(x^2 + (y - 1)^2 = 49\) represents circle A. Circle B is obtained by shifting circle A down 2 units in the \(xy\)-plane. Which of the following equations represents circle B?

1. \((x - 2)^2 + (y - 1)^2 = 49\)
2. \(x^2 + (y - 3)^2 = 49\)
3. \((x + 2)^2 + (y - 1)^2 = 49\)
4. \(x^2 + (y + 1)^2 = 49\)

Two identical rectangular prisms each have a height of 90 centimeters (cm). The base of each prism is a square, and the surface area of each prism is \(K\) cm². If the prisms are glued together along a square base, the resulting prism has a surface area of \(\frac{92}{47}K\) cm². What is the side length, in cm, of each square base?

1. 4
2. 8
3. 9
4. 16

210 is \(p\%\) greater than 30. What is the value of \(p\)?

Student-produced response — enter your own answer.