Math
After a 20% discount, a backpack costs $72.
What was the original price?
$72 ÷ 0.80 = $90
100 — Grammar
Which sentence is correct?
A. Neither of the players are ready.
B. Neither of the players is ready.
C. Neither of the player are ready.
D. Neither players is ready.
Answer: B
Why: “Neither” is singular, so it takes the singular verb is.
A student wants to test whether the amount of sunlight affects plant growth.
What is the independent variable?
A. Plant height
B. Amount of sunlight
C. Type of soil
D. Amount of water
Answer: B — Amount of sunlight
Why: The independent variable is the factor the student purposely changes.
Congress passes a bill, but the President vetoes it. Congress later overrides the veto with enough votes.
What principle of U.S. government does this best demonstrate?
A. Federalism
B. Checks and balances
C. Popular sovereignty
D. Judicial review
Answer: B
Why: Each branch has powers that can limit the actions of the other branches.
Medical Emergency: Stroke
Which combination is a common warning sign of a stroke?
A. Fever, coughing, and stomach pain
B. Face drooping, arm weakness, and difficulty speaking
C. Sneezing, watery eyes, and headache
D. Leg soreness after exercise
Answer: B
Why: Stroke warning signs are often remembered as F.A.S.T. — Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to call emergency services.
The ratio of boys to girls in a club is 3:5.
Then 4 boys join and 4 girls leave. There are now the same number of boys and girls.
How many students were originally in the club?
Let the original numbers be 3x and 5x.
3x + 4 = 5x − 4
8 = 2x
x = 4
Original students = 12 + 20 = 32
"The principal's response was reluctant; she agreed to the plan, but only after several hours of discussion."
What does reluctant most likely mean?
A. Excited
B. Unwilling or hesitant
C. Confused
D. Angry
Answer: B
Why: Her delay in agreeing shows that she was hesitant or unwilling at first.
Two identical plants receive the same water, soil, and temperature. Plant A gets 8 hours of sunlight while Plant B gets 2 hours.
Why should everything except sunlight remain the same?
A. To make the plants grow at exactly the same rate
B. To make sure sunlight is the only major variable being tested
C. To make the experiment finish faster
D. To prevent the plants from using too much water
Answer: B
Why: Keeping the other conditions the same allows the student to isolate the effect of sunlight.
Which situation is most clearly protected by the First Amendment?
A. A student peacefully criticizing a government policy
B. A driver refusing to follow traffic laws
C. A store refusing to pay taxes
D. A citizen entering private property without permission
Answer: A
Why: The First Amendment protects freedoms such as speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition.
A student cuts their forearm badly on broken glass. The wound is bleeding heavily through the first cloth you press against it. What should you do next?
A. Remove the soaked cloth and replace it with a dry one
B. Keep pressure on the wound and add more cloth or gauze on top
C. Rinse the wound immediately so you can see how deep it is
D. Raise the arm and stop applying pressure so blood can circulate normally
Answer: B
Why: Removing the first cloth can disturb clotting, so you should maintain firm pressure and add more material if needed.
A car travels the first 60 km of a trip at 40 km/h and the next 60 km at 60 km/h.
What is the car's average speed for the entire trip?
A. 48 km/h
B. 50 km/h
C. 52 km/h
D. 55 km/h
Answer: A — 48 km/h
First 60 km: 60 ÷ 40 = 1.5 hours
Second 60 km: 60 ÷ 60 = 1 hour
120 km ÷ 2.5 hours = 48 km/h
The trap is averaging 40 and 60 to get 50.
Marcus enters the classroom soaking wet. He places a broken umbrella beside his desk and wipes water from his glasses.
What can you most reasonably infer?
A. Marcus went swimming.
B. It was probably raining outside.
C. Marcus broke a water pipe.
D. Marcus dislikes umbrellas.
Answer: B
Why: Being wet and carrying a broken umbrella strongly suggests that Marcus was caught in the rain.
A book is sitting motionless on a table. Gravity pulls the book downward.
Why does the book remain still?
A. Gravity stops acting on the book
B. The book has no mass while it is resting
C. The table pushes upward with a force that balances gravity
D. Air pressure pushes the book downward and upward equally
Answer: C
Why: The upward normal force from the table balances the downward force of gravity.
Which responsibility is mainly handled by state governments rather than the federal government?
A. Printing U.S. currency
B. Declaring war
C. Running public schools
D. Making treaties with other countries
Answer: C
Why: Education is primarily managed by state and local governments under the U.S. federal system.
You are on the second floor of a school when strong shaking begins. The nearest exit is about 10 meters away. What should you do first?
A. Move quickly toward the exit before the shaking becomes stronger
B. Stand in the doorway because doorframes are usually the strongest part of a building
C. Take cover under a sturdy desk and protect your head and neck
D. Move beside an outside wall so you are closer to an escape route
Answer: C
Why: Moving during strong shaking increases the risk of being injured by falling objects or glass, so taking cover is usually safer.
I am a three-digit number.
What number am I?
Answer: 632
Check:
6 + 3 + 2 = 11 ✓
6 = 2 × 3 ✓
632 − 236 = 396 ✓
An article describes both the advantages and disadvantages of banning phones in school and includes evidence from students, teachers, and researchers.
What is the author's most likely purpose?
A. Entertain
B. Persuade readers that phones are bad
C. Present multiple sides of an issue
D. Make fun of school rules
Answer: C
Why: The author includes evidence from different viewpoints instead of arguing only one side.
During intense exercise, a person's breathing rate and heart rate both increase.
What is the best explanation?
A. Muscle cells need more oxygen for cellular respiration
B. Bone cells need more carbon dioxide to become stronger
C. Muscle cells stop producing energy during exercise
D. The body needs to reduce blood flow to working muscles
Answer: A
Why: Working muscles require more energy, so the body delivers more oxygen for cellular respiration.
Why was Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat historically important?
A. It immediately ended segregation across the United States
B. It helped trigger the Montgomery Bus Boycott and became a major moment in the Civil Rights Movement
C. It caused the Supreme Court to create the First Amendment
D. It led directly to the end of the Great Depression
Answer: B
Why: Her arrest helped spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott and increased national attention on segregation.
After a storm, a power line falls onto a parked car. The driver is still inside and appears uninjured, and the car is not on fire.
What is generally the safest action for the driver?
A. Get out carefully without touching the metal parts of the car
B. Stay inside the vehicle and wait for emergency workers to confirm the power is off
C. Open the door and jump onto the ground with both feet
D. Ask someone nearby to move the wire with a wooden object
Answer: B
Why: A fallen power line may energize the car and surrounding ground, so staying inside is usually safest unless there is an immediate danger such as fire.
A store marks an item up 40% above its original cost.
It then gives a 15% discount on the marked price.
After the discount, the store still makes a $57 profit.
What was the store's original cost?
Answer: $300
Marked price = 1.40x
After discount = 1.40x × 0.85 = 1.19x
Profit = 19% of the original cost.
0.19x = 57
x = 300
A character says, "I'm glad everyone remembered my birthday," after realizing nobody remembered.
What literary device is being used?
A. Simile
B. Irony
C. Alliteration
D. Foreshadowing
Answer: B — Verbal irony
Why: The character says the opposite of what they actually mean.
A student wants to test whether music makes plants grow faster.
She places Plant A beside a sunny window and plays music for it every day. Plant B receives no music but is kept in a darker part of the room.
What is the biggest problem with this experiment?
A. Plants cannot respond to sound
B. The student should use different types of plants
C. Sunlight is another variable that could affect the results
D. The plants should receive different amounts of water
Answer: C
Why: Since the plants receive different amounts of sunlight, the student cannot determine whether music or sunlight caused the difference in growth.
Which factor helped make the Great Depression worse after the stock market crash of 1929?
A. Banks failed and many people lost their savings
B. Wages rose quickly across the country
C. Unemployment dropped to very low levels
D. Consumers began spending much more money
Answer: A
Why: Bank failures reduced savings and lending, which caused spending and business activity to fall even more.
You are swimming at the beach and suddenly realize the current is pulling you farther away from shore. You try swimming directly back toward the beach, but you are making almost no progress.
What is the BEST response?
A. Keep swimming directly toward shore as hard as possible
B. Swim parallel to the shoreline until you are out of the current, then swim back toward shore
C. Swim diagonally toward shore so you are still moving in the correct direction
D. Dive underwater because the current is usually weaker below the surface
Answer: B
Why: Rip currents usually pull outward in a narrow channel, so swimming parallel to shore can help you escape the current before returning to land.