Craft & Structure
The following text is from the 1913 story "The King's Coin" by Emily Pauline Johnson, a Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) writer also known as Tekahionwake. Fox-Foot, a young Ojibwe man, is guiding a group of fur traders who are traveling by canoe and suspects that they are being followed.
At supper time, Fox-Foot would allow no fire to be built, no landing to be made, no trace of their presence to be left. They ate canned meat and marmalade, drank again of the stream and pushed on, until just at dusk they reached the edge of a long, still lake, with shores of granite and dense fir forest.
As used in the text, what does the word "trace" most nearly mean?
A. Evidence B. Blemish C. Amount D. Sketch
Correct: A. Evidence
About 70,000 meteorites have been found on Earth. Although most meteorites are fragments of ______ hundred have been identified as being from the Moon or Mars.
Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A. asteroids. Several
B. asteroids, several
C. asteroids; several
D. asteroids: several
Correct: B. asteroids, several
The Alaska Native Language Archive (ANLA) is known for its impressive audio collection. ______ the ANLA has more than 5,000 audio recordings of Native Alaskan languages dating as far back as 1943.
Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
A. In fact, B. After, C. Regardless, D. Instead,
Correct: A. In fact,
Lorenzo purchased a box of cereal and some strawberries at the grocery store. Lorenzo paid $2 for the box of cereal and $1.90 per pound for the strawberries. Lorenzo paid a total of $9.60 for the box of cereal and the strawberries. (Assume there is no sales tax.)
Question: Which of the following equations can be used to find p, the number of pounds of strawberries Lorenzo purchased?
A. 1.90p + 2 = 9.60
B. 1.90p − 2 = 9.60
C. 1.90 + 2p = 9.60
D. 1.90 − 2p = 9.60
Correct: A. 1.90p + 2 = 9.60
Text 1 Most scientists agree that the moon was likely formed after a collision between Earth and a large planet named Theia. This collision likely created a huge debris field, made up of material from both Earth and Theia. Based on models of this event, scientists believe that the moon was formed from this debris over the course of thousands of years.
Text 2 Researchers from NASA's Ames Research Center used a computer to model how the moon could have formed. Although simulations of the moon's formation have been done in the past, the team from NASA ran simulations that were much more detailed. They found that the formation of the moon was likely not a slow process that took many years. Instead, it's probable that the moon's formation happened immediately after impact, taking just a few hours.
Question: Which choice best describes a difference in how the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 view the evidence for the formation of the moon?
A. The author of Text 1 argues that the formation of the moon occurred much earlier than the author of Text 2 argues.
B. The author of Text 1 suggests there is more evidence confirming the existence of Theia than the author of Text 2 suggests.
C. The author of Text 1 claims that the moon's surface is more similar to Earth's surface than the author of Text 2 claims.
D. The author of Text 1 believes that the moon formed more slowly than the author of Text 2 believes.
Correct: D
The short story "Rogue Enchantments" by Isabel Ibañez appears in Reclaim the ______ anthology of fantasy and science fiction written by authors of Latin American descent.
Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Answer choices: A. Stars. An
B. Stars, while an
C. Stars an
D. Stars, an
Correct: D. Stars, an
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• The painter Frida Kahlo is one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.
• She was born in Coyoacán, Mexico, in 1907.
• She is best known for her vivid and richly symbolic self-portraits.
• The Two Fridas (1939) features two versions of Kahlo sitting together.
• One version wears a European-style dress and the other a traditional Tehuana dress.
The student wants to introduce Kahlo to an audience unfamiliar with the artist.
Question: Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
A. Known for being vivid and richly symbolic, Frida Kahlo's self-portraits include The Two Fridas (1939).
B. The 1939 painting The Two Fridas is one example of a self-portrait by Frida Kahlo.
C. One painting by Frida Kahlo features two versions of herself, with one version wearing a European-style dress and the other a traditional Tehuana dress.
D. One of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is best known for her self-portraits, which are vivid and richly symbolic.
Correct: D. (One of the most influential artists… best known for her vivid, symbolic self-portraits)
Supporting information:
y = 2x + 3
x = 1
Question: What is the solution (x, y) to the given system of equations?
A. (1, 2)
B. (1, 5)
C. (2, 3)
D. (2, 7)
Correct: B. (1, 5)
Studying how workload affects productivity, Maryam Kouchaki and colleagues found that people who chose to do relatively easy tasks first were less ______ compared to those who did hard tasks first. Finishing easy tasks gave participants a sense of accomplishment, but those who tackled hard tasks first actually became more skilled and productive workers over time.
Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
Answer choices:
A. secretive
B. efficient
C. outgoing
D. unsympathetic
Correct: B. efficient
Zydeco music originated in the French Creole community of southwest Louisiana. One instrument that gives zydeco its unique sound is the vest frottoir. The vest frottoir ______ a wearable washboard that is played by rubbing spoons or bottle openers against it.
Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Answer choices: A. have been
B. is
C. were
D. are
Correct: B. is
In hindsight, given the ideas about the natural world circulating among British scientists in the 1800s, the theory of natural selection was an obvious next step. It may not have been a coincidence, ______ that Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace arrived at the concept independently. Indeed, contrary to the popular myth of the lone genius, theirs is not the first paradigm-shifting theory to have emerged from multiple scholars working in parallel.
Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
A. however,
B. then,
C. moreover,
D. for example,
Correct: B. then,
Ty set a goal to walk at least 24 kilometers every day to prepare for a multiday hike. On a certain day, Ty plans to walk at an average speed of 4 kilometers per hour.
Question: What is the minimum number of hours Ty must walk on that day to fulfill the daily goal?
A. 4
B. 6
C. 20
D. 24
Correct: B. 6
The following text is from Bram Stoker's 1911 novel The Lair of the White Worm. Adam is meeting his great-uncle Richard at a port.
The meeting so auspiciously begun endured well. Adam, seeing that the old man was interested in the novelty of the ship, suggested that he should stay the night on board, and that he would himself be ready to start at any hour and go anywhere that the other suggested. This affectionate willingness to fall in with his own plans quite won the old man's heart. He warmly accepted the invitation, and at once they became not only on terms of affectionate relationship, but almost like old friends.
Question: Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. It states the reasons why Adam and his great-uncle Richard decide to sleep on the ship rather than finding lodging on land.
B. It showcases how Adam's flexibility and consideration strengthen his relationship with his great-uncle Richard.
C. It describes what Adam and his great-uncle Richard are excited for their upcoming journey on the ship.
D. It contrasts great-uncle Richard's wary first impressions of Adam with his ultimate affection toward him.
Correct: B. (Adam's flexibility/consideration strengthen the relationship)
On March 23, 2021, a gust of wind wreaked havoc on global trade. Ever Given, an international shipping container vessel, became lodged in Egypt's Suez Canal, a major shipping route between Europe and Asia. The vessel took six days to ______ it's as heavy as two thousand blue whales when fully loaded.
Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Answer choices:
A. dislodge in part due to its sheer size,
B. dislodge, in part due to its sheer size:
C. dislodge, in part due to its sheer size;
D. dislodge, in part due to its sheer size
Correct: B. dislodge, in part due to its sheer size:
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• Malapportionment is the over- or underrepresentation (relative to population size) of electoral districts in a governing body.
• It is a common feature of representative governments.
• There are 169 seats in Norway's supreme legislature (the Storting).
• Seats are distributed by a formula that awards 1 point per resident and 1.8 points per unit of land.
• Less populated rural districts with large tracts of land receive a disproportionate number of seats compared to smaller but more populated urban districts.
The student wants to refute a claim that malapportionment in the Storting favors small urban districts.
Question: Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
A. Less populated rural districts are disproportionally underrepresented in the Storting, creating an unfair advantage for smaller but more populated urban districts.
B. It's untrue that malapportionment in the 169-seat Storting favors small urban districts; rather, the formula for distributing seats overrepresents more populated districts.
C. A common feature of representative governments, malapportionment occurs when electoral districts are over- or underrepresented.
D. Awarding more points per unit of land than points per resident, the formula for distributing Storting seats overrepresents less populated rural districts with large tracts of land.
Correct: D. (the formula overrepresents less populated rural districts with large land tracts)
Supporting information:
5G + 45R = 380
At a school fair, students can win colored tokens that are worth a different number of points depending on the color. One student won G green tokens and R red tokens worth a total of 380 points. The given equation represents this situation.
Question: How many more points is a red token worth than a green token?
Correct: 40
In response to concerns that some recent financial crises were exacerbated by consumers misunderstanding risks associated with credit cards, loans, and other financial products, policymakers in many countries have instituted risk-disclosure requirements on sellers of those products. Enrique Seira et al. investigated a variety of risk-disclosure messages sent to thousands of credit card customers and found that the messages had only small and short-lived effects on behavior. Seira et al. asserted that such effects may nevertheless be worth pursuing, given the negligible cost of messaging.
Question: Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole? (Underlined portion: "given the negligible cost of messaging.")
A. It notes a factor that led Seira et al. to not dismiss risk-disclosure messaging altogether despite their evidence of its limited utility.
B. It acknowledges a type of risk-disclosure messaging that Seira et al. may not have fully accounted for in their study.
C. It describes a consideration that explains why Seira et al. recommended risk-disclosure messaging even though its effects may be small relative to its costs.
D. It points out a circumstance that Seira et al. conceded may make risk-disclosure messaging more effective than their study suggests.
Correct: A. (a factor that led Seira et al. not to dismiss messaging despite limited utility)
Legal scholars James Melton and Tom Ginsburg's analysis of de jure judicial independence and its growth over decades ______ six constitutional features that enhance such independence, including judicial tenure and selection procedure. Albania's constitution contains five of these features.
Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Answer choices: A. are identifying
B. identify
C. have identified
D. identifies
Correct: D. identifies
In 1942, the 1,500-mile Alaska Highway was constructed in under nine months, largely due to the skilled work of nearly 4,000 African American soldiers from US Army engineering regiments. The soldiers' contribution was overlooked for decades. ______ in 2017, lawmakers declared October 25 a day of recognition—"Alaska Highway Day"—for the troops who helped build this critical roadway.
Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
A. Lastly,
B. Then,
C. Similarly,
D. For example,
Correct: B. Then,
Supporting information:
3(2x − 6) − 11 = 4(x − 3) + 6
Question: If x is the solution to the equation above, what is the value of x − 3?
A. 23/2
B. 17/2
C. 15/2
D. −15/2
Correct: B. 17/2