Random 1
Based on genetic evidence, archaeologists have generally agreed that reindeer domestication began in the eleventh century CE. However, since uncovering fragments of a 2,000-year-old reindeer training harness in northern Siberia, ______ may have begun much earlier.
A) researcher Robert Losey has argued that domestication B) researcher Robert Losey’s argument is that domestication C) domestication, researcher Robert Losey has argued, D) the argument researcher Robert Losey has made is that domestication
A) researcher Robert Losey has argued that domestication
Even though bats prefer very sweet nectar, the plants that attract them have evolved to produce nectar that is only moderately sweet. A recent study ______ why: making sugar is energy-intensive, and it is more advantageous for plants to make a large amount of low-sugar nectar than a small amount of high-sugar nectar.
A) explains B) explaining C) having explained D) to explain
A) explains
Archaeologist Laila Nehmé recently traveled to Hegra to study its ancient tombs built into the rocky outcrops of a vast desert, these burial chambers seem to blend seamlessly with nature.
Archaeologist Laila Nehmé recently traveled to Hegra to study its ancient tombs. Built into the rocky outcrops of a vast desert, these burial chambers seem to blend seamlessly with nature.
When Mexican-American archaeologist Zelia Maria Magdalena Nuttall published her 1886 research paper on sculptures found at the ancient Indigenous city of Teotihuacan in present-day Mexico, other researchers readily _______ her work as ground breaking; this recognition stemmed from her convincing demonstration that the sculptures were much older than had previously been thought.
A) acknowledged B) ensured C) denied D) underestimated
A) acknowledged
In the 1950s, a man named Joseph McVicker was struggling to keep his business afloat when his sisterin-law Kay Zufall advised him to repurpose the company’s product, a nontoxic, clay-like substance for removing soot from wallpaper, as a modeling putty for kids. In addition, Zufall ______ selling the product under a child-friendly name: Play-Doh.
A) suggested B) suggests C) had suggested D) was suggesting
A) suggested
In assessing the films of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, ______ have missed his equally deep engagement with Japanese artistic traditions such as Noh theater.
A) many critics have focused on Kurosawa’s use of Western literary sources but B) Kurosawa’s use of Western literary sources has been the focus of many critics, who C) there are many critics who have focused on Kurosawa’s use of Western literary sources, but they D) the focus of many critics has been on Kurosawa’s use of Western literary sources; they
A) many critics have focused on Kurosawa’s use of Western literary sources but
Most conifers (trees belonging to the phylum Coniferophyta) are evergreen. That is, they keep their green leaves or needles year-round. However, not all conifer species are evergreen. Larch trees, _______, lose their needles every fall.
for instance/for example
The forty-seven geothermal springs of Arkansas’ Hot Springs National Park are sourced via a process known as natural groundwater recharge, in which rainwater percolates downward through the earth—in this case, the porous rocks of the hills around Hot Springs to collect in a subterranean basin.
The forty-seven geothermal springs of Arkansas’ Hot Springs National Park are sourced via a process known as natural groundwater recharge, in which rainwater percolates downward through the earth—in this case, the porous rocks of the hills around Hot Springs - to collect in a subterranean basin.
The artisans of the Igun Eronmwon guild in Benin City, Nigeria, typically _______ the bronze- and brass-casting techniques that have been passed down through their families since the thirteenth century, but they don’t strictly observe every tradition; for example, guild members now use air-conditioning motors instead of handheld bellows to help heat their forges.
A) experiment with B) adhere to C) improve on D) grapple with
B) adhere to
Inventor John Friedman created a prototype of the first flexible straw by inserting a screw into a paper straw and, using dental floss, binding the straw tightly around the ______ When the floss and screw were removed, the resulting corrugations in the paper allowed the straw to bend easily over the edge of a glass.
A) screw’s thread’s. B) screws’ threads. C) screw’s threads. D) screws threads’.
C) screw’s threads.
In West Africa, jalis have traditionally been keepers of information about family histories and records of important events. They have often served as teachers and advisers, too. New technologies may have changed some aspects of the role today, but jalis continue to be valued for knowing and protecting their peoples’ stories.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
A) Even though there have been some changes in their role, jalis continue to preserve their communities’ histories. B) Although jalis have many roles, many of them like teaching best. C) Jalis have been entertaining the people within their communities for centuries. D) Technology can now do some of the things jalis used to be responsible for.
A) Even though there have been some changes in their role, jalis continue to preserve their communities’ histories.
A member of the Cherokee Nation, Mary Golda Ross is renowned for her contributions to NASA’s Planetary Flight Handbook, which _______ detailed mathematical guidance for missions to Mars and Venus.
A) provided B) having provided C) to provide D) providing
A) provided
Typically, underlines, scribbles, and notes left in the margins by a former owner lower a book’s _______ when the former owner is a famous poet like Walt Whitman, such markings, known as marginalia, can be a gold mine to literary scholars.
A) value, but B) value C) value, D) value but
A) value, but
The work of Kiowa painter T.C. Cannon derives its power in part from the tension among his _______ influences: classic European portraiture, with its realistic treatment of faces; the American pop art movement, with its vivid colors; and flatstyle, the intertribal painting style that rejects the effect of depth typically achieved through shading and perspective.
A) complementary B) unknown C) disparate D) interchangeable
C) disparate
In Death Valley National Park’s Racetrack Playa, a flat, dry lakebed, are 162 rocks—some weighing less than a pound but others almost 700 pounds—that move periodically from place to place, seemingly of their own volition. Racetrack-like trails in the ______ mysterious migration.
A) playas sediment mark the rock’s B) playa’s sediment mark the rocks C) playa’s sediment mark the rocks’ D) playas’ sediment mark the rocks
C) playa’s sediment mark the rocks’
The novelist Toni Morrison was the first Black woman to work as an editor at the publishing company Random House, from 1967 to 1983. A scholar asserts that one of Morrison’s likely aims during her time as an editor was to strengthen the presence of Black writers on the list of Random House’s published authors.
Which finding, if true, would most strongly support the scholar’s claim?
A) The percentage of authors published by Random House who were Black rose in the early 1970s and stabilized throughout the decade. B) Black authors who were interviewed in the 1980s and 1990s were highly likely to cite Toni Morrison’s novels as a principal influence on their work. C) The novels written by Toni Morrison that were published after 1983 sold significantly more copies and received wider critical acclaim than the novels she wrote that were published before 1983. D) Works that were edited by Toni Morrison during her time at Random House displayed stylistic characteristics that distinguished them from works that were not edited by Morrison.
A) The percentage of authors published by Random House who were Black rose in the early 1970s and stabilized throughout the decade.
Archaeologist Sue Brunning explains why the seventh-century ship burial site at Sutton Hoo in England was likely the tomb of a king. First, the gold artifacts inside the ship suggest that the person buried with them was a wealthy and respected leader. ______ the massive effort required to bury the ship would likely only have been undertaken for a king.
A) Instead, B) Still, C) Specifically, D) Second
C) Specifically
In crafting her fantasy fiction, Nigerian-born British author Helen Oyeyemi has drawn inspiration from the classic nineteenth-century fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Her 2014 novel Boy, Snow, Bird, for instance, is a complex retelling of the story of Snow White, while her 2019 novel ______ offers a delicious twist on the classic tale of Hansel and Gretel.
A) Gingerbread— B) Gingerbread, C) Gingerbread D) Gingerbread:
C) Gingerbread
Some economic historians _______ that late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century households in the United States experienced an economy of scale when it came to food purchases—they assumed that large households spent less on food per person than did small households. Economist Trevon Logan showed, however, that a close look at the available data disproves this supposition.
A) surmised B) contrived C) questioned D) regretted
A) surmised
The following text is adapted from Jane Austen’s 1814 novel Mansfield Park. The speaker, Tom, is considering staging a play at home with a group of his friends and family.
"We mean nothing but a little amusement among ourselves, just to vary the scene, and exercise our powers in something new. We want no audience, no publicity. We may be trusted, I think, in choosing some play most perfectly unexceptionable; and I can conceive no greater harm or danger to any of us in conversing in the elegant written language of some respectable author than in chattering in words of our own."
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A) To offer Tom’s assurance that the play will be inoffensive and involve only a small number of people B) To clarify that the play will not be performed in the manner Tom had originally intended C) To elaborate on the idea that the people around Tom lack the skills to successfully stage a play D) To assert that Tom believes the group performing the play will be able to successfully promote it
A) To offer Tom’s assurance that the play will be inoffensive and involve only a small number of people
Text 1
Astronomer Mark Holland and colleagues examined four white dwarfs—small, dense remnants of past stars—in order to determine the composition of exoplanets that used to orbit those stars. Studying wavelengths of light in the white dwarf atmospheres, the team reported that traces of elements such as lithium and sodium support the presence of exoplanets with continental crusts similar to Earth’s.
Text 2
Past studies of white dwarf atmospheres have concluded that certain exoplanets had continental crusts. Geologist Keith Putirka and astronomer Siyi Xu argue that those studies unduly emphasize atmospheric traces of lithium and other individual elements as signifiers of the types of rock found on Earth. The studies don’t adequately account for different minerals made up of various ratios of those elements, and the possibility of rock types not found on Earth that contain those minerals.
Based on the texts, how would Putirka and Xu (Text 2) most likely characterize the conclusion presented in Text 1?
A) As unexpected, because it was widely believed at the time that white dwarf exoplanets lack continental crusts B) As premature, because researchers have only just begun trying to determine what kinds of crusts white dwarf exoplanets had C) As questionable, because it rests on an incomplete consideration of potential sources of the elements detected in white dwarf atmospheres D) As puzzling, because it’s unusual to successfully detect lithium and sodium when analyzing wavelengths of light in white dwarf atmospheres
C) As questionable, because it rests on an incomplete consideration of potential sources of the elements detected in white dwarf atmospheres
Etched into Peru’s Nazca Desert are line drawings so large that they can only be fully seen from high above. Archaeologists have known of the lines since the 1920s, when a researcher spotted some from a nearby foothill, and they have been studying the markings ever since. ______ archaeologists’ efforts are aided by drones that capture high-resolution aerial photographs of the lines.
A) Currently, B) In comparison, C) Still, D) However
A) Currently
After the United Kingdom began rolling out taxes equivalent to a few cents on single-use plastic grocery bags in 2011, plastic-bag consumption decreased by up to ninety _______ taxes are subject to what economists call the “rebound effect”: as the change became normalized, plastic-bag use started to creep back up.
A) percent, such B) percent and such C) percent. Such D) percent such
C) percent. Such
New and interesting research conducted by Suleiman A. Al-Sweedan and Moath Alhaj is inspired by their observation that though there have been many studies of the effect of high altitude on blood chemistry, there is a _______ studies of the effect on blood chemistry of living in locations below sea level, such as the California towns of Salton City and Seeley.
A) quarrel about B) paucity of C) profusion of D) verisimilitude in
B) paucity of (lack of)
Musician Joni Mitchell, who is also a painter, uses images she creates for her album covers to emphasize ideas expressed in her music. For the cover of her album Turbulent Indigo (1994), Mitchell painted a striking self-portrait that closely resembles Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889). The image calls attention to the album’s title song, in which Mitchell sings about the legacy of the postimpressionist painter. In that song, Mitchell also hints that she feels a strong artistic connection to Van Gogh—an idea that is reinforced by her imagery on the cover.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A) It presents a claim about Mitchell, then gives an example supporting that claim. B) It discusses Van Gogh’s influence on Mitchell, then considers Mitchell’s influence on other artists. C) It describes a similarity between two artists, then notes a difference between them. D) It describes the songs on Turbulent Indigo, then explains how they relate to the album’s cover.
A) It presents a claim about Mitchell, then gives an example supporting that claim.