Reading1
While its name may suggest some fantastical creature, the Gila monster is hardly imaginary—but it is certainly unusual. It is a poisonous reptile native to the deserts of the United States and Mexico. With its out-sized head and powerful-looking 20-inch-long body, the Gila monster is _______ predator that truly earns its threatening name. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A) Ambitious
B) Galvanizing
C) Imposing
D) Comical
Answer: C) Imposing
Answer Explanation:
The word imposing means “impressive” or “threatening,” so it is the best word choice for this context.
63 is 35% of what number?
A) 200
B) 180
C) 120
D) 240
Answer: B) 180
Answer Explanation:
Step 1: Set up the equation
To find the unknown number, represent the percentage as a decimal and set up an algebraic equation. Let "X" be the number we are looking for.
Since "of" indicates multiplication and "is" indicates equality:
Step 2: Solve for X
Isolate "X" by dividing both sides of the equation by 0.35
X = 63/0.35
Step 3: To simplify the division, you can multiply both the numerator and the denominator by 100
X = 6300/35
X = 180
A lack of insulin in the human body can lead to the disease known as diabetes. This condition results in an excess of blood sugar, or hyperglycemia. People who suffer from diabetes often have to take shots of insulin to balance their systems. Symptoms include excessive thirst and hunger, blurred vision, rapid weight loss, and fatigue. Extreme cases can result in diabetic coma or death. Consequently, ______________
Which choice most logically completes the text?
A) the body of a person with diabetes does not break down enough sugars, so those sugars remain in the bloodstream.
B) there are three types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes, which is specific to pregnant women.
C) it is probably wise to monitor any symptoms that may signal diabetes and get a full exam by a physician.
D) those with type 2 diabetes should focus on eating healthier food and exercising to help manage it.
Answer: C) it is probably wise to monitor any symptoms that may signal diabetes and get a full exam by a physician.
Answer Explanation:
This text discusses the negative consequences of diabetes, so it is logical to infer that the text would end with a suggestion to see a doctor to address any diabetes-related concerns.
What are the solutions to x2 + 5x + 6 = 0?
A) 1 and 5
B) 2 and 3
C) -2 and -3
D) -1 and 6
Answer: C) -2 and -3
Answer Explanation: To factor x2 + 5x + 6, find two numbers that multiply to 6 and add up to 5.
x2 + 5x + 6 = (x +2) (x + 3).
So, if (x + 2)(x + 3) = 0, the possible values of x are −2 and −3.
When smoke, fog, and/or chemical fumes collide, the result is the atmospheric condition known as smog. Smog is most common in industrial areas or ones with dense populations with an excess of automobile pollution. __________ of fresh, breathable air can occur in areas where smog is a recurring problem.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A) Indifference
B) A deficiency
C) An inversion
D) A subordinate
Answer: B) A deficiency
Answer Explanation: A deficiency is a lack, and smog can cause a deficiency of fresh, breathable air.
When the explorers Lewis and Clark were _______ the Pacific Northwest from east to west, they relied on the guidance and interpreting skills of Sacagawea. She was a member of the Shoshone, a Native American band. She helped the explorers obtain horses and supplies from the Native Americans populating the area and helped them cross unfamiliar territory. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A) Prompting
B) Traversing
C) Reproaching
D) Facilitating
Answer: B) Traversing
Answer Explanation:
The word traversing means “traveling across,” and it makes the most sense in this context.
Water is released from a reservoir at a constant rate of 7800 gallons every 15 seconds. What is this rate expressed in gallons per hour?
A) 312,000 gallons per hour
B) 680,000 gallons per hour
C) 1,872,000 gallons per hour
D) 200,800,000 gallons per hour
Answer: C) 1,872,000 gallons per hour
Step 1: Calculate the flow rate per second
Divide the total gallons by the number of seconds to find the volume released each second:
Step 2: Convert seconds to hours
There are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour. To find the total seconds in one hour (T).
T = 60 (min) * 60 (sec) = 3600 seconds/hr
Step 3: Calculate the hourly rate
Multiply the rate per second by the total number of seconds in an hour to find the gallons per hour (G)
Standing 22,834 feet tall, the Aconcagua is the highest mountain peak found outside of Asia. The peak is actually a long dormant snow-capped ______ its incredible height, the peak has been scaled. In fact, it was first climbed more than a century ago in 1897.
Which choice completes the text so it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) volcano Despite
B) volcano, despite
C) volcano. Despite
D) volcano: Despite
Answer C) volcano. Despite
Answer Explanation:
A period is needed to indicate that a sentence has ended, and “despite” needs to be capitalized to indicate that a new sentence has begun.
Based on the following system of equations, what is the value of the product of xy?
3x − y = y + 8
x + 2y = 8
A) 2
B) 6
C) 8
D) 16
Answer: C) 8
Answer Explanation:
If x = 8 − 2y, then 3(8 − 2y) − y = y + 8.
So:
24−6y−y= y + 8
24−7y= y + 8
24−8y= 8
−8y = −16
y = 2
If x + 2(2) = 8, then x = 4. So, the product of xy is 8.
After studying to become a teacher, Desmond Tutu decided to become an Anglican priest. However, he rose to prominence as an outspoken enemy of apartheid, South Africa’s policy of racial separation. By advocating for international economic ______ against the South African government, Tutu helped put an economic pressure on the government that eventually pushed it to abandon apartheid. In 1984, Tutu was awarded the Noble Peace Prize for his work.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?
A) Boosts
B) Sanctions
C) Dominions
D) Altercations
Answer: B) Sanctions
Answer Explanation: Sanctions are restrictions, and it makes sense that one can force a government to change policies by restricting their economic functions.
Agronomy is the science of managing soil and perfecting crops for the purpose of improving agriculture. An agronomist is concerned with breeding plants and developing effective fertilizers and plants that are capable of resisting disease. The agronomist is also focused on conservation and performing experiments. Likewise, they are often ________ research on the latest bioengineering methods—running their own experiments, reading research of their peers, and looking for other information.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A) Bearing
B) Decreeing
C) Endowing
D) Conducting
Answer: D) Conducting
Answer Explanation:
The word conducting means “managing,” and it makes the most sense in this context.
What is 130% of 4.8? Enter your answer as a decimal.
A) 7.54
B) 6.94
C) 6.24
D) 5.4
Answer: C) 6.24
Answer Explanation:
Step 1: Convert the percentage to a decimal
To perform calculations with percentages, first divide the percentage by 100 to convert it into a decimal format.
130% =130/100 = 1.3
Step 2: Multiply by the base number
Multiply the resulting decimal by 4.8 to find the final value.
1.3 * 4.8 = 6.24
On March 24, 1989, a tanker known as the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, causing a massive oil spill. Owned by the Exxon Corporation, an oil and natural resources company, which subsequently merged with Mobil Corporation to form Exxon Mobil, the Exxon Valdez was en route from Valdez, Alaska, to California when the incident happened. In what is now known as the Exxon Valdez oil spill, nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil were spilled and dispersed throughout the sound by the strong winds and waves, causing great devastation. Federal funding to clean up the oil spill _________ in part by Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, and Exxon provided an additional $2.1 billion.
Which choice completes the text so it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) as been secured
B) was secured
C) were secured
D) can be secured
Answer: B) was secured
Answer Explanation:
“Was secured” is in the past tense, as is the verb “provided” in the clause that follows.
If 2(1−3x)=−x−3, what is the value of 4x?
A) 1
B) 5/2
C) 4
D) 10
Answer: C) 4
Answer explanation:
Apply the distribution property on the left side, and then gather the x-terms on one side and the constants on the other.
2(1−3x)=−x−3
2−6x=−x−3
5 = 5x
x = 1
So, the value of 4x is 4(1)=4.
The following text is adapted from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Written in two parts in the early 1600s, the novel is about the adventures of a Spanish nobleman who believes he is a knight-errant and his squire, Sancho Panza.
"At this point they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that stood there upon the Plain of Montiel, and as soon as Don Quixote saw them he said to his squire, “Fortune is arranging matters for us better than our desires themselves could have fashioned, for look there, friend Sancho Panza, where thirty or more monstrous giants present themselves, all of whom I mean to engage in battle and slay, and with whose spoils we shall begin to make our fortunes; for this is righteous warfare, and it is a great service to God to abolish so evil a breed from the face of the earth.”
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A) It presents Don Quixote as cowardly when confronting danger.
B) It establishes Don Quixote as a likely threat to his opponents.
C) It presents contrasting interpretations of Don Quixote’s character.
D) It suggests that the way Don Quixote sees reality is not accurate.
Answer: D) It suggests that the way Don Quixote sees reality is not accurate.
Answer Explanation: In the paragraph, the narrator states that all that stands on the plain are “thirty or forty windmills,” which establishes the scene as it actually is. Through Don Quixote’s words, the reader understands that he believes the windmills are “thirty or more monstrous giants” that he intends “to engage in battle and slay.” This suggests that he is not interpreting reality correctly..
Constructed during the late fourteenth century, the Bastille was a formidable prison and fortress controlled by France’s royal government. The prisoners were mostly political in nature. During the French Revolution, a mob of revolutionaries who sought to bring an end of the regime’s abuse of power stormed the Bastille and liberated seven of its prisoners. The date of that event, July 14, 1789, became known as Bastille Day. People in France still celebrate that annual holiday to this day ___________________
Which choice most logically completes the text?
A) with the added significance of World War II resistance fighters.
B) much to the extreme displeasure of France’s current royal regime.
C) in remembrance of the triumphant end to a major symbol of royal oppression.
D) only among those who believe it is wrong to imprison people for political reasons.
Answer: C) in remembrance of the triumphant end to a major symbol of royal oppression.
Answer Explanation: This is a logical inference to make because the Bastille is where France’s royal government oppressed political prisoners and national holidays are celebrated in remembrance of a significant event.
A health inspector in the meat-packing industry gives a failing grade to 5 steaks out of every 80 that she inspects. At this rate, if she inspects 11,200 steaks, how many of them will she fail?
A) 560
B) 1,120
C) 900
D) 700
Answer: D) 700
Answer Explanation:
Step 1: Determine the failure rate
The inspector fails 5 out of every 80 steaks. This can be expressed as a ratio or fraction to represent the probability of a steak failing inspection:
Step 2: Set up the proportion
To find the number of failed steaks (x) out of a larger total (11,200), set up a proportion where the failure rate is constant:
5/80 = X/11200
Step 3: Solve for the unknown value
X = 11200 * 1/16
X = 11200/16
X = 700
Since January 2013, there has been an overabundance of California sea lion pup and yearling strandings, prompting the declaration of an unusual mortality event (UME) under the Marine Mammal Protect Act (MMPA). Although data indicate that some of the sea lion pups had viruses or infections, that was likely not due to disease but to the lack of high-quality food sources in close proximity to nursing mothers. Research shows this UME _____________ by a single infectious agent, even though sea lion pup samples contained a variety of disease-causing bacteria and viruses. A high percentage of sea lion pups had several different strands of astroviruses, including some new species, but the study of astroviruses is a very specialized field.
Which choice completes the text so it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) was probably not caused
B) were probably not caused
C) has probably not been caused
D) are probably not caused
Answer: A) was probably not caused
Answer Explanation:
The subject UME and the verb “was” agree because they are both in the singular form
The actors in a community theater performance earn an amount directly proportional to the number of people attending the performance. Each actor earns $75 for every 8 people who attend.
How much money will each actor earn, rounded to the nearest dollar, when 50 people attend the play?
Answer should be rounded to the nearest dollar.
A) $450
B) $490
C) $469
D) $437
Answer: C) $469
Answer Explanation: To solve, set up a proportion. 8/75 = 50/x.
So, 8x = 3,750 and x = $468.75, or $469 rounded to the nearest dollar.
The following text is adapted from “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Alan Poe. In this excerpt, the narrator describes a house.
"The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty. The windows were long, narrow, and pointed, and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around; the eye, however, struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the chamber, or the recesses of the vaulted and fretted ceiling. Dark draperies hung upon the walls. The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about, but failed to give any vitality to the scene. I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all."
What is the main idea of the text?
A) The speaker admires an impressively designed house.
B) The speaker arrives at a house that makes him feel uneasy.
C) The speaker expresses regret for buying a house he does not like.
D) The speaker criticizes the tattered furniture he finds in a house.
Answer: B) The speaker arrives at a house that makes him feel uneasy.
Answer Explanation: The text is mostly about how the speaker arrives at a house that makes him feel uneasy.
At the 1848 Seneca Falls convention, the resolution “that it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise” was the only resolution in the Declaration of Sentiments that was not unanimously adopted. “Those who took part in the debate,” wrote women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “feared a demand for the right to vote would defeat others they considered to be more rational, and make the whole movement ridiculous.” In 1922, the highest court in the land unanimously endorsed the results of the movement that began at Seneca Falls. When _______ the events, those who look ridiculous to us today are not Stanton and the countless others who demanded the vote for women but those who would have deprived them of this right.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A) Evaluating
B) Retaining
C) Scorning
D) Surmounting
Answer: A) Evaluating
Answer Explanation:
The word evaluating means “determining the worth of,” and it makes the most sense in this context.
Which of the following is equivalent to (2x+1)−(x−1)2?
A) 2x - x2
B) -x2 + 4x
C) 2 - x2
D) -x2 + 2x + 2
Answer: B) -x2 + 4x
Answer Explanation: Expand the squared expression by making repeated use of the distributive property, then multiply all of the terms by −1, and finally add like terms.
(2x + 1) - (x-1)2 = 2x + 1 - (x2 - 2x +1)
= 2x + 1 - x2 + 2x - 1
= -x2 + 4x
The Murat and Karasu Rivers meet to form the Euphrates in southwest Asia. The Euphrates begins in East Turkey and runs through Syria and on to central _____ it merges with the Tigris River, which ultimately empties into the Persian Gulf. In total, the mighty Euphrates stretches across 1,740 miles. It is historically important because the influential ancient civilizations of Babylonia and Assyria developed along the river’s lower expanse.
Which choice completes the text so it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) Iraq, there
B) Iraq there
C) Iraq; there
D) Iraq; there,
Answer: C) Iraq; there
Answer Explanation: This answer choice correctly uses a semicolon to join two independent but related clauses.
Which of the following is the complete solution set of the equation x(x+8)=9?
A) x=9 and x=1
B) x=−9 and x=1
C) x=0 and x=−8
D) x=3 and x=−2
Answer: B) x=−9 and x=1
Answer Explanation:
Multiply the left side, subtract 9 from both sides and then factor the resulting expression. Then, set each factor equal to zero and solve for x.
x(x + 8) = 9
x2 + 8x = 9
Subtract 9 from both sides to set the quadratic equation to zero, which is the standard form ax2 + bx + c = 0
x2 + 8x − 9 = 0
To factor x2 + 8x − 9, find two numbers that multiply to −9 and add up to 8. These numbers are 9 and -1
(x + 9) (x - 1) = 0
x + 9 = 0
So x = −9
x−1 = 0
So x = 1
x = −9, 1
Princess Diana of Wales was once the wife of Prince Charles of England, who is currently the country’s king. The couple divorced in _______ she died tragically during a high-speed car chase involving photographers the following year. However, Diana is still remembered as an extraordinary individual who used her prominent role to advocate for various humanitarian causes.
Which choice completes the text so it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) 1996, long before Charles was crowned king; and
B) 1996, long before Charles was crowned king, and
C) 1996, long before Charles was crowned king and
D) 1996 long before Charles was crowned king and
Answer: B) 1996, long before Charles was crowned king, and
Answer Explanation: The phrase “long before Charles was crowned king” is not essential to the sentence, so it should be offset with punctuation, such as commas.