vocabulary use
In the early 1800’s, the Cherokee scholar Sequoyah created the first script, or writing system, for an Indigenous language in the United States. Because it represented the sounds of spoken Cherokee so actually, his script was easy to learn and thus quickly achieved BLANK use: by 1830, over 90 percent of the Cherokee people could read and write it.
a. Widespread
b. Careful
c. Unintended
d. Infrequent
a. Widespread
The following text is adapted from Pam Munoz Ryan’s 2020 novel Mananaland. In the village where Max lives, there is an old fortress called La Reina. Children in the village say that the fortress is haunted.
For as long as he could remember, Max had begged Papa [his father] to take him to see La Reina and the ruins up close. He’d be a hero among his friends if he was the first boy to cross the haunted gates! Just because Papa didn't believe in ghosts didn't mean they weren't there. Maybe this summer Papa would finally take him. He was almost twelve.
Which choice best describes the overall purpose of the text?
a. To portray how proud Max’s father is of Max.
b. To explain why Max doesn't want to grow up yet.
c. To criticise Max for disliking summer
d. To show how much Max wants to visit La Reina
d. To show how much Max wants to visit La Reina
Global biomass is the total mass of living material, such as animals and plants, on Earth. A team of scientists estimated the global biomass, by species, of various wild land mammals. The team found that the species with the highest global biomass is the BLANK.
a. Wild boar
b. Eastern gray kangaroo
c. African bush elephant
d. White-tailed deer
d. White-tailed deer
The Alvarez theory, developed in 1980 by physicist Luis Walter Alvarez and his geologist son Walter Alvarez, maintained that the secondary effects on an asteroid impact caused many dinosaurs to and other animals to die BLANK it left unexplored the question of whether unrelated volcanic activity might have also contributed to the mass extinction.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
a. out but
b. out, but
c. out
d. out,
b. out, but
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• In 2013, archaeologists studied cat bone fragments they had found in the ruins of Quanhucun, a Chinese farming village.
• The fragments were estimated to be 5,300 years old.
• A chemical analysis of the fragments revealed that the cats had consumed large amounts of grain.
• The grain consumption is evidence that the Quanhucun cats may have been domesticated.
The student wants to present the Quanhucun study and its conclusions. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
a. As part of a 2013 study of cat domestication, a chemical analysis was conducted on cat bone fragments found in Quanhucun, China.
b. A 2013 analysis of cat bone fragments found in Quanhucun, China, suggests that cats there may have been domesticated 5,300 years ago.
c. In 2013, archaeologists studied what cats in Quanhucun, China, had eaten more than 5,000 years ago.
d. Cat bone fragments estimated to be 5,300 years old were found in Quanhucun, China, in 2013.
b. A 2013 analysis of cat bone fragments found in Quanhucun, China, suggests that cats there may have been domesticated 5,300 years ago.
Researchers have struggled to pinpoint specific causes for hiccups, which happen when a person’s diaphragm contracts BLANK. However, neuroscientist Kimberly Whitehead has found that these uncontrollable contractions may play an important role in helping infants regulate their breathing.
Involuntary
Beneficially
Strenuously
Smoothly
a. Involuntary
The following text is adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s 1912 play Pygmalion. Henry Higgins has just arrived at the house of his mother (Mrs. Higgins). She is expecting her friends to visit soon.
MRS.HIGGINS: I'm serious, Henry. You offended all my friends: they stop coming whenever they meet you.
HIGGINS: Nonsense! I know I have no small talk; but people don't mind.
MRS.HIGGINS: Oh! Dont they? Small talk indeed! What say you about large talk? Really, dear, you mustn't stay.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
a. To describe what Henry’s mother does when she goes out with her friends
b. To show that Henry’s mother wants him to leave
c. To present a detailed account of what Henry’s home looks like
d. To explain why Henry often visits his mother
b. To show that Henry’s mother wants him to leave
Over the past two hundred years, the percentage of the population employed in the agricultural sector has declined in both France and the United States, while employment in the service sector (which includes jobs in retail, consulting, real estate, etc.) has risen. However, this can be seen most clearly by comparing the employment by sector in both countries in BLANK.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
a. 1900 with the employment by sector in 1950.
b. 1800 with the employment by sector in 2012
c. 1900 with the employment by sector in 2012
d. 1800 with the employment by sector in 1900
a. 1900 with the employment by sector in 1950.
Typically, underlines, scribbles, and notes left in the margins by a former owner lower a book’s BLANK when the former owner is a famous poet like Walt Whitman, such markings, known as marginalia, can be a gold mine to literary scholars.
Which choice best completes the text so it conforms to the conventions of standard english?
a. value, but
b. value
c. value,
d. value but
a. value, but
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• Gaspar Enriquez is an artist.
• He specializes in portraits of Mexican Americans.
• A portrait is an artistic representation of a person.
• Enriquez completed a painting of the sculptor Luis Jimenez in 2003.
• He completed a drawing of the writer Rudolfo Anaya in 2016.
The student wants to emphasize a difference between the two portraits. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
a. The portraits, or artistic representations, of Luis Jimenez and Rudolfo Anaya were both completed by Enriquez in the early 2000s.
b. Enriquez has completed portraits of numerous Mexican Americans, including sculptor Luis Jimenez and writer Rudolfo Anaya.
c. While both are by Enriquez, the 2003 portrait of Luis Jimenez is a painting, and the 2016 portrait of Rudolfo Anaya is a drawing.
d. Luis Jimenez was a Mexican American sculptor, and Rudolfo Anaya was a Mexican American writer.
c. While both are by Enriquez, the 2003 portrait of Luis Jimenez is a painting, and the 2016 portrait of Rudolfo Anaya is a drawing.
For painter Jacob Lawerance, being BLANK was an important part of the artistic process. Because he paid close attention to all of the details of his Harlem neighborhood, Lawrence’s artwork captured nuances in the beauty and vitality of the Black experience during the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Migration.
a. Skeptical
b. Observant
c. Critical
d. Confident
b. Observant
The following text is from Charlotte Forten Grimke’s 1888 poem “At Newport”
Oh, deep delight to watch the gladsome waves
Exultant leap upon the rugged rocks;
Ever repulsed, yet ever rushing on-
Filled with a life that will not know defeat;
To see the glorious hues of the sky and sea.
To distant snowy sails, glide spirit like,
Into an unknown world, to feel the sweet
Enchantment of the sea thrill all the soul,
Clearing the clouded brain, making the heart
Leap joyous as its own bright, singing waves!
Which line best describes the italicised portion of the text as a whole?
a. It portrays the surroundings as an imposing and intimidating scene
b. It characterizes the sea’s waves as a relentless and enduring force.
c. It conveys the speaker’s ambivalence about the natural world
d. It draws a contrast between the sea’s waves and the speaker’s thoughts.
b. It characterizes the sea’s waves as a relentless and enduring force.
studying tools unearthed at a cave site on the western coast of italy, archeologist Paola Villa and colleagues have determined that prehistoric Neanderthal groups fashioned them from shells of clams that they harvested from the seafloor while wading or diving or that washed up on the beach. Clamshells become thin and eroded as they wash up on the beach, while those on the seafloor are smooth and sturdy, so the research team suspects that Neanderthals prized the tools made with seafloor shells. However, the team also concluded that those tools were likely more challenging to obtain, noting that BLANK.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to support the research team’s conclusion?
a. At each depth below the surface in the cave, the difference in the numbers of tools suggests that the shells were easier to collect from the beach than to harvest from the seafloor.
b. The highest number of tools were at a depth of 3-4 meters below the surface, which suggests that the Neanderthal population at the site was highest during the related period of time
c. At each depth below the surface in the cave, the difference in the numbers of tools of each type suggests that Neanderthals preferred to use clamshells from the beach because of their durability
d. The higher number of tools at depths of 5-6 meters below the surface in the cave than at depths of 4-5 meters suggests that the size of clam populations changed over time.
a. At each depth below the surface in the cave, the difference in the numbers of tools suggests that the shells were easier to collect from the beach than to harvest from the seafloor.
While many video game creators strive to make their graphics ever more BLANK others look to the past, developing titles with visuals inspired by the “8-bit” games of the 1980s and 1990s. (The term “8-bit” refers to a console whose processor could only handle eight bits of data at once.)
Which choice best completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard english?
a. lifelike but
b. lifelike
c. lifelike,
d. lifelike, but
c. lifelike,
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• The Gullah are a group of African Americans who have lived in parts of the southeastern United
States since the 18th century.
• Gullah culture is influenced by West African and Central African traditions.
• Louise Miller Cohen is a Gullah historian, storyteller, and preservationist.
• She founded the Gullah Museum of Hilton Head
Island, South Carolina, in 2003.
• Vermelle Rodrigues is a Gullah historian, artist, and preservationist.
• She founded the Gullah Museum of Georgetown, South Carolina, in 2003.
The student wants to emphasize the duration and purpose of Cohen's and Rodrigues's work. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
a. At the Gullah Museums in Hilton Head Island and Georgetown, South Carolina, visitors can learn more about the Gullah people who have lived in the region for centuries.
b. Louise Miller Cohen and Vermelle Rodrigues have worked to preserve the culture of the Gullah people, who have lived in the United States since the 18th century.
c. Since 2003, Louise Miller Cohen and Vermelle Rodrigues have worked to preserve Gullah culture through their museums.
d. Influenced by the traditions of West and Central Africa, Gullah culture developed in parts of the southeastern United States in the 18th century.
c. Since 2003, Louise Miller Cohen and Vermelle Rodrigues have worked to preserve Gullah culture through their museums.
Political blogs with the conspicuous ideology alignments became an integral component of US media in the early 2000s. While some commentators lauded this development, asserting that such blogs had a welcome transparency missing from traditional news, less BLANK observers countered that such blogs tended to ideological extremes that exacerbated political polarization to problematic levels.
a. Sanguine
b. Recalcitrant
c. Misanthropic
d. Earnest
a. Sanguine
Believing that living in an impractical space can heighten awareness and even improve health, conceptual artists Madeline Gins and Shusaku Arakawa designed an apartment building in Japan to be more fanciful than functional. A kitchen counter is chest-high on one side and knee-high on the other; a ceiling has a door to nowhere. The effect is disorienting but invigorating: after four years there, filmmaker Nobu Yamaoka reported significant health benefits.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
a. Although inhabiting a home surrounded by fanciful features such as those designed by Gins and Arakawa can be rejuvenating, it is unsustainable.
b. Designing disorienting spaces like those in the Gins and Arakawa building is the most effective way to create a physically stimulating environment.
c. As a filmmaker, Yamaoka has long supported the designs of conceptual artists such as Gins and Arakawa.
d. Although impractical, the design of the apartment building by Gins and Arakawa may improve the well-being of the building’s residents.
d. Although impractical, the design of the apartment building by Gins and Arakawa may improve the well-being of the building’s residents.
Perovskite solar cells convert light into electricity more efficiently than earlier kinds of solar cells, and manufacturing advances have recently made them commercially attractive. One limitation of the cells, however, has to do with their electron transport layer (ETL), through which absorbed electrons must pass. Often the ETL is applied though a process called spin coating, but such ETL’s are fairly inefficient at converting input power into output power. Andre Taylor and colleagues tested a novel spray coating method for applying the ETL. The team produced ETLs of various thickness and concluded that spray coating holds promise for improving the power conversion efficiency of ETLs in perovskite solar cells.
Which choice best describes data from the graph that support Taylor and colleagues’ conclusion?
a. Both the ETL applied through spin coating and the ETL apple through spray coating showed a power conversion efficiency greater than 10% at their lowest performing thickness.
b. The lowest performing ETL applied through spray coating has a higher power conversion efficiency than the highest performing ETL applied through spin coating.
c. The highest performing ETL applied through spray coating showed a power conversion efficiency of approximately 13% while the highest performing ETL applied through spin coating showed a power conversion efficiency of approximately 11%
d. There was a substantial difference in power conversion efficiency between the lowest and highest performing ETLs applied through spray coating.
b. The lowest performing ETL applied through spray coating has a higher power conversion efficiency than the highest performing ETL applied through spin coating.
Food and the sensation of taste are central to Monique Truong’s novels. In The Book of Salt, for example, the exiled character of Binh connects to his native Saigon through the food he prepares, while in Bitter in the Mouth, the character of Linda BLANK a form of synthesis whereby the words she hears evoke tastes.
Which choice completes the text is that it conforms to the conventions of standard English?
a. experienced
b. had experienced
c. experiences
d. will be experiencing
c. experiences
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• Started in 1925, the Scripps National Spelling Bee is a US-based spelling competition.
• The words used in the competition have diverse linguistic origins.
• In 2008, Sameer Mishra won by correctly spelling the word"
"guerdon."
• "Guerdon" derives from the Anglo-French word
"guerdun."
• In 2009, Kavya Shivashankar won by correctly spelling the word "Laodicean."
• "Laodicean" derives from the ancient Greek word
"Laodikeia."
The student wants to emphasize a difference in the origins of the two words. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
a. "Guerdon," the final word of the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee, is of Anglo-French origin, while the following year’s final word, "Laodicean," derives from ancient Greek.
b. In 2008, Sameer Mishra won the Scripps National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling the word "guerdon"; however, the following year, Kavya Shivashankar won based on spelling the word "Iaodicoan."
c. Kavya Shivashankar won the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling "Laodicean," which derives from the ancient Greek word "Laodíkeia
d. The Scripps National Spelling Bee uses words from diverse linguistic origins, such as "guerdon" and "Laodicean.'"
a. "Guerdon," the final word of the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee, is of Anglo-French origin, while the following year’s final word, "Laodicean," derives from ancient Greek.
The province of Xoconochco was situated on the Pacific coast, hundreds of kilometers southeast of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. Because Xoconochco’s location within the empire was so BLANK, cacao and other trade goods produced there could only reach the capital only after a long overland journey.
a. Unobtrusive
b. Concealed
c. Approximate
d. Peripheral
d. Peripheral
The following text is adapted from Lewis Carroll’s 1889 satirical novel Slyvie and Bruno. A crowd has gathered outside a room belonging to the Warden, an official who reports to the Lord Chancellor.
One man, who was more excited than the rest, flung his hat high into the air, and shouted (as well as I could make out) “Who roar for the Sub-Warden?” Everybody roared, but whether it was for the Sub-Warden, or not, did not clearly appear: some were shouting “Bread!” and some “Taxes!”, but no one seemed to know what it was they really wanted.
All this I saw from the open window of the Wardens breakfast-saloon, looking across the shoulder of the Lord Chancellor.
“What can it all mean?” he kept repeating to himself. “I never heard such men shouting before-and at this time of the morning too! And with such unanimity!”
Based on the text, how does the Lord Chancellor respond to the crowd?
a. He asks about the meaning of the crowd shouting, even though he claims to know what the crowd wants
b. He indicates a desire to speak to the crowd, even though the crowd had asked to speak to the Sub-Warden
c. He expresses sympathy for the crowd's demands, even though the crowd's shouting annoys him.
d. He describes the crowd as being united, even though the crowd appears otherwise.
d. He describes the crowd as being united, even though the crowd appears otherwise.
In a study of the evolution of DptA and DptB-Dipericin genes encoding antimicrobial peptides that combat pathogens and foster beneficial microbes in fruit flies (Drosophila)-researchers assessed Drosophila melanogaster resistance to pathogenic infections by Providence rettgeri and Acetobacter sicerae, bacteria common in the flies’ environments. Subjects included flies identified by mutations silencing DptA, DptB, or both BptA and DptB (termed types A, B, and AB respectively). In conjunction with the observation that resistance to P. rettgeri correlates with DptA activity but is not significantly affected by DptB activity, data in the graph of survival rates post-A. Sicerae infection suggests that BLANK.
Which completion of the text is best supported by data in the graph?
a. DptA confers defense against A. sicerae regardless of the presence of DptB.
b. DptB protects against only one bacteria species, whereas DptA protects against multiple species.
c. DptB may have developed as a specific defense against A. sicerae.
d. Defense against A. sicerae is strongest when both DptA and DptB are present.
c. DptB may have developed as a specific defense against A. sicerae.
Along with carbon dioxide concentration and temperature, light intensity affects the chemical reaction rate of BLANK as light intensity increases, so does the rate at which the reactants (water and carbon dioxide) are converted into their products (glucose and oxygen).
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of standard english?
a. photosynthesis and
b. photosynthesis,
c. photosynthesis:
d. photosynthesis
c. photosynthesis:
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• In 1851, German American artist Emanuel Leutze painted Washington Crossing the Delaware.
• His huge painting (149 x 255 inches) depicts the first US president crossing a river with soldiers in the Revolutionary War.
• In 2019, Cree artist Kent Monkman painted mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People): Resurgence of the People.
• Monkman's huge painting (132 x 264 inches) was inspired by Leutze's.
• It portrays Indigenous people in a boat rescuing refugees.
The student wants to emphasize a similarity between the two paintings. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
a. Monkman, a Cree artist, finished his painting in 2019; Leutze, a German American artist, completed his in 1851.
b. Although Monkman's painting was inspired by Leutze's, the people and actions the two paintings portray are very different.
c. Leutze's and Monkman's paintings are both huge, measuring 149 x 255 inches and 132 x 264 inches, respectively.
d. Leutze's painting depicts Revolutionary War soldiers, while Monkman's depicts Indigenous
c. Leutze's and Monkman's paintings are both huge, measuring 149 x 255 inches and 132 x 264 inches, respectively.