Vocab
Researchers have struggled to pinpoint specific causes for hiccups, which happen when a person’s diaphragm contracts _____. However, neuroscientist Kimberley Whitehead has found that these uncontrollable contractions may play an important role in helping infants regulate their breathing.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
a) involuntarily
b) beneficially
c) strenuously
d) smoothly
a) involuntarily
For the first time, scientists have demonstrated the possibility of artificial photosynthesis. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have designed artificial leaves, light and thin enough to float on water, that convert sunlight to fuel, just as plants do via photosynthesis. If successful, the scientists hope to deploy the artificial leaves in sufficient numbers to reduce maritime shipping's dependence on fossil fuels.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
a) Only green plants are able to convert sunlight to usable energy.
b) Floating artificial leaves can only be used in maritime applications.
c) Innovative technology may become available that will replace some fossil fuels.
d) Artificial leaves will soon enable maritime shipping to operate more efficiently.
c) Innovative technology may become available that will replace some fossil fuels.
Text 1
Most animals can regenerate some parts of their bodies, such as skin. But when a three-banded panther worm is cut into three pieces, each piece grows into a new worm. Researchers are investigating this feat partly to learn more about humans’ comparatively limited abilities to regenerate, and they’re making exciting progress. An especially promising discovery is that both humans and panther worms have a gene for early growth response (EGR) linked to regeneration.
Text 2
When Mansi Srivastava and her team reported that panther worms, like humans, possess a gene for EGR, it caused excitement. However, as the team pointed out, the gene likely functions very differently in humans than it does in panther worms. Srivastava has likened EGR to a switch that activates other genes involved in regeneration in panther worms, but how this switch operates in humans remains unclear.
Based on the texts, what would the author of Text 2 most likely say about Text 1’s characterization of the discovery involving EGR?
a) It is reasonable given that Srivastava and her team have identified how EGR functions in both humans and panther worms.
b) It is overly optimistic given additional observations from Srivastava and her team.
c) It is unexpected given that Srivastava and her team’s findings were generally met with enthusiasm.
d) It is unfairly dismissive given the progress that Srivastava and her team have reported.
b) It is overly optimistic given additional observations from Srivastava and her team.
Sean Sherman is a member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux and an award-winning chef. Realizing that indigenous American foods were completely missing from his professional training, Chef Sherman established North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS) to not only reclaim traditional ingredients and food preparation methods but also to empower Native Americans to improve _____ lives through food-related businesses.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
a) their
b) there
c) they're
d) these
a) their
At two weeks old, the time their critical socialization period begins, wolves can smell but cannot yet see or hear. Domesticated dogs, _____ can see, hear, and smell by the end of two weeks. This relative lack of sensory input may help explain why wolves behave so differently around humans than dogs do: from a very young age, wolves are more wary and less exploratory.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
a) in other words,
b) for instance,
c) by contrast,
d) accordingly,
c) by contrast,
Following the principles of community-based participatory research, tribal nations and research institutions are equal partners in health studies conducted on reservations. A collaboration between the Crow Tribe and Montana State University _____ this model: tribal citizens worked alongside scientists to design the methodology and continue to assist in data collection.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
a) circumvents
b) eclipses
c) fabricates
d) exemplifies
d) exemplifies
The following text is adapted from George Eliot's 1871 novel Middlemarch.
It was hardly a year since they had come to live at Tipton Grange with their uncle, a man nearly sixty, of acquiescent temper, miscellaneous opinions, and uncertain vote. He had traveled inhis younger years, and was held in this part of the county to have contracted a too rambling habit of mind. Mr. Brooke's conclusions were as difficult to predict as the weather: it was only safe to say that he would act with benevolent intentions, and that he would spend as little money as possible in carrying them out.
According to the text, what is true about Mr. Brooke?
a) Others are unable to anticipate what choices he will make.
b) He becomes angry and agitated for minor reasons.
c) Others assume that he will usually act in his own self-interest.
d) He has only lived at Tipton Grange for about a year.
a) Others are unable to anticipate what choices he will make.
A study by a team including finance professor Madhu Veeraraghavan suggests that exposure to sunshine during the workday can lead to overly optimistic behavior. Using data spanning from 1994 to 2010 for a set of US companies, the team compared over 29,000 annual earnings forecasts actual later reported by those companies. The team found that the greater the exposure to sunshine at work in the two weeks before a manager submitted an earnings forecast, the more the manager’s forecast exceeded what the company actually earned that year.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?
a) To summarize the results of the team’s analysis
b) To present a specific example that illustrates the study’s findings
c) To explain part of the methodology used in the team’s study
d) To call out a challenge the team faced in conducting its analysis
c) To explain part of the methodology used in the team’s study
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota is on land considered sacred by many sovereign nations, including the Sioux Nation, which had been promised the territory in perpetuity by the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. Less than a decade after the treaty had been signed, the discovery of gold brought settlers and prospectors who _____ to force the indigenous people from their land. This led to the 1876 Black Hills War, during which the Lakota Sioux and their allies defended their land rights against the U.S. government. Despite the victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn, the allied nations lost the war and the treaty was broken.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
a) have attempted
b) had attempted
c) attempt
d) attempted
d) attempted
In November 1934, Amrita Sher-Gil was living in what must have seemed like the ideal city for a young artist: Paris. She was studying firsthand the color-saturated style of France’s modernist masters and beginning to make a name for herself as a painter. _____ Sher-Gil longed to return to her childhood home of India; only there, she believed, could her art truly flourish.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
a) Still,
b) Therefore,
c) Indeed,
d) Furthermore,
a) Still,
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 _____, cacao and other trade goods produced there could reach the capital only after a long overland journey.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
a) unobtrusive
b) concealed
c) approximate
d) peripheral
d) peripheral
The drive to share scary stories is common across human history, with all cultures having their own share of folklore dealing with ghosts, monsters, and fiends. The modern internet is no different. Creepypastas are a type of internet folklore that focuses on horror, with topics ranging from incomprehensible supernatural beings to liminal space. In contrast to the elaborate single-author horror novels of the twentieth century, creepypastas _____.
Which choice most logically completes the text?
a) focus on scares that appeal to the modern youth, such as liminal space, which is akin to endless hallways stretching out to an uncertain destination.
b) more closely resemble internet memes, with multiple creators offering their own spin on a simple core concept.
c) have more in common with the scary stories of previous generations, with their focus on ghosts and monsters.
d) avoid the use of monsters in favor of topics that focus on real-world horrors.
b) more closely resemble internet memes, with multiple creators offering their own spin on a simple core concept.
The following text is from Maggie Pogue Johnson’s 1910 poem “Poet of Our Race.” In this poem, the speaker is addressing Paul Laurence Dunbar, a Black author.
Thou, with stroke of mighty pen,
Hast told of joy and mirth,
And read the hearts and souls of men
As cradled from their birth.
The language of the flowers,
Thou has read them all,
And e'en the little brook
Responded to thy call.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
a) To praise a certain writer for being especially perceptive regarding people and nature
b) To establish that a certain writer has read extensively about a variety of topics
c) To call attention to a certain writer’s careful and elaborately detailed writing process
d) To recount fond memories of an afternoon spent in nature with a certain writer
a) To praise a certain writer for being especially perceptive regarding people and nature
Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean, has a complicated history influenced by several international ____ was first colonized by the Portuguese in 1511, followed by the Dutch, the French, and the British. In 1947, the citizens of the island nation began working toward independence, and formally adopted their constitution in May of 1968.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
a) powers, it
b) powers and it
c) powers; and it
d) powers—it
d) powers—it
Researchers Helena Mihaljević-Brandt, Lucía Santamaría, and Marco Tullney report that while mathematicians may have traditionally worked alone, evidence points to a shift in the opposite direction. _____ mathematicians are choosing to collaborate with their peers—a trend illustrated by a rise in the number of mathematics publications credited to multiple authors.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
a) Similarly,
b) For this reason,
c) Furthermore,
d) Increasingly,
d) Increasingly,
Paleontologist Jingmai O'Connor is an expert in Mesozoic bird phylogeny and the evolution of birds. By researching the development and diversification of extinct paravian biology, she hopes to discover the link between the dinosaur-bird _____.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
a) disconnection
b) transition
c) imitation
d) history
b) transition
"Birds of Passage" is an 1858 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In the poem, Longfellow compares poetry to the flight of birds, writing, _____.
Which quotation from "Birds of Passage" most effectively illustrates the claim?
a) "But the night is fair, / And everywhere / A warm, soft vapor fills the air, / And distant sounds seem near,"
b) "And above, in the light / Of the star-lit night, / Swift birds of passage wing their flight / Through the dewy atmosphere."
c) "O, say not so! / Those sounds that flow / In murmurs of delight and woe / Come not from wings of birds."
d) "They are the throngs / Of the poet's songs, / Murmurs of pleasures, and pains, and wrongs, / The sound of winged words."
d) "They are the throngs / Of the poet's songs, / Murmurs of pleasures, and pains, and wrongs, / The sound of winged words."
The following text is from H.G. Wells' 1898 novel The War of the Worlds.
No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea upon them as impossible or improbable. It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days. At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a missionary enterprise. Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
a) It elaborates on the danger posed by the Martians.
b) It establishes a contrast with the idea introduced in the preceding sentence.
c) It presents specific examples of what humans once thought about the Martians.
d) It sets up the specific beliefs presented in the next sentence.
d) It sets up the specific beliefs presented in the next sentence.
In 1943, in the midst of World War II, mathematics professor Grace Hopper was recruited by the US military to help the war effort by solving complex equations. Hopper’s subsequent career would involve more than just _____ as a pioneering computer programmer, Hopper would help usher in the digital age.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
a) equations, though:
b) equations, though,
c) equations. Though,
d) equations though
a) equations, though:
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Pterosaurs were flying reptiles that existed millions of years ago.
- In a 2021 study, Anusuya Chinsamy Turan analyzed fragments of pterosaur jawbones located in the Sahara Desert.
- She was initially unsure if the bones belonged to juvenile or adult pterosaurs.
- She used advanced microscope techniques to determine that the bones had few growth lines relative to the bones of fully grown pterosaurs.
- She concluded that the bones belonged to juveniles.
The student wants to present the study and its findings. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
a) In 2021, Chinsamy-Turan studied pterosaur jawbones and was initially unsure if the bones belonged to juveniles or adults.
b) Pterosaur jawbones located in the Sahara Desert were the focus of a 2021 study.
c) In a 2021 study, Chinsamy-Turan used advanced microscope techniques to analyze the jawbones of pterosaurs, flying reptiles that existed millions of years ago.
d) In a 2021 study, Chinsamy-Turan determined that pterosaur jawbones located in the Sahara Desert had few growth lines relative to the bones of fully grown pterosaurs and thus belonged to juveniles.
d) In a 2021 study, Chinsamy-Turan determined that pterosaur jawbones located in the Sahara Desert had few growth lines relative to the bones of fully grown pterosaurs and thus belonged to juveniles.
Composed of enzymes, peptides, and proteins with many toxic properties, snake venom must be _____, but recent medical research has demonstrated the potential therapeutic effects of snake venom as well, such as treatments for some forms of arthritis and cancer.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
a) feared
b) respected
c) exalted
d) disdained
b) respected
Many archaeologists will tell you that categorizing excavated fragments of pottery by style, period, and what objects they belong to relies not only on standard criteria, but also on instinct developed over years of practice. In a recent study, however, researchers trained a deep-learning computer model on thousands of images of pottery fragments and found that it could categorize them as accurately as a team of expert archaeologists. Some archaeologists have expressed concern that they might be replaced by such computer models, but the researchers claim that outcome is highly unlikely.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers’ claim?
a) In the researchers’ study, the model was able to categorize the pottery fragments much more quickly than the archaeologists could.
b) In the researchers’ study, neither the model nor the archaeologists were able to accurately categorize all the pottery fragments that were presented.
c) A survey of archaeologists showed that categorizing pottery fragments limits the amount of time they can dedicate to other important tasks that only human experts can do.
d) A survey of archaeologists showed that few of them received dedicated training in how to properly categorize pottery fragments.
c) A survey of archaeologists showed that categorizing pottery fragments limits the amount of time they can dedicate to other important tasks that only human experts can do.
The following text is from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1869 poem "The Building of the Ship." The poem describes the work of a master shipbuilder.
"Build me straight, O worthy Master!
Staunch and strong, a goodly vessel,
That shall laugh at all disaster,
And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!"
The merchant's word,
Delighted the Master heard;
For his heart was in his work, and the heart
Giveth grace unto every Art.
... And first with nicest skill and art,
Perfect and finished in every part,
A little model the Master wrought,
Which should be to the larger plan,
What the child is to the man,
Its counterpart in miniature;
That with a hand more swift and sure
The greater labor might be brought,
To answer to his inward thought.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
a) It establishes the Master's satisfaction at his charge to build a ship, and then explains why he will first construct a model.
b) It presents the words of the Master's speech about shipbuilding, and then puts forth the claim that the Master is especially skilled at his craft.
c) It emphasizes the Master's reluctance to agree to a new shipbuilding project, and then explains why he concedes to make a miniature ship.
d) It details the Master's entire process for shipbuilding, and then describes an alternative method used by shipbuilders in the past.
a) It establishes the Master's satisfaction at his charge to build a ship, and then explains why he will first construct a model.
Despite being cheap, versatile, and easy to produce, _____ they are made from nonrenewable petroleum, and most do not biodegrade in landfills.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
a) there are two problems associated with commercial plastics:
b) two problems are associated with commercial plastics:
c) commercial plastics’ two associated problems are that
d) commercial plastics have two associated problems:
d) commercial plastics have two associated problems:
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Extending over 2,180 miles from Mount Oglethorpe in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, the Appalachian Trail is a wilderness footpath that traverses the Appalachian Mountains.
- The Trail not only allows people to hike through spectacular natural scenery but also was instrumental in preserving extensive swathes of wilderness.
- Interest in developing the Trail eventually led to the 1964 Wilderness Act, which has protected 109.5 million acres of wilderness across 44 states.
- First championed by Benton MacKaye in 1921, his vision included three different kinds of communities: shelter for hikers, food and farm camps, and private homes.
- Every year, more than three million people visit the Trail, and about three thousand attempt to walk its full length.
The student wants to emphasize a difference between the original plan for the Appalachian Trail and the Trail today. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
a) The Appalachian Trail was established through the efforts of Benton MacKaye, who started in 1921.
b) Even though the Appalachian Trail extends over 2,180 miles, about three thousand people attempt to walk its full length every year.
c) The Appalachian Trail is a wilderness hiking path, but Benton MacKat, who first envisioned the Trail, hoped it would include a variety of support communities.
d) While the Appalachian Trail makes it possible for hikers to enjoy the wilderness, it also spurred the preservation of millions of acres
c) The Appalachian Trail is a wilderness hiking path, but Benton MacKay, who first envisioned the Trail, hoped it would include a variety of support communities.