EVIDENCE-BASED

READING WRITING

TEST 1
MODULE 1
 TEST 1 - MODULE 1

Reading Writing Question 1

Pharmaceutical science and chemistry Which choice completes the text with
built on the _____foundations and the most logical and precise word or
perfected the extraction, phrase?
characterization, modification, and A) basic
testing of these natural products. Then, B) ancient
for a while, modern pharmaceutical C) fundamental
science moved its focus away from D) concentrated
nature and into the laboratory,
designing chemical compounds from
scratch.

Reading Writing Question 2

Plant diversity was the foundation

upon which the ancient Mayan
civilization was built. Growing beans,
maize, and squash together created
healthier crops and dark, fertile earth, Which choice completes the text with
and enabled successive generations to the most logical and precise word or
rotate crops through the same plots phrase?
without depleting the soil. Alexandre A) assisted
Jousset, from the Georg August B) protected
University in Gottingen, Germany was C) tended
captivated with the Jena Experiment – D) repaired
a series of biodiverse grassland plots in
Germany that have been continuously
________since 2002, allowing
researchers to study the impacts of
species richness and diversity on soil
fertility.
Reading Writing Question 3
Play is pleasurable: Children must
enjoy the activity or it is not play. It is
_______motivated: Children engage in
play simply for the satisfaction the
behavior itself brings. It has no
extrinsically motivated function or
goal. Play is process oriented: When
children play, the means are more
important than the ends. It is freely
chosen, spontaneous, and voluntary.
Reading Writing Question 4
This text is adapted from Clay Shirky, Here
Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing
without Organizations. @2008. The author is
discussing websites such as Wikipedia and
Flickr to which users contribute content.
There are two big surprises here in
users’ content contribution. The first is
that the imbalance is the same shape
across a huge number of different
kinds of behaviors. The second
surprise is that the imbalance drives
large social systems rather than
damaging them, which is supported in
a study by Sociologist Daniel Fireman
when he stated that _________
Which choice completes the text with
the most logical and precise word or
phrase?
A) strongly
B) spontaneously
C) inherently
D) essentially
Which choice most logically completes the
text?
A) fewer than two percent of
Wikipedia users ever contribute,
yet that is enough to create
profound value for millions of
users.
B) bloggers, Wikipedia contributors,
photographers, people conversing
on mailing lists, and social
participation in many other large-
scale systems all exhibit a similar
pattern.
C) the general form of a power law
distribution appears in a social
setting when some set of items is
ranked by frequency of occurrence.
D) the spontaneous division of labor
driving Wikipedia wouldn’t be
possible if there were a concern for
reducing equality.
Reading Writing Question 5
Many believe that lullabies,
characterized by their less steady beat,
contain some acoustic features that are
universally calming to infants. In a
study, Constance M Cambridge and
colleagues played both a lullaby sung
in the Western Nahuatl language and a
non-lullaby sung in the Serbian
language to a group of infants. The
researchers also measured the infants’
heart rates, as a reduced heart rate is
considered a measure of relaxation.
They claim that the lullaby did indeed
relax the infants.
Which finding, if true, would most
directly support the researchers’
claim?
A) The heart rates of infants in the
study were more irregular during the
lullabies than during non-lullabies.
B) Parents of infants in the study
chose the lullaby over the non-lullaby
when asked which song they would
use to calm their child.
C) Infants’ heart rates were
substantially lower during the lullaby
than during the non-lullaby.
D) Both the song in Western
Nahuatl and the song in Serbian were
sung by a female singer.
Reading Writing Question 6
The contest of opinion, the election,
being now decided by the voice of the
nation, announced according to the
rules of the Constitution, all will, of
course, arrange themselves under the
will of the law, and unite in common
efforts for the common good. All, too,
will bear in mind this sacred principle,
that though the will of the majority is
in all cases to prevail, that will to be
rightful must be reasonable; that the
minority possess their equal rights,
which equal law must protect, and to
violate would be oppression.
Which choice best states the main
argument of the text?
A) An argument for the universal value
of democracy.
B) An argument for the adoption of
new Constitutional rights.
C) An argument against the tyranny of
the majority.
D) An argument against the
abandonment of religious
principles.
Reading Writing Question 7

Now we have fixed the speed of light

in a vacuum, c, at exactly 299,792,458
kilometers per second. But in the field
of gravity, Nobel Laureate Paul Dirac
raised the possibility that G, gravity,
might vary over time. Was he right?
Probably not. Observations of
astronomical bodies under gravity do
not show this variation, and so far
Which choice best uses the data to complete
there is no sign that G varies in space.
the text?
Similarly, there seems to be no credible
evidence that the speed of light varies
A) quantum fluctuations in a vacuum.
in space or time. The modern scientists
B) changes in the speed of light over
reinforced this claim in another study
time.
by researching the History of
C) increased experimental precision
Experimental Estimates of the Speed of
over time.
Light, in which they attributed the
D) the wave-like behavior of light.
variation in these values as ________
Reading Writing Question 8
“What Kind of Times Are These” by
Adrienne Rich responds to the 1939
poem “To Those Who Follow in Our
Wake” by Berthold Brecht, who relays
his fear that writing about nature and
beauty – the things that normally
move poets – was irresponsible in a
time of great suffering. Writing under
the Nazi regime, Brecht felt that poets
had a duty to speak out against this
violence, not hide away in poems
about nature. Lamenting the state of
the world, he wrote, “________.”
Which choice best reinforces the idea
shown in the previous sentence?
A) “Truly, I live in dark times!/ An
artless word is foolish./ A smooth
forehead/ Points to insensitivity./
B) “What times are these, in which/ A
conversation about trees is almost a
crime/ For in doing so we maintain
our silence about so much
wrongdoing!/”
C) “It is true: I work for a living/ But,
believe me, that is a coincidence.
Nothing/ That I do gives me the
right to eat my fill.”
D) “They tell me: eat and drink. Be glad
to be among the haves!/ But how
can I eat and drink/ when I take
what I eat from the starving/ And
those who thirst do not have my
glass of water? And yet I eat and
drink.”
Reading Writing Question 9
It took just an instant to spot three
people reading the paper, his paper,
and he thought that all three would
soon pass or had already passed their
eyes over the letters of his name in
print and then his signature, that clear
uppercase letter that soon deteriorated
into a chaos of curves and ended up
disintegrating into a corner. Everyone
knew the space where his cartoon had
always been: it was the first thing
anyone’s eyes saw when they reached
those pages, in the very centre of the
first page of opinion columns, that
mythic place where Colombians go to
hate their public figures or find out
why they love them.
Which choice best states the function
of the underlined portion as a whole?
A) To imply that the newspaper’s
editorial staff underestimates its
popularity with its readers.
B) To suggest that the newspaper’s
editorial section is prominent in the
national consciousness.
C) To indicate that editorials in the
newspaper are generally written
under assumed names.
D) To emphasize that editorials in the
newspaper are more interesting
than they used to be.
Reading Writing Question 10
Across two experiments, psychological
scientists M. Mahdi Roghanizad and
Vanessa Bohns found that people tend
to overestimate the persuasiveness of
requests sent over by email while also
underestimating the effectiveness of
requests made in person. In the first
experiment, 45 college students were
each assigned to ask 10 strangers to fill
out a short personality survey. Half of
the requesters were assigned to a face-
to-face condition, approaching 10
unknown students on a college
campus, while the other requesters
sent emails to strangers chosen out of
the university’s directory. Before they
got started, requesters were asked how
many people they thought they could
get to fill out the survey. In both
conditions, requesters used the same
script to make the request.
According to the text, what is true about the
experiment’s design?
A) It was to avoid the possibility that some
requesters would be more comfortable
working with strangers than other
requesters would.
B) It was to avoid the possibility that some
requesters would be better able to assess
the approachability of the strangers they
selected than other requesters would be.
C) It was to avoid the possibility that the
requesters in one condition would be more
socially diverse than the requesters in the
other condition would be.
D) It was to avoid the possibility that the
requesters in one condition would be able
to create a more convincing request than
the requesters in the other condition
would.
Reading Writing Question 11
Considered one of the most significant
examples of Romantic poetry, “I
Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” explores
the relationship between nature and
humanity. In doing so, it makes two
key points. Firstly, it argues that
humanity is not separate from nature,
but rather part of it. And secondly, it
suggests that the natural world – and a
strong bond with it – is essential to
human happiness. In this poem,
daffodils, bright yellow flowers that
herald the beginning of spring in
Britain, are the central focus of the
poem.
Which choice best illustrates the latter
point of this view?
A) “I wandered lonely as a cloud/
That floats on high o’er vales and
hills/ When all at once I saw a
crowd, A host, of golden daffodils”
B) “Continuous as the stars that
shine/ And twinkle on the milky
way,/ They stretched in never-
ending line/ Along the margin of a
bay:”
C) “A poet could not but be gay,/ In
such a jocund company:/ I gazed –
and gazed – but little thought/
What wealth the show to me had
brought:”
D) “They flash upon that inward eye/
Which is the bliss of solitude;/ And
then my heart with pleasure fills,/
And dances with the daffodils.”
Reading Writing Question 12
Nearly a century ago, scientists first
noticed that the water in the traps of
some pitcher plant species had
unusually low surface tension. This
means an insect that’s used to safely
tiptoeing across puddles suddenly
finds itself drowning inside a pitcher
plant. But the reason for this extra-
deadly water wasn’t clear. In 2007,
Laurence Gaume and Yoel Forterre of
France’s CNRS (French National
Centre for Scientific Research) studied
the liquid of the pitcher plant
Nepenthes rafflesiana and found that it
has so-called viscoelastic properties.
This means “the power of gluing
insects,” Gaume explains, and of
forming watery filaments that cling to
a struggling bug.
Which statement about the fluid of N.
rafflesiana pitcher plants is supported
by information from the graph and as
shown in the text?
A) Its surface tension is similar to
that of the fluid of California
pitcher plants.
B) It has been shown to capture
insects even when it is mixed
with relatively large amounts of
water.
C) It contains the same bacteria as
the fluid of California pitcher
plants.
D) It has been found to have
properties that make escape
difficult for insects.
Reading Writing Question 13

Both texts address the same case:

Schwimmer, a Hungarian refugee, was
denied US citizenship for refusing to
promise to bear arms in the country’s
defense.
Text 1
Whatever tends to lessen the willingness
of citizens to discharge their duty to bear
arms in the country’s defense detracts
from the strength and safety of the
government. The influence of
conscientious objectors against the use of
military force in defense of the principles
of our government is apt to be more
detrimental than their mere refusal to
bear arms. The fact that, by reason of sex,
age or other cause, they may be unfit to
serve does not lessen their purpose or
power to influence others.
Which choice best states how Text 1
responds to underlined portion in Text 2?
A) He states that future law may make it
possible for women to bear arms in
the country’s defense.
B) He illustrates that a person of any age
or sex has the right to offer opinions
about the military.
C) He emphasizes that Schwimmer is
capable of persuading others to adopt
her opinions.
D) Schwimmer’s opposition to the use of
defensive military force is
unconstitutional.

Text 2
The applicant seems to be a woman of
superior character and intelligence,
obviously more than ordinarily desirable
as a citizen of the United States. The
views referred to are an extreme opinion
in favor of pacifism and a statement that
she would not bear arms to defend the
Constitution. So far as the adequacy of
her oath is concerned I hardly can see
how that is affected by the statement,
inasmuch as she is a woman over fifty
years of age, and would not be allowed to
bear arms if she wanted to.
Reading Writing Question 14
Eden Robinson is a novelist and a
member of the Haisla Nation in
Western Canada. Critics and fellow
writers have praised her work for
combining traditional Haisla stories
with popular genres of literature, such
as fantasy and mystery fiction. But
Robinson is not the only Indigenous
writer to blend traditional stories with
popular literature. In the 2019 novel
Empire of Wild, Cherie Dimaline
successfully blended the oral
storytelling tradition of her people, the
Metis, with horror fiction.
Which choice best states the main
purpose of the text?
A) To discuss two writers who blend
traditional Indigenous stories with
popular genres.
B) To urge younger Indigenous
authors to avoid writing in popular
genres.
C) To argue that traditional
Indigenous writers are more
memorable than most novels are.
D) To explain why one Indigenous
author has achieved more success
than another has.
Reading Writing Question 15
In a 2012 study in the United States, Michael
E. Berndt and Travis K. Bavin found a
positive association between levels of
dissolved organic carbon and mercury in
bodies of fresh water. Many other studies
have yielded similar results, suggesting to
some scientists that this association is true
for all bodies of fresh water. But much of
the research has been conducted at broadly
similar sites in North America, and when
Seam Noh and colleagues examined bodies
of fresh water in South Korea, they found a
negative association between dissolved
organic carbon levels and mercury levels. If
similar findings emerge from other
locations outside North America, that could
suggest that ______________
Which choice most logically completes the
text?
A) the mercury levels reported in Noh and
colleagues’ study were much higher
than those reported in the study by
Berndt and Bavin even though the
dissolved organic carbon levels reported
in the two studies were approximately
the same.
B) Berndt and Bavin may have
inadvertenly measured a different
characteristic of bodies of fresh water
than their levels of dissolved organic
carbon and mercury.
C) the relationship between dissolved
organic carbon and mercury reported by
Berndt and Bavin reflects conditions that
are characteristics of certain kinds of
ecosystems in North America rather
than universal condition.
D) most of the studies conducted in North
America have measured dissolved
organic carbon and mercury levels at a
higher level of precision than was the
case in Noh and colleagues’ study.
Reading Writing Question 16
When students enroll into college, they
are faced with the weighty decision to
settle on a major that will thereafter
dictate the course of their education
and its curriculum. According to the
US Department of Education, about
one third of students changed their
majors within the first couple years of
enrollment. Specifically, 35% of
students who pursued a STEM-related
major (Science, Technology,
Engineering, or Mathematics) changed
within three years, though this
percentage increased to 52% of
students if they specialized in Math.
Comparatively, 29% of students with a
non-STEM major switched within the
first few years. These findings suggest
that ___________
Which choice most logically completes
the text?
A) students who change majors are
significantly less likely to graduate
on time.
B) students should not decide on a
major until their junior year, since
they are likely to change degrees
within the first couple of years.
C) students obtaining a degree in
education are less likely to change
their major than those obtaining a
degree in science.
D) the majority of students change
their major at least once before
starting their junior year.
Reading Writing Question 17

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• Titanic is a British luxury passenger liner that sank in 1912 during its first
maiden voyage.
• Titanic “disaster” is one of the most famous tragedies in modern history.
• It inspires numerous stories, several films and musicals.
• Titanic in 1997 is the classic of the film industry describing this tragedy.
• Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were the main actor and actress in the
Titanic (1997).

The student wants to introduce the Titanic (1997) film to an audience who is familiar
with the sinking of Titanic. Which choice best accomplishes the goal?

A) Titanic is a British luxury passenger liner that sank in 1912, which inspires The
Titanic (1997) film, performed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
B) The Titanic film, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, inspired by
Titanic Sink in 1912, is a classic of the film disaster industry.
C) Titanic Disaster is one of the most famous tragedies in modern history, which
inspires The Titanic (1997) film.
D) Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were the main actor and actress in The
Titanic (1997).
Reading Writing Question 18

Interacting with animals, particularly dogs, is known to help people cope with ____
the prefrontal cortex helps individuals regulate and process social and emotional
interactions, neuroscientists believe that it might be particularly relevant to their
research.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard
English?
A) stress, because
B) stress: because
C) stress because
D) stress because –

Reading Writing Question 19

In the future, companies may develop hybrid models, listing excess capacity
(whether vehicles, equipment, or office space) on peer-to-peer rental sites. In the past,
new ways of doing things online have not displaced the old ways entirely. However,
they have often changed _____. Just as internet shopping forced Walmart and Tesco
to adapt, so only sharing will shake up transport, tourism, equipment-hire and more.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard
English?
A) it
B) them
C) themselves
D) him
Reading Writing Question 20

Broadly speaking, enjoyment smiles are characterized by the engagement of two

specific facial muscles: the zygomaticus major, which raises the mouth’s corners, and
the orbicularis oculi, which raises the cheeks, narrows the eye aperture, and produces
wrinkles around the eyes. These enjoyment smiles are called Duchenne, named after
the French __________who first studied the physiology of smiles in the 1860s.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard
English?
A) Anatomist G.B. Duchenne,
B) Anatomist; G.B. Duchenne,
C) Anatomist G.B. Duchene,
D) Anatomist G.B. Duchenne

Reading Writing Question 21

Sixty small paintings on boards were the centerpiece of the 2015 exhibit One Way
Ticket: Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series at New York’s Museum of Modern Art
(MoMA). Lawrence completed the paintings, which he called panels, in 1941. They
feature strong, bold lines; simple, somewhat abstract recurring _________ vibrant
primary colors.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard
English?
A) forms; and a limited palette’s of
B) form, and a limited palette of
C) form; and a limited palette of
D) form. And a limited palette of
Reading Writing Question 22

The Human Genome Project (HGP), an international scientific effort from 1990 to
2003, decoded the complete sequence of DNA base pairs and genes in the human
genome, and made this information available for further biological study. This new
knowledge has already produced significant medical breakthroughs, and further
applications are bounded only by ________imaginations.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard
English?
A) the limits’ of scientists’
B) the limits of scientist’s
C) the limits of scientists’
D) the limits of a scientists’

Reading Writing Question 23

Given today’s competitive job market, many students in the United Sates worry that
they lack the skills needed to gain entry into a rewarding ________ the vast majority
of these young people already possess one attribute that is in demand around the
world: fluency in the English language. Millions, possibly even billions, people
around the world would like to learn English or improve their ability to speak, read,
or writing the language – and who better to teach this difficult subject than a native
speaker?

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
A) profession, however,
B) profession; however,
C) prefession, however;
D) profession; however;
Reading Writing Question 24

Note the sharp drop-off in the number of photos between the top few contributors
and most of the participants. Notice too that because of the disproportionate
contributions of these few photographers, three-quarters of the photographers
contributed a below-average number of pictures. This pattern is general to social
media: on mailing lists with more than a couple dozen participants, the most active
writer is generally much more active than _______ in the number-two slot, and far
more active than average.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard
English?
A) people
B) that of the person
C) the person
D) the person’s

Reading Writing Question 25

You just got assigned a new project at work and you need to wrangle some help from
the rest of your team. ______ it may be tempting to send out a mass email asking for
volunteers, new research suggests you’re much more likely to enlist help by actually
asking people face-to-face.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
A) While
B) Because
C) However,
D) Therefore,
Reading Writing Question 26

In 1904, the musician James Reese Europe moved from Washington, DC, where he
had studied under concert violinist Joseph Douglass, to New York City. Seeking
opportunities for himself and fellow jazz musicians to perform for a wider audience,
Europe helped found the Clef Club in 1910. This organization for African American
musicians provided rehearsal space, booked venues for concerts, and crucially
formed a jazz orchestra of more than one hundred members with Europe as ____
conductor.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard
English?
A) it’s
B) there
C) they’re
D) its

Reading Writing Question 27

Changes in temperature can significantly disrupt the layer. The researchers

demonstrated this using a small greenhouse with a roof that automatically opens
when it __________ the greenhouse to create a subnivium while remaining several
degrees warmer than the ambient environment. The research found that, finally,
subnivean temperatures inside the greenhouse were actually lower than those
outside.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard
English?
A) snows. Allowing
B) snows, allowing
C) snows, this allowed
D) snows; and allowing