MODULE 1

1. In a recent study, Stanford political economist Neil Malhotra and two of his graduate
students examined every study since 2002 that was funded by a competitive grants
program called TESS (Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences). TESS allows
scientists to order up Internet-based surveys of a representative sample of US adults to
test a particular hypothesis (for example, whether voters tend to favor legislators who
boast of bringing federal 25 dollars to their districts over those who tout a focus on policy
matters).
According to the text, what does “allows” mean?
A. admits.

B. tolerates.

C. grants.

D. enables.

2. The statistical strength of a findings made a huge difference in whether they were ever
published. Overall, 42% of the experiments produced statistically significant results.
According to the text, what does “strength” mean?
A. attribution.

B. exertion.

C. toughness.

D. significance.

3. The unusual behavior highlights that different forces rule the nanoworld, says theoretical
physicist Krzysztof Kempa of Boston College. "Forget about gravity. It plays no role," he
says. Surface tension and electrostatic forces are much more important at this scale.
According to the text, what does “rule” mean?
A. mark.

B. control.

C. declare.

D. restrain.

4. The initial attraction between the tip and salt might be due to electrostatic forces,
perhaps good old van der Waals interactions, the researchers speculate. Several
mechanisms might lead to the elasticity, including the excessive surface tension found in
 the nanoworld (the same tension that allows a water strider to skim the surface of a
pond).
According to the text, what does “lead to” mean?

A. guide to.

B. result in.

C. point toward.

D. start with

5. But has it been so with this element of slavery? Have we not always had quarrels and
difficulties over it? And when will we cease to have quarrels over it? Like causes
produce like effects. It is worthwhile to observe that we have generally had comparative
peace upon the slavery question, and that there has been no cause for alarm until it was
excited by the effort to spread it into new territory.
According to the text, what does “element” mean?
A. ingredient.

B. environment.

C. factor.

D. quality.

6. The idea was so again with the annexation of Texas; so with the territory acquired by the
Mexican War; and it is so now. Whenever there has been an effort to spread it there has
been agitation and resistance.... Do you think that the nature of man will be changed,
that the same causes that produced agitation at one time will not have the same effect at
another?
According to the text, what does “nature” mean?
A. force.

B. simplicity.

C. world.

D. character.

7. My sisters and I drive through parts of the city that I’ve never seen before, where the lights
glow like melted butter and the girls on the sidewalks are wearing brimmed hats and high heels.
Men smile and turn to watch our car passing: I watch back, hands pressed to the window. Then
we race beyond the glowing streets—they dwindle to a star—and the road ahead of us is long
and dusty blue and smells like a warm, blue must, like the heat of a sheep’s back.

Which choice best states the primary purpose of the text?

A. present the narrator’s thoughts about the dusty streets she has traveled on several times
before.

B. describe the narrator’s fascination with the street lights that glow hazily and brightly.

C. illustrate the narrator’s visual impression of the family’s journey through the city and out of
it.

D. make clear the narrator’s admiration for the clothing the girls on the sidewalks wear.

8. In the 1870s, Jesse Hiatt, an Iowa farmer, discovered a mutant seedling in his orchard of
Yellow Bellflower apple trees. He chopped it down, but the next season, it sprang back through
the dirt. He chopped it down again. It sprang back again. “If thee must grow,” he told the intrepid
sprout, “thee may.”

Based on the text, the seedling in Hiatt’s orchard is portrayed as:

A. persistent.

B. scruffy.

C. hostile.

D. ordinary.

9. In the 1990s, new varieties that American growers had originally developed for overseas
markets began to edge into the domestic market. Shoppers had been “eating with their eyes and
not their mouths,” Burford said. And now their taste buds had been awakened. A sudden shift in
consumer preferences, paired with growing competition from orchards in China, took the
industry by surprise. Between 1997 and 2000, U.S. apple growers lost nearly $800 million in
surplus crop. They had “made the apples redder and redder, and prettier and prettier, and they
just about bred themselves out of existence,” a marketing director for one North.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

A. In the 1990s, consumer preference for Red Delicious continued to increase, leading to an
$800 million surplus for US apple growers.

B. In the 1990s, consumer preference for fruit other than apples caused US and Chinese apple
growers to lose money.

C. In the 1990s, consumer preference for new apple varieties and increased competition from
overseas led to financial losses for US apple growers.

D. In the 1990s, consumer preference for redder apples and the planting of too many Red
Delicious trees led to financial losses for US apple growers.

10. The following text is from Walt Whitman's 1868 poem ''A Noiseless Patient Spider."

A noiseless patient spider,

I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,

Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,

It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,

Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my soul where you stand,

Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,

Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,

Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,

Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

 Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

A. The poem explores the ceaseless search of the soul for connection with the world around it,
using the metaphor of a patient spider launching filaments to explore its surroundings.

B. The poem suggests that the ultimate goal of man is to find a connection with the world around
him, as represented by the spider's tireless effort to explore and connect.

C. The poem emphasizes the importance of solitude and detachment in the pursuit of connection,
as the spider stands isolated on a little promontory before launching its filaments.

D. The poem uses the metaphor of the spider's launch of filaments to highlight the futility of
man's efforts to connect with the vast and measureless oceans of space.

11. Text 1

On May 21, 2019, midsize black holes were detected for the first time when the U.S.-based Laser
Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and its European counterpart Virgo
captured a tremor from a pair of black holes merging deep in space. Priyamvada Natarajan, an
astrophysicist who has long worked on black-hole growth models, believes that black holes this
size are born in nuclear star clusters, dense collections of stars found near galactic centers. These
holes sweep through the cluster, adding gas and dust, until they settle at a single location and
cease to , expand.

Text 2

Imre Bartos and other researchers working on ' "hierarchical merger" models, in which black
holes grow by eating one another, focus on one major data point in the LIGONirgo findings. The
angular momentum, or "spin," of a black hole ranges from O to 1. When two black holes of
similar size combine, the resulting black hole usually has a spin of around 0. 7. Significantly, the
two black holes involved in the merger recorded by LIGO and Virgo had 0.69 and 0. 73
respectively, suggesting that they both might have formed in previous mergers.

Based on the texts, what would Imre Bartos most likely say about Priyamvada Natarajan's belief
in Text 1?
A. It underestimates midsize black holes' spin.

B. It misstates the time when the merger occurred.

C. It relies too heavily on data from LIGONIGO.

D. It overlooks the significance of a crucial statistic.

12.

The study was conducted over 75 consecutive autumn days. Beginning at the same time each
morning, 225 acorns were placed, one at a time, at a given location in the park where the acorns
had been collected. Each of the 9 acorn types was presented an equal number of times, and the
order in which the acorns were presented was random. All the acorns were picked up by squirrels
within 1 minute.

Which of the following statements about pin oak acorns is consistent with the table?

A. Shelled pin oak acorns were eaten more frequently than infested pin oak acorns.

B. Shelled pin oak acorns were rejected less frequently than undamaged pin oak acorns.

C. Undamaged pin oak acorns and infested pin oak acorns were cached 24% of the time.

D. Undamaged pin oak acorns were cached 64% of the time, and infested pin oak acorns were
cached 68% of the time.
13. In the periodic table, a column of elements is called a group. For each of 5 elements in Group
2A and for each of 5 elements in Group 3A, the table gives the atomic mass (average mass of 1
atom in atomic mass units, amu) and 3 other properties at a temperature of 298 K: density,
specific heat (amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 g of a substance by 1 K),
thermal conductivity (ability to conduct heat; the greater the thermal conductivity, the more
effectively the substance conducts heat).

Based on the table, among the Group 2A elements, as atomic mass increases, the specific heat:

A. increases only.

B. decreases only.

C. increases and then decreases.

D. decreases and then increases.

14. A certain mayor has proposed a fee of five dollars per day on private vehicles entering the
city, claiming that the fee will alleviate the city's traffic congestion. The mayor reasons that,
since the fee will exceed the cost of round-trip bus fare from many nearby points, many people
will switch from using their cars to using the bus.

Which of the following statements, if true, provides the best evidence that the mayor's reasoning
is flawed?

A. Projected increases in the price of gasoline will increase the cost of taking a private vehicle
into the city.
B. The cost of parking fees already makes it considerably more expensive for most people to
take a private vehicle into the city than to take a bus.

C. Most of the people currently riding the bus do not own private vehicles.

D. Many commuters opposing the mayor's plan have indicated that they would rather endure
traffic congestion than pay a five-dollar-per day fee.

15. Manufacturers sometimes discount the price of a product to retailers for a promotion period
when the product is advertised to consumers. Such promotions often result in a dramatic increase
in amount of product sold by the manufacturers to retailers. Nevertheless, the manufacturers
could often make more profit by not holding the promotions.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the claim above about the manufacturers'
profit?

A. The amount of discount generally offered by manufacturers to retailers is carefully calculated

to represent the minimum needed to draw consumers' attention to the product.

B. For many consumer products the period of advertising discounted prices to consumers is
about a week, not sufficiently long for consumers to become used to the sale price.

C. For products that are not newly introduced, the purpose of such promotions is to keep the
products in the minds of consumers and to attract consumers who are currently using competing
products.

D. During such a promotion retailers tend to accumulate in their warehouses inventory bought at
discount; they then sell much of it later at their regular price.

16. For the past several years, a certain technology has been widely used to transmit data among
networked computers. Recently two data transmission companies, Aptron and Gammatech, have
each developed separate systems that allow network data transmission at rates ten times faster
than the current technology allows. Although the systems are similarly priced and are equally
easy to use, Aptron's product is likely to dominate the market, because __________.

Which of the following most logically completes the text?

A. Gammatech has been in the business of designing data transmission systems for several years
more than Aptron has

B. the number of small businesses that need computer networking systems is likely to double
over the next few years

C. it is much more likely that Gammatech's system will be expandable to meet future needs
D. it is easier for users of the current data transmission technology to switch to Aptron's product
than to Gammatech's

17. According to promotional material published by the city of Springfield, more tourists stay in
hotels in Springfield than stay in the neighboring city of Harristown. A brochure from the largest
hotel in Harristown claims that more tourists stay in that hotel than stay in the Royal Arms Hotel
in Springfield. If both of these sources are accurate, however, the county’s “Report on Tourism”
must be in error in indicating that _______.

Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

A. more tourists stay in hotel accommodations in Harristown than stay in the Royal Arms Hotel

B. the Royal Arms Hotel is the only hotel in Springfield

C. there are several hotels in Harristown that are larger than the Royal Arms Hotel

D. some of the tourists who have stayed in hotels in Harristown have also stayed in the Royal
Arms Hotel

18. The Triassic reptile Scleromochlus measured only about seven inches long. Its bones were
light and delicate, preventing them from being physically removed from rock without damage.
_______ paleontologist Davide Foffa and his colleagues took CT scans of Scleromochlus fossils
still embedded in the ground in order to obtain a detailed look at the animal's skeleton.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. Nevertheless,

B. To illustrate,

C. Besides,

D. Thus,

19. One of the indirect effects of globalization has been the creation of global cities, which have
a tendency to form megacities and megaregions. This type of growth exerts immense pressure on
cities; _______ it also increases the competition among them.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. however,
B. moreover,
C. for instance,
D. still,
 20. The Mona Lisa is one of the most famous paintings in the world, and it has been studied and
analyzed by art historians for centuries. The painting is known for its subtle smile and enigmatic
expression. Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa in the early 16th century and
worked on it for several years, using a technique called sfumato to create a hazy, _______ effect
in the painting.

Which choice completes the sentence so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. mysterious

B. mysterious,

C. mysterious.

D. mysterious;

21. I live in southern New Jersey, _____ two blocks away from the Atlantic Ocean. Being a
resort in most people’s minds, I call my town home.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. It is just
B. It just is

C. just

D. It is

22. What will you be doing when you are seventy years old? If ______ as most people, and
imagine yourself enjoying the relaxed pace of retirement

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. you’re like as
B. your like as
C. you’re like
D. your like
23. Shortly before Taylor’s death, his friend Pablo reflected upon his life, saying ‘’for me, life
grows more fascinating’’ the ability ______ what life has to offer and to be willing to try new
things may be what keeps some of us active during what is often considered our ‘’declining’’
years.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. of fascination with
B. for fascination of
C. to be fascinated by
D. to be fascinated for

24. Yoshiko Uchida was born in 1921 in Alameda, California. She _____ at the University of
California when war between the United States and Japan was declared.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. is studying
B. has been studying
C. was studying
D. studies

25. Vegetarianism has increased in popularity in the United States, however it is by no means
new. In the nineteenth century, vegetarianism was closely allied to the temperance movement.
They believed that meat, like alcohol, was overstimulating and that _______ to degradation

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. its consumption could led

B. its consumption could lead
 C. it’s consumption could lead
D. it’s consumption could led

26. A student has taken the following notes

● The strength of a suspension bridge rests in part on how deep the towers are anchored
into the ground.

● During the first wave of suspension bridge construction, consistent with best-
practices at the time, regulations required engineers to drill holes for the towers such that
the portion of the tower below ground accounted for at least half of the height of the
tower.

● After conducting an inspection into the depth of the holes drilled for the towers of the
Watergate Bridge, constructed over 50 years ago during the first wave of suspension
bridge construction, regulators noted that updated architectural norms and theory advised
that the bridge's towers should be reinforced to meet anticipated increases in usage.

Which choice best support student’s notes

A. In light of current architectural theory, the Watergate Bridge should be closed

until reinforcements can be added.
B. The original regulations for the depth of the suspension tower failed to anticipate
future changes in demand or architectural theory.
C. Even with the implementation of the reinforcements advocated by the new
architectural norms, the bridge will still not be safe.
D. In light of the regulators’ findings, every suspension bridge built during the first
wave of construction must be updated to provide additional strength and carrying
capacity.

27. A student has taken the following notes

● Advocates insist that health savings accounts are an efficient method to reduce
medical expenses.
 ● However, widespread adoption of these accounts will soon undermine the public’s
health.

● One reason for this is that most people will be reluctant to deplete their accounts to
pay for regular preventive examinations, so that in many cases a serious illness will go
undetected until it is far advanced.

● Another reason is that poor people, who will not be able to afford health savings
accounts, will no longer receive vaccinations against infectious diseases.

Which choice supports the students notes

A. Wealthy individuals will not be affected negatively by health savings accounts.

B. Private health insurance will no longer be available.
C. Most diseases are detected during regular preventive examinations.
D. Some people without health savings accounts are likely to contract infectious
diseases.
ANSWER KEY

1. D
2. D
3. B
4. B
5. C
6. D
7. C
8. A
9. C
10. A
11. D
12. C
13. B
14. B
15. D
16. D
17. B
18. D
19. B
20. A
21. C
22. C
23. C
24. C
25. B
26. D
27. D
MODULE 2
1. Alexander Volkov and his colleagues at Oakwood University in Alabama first
demonstrated that the model is indeed electricity that causes the Venus flytrap to close.
Subsequent research supports the model.
According to the text, what does “demonstrated” mean?
A. protested.

B. established.

C. performed.

D. argued.

2. Five-and-twenty years ago, there dwelt, in one of the middle states, a man whom we
shall call Fauntleroy; a man of wealth, and magnificent tastes, Line and prodigal
expenditure. His home might almost be styled a palace, his habits, in the ordinary sense,
princely.
According to the text, what does “styled” mean?
A. designed.

B. called.

C. fashioned.

D. resembled.

3. Notice that because of the disproportionate contributions of the 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 the person in the
number-two slot, and far more active than average.
According to the text, what does “general” mean?
A. vague.

B. superior.

C. common.

D. all-purpose.

4. More importantly, they found that the weevils maintained color-producing structures
known as photonic crystals, which could mean any fossil without these structures
probably never had them. McNamara concludes that photonic crystals must have
 evolved recently, at least in weevils, because she examined three-million-year-old
weevils that lacked them.
According to the text, what does “maintained” mean?
A. supported.

B. asserted.

C. defended.

D. retained.

5. The governors soften come to the colonies merely to make fortunes, with which they
intend to return to Britain; are not always men of the best abilities and integrity; have
many of them no estates here, nor any natural connections with us that should make
them heartily concerned for our welfare; and might possibly be fond of raising and
keeping up more forces than necessary, from the profits accruing to themselves, and to
make provision for their friends and dependents.
According to the text, what does “natural” mean?
A. unconstrained.

B. spontaneous.

C. unsettled.

D. inherent.

6. Perhaps I am too apprehensive in the matter; but having freely given my opinion and
reasons, your Excellency can judge better than I whether there be any weight in them;
and the shortness of the time allowed me will, I hope, in some degree excuse the
imperfections of this scrawl.
According to the text, what does “weight” mean?
A. merit.

B. heaviness.

C. majority.

D. burden.

7. The selection of photographic stills, plucked from films and enlarged to architectural
proportions (one hundred feet in length for banners and forty feet in height for cutouts) was
calculated to excite the public and nourish a “spectatorial consciousness,” what Roland Barthes,
a French cultural critic who often wrote about photography, described as the experiential quality
of still photographic images. Barthes recalled being transfixed by still images from movies, but
then losing all memory of them while viewing the film they came from. Our perception of a
moving cinematic image, he explained, is always determined by the frames that both precede and
follow it. In contrast, a single and isolated film still that stands alone can be viewed indefinitely
and more carefully.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

A. Barthes theorized that a film still expanded to architectural proportions is more effective than
a small still.

B. Barthes theorized that careful viewing of film stills is essential to understanding full-length
films.

C. Barthes theorized that the experience of viewing a moving image is different from the
experience of viewing a film still.

D. Barthes theorized that a film still is easier to remember when viewed in the context of the
entire movie.

8. For nearly five decades, huge photo-realistic billboards of film stars towered over the streets
of Chennai, a major hub of the vibrant and prolific Indian film industry. Expertly hand-painted
on canvas banners and plywood cutouts, these eye-catching advertisements extracted dreamlike
images of wealth, beauty, and revenge from films screened in darkened and airconditioned
theaters and displayed them in the sunlit glare of urban thoroughfares.

What is the function of the underlined portion?

A. show that advertisers take different approaches to daytime and nighttime advertising.

B. establish the appearance, function, and appeal of Chennai’s cinematic billboards.

C. argue that the glare of sunlight is detrimental to the appreciation of advertising images.
D. explain why Chennai’s cinematic billboards tended to emphasize certain images.

9. From the 1850s to the present, local entrepreneurs operating photo studios have employed
painters to enhance portrait photographs of their clients with drama and desirable accoutrements
that were absent in the original photographs. The theatricality of Indian studio photo - graphs,
and the fantasies they fulfill, has in turn influenced the idealized ways celebrities are represented
in the hand-painted cinema advertisements. Like their counterparts in the world of studio
photography, banner artists also painted directly onto a photograph in the process of creating
studies for their spectacular enlargements.

Based on the text, in India, the act of enhancing photographic images with paint was first
practiced by:

A. portrait painters working in the 1880s.

B. poster artists working in the 1950s.

C. assistants working for photojournalists in the 1960s.

D. painters working for studio photographers in the 1850s.

10. The following text is from Natasha Trethwey's 2006 poem ''Incident."

We tell the story every year—

how we peered from the windows, shades drawn—
though nothing really happened,
the charred grass now green again.
We peered from the windows, shades drawn,
at the cross trussed like a Christmas tree,
the charred grass still green. Then
we darkened our rooms, lit the hurricane lamps.
At the cross trussed like a Christmas tree,
a few men gathered, white as angels in their gowns.
We darkened our rooms and lit hurricane lamps,
the wicks trembling in their fonts of oil.
It seemed the angels had gathered, white men in their gowns.
When they were done, they left quietly. No one came.
The wicks trembled all night in their fonts of oil;
by morning the flames had all dimmed.
When they were done, the men left quietly. No one came.
Nothing really happened.
By morning all the flames had dimmed.
We tell the story every year.

According to the text, what is the speaker remembering?

A. The speaker is remembering a joyful Christmas celebration with their neighbors.

B. The speaker is recalling a nightmare they once had.

C. The speaker is remembering an incident of the KKK burning a cross on a lawn.

D. The speaker is remembering a hurricane that struck their neighborhood.

11. Text 1

As California faces another drought, urban residents have been called upon to do their part.
About 62 gallons of water per week is needed for every one hundred square feet of grassy lawn.
The average backyard is about 1,500 square feet. Add the front yard, and multiply by all the
houses in a city. When residents cut down on their lawn watering, the effect is cumulative. It
adds up to millions of gallons of water saved per week.

Text 2

The California Department of Water Resources reports that agriculture (farmland) accounts for
29% of all water use during a wet year. During a dry year, that figure more than doubles,
claiming a staggering 61%. In contrast, urban water use ranges from just 8% during a wet year to
11% during a dry one. These figures make sense when considering that most water usage for
urban dwellers happens indoors. Lawn watering—which fluctuates from wet years to dry
years—is a small piece of the pie.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely describe the view presented in
Text 1?

A. It is compelling and supports the data from the California Department of Water Resources
report.

B. It is accurate, but it lacks context provided by the data from the California Department of
Water Resources report.

C. It is plausible. but it contradicts the data from the California Department of water resources
report.

D. It is probably only applicable to water usage patterns during wet years and does not address
the data from the California Department of water resources report.

12.

viewed from above, the path of a launched object is expected to be a straight line. However,
because Earth rotates, the Coriolis effect causes the object to be deflected, either to the right of
the expected path in the Northern Hemisphere, or to the left of the expected path in the Southern
Hemisphere. The magnitude of deflection (MOD) is a distance that serves as a measure of the
Coriolis effect. The MOD is the same when measured at the same latitude (for example, 30°) in
either hemisphere. de. In each trial, they launched a ball due east at a speed of 25 m/s over a
distance of 100 m. They then measured the ball’s MOD, in cm. As the latitude increased, the
MOD due to the Coriolis effect________.
Which choice uses data from the table to logically complete the text?

A. increased only.

B. Decreased only.

C. increased and then decreased.

D. decreased and then increased.

13. In human blood, calcium (Ca2+ ) concentration

is regulated by vitamin D3 . First, vitamin D3 is converted to calcidiol (CD) in the liver. An
elevated concentration of CD inhibits further conversion of vitamin D3 . Next, CD is converted
to calcitriol (CT) in the kidneys in a reaction that requires parathyroid hormone (PTH). An
elevated concentration of CT increases Ca2+ concentration, which in turn inhibits further release
of PTH. The relative blood CT concentration is between 5 times normal and 6 times normal
within________blood Ca2+ concentration.

Which choice uses data from the table to logically complete the text?

A. 08 mg/100 mL to 09 mg/100 mL

B. 10 mg/100 mL to 11 mg/100 mL

C. 11 mg/100 mL to 12 mg/100 mL

D. 13 mg/100 mL to 14 mg/100 mL
14. Companies O and P each have the same number of employees who work the same number of
hours per week. According to records maintained by each company, the employees of Company
O had fewer job-related accidents last year than did the employees of Company P. Therefore,
employees of Company O are less likely to have job-related accidents than are employees of
Company P.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the conclusion?

A. The employees of Company P lost more time at work due to job-related accidents than did the
employees of Company O.

B. Company P considered more types of accidents to be job-related than did Company O.

C. The employees of Company P were sick more often than were the employees of Company O.

D. Several employees of Company O each had more than one job-related accident.

15. Sales of telephones have increased dramatically over the last year. In order to take advantage
of this increase, Mammoth Industries plans to expand production of its own model of telephone,
while continuing its already very extensive advertising of this product.

Which of the following, if true, provides most support for the view that Mammoth Industries
cannot increase its sales of telephones by adopting the plan outlined above?

A. Although it sells all of the telephones that it produces, Mammoth Industries' share of all
telephone sales has declined over the last year.

B. Mammoth Industries' average inventory of telephones awaiting shipment to retailers has

declined slightly over the last year.

C. Advertising has made the brand name of Mammoth Industries' telephones widely known, but
few consumers know that Mammoth Industries owns this brand.

D. Despite a slight decline in the retail price, sales of Mammoth Industries' telephones have
fallen in the last year.

16. Although the number of large artificial satellites orbiting the Earth is small compared to the
number of small pieces of debris in orbit, the large satellites interfere more seriously with
telescope observations because of the strong reflections they produce. Because many of those
large satellites have ceased to function, the proposal has recently been made to eliminate
interference from nonfunctioning satellites by exploding them in space. This proposal, however,
is ill conceived, since _______.

Which of the following most logically completes the argument below?

A. many nonfunctioning satellites remain in orbit for years

B. for satellites that have ceased to function, repairing them while they are in orbit would be
prohibitively expensive

C. there are no known previous instances of satellites’ having been exploded on purpose

D. a greatly increased number of small particles in Earth’s orbit would result in a blanket of
reflections that would make certain valuable telescope observations impossible

17. A certain tropical island received food donations in the form of powdered milk for
distribution to its poorest residents, who were thought to be malnourished. Subsequently, the rate
of liver cancers among those islanders increased sharply. The donated milk was probably to
blame: recent laboratory research on rats has shown that rats briefly exposed to the substances
aflatoxin tend to develop liver cancer when fed casein, a milk protein. This result is relevant
because _______.

Which of the following most logically completes the text?

A. in the tropics, peanuts, a staple of these island residents, support a mold growth that produces
aflatoxin

B. the liver is more sensitive to carcinogens, of which aflatoxin may be one, than most other
bodily organs

C. casein is not the only protein contained in milk

D. powdered milk is the most appropriate form in which to send milk to a tropical destination

18. Predictions that electronic books would replace physical ones entirely appear to have been
premature. ________ sales of printed books have actually overtaken sales of electronic ones in
some genres. While easy access to online platforms satisfies consumers' demand for instant
content, print offers reader a tactile experience they cannot obtain from screens.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. In fact,

B. Nevertheless,

C. Similarly,

D. On the other hand,

19. In recent years, neuroscientists have begun to gain insight into some of the underlying
mechanisms of breathing. In the late 1980s, researchers identified a group of brainstem neurons
responsible for regulating ________ has served as a launching pad for studies into how the brain
integrates breathing with other behaviors.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. respiration, that discovery

B. respiration that discovery

C. respiration, a discovery, that

D. respiration-a discovery that

20. A recent study suggests that consuming food late in the evening has profound effects on the
hunger-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin, I which influence our drive to eat. _______
researchers found that levels of the hormone leptin, I which signals satiety, remained low for 24
hours for a group of subjects instructed to eat dinner late, I whereas leptin levels were much
higher in a group that ate dinner early.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. Despite this,

B. However,

C. Specifically,

D. Therefore,

21. Douglas had moved to Florida when she was twenty five, working first ___ a newspaper
reporter and then as a freelance writer

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. To
B. As
C. In
D. At
22. There’s a movement underway to get rid of the penny. Proponents of ___ abolition argue that
the cost of minting pennies and keeping them in circulation far outstrips their collective worth.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. It’s
B. Its
C. Their
D. His

23. A single pod of brazil nuts ( which are actually seeds) weigh nearly six pounds, so when it
falls from a tree eight stories high, it has the force to cause serious injury. Despite the danger,
Ortiz and his fellow scientists are committed to their research ________ keeps over about 1000
Brazil nut trees.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. Project, the team of eight

B. Project, the team of eight,
C. Project; the team of eight,
D. Project: the team of eight

24. On the fourth of July, my friend Jeremy and I rode the subway to the last stop: coney island.
Jeremy’s grandparents had loved to go there many years _____ we wanted to see what the place
was like today.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. Ago and when

B. Ago and that
C. Ago, so
D. Ago,

25. While on vacation recently, I was surprised to see an antique carousel in a modern shopping
mall. Though it had been years since I had ridden one of these merry-go-rounds. I instinctively
did what I would have done as a girl; I searched for ‘’my’’ horse. This time it ____ a handsome
cream colored steed on the outside row.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. Is
B. Will be
C. Had been
D. Was

26. A student has taken the following notes

● Industrialists from the country Distopia were accused of promoting the Dystopian
intervention in the Arcadian civil war merely to insure that the industrialists’ facilities in
Arcadia made substantial profits during the war.

● Yet this cannot be the motive since, as the Distopians foresaw, Distopia’s federal
expenses for the intervention were eight billion dollars

● During the war, profits from the Dystopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia totaled
only four billion dollars.

Which of the following exposes a serious flaw according to the notes above

A. During the Arcadian war, many Dystopian industrialists with facilities located in
Arcadia experienced a significant rise in productivity in their facilities located in
Dystopia.
B. The largest proportion of Distopia’s federal expenses is borne by those who
receive no significant industrial profits.
C. Most Dystopian industrialists’ facilities located in Arcadia are expected to
maintain the level of profits they achieved during the war.
D. Dystopian industrialists’ facilities in Arcadia made substantial profits before the
events that triggered the civil war.

27. A student has taken the following notes:

● Virtually all health experts agree that second-hand smoke poses a serious health risk.

● After the publication of yet another research paper explicating the link between
exposure to second-hand smoke and a shorter life span

● Some members of the State House of Representatives proposed a ban on smoking in

most public places in an attempt to promote quality of life and length of lifespan.

Which of the following supports the students notes

A. The amount of damaging chemicals and fumes released into the air by cigarette
smoke is far less than the amount released from automobiles, especially from
older models.
B. Banning smoking in most public places will not considerably reduce the percent
of the population in the state in question that smokes.
C. The state whose legislators are proposing the tough smoking legislation has a
relatively high percent of its population that smoke.
D. Another state that enacted a similar law a decade ago saw a statistically
significant drop in lung-cancer rates among non-smokers.
ANSWER KEY
1. B
2. B
3. C
4. D
5. D
6. A
7. C
8. B
9. D
10. C
11. A
12. A
13. A
14. B
15. D
16. D
17. A
18. A
19. D
20. C
21. B
22. B
23. D
24. C
25. D
26. B
27. D