All practice questions

Choose the alternative that best replaces the underlined portion of the passage.

The chinampas of ancient Mesoamerica were highly productive agricultural systems built on shallow lake beds. By layering mud, decaying vegetation, and reeds, Aztec farmers constructed rectangular plots of fertile land, they grew maize, beans, and squash in abundance. Willow trees were often planted at the corners of these plots to anchor the soil with their roots.

Which of the following options is the most grammatically correct replacement for the underlined text?

Originally built in the nineteenth century, the lighthouse has guided ships through the treacherous strait for generations. Currently at the present time, automated beacons have replaced the keepers, they no longer need to maintain the light manually.

Which choice best replaces the underlined portion to eliminate redundancy and maintain grammatical correctness?

A company allocates its annual budget to three departments: Research, Marketing, and Operations. Initially, the Research department receives $\frac{1}{4}$ of the total budget. Marketing receives $40\%$ of the remaining budget, and Operations receives the rest. Mid-year, the budget is adjusted: Research's budget is decreased by $16\%$ of its initial allocation, and Marketing's budget is increased by $\frac{1}{12}$ of its initial allocation. If the total company budget remains unchanged, by what percentage must the Operations department's budget increase relative to its initial allocation?

### Deep-Focus Earthquakes

Most earthquakes occur at shallow depths (less than $70\text{ km}$) where rocks are cold and brittle. However, deep-focus earthquakes occur at depths of $300\text{ to }700\text{ km}$, where high temperatures and pressures should cause rocks to deform plastically rather than fracture. Two scientists propose different mechanisms for how these deep-focus earthquakes occur.

*Scientist 1*
Deep-focus earthquakes are caused by dehydration embrittlement. As a subducting oceanic slab sinks, hydrous minerals (such as serpentine) within the slab break down under increasing temperature and pressure, releasing liquid water. This high-pressure fluid fills pre-existing micro-fractures in the surrounding rock, reducing the effective normal stress and allowing frictional sliding along fault planes that would otherwise be locked by extreme pressure.

*Scientist 2*
Deep-focus earthquakes are caused by transformational faulting associated with a metastable phase change. At depths of $300\text{ to }700\text{ km}$, the mineral olivine in the subducting slab is thermodynamically unstable and should transform into the denser polymorph ringwoodite. However, the cold interior of the slab keeps olivine in a metastable state. As stress increases, micro-shear zones form where olivine rapidly transforms to ringwoodite. This sudden volume change creates localized shear instability, triggering the earthquake.

According to Scientist 2, deep-focus earthquakes are initiated primarily by which of the following processes?

Select the correct phrase from the brackets to complete the sentence without creating a misplaced or dangling modifier. Type the chosen phrase exactly as it appears in the brackets.

The passage below is from a historical report about the Terracotta Army. Read the passage and choose the option that best maintains grammatical correctness and tense consistency.

In 1974, a group of farmers digging a well near Xi'an, China, stumbled upon one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century. As they cleared the dirt, they uncovered a life-sized clay soldier, which prompted archeologists to investigate the site further. Soon, excavators realized that thousands of unique terracotta statues lay buried in orderly ranks. The lifelike soldiers, representing different ranks in the emperor's army, wear detailed armor and stood in silent vigilance for over two millennia.

Which choice best completes the sentence by maintaining a consistent and grammatically correct verb tense throughout the passage?

Four investment options, each with a different starting value (expressed as a fraction, decimal, or percentage of a standard initial budget $B$) and a specified first-year growth rate, are described below. Arrange the options in order from the lowest final value to the highest final value after the first year.

A rectangular courtyard measures 84 feet by 120 feet. A contractor wants to pave the courtyard using the fewest possible identical square stone tiles such that no tiles are cut and the entire courtyard is covered. What is the total number of square tiles the contractor will need?

### Models of the Origin of Saturn's Rings

Saturn possesses an extensive planetary ring system. Planetary scientists have proposed two models to explain the origin and chemical composition of these rings.

Model 1
Approximately $100\text{ million}$ years ago, a large, icy moon of Saturn migrated too close to the planet, crossing Saturn's Roche limit. The intense tidal forces of Saturn pulled the moon apart. The silicate (rocky) core of the moon sank directly into Saturn's atmosphere, while the outer icy mantle was shattered into millions of fragments, forming the rings. Consequently, the rings are relatively young and consist of nearly $99\%$ pure water ice ($H_2O$).

Model 2
Around $3.8\text{ billion}$ years ago, a giant, volatile-rich comet from the outer solar system was gravitationally captured and disrupted by Saturn's tidal forces. This tidal disruption occurred just outside Saturn's Roche limit. The comet was shredded into debris that spread out to form the planetary rings. Because comets contain significant amounts of rocky dust and organic compounds, the rings are ancient and contain a measurable fraction of silicate minerals and carbon-bearing dark matter mixed with water ice ($H_2O$) throughout their structure.

Based on the descriptions of Model 1 and Model 2, which of the following statements represents a major point of disagreement between the two models regarding the age or composition of Saturn's rings?

The following passage is adapted from an article about animal migration:

Monarch butterflies are famous for their annual migration, traveling thousands of miles from North America to central Mexico. While individual butterflies are relatively fragile, their collective journey is a formidable demonstration of biological endurance. Scientists study this migration to understand how these insects navigate across such vast distances.

Which option most precisely and clearly fits the underlined word to maintain the formal tone of the passage?

On a standard number line, the coordinate of point $P$ is an integer $p$, and the coordinate of point $Q$ is an integer $q$. The distance between $P$ and the origin is less than 5, and the distance between $Q$ and $-3$ is exactly 4. If the product $p \cdot q$ is minimized, what is the value of $|p - q|$?

Beneath the forest floor, vast networks of fungal mycelium connect the roots of individual trees. Through these underground channels, trees share nutrients with one another, cooperatively dividing them among themselves to support the health of the entire forest.

Which of the following choices, if substituted for the underlined portion, makes the sentence most concise and grammatically correct?

While analyzing the light spectrum of a distant galaxy, the massive black hole at the galaxy's center was discovered by the astrophysicist.

Which of the following choices best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence?

In 2005, researchers successfully germinated a 2,000-year-old Judean date palm seed recovered from the ancient fortress of Masada. This remarkable botanical achievement has provided scientists with a rare window into the agricultural practices of antiquity. By cultivating this ancient specimen, researchers have embarked on a quest to analyze its genetic profile and gather heaps of data regarding its distinct physiological traits.

Which choice best maintains the tone established in the passage?

A school garden has flowers of three colors: red, yellow, and white. Red flowers make up $\frac{2}{5}$ of the garden, yellow flowers make up $\frac{1}{4}$ of the garden, and the remaining flowers are white. What percentage of the flowers in the garden are white?

### Lunar Crustal Asymmetry

The Moon's near side (facing Earth) is characterized by a thin crust and vast, dark volcanic plains (maria), whereas the far side is dominated by a thick, heavily cratered crust with almost no maria. Two hypotheses attempt to explain this asymmetry.

Hypothesis 1
Shortly after the giant impact that formed the Moon, Earth had two companion moons: the current Moon and a second, smaller moon (about one-third the Moon's diameter) that formed from the same debris disk. Due to gravitational forces, the smaller moon was eventually pulled into a slow-speed collision with the far side of the Moon. Because the collision velocity was lower than the speed of sound in rock, the smaller moon did not form a crater. Instead, it pancaked and accreted a thick layer of companion-moon material onto the far side, creating the thick crust. The near side remained unaffected by this accretion, leaving its thinner crust vulnerable to subsequent volcanic eruptions that formed the maria.

Hypothesis 2
Immediately after formation, the Moon was tidally locked to Earth, meaning the same side (the near side) always faced Earth. At this time, both bodies were extremely hot. Earth, being much larger, cooled far more slowly than the Moon, remaining at temperatures above $2,500\text{ K}$ for millions of years. This molten Earth radiated intense heat directly onto the Moon's near side. The far side of the Moon, facing away from the hot Earth, cooled rapidly, allowing silicate minerals to condense and form a thick crust. On the near side, the intense radiative heat from Earth prevented similar crustal condensation, resulting in a much thinner crust.

According to Hypothesis 2, which of the following processes was primarily responsible for the thinner crust on the near side of the Moon?

In the early days of cartography, mapmakers relied on vague travel logs and artistic license to represent unexplored territories. As mathematical instruments improved, however, cartographers began to prioritize precise measurements. Today, geographic information systems (GIS) allow modern cartographers to compile vast amounts of spatial data, they can render three-dimensional maps with unprecedented accuracy.

Which choice best replaces the underlined portion of the passage?

A school band has between $100$ and $150$ members. When the band members line up in rows of $6$, there are $2$ members left over. When they line up in rows of $9$, there are also $2$ members left over. When they line up in rows of $5$, there are no members left over. How many members are in the school band?

An agricultural drone is programmed to spray fertilizer on two adjacent fields, Field X and Field Y. The ratio of the area of Field X to the area of Field Y is $3:5$. The drone sprays Field X at a constant rate of $4$ acres per hour, and it sprays Field Y at a constant rate of $6$ acres per hour. If it takes the drone a total of $76$ hours of continuous operation to spray both fields completely, what is the area, in acres, of Field Y?

The meteorologist tracked the intense, rotating storm that was developing over the plains.

Which choice is the best version of the underlined portion of the sentence?