All practice questions

For centuries, the hieroglyphic carvings on ancient Egyptian monuments remained unreadable, their meanings lost to time. The breakthrough came in 1799 when French soldiers discovered a dark stone slab near the town of Rosetta. [1] This artifact, later known as the Rosetta Stone, featured a royal decree inscribed in three distinct scripts: hieroglyphs, Demotic, and Ancient Greek. Because scholars could already read Ancient Greek, they used this familiar text as a translation key to decipher the other two scripts. Jean-François Champollion eventually cracked the hieroglyphic code in 1822, opening a window into thousands of years of Egyptian history.

The writer is considering adding the following sentence at Point [1]:

"French troops in Egypt often encountered difficult desert conditions and suffered from various tropical diseases."

Should the writer make this addition here?

The following paragraph is from an essay about the history of everyday inventions.

[1] In 1849, American inventor Walter Hunt was twisting a piece of brass wire while trying to think of a way to pay off a fifteen-dollar debt. [2] He realized that by coiling the wire at the base, it would spring back when released. [3] To protect the user, he added a clasp at the top to cover the sharp point. [4] Hunt patented his design as the safety pin and sold the rights for four hundred dollars, quickly settling his debt.

To make this paragraph most logical, where should the following sentence be placed?
"This clever design feature not only prevented accidental pricks but also secured the pin in place."

The following is an excerpt from a passage about the history of computer programming:

[1] __________________________________________________ In the early decades of the twentieth century, programming required writing tedious, highly specific sequences of numbers that directly controlled a computer's hardware. Grace Hopper, a mathematician and U.S. Navy officer, believed there was a better way. She envisioned a system where programmers could write instructions using English-like commands, which a program would then translate into machine code. Despite widespread skepticism from her peers, Hopper went on to create the compiler, laying the foundation for modern programming languages.

Which of the following choices, if placed in the blank at [1], most effectively introduces the passage by establishing its central focus on Grace Hopper’s revolutionary contribution to computer programming?

Deciphering the Bronze Age

[1]
For decades, the clay tablets unearthed at the ancient palace of Knossos by archaeologist Arthur Evans remained an impenetrable mystery. Written in a script dubbed "Linear B," these inscriptions defied translation, leaving scholars to debate whether the language was Basque, Etruscan, or an early form of Greek. Evans himself fiercely maintained that Linear B could not possibly be Greek, believing it belonged to a distinct Minoan civilization that dominated the Aegean long before the rise of Mycenae. This authoritative stance discouraged many researchers from pursuing Greek linguistic leads, thereby stalling progress for nearly half a century.

[2]
The breakthrough finally came in the early 1950s through the collaborative, yet independent, efforts of Alice Kober and Michael Ventris. Kober, a classicist at Brooklyn College, meticulously recorded grammatical patterns on thousands of index cards, proving that the language was inflected—meaning that word endings changed to indicate grammatical relationships. Following her untimely death, Ventris, an architect with a passion for codes, built upon her work. By constructing a grid that mapped consonant and vowel relationships, Ventris unlocked the phonetic values of the symbols and realized, to his own surprise, that the tablets were indeed written in an archaic Greek dialect.

[3]
[ 1 ] The tablets did not contain epic poetry or grand historical narratives, as some had hoped, but were instead mundane administrative records: lists of sheep, jars of olive oil, and distributions of bronze to local smiths. Yet, in their very domesticity, these documents provided invaluable insights into the highly centralized palace economy and social hierarchy of late Bronze Age Greece.

Which of the following sentences, if added at the bracketed marker [ 1 ] in the third paragraph, would provide the most logical transition from the second paragraph and introduce the main topic of the third paragraph?

The following passage describes the reception of the potato in Europe.

[1] When Spanish conquistadors first brought the potato to Europe in the sixteenth century, the unfamiliar tuber was met with suspicion. [2] Many Europeans feared the vegetable because it was not mentioned in the Bible, and others suspected it of causing leprosy. [3] In France, the crown even went so far as to ban potato cultivation entirely in 1748. [4] Recognizing the crop's potential to combat famine, French army pharmacist Antoine-Augustin Parmentier set out to change public perception. [5] He established heavily guarded potato patches near Paris, instructing the guards to accept bribes and look the other way when locals tried to steal the "royal" plants.

To make the paragraph flow most logically, where should the following sentence be placed?

"This clever reverse-psychology campaign succeeded in generating curiosity and ultimately popularized the crop."

For decades, archaeologists assumed that the tiny, white mineral chunks scattered throughout ancient Roman concrete were simply the result of sloppy mixing [1] practices. Consequently, these 'lime clasts' actually serve a vital function: they dissolve when water enters cracks, recrystallizing to seal the damage from within.

Which of the following choices provides the most logical transition between the sentences while maintaining correct sentence structure?

For decades, scientists struggled to explain how geckos could effortlessly scale smooth vertical walls and even walk upside down on polished glass ceilings. Traditional hypotheses involving sticky secretions or microscopic suction cups were repeatedly disproven. It was not until the early $2000\text{s}$ that researchers confirmed that the gecko's grip relies on van der Waals forces—weak electromagnetic attractions between molecules. This phenomenon is facilitated by millions of microscopic hair-like structures called setae branching into even smaller spatulae, which conform so closely to the surface that they create a molecular bond. [1] However, this adhesion is not permanent; by changing the angle of their toes, geckos can instantly break these bonds to take another step.

The writer wants to add a sentence at Point [1] that provides a concrete, quantitative illustration of the immense strength of these combined molecular forces to emphasize how powerful this microscopic mechanism is. Which choice most effectively accomplishes this goal?

For centuries, stained glass windows have been used to tell stories and bring vibrant color to places of worship. During the Gothic period, medieval artists created these windows by mixing metallic oxides into molten glass. Copper was added to make red or blue glass, while cobalt yielded a deep, rich blue. [1] Modern stained glass artists often use copper foil to wrap individual pieces of glass before soldering them together. Today, these historical windows are carefully preserved, allowing modern viewers to appreciate their beauty and narrative power.

The writer is considering deleting Sentence 1 from the paragraph. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?

The writer wants to arrange the following sentences to logically trace how a highly classified military surveillance technology unexpectedly became an invaluable tool for marine biologists. What is the most logical order for these sentences?

The following paragraphs are from a draft of an essay about the London Underground map. Arrange the paragraphs in the most logical order to create a cohesive essay.

Each spring, maple syrup producers in New England harvest sap from sugar maple trees. To do this, they drill small holes into the tree trunks and insert metal or plastic taps called spiles. Sap, which is mostly water with a low sugar content, drips slowly from these spiles into hanging buckets or plastic tubing. *Sugar maple trees can grow up to eighty feet tall and live for over three hundred years.* This harvested sap is then collected and boiled in large pans inside a sugarhouse. Boiling evaporates the excess water, concentrating the sugars until it becomes the thick, sweet syrup enjoyed on pancakes and waffles.

The writer is considering deleting the italicized sentence from the passage. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?

During her trip to the local botanical garden, Sarah spent several hours observing the orchids, which she noted were currently blooming at this present time.

Which choice most effectively minimizes redundancy in the underlined portion of the sentence?

Deep in the Mariana Trench, the Mariana snailfish thrives under extreme pressure that would easily crush most other marine organisms, due to the fact that it has bones that are flexible and cartilage-like.

Which of the following is the most concise and grammatically correct replacement for the underlined portion?

The following is an excerpt from an essay about the history of astronomy.

In the early twentieth century, the Harvard College Observatory employed a group of women, colloquially known as the "Harvard Computers," to analyze astronomical data on photographic plates. Among them was Henrietta Swan Leavitt, whose study of Cepheid variable stars would fundamentally alter our understanding of the universe.

[1] __________________________________________________ Prior to her discovery, astronomers had no reliable way to measure the distance to faraway stars, leaving the scale of the cosmos a subject of intense debate. By establishing that a star's brightness was directly related to its pulsation period, Leavitt provided the essential tool that Edwin Hubble later used to prove that galaxies exist beyond our own.

Which choice most effectively introduces the paragraph by establishing its main focus?

[1] In 1911, the Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier discovered the Phaistos Disc in the ruins of a Minoan palace in Crete. [2] The clay disc, covered on both sides with a spiral of stamped symbols, remains one of archaeology’s most famous undeciphered mysteries. [3] Many scholars have tried to decode the 242 signs, which feature representations of human figures, animals, and plants. [4] Some researchers suggest the disc records a sacred hymn, while others argue it is a legal document or a board game. [5] Because the symbols are stamped rather than hand-carved, the disc represents an early precursor to movable type printing, developed thousands of years before Johannes Gutenberg's press.

Given the passage above, the writer is considering adding the following sentence to the end of the paragraph:

"Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in fifteenth-century Germany revolutionized the dissemination of knowledge across Europe."

Should the writer make this addition?

[1] In the late 1980s, engineering teams in Japan faced a daunting challenge with the high-speed Shinkansen trains. As the trains exited narrow tunnels at speeds of nearly 200 miles per hour, they compressed the air ahead of them, creating a deafening sound known as a "tunnel boom." This noise not only disturbed nearby residents but also threatened the structural integrity of the tunnels themselves. Eiji Nakatsu, the chief engineer and an avid birdwatcher, realized that the solution might lie in nature.

[2] Nakatsu observed the kingfisher, a bird that dives from the air into water to catch fish with barely a splash. He reasoned that the bird's wedge-shaped beak allowed it to transition smoothly between mediums of different densities. By redesigning the nose of the Shinkansen train to mimic the shape of the kingfisher's beak, the engineers reduced the train's air pressure by 30 percent and noise levels significantly. ________

Which of the following concluding sentences best wraps up the main idea of the passage?

Passage:
In 1957, engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes sealed two plastic shower curtains together, trapping pockets of air between them. They hoped this textured material would become a popular new home wallpaper. [1] Therefore, consumers showed little interest in decorating their walls with plastic sheets. The inventors did not despair; instead, they successfully marketed their product as 'Bubble Wrap' for protective packaging.

Question:
Which choice provides the most logical transition at [1]?

The following passage is about the early history of color photography:

In the early 1900s, chemist and photographer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky embarked on a monumental project to document the vast Russian Empire. Recognizing that traditional black-and-white photography failed to capture the vibrant cultures and diverse landscapes of the region, he developed a specialized camera. This camera rapidly exposed three black-and-white glass plates through red, green, and blue filters. By projecting these plates using three corresponding light sources, he reconstructed full-color images. [1] The Tsar, Nicholas II, was so impressed by a demonstration of these images that he provided Prokudin-Gorsky with a specially equipped railroad car darkroom and the necessary travel permits to document the empire.

The writer wants to add a sentence at Point [1] that highlights the groundbreaking nature of Prokudin-Gorsky’s technological achievement before explaining the Tsar's reaction. Which choice most effectively fulfills this goal?

Passage Excerpt:
In the early 1900s, botanist Ynes Mexia began her career in Mexico. She traveled across the rugged terrain of the Americas, collecting thousands of plant specimens. [1] Many of these specimens were later housed in herbariums around the world.

The writer wants to replace the sentence at [1] with a sentence that highlights the physical difficulties of Mexia's expeditions. Given that all the statements are true, which choice best accomplishes this goal?

[1] At the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza, the pyramid known as El Castillo displays a remarkable acoustic phenomenon. [2] When a visitor claps their hands at the base of the staircase, the echo returning from the temple at the summit sounds uncannily like the chirp of the resplendent quetzal, a bird sacred to the Maya. [3] Some archaeologists argue that this acoustic effect was intentional, engineered by Mayan architects to evoke the voice of their deities during ceremonies. [4] The quetzal was highly valued for its vibrant green tail feathers, which were used to make elaborate headdresses for royalty. [5] Skeptics, however, maintain that the chirp is merely an accidental byproduct of the staircase's stair-step geometry.

The writer is considering deleting Sentence 4 from the preceding paragraph. Should this sentence be kept or deleted?