All practice questions

In the early twentieth century, astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt analyzed photographic plates of variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds, calculating and computing the changing brightness of these stars, which varied in luminosity over time, she discovered the period-luminosity relation.

Which choice most effectively and concisely completes the sentence?

Passage:

Cellulose nitrate film, the standard medium for early motion pictures, is highly flammable and degrades rapidly over [1] <underline>time. Consequently, archivists</underline> house these fragile reels in specialized, temperature-controlled vaults. By maintaining low temperatures and stable humidity, they prevent the film from decomposing into an acidic powder or catching fire.

Question:

Which choice best establishes a logical and grammatically correct transition between the two sentences?

The writer is considering deleting the underlined sentence from the following paragraph:

In 1951, computer scientist Grace Hopper developed the A-0 compiler, a revolutionary program that translated mathematical code into machine-readable instructions. Prior to Hopper’s breakthrough, programming required writing tedious sequences of binary numbers by hand. By allowing programmers to use English-like commands instead, the compiler made software development accessible to a much broader range of people. Hopper, who earned a PhD in mathematics from Yale University, also served in the United States Navy Reserve. Ultimately, Hopper's innovation laid the foundation for modern programming languages and transformed the future of computing.

Should the writer make this deletion?

Before the invention of modern refrigeration, food preservation relied heavily on salting and curing techniques. Each year, people repeated these practices annually during the autumn months to prepare for winter.

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

Aerogel, a synthetic ultralight material derived from a gel, consists of more than 99 percent air. Despite its light weight, it is remarkably strong and can support thousands of times its own mass. Because of its properties as an insulator, which insulate against heat, it is used by aerospace engineers for insulation in spacecraft.

Which choice most effectively and concisely expresses the information in the underlined portion?

In the mid-twentieth century, geologist Marie Tharp painstakingly plotted sonar data to map the ocean floor, revealing a massive rift valley running down the center of the Atlantic. This discovery supported the theory of continental drift, which had previously been dismissed by many scientists. Through her careful charting of the ocean floor, Tharp was able to create the first comprehensive map of the ocean bottom, which was a major breakthrough that transformed the field of oceanography.

Which choice, if substituted for the underlined portion, makes the sentence the most concise while remaining grammatically correct?

In the early nineteenth century, timekeeping in the United States was a purely local affair. Every town set its own clocks based on the sun's position at midday, creating a confusing patchwork of hundreds of local times across the country. This system was manageable when travel was slow, but the rapid expansion of railroads after the Civil War made scheduling train routes and avoiding collisions nearly impossible. To solve this crisis, major railroad companies agreed to establish four standardized time zones across the continental United States in November 1883. Although the federal government did not officially adopt these zones until the passage of the Standard Time Act in 1918, the public quickly embraced the railroad-devised system, realizing its convenience for daily commerce and travel.

The writer is considering adding the following sentence to the paragraph (placed after the sentence ending with the word 'impossible'):

'At the time, railroad tracks were made of durable steel rather than iron, allowing for heavier trains and faster travel.'

Should the writer make this addition?

Passage Excerpt:
In 1856, eighteen-year-old chemist William Henry Perkin was attempting to synthesize quinine, a scarce drug used to treat malaria, in his makeshift home laboratory. During one of his failed trials, he ended up with a dark, sludge-like residue at the bottom of his flask. Rather than discarding the mess, Perkin cleaned the flask with alcohol and noticed that the substance dissolved into a brilliant, deep purple liquid. Recognizing the commercial potential of this accidental creation, he patented the substance as the world's first synthetic dye, mauveine.

Given that all the choices are true, which one most effectively highlights the contrast between the cheap, synthetic source of Perkin's new dye and the expensive, natural sources of traditional dyes?

A student is writing an essay about the 1977 discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Read the five sentences below and arrange them in the most logical order to create a cohesive paragraph that establishes a clear introduction and transitions smoothly to a strong conclusion.

In 1915, Albert Einstein published his theory of general relativity, which revolutionized modern physics. This groundbreaking work, a mathematical framework that describes gravity as the warping of spacetime, challenged Newton's classical laws. Scientists around the world immediately began testing its predictions.

Which of the following is the best replacement for the underlined portion of the passage?

Biologists studying deep-sea hydrothermal vents discovered a species of extremophile shrimp that thrives in superheated water. Although these organisms are currently existing today in environments that would kill most marine species, they have developed unique proteins to stabilize their cellular structure.

Which of the following choices, if substituted for the underlined portion, best eliminates the redundancy in the sentence?

[1]
In 1930, Ruth Wakefield and her husband purchased a historic lodge in Whitman, Massachusetts, and opened the Toll House Inn. Ruth, a skilled dietitian and chef, quickly gained a reputation for her exceptional desserts, particularly her thin, crisp butter drop cookies. The inn soon became a popular destination for travelers seeking a comforting meal and sweet treats.

[2]
One afternoon in 1938, while preparing a batch of her famous cookies, Wakefield realized she had run out of baker's chocolate. Hoping to save time, she chopped up a bar of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate and added the small chunks directly to the cookie dough. She fully expected the chocolate pieces to melt and marbleize the cookies during baking.

[3]
Word of Wakefield’s delicious new recipe spread rapidly, causing sales of Nestlé's semi-sweet chocolate bars to skyrocket. This sudden surge in demand prompted the company to strike a deal with Wakefield: they would print her Toll House recipe on their packaging in exchange for providing her with a lifetime supply of chocolate.

[4]
Instead of melting completely into the dough, however, the chocolate bits retained their shape, softening into creamy pockets of rich flavor. The resulting creation—which she called the "Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie"—was an instant sensation among the inn's guests.

For the sake of the logic and cohesion of this essay, where should Paragraph 4 be placed?

The following paragraphs are from an essay about the invention and history of the saxophone. To make the essay flow most logically, in what order should the paragraphs be arranged?

Passage:
For decades, Mesoamerican scholars assumed that cacao was strictly a luxury item reserved for the Maya elite, who drank it from elaborate vessels during ceremonial rituals. [1] <underline>Consequently,</underline> chemical analyses of pottery fragments from modest, ordinary households have revealed traces of theobromine, a compound unique to cacao. This finding suggests that chocolate consumption was far more widespread across social classes than previously believed.

Which choice most effectively establishes the logical relationship between the traditional scholarly assumption and the new scientific evidence?

Passage Excerpt:

For decades, early audio recordings captured on wax cylinders remained silent, too fragile to be played by traditional styluses without being destroyed. In response, physicists developed the IRENE system, which uses non-contact optical scanning to create digital images of the grooves. The system then uses software to reconstruct the audio from these images, allowing listeners to hear long-lost voices.

Question:

Given that all the choices are true, which choice most effectively emphasizes the extreme precision of the optical scanning technology described in the passage?

The writer wants to organize the sentences below to logically present the chronological steps of Jocelyn Bell Burnell's discovery of the first pulsar. Arrange the sentences in the most logical order to achieve this goal.

The following paragraph is from an essay about maritime archaeology.

[1] For centuries, the ancient Egyptian port city of Thonis-Heracleion was shrouded in myth, buried under the silt of the Mediterranean Sea. [2] Consequently, many scholars doubted whether the legendary trade hub had ever actually existed. [3] In 2000, French archaeologist Franck Goddio made a breakthrough discovery when he located the submerged ruins. [4] Subsequent excavations at the underwater site revealed colossal statues, gold coins, and massive temple structures. [5] These artifacts, remarkably preserved by the marine sediment, provided unprecedented insights into ancient maritime commerce.

The writer wants to add the following sentence to the paragraph:

'Until this discovery, historians had only known of the port through sparse mentions in classical Greek texts.'

To make the paragraph most logical, where should this sentence be placed?

Although the summit of Mount Everest is the highest point on Earth, the climb is incredibly perilous. Due to the fact that the weather is extremely cold, climbers must wear specialized gear to prevent frostbite.

Which choice most effectively eliminates wordiness from the underlined portion of the sentence?

At Chichén Itzá, the Mayan pyramid known as El Castillo produces a striking acoustic effect: a handclap at the base of the stairs triggers a chirping echo that mimics the sacred quetzal bird. This unique chirping sound is believed by researchers to have been an intentional creation that the ancient architects planned on purpose by designing steps of varying depths.

Which choice most effectively and concisely expresses the underlined portion?

Located deep inside a sandstone mountain on a remote Norwegian island, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault serves as a fail-safe backup for the world's crop biodiversity. The facility is built to withstand natural disasters and power failures, ensuring the safety of millions of seed samples. [1] Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, is home to more polar bears than people. In the event of a global catastrophe, scientists could retrieve these genetic samples to restore vital crops. Consequently, the vault represents a critical insurance policy for global food security.

The writer is considering deleting the underlined sentence from the paragraph. Should this sentence be deleted?