betterMateusz/SAT_Writting_Reading_Assessment_Question_Bank huggingface dataset:
The ﬁrst computerized spreadsheet, Dan Bricklin’s VisiCalc, improved ﬁnancial recordkeeping not only by providing users
with an easy means of adjusting data in spreadsheets but also by automatically updating all calculations that were
dependent on these ______ to VisiCalc’s release, changing a paper spreadsheet often required redoing the entire sheet by
hand, a process that could take days.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) adjustments prior
B) adjustments, prior
C) adjustments. Prior
D) adjustments and prior

Answer: C

Rationale: Choice C is the best answer. The convention being tested is punctuation use between sentences. In this choice, the period is
used correctly to mark the boundary between the ﬁrst sentence (“The...adjustments”) and the second sentence
(“Prior...days”). Because the adverbial phrase beginning with “prior” indicates when changing a spreadsheet required redoing
the sheet by hand, that phrase belongs with the second sentence. 
Choice A is incorrect because it results in a run-on sentence. Two sentences are fused without punctuation and/or a
conjunction. Choice B is incorrect because it results in a comma splice. A comma can’t be used in this way to mark the
boundary between sentences. Choice D is incorrect. Without a comma preceding it, the conjunction “and” can’t be used in
this way to join the sentences.

Difficulty: Medium | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
Composer Florence Price won ﬁrst place for her score Symphony in E Minor at the 1932 Wanamaker Foundation Awards.
The piece was performed the following year by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a signiﬁcant recognition of its quality.
Price continued to compose many musical pieces throughout her career, blending traditional Black spirituals with classical
European Romantic musical traditions. In recent years, Price’s concertos and symphonies have been performed and
recorded by several major orchestras, further preserving her work for others to enjoy.

Question: Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A) To provide examples of Price’s importance as a composer
B) To argue that more major orchestras should perform Price’s compositions
C) To describe the musical styles that inspired many of Price’s symphonies
D) To compare Price’s scores with those of classical European composers

Answer: A

Rationale: Choice A is the best answer. The text provides an overview of Florence Price’s importance by describing her success at the
1932 Wanamaker Foundation Awards, her blending of Black spirituals and classical European Romantic musical traditions,
and the recent performances and recordings of her concertos and symphonies by major orchestras.
Choice B is incorrect. The text does mention that Price’s compositions have been performed and recorded by major
orchestras, but it doesn’t argue that more orchestras should do so. Choice C is incorrect. The text does mention the blending
of Black spirituals and classical European Romantic musical traditions, but only brieﬂy, as part of a broader overview of
Price’s career. Choice D is incorrect. The text mentions Price’s blending of Black spirituals with classical European Romantic
musical traditions, but it doesn’t directly compare Price’s scores with those of classical European composers.

Difficulty: Easy | Domain: Craft_and_Structure
Text 1
Despite its beautiful prose, The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman’s 1962 analysis of the start of World War I, has certain
weaknesses as a work of history. It fails to address events in Eastern Europe just before the outbreak of hostilities, thereby
giving the impression that Germany was the war’s principal instigator. Had Tuchman consulted secondary works available to
her by scholars such as Luigi Albertini, she would not have neglected the inﬂuence of events in Eastern Europe on Germany’s
actions.
 
Text 2
Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August is an engrossing if dated introduction to World War I. Tuchman’s analysis of primary
documents is laudable, but her main thesis that European powers committed themselves to a catastrophic outcome by
refusing to deviate from military plans developed prior to the conﬂict is implausibly reductive.

Question: Which choice best describes a difference in how the authors of Text 1 and Text 2 view Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of
August?
A) The author of Text 1 argues that Tuchman should have relied more on the work of other historians, while the author of
Text 2 implies that Tuchman’s most interesting claims result from her original research.
B) The author of Text 1 believes that the scope of Tuchman’s research led her to an incorrect interpretation, while the author
of Text 2 believes that Tuchman’s central argument is overly simplistic.
C) The author of Text 1 asserts that the writing style of The Guns of August makes it worthwhile to read despite any
perceived deﬁciency in Tuchman’s research, while the author of Text 2 focuses exclusively on the weakness of Tuchman’s
interpretation of events.
D) The author of Text 1 claims that Tuchman would agree that World War I was largely due to events in Eastern Europe,

Answer: B

Rationale: Choice B is the best answer. Both texts are critical of The Guns of August, but for different reasons: the author of Text 1
argues that Tuchman missed an important factor leading up to the war because she didn’t consult secondary sources, and
the author of Text 2 argues that Tuchman’s main thesis is "reductive," which is a close synonym for "overly simplistic."
Choice A is incorrect. This doesn’t accurately describe the difference. This choice’s summary of Text 1 is accurate, but Text 2
never says that Tuchman’s most interesting claims result from her original research. Choice C is incorrect. This doesn’t
accurately describe the difference. Text 1 never says that The Guns of August is worthwhile to read despite its research

Difficulty: Hard | Domain: Craft_and_Structure
Many archaeologists assume that large-scale engineering projects in ancient societies required an elite class to plan and
direct the necessary labor. However, recent discoveries, such as the excavation of an ancient canal near the Gulf Coast of
Alabama, have complicated this picture. Using radiocarbon dating, a team of researchers concluded that the 1.39-kilometer-
long canal was most likely constructed between 576 and 650 CE by an Indigenous society that was relatively free of social
classes.

Question: Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A) It describes a common view among archaeologists, then discusses a recent ﬁnding that challenges that view.
B) It outlines a method used in some archaeological ﬁeldwork, then explains why an alternative method is superior to it.
C) It presents contradictory conclusions drawn by archaeologists, then evaluates a study that has apparently resolved that
contradiction.
D) It identiﬁes a gap in scientiﬁc research, then presents a strategy used by some archaeologists to remedy that gap.

Answer: A

Rationale: Choice A is the best answer. The text starts by introducing a common view among archaeologists about the need for an elite
class to direct large-scale engineering projects. Then, it discusses the discovery of a large canal most likely built by a society
without an elite class, which challenges the ﬁrst view.
Choice B is incorrect. Although the text discusses carbon dating as an archaeological method, it doesn’t compare it to any
other alternative methods. Choice C is incorrect. The study doesn’t resolve any contradictions—rather, it introduces a
contradiction to the one view presented at the beginning of the text. Choice D is incorrect. The text never identiﬁes any gaps
in scientiﬁc research.

Difficulty: Medium | Domain: Craft_and_Structure
If you try on one of artist Nick Cave’s signature Soundsuits, you can expect to swish, rustle, or clang every time you move.
Cave makes his suits out of found objects, everything from ceramic birds to broken record players. He carefully considers
the sound an object makes before using ______ in a suit.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) this
B) that
C) these
D) it

Answer: D

Rationale: Choice D is the best answer. The convention being tested here is pronoun-antecedent agreement. The singular pronoun "it"
agrees in number with the singular antecedent "object."
Choice A is incorrect. The singular pronoun "this" is used to refer to a speciﬁc thing, but here there is no speciﬁc object being
referred to. Instead, the sentence is referring back to a hypothetical object that Cave might use in a Soundsuit. Choice B is
incorrect. The singular pronoun "that" is used to refer to a speciﬁc thing, but here there is no speciﬁc object being referred to.
Instead, the sentence is referring back to a hypothetical object that Cave might use in a Soundsuit. Choice C is incorrect
because the plural pronoun "these" doesn’t agree in number with the singular antecedent "object."

Difficulty: Easy | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
Hegra is an archaeological site in present-day Saudi Arabia and was the second largest city of the Nabataean Kingdom
(fourth century BCE to ﬁrst century CE). Archaeologist Laila Nehmé recently traveled to Hegra to study its ancient ______ into
the rocky outcrops of a vast desert, these burial chambers seem to blend seamlessly with nature.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) tombs. Built
B) tombs, built
C) tombs and built
D) tombs built

Answer: A

Rationale: Choice A is the best answer. The convention being tested is punctuation use between sentences. In this choice, the period
after “tombs” is used correctly to mark the boundary between one sentence (“Archaeologist...tombs”) and another
(“Built...nature”).
Choice B is incorrect because it results in a comma splice. A comma can’t be used in this way to mark the boundary between
sentences. Choice C is incorrect. Without a comma preceding it, the conjunction “and” can’t be used in this way to join the
two sentences. Choice D is incorrect because it results in a run-on sentence. The sentences (“Archaeologist...tombs” and
“Built...nature”) are fused without punctuation and/or a conjunction.

Difficulty: Hard | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
Formed in 1967 to foster political and economic stability within the Asia-Paciﬁc region, the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations was originally made up of ﬁve members: Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. By the end of
the 1990s, the organization ______ its initial membership.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) has doubled
B) had doubled
C) doubles
D) will double

Answer: B

Rationale: Choice B is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of verbs to express tense. In this choice, the past perfect
verb “had doubled” properly indicates that the doubling of the organization’s initial membership occurred during a speciﬁc
period before the present (between the organization’s founding in 1967 and the end of the 1990s). 
Choice A is incorrect because the present perfect verb “has doubled” doesn’t indicate that the organization’s doubling of its
initial membership occurred during a speciﬁc period in the past. Choice C is incorrect because the present tense verb
“doubles” doesn’t indicate that the organization’s doubling of its initial membership occurred during a speciﬁc period in the
past. Choice D is incorrect because the future tense verb “will double” doesn’t indicate that the organization’s doubling of its
initial membership occurred during a speciﬁc period in the past.

Difficulty: Easy | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
Scientists believe that, unlike most other species of barnacle, turtle barnacles (Chelonibia testudinari) can dissolve the
cement-like secretions they use to attach ______ to a sea turtle shell, enabling the barnacles to move short distances across
the shell’s surface.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) it
B) themselves
C) them
D) itself

Answer: B

Rationale: Choice B is the best answer. The convention being tested is pronoun-antecedent agreement. The plural reﬂexive pronoun
“themselves” agrees in number with the plural antecedent “turtle barnacles,” correctly indicating what is attached to a sea
turtle shell.  
Choice A is incorrect because the singular pronoun “it” doesn’t agree in number with the plural antecedent “turtle barnacles.”
Choice C is incorrect because it results in an unclear and confusing sentence. In this context, it’s unclear what the plural
pronoun “them” refers to. Choice D is incorrect because the singular reﬂexive pronoun “itself” doesn’t agree in number with
the plural antecedent “turtle barnacles.”

Difficulty: Easy | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
To develop a method for measuring snow depth with laser beams, NASA physicist Yongxiang Hu relied on ______; identifying
broad similarities between two seemingly different phenomena, Hu used information about how ants move inside colonies
to calculate how the particles of light that make up laser beams travel through snow.

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A) a collaboration
B) an accessory
C) a contradiction
D) an analogy

Answer: D

Rationale: Choice D is the best answer. The text after the semicolon tells us that Hu "identif[ied] broad similarities between two
seemingly different phenomena," comparing ants with light particles. Since an analogy seeks similarities between seemingly
unrelated phenomena, this ﬁts the context perfectly.
Choice A is incorrect. "A collaboration" refers to "an act of working with others," but what comes after the semicolon doesn’t
describe collaboration with other researchers. Instead, it shows a comparison between two different (but ultimately similar)
scientiﬁc phenomena. Choice B is incorrect. "An accessory" can refer to "something added to increase attractiveness or
usefulness." No accessories are described in this text. Choice C is incorrect. "A contradiction" means "a set of ideas or things
that are opposed to or inconsistent with each other." The text describes how Hu used the similarity between ant and light
particle movement to develop his method, so a word that refers to difference would not make sense here.

Difficulty: Medium | Domain: Craft_and_Structure
New and interesting research conducted by Suleiman A. Al-Sweedan and Moath Alhaj is inspired by their observation that
though there have been many studies of the effect of high altitude on blood chemistry, there is a ______ studies of the effect
on blood chemistry of living in locations below sea level, such as the California towns of Salton City and Seeley.

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A) quarrel about
B) paucity of
C) profusion of
D) verisimilitude in

Answer: B

Rationale: Choice B is the best answer because it most logically and precisely completes the text’s discussion of studies of altitude’s
effect on blood chemistry. In this context, “paucity of” means lack of. In describing the inspiration behind Al-Sweedan and
Alhaj’s research, the text uses the word “though” to suggest a contrasting relationship between two types of studies: those
examining the effect on blood chemistry of living at a high altitude and those examining the effect on blood chemistry of
living in locations below sea level. This contrasting relationship and the text’s use of the word “many” provide context
suggesting that there are few, if any, examples of the second type of study, whereas there are numerous examples of the ﬁrst
type.
Choice A is incorrect because it wouldn’t make sense in context for there to be a “quarrel about,” or open disagreement
about, studies of the effect on blood chemistry of living in locations below sea level. The text’s use of the words “though” and
“many” suggests a contrasting relationship in terms of amount between two types of studies: those examining the effect on
blood chemistry of living at a high altitude and those examining the effect on blood chemistry of living in locations below sea
level. There’s nothing in the text to suggest that the contrast between the two types of studies involves the extent to which
researchers broadly agree or disagree about the contents of either type. Choice C is incorrect because it wouldn’t make
sense in context for there to be a “profusion of,” or great abundance of, studies of the effect on blood chemistry of living in
locations below sea level. The text’s use of the words “though” and “many” suggests a contrasting relationship in terms of
amount between two types of studies: those examining the effect on blood chemistry of living at a high altitude and those
examining the effect on blood chemistry of living in locations below sea level. Rather than logically completing this contrast,
“profusion of” would indicate that the two types of studies are similar in terms of amount, with many examples existing of
both types. Choice D is incorrect because it wouldn’t make sense in context for there to be a “verisimilitude in,” or
appearance of truth in, studies of the effect on blood chemistry of living in locations below sea level. The text’s use of the
words “though” and “many” suggests a contrasting relationship in terms of amount between two types of studies: those
examining the effect on blood chemistry of living at a high altitude and those examining the effect on blood chemistry of

Difficulty: Hard | Domain: Craft_and_Structure
The classic children’s board game Chutes and Ladders is a version of an ancient Nepalese game, Paramapada Sopanapata.
In both games, players encounter “good” or “bad” spaces while traveling along a path; landing on one of the good spaces
______ a player to skip ahead and arrive closer to the end goal.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) allows
B) are allowing
C) have allowed
D) allow

Answer: A

Rationale: Choice A is the best answer. The convention being tested is subject–verb agreement. The singular verb “allows” agrees in
number with the singular subject “landing.”
Choice B is incorrect because the plural verb “are allowing” doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject “landing.”
Choice C is incorrect because the plural verb “have allowed” doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject “landing.”
Choice D is incorrect because the plural verb “allow” doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject “landing.”

Difficulty: Easy | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
A recent study tracked the number of bee species present in twenty-seven New York apple orchards over a ten-year period.
______ found that when wild growth near an orchard was cleared, the number of different bee species visiting the orchard
decreased.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) Entomologist Heather Grab:
B) Entomologist, Heather Grab,
C) Entomologist Heather Grab
D) Entomologist Heather Grab,

Answer: C

Rationale: Choice C is the best answer. The convention being tested is punctuation use between a name and title and between a
subject and a verb. No punctuation is needed between the proper noun “Heather Grab” and “entomologist,” the title that
describes Grab. Additionally, no punctuation is needed between the sentence’s subject (“Entomologist Heather Grab”) and
the main verb (“found”) that indicates what Grab did.
Choice A is incorrect because no punctuation is needed between the subject and the verb. Choice B is incorrect because no
punctuation is needed. Setting the entomologist’s name off with commas suggests that it could be removed without
affecting the coherence of the sentence, which isn’t the case. Choice D is incorrect because no punctuation is needed
between the subject and the verb.

Difficulty: Hard | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
Works of moral philosophy, such as Plato’s Republic or Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, are partly concerned with how to live
a morally good life. But philosopher Jonathan Barnes argues that works that present a method of living such a life without
also supplying a motive are inherently useful only to those already wishing to be morally good—those with no desire for
moral goodness will not choose to follow their rules. However, some works of moral philosophy attempt to describe what
constitutes a morally good life while also proposing reasons for living one.

Question: Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A) It provides a characterization about a ﬁeld of thought by noting two works in it and then details a way in which some
works in that ﬁeld are more comprehensive than others.
B) It mentions two renowned works and then claims that despite their popularity it is impossible for these works to serve
the purpose their authors intended.
C) It summarizes the history of a ﬁeld of thought by discussing two works and then proposes a topic of further research for
specialists in that ﬁeld.
D) It describes two inﬂuential works and then explains why one is more widely read than the other.

Answer: A

Rationale: Choice A is the best answer. The text starts by stating what moral philosophy is concerned with and naming two examples
of works in the ﬁeld. Then it describes a shortcoming of some works in that ﬁeld (they say how but not why), and ﬁnally it
states that other works try to avoid that shortcoming (by including both how and why to live a morally good life).
Choice B is incorrect. This is too extreme. The text never mentions whether the two works are popular or not, and it never
argues that these works don’t serve their intended purpose of describing how to live a morally good life. Rather, the text
claims that works of moral philosophy that don’t include both how and why to be moral are not useful to readers who don’t
already want to be moral. Choice C is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure. The text never discusses the history of moral
philosophy at all, and it doesn’t propose any topic for further research. Choice D is incorrect. This isn’t the overall structure.
The text never discusses which of the two works is more widely read.

Difficulty: Medium | Domain: Craft_and_Structure
Occupying a signiﬁcant part of modern-day Nigeria, the Kingdom of Benin was one of the major powers in West Africa
between the thirteenth and nineteenth centuries. It ______ ruled by Oba Ewuare I from 1440 to 1473.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) is
B) will be
C) has been
D) was

Answer: D

Rationale: Choice D is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of verbs to express tense in a sentence. In this choice,
the past tense verb “was ruled” correctly indicates that Oba Ewuare I ruled the Kingdom of Benin in the distant past (from
1440 to 1473). This past tense verb choice is consistent with the other past tense verb (“was”) used to describe the Kingdom
of Benin.
Choice A is incorrect because the present tense verb “is ruled” doesn’t indicate that Oba Ewuare I ruled the Kingdom of Benin
in the distant past. Choice B is incorrect because the future tense verb “will be ruled” doesn’t indicate that Oba Ewuare I ruled
the Kingdom of Benin in the distant past. Choice C is incorrect because the present perfect tense verb “has been ruled”
doesn’t indicate that Oba Ewuare I ruled the Kingdom of Benin in the distant past.

Difficulty: Easy | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
Mineralogical differences are detectable in samples collected from two locations on the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, but such
differences may not indicate substantial compositional variations in the asteroid. Cosmochemist Kazuhide Nagashima and
colleagues note that at the small scale of the samples, the distribution of minerals is unlikely to be ______.

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A) neglected
B) redundant
C) ongoing
D) uniform

Answer: D

Rationale: Choice D is the best answer. The text tells us that the samples are too "small scale" to reﬂect the composition of the
asteroid, which probably doesn’t show the same variation on a large scale. This suggests that the mineral composition of the
samples are unlikely to be exactly the same from sample to sample.
Choice A is incorrect. "Neglected" means "suffering a lack of proper care" or "abandoned," which doesn’t work here. The text
never suggests that the distribution of minerals in the samples would be neglected, so this statement doesn’t logically
follow. Choice B is incorrect. "Redundant" means "not or no longer useful or needed," which is too strong. The text doesn’t
suggest that the variation between the samples isn’t a useful ﬁnding at all—just that we can’t assume that the large-scale
composition of the asteroid will show the same variation. But the composition of the samples might be useful for something
else. Choice C is incorrect. "Ongoing" means "still in progress," which doesn’t make sense: the distribution of minerals in a
sample can’t be "ongoing."

Difficulty: Medium | Domain: Craft_and_Structure
The Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden in Norway and the Jardim Botânico of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil are two of many botanical
gardens around the world dedicated to growing diverse plant ______ fostering scientiﬁc research; and educating the public
about plant conservation.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) species, both native and nonnative,
B) species, both native and nonnative;
C) species; both native and nonnative,
D) species both native and nonnative,

Answer: B

Rationale: Choice B is the best answer. The convention being tested is the punctuation of items in a complex series (a series including
internal punctuation). The semicolon after “nonnative” is correctly used to separate the ﬁrst item (“growing diverse plant
species, both native and nonnative”) and the second item (“fostering scientiﬁc research”) in the series of things that
botanical gardens are dedicated to. Further, the comma after “species” is correctly used to separate the noun phrase “diverse
plant species” and the supplementary phrase “both native and nonnative” that modiﬁes it.
Choice A is incorrect because a comma (speciﬁcally, the comma after “nonnative”) can’t be used in this way to separate
items in a complex series. Choice C is incorrect because a semicolon can’t be used in this way to separate the noun phrase
“diverse plant species” and the supplementary phrase “both native and nonnative” that modiﬁes it. Further, a comma can’t be
used in this way to separate items in a complex series. Choice D is incorrect because it fails to use appropriate punctuation
to separate the noun phrase “diverse plant species” and the supplementary phrase “both native and nonnative” that modiﬁes
it. Further, a comma can’t be used in this way to separate items in a complex series.

Difficulty: Hard | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
The mimosa tree evolved in East Asia, where the beetle Bruchidius terrenus preys on its seeds. In 1785, mimosa trees were
introduced to North America, far from any B. terrenus. But evolutionary links between predators and their prey can persist
across centuries and continents. Around 2001, B. terrenus was introduced in southeastern North America near where
botanist Shu-Mei Chang and colleagues had been monitoring mimosa trees. Within a year, 93 percent of the trees had been
attacked by the beetles.

Question: Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A) It states the hypothesis that Chang and colleagues had set out to investigate using mimosa trees and B. terrenus.
B) It presents a generalization that is exempliﬁed by the discussion of the mimosa trees and B. terrenus.
C) It provides context that clariﬁes why the species mentioned spread to new locations.
D) It offers an alternative explanation for the ﬁndings of Chang and colleagues.

Answer: B

Rationale: Choice B is the best answer because it most accurately describes the function of the third sentence within the overall
structure of the text. The third sentence makes a generalization, asserting that evolutionary links between predators and prey
can persist across great expanses of time and distance. This generalization is exempliﬁed by the text’s discussion of the
relationship between mimosa trees and B. terrenus beetles. When mimosa trees were introduced to North America in 1785,
no B. terrenus beetles were present, so the relationship between the trees and the beetles that exists in their native East Asia
was disrupted. When the beetles were introduced to North America more than 200 years later, however, they quickly attacked
mimosa trees, illustrating the generalization that links between predators and prey "can persist across centuries and
continents."
Choice A is incorrect because the third sentence doesn’t indicate that Chang and colleagues were investigating any
hypothesis. According to the text, Chang and colleagues were simply monitoring mimosa trees when the beetles happened
to be introduced to the area. Choice C is incorrect because the third sentence doesn’t discuss any particular species, let
alone the species mentioned elsewhere in the text, nor does the sentence explain why species spread to new locations.
Choice D is incorrect because the third sentence offers a generalization about the relationship between predators and prey,
not an explanation for the ﬁndings by Chang and colleagues that’s an "alternative" to an explanation presented elsewhere in
the text.

Difficulty: Hard | Domain: Craft_and_Structure
Because a cycle of lunar phases ______ 29.5 days to complete, it’s possible to observe two full moons in a single month, one
at the beginning and one at the end.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) are taking
B) have taken
C) take
D) takes

Answer: D

Rationale: Choice D is the best answer. The convention being tested is subject-verb agreement. The singular verb "takes" agrees in
number with the singular subject "a cycle of lunar phases."
Choice A is incorrect because the plural verb "are taking" doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject "a cycle of lunar
phases." Choice B is incorrect because the plural verb "have taken" doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject "a cycle
of lunar phases." Choice C is incorrect because the plural verb "take" doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject "a
cycle of lunar phases."

Difficulty: Medium | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
In 1637, the price of tulips skyrocketed in Amsterdam, with single bulbs of rare varieties selling for up to the equivalent of
$200,000 in today’s US dollars. Some historians ______ that this “tulip mania” was the ﬁrst historical instance of an asset
bubble, which occurs when investors drive prices to highs not supported by actual demand.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) claiming
B) claim
C) having claimed
D) to claim

Answer: B

Rationale: Choice B is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of ﬁnite and nonﬁnite verb forms within a sentence. A
main clause requires a ﬁnite verb to perform the action of the subject (in this case, “some historians”), and this choice
supplies the ﬁnite present tense verb “claim” to indicate what some historians do. 
Choice A is incorrect because the nonﬁnite participle “claiming” doesn’t supply the main clause with a ﬁnite verb. Choice C is
incorrect because the nonﬁnite participle “having claimed” doesn’t supply the main clause with a ﬁnite verb. Choice D is
incorrect because the nonﬁnite to-inﬁnitive “to claim” doesn’t supply the main clause with a ﬁnite verb.

Difficulty: Easy | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
The artistic talents of Barbara Chase-Riboud, most known for her 1979 historical novel Sally Hemings and the conversation it
inspired, ______ limited to the realm of prose: she ﬁrst excelled in sculpture, where her aﬃnity for bronze—a material she
described as “timeless” due to its use across eras and cultures—became part of her artistic identity.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) hasn’t been
B) wasn’t
C) isn’t
D) aren’t

Answer: D

Rationale: Choice D is the best answer. The subject "talents" is plural, and so is the verb "aren’t": "the artistic talents…aren’t limited."
Choice A is incorrect. The subject "talents" is plural, but the verb "hasn’t been" is singular. Choice B is incorrect. The subject
"talents" is plural, but the verb "wasn’t" is singular. Choice C is incorrect. The subject "talents" is plural, but the verb "isn’t" is
singular.

Difficulty: Hard | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
Eli Eisenberg, a genetics expert at Tel Aviv University in Israel, recently discovered that ______ have a special genetic ability
called RNA editing that confers evolutionary advantages.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) cephalopods, ocean dwellers that include the squid, the octopus, and the cuttleﬁsh
B) cephalopods—ocean dwellers—that include the squid, the octopus, and the cuttleﬁsh,
C) cephalopods, ocean dwellers that include: the squid, the octopus, and the cuttleﬁsh,
D) cephalopods—ocean dwellers that include the squid, the octopus, and the cuttleﬁsh—

Answer: D

Rationale: Choice D is the best answer. The convention being tested is the punctuation of a supplementary element within a sentence.
In this choice, the dash after “cephalopods” pairs with the dash after “cuttleﬁsh” to clearly separate the supplementary
element “ocean dwellers that include the squid, the octopus, and the cuttleﬁsh” from the rest of the sentence. This
supplementary element functions to explain what cephalopds are, and the pair of dashes indicates that this element could
be removed without affecting the grammatical coherence of the sentence.
Choice A is incorrect because it fails to use appropriate punctuation to separate the supplementary element that explains
what cephalopods are from the rest of the sentence. Choice B is incorrect because it fails to use appropriate punctuation to
separate the supplementary element that explains what cephalopods are from the rest of the sentence. Choice C is incorrect
because it fails to use appropriate punctuation to separate the supplementary element that explains what cephalopods are
from the rest of the sentence.

Difficulty: Medium | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
Psychophysicist Howard Moskowitz was hired by a soda company to determine how much artiﬁcial sweetener ______ After
conducting consumer taste tests, he found that no such ideal existed: participants expressed a wide range of preferences
for different blends of sweetener, carbonization, and ﬂavoring.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) do most people prefer in a diet drink?
B) do most people prefer in a diet drink.
C) most people prefer in a diet drink?
D) most people prefer in a diet drink.

Answer: D

Rationale: Choice D is the best answer. This sentence is a statement: “Moskowitz was hired by a soda company to determine how
much artiﬁcial sweetener most people prefer in a diet drink.” So a period is the most appropriate punctuation mark.  
Choice A is incorrect. This doesn’t complete the text in a way that conforms to the conventions of Standard English. This
sentence is not a question—it’s a statement. So a question mark is not the appropriate punctuation. Choice B is incorrect.
This doesn’t complete the text in a way that conforms to the conventions of Standard English. We already have the verbs
“was hired…to determine” in this sentence. The verb “do” is not needed and results in a confusing, ungrammatical
sentence. Choice C is incorrect. This doesn’t complete the text in a way that conforms to the conventions of Standard
English. This sentence is not a question—it’s a statement. So a question mark is not the appropriate punctuation.

Difficulty: Easy | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
A subseasonal weather forecast attempts to predict weather conditions three to four weeks in ______ its predictions are
therefore more short-term than those of the seasonal forecast, which attempts to predict the weather more than a month in
advance.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) advance,
B) advance
C) advance;
D) advance and

Answer: C

Rationale: Choice C is the best answer. The clause “A subseasonal…advance” and the clause “its predictions…forecast” are both
independent clauses, so using a semicolon to separate them is grammatically correct. 
Choice A is incorrect. This choice creates a run-on sentence error. The clause “A subseasonal…advance” and the clause “its
predictions…forecast” are both independent clauses, so a comma is not enough to separate them. Choice B is incorrect. This
choice creates a run-on sentence error. The clause “A subseasonal…advance” and the clause “its predictions…forecast” are
both independent clauses, so they need to be separated with speciﬁc punctuation (a period, a semi-colon, a colon, a dash, or
a comma + a coordinating conjunction). Choice D is incorrect. This choice creates a run-on sentence error. The clause “A
subseasonal…advance” and the clause “its predictions…forecast” are both independent clauses, so the word “and” by itself is
not enough to separate them. There would need to be a comma before “and” for this choice to work.

Difficulty: Easy | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
Each year in the fall, when the weather starts to cool in the northern hemisphere, millions of North American monarch
butterﬂies journey south. Searching for food and warmer habitats, they ______ thousands of miles—from as far north as
Canada all the way down to Mexico—on this annual migration.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) ﬂew
B) were ﬂying
C) had ﬂown
D) ﬂy

Answer: D

Rationale: Choice D is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of verbs to express tense. In this choice, the present
tense verb “ﬂy” is consistent with the other present tense verb ( “journey”) used to describe the butterﬂies’ yearly migration.
Together, these simple present tense verbs correctly indicate that the migration is a current, yearly occurrence.
Choice A is incorrect. The simple past tense verb “ﬂew” isn’t consistent with the other present tense verb used to describe
the butterﬂies’ yearly migration. Choice B is incorrect. The past progressive tense verb “were ﬂying” isn’t consistent with the
other present tense verb used to describe the butterﬂies’ yearly migration. Choice C is incorrect. The past perfect tense verb
“had ﬂown” isn’t consistent with the other present tense verb used to describe the butterﬂies’ yearly migration.

Difficulty: Easy | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
It is by no means ______ to recognize the inﬂuence of Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch on Ali Banisadr’s paintings; indeed,
Banisadr himself cites Bosch as an inspiration. However, some scholars have suggested that the ancient Mesopotamian
poem Epic of Gilgamesh may have had a far greater impact on Banisadr’s work.

Question: Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A) substantial
B) satisfying
C) unimportant
D) appropriate

Answer: C

Rationale: Choice C is the best answer because it most logically completes the sentence about the inﬂuences on Banisadr’s work. In
context, “It is by no means” followed by “unimportant” conveys how it is relevant to recognize Bosch’s inﬂuence on Banisadr.
The text points out that the artist himself cites Bosch as an inspiration, and then goes on to claim that The Epic of Gilgamesh
has had a more signiﬁcant inﬂuence than Bosch. 
Choice A is incorrect because “substantial,” which means weighty or meaningful, incorrectly suggests that it wouldn’t be
meaningful to acknowledge Bosch’s inﬂuence on Banisadr. The phrase “indeed, Banisadr himself cites Bosch as an
inspiration” doesn’t support this suggestion. Choice B is incorrect because “satisfying,” which means pleasing, incorrectly
suggests that it wouldn’t be pleasing to acknowledge Bosch’s inﬂuence on Banisadr. The phrase “indeed, Banisadr himself
cites Bosch as an inspiration” doesn’t support this suggestion. Choice D is incorrect because “appropriate,” which means
suitable, incorrectly suggests that it wouldn’t be proper to acknowledge Bosch’s inﬂuence on Banisadr. The phrase “indeed,
Banisadr himself cites Bosch as an inspiration” doesn’t support this suggestion.

Difficulty: Hard | Domain: Craft_and_Structure
Some studies have suggested that posture can inﬂuence cognition, but we should not overstate this phenomenon. A case in
point: In a 2014 study, Megan O’Brien and Alaa Ahmed had subjects stand or sit while making risky simulated economic
decisions. Standing is more physically unstable and cognitively demanding than sitting; accordingly, O’Brien and Ahmed
hypothesized that standing subjects would display more risk aversion during the decision-making tasks than sitting subjects
did, since they would want to avoid further feelings of discomfort and complicated risk evaluations. But O’Brien and Ahmed
actually found no difference in the groups’ performance.

Question: Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A) It argues that research ﬁndings about the effects of posture on cognition are often misunderstood, as in the case of
O’Brien and Ahmed’s study.
B) It presents the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to critique the methods and results reported in previous studies of the effects
of posture on cognition.
C) It explains a signiﬁcant problem in the emerging understanding of posture’s effects on cognition and how O’Brien and
Ahmed tried to solve that problem.
D) It discusses the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to illustrate why caution is needed when making claims about the effects of

Answer: D

Rationale: Choice D is the best answer because it most accurately describes the main purpose of the text. The text notes that although
some studies have suggested that posture may have an effect on cognition, this phenomenon should not be overstated. In
other words, the text begins by urging caution and restraint when discussing the effects of posture on cognition, implying
that even though some studies have shown posture to affect cognition, we should not assume that posture always affects
cognition or does so in a strong way. The text goes on to discuss O’Brien and Ahmed’s study as a "case in point" (that is, as
an example of the point made previously). According to the text, O’Brien and Ahmed hypothesized that since standing is
more cognitively demanding than sitting, standing subjects in their experiment would respond differently to decision-making
tasks than sitting subjects would, which would show an effect of posture on cognition. What the researchers actually found,
however, was that the standing and sitting subjects performed the same—posture did not affect cognition. By presenting a
circumstance in which posture does not appear to affect cognition, the discussion of O’Brien and Ahmed’s study shows why
it is important not to overstate the phenomenon. The purpose of the text, therefore, is to discuss O’Brien and Ahmed’s study
to illustrate why caution is needed when making claims about posture’s effects on cognition.
Choice A is incorrect because the text discusses O’Brien and Ahmed’s study as an example of why caution is needed when
discussing posture’s effects on cognition, not as an example of how research ﬁndings related to posture and cognition are

Difficulty: Hard | Domain: Craft_and_Structure
The sun never sets during the Arctic summer in the Far North. In response, reindeer in this region must change their sleep
habits. Instead of resting when it gets dark, they rest when they need ______ their food.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) digest
B) will digest
C) to digest
D) digesting

Answer: C

Rationale: Choice C is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of nonﬁnite verb forms within a sentence. Working
together with the ﬁnite verb "need," the nonﬁnite to-inﬁnitive verb "to digest" is correctly used to form a subordinate clause
that describes what the reindeer need.
Choice A is incorrect because the verb "digest" (in either its ﬁnite or nonﬁnite form) can’t be used in this way with the ﬁnite
verb "need." Choice B is incorrect because the ﬁnite verb "will digest" can’t be used in this way with the ﬁnite verb "need."
Choice D is incorrect because the nonﬁnite participle "digesting" can’t be used in this way with the ﬁnite verb "need."

Difficulty: Easy | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions
In her analysis of Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth (1905), scholar Candace Waid observes that the novel depicts the
upper classes of New York society as “consumed by the appetite of a soulless ______ an apt assessment given that The
House of Mirth is set during the Gilded Age, a period marked by rapid industrialization, economic greed, and widening wealth
disparities.

Question: Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) materialism”; and
B) materialism” and
C) materialism,”
D) materialism”

Answer: C

Rationale: Choice C is the best answer. The convention being tested is punctuation between a main clause and a supplementary noun
phrase. This choice correctly uses a comma to mark the boundary between the main clause (“scholar…materialism”) and the
supplementary noun phrase (“an apt assessment”) that describes Waid’s observation about how The House of Mirth depicts
the upper classes of New York society.
Choice A is incorrect because a semicolon and the conjunction “and” can’t be used in this way to mark the boundary
between a main clause and a supplementary noun phrase. Choice B is incorrect. Joining the main clause (“scholar…
materialism”) and the following noun phrase with the conjunction “and” results in a confusing and illogical sentence that
suggests that the novel depicts the upper classes of New York society as “an apt assessment,” which doesn’t make sense in
this context. Choice D is incorrect because it fails to mark the boundary between the main clause and the supplementary
noun phrase with appropriate punctuation.

Difficulty: Medium | Domain: Standard_English_Conventions