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Practice Test 4

298 questions · 5 separately timed sections. Time each section strictly, as shown at the start of each section.

Section 1: Verbal Skills

60 questions — Time limit: 16 minutes

For Questions 1–5, choose the word that is most nearly the same in meaning to the capitalized word.

1. MITIGATE

(A) magnify

(B) deny

(D) accuse

2. CORDIAL

(A) friendly

(B) stiff

(D) cautious

3. ELUSIVE

(A) tangible

(B) candid

(D) evasive

4. ADVERSE

(A) adjacent

(B) unfavorable

(D) diverse

5. METICULOUS

(A) thorough

(B) sloppy

(D) hasty

For Questions 6–9, choose the word that is most nearly the opposite in meaning to the capitalized word.

6. SCANT

(A) rare

(B) thin

(D) plentiful

7. BOLSTER

(A) elevate

(B) undermine

(D) question

8. CANDOR

(A) secrecy

(B) freedom

(D) fairness

9. TENUOUS

(A) flimsy

(B) robust

(D) dense

For Questions 10–14, choose the word or pair that best completes the analogy.

10. PUPIL : EYE :: PETAL :

(A) toe

(B) hand

(D) nose

11. PRUDENT : RASH :: GENEROUS :

(A) honest

(B) calm

(D) stingy

12. NECTAR : BEES :: CARRION :

(A) vultures

(B) rabbits

(D) wolves

13. ARCHIPELAGO : ISLANDS :: CONSTELLATION :

(A) planets

(B) comets

(D) galaxies

14. BLUEPRINT : BUILDING :: RECIPE :

(A) oven

(B) cake

(D) baker

For Questions 15–17, choose the word that does not belong with the others.

15.

(A) triangle

(B) hexagon

(D) circle

16.

(A) flute

(B) viola

(D) violin

17.

(A) granite

(B) copper

(D) mercury

For Questions 18–20, if the first two statements are true, is the third statement true, false, or uncertain?

18. All painters are artists. Some artists are sculptors. Therefore, some painters are sculptors.

(A) True

(B) False

19. No reptiles have fur. All snakes are reptiles. Therefore, no snakes have fur.

(A) True

(B) False

20. Some students who study at night drink coffee. No one who drinks coffee sleeps early. Therefore, some students who study at night do not sleep early.

(A) True

(B) False

21. Select the synonym for ADVERSE.

(A) favorable

(B) partial

(D) hostile

22. Select the synonym for BOLSTER.

(A) delay

(B) support

(D) replace

23. Select the synonym for CONCISE.

(A) accurate

(B) cautious

(D) eloquent

24. Select the synonym for METICULOUS.

(A) careless

(B) speedy

(D) thorough

25. Select the synonym for IMPARTIAL.

(A) uncertain

(B) objective

(D) sympathetic

26. Select the antonym for SCARCE.

(A) rare

(B) plentiful

(D) meager

27. Select the antonym for RELINQUISH.

(A) delay

(B) refuse

(D) repeat

28. Select the antonym for TRANQUIL.

(A) quiet

(B) serene

(D) agitated

29. Select the antonym for FRUGAL.

(A) thrifty

(B) economical

(D) lavish

30. TIMID : AUDACIOUS ::

(A) selfish : wealthy

(B) stingy : generous

(D) greedy : generous

31. EMBRYO : FETUS ::

(A) sapling : tree

(B) seedling : forest

(D) root : leaf

32. ARTISAN : CRAFT ::

(A) actor : stage

(B) editor : chapter

(D) artist : museum

33. FEATHER : BIRD ::

(A) scale : fish

(B) fin : water

(D) claw : forest

34. COMPASS : DIRECTION ::

(A) ruler : volume

(B) thermometer : temperature

(D) microscope : sound

35. ARCHAEOLOGIST : ARTIFACTS ::

(A) chemist : telescope

(B) cartographer : compass

(D) geologist : fossils

36. All chess club members are students at Lincoln. All students at Lincoln wear uniforms. Which statement must be true?

(A) All uniform-wearers are chess club members.

(B) Some uniform-wearers are not students.

(D) All chess club members wear uniforms.

37. Exactly two of the four lockers—A, B, C, D—are occupied. If A is occupied, then C is empty. If B is empty, then D is occupied. A is occupied. Which must be true?

(A) C is empty.

(B) D is occupied.

(D) B is empty.

38. All poets in the club are also editors. No editors are freshmen. Luis is a poet in the club. Which conclusion is valid?

(A) Luis is a freshman.

(B) Luis is not an editor.

(D) Luis is a sophomore.

39. Choose the word that does not belong with the others.

(A) rectangle

(B) circle

(D) pyramid

40. Choose the word that does not belong with the others.

(A) robin

(B) salmon

(D) sparrow

41. Analogy: drought : water :: famine :

(A) grain

(B) soil

(D) harvest

(E) food

42. Analogy: microscope : magnify :: colander :

(A) heat

(B) measure

(D) season

(E) drain

43. Analogy: phoenix : rebirth :: anchor :

(A) direction

(B) speed

(D) restraint

(E) wind

44. Analogy: novice : experienced :: : transparent

(A) polished

(B) clear

(D) bright

(E) opaque

45. Analogy: hive : bees :: nest :

(A) wolves

(B) ants

(D) turtles

(E) eagles

46. Analogy: finger : hand :: petal :

(A) leaf

(B) garden

(D) stem

(E) trunk

47. Analogy: thermometer : temperature :: odometer :

(A) pressure

(B) speed

(D) height

(E) distance

48. Analogy: generous : stingy :: expand :

(A) distend

(B) simmer

(D) stretch

(E) contract

49. Synonym: ardent most nearly means

(A) indifferent

(B) fiery

(D) soggy

(E) brief

50. Synonym: lucid most nearly means

(A) puzzling

(B) meager

(D) dim

(E) transparent

51. Synonym: bolster most nearly means

(A) delay

(B) hinder

(D) announce

(E) support

52. Synonym: frugal most nearly means

(A) thrifty

(B) reckless

(D) extravagant

(E) prodigal

53. Antonym: placate is most nearly opposite to

(A) confuse

(B) amuse

(D) repeat

(E) enrage

54. Antonym: superficial is most nearly opposite to

(A) sincere

(B) external

(D) shallow

(E) thorough

55. Antonym: diminish is most nearly opposite to

(A) refine

(B) lessen

(D) weaken

(E) vanish

56. Antonym: candid is most nearly opposite to

(A) frank

(B) bleak

(D) open

(E) evasive

57. Logic: All members of the orchestra are musicians. Some musicians are composers. Which statement is definitely true?

(A) Some members of the orchestra are composers.

(B) All composers are musicians.

(D) No composers are members of the orchestra.

(E) All members of the orchestra are musicians.

58. Sequencing: Arrange the stages of plant development in the best logical order: bud, fruit, seed, flower, sprout.

(A) sprout, bud, flower, fruit, seed

(B) seed, sprout, bud, flower, fruit

(D) sprout, seed, bud, flower, fruit

(E) bud, flower, sprout, seed, fruit

59. Classification: Which word does not belong with the others?

(A) circle

(B) rhombus

(D) square

(E) triangle

60. Logic: Five students—Ava, Ben, Carla, Diego, and Elena—took a spelling test. Ava scored higher than Ben. Carla scored lower than Diego but higher than Elena. Diego did not score the highest. Who scored the highest?

(A) Ben

(B) Elena

(D) Ava

(E) Carla

Section 2: Quantitative Skills

52 questions — Time limit: 30 minutes

1. Number Series: 3, 9, 27, 81, ?

(A) 90

(B) 108

(D) 243

(E) 324

2. Number Series: 2, 5, 9, 14, 20, ?

(A) 25

(B) 26

(D) 28

(E) 29

3. Number Series: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, ?

(A) 11

(B) 12

(D) 14

(E) 15

4. Number Series: 100, 90, 81, 73, 66, ?

(A) 58

(B) 60

(D) 62

(E) 63

5. Number Series: 4, 7, 14, 17, 34, 37, ?

(A) 71

(B) 72

(D) 74

(E) 75

6. Number Series: 2, 4, 12, 48, 240, ?

(A) 720

(B) 900

(D) 1440

(E) 1800

7. Number Series: 5, 11, 23, 47, 95, ?

(A) 181

(B) 185

(D) 191

(E) 195

8. Number Series: 15, 13, 9, 3, −5, ?

(A) −17

(B) −16

(D) −14

(E) −13

9. Number Series: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, ?

(A) 30

(B) 32

(D) 35

(E) 36

10. Number Series: 2, 6, 5, 15, 14, 42, 41, ?

(A) 121

(B) 122

(D) 124

(E) 126

11. Number Series: 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 5/6, ?

(A) 1

(B) 13/12

(D) 5/6

(E) 11/12

12. Number Series: 2, 10, 4, 8, 6, 6, 8, 4, 10, ?

(A) 0

(B) 1

(D) 3

(E) 4

For Questions 13–20, compare Quantity A and Quantity B.

13. Quantity A: 3/4 of 40 Quantity B: 30% of 100

(A) Quantity A is greater

(B) Quantity B is greater

(D) Not enough information

14. Quantity A: |−7| + 3 Quantity B: 7 − (−3)

(A) Quantity A is greater

(B) Quantity B is greater

(D) Not enough information

15. Quantity A: (2^5)(2^2) Quantity B: 2^8

(A) Quantity A is greater

(B) Quantity B is greater

(D) Not enough information

16. Quantity A: 3/8 Quantity B: 0.36

(A) Quantity A is greater

(B) Quantity B is greater

(D) Not enough information

17. Quantity A: 18% of 90 Quantity B: 1/5 of 80

(A) Quantity A is greater

(B) Quantity B is greater

(D) Not enough information

18. Quantity A: Average (mean) of 6, 8, 14 Quantity B: Median of 4, 9, 16

(A) Quantity A is greater

(B) Quantity B is greater

(D) Not enough information

19. Quantity A: The larger of two numbers whose sum is 20 and whose difference is 4 Quantity B: 12

(A) Quantity A is greater

(B) Quantity B is greater

(D) Not enough information

20. x is a positive integer. Quantity A: x^2 Quantity B: 2x

(A) Quantity A is greater

(B) Quantity B is greater

(D) Not enough information

21. What number completes the sequence? 3, 6, 12, 24, , 96

(A) 36

(B) 42

(D) 72

(E) 84

22. If 5 pencils cost $2.00 at the same rate, how much do 18 pencils cost?

(A) $6.40

(B) $7.00

(D) $7.50

(E) $8.00

23. A jacket originally priced at $80 is discounted by 25% and then subject to an 8% sales tax on the discounted price. What is the total price paid?

(A) $58.40

(B) $60.00

(D) $64.80

(E) $69.12

24. The average of four test scores is 86. Three of the scores are 78, 85, and 91. What is the fourth score?

(A) 86

(B) 88

(D) 92

(E) 94

25. One pipe can fill a tank in 4 hours. A drain can empty the full tank in 6 hours. If both are opened with the tank empty, how long will it take to fill the tank?

(A) 8 hours

(B) 4 hours

(D) 6 hours

(E) 12 hours

26. What is the greatest common factor of 84 and 126?

(A) 12

(B) 14

(D) 42

(E) 63

27. Compute: (3/4 − 5/8) + 7/12

(A) 5/24

(B) 17/24

(D) 11/24

(E) 7/24

28. Which of the following is the solution set to |x − 5| ≤ 3?

(A) x ≤ 2 or x ≥ 8

(B) x ≤ −3 or x ≥ 3

(D) 5 ≤ x ≤ 8

(E) 2 ≤ x ≤ 8

29. A rectangle’s length is twice its width. If its perimeter is 54 cm, what is the area?

(A) 108 cm²

(B) 162 cm²

(D) 216 cm²

(E) 144 cm²

30. In a right triangle, the legs measure 9 and 12 units. What is the length of the hypotenuse?

(A) 12

(B) 13

(D) 15

(E) 18

31. On a map, 1 cm represents 5 km. A highway measures 68 km in real distance. How long is it on the map?

(A) 12.4 cm

(B) 10.6 cm

(D) 14.8 cm

(E) 13.6 cm

32. A bag contains 5 red, 3 blue, and 2 green marbles. If one marble is selected at random, what is the probability it is not red?

(A) 1/2

(B) 4/5

(D) 1/5

(E) 2/5

33. In a class of 30 students, 40% are eighth graders. How many students are not eighth graders?

(A) 10

(B) 12

(D) 18

(E) 20

34. Evaluate: √144 + 3³ − 2⁴

(A) 19

(B) 21

(D) 25

(E) 27

35. Solve the system for y: 2x + y = 19 and x − y = 5

(A) 1

(B) 2

(D) 4

(E) 5

36. What is the remainder when 57 is divided by 8?

(A) 0

(B) 1

(D) 5

(E) 7

37. In an arithmetic sequence, the first term is 4 and the common difference is 3. What is the 20th term?

(A) 58

(B) 61

(D) 67

(E) 70

38. A 10-liter solution is 30% sugar. How many liters of water must be added to make the solution 20% sugar?

(A) 3

(B) 4

(D) 6

(E) 8

39. The numbers 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and x are arranged in increasing order. Which value of x makes the median of the six numbers equal to 10?

(A) 5

(B) 8

(D) 10

(E) 12

40. A rectangular garden has an area of 84 m². Its length is 5 meters longer than its width. What is the width?

(A) 9 m

(B) 6 m

(D) 12 m

(E) 7 m

41. A jacket priced at $60 is discounted by 25%. After the discount, a sales tax of 8% is applied. What is the final price of the jacket?

(A) $42.00

(B) $45.00

(D) $49.80

(E) $51.00

42. Solve for x: 3(x − 2) = 2x + 5

(A) 7

(B) 9

(D) 11

(E) 13

43. What is the next number in the sequence: 3, 7, 15, 31, ?

(A) 47

(B) 49

(D) 63

(E) 65

44. A rectangle has length 3x + 2 and width x − 1. If x = 4, what is the perimeter of the rectangle?

(A) 24

(B) 28

(D) 34

(E) 36

45. A bag contains 5 red, 7 blue, and 8 green marbles. If one marble is drawn at random, what is the probability that it is not blue?

(A) 13/20

(B) 8/20

(D) 12/20

(E) 15/20

46. A car travels 150 miles in 3 hours at a constant speed. At that same speed, how long will it take to travel 260 miles?

(A) 6 hours

(B) 5 hours 12 minutes

(D) 4 hours 48 minutes

(E) 5 hours 30 minutes

47. Evaluate: 2^3 + 3^2 · 2 − 4

(A) 14

(B) 18

(D) 22

(E) 26

48. The average of six test scores is 84. If five of the scores are 90, 80, 88, 76, and 92, what is the sixth score?

(A) 74

(B) 76

(D) 80

(E) 82

49. A recipe uses sugar and flour in a ratio of 2:5. If you have 3 cups of sugar, how many cups of flour are needed to maintain the same ratio?

(A) 6

(B) 7

(D) 8

(E) 10

50. What is the least common multiple (LCM) of 18 and 24?

(A) 36

(B) 48

(D) 72

(E) 96

51. Solve the inequality: 5 − 2x > 9

(A) x < −2

(B) x > 2

(D) x = −2

(E) x < 2

52. Solve for x: |2x − 7| = 5

(A) No solution

(B) x = 6 only

(D) All real numbers

(E) x = 1 or x = 6

Section 3: Reading

62 questions — Time limit: 25 minutes

We named our robot “Gulliver” because it was always wandering off the taped line during practice, like a traveler with a bad map. On the morning of regionals, I packed the toolkit twice and recited our checklist under my breath as if it were a prayer. Motors—check. Battery—check. Spare wheels—check. We unloaded at the gym as the doors yawned open and teams rolled in with banners and neon hoodies. My team’s hoodies were gray because gray was on sale. Our first run landed us in the middle of the rankings. Gulliver hesitated at the bridge ramp, then lurched, dumping a foam block into the penalty zone. The buzzer sounded. I heard a parent in the stands whisper, “It’s okay,” to a kid on a different team, which somehow made it feel less okay. Back at the pit table, I tried to calm my hands by sorting screws by size, pretending that precision could be assembled like a machine. Then we found the problem: a mounting bolt had backed out and the left drive motor was clattering against its bracket. I had the right bolt in the wrong box and the right box in the wrong place. My stomach dropped. We had seven minutes before the next run. Jules, our programmer, said, “We could switch to the backup chassis.” Switching would mean surrendering the arm we’d practiced with for weeks. It felt like tearing pages out of a book and still expecting the story to make sense. That’s when a girl from Team 42, the ones with glowing shoelaces and coordinated cheers, drifted by. She glanced at our table and stopped. “You need a metric M3? We’ve got a bin,” she said, and her voice had the casual kindness of someone pointing out an unzipped backpack. As captain, I was supposed to manage resources and morale. In the quiet space between my pride and our timeline, I thought about our summer showcase where we’d invited the younger club to try our obstacle course. We’d stood behind them, applauding even their wobbly successes. I nodded. “Yes, please.” She came back with an assortment of hardware, and a binder clip “just in case.” We didn’t get the perfect bolt, but we got close enough. The motor settled into place with a relieved hum. When the buzzer for our heat sounded, Gulliver tracked the line like it wasn’t a suggestion anymore. It cleared the ramp and placed a block. The crowd noise dimmed as if someone had turned down the world’s volume to let us hear our own heartbeat. We finished the day in eleventh place out of thirty-two teams, which is neither a trophy nor a disappointment you can explain to people who don’t build things. On the bus ride home, the gray hoodies looked like a uniform we’d chosen on purpose. I sent a message to Team 42 that read simply, “Thank you.” The captain replied with a winking wrench emoji. Competition, it turns out, is a better story when it includes more than one hero.

1. Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage?

(A) The narrator believes competitions are unfair without matching budgets and uniforms.

(B) Accepting help from a rival team enables the narrator’s team to recover and perform respectably.

(D) The team fails because they choose the wrong chassis at a critical moment.

2. What motivates the narrator to accept help from Team 42?

(A) A recollection of supporting younger students and a focus on the team’s timeline

(B) Jules’s insistence that they switch to the backup chassis

(D) The need to appear friendly to judges

3. In context, the phrase “the quiet space between my pride and our timeline” most nearly suggests the narrator feels

(A) frustrated with teammates’ lack of urgency.

(B) annoyed by the rival team’s interference.

(D) confident that their plan will work without assistance.

4. The author’s attitude toward competition is best described as

(A) indifferent to outcomes.

(B) anxious and regretful.

(D) appreciative of sportsmanship and collaboration.

5. Which detail best supports the theme that collaboration enhances success?

(A) “She came back with an assortment of hardware, and a binder clip ‘just in case.’”

(B) “We could switch to the backup chassis.”

(D) “Our first run landed us in the middle of the rankings.”

For centuries, Roman harbors and piers have stubbornly endured the battering of the Mediterranean. Modern seawalls, by contrast, often demand repair within decades. The difference, researchers argue, lies in the ancient recipe. Roman builders mixed lime with volcanic ash and aggregate, then let seawater infiltrate the mixture over time. What seems counterintuitive—water making concrete stronger—turns out to be a quiet chemistry lesson written into stone. In the Roman formula, abundant calcium from lime reacts with minerals in the volcanic ash. Seawater acts as both catalyst and courier, dissolving ions and ferrying them into microscopic voids. Over years, this slow exchange grows new crystals—particularly a needle-like mineral called aluminous tobermorite—that knit the material together. Instead of remaining inert, the concrete heals and densifies. It ages into resilience. Modern concrete is optimized for speed and uniformity. Portland cement-based mixes set rapidly and produce predictable strength ratings, but the resulting microstructure is less forgiving. Cracks invite water that corrodes steel reinforcement and widens gaps. Engineers can and do design for these risks, yet the fundamental chemistry is different: modern concrete doesn’t self-assemble new minerals when drenched in saltwater. None of this suggests we should abandon contemporary materials wholesale. Roman concrete required specific volcanic ash, and construction expectations today—tall buildings, tightly scheduled projects—often demand rapid strength. Still, the Roman example offers a valuable perspective. If mixes are engineered to react beneficially with their environment, structures might last longer with fewer repairs. The sustainability implications are significant: fewer rebuilds mean less carbon-intensive cement production and lower lifecycle costs. Scientists are now experimenting with blended cements, industrial byproducts like fly ash, and bio-inspired additives. The goal isn’t nostalgia; it’s performance tuned to context. Ancient piers didn’t merely resist the sea—they used it, turning waves into accomplices in durability.

6. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) describe the construction of Roman buildings step by step.

(B) explain why Roman concrete endured and suggest lessons for modern materials.

(D) criticize modern engineers for neglecting ancient techniques.

7. According to the passage, Roman concrete becomes stronger over time primarily because

(A) the Romans used steel reinforcement to prevent cracking.

(B) volcanic ash keeps the mixture dry even under water.

(D) seawater corrodes the outer layer, sealing inner layers from damage.

8. Which cause-and-effect relationship is described in the passage?

(A) Using volcanic ash causes modern concrete to become identical to Roman concrete.

(B) Using Portland cement causes faster construction but fewer repairs.

(D) Exposure to seawater causes the growth of tobermorite crystals that strengthen the concrete.

9. In the passage, the word “counterintuitive” most nearly means

(A) contrary to expectation.

(B) unimportant.

(D) predictable.

10. Which statement best summarizes the passage?

(A) Modern concrete is always inferior to Roman concrete in any context.

(B) Roman concrete’s chemistry allowed it to strengthen in seawater, and modern researchers are exploring context-tuned materials to improve durability and sustainability.

(D) Because Roman concrete lasted longer, modern builders should stop using Portland cement immediately.

When the power went out, the delivery app on my phone became a mirror for my worried face. The map froze, the blue dot stuck somewhere near the river, and the order timer blinked into nothingness. I could have turned back, but Mrs. Han had been waiting all week for a bag of jasmine rice and the green tea she liked with honey. In the blackout, the city exhaled. The traffic lights went dark, and the chorus of horns fell quiet, replaced by the hush of wheels and footsteps. I pedaled until I found a pool of light outside a bodega running on a generator. Inside, the owner shook his head when I asked about directions. “No Wi‑Fi, kid,” he said, pointing to his paper receipts like artifacts from another age. He reached under the counter and unfolded a city map marbled with creases. “You know how to read one of these?” My uncle taught me on camping trips, tracing a finger north and asking me to orient the world by the sun. I studied the gray grid and the black river and the snarl of overpasses, then ran my finger from my location to the small triangle of park that would spit me out near Mrs. Han’s building. The streets would be darker there, but the path was shorter. In the park, the air felt like a cool hand pressed to a fevered forehead. I coasted under a canopy of branches until the path widened and the trees gave way to the open playing fields. Without the city’s glare, the sky had unblurred itself into a spill of stars I’d never noticed before. I thought about how many maps I’d carried unexamined in my pocket. Mrs. Han opened her door with a battery lantern glowing in her kitchen like a ship’s porthole. “You made it,” she said, surprised and relieved. She pressed a warm bun into my palm and whispered, “For the road.” On the ride home, the map nested back in my bag, softening at the folds with each bump. I didn’t need it anymore, but I kept it close, a quiet reminder that sometimes the way forward isn’t lit; it’s learned.

11. The primary conflict faced by the narrator is

(A) repairing a bicycle under poor lighting conditions.

(B) convincing the bodega owner to share his generator power.

(D) delivering groceries without a functioning phone map during a blackout.

12. Which detail best reveals a trait of the narrator?

(A) “The map froze, the blue dot stuck somewhere near the river.”

(B) “In the park, the air felt like a cool hand pressed to a fevered forehead.”

(D) “He reached under the counter and unfolded a city map…”

13. Which sequence of events is accurate?

(A) The narrator delivers the groceries, then obtains the paper map.

(B) The narrator rides home first, then returns to Mrs. Han’s apartment.

(D) The narrator sees the stars, gets lost, then visits the bodega.

14. In the sentence “In the blackout, the city exhaled,” the author most likely means that

(A) the city became calmer and quieter without the usual noise and lights.

(B) the city polluted less during the outage.

(D) the wind picked up, making biking easier.

15. Which theme is most clearly developed in the passage?

(A) Urban parks are more dangerous during blackouts.

(B) Self-reliance and adaptability can guide someone through uncertainty.

(D) Delivering groceries is more difficult than most people think.

A summer heat wave does not blanket a city evenly. On a 95-degree afternoon, one neighborhood bakes at 100 while another—often one with mature street trees and reflective roofs—hovers around 96. This contrast is the urban heat island effect, a product of materials and design. Dark asphalt and tar absorb sunlight all day, then release heat slowly at night. Sparse vegetation and wide expanses of pavement leave little shade and less evaporative cooling. The result is not only discomfort; it is measurable risk. Researchers mapping block-by-block temperatures have found differences of 10 degrees or more within the same city. Health data track alongside the maps: emergency room visits for heat-related illness spike where shade is scarce and air conditioning is unaffordable. The pattern echoes history. Neighborhoods that were underinvested for decades often lack trees, parks, and modernized housing. Heat, in this way, becomes another axis of inequality. Mitigation strategies are neither mysterious nor static. Trees provide immediate shade and, as they transpire, cool the air. Increasing canopy cover by as little as 10% can reduce local afternoon temperatures by up to 4 degrees Fahrenheit. High-albedo “cool roofs” reflect more sunlight than they absorb, lowering surface temperatures and reducing indoor heat gain. Permeable pavements allow rain to soak in, supporting street trees and preventing heat-retaining puddles. Policy matters. Cities that align tree planting with maintenance budgets, workforce training, and community input tend to see canopy gains that persist. Programs that subsidize cool roof installations during routine re-roofing cycles scale faster than standalone grants. The most effective plans prioritize the hottest, least-shaded blocks first, not merely areas with the most vocal advocates. No single measure erases the heat island effect. Yet layering interventions—shade trees on the sidewalk, reflective coatings on roofs, pocket parks where vacant lots gather trash—builds a cooler microclimate. Residents experience the difference at the pace of daily life: a bus stop with a young oak becomes bearable in July; the top-floor apartment holds its evening cool a bit longer. The physics are plain, but so is the promise.

16. Which statement best captures the author’s central claim?

(A) Planting trees alone will eliminate heat-related health risks.

(B) Urban heat islands are inevitable and cannot be mitigated meaningfully.

(D) Layered, targeted strategies such as tree canopy expansion and cool roofs can measurably reduce urban heat, especially in underinvested neighborhoods.

17. Which piece of evidence from the passage best supports the claim that mitigation strategies work?

(A) “Increasing canopy cover by as little as 10% can reduce local afternoon temperatures by up to 4 degrees Fahrenheit.”

(B) “Researchers mapping block-by-block temperatures have found differences of 10 degrees or more…”

(D) “Policy matters.”

18. The author’s tone toward policy solutions is best described as

(A) alarmist and urgent.

(B) indifferent and detached.

(D) dismissive and skeptical.

19. What can be inferred about neighborhoods historically underinvested in green infrastructure?

(A) They have uniformly banned air conditioning.

(B) They are cooler because they have less pavement.

(D) They face greater heat-related health risks due to fewer trees and less shade.

20. Which title would best fit the passage?

(A) Pavement and Politics: The End of Summer

(B) Cooler Blocks: How Targeted Design Reduces Urban Heat

(D) The Science of Wind: Cooling Cities with Airflow

On Saturday mornings, the community garden opened its creaking gate to whoever showed up with gloves and curiosity. I came for the tomatoes but stayed because Ms. Alvarez, who moved like a conductor through a humming orchestra, told me to “listen to what the soil is saying.” At first, the dirt said only rocks and worms. Then, as the light settled and the hose hissed, I noticed other voices: the lanky sunflowers leaning like tired sentries along the fence; the compost pile exhaling a faint steam in the cold; the quiet patience of seeds that would not be hurried by my calendar. When I pulled weeds, I learned that the shallow tug satisfies, but the slow, careful root-work keeps them from returning. When I planted, I learned that crowding seedlings made them compete until they all faltered. In the beds Ms. Alvarez tended, nothing jostled. She spaced everything with a kind of kindness. Midmorning, a neighbor I had never met wheeled in spare buckets of rainwater, nodding at the hose ban notice tacked to the shed. We shared trowels. We traded stories about slugs. Before noon, a child insisted I try a strawberry he claimed he had “trained” to be sweet. It was warm, imperfect, and better than anything from the store. By the time we locked the gate, the place had not transformed dramatically, but I had. I could hear, faintly, what the soil was saying.

21. What is the primary purpose of the passage?

(A) To provide step-by-step instructions for starting a garden

(B) To narrate a personal shift toward patience and attentiveness

(D) To describe the challenges of urban agriculture

22. What can be inferred about the narrator’s attitude toward Ms. Alvarez?

(A) The narrator finds her overly controlling

(B) The narrator believes she relies too much on tradition

(D) The narrator respects her practical wisdom

23. In the context of the passage, the phrase “sunflowers leaning like tired sentries” primarily serves to

(A) criticize the garden’s poor maintenance

(B) imply the flowers are diseased

(D) suggest the garden is abandoned

24. Which detail most strongly supports the theme of interdependence?

(A) The neighbor bringing rainwater and sharing tools

(B) The hose ban notice tacked to the shed

(D) The hose hissing

25. The mention of the compost pile “exhaling a faint steam” contributes to the passage by

(A) warning the reader about safety risks

(B) illustrating wastefulness in the garden

(D) contrasting with the cold indifference of the narrator

Cities often run several degrees warmer than their surrounding suburbs, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. Dark rooftops and asphalt absorb sunlight, storing heat during the day and releasing it at night, while sparse tree canopy and waste heat from vehicles and buildings compound the problem. The consequences are more than uncomfortable; higher temperatures elevate energy demand, worsen ground-level ozone, and disproportionately harm vulnerable populations. Mitigation strategies are well established. High-albedo roofing and pavement materials reflect more sunlight. Street trees and green roofs cool through shade and evapotranspiration, lowering ambient temperatures while improving air quality. In some pilot districts, “cool corridors” lined with reflective surfaces and dense canopy have reduced afternoon temperatures by several degrees. Critically, tactics work best in combination: reflective surfaces reduce heat absorption, while vegetation interrupts heat storage and supports stormwater management. Some cities hesitate due to cost and maintenance. Yet the economic case grows stronger. Lower peak electricity demand reduces strain on grids, and shade trees arrest heat while increasing property value and supporting public health. The science is clear: urban heat is a design problem, and design can solve it.

26. Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage?

(A) Cooling cities requires abandoning asphalt entirely

(B) Urban heat islands have serious consequences but can be reduced through coordinated design strategies

(D) Planting trees alone is sufficient to eliminate urban heat islands

27. According to the passage, which factor is a significant contributor to urban heat islands?

(A) Higher elevation of city centers

(B) Increased rainfall in cities

(D) Heat absorption by dark surfaces and limited tree canopy

28. The author’s primary purpose is to

(A) inform readers about causes and solutions while endorsing combined strategies

(B) entertain with anecdotes about city gardens

(D) warn readers to avoid urban areas in summer

29. As used in the passage, “high-albedo” most nearly means

(A) low-cost

(B) highly porous

(D) heat-resistant

30. Which mitigation strategy is presented as offering notable co-benefits beyond cooling?

(A) Painting all sidewalks white

(B) Planting street trees and installing green roofs

(D) Increasing vehicle traffic during off-peak hours

At the turn of the twentieth century, several cities experimented with delivering mail through underground pneumatic tubes. Compressed air pushed cylindrical canisters through a network beneath streets, bypassing surface congestion and promising near-instant delivery between post offices. The system embodied the era’s faith in speed and machinery, fitting the zeitgeist as snugly as a canister in a brass sleeve. For a time, it worked. Local letters zipped across town in minutes, and clerks became adept at packing the slender capsules with envelopes and receipts. But the system had limitations that proved decisive. The tubes could carry only small items. Leaks, blockages, and worn seals required relentless maintenance. Heavy rains sometimes disabled compressors. As telephones expanded and motorized vehicles improved, the rationale for maintaining the labyrinth dulled. By mid-century, most tube networks were dismantled or reduced to short internal runs, more curiosity than backbone. Yet the engineers who designed them left a legacy beyond the tubes themselves: they demonstrated that urban infrastructure could be reimagined radically, then revised just as radically when better tools arrived.

31. What was the primary reason cities adopted pneumatic tube mail systems?

(A) To deliver heavy parcels more efficiently

(B) To replace telegraph lines

(D) To bypass street congestion and speed local delivery

32. According to the passage, which factor most contributed to the decline of pneumatic tube systems?

(A) Maintenance issues and the rise of telephones and motorized vehicles

(B) The banning of underground construction

(D) Increased demand for handwritten letters

33. The author’s tone toward the engineers who built the tubes is best described as

(A) nostalgic and sentimental

(B) neutral and indifferent

(D) dismissive and critical

34. Which detail best illustrates the system’s limitations?

(A) Tubes carried only small items and suffered from leaks and blockages

(B) Letters zipped across town in minutes

(D) Clerks became adept at packing capsules

35. In context, the word “zeitgeist” most nearly means

(A) a financial burden

(B) a legal requirement

(D) the spirit or defining mood of an era

Some argue that search engines and student devices have made school librarians optional. The data say otherwise. A multi-district study that controlled for income and prior achievement found that schools with full-time certified librarians posted reading scores nearly ten percent higher after two years than comparable schools without them. The reason is not mysterious. Librarians are instructional partners who curate collections, teach research literacy, and build reading cultures that textbooks alone cannot sustain. Consider a typical week. A librarian co-teaches a lesson on evaluating online sources, guiding students through author credentials and domain analysis. She meets with a science team to align databases and primary sources with a climate unit. She hosts a lunchtime book club that normalizes reading for pleasure. That work is not interchangeable with a search bar, nor is it an extra: it is instructional infrastructure. Budgets are real, and schools must make choices. But eliminating librarians to “go digital” misreads the problem. Students drowning in information need more expertise, not less. Librarians perform triage—prioritizing needs, matching resources, teaching strategies—so teachers can teach and students can learn. In an age of misinformation, cutting the very professionals trained to navigate it is a false economy.

36. Which statement best captures the author’s central claim?

(A) Library budgets should be redirected to athletics

(B) School librarians are essential instructional partners whose impact is measurable

(D) Digital tools will soon replace teachers and librarians

37. Which counterargument does the author address directly?

(A) Libraries are too noisy for learning

(B) Librarians are overpaid relative to teachers

(D) Librarians lack technological skills

38. Which piece of evidence in the passage most strongly supports the author’s claim?

(A) A controlled study showing significant reading score gains in schools with full-time certified librarians

(B) An anecdote about a climate unit

(D) A description of a lunchtime book club

39. The tone of the passage is best described as

(A) detached and clinical

(B) assertive and evidence-driven

(D) sarcastic and dismissive

40. In the sentence “Librarians perform triage—prioritizing needs, matching resources, teaching strategies—so teachers can teach and students can learn,” the word “triage” most nearly means

(A) an emergency medical procedure conducted by nurses

(B) the removal of outdated books from a collection

(D) the selection and prioritization of tasks based on urgency and importance

On certain spring mornings, the city’s rooftops sound faintly alive. Beekeepers in white veils move across gravel and tar, lifting frames shimmering with new comb. The bees, for their part, are practical citizens. They navigate alley maples and median wildflowers, stitch together petals no one planned to coexist, and return with a cargo the city did not realize it needed. Critics call the trend quaint, as if urban beekeeping were a café aesthetic more than an ecological act. They are not entirely wrong; novelty has powered more than one rooftop installation. But novelty is a poor pollinator. What sustains colonies here is not fashion but an accidental abundance: patchwork plantings, community gardens, neglected lots gone gloriously feral. Policies are catching up. Some councils now incentivize native plantings on public land and revise codes to legalize apiaries. Predictably, there is friction. A neighbor who cherishes her balcony breakfasts does not relish bees testing the jam. A custodian worries about stings in a schoolyard. The science, however, is inconvenient to panic: honeybees are generally indifferent to humans when forage is plentiful, and the greatest risk to city pollinators is not proximity to people but pesticides and monoculture landscaping. If urban beekeeping accomplishes anything beyond honey jars on restaurant counters, it may be to make the invisible visible. Once a hive lands on a roof, someone must ask what blossoms feed it. The answer rarely flatters our planning. Yet it points to a future built less on tidy lawns and more on living margins—a city with corridors of bloom that serve bees first and, by extension, everyone else.

41. Which statement best captures the author’s overall view of urban beekeeping?

(A) It is unnecessary because cities already provide adequate pollination.

(B) It is mildly problematic but harmless in most contexts.

(D) It is a meaningful ecological practice when paired with supportive plantings.

42. The author’s tone toward critics who call urban beekeeping “quaint” is best described as:

(A) nuanced yet skeptical

(B) dismissive and hostile

(D) detached and indifferent

43. Which inference about city planning is most supported by the passage?

(A) Planners fully understand the risks posed by rooftop hives.

(B) Current planning often neglects the ecological needs of pollinators.

(D) City planning has consistently prioritized pollinator habitat.

44. The phrase “novelty is a poor pollinator” most nearly suggests that:

(A) Trendy cafés often mislabel their honey sources.

(B) Beekeeping technology has stagnated.

(D) Honeybees do not respond to new environments.

45. Which detail, if true, would most strengthen the author’s argument for pollinator corridors?

(A) Urban beekeeping clubs double in membership over two years.

(B) Surveys reveal people dislike bees at outdoor cafés.

(D) Native plant corridors increase urban fruit set and reduce pesticide use.

Before the coast had a name that stuck to maps, it had one man who sketched it from the deck of a sloop that leaked. Tomas Arguello, not quite a sailor and not quite a scholar, taught himself to read the shoreline as if it were a long, complicated sentence. He drew what he could not pronounce: estuaries like open hands, headlands bracing against storms, a serrated chain of islands that sailors still miscounted when fog came in. He recorded what the official charts omitted—sandbars that moved with the season, inlets that were mouths in summer and scars by spring. His maps were not beautiful in the way the capital preferred. They lacked gilded cartouches and allegorical mermaids. But fishermen pinned them to cabin walls with rusty nails, and pilots who had learned caution from shipwrecks traced his penciled warnings with their fingers. Arguello valued accuracy the way other men value a debt repaid. He was not immune to error; one inlet he drew as navigable silted shut within a year. He returned, crossed it out, and apologized in a note cramped across the margin. When, years later, officials bound his charts into a leather volume and filed it where bound volumes lived, they praised his “plainness.” The word fit, though not as they intended. His work did not dazzle. It kept vessels off the rocks.

46. The author’s attitude toward Arguello is primarily:

(A) critical of his informal methods

(B) indifferent to his legacy

(D) amused by his lack of formal training

47. What can be inferred about the “capital” mentioned in the passage?

(A) It valued decorative elements over functional accuracy.

(B) It employed Arguello as an official cartographer.

(D) It refused to acknowledge Arguello’s maps at all.

48. The image of reading the shoreline “as if it were a long, complicated sentence” suggests that Arguello:

(A) struggled to communicate his findings clearly

(B) approached mapping with analytical, interpretive care

(D) intentionally made his charts difficult to follow

49. Which detail most supports the idea that Arguello prioritized accountability?

(A) He sketched from a leaky sloop.

(B) He returned to correct an inlet and added an apology.

(D) He miscounted islands in the fog.

50. The closing sentence “His work did not dazzle. It kept vessels off the rocks.” conveys a tone that is:

(A) reverent, elevating plain utility as a higher virtue

(B) ironic, highlighting the futility of mapping

(D) sarcastic, mocking bureaucratic praise

The platform was not crowded, but it was busy in the way places are when people are trying not to be late. A man in a navy coat checked his watch and checked again, as if the second look might conjure a train out of mist. Across from him, Mrs. Patel’s flower buckets leaned toward the tracks, tulips on their stiff necks craning for the first train of the day, which always took half her load to offices uptown. A boy dragged a violin case along the yellow line and thought better of it when his mother pulled him back with a look that needed no words. Elena stood under the station clock and told herself she did not mind the wait. It gave her a pause long enough to practice a sentence she would have to speak, perhaps twice, depending on how her father received it. She had tried other sentences on in the mirror, but they had either sounded like apologies or like announcements to no one in particular. This one would be neither. She traced the rhythm of it on her palm with her thumb, over and over, so that by the time the train came she would have the cadence alight and steady. The clock insisted it was five past seven, which made Elena smile despite herself; it had been five past seven for two weeks. The stationmaster had said the part was coming, and said it again the way the man in the navy coat kept checking his watch, as if repetition were a form of repair. The train, however, was punctual in the unglamorous way of good machines. When its headlights unfurled along the rails, the tulips seemed to lift.

51. Which inference about Elena is most supported by the passage?

(A) She is annoyed by the broken clock and will complain.

(B) She plans to cancel a trip at the last minute.

(D) She is nervous about performing music in public.

52. The tone toward the station environment is best described as:

(A) sterile and mechanical

(B) bleak and foreboding

(D) whimsical with understated warmth

53. The detail about the station clock being stuck at “five past seven” primarily serves to:

(A) show the incompetence of the station staff

(B) hint that the train will be late

(D) confuse passengers about train schedules

54. The phrase “as if repetition were a form of repair” implies that:

(A) The stationmaster is lying about the part.

(B) Elena fears her train will never arrive.

(D) People rely on ritual to manage uncertainty.

55. Which choice best captures the author’s attitude toward the train’s punctuality?

(A) Relieved; it contrasts with human unreliability

(B) Indifferent; it has no impact on the scene

(D) Critical; machines are valued over people

Calls to improve school lunches often stall on the same principle: affordability. Districts are reminded, sometimes sternly, that budgets are not allegories; dollars spent on greens cannot be spent on buses or counselors. This is a fair caution. But it is not a reason to serve food that prepares students for neither learning nor life. We have treated nutrition as a luxury line item for so long that we have forgotten its ordinary function: to fuel attention, mood, and the quiet stamina that good classrooms require. Critics protest that scratch cooking is impractical at scale. Yet several medium-sized districts have already built central kitchens and trained staff to produce meals that meet standards without relying on ultra-processed defaults. Their spreadsheets look different—not because they discovered extra money hiding in the margins, but because they shifted what they count. Waste decreased when the food was worth eating. Healthcare costs edged down when attendance and wellness improved. Partnerships with local producers stabilized prices. None of this is magic; it is procurement aligned with purpose. We do not need every cafeteria to forage. We need systems that make the best choice the easy one. If we can design bus routes that knit a city together at 7 a.m., we can redesign lunch to do what we have always asked it to do: support the work of learning, quietly and well.

56. The author’s primary claim is that:

(A) Local producers should replace all national suppliers.

(B) Improving nutrition is feasible when systems and priorities are realigned.

(D) Budgets are irrelevant to school lunch quality.

57. The tone toward the “affordability” objection is best characterized as:

(A) dismissive and sarcastic

(B) resigned and pessimistic

(D) confused and uncertain

58. The mention of districts that built central kitchens functions to:

(A) provide concrete examples that the proposed approach can work

(B) warn against the complexity of scratch cooking

(D) suggest that only wealthy districts can change

59. Which inference is most supported by the passage?

(A) Bus routes are more complicated to design than lunch systems.

(B) Scratch cooking always increases food waste.

(D) Ultra-processed meals are cheaper in the short term but may incur hidden costs.

60. The phrase “procurement aligned with purpose” most nearly means:

(A) choosing the cheapest vendors regardless of quality

(B) buying decisions structured around clearly defined goals

(D) outsourcing food services to reduce oversight

61. According to the passage, which of the following happened in districts that built central kitchens?

(A) They began relying more heavily on ultra-processed defaults.

(B) Food waste decreased because the meals were worth eating.

(D) They cut bus routes to pay for better ingredients.

62. Which of the following best describes how the passage is organized?

(A) Two opposing experts debate while the author refuses to take a side.

(B) A series of statistics is presented and then shown to be unreliable.

(D) A personal memory is described and then turned into a general rule.

Section 4: Mathematics

64 questions — Time limit: 45 minutes

1. Evaluate: 3(5 − 2^2) + 4

(A) 1

(B) 4

(D) 9

(E) 12

2. Solve for x: 3x − 7 = 2x + 8

(A) 1

(B) 7

(D) 15

(E) 22

3. What is 40% of 250?

(A) 75

(B) 80

(D) 100

(E) 125

4. Simplify: (3/4) ÷ (5/8)

(A) 6/5

(B) 15/32

(D) 5/6

(E) 12/5

5. A store discounts an $80 item by 15% and then charges 8% sales tax on the discounted price. What is the final price?

(A) $62.56

(B) $68.64

(D) $74.80

(E) $86.40

6. If a/b = 2/5 and b = 30, what is a?

(A) 10

(B) 12

(D) 18

(E) 24

7. The average of five numbers is 18. Four of the numbers are 12, 15, 20, and 25. What is the fifth number?

(A) 14

(B) 16

(D) 20

(E) 22

8. Evaluate: −|−7 + 3|

(A) −10

(B) −4

(D) 4

(E) 10

9. Solve for y: 4y − 3(2y − 5) = 1

(A) 3

(B) 5

(D) 8

(E) 10

10. The ratio of cats to dogs is 3:5. If there are 40 dogs, how many cats are there?

(A) 16

(B) 20

(D) 30

(E) 50

11. Compute: 0.06 × 0.5

(A) 0.003

(B) 0.006

(D) 0.3

(E) 3

12. Which inequality describes the solution to 2x + 5 < 17?

(A) x = 6

(B) x > 6

(D) x < −6

(E) x < 6

13. Solve the system: 2x + y = 14 and x − y = 1. What is (x, y)?

(A) (8, −2)

(B) (6, 2)

(D) (7, 0)

(E) (5, 4)

14. Simplify: (2^3)(2^4) ÷ 2^2

(A) 8

(B) 16

(D) 64

(E) 128

15. A rectangle has length 2x + 3 and width x − 1. What is its perimeter when x = 4?

(A) 20

(B) 24

(D) 28

(E) 32

16. A car travels 150 miles in 3 hours 20 minutes. What is its average speed in miles per hour?

(A) 40

(B) 42

(D) 48

(E) 50

17. For x ≠ 3, which expression is equivalent to (x^2 − 9)/(x − 3)?

(A) x + 3

(B) x − 6

(D) x^2 + 9

(E) 2x − 3

18. If 5% of a number is 12, what is the number?

(A) 24

(B) 60

(D) 240

(E) 600

19. The sequence 2, 5, 8, 11, … is arithmetic. What is the 20th term?

(A) 56

(B) 57

(D) 59

(E) 62

20. Solve the quadratic equation: x^2 − 7x + 12 = 0

(A) x = 3 or 4

(B) No real solution

(D) x = 3 only

(E) x = 4 only

21. Simplify: (3x^2y)(2xy^3) ÷ (6x^2y^2)

(A) x^2y

(B) 6xy^2

(D) xy^3

(E) xy^2

22. Solve for x: 5(2x − 3) = 3(x + 7) + 4

(A) 5

(B) 40/7

(D) −40/7

(E) 7/40

23. An item priced at $80 is discounted 20%, then sales tax of 8% is applied to the discounted price. What is the final price?

(A) $62.40

(B) $68.80

(D) $70.40

(E) $74.24

24. A rectangle has length (w + 4) and width (w − 1). If its area is 84, what is w?

(A) −11

(B) 7

(D) 10

(E) 11

25. The average of five numbers is 12. If the sum of the first four numbers is 46, what is the fifth number?

(A) 8

(B) 10

(D) 14

(E) 16

26. A bag contains 6 red, 4 blue, and 5 green marbles. If one marble is drawn at random, what is the probability it is red?

(A) 2/5

(B) 1/3

(D) 5/6

(E) 2/3

27. A car travels at 50 mph for 2 hours and then at 60 mph for 1.5 hours. What is the average speed for the entire trip?

(A) 55.0 mph

(B) 50.0 mph

(D) 60.0 mph

(E) 54.3 mph

28. How much simple interest is earned on $1,200 at 5% annual interest for 3 years?

(A) $60

(B) $120

(D) $180

(E) $1,380

29. Solve the inequality: 4 − 3x > 10

(A) x > −2

(B) x < −2

(D) x = −2

(E) x ≥ −2

30. Solve: |2x − 5| = 7

(A) x = −1 or x = 6

(B) x = −6 or x = 1

(D) no solution

(E) x = 6 only

31. A recipe uses 3 cups of flour to make 12 cookies. How many cups are needed to make 30 cookies?

(A) 9 cups

(B) 6 cups

(D) 5 cups

(E) 7.5 cups

32. A circle has radius 7 cm. What is its area?

(A) 343π

(B) 49π

(D) 154

(E) 98π

33. In a right triangle, the legs measure 9 and 12. What is the hypotenuse?

(A) 13

(B) 12

(D) 21

(E) 15

34. What is the slope of the line passing through (2, −1) and (6, 7)?

(A) 2

(B) 1/2

(D) −1/2

(E) 4

35. What is the 10th term of the sequence 5, 9, 13, 17, … ?

(A) 37

(B) 39

(D) 43

(E) 45

36. Solve the system: x + y = 13 x − y = 5

(A) (x, y) = (4, 9)

(B) (x, y) = (9, 4)

(D) (x, y) = (7, 6)

(E) (x, y) = (13, 5)

37. A quantity increases from 320 to 400. What is the percent increase?

(A) 25%

(B) 20%

(D) 22.5%

(E) 33 1/3%

38. Express (4 × 10^5) + (3 × 10^4) in scientific notation.

(A) 4.3 × 10^4

(B) 4.03 × 10^5

(D) 43 × 10^4

(E) 4.3 × 10^5

39. What is the volume of a rectangular prism with length 8, width 5, and height 12?

(A) 25

(B) 96

(D) 480

(E) 520

40. What is the median of the data set: 7, 12, 3, 9, 15, 8, 10?

(A) 7

(B) 8

(D) 10

(E) 12

41. In triangle ABC, m∠A = 2x, m∠B = x + 20°, and m∠C = 40°. What is m∠B?

(A) 70°

(B) 60°

(D) 40°

(E) 50°

42. Lines ℓ and m are parallel. A transversal creates a pair of alternate interior angles labeled 3x + 10° and 7x − 30°. What is the measure of each of these angles?

(A) 30°

(B) 40°

(D) 35°

(E) 45°

43. A circle has radius 7 cm. What is the area of a 90° sector?

(A) 7π cm²

(B) 14π cm²

(D) 49π/2 cm²

(E) 49π/4 cm²

44. A right triangle has legs of lengths 6 and 8. What is the length of the hypotenuse?

(A) 9

(B) 10

(D) 12

(E) 14

45. What is the distance between the points (−2, 3) and (4, −1)?

(A) 2√13

(B) √52

(D) 2√10

(E) 8

46. A rectangle measures 10 cm by 6 cm. A semicircle with diameter equal to the rectangle’s 6 cm side is attached along that side. What is the total area of the figure?

(A) 60 + (9π/2) cm²

(B) 60 + (27π/4) cm²

(D) 60 + 6π cm²

(E) 30 + 9π cm²

47. What is the volume of a right circular cylinder with radius 3 cm and height 10 cm?

(A) 180π cm³

(B) 60π cm³

(D) 120π cm³

(E) 90π cm³

48. ΔABC ~ ΔDEF. If AB = 6, BC = 8, AC = 10, and DE = 9 corresponds to AB, what is EF (which corresponds to BC)?

(A) 9

(B) 10

(D) 12

(E) 13

49. On a map, the scale is 1 inch = 8 miles. If two towns are 3.75 inches apart on the map, what is the actual distance between them?

(A) 22 miles

(B) 32 miles

(D) 30 miles

(E) 28 miles

50. A regular polygon has an interior angle measure of 150°. How many sides does it have?

(A) 10

(B) 11

(D) 15

(E) 18

51. Point P(−4, 5) is reflected across the y-axis. What are the coordinates of the image P′?

(A) (5, −4)

(B) (−5, 4)

(D) (4, −5)

(E) (4, 5)

52. What is the surface area of a cube with edge length 5 cm?

(A) 25 cm²

(B) 150 cm²

(D) 125 cm²

(E) 100 cm²

53. Two sides of a triangle measure 5 and 8. Which of the following could be the length of the third side?

(A) 2

(B) 3

(D) 13

(E) 14

54. In a 30°–60°–90° triangle, the shorter leg is 6. What is the perimeter?

(A) 18 + 6√3

(B) 18

(D) 12 + 12√3

(E) 12 + 6√3

55. A circle has diameter 14 cm. What is the length of a 60° arc?

(A) 7π/6 cm

(B) 7π/3 cm

(D) 7π cm

(E) 14π/3 cm

56. A trapezoid has bases of 8 cm and 14 cm and a height of 6 cm. What is its area?

(A) 84 cm²

(B) 60 cm²

(D) 66 cm²

(E) 72 cm²

57. A dart lands randomly inside a square target with side length 10 inches. A circle is inscribed in the square. What is the probability the dart lands inside the circle?

(A) π/8

(B) π/2

(D) π/5

(E) π/4

58. A 30 ft by 20 ft rectangular garden is surrounded by a uniform walkway 2 ft wide on the outside. What is the area of the walkway?

(A) 216 ft²

(B) 236 ft²

(D) 256 ft²

(E) 176 ft²

59. What is the midpoint of the segment with endpoints (−1, 7) and (5, −3)?

(A) (2, 5)

(B) (2, 2)

(D) (3, 2)

(E) (4, 2)

60. Two similar triangles have a side-length scale factor of 3/2. If the smaller triangle’s perimeter is 24, what is the perimeter of the larger triangle?

(A) 30

(B) 32

(D) 36

(E) 40

61. At a station, one shuttle departs every 12 minutes and another departs every 18 minutes. If both shuttles depart together at 9:00 a.m., at what time will they next depart together?

(A) 9:36 a.m.

(B) 9:24 a.m.

(D) 10:12 a.m.

(E) 9:30 a.m.

62. For a school uniform, students choose from 4 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, and 2 sweaters. How many different outfits of one shirt, one pair of pants, and one sweater are possible?

(A) 9

(B) 12

(D) 20

(E) 24

63. One pump can fill an empty tank in 6 hours, and a second pump can fill the same tank in 4 hours. If both pumps work together, how long will it take to fill the tank?

(A) 3 hours

(B) 2 hours

(D) 2 hours 24 minutes

(E) 5 hours

64. The first term of a geometric sequence is 3, and each term is twice the term before it. What is the 7th term?

(A) 96

(B) 128

(D) 192

(E) 384

Section 5: Language

60 questions — Time limit: 25 minutes

1. Choose the best version of the sentence.

(A) Neither the coach nor the players are willing to cancel practice.

(B) Neither the coach nor the players was willing to cancel practice.

(D) Neither the coach nor the players have been willing to cancel practice.

2. Choose the correct pronoun usage.

(A) Between you and me, the results were surprising.

(B) Among you and me, the results were surprising.

(D) Between you and I, the results were surprising.

3. Choose the sentence with correct punctuation.

(A) After finishing, the lab report the students went to lunch.

(B) After finishing the lab report, the students went to lunch.

(D) After finishing the lab report; the students went to lunch.

4. Choose the sentence with correct use of commas around a nonessential clause.

(A) My sister who plays the violin, won an award.

(B) My sister, who plays the violin won an award.

(D) My sister, who plays the violin, won an award.

5. Choose the best revision to correct the comma splice. The museum closes at five, we should hurry.

(A) The museum closes at five: we should hurry.

(B) The museum closes at five we should hurry.

(D) The museum closes at five; and we should hurry.

6. Choose the sentence that maintains parallel structure.

(A) The committee values honesty, being punctual, and creativity.

(B) The committee values honesty, punctuality, and creativity.

(D) The committee values being honest, being punctual, and being creative.

7. Choose the sentence that correctly places the modifier.

(A) As Jason ran down the hall, his backpack slipped off his shoulder.

(B) The backpack slipped off Jason's shoulder running down the hall.

(D) Running down the hall, the backpack slipped off Jason's shoulder.

8. Choose the sentence with correct verb tense.

(A) By the time the bell rang, we were completing the test.

(B) By the time the bell rang, we complete the test.

(D) By the time the bell rang, we had completed the test.

9. Choose the sentence with correct apostrophe usage.

(A) The teacher's lounge was newly painted.

(B) The teachers's lounge was newly painted.

(D) The teachers' lounge was newly painted.

10. Choose the correct degree of comparison.

(A) Of the three runners, Maya was the fastest.

(B) Of the three runners, Maya was the faster.

(D) Of the three runners, Maya was the more fast.

11. Choose the sentence with correct word choice.

(A) The new policy will positively affect on attendance.

(B) The new policy will have a positive affect on attendance.

(D) The new policy will effect positively attendance.

12. Choose the sentence with correct colon usage.

(A) Bring the following: items a pencil, a calculator, and a snack.

(B) Bring the following items: a pencil, a calculator, and a snack.

(D) Bring the following items; a pencil, a calculator, and a snack.

13. Choose the sentence with correct subject–verb and pronoun agreement.

(A) The team is celebrating its victory.

(B) The team is celebrating their victory.

(D) The team are celebrating their victory.

14. Choose the sentence with correct who/whom usage.

(A) To who did you send the invitation?

(B) Whom did you send the invitation to?

(D) Who did you send the invitation to?

15. Choose the most concise, grammatically correct version.

(A) Each and every student must individually sign his or her own form.

(B) Every single student must sign their own form.

(D) Each student must sign the form.

16. Choose the sentence with correct hyphenation.

(A) A well, known author spoke.

(B) A well-known author spoke.

(D) A well-known author, spoke.

17. Choose the correctly punctuated compound sentence.

(A) Lena studied for the test and, she revised her essay.

(B) Lena studied for the test and she revised her essay.

(D) Lena studied for the test; and she revised her essay.

18. Choose the sentence with correct pronoun–antecedent agreement.

(A) If a person wants to succeed, they must work hard.

(B) If people want to succeed, he or she must work hard.

(D) If people want to succeed, they must work hard.

19. Choose the sentence with correct subject–verb agreement.

(A) Mathematics have been a challenging subject.

(B) Mathematics is a challenging subject.

(D) Mathematics are a challenging subject.

20. Choose the sentence with correct commas for direct address and an interrupter.

(A) Yes, Mr. Alvarez, the results are, however, encouraging.

(B) Yes, Mr. Alvarez the results however, are encouraging.

(D) Yes Mr. Alvarez, the results however are encouraging.

For questions 253–272, choose the best version of the sentence.

21.

(A) Neither the coach or the players were ready for the heat.

(B) Neither the coach nor the players were ready for the heat.

(D) Neither the coach nor the players was ready for the heat.

22.

(A) Sofia finished the lab early: she checked her calculations twice.

(B) Sofia finished the lab early and, she checked her calculations twice.

(D) Sofia finished the lab early, she checked her calculations twice.

23.

(A) No one runs faster than him.

(B) No one runs faster then he.

(D) No one runs faster than he.

24.

(A) Walking down the hall, I saw the posters that caught my eye.

(B) Walking down the hall, the posters caught my eye.

(D) The posters, walking down the hall, caught my eye.

25.

(A) The program teaches how to write clearly, read critically, and speaking persuasively.

(B) The program teaches to write clearly, to read critically, and to speak persuasively.

(D) The program teaches writing clearly, to read critically, and speaking persuasively.

26.

(A) The museum that opened in 1922, houses rare artifacts.

(B) The museum which opened in 1922 houses rare artifacts.

(D) The museum, that opened in 1922, houses rare artifacts.

27.

(A) the teachers's lounge

(B) the teachers lounge

(D) the teachers' lounge

28.

(A) The bouquet of roses and lilies was fragrant.

(B) The bouquet, of roses and lilies, were fragrant.

(D) The bouquet of roses and lilies were fragrant.

29.

(A) There was less complaints this month than last.

(B) There were fewer complaints this month than last.

(D) There were less complaints this month than last.

30.

(A) Marie is regarded to be one of the best debaters on the team.

(B) Marie is considered to be as one of the best debaters on the team.

(D) Marie is considered as one of the best debaters on the team.

31.

(A) During the summer of 2024 my cousin, Elena, will intern at the hospital.

(B) During the summer of 2024, my cousin, Elena will intern at the hospital.

(D) During the summer of 2024, my cousin Elena will intern at the hospital.

32. Which sentence is correctly capitalized?

(A) We met Professor Garcia and the dean of students.

(B) We met professor Garcia and the Dean of Students.

(D) We met Professor garcia and the dean of Students.

33.

(A) The deadline; ironically extended twice; arrived on Monday.

(B) The deadline: ironically extended twice arrived, on Monday.

(D) The deadline—ironically extended twice—arrived on Monday.

34.

(A) Of the three routes, this is the directest.

(B) Of the three routes, this is the most direct.

(D) Of the three routes, this is more direct.

35. Each of the participants must bring ID badge.

(A) his or her own

(B) their

(D) his or her

36.

(A) The kit includes the following gauze, tape, and scissors.

(B) The kit includes: gauze, tape, and scissors.

(D) The kit includes gauze, tape, and scissors.

37.

(A) The café on the corner recently changed owners; serves scones.

(B) The café on the corner, which recently changed owners, serves scones.

(D) The café on the corner recently changed owners, it serves scones.

38.

(A) The principal reason for the delay was the storm.

(B) The principle reason for the delay was the storm.

(D) The principel reason for the delay was the storm.

39. To avoid ambiguity, choose the best sentence.

(A) The orchestra plays more skillful than does the choir.

(B) The orchestra plays more skillful than the choir.

(D) The orchestra plays more skillfully than the choir.

40.

(A) We turned down a long, winding dusty road.

(B) We turned down a long winding, dusty road.

(D) We turned down a long, winding, dusty road.

41. Which of the following is spelled correctly?

(A) accomodate

(B) accommodate

(D) acommodate

42. Which of the following is spelled correctly?

(A) indespendable

(B) indespensable

(D) indispensable

43. Which of the following is spelled correctly?

(A) mischievous

(B) mischevious

(D) mischievious

44. Which of the following is spelled correctly?

(A) receeve

(B) recive

(D) recieve

45. Which of the following is spelled correctly?

(A) reccommendation

(B) recommendation

(D) recomendation

46. Which of the following is spelled correctly?

(A) noticeable

(B) notteceable

(D) noticable

47. Which word is misspelled?

(A) maintenance

(B) privilege

(D) liason

48. Which word is misspelled?

(A) millennium

(B) affectionate

(D) supersede

49. Which word is misspelled?

(A) harass

(B) cemetery

(D) collectible

50. Which word is misspelled?

(A) embarassment

(B) amateur

(D) threshold

51. Choose the best revision to correct the sentence: Running late, the keys were nowhere to be found by Jordan.

(A) Running late, the keys could not be found.

(B) Jordan, running late, the keys were nowhere to be found.

(D) Running late, Jordan could not find the keys.

52. Which revision most effectively corrects the comma splice without adding unnecessary words? The committee met on Tuesday, it voted to postpone the decision.

(A) The committee met on Tuesday it voted to postpone the decision.

(B) The committee met on Tuesday; it voted to postpone the decision.

(D) The committee met on Tuesday, and it voted to postpone the decision.

53. Which sentence is complete (not a fragment)?

(A) We left because the museum closed early.

(B) Although the tickets were sold out.

(D) Because the museum closed early.

54. Which sentence maintains clear parallel structure?

(A) The job requires attention to detail, communicating clearly, and arriving on time.

(B) The job requires attention to detail, clear communication, and punctuality.

(D) The job requires paying attention to detail, to communicate clearly, and arriving on time.

55. Which sentence has correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?

(A) Each of the students must bring the student’s laptop to the workshop.

(B) All of the students must bring their laptop to the workshop.

(D) Each of the students must bring their laptops to the workshop.

56. Choose the sentence that places the modifier correctly.

(A) She drove her kids nearly to school for three hours.

(B) Nearly for three hours, she drove her kids to school.

(D) She drove her kids to school for nearly three hours.

57. Which sentence corrects the faulty comparison?

(A) Our basketball team’s record is better than the middle school has been.

(B) Our basketball team’s record is better than the middle school team’s record.

(D) Our basketball team is better than the middle school.

58. Choose the most effective sentence to show cause and effect.

(A) The storm worsened and we decided to postpone the picnic.

(B) The storm worsened, therefore we decided to postpone the picnic.

(D) Because the storm worsened, we decided to postpone the picnic.

59. Select the correct verb to complete the sentence: Either the players or the coach responsible for planning practice.

(A) have been

(B) are

(D) were

60. Which sentence is correctly punctuated and free of structural errors?

(A) The orchestra rehearsed for weeks; however, the performance was still uneven.

(B) The orchestra rehearsed for weeks, however, the performance was still uneven.

(D) The orchestra rehearsed for weeks, the performance was still uneven.

Answer Key

Step-by-step explanations for every question are available in the online simulator after completing the test.

Verbal Skills

1. C2. A3. D4. B5. A6. D7. B8. C9. B10. C11. D12. A13. C14. B15. D16. A17. A18. C19. A20. A21. D22. B23. C24. D25. B26. B27. C28. D29. D30. B31. A32. C33. A34. B35. C36. D37. A38. C39. D40. B41. E42. E43. D44. E45. E46. C47. E48. E49. B50. E51. E52. A53. E54. E55. C56. E57. E58. B59. A60. D

Quantitative Skills

1. D2. C3. C4. B5. D6. D7. D8. C9. E10. C11. A12. C13. C14. C15. B16. A17. A18. A19. C20. D21. C22. C23. D24. C25. E26. D27. B28. E29. B30. D31. E32. A33. D34. C35. C36. B37. B38. C39. E40. E41. C42. D43. D44. D45. A46. B47. D48. C49. C50. D51. A52. E

Reading

1. B2. A3. C4. D5. A6. B7. C8. D9. A10. B11. D12. C13. C14. A15. B16. D17. A18. C19. D20. B21. B22. D23. C24. A25. C26. B27. D28. A29. C30. B31. D32. A33. C34. A35. D36. B37. C38. A39. B40. D41. D42. A43. B44. C45. D46. C47. A48. B49. B50. A51. C52. D53. C54. D55. A56. B57. C58. A59. D60. B61. B62. C

Mathematics

1. C2. D3. D4. A5. C6. B7. C8. B9. C10. C11. C12. E13. E14. C15. D16. C17. A18. D19. D20. A21. E22. B23. C24. C25. D26. A27. E28. D29. B30. A31. E32. B33. E34. A35. C36. B37. A38. E39. D40. C41. B42. B43. E44. B45. A46. A47. E48. D49. D50. C51. E52. B53. C54. A55. B56. D57. E58. A59. B60. D61. A62. E63. D64. D

Language

1. C2. A3. B4. D5. C6. B7. A8. D9. D10. A11. C12. B13. A14. C15. D16. B17. C18. D19. B20. A21. B22. C23. D24. A25. B26. C27. D28. A29. B30. C31. D32. A33. C34. B35. A36. D37. B38. A39. C40. D41. B42. D43. A44. C45. B46. A47. D48. C49. C50. A51. D52. B53. A54. B55. C56. D57. B58. D59. C60. A