P20 SAT Tutor: Thiên Trang

Section 1, Module 1: Reading and Writing

The Apollo Moon landings (1969-1972) brought atmospheric sensors and seismic sensors to the
Moon and produced large amounts of data. Researcher Renee Weber, who is investigating
tectonic activity on the Moon, continues to use Apollo's data, demonstrating that the missions'
value to science is _____.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. displaced

B. ongoing

C. original

D. controversial

Because cyanobacteria and other microphytobenthos (MPB)—microscopic organisms inhabiting

tidal flats—are consumed by mussels as well as by certain shorebirds and fish, MPB are _____
estuary ecosystems. Decreased MPB abundance, which may be caused by environmental
stressors, thus has a direct, negative impact on coastal food webs.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. imperative for

B. emblematic of

C. subordinate to

D. interchangeable with

Some pieces of music might have many meanings—the compositions of Charlotte Moorman can
_____ as many different interpretations as there are people to listen to them—and so as long as a
listener's interpretation isn't willfully absurd or the result of inattention, it is difficult to justify
the claim that the listener has misunderstood the piece.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. refute

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B. omit

C. support

D. evade

The inventories of consonant sounds among the Polynesian languages of the Pacific tend toward
the _____. Sikaiana in the South Pacific has a total of nine consonants, and 'Olelo Hawai'i, the
language of the Native Hawaiian people, has one fewer, while the global median per language is
over twenty-two.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. minimal

B. static

C. replicable

D. melodic

Founded in Long Beach, California, in 1996, the Museum of Latin American Art is dedicated to
modern and contemporary art by Latin American artists and Latino artists in the United States.
Since its founding, it has acquired more than 1,300 objects for its permanent collection. More
recently founded US-based institutions devoted to Latino cultures include Casa de Rosado.
Located in Lansing, Michigan, it focuses on the arts and cultures of Latino communities in
Michigan.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To trace a historical development that encouraged the founding of two institutions

B. To trace the founding of two institutions, including how they acquired funding to purchase
artworks

C. To present information about two institutions, including each institution's area of focus

D. To draw a contrast between the collection sizes of two institutions 6

The following text is adapted from D.A. Lozano's 1844 poem "A Remembrance of Puerto

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Cabello—The Mangle" (translated by Agnes Blake Poor in 1918). The poem is a dedication to
Puerto Cabello, a town on the northern coast of Venezuela. And while outside the tempest
is raving o'er the ocean,
And the ship is madly driving on some lone and
desert shore;
Thy warm and land-locked waters swell with an easy
motion,
And gently glides the light pirogue [canoe] at dipping of the
oar.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It describes the speaker's attitude towards the day-to-day life in Puerto Cabello.

B. It contrasts the tranquility of the waters near Puerto Cabello with the roughness of waters
elsewhere.

C. It emphasizes the severity of a storm that is expected to arrive soon in Puerto Cabello.

D. It compares the appearance of two types of boats.

In what is now New Mexico, the Pueblo of Pojoaque operates the Poeh Cultural Center. Relying
on traditional knowledge to guide the design of exhibits, this institution presents Pojoaque
history and culture to the tribe's citizens. The Tohono O'odham Nation, a tribe in Arizona,
employs a similar strategy in its own cultural center. Both centers contrast with museums that
aren't Indigenous-led; when displaying Indigenous artifacts, such museums tend to anticipate
mainly non-Indigenous audiences and rely on Euro-centric strategies for designing exhibits.

According to the text, what is one way that non-Indigenous museums typically differ from the
cultural centers operated by the Pueblo of Pojoaque and the Tohono O'odham Nation? A. The
museums typically feature fewer artifacts in their exhibits.

B. The museums are often somewhat smaller in size.

C. The museums are largely aimed at non-Indigenous audiences.

D. The museums focus on tribal history as well as tribal culture.

The Hawaiian archipelago is home to the kiwikiu (Pseudonestor xanthophrys), one of several
bird species that can only be found on the islands. Due to Hawai'i's uniquely varied geographic
and ecological conditions, the kiwikiu became highly specialized as it adapted to survive in a

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specific island habitat. However, like many highly specialized species, the kiwikiu is particularly
vulnerable to environmental stressors, such as disease, invasive species, and habitat destruction,
that disrupt the delicately balanced ecosystems in which the birds live.

Based on the text, why is the kiwikiu a highly specialized species?

A. It lives exclusively in the most geographically isolated locations on the Hawaiian archipelago.

B. It adapted over time to live in a specific habitat found on the Hawaiian archipelago.

C. It adapted over time to share a habitat with other highly specialized bird species on the
Hawaiian archipelago.

D. It lives in a habitat that is exposed to numerous environmental stressors.

The following text is adapted from Guy de Maupassant's 1884 short story "A Recollection," from
the collection Guy de Maupassant Short Stories (translated by Albert M.C. McMaster et al. in
1903). The narrator is taking a boat down the Seine river from Paris, France, to the surrounding
countryside.
I took up a position in the bows [front of the boat), standing up and looking at the quays, the
trees, the houses and the bridges disappearing behind us. And suddenly I perceived the great
viaduct of Point du Jour which blocked the river. It was the end of Paris, the beginning of the
country, and behind the double row of arches the Seine, suddenly spreading out as though it had
regained space and liberty, became all at once the peaceful river which flows through the plains,
alongside the wooded hills, amid the meadows, along the edge of the forests.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

A. The narrator contrasts his feelings of apprehension with the apparent tranquility of the
river as the boat enters the countryside.

B. The narrator is anxious for the trip to the countryside to be over as quickly as possible,
and is frustrated that it is taking so long.

C. Though the narrator did not expect to be leaving the city on this trip, he is nonetheless
excited to undertake this new adventure.

D. The narrator perceives a parallel between the shift from the urban environment to the
countryside and the changes in the features of the river itself.

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To understand the extent of deforestation in the Chorotega region of Costa Rica, Juan Pablo
Arroyo-Mora and colleagues used historical aerial photography and remote sensing data to track
changes in the annual mean size of forest patches across different land use capability classes
(categories that indicate possible uses of forest land). Due to the Chorotega region's climate,
various types of forested areas were converted to cattle pasture as rising international meat prices
drove a cattle ranching boom in the 1960s and 1970s. By 1986, mean forest patch sizes had
dropped considerably. In that year, they were between _____.

Which choice njost effectively uses data from the graph to complete the assertion? A.

100 and 125 hectares.

B. 125 and 150 hectares.

C. 200 and 250 hectares.

D. 30 and 50 hectares.

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Lin-Tai Ho and colleagues monitored fish populations in a tide pool in Taiwan. They found that
some species were entirely absent from the tide pool at particular times of the year; for example,
they did not observe even one _____.

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the example? A.

barred flagtail in January of 2001.

B. striated rockskipper in January and April of 2001.

C. barred flagtail in October of 2001.

D. combtooth blenny in January of 2001.

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Paleontologist Amane Tajika and colleagues analyzed the shells of two marine mollusks called
nautilids that were collected from waters near New Caledonia. Sample F13 and other shell
sections formed during adulthood suggest that mature New Caledonian nautilids live at the same
depths as mature Fijian nautilids. However, sample M06, which formed while the nautilid was
still in its egg, had a chemical signature suggesting the egg had been laid in water 120 meters
deep, while Fijian nautilids typically lay eggs at depths of at least 170 meters. Because water
temperature decreases as depth increases, a biology student hypothesized that the New
Caledonian nautilids lay their eggs in warmer water than Fijian nautilids do.

Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken the student's hypothesis?

A. New Caledonia nautilids tend to migrate upward to warmer water immediately after
hatching, whereas Fijian nautilids do not.

B. The water temperature at a given depth tends to be higher in waters near Fiji than it is at
that depth in waters near New Caledonia.

C. There aren't enough suitable hatching areas at a depth of at least 170 meters in New
Caledonia for nautilids to lay their eggs at that depth.

D. The water temperature at a given depth tends to be lower in waters near Fiji than it is at
that depth in waters near New Caledonia.

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Many studies have found a positive association between levels of dissolved organic carbon and
mercury in bodies of fresh water in North America. But Petri Porvari and Matti Verta did not
find this correlation in a study conducted in Finland, leading some scientists to hypothesize that
the pattern is particular to North America. However, Yao Luo and colleagues reported dissolved
organic carbon and mercury rising or falling together in a study conducted in China, and several
other studies from outside North America have yielded similar results, suggesting that _____.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. environmental characteristics unique to Finland likely result in dissolved organic carbon

and mercury levels in bodies of fresh water both being significantly higher there than elsewhere.

B. the bodies of water examined in Porvari and Verta's study may be more similar to the
bodies of water examined in studies conducted in North America than to those examined in Luo
and colleagues' study.

C. there may be circumstances specific to the bodies of water examined in Porvari and
Verta's study that disrupted a general positive association between dissolved organic carbon and
mercury levels.

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D. bodies of fresh water outside North America are more likely to show a negative
association between dissolved organic carbon and mercury levels than a positive association.

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Rudolf Cesaretti et al. conducted an analysis of historical urban scaling trends circa 1300 CE in
Western Europe, focusing on agglomeration patterns within medieval settlements. They
examined settlements in urban systems across Western Europe, with groupings based on
regionally distinct political structures, economic focuses, and spatial constraints—including the
aristocratically controlled city-state of Parma in northern Italy, merchant controlled city-states
like Goerlitz in Germany, the wool-trading centers of Lincoln and Canterbury in England, and
prime trade fair towns like Troyes in France. A prevalent trend emerged: as a city's total settled
area increased, so did population density in its core urban areas. This finding implies that _____.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. even when they were substantial, known inter-regional differences in characteristics of

urban systems had a limited effect on agglomeration patterns in medieval Western European
settlements.

B. the observed relationship is heavily influenced by urban characteristics that were

particular to medieval Western Europe, making it unlikely that a similarly strong relationship
between area and population density would be found for medieval settlements in other regions.

C. the effects of variations in political and economic interests on agglomeration patterns

were less evident in comparisons between medieval settlements within a region than in
comparisons between groups of settlements across regions of Western Europe.

D. despite regional differences in their political and economic systems, medieval Western
European settlements shared common spatial constraints that encouraged high population density
in core urban areas.

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After much debate, _____ finally made a decision: the judges for the 1947 Nobel Prize in
Literature would award André Paul Guillaume Gide of France with that year's prize "for his
comprehensive and artistically significant writings, in which human problems and conditions
have been presented with a fearless love of truth and keen psychological insight."

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. anyone

B. you

C. they

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D. it

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In June of 1966, the song "I Need Love" was a top-ten hit. Having climbed the charts for six
weeks, _____ ranked No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 list of most popular songs.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. those

B. they

C. each

D. it

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In 1847, the novel Agnes Grey was published under the pen name Acton Bell. Now, we know
that _____.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? A.

was the author's real name Anne Brontë?

B. the author's real name was Anne Brontë.

C. was the author's real name Anne Brontë.

D. the author's real name was Anne Brontë?

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While the greater adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius) can be found in places like the Inner Gulf of
Thailand and Manchar Lake in _____ than 80 percent of this endangered stork species is found
in Assam, India. There, wildlife biologist Dr. Purnima Devi Barman is on the front lines of
conservation efforts to bring adjutants back from near extinction.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. Pakistan, more

B. Pakistan; more

C. Pakistan. More

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D. Pakistan more

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Canada and Germany have two of the longest constitutions in the world. At 19,565 and 27,379
words, respectively, these _____ according to research by constitutional scholars George
Tsebelis and Dominic J. Nardi, correlate with GDPs (gross domestic products) that are lower
than those of countries with shorter constitutions.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. constitutions' length,

B. constitutions lengths,

C. constitution's length,

D. constitutions' lengths,

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A pet cat poses next to its owners in Kiesler and Wife, an oil painting by American _____ Will
Barnet.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? A.

artist:

B. artist

C. artist,

D. artist,

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Every US state has an associated state soil, which is typically selected by a group of experts, then
passed through the state legislature to receive its official designation. For example, Arkansas's
Stuttgart soil was formally designated in 1997, and Maine's Chesuncook soil in 1999. _____
years pass between a soil's selection and official designation, as the legislative process can be
notoriously slow.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. Often,

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B. Therefore,

C. Similarly,

D. Indeed,

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A 1990 study of schooling fish observed the fish mimicking the behavior of school-mates rapidly
swimming away from a predator. This is an example of an information cascade that benefits the
collective. _____ the animal world is at times susceptible to the spread of misinformation, often
with unfavorable results: a 2010 study of semipalmated sandpipers concluded that fleeing in
response to flock-mates' false alarms caused the birds to abandon safe nesting grounds
unnecessarily.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. In other words,

B. Conversely,

C. Indeed,

D. Consequently,

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While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• Bread is a 1968 black-and-white linocut print by Black American artist Elizabeth Catlett.
• It features a young girl eating a slice of bread.
• Relief printing is a technique in which an image is first carved onto a printing block made of
wood, rubber, or other materials.
• The block is then painted and stamped onto a print surface.
• Lino cutting is a type of relief printing that uses linoleum tile as the printing block.

The student wants to describe the process of relief printing. Which choice most effectively uses
relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A. Relief printing is a technique that can use wood, rubber, and other materials as the printing
block, not just linoleum tile.

B. Catlett used a relief printing technique called lino cutting, carving an image onto linoleum
tile.

C. Catlett used relief printing to create the 1968 linocut Bread.

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D. In relief printing, an image is carved onto a printing block, which is then painted and pressed
onto a print surface.

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While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• Usually, a country's capital is also its largest city by population.
• The capital of the Philippines is Manila.
• Its largest city by population is Quezon City.
• The capital of Liechtenstein is Vaduz.
• Its largest city by population is Schaan.

The student wants to emphasize a similarity between the two countries. Which choice most
effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A. In both the Philippines and Liechtenstein, the capital is not the country's most populous city.

B. While the most populous city in the Philippines is Quezon City, the most populous city in
Liechtenstein is Schaan.

C. The most populous city in the Philippines is Quezon City, but the country's capital is Manila.

D. The capital of the Philippines is Manila; the capital of Liechtenstein is Vaduz.

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While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• Historian Isabel Wilkerson's book The Warmth of Other Suns is about the Great Migration. •
The Great Migration was a period in twentieth-century US history when over six million
African Americans moved from the rural South to cities such as Detroit, Michigan.
• To document this period, Wilkerson narrates the personal journeys of George Swanson Starling
and Robert Pershing Foster, among others.
• The book won the Mark Lynton History Prize in 2011.
• It also won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2011.

Which choice most effectively uses information from the given sentences to emphasize how
Wilkerson documents the Great Migration?

A. Detroit, Michigan, is one of the cities whose African American populations grew during
the Great Migration.

B. Isabel Wilkerson chronicles the complex history of the Great Migration in such a
riveting, personal detail by narrating the journeys of individuals, such as George Swanson
Starling and Robert Pershing Foster.

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C. In 2011, Isabel Wilkerson's book The Warmth of Other Suns won not only the Mark
Lynton History Prize but also the National Book Critics Circle Award.

D. The personal journey of George Swanson Starling is featured in the award-winning book
The Warmth of Other Suns.

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While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• India Arie is an African American singer and songwriter.
• The media outlet BBC Music has described her music as a "blend of hip hop, soul and folk
[that is] as subtle as it [is] inspired."
• Her acclaimed albums feature many talented musicians.
• Judeth Insel played viola on her first studio album, Acoustic Soul (2001).
• David Davidson played violin on her second studio album, Voyage to India (2002).

The student wants to emphasize a similarity between Judeth Insel and David Davidson. Which
choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A. Judeth Insel played on India Arie's first studio album, Acoustic Soul, which was released
one year before her album Voyage to India.

B. Acoustic Soul and Voyage to India, released in 2001 and 2002, respectively, are albums
by singer and songwriter India Arie.

C. Although both musicians have played on India Arie albums, Judeth Insel played viola,
whereas David Davidson played violin.

D. Judeth Insel and David Davidson both lent their musical talents to albums by India Arie
in the early 2000s.

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While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• Merle Oberon (1911-1979) was an actress born in Mumbai (then known as Bombay), India.
• She was of Indian, Maori, and Irish heritage.
• She was the first Indian-born actress to be nominated for an Academy Award.
• Early in her career, she played many nameless, uncredited roles, such as her role in Alf's Button
(1930). • Later, she played many named, credited roles, such as Marjorie Ismay in Forever and
a Day (1943).

The student wants to make and support a generalization about Merle Oberon's early career.
Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

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A. Alf's Button (1930) was released early in Merle Oberon's career, whereas Forever and a Day
(1943) came out later.

B. Merle Oberon wasn't even listed in the credits of some of her early films, such as Alf's Button
(1930), where she played a nameless, uncredited role.

C. Alf's Button and Forever and a Day are both films that include Merle Oberon, the first
Indianborn actress to be nominated for an Academy Award.

D. In Alf's Button (1930), actress Merle Oberon played a nameless, uncredited role.

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Section 1, Module 2: Reading and Writing

Despite stated claims of global relevance, much major research on income inequality performed
in the 2010s suffered from a myopic focus on a few countries in North America and Western
Europe, partly due to limited data availability. Researchers would later _____ this shortcoming
after gaining new access to administrative records located in nations in South America, such as
Brazil, and Eastern Europe, such as Russia.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. validate

B. mitigate

C. categorize

D. presuppose

Though the thermoregulation mechanisms of fungi, such as Amanita brunnescens, have received
little formal study, anecdotal evidence has suggested that fungal surface temperatures tend to be
cooler than ambient temperatures. Experimental findings by Radamés Cordero et al. now _____
this idea: colonies of various fungi maintained temperatures below those at which they were
incubated in a lab.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. obscure

B. corroborate

C. encapsulate

D. curtail

Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris has the measured pace typical of slow-cinema films. Thai
slowcinema director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past
Lives) even states that his own work induces sleep in audiences. This might suggest his films are
boring, but boredom does not always cause sleep: boredom creates an anxious tension in the
absence of a place to fix attention, and thus induces not somnolence but _____.

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Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. fortitude

B. perturbation

C. nonchalance

D. indolence

Difficulties of documenting nocturnal pollinator visits and a general focus on diurnal invertebrate
pollinators, such as Volucella bombylans, have resulted in _____ of information on nocturnal
moth pollination of plants such as Rubus fruticosus L. aggregate, but Max Anderson et al. have
addressed this by utilizing infrared technology.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A. an abatement

B. an aggregation

C. a dearth

D. a dissidence

Vertical gene transfer involves the transmission of genetic material from a parent to offspring;
horizontal gene transfer, on the other hand, involves the exchange of genetic material between
organisms not in a parent-offspring relationship. While horizontal gene transfer is common
among prokaryotes—single-celled organisms such as the bacteria Carnobacterium viridans and
Massilia timonae—it has rarely been observed among eukaryotes (typically multicellular
organisms). However, new studies suggest that horizontal gene transfer is more common in
eukaryotes than originally thought.

Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole? A.

It implies that a common perception of horizontal gene transfer may be inaccurate.

B. It compares the frequencies with which horizontal gene transfer has been detected in two
categories of organisms.

C. It argues that a particular direction of research concerning horizontal gene transfer is likely to
be fruitless.

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D. It indicates a distinction between horizontal gene transfer and vertical gene transfer.

The Hundred Days, first published in 1998, is a novel in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin
series, which includes twenty completed books. Some critics have found fault with the abrupt
endings of The Hundred Days and other books in the series, saying that they do not finish
conclusively but arbitrarily stop. But other critics argue that the books should not be thought of
as discrete texts with traditional beginnings and endings but as a single incredibly long work,
similar to other multivolume stories, such as Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To present a reason the unusual structure that O'Brian uses for The Hundred Days makes
it one of his most complex books

B. To argue that the Aubrey/Maturin series should have the literary renown of In Search of
Lost Time

C. To describe a characteristic of the Aubrey/Maturin novels and offer two differing

viewpoints on this characteristic.

D. To explain why many critics find the Aubrey/Maturin novels to be remarkably

entertaining despite flaws in the novels' structures

With its combination of country and pop influences, "Here You Come Again" is typical of Dolly
Parton's recordings in the late 1970s and first half of the 1980s. Through songs bridging these
two genres, she achieved her greatest commercial successes. A decade earlier, however, Dolly
had first established herself as a songwriter steeped in the traditional folk music of the Blue
Ridge Mountains, where she was born and raised. The influence of the ballads of this region can
be heard in the word choice and subject matter of the lyrics to "Jolene," one of her best songs
from this period.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A. It explores Dolly's lifelong interest in folk music, then debates whether pop music
influenced "Jolene."

B. It discusses a particular period in Dolly's recording career, then considers the music in an
earlier period of her career.

C. It enthusiastically recommends Dolly's earliest recordings, then expresses disappointment

with her later recordings.

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D. It praises "Here You Come Again," then notes how remarkably similar that song is to a
song that Dolly recorded earlier in her career.

Text 1:

Studies contributing to the body of evidence that people generally enjoy socializing have
routinely focused on interactions in ongoing relationships (from spouses to classmates), but
psychologist Selin Salman-Engin and colleagues have demonstrated the benefit of making
connections with strangers. Greater positive affect was reported by participants in their study
who warmly thanked a shuttle driver than by those who didn't speak the driver. Text 2:

Social relations research commonly draws on a model that centers an individual within three
concentric circles. The innermost circle holds one's strongest ties (e.g., a treasured friend), the
next holds close but less important ties (e.g., a teammate), and the outermost holds weak ties
(those more distant but important enough to be counted as part of one's social network).

Based on the texts, what would Salman-Engin and colleagues (Text 1) most likely say about the
discussion of the model in Text 2?

A. It underscores that most research on social interactions fails to capture a category of

connection that has the capacity to contribute positively to individuals' sense of well-being.

B. It reflects an overemphasis on relationship longevity in researchers' evaluations of the

relative importance of various connections in an individual's social network.

C. It explains researchers' observations that individuals typically expect interactions with

familiar people to be more positive than their interactions with unfamiliar people would be.

D. It emphasizes distinctions among types of close connections that aren't adequately

represented in social relations research, since most studies categorize relationships as either close
or casual. 9

Text 1:

From the extinct greater Haitian ground sloth to the living Hoffmann's two-toed sloth, sloths are
among the most appealing animals native to the Americas. But scientists still have a lot to learn
about them. Unlike their ancient ground-dwelling relations, today's sloths spend most of their
time high up in trees. The sloths' inaccessibility has made it hard for scientists to study them.

Text 2:

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By using a hat-like monitor, biologist Bryson Voirin and colleagues can at last discover the
previously hidden activities of sloths. Such monitors can provide information to correct
misconceptions. It was long believed that sloths sleep all day. But, in fact, in the wild sloths
sleep about nine hours a day.

The author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 both discuss which topic?

A. How extinct sloths compare with living sloths

B. Scientists' efforts to understand sloths

C. The benefits of putting monitoring devices on sloths

D. Changes in sloths' habitats

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Baleen whales eat up to 30 percent of their total body mass in krill (tiny shrimplike creatures) per
day. So in one day, a pygmy right whale weighing 3,500 kg could eat 1,050 kg, while a bowhead
whale weighing 66,000 kg could ingest a whopping 19,800 kg. Over the last century, baleen
whale populations have declined, and contrary to some scientists' expectations, so have krill
populations. Matthew S. Savoca and colleagues resolve this apparent discrepancy by pointing out
that baleen whales cycle iron in the ocean, helping support phytoplankton populations, which, in
turn, sustain krill populations.

Based on the text, what can most reasonably be concluded about pygmy right and bowhead
whales?

A. As krill consumption by pygmy right whales has decreased, the krill consumption of bowhead
whales has increased.

B. The bowhead whale is able to eat more krill per day than the pygmy right whale.

C. Both pygmy right and bowhead whales can eat krill, but of the two only the pygmy right
whale can also subsist on phytoplankton.

D. Populations of both pygmy right and bowhead whales have declined significantly over the last
century due to decreasing levels of iron in the ocean.

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Neuroscientist Kiyohito Iigaya and colleagues developed a computational model to predict how
much a person will enjoy a particular work of art on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 4 (very much)
and then recruited participants to use the same scale to rate several sets of paintings in various
styles. The team calculated the correlation between the ratings predicted by the model and those
reported by the participants, with higher correlations indicating that predicted ratings were closer
to reported ratings. Assuming participants P1 and P2 gave equal ratings to the impressionist
paintings, the graph indicates that the model predicted _____.

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the statement?

A. P1's and P2's ratings for impressionist paintings would equal one another.

B. P1's and P2's ratings for impressionist paintings would differ from one another.

C. P1 would derive more aesthetic pleasure from impressionist paintings than from cubist
paintings.

D. P1's ratings for impressionist paintings would differ more from the model's predictions than
P2's ratings for impressionist paintings would.

12

Uncle Vanya: Scenes from Country Life in Four Acts is an 1898 play by Anton Chekhov,
originally written in Russian. In the play, Professor Serebrakoff and his wife Helena have come
to stay at their country estate, which Vanya manages with the help of Sonia, the professor's

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P20 SAT Tutor: Thiên Trang

daughter from a previous marriage. Chekhov portrays the relationship between Vanya and
Professor Serebrakoff as being much more strained than it once was, as is evident when _____.

Which quotation from a translation of Uncle Vanya most effectively illustrates the claim?

A. Professor Serebrakoff asks Vanya to leave the room, saying, "For the sake of our former
friendship do not protest against going. We will talk some other time."

B. Vanya says to Professor Serebrakoff, "For twenty-five years I have managed [the country
estate], and have sent you the returns from it like the most honest of servants, and you have
never given me one single word of thanks for my work, not once—neither in my youth nor
now."

C. Vanya says of Professor Serebrakoff, "He is everlastingly whining about his hard lot,
though, as a matter of fact, he is extraordinarily lucky."

D. Professor Serebrakoff says to Helena, "It is funny that everybody listens to [Vanya] and
his old idiot of a mother, but the moment I open my lips you all begin to feel ill-treated." 13

Some metals contain tungsten carbide nanoparticles (WC-NPs), which can leach into waterways
and soils via wastewater. In a 2018 study, Mikael T. Ekvall and colleagues found that WC-NPs
can accumulate in the bodies of water lice (Asellus aquaticus). While bioaccumulation of
manufactured nanoparticles may be inherently worrisome, it has been hypothesized that WC-NP
bioaccumulation in invertebrates like A. aquaticus could serve a valuable proxy role, obviating
the need for manufacturers to conduct costly and intrusive sampling of vertebrate species—such
as Perez's frogs (Pelophylax perezi), commonly used in regulatory compliance testing—for
nanoparticle bioaccumulation, as environmental protection laws currently require.

Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken the hypothesis presented in the text?

A. Compared with P. perezi, A. aquaticus can accumulate detectable WC-NP concentrations

with significantly fewer negative effects.

B. The rate of WC-NP uptake in A. aquaticus differs from the rate of WC-NP uptake in P.
perezi in a way that is not yet well understood by researchers.

C. A. aquaticus has been shown to accumulate several other types of manufactured

nanoparticles in addition to WC-NPs, whereas P. perezi has been shown to accumulate only WC-
NPs.

D. When A. aquaticus and P. perezi are exposed to similar levels of WC-NPs,

concentrations of WC-NPs in animals of both species show little variation from individual to
individual. 14

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P20 SAT Tutor: Thiên Trang

Veronica L. Bura, Akito Y. Kawahara, and Jayne E. Yack investigated the function of sound
production in silk moth and hawk moth caterpillars. They found that during harmless simulated
attacks, 33% of the tested species produced sound, which included four distinct types: chirps,
whistles, vocalizations, and clicks. In addition, Antheraea polyphemus and Antheraea
polyphemus oculea released a chemical while or after producing the first sound. These species
exclusively produced clicks and chirps, which tend to be shorter in duration than whistles and
vocalizations. Bura and colleagues argue that clicks and chirps in species that use chemical
defenses are primarily a means of warning (i.e., “educating”) predators rather than frightening or
startling them.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Bura and colleagues' claim?

A. Short-duration sounds like clicks and chirps tend to be especially effective in training
animals to associate a behavior with a consequence.

B. Caterpillars that use chemical defenses produced sounds at a higher volume than did
caterpillars without chemical defenses.

C. The acoustic characteristics of clicks and chirps make them particularly audible to bats,
lizards, and birds, some of the most frequent predators of caterpillars.

D. Chickens and yellow warblers, two predators of caterpillars, have been observed to stop
their attacks in response to caterpillar sounds of any duration.

15

The compositional strategy of Untitled, a 1955 work by Cherokee artist Edna Massey, is far more
closely aligned with Abstract Expressionism—a mid-twentieth-century school of painting
dominated by European American artists—than with traditionally abstract forms of Indigenous
art, such as beadwork. Few viewers would infer from the stylistic attributes of Untitled that
Massey was Indigenous. In this respect, the work typifies Indigenous painters' forays into
abstraction during the period. In contrast, the contemporary Caddo artist Chad “Nish” Earles
assembles abstract compositions out of motifs common in the traditional ceramics and graphic
art of his tribe. Thus in Earles's work, abstraction has the effect of _____.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. rendering Indigenous identity more legible than it is in Untitled.

B. asserting the Indigenous origins of motifs associated with Abstract Expressionism.

C. challenging the dominance of European American artists within Abstract Expressionism.

D. reconciling Indigenous and European American influences that coexist uneasily in Untitled.

16

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P20 SAT Tutor: Thiên Trang

Archaeologists assume that when a major demographic shift interrupts the intergenerational
transmission of expertise, this manifests in the archaeological record in the form of simultaneous
reductions in the complexity of multiple specialized crafting traditions. Inventories of excavation
sites from the Alazani River valley and nearby areas dating from 4000 to 500 BCE show a steep
drop occurring around 1500 BCE in the number of objects featuring gold filigree, an advanced
technique in which fine threads of gold are arranged in intricate patterns. The inventories also
indicate that advanced copper-alloy metallurgy and most other specialized crafting traditions
continued to flourish during this period, a finding suggesting that _____.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. disruptions around 1500 BCE in the utilization of gold filigree likely occurred in the
context of demographic continuity among peoples of the Alazani River valley.

B. a sudden simultaneous decline in artifacts from multiple specialized crafting traditions is

less likely than previously assumed to indicate that the transmission of expertise was disrupted
by demographic changes.

C. the drop in gold filigree around 1500 BCE resulted from the interruption of
intergenerational transmission of expertise in that craft alone rather than from a wider event
affecting multiple crafts.

D. Cross-cultural transmission between distinct demographic groups in the Alazani River

valley likely explains the expansion of copper-alloy metallurgy beginning around 1500 BCE.

17

In a list titled "Elegant Things" from Sei Shōnagon's Pillow Book, the author delights in a violet
waistcoat, wisteria blossoms, and a child eating strawberries. Such lists, observed sharply yet
simply by Shōnagon, who served as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Teishi in the tenth century,
_____ the daily minutiae of Japanese courtly life.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. reveals

B. was revealing

C. to reveal

D. reveal

18

Citing the example of Zeus, a mythological god whose tomb was reportedly located on the island
of Crete, the writer Euhemerus (fourth century BCE) theorized that all the deities in the Greek

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P20 SAT Tutor: Thiên Trang

pantheon—including the god of knowledge and the arts, Apollo; the god of wine and the theater,
Dionysus; and the god of constellations, _____ may have been historical figures who, through
the power of myth, underwent apotheosis.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. Crius;

B. Crius—

C. Crius,

D. Crius

19

Categorized as a dactyl, the word "gradient" consists of one stressed syllable followed by two
unstressed syllables. The word "harpist," by comparison, consists of one stressed syllable
followed by one unstressed syllable, a metrical foot _____ to in English metrical verse as a
trochee.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. referred

B. is referred

C. referring

D. refers

20

The parks of Chicago, Illinois, seem to be making people happier. In a 2022 study, researchers
studying connections between the physical location in which a social media post was _____
analyzed geotagged social media posts from various locations in Chicago. They found that posts
from the city's parks contained more words associated with happiness than other posts did.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. created and the post's content

B. created, and the post's content

C. created and the post's content,

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P20 SAT Tutor: Thiên Trang

D. created, and the post's content,

21

With an installed capacity of 35 megawatts, the Platanares geothermal power plant in Honduras
offers a dependable source of renewable energy. Power plants like Platanares supply only a small
fraction of Honduras's _____ the scarcity of sites with the necessary combination of
hightemperature geothermal reservoirs and fractured rock limiting the widespread development
of such systems.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. electricity; though,

B. electricity, though;

C. electricity, though

D. electricity, though,

22

The album Irreversible...2012 by La Arrolladora Banda El Limón De René Camacho received

much critical attention and praise for its contribution to the banda genre, a form of regional
Mexican music featuring large ensembles of wind instruments and drums that first developed in
southern and central Mexico in the mid-nineteenth century. _____ few were surprised when the
album won the Best Banda Album award at the 2012 Latin Grammys.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. Often,

B. Therefore,

C. Nevertheless,

D. Granted,

23

In 1920, the US Geological Survey determined the geographic center of Rhode Island using only
a cardboard cutout of the state and a piece of string. _____ this apparently crude technique
yielded a relatively close approximation: when the 1920 center was compared to a center
determined by a computer program nearly a hundred years later, the two diverged by just a few
miles.

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P20 SAT Tutor: Thiên Trang

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. Still,

B. Similarly,

C. In other words,

D. Fittingly,

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In an ekphrastic poem, a poet explores a work of visual art, such as a drawing, sculpture, or
painting. Elizabeth Alexander's 2011 poem "Walking," for example, meditates on Charles
Alston's 1963 painting Walking; Cornelius Eady's 2001 poem "Jacob Lawrence: Summer Street
Scene," takes a painting as its subject: Jacob Lawrence's 1948 work Summer Street Scene in
Harlem. _____ the two poems use visual art as their subject.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

A. nevertheless,

B. conversely,

C. likewise,

D. hence,

25

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• Cinematographers work with cameras and lighting.
• They help translate film directors' ideas into visual images.
• Frida (2002) was directed by Julie Taymor.
• Rodrigo Prieto was the film's cinematographer.

Which choice most effectively uses information from the given sentences to provide an example
of a film Prieto worked on?

A. Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto worked with director Julie Taymor.

B. The 2002 film Frida is one example of Rodrigo Prieto's work as a cinematographer.

C. In filmmaking, directors work with others to translate their ideas into the visual images that
we encounter on the screen.

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P20 SAT Tutor: Thiên Trang

D. As cinematographer, Rodrigo Prieto works with cameras and lighting to translate the film
director's ideas into visual images.

26

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• The Arabic word "dinar" comes from the Latin word "denarius."
• Today, nearly a dozen different national currencies are referred to as "dinars."
• Bahrain's currency is known as the Bahraini dinar.

The student wants to provide an example of a country that uses the word "dinar" in the name of
its currency. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to
accomplish this goal?

A. The Latin word "denarius" is the origin of the Arabic word "dinar." B.

Today, several countries use the word "dinar" in naming their currencies.

C. Bahrain uses the Bahraini dinar as its national currency.

D. Bahrain does not refer to its currency by the Latin word "denarius."

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While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• The ratio of the total mass of an element to the combined mass of all elements in a given
environment is called the mass fraction.
• The mass fraction of chromium (Cr) on Earth is 4,700 parts per million (ppm). • This indicates
that the relative abundance of chromium on Earth is 0.47%.
• The ratio of the total number of atoms of an element to the total number of all atoms in a given
environment is called the mole fraction.
• The mole fraction of chromium on Earth is 2,300,000 parts per billion (ppb).
• This indicates that the relative abundance of chromium on Earth is 0.23%.

The student wants to emphasize a similarity between mass fraction and mole fraction. Which
choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A. On Earth, the mass fraction of chromium is 4,700 ppm, or 0.47%, and the mole fraction is
2,300,000 ppb, or 0.23%.

B. While mass fraction is a measure of relative mass and mole fraction is a measure of
relative atom count, both indicate the relative abundance of elements on Earth.

C. Both mass and mole fraction express the relative abundance of chromium on Earth as a
ratio of the total mass of chromium to the combined mass of all atoms.

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P20 SAT Tutor: Thiên Trang

D. The mass fraction of chromium indicates its relative mass; in addition, the element's mole
fraction indicates the relative number of chromium atoms.

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