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

“Which type of material is best for filtering water?” One way to answer questions like this is to use
the scientific method. This approach helps us ______ about topics like water filtration. First, we
make a prediction. Then we collect and analyze data. Eventually, we can draw a conclusion based
on the data we have gathered.
A. fight
B. learn
C. laugh
D. Forget
2. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
The National Heritage Fellowship was created to honor exceptional folk and traditional artists in the
United States. In 2013, the fellowship was given to the Pyramid Lake Paiute storyteller Ralph Burns
to ______ his lifetime contributions to the arts.
A. investigate
B. discover
C. choose
D. celebrate
2. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
The Yupno people of the remote Finisterre Range of Papua New Guinea do not measure age and
have no artificial means (e.g., clocks) of tracking time, but this does not imply that the Yupno are
______ time. As Rafael Núñez and colleagues have recently shown, the Yupno language contains
many temporal expressions, such as kalip bishap, which translates to “past times.”
A. preoccupied with
B. dependent on
C. meticulous about
D. inattentive to
4. As used in the text, what does the word “produce” most nearly mean?
The following text is from Oscar Wilde’s 1893 play Lady Windermere’s Fan. MRS. ERLYNNE: I am
going to live abroad again. The English climate doesn’t suit me. My—heart is affected here, and
that I don’t like. I prefer living in the south. London is too full of fogs and—and serious people, Lord
Windermere. Whether the fogs produce the serious people or whether the serious people produce
the fogs, I don’t know, but the whole thing rather gets on my nerves.
A. Attach
B. Fancy
C. Make available
D. Bring about
5. Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A study by Mohamed Alburaki, Dennis vanEngelsdorp, and colleagues suggests that overall, US
honey bee populations exhibit low genetic diversity. Working with a large sample of honey bee
specimens collected from most US states, the researchers determined that there are just three
maternal evolutionary lineages in the populations: the North Mediterranean lineage, the West
Mediterranean lineage, and the African lineage. They found that of the specimens from Montana,
100% descended from the North Mediterranean lineage—a finding in keeping with that for the
lineage in many of the other states studied.
A. It expands on the claim made earlier in the sentence by providing specific data.
B. It indicates that a result described earlier in the sentence reflects a widespread trend.
C. It acknowledges that the results of the study discussed in the text are not entirely consistent with
the researchers’ hypothesis.
D. It summarizes the central conclusions of the study that is discussed in the text.
6. Based on the texts, how would Lorde (Text 1) most likely respond to the argument presented in
Text 2?
Text 1 The poet Audre Lorde once claimed that poetry is the most inexpensive of art forms to
practice. While people who pursue other art forms—sculpture, architecture, theater—require large
blocks of uninterrupted time as well as money to complete their work, poets can write, as Lorde
said, “between shifts, in the hospital pantry, on the subway, and on scraps of surplus paper.” So
poets can make worthwhile art even if they must earn their living in another way.
Text 2 Any assessment of the state of contemporary poetry must reckon with the
professionalization of the field. While it is possible in theory for anyone to publish in Poetry, Kenyon
Review, or a similar major poetry outlet, many people who do so have professional training in
poetry and extensive practice writing it, which requires time not often available to those who must
also work full-time jobs. Thus, financial security indirectly affects which people become poets.
A. By indicating that those poets who publish in major poetry journals are most likely to be able to
earn a living by writing poetry
B. By pointing out that people can produce valuable poetry in other circumstances than those
described by the author of Text 2
C. By suggesting that those artists who specialize in more financially rewarding artistic forms are
unlikely to also be successful as poets
D. By asserting that people often work full-time jobs in order to afford the professional training
described in Text 2
7. Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole? Movies
based on well-known books are often commercial successes: when the two widely read novels The
Joy Luck Club and Sense and Sensibility were turned into motion pictures, people flocked to
theaters to see them. Investigating whether adapting a book into a movie also affects the original
book’s popularity, researchers collected statistics from online platforms for The Monuments Men
and two other books that have been adapted for the screen. They found that the movies’ release
dates coincided with increased interest in the books.
A. It provides specific examples that support the claim made earlier in the sentence.
B. It points out that a general rule mentioned earlier in the sentence has some exceptions.
C. It sets up a contrast between two artistic forms that is further explored in the next two sentences.
D. It states a common belief that is disproved by the research findings detailed in the next two
sentences.
8. According to the text, what draws divers and scientists to blue holes such as Watling’s Blue Hole
and the Taam Ja’ Blue Hole?
Blue holes, such as Watling’s Blue Hole near San Salvador Island, are large marine sinkholes.
They are typically located in areas where the ocean bedrock is made of soluble material (e.g.,
marble) because rock erosion is crucial to their formation. Because of the diverse marine life they
contain, blue holes attract numerous divers and scientists. Currently, the Taam Ja’ Blue Hole in
Chetumal Bay, Mexico, is the deepest blue hole on record, measured by Teresa Álvarez-Legorreta
and colleagues to be at least 420 meters below sea level.
A. A hope to encounter a variety of marine organisms
B. A desire to witness the erosion of the rocks in the blue holes
C. A commitment to protecting the marble and other soluble materials in the blue holes
D. An interest in comparing the depths of Watling’s Blue Hole and the Taam Ja’ Blue Hole to the
depths of other blue holes
9. Based on the text, what is the most likely reason Vanderburgh and colleagues chose to avoid the
method used in the strawberry study?
In a 2024 study, Caihong Vanderburgh and colleagues examined whether the composition of soil
microbial communities could affect plants’ flavor chemistry. Whereas Jimenez-Gomez et al. (2017)
showed that adding specific bacterial or fungal strains to soil can yield increased vitamin C in
strawberry crops, Vanderburgh and team applied intact microbial communities gathered from
ecologically distinct settings across Colorado, including areas of aspen grove and sagebrush, to
mustard plants and evaluated the flavor compounds in the plants’ seeds. This ensured that the
microbial conditions in their experiment would better reflect the variation and complexity of naturally
occurring communities.
A. The microbial community in the soil from the strawberry study affected plants’ nutrition, not their
flavor chemistry.
B. The diversity of species of microorganisms in the soil from the strawberry study was already
abnormally high before the researchers added further microorganisms.
C. The composition of microorganisms in the soil in the strawberry study may not have been
representative of a naturally existing composition.
D. The microbial community in the soil from the strawberry study likely included similar species to
those in wild soils.
10. According to the table, what is the maximum speed for high-speed railway lines in China?
Maximum Speed for HighSpeed Railway
Lines in Four Countries Country
Max speed (km/h)
Austria 250
Belgium 300
China 350
Norway 210
A student is comparing the speeds of trains on high-speed rail lines in different countries. The table
shows information about high-speed rail in four countries.
A. 350 km/h
B. 450 km/h
C. 300 km/h
D. 110 km/h
11. Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the example?
An anthropologist is recording the metal contents of various historical deposits of valuables, called
hoards, found in Ireland and Northern Ireland. He notes that the hoards differed in their contents; for
example, ______
A. the Derrynaflan Hoard was the only hoard that contained bronze.
B. the Derrinboy Hoard was the only hoard that contained silver.
C. neither the Armagh City Hoard nor the Derrynaflan Hoard contained bronze.
D. the Derrinboy Hoard contained no gold or silver.
12. Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the sentence?
Since the nation’s earliest days, both houses of the United States Congress have counted many
military veterans among their elected officials, including Hiram L. Fong (who served in the US Army
Air Force) and Ralph Harold Metcalfe Sr. (who served in the US Army). A research institute
gathered historical data about congressional members who have reported past military experience
and determined that ______
A. the percentage of those members remained fairly consistent, regardless of house, from 1993 to
2023.
B. from 2003 to 2023, the House of Representatives had a higher percentage of those members
than the Senate did.
C. the percentage of those members decreased substantially in both houses of Congress from
1973 to 2013
D. from 1953 to 2003, those members constituted a majority in both houses of Congress.
13. Which choice most logically completes the text?
British professional soccer team Manchester United Football Club, whose home uniform color is
mainly red, won more than half its home matches between 1947 and 2003. This is a higher
proportion of home matches than Watford Football Club, whose home uniform color is not red, won
during the same period. According to a study by Martin J. Attrill and colleagues, the color red can
cause people to respond with fear and hesitation, which the researchers think helps explain
Manchester United’s success. Nadav Goldschmied and colleagues reanalyzed the published data
from this study, however, and found no evidence that reduniformed teams are more likely than
other teams to win, suggesting that Manchester United’s red uniforms ______
A. negatively affected the performance of Manchester United’s opponents.
B. made the Manchester United players more nervous than they would have been if their uniforms
had not been red.
C. did not affect the fans’ satisfaction with Manchester United’s performance.
D. did not provide Manchester United with any significant advantage.
14. Which choice most logically completes the text? Pablo Picasso famously subverted the norms
of traditional painting: in his cubist paintings he refused to let his expression be constrained,
fragmenting objects and figures to present multiple perspectives simultaneously. Though less
widely known, Picasso—who once lamented that writers of his time had “limited themselves to
moving around words somewhat while respecting the syntax”—also wrote poetry that defied
conventional grammar, semantic relationships, and text structure. Thus, the paintings and poems
are linked in that ______
A. the poems are intended to be understood as explanations of the artistic inclinations reflected in
the paintings.
B. both types of work are characterized by the simultaneous representation of multiple points of
view that Picasso is known for.
C. the poems present many of the same subjects as the paintings but with different thematic
approaches.
D. both exhibit Picasso’s prioritization of creative expression over the standard rules of the art forms
15.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? Daily
News is an oil painting by Dona Nelson, an American artist. Nelson created ______ in 1983.
A. these
B. it
C. those
D. Them
16 Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? The
city of New Delhi, India, is home to an office of the International Criminal Police Organization
(Interpol). However, you won’t see Interpol agents chasing international criminals in New Delhi.
Interpol can help with investigations, but only Indian authorities ______ permitted to make arrests
there.
A. had been
B. are
C. were being
D. were
17. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Edwige Moyroud is a biologist at the University of ______ conducts research on plants.
A. Cambridge, she
B. Cambridge she
C. Cambridge. She
D. Cambridge. Where she
18 . Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Growing as large as three meters in diameter, the leaves of the giant Amazonian waterlily feature a
complex network of radiating veins that provide structural ______ in thickness from the center to the
edges, these veins allow the leaves to maintain their large size and buoyancy with minimal material,
optimizing light capture and photosynthesis.
A. support, decreasing
B. support decreasing
C. support. Decreasing
D. support, while decreasing
19 . Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition? The early Australian railroad
system of the 1800s was famously uncoordinated. Trains on the broad gauge Victorian Goldfields
Railway line in Victoria couldn’t travel on the Ballyhooley Steam Railway in Queensland, which
used narrow gauge tracks, without performing timeconsuming conversions. ______ historians refer
to this complicated system as the “mixed gauge muddle.”
A. For example,
B. Hence,
C. Rather,
D. Likewise,
20. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
Elvis Presley’s iconic jumpsuit White Pinwheel featured rhinestones arranged in pinwheel patterns.
Historians note that adornments such as these added between twenty-five and fifty pounds to each
of Elvis’s stage outfits. ______ the fabric used to make the outfits was light and flexible, enabling
freedom of motion.
A. For instance,
B. There,
C. That is,
D. On the other hand
21. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition? While some researchers have
identified the planet Kepler-1552b as potentially habitable, it’s unlikely that humanity will be able to
take advantage of its favorable conditions anytime soon —it’s 2,507 light years away. ______
humanity must first focus on making planets within our solar system more habitable.
A. For example,
B. Likewise,
C. Instead,
D. Next,
22. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition? Artists’ palettes—the surfaces
on which painters arrange and mix their paints—can provide valuable insights into the painters’
creative processes. In her 2024 book The Artist’s Palette, Alexandra Loske analyzes the palettes of
50 different painters across 500 years. ______ Loske reveals clues about the techniques and
practices of such artists as Kerry James Marshall, Artemisia Gentileschi, and Vincent van Gogh.
A. However,
B. In comparison,
C. Lastly,
D. In doing so,
23. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition? Though its onboard laboratory
allowed it to analyze rock samples on-site, the 2011 Mars Curiosity rover was unable to preserve
samples for future analysis. ______ when creating the 2020 Mars Perseverance rover, robotics
technologist Yumi Iwashita and other members of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory sought to
implement a mechanism that could do exactly that.
A. Specifically,
B. Earlier,
C. Hence,
D. Similarly,
24. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
As Iestyn Barr and his team of researchers discovered when establishing the glacial timeline of
Antarctica, the Transantarctic Mountains—a 3,500-km mountain range spanning the continent—are
home to glaciers of at least 60 million years in age. ______ the researchers concluded, Antarctica
had glaciers long before the formation of its continent-wide ice sheet 34 million years ago.
A. By contrast,
B. Thus,
C. Even so,
D. Nevertheless,
25. Which choice most effectively uses information from the given sentences to emphasize
Edison’s reliance on Hammer? Thomas Edison is regarded as one of the most important inventors
in US history. Having received little formal schooling, Edison relied on specialist employees at his
various laboratories and offices to complete the technical work for many of his inventions. William
Joseph Hammer was a laboratory assistant who worked at the Menlo Park laboratory. He is best
known for curating the most comprehensive collection of historic light bulbs anywhere in the world.
William Symes Andrews was an electrical engineer who worked at the Edison Electric Light
Company. He is best known for establishing more than thirty power plants across New York and
Pennsylvania.
A. William Joseph Hammer, a laboratory assistant, worked at the Menlo Park laboratory.
B. William Joseph Hammer, a laboratory assistant, was known for his valuable contribution to the
field of technology.
C. Most of Thomas Edison’s employees had successful careers independent of working for him; for
example, William Joseph Hammer, who worked at the Menlo Park laboratory, was an accomplished
laboratory assistant.
D. Having received little formal education, Thomas Edison depended on specialized employees,
including laboratory assistant William Joseph Hammer, for many of his inventions.
26. The student wants to compare the length of time Fannie May Salter and Ida Lewis worked as
lighthouse keepers. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to
accomplish this goal? While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
Lighthouses send out crucial light signals to help ships and other watercraft navigate at night.
Before automation, lighthouses were run by lighthouse keepers. Fannie May Salter was the
lighthouse keeper at Turkey Point Light in Maryland. She held this position for twenty-two years
(1925–1947). Ida Lewis was the lighthouse keeper at Lime Rock Light in Rhode Island. She held
this position for fifty-four years (1857–1911).
A. Fannie May Salter and Ida Lewis were both lighthouse keepers at a time when such a person
was needed to operate a lighthouse.
B. From 1925 to 1947, the nighttime waters of Maryland were more navigable thanks to lighthouse
keepers Fannie May Salter and Ida Lewis.
C. Before automation, lighthouse keepers like Fannie May Salter, who served for twenty-two years,
and Ida Lewis were crucial to ensuring safe navigation for watercraft.
D. Fannie May Salter worked as a lighthouse keeper for twenty-two years, but Ida Lewis did so for
even longer: fifty-four years.
27. The student wants to indicate the location of the Isthmus of Ierapetra. Which choice most
effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal? While researching a
topic, a student has taken the following notes: An isthmus is a strip of land that connects two larger
pieces of land across an expanse of water. It is also known as a land bridge. The Isthmus of
Ierapetra connects the Siteia municipality to the rest of the island of Crete. The Isthmus of Ierapetra
is located in the Mediterranean Sea.
A. An isthmus, or land bridge, like the Isthmus of Ierapetra, connects two larger pieces of land.
B. An isthmus, also known as a land bridge, is a strip of land that connects two larger pieces of land
across an expanse of water.
C. One example of an isthmus is the Isthmus of Ierapetra.
D. The Isthmus of Ierapetra is located in the Mediterranean Sea, where it connects the Siteia
municipality to the rest of the island of Crete.