SAT Pastpaper with Solutions

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute's innovative multisensory exhibit of garments and accessories spanning four centuries, an emphasis on the _________ of fashion was conveyed both by the exhibit's theme of perpetual renewal in nature and, more subtly, by its scientific recreations of ephemeral elements (like a fragrance worn with a dress more than a century ago).

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

The following text is adapted from Jhumpa Lahiri's 2003 novel The Namesake. Gogol is an elementary school student in Massachusetts.

In art class, his favorite hour of the week, he carves his name

with paper clips into the bottoms of clay cups and bowls. He

pastes uncooked pasta to cardboard, and leaves his signature

in fat brush strokes below paintings.

As used in the text, what does the word "leaves" most nearly mean?

The following text is from Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel Far from the Madding Crowd. Bathsheba and Liddy are traveling down a road when Liddy points out a neighbor whom Bathsheba hasn't met yet.

Liddy looked. "That! That's Farmer Boldwood—of course 'tis

—the man you couldn't see the other day when he called."

"Oh, Farmer Boldwood,"murmured Bathsheba, and looked at

him as he outstripped them. The farmer had never turned his

head once, but with eyes fixed on the most advanced point

along the road, passed as unconsciously and abstractedly as

if Bathsheba and her charms were thin air.

As used in the text, what does the phrase "most advanced" most nearly mean?

Animals use many objects as tools to achieve goals more easily. Such goals include grooming, finding food, and protecting themselves. For a long time, people thought tool use was unique to primates. Elephants and other animals, though, have busted the myth that tool use requires hands. Inventively, elephants use branches to scratch themselves. Woodpecker finches also get creative. They use cactus spines to pry insects from hiding places.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

How does the friction between different surfaces and a rolling object affect the speed of the object? One way to explore this question is to use the scientific method. This method involves forming a hypothesis, conducting an experiment, collecting data, and drawing a conclusion. Using the scientific method helps us understand how things work and helps us answer questions, such as the one about friction and a rolling object.

Which choice best describes the main purpose of the text?

Text 1

Economist Thomas Piketty's book Capital in the Twenty-First Century has a more rigorous structure than its sequel, Capital and Ideology. While the first book's chapters all contribute to bolstering a clear, coherent argument about income inequality, the second book's digressions on subjects such as the various constitutions of France do not just make the book tedious but also muddy its reasoning.

Text 2

Capital and Ideology has different aims than Piketty's earlier books. It should be judged not just in the context of Piketty's previous work but placed next to books like Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, in which the stated theme of the varieties of melancholy is mainly an excuse for a polymath to map his own mind. Even when sections do not explicitly support the central thesis, they link to each other in intriguing ways. None of them should be considered extraneous.

Based on the texts, which choice best describes a difference in how the authors of Text 1 and Text 2 view Capital and Ideology?

It may seem that works of art are best experienced in person. However, in an online collection from the Museo de Arte de Lima in Lima, Peru, people can zoom in on a high-quality image of the drawing Drawing B... by Gida Mantilla. A student argues that viewers usually can't examine works of art in a museum as carefully as they can examine works in online collections.

Which statement, if true, would most directly support the underlined argument?

Researcher Ingrid Robeyns argues in her work that taxes on the very wealthy should be increased so that governments will be enabled to solve problems of collective action, such as mitigating climate change. Robeyns cites the work of economist Mariana Mazzucato, who shows that government subsidies are a more effective engine of innovation than private sector investments; in addition, government-funded innovations tend to lead to further developments in disparate fields (such as the United States mission to land a person on the Moon, which accelerated developments in nutrition as well as navigation).

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

Most bird species that are capable of flight weigh less than a kilogram (kg), which is not surprising considering the burden that extra body weight puts on a flying animal. But not all flying birds are so light, as we can see most clearly in the example of the________.

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the example?

Inés Ibánez and colleagues studied a forest site in which some sugar maple trees receive periodic fertilization with nitrogen to mimic the broader trend of increasing anthropogenic nitrogen deposition in soil. Inés Ibánez and colleagues modeled the radial growth of the trees with and without nitrogen fertilization under three different climate scenarios (the current climate, moderate change, and extreme change). Although they found that climate change would negatively affect growth, they concluded that anthropogenic nitrogen deposition could more than offset that effect provided that change is moderate rather than extreme.

Which choice best describes data from the graph that support Ibánez and colleagues' conclusion?

Ellie Rose Mattoon et al. have confirmed that twenty mushroom species (including Boletus separans and species from the genus Hortiboletus) maintain subambient temperatures in both their fruited bodies and their mycelium (the root-like hyphae from which the fruited bodies grow), though the benefits of this hypothermic behavior are unclear. Noting that relative coldness was more pronounced in fruiting than in nonfruiting sites of the mycelium—a difference that persisted even after fruited bodies were detached—the researchers speculate that thermoregulation in the mycelium may influence reproductive success.

Which statement about the mycelium of the twenty mushroom species is best supported by the text?

Memoirs of Elleanor Eldridge is an 1838 historical account by Elleanor Eldridge and Frances Harriet Whipple Green. In the book, the authors suggest that many memoirs of renowned people aren't particularly straightforward or candid,writing,________.

Which quotation from Memoirs of Elleanor Eldridge most effectively illustrates the claim?

In 2004, the US state of North Dakota enacted rate stability regulations (RSRs), constraining insurance companies' latitude to raise premiums (the periodic fees policyholders pay to maintain insurance policies) after policies are in effect. RSRs are effective at protecting existing policyholders from price volatility, but Naoki Aizawa and Ami Ko note that since dynamic pricing of premiums is an important risk-mitigation tool for insurers, RSRs may lead some insurers to scale back or entirely cease selling new policies in the affected market, thereby reducing the competitive pressure that typically restrains premium prices for new policies. Thus, North Dakota's RSRs may________.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Painter Georgette__________for incorporating everyday objects from her Singaporean environment—such as lanterns, mooncakes, and tropical fruits—into her still-life compositions, was a pivotal figure in the mid-twentieth-century Nanyang art movement,which sought to blend European painting traditions (including still life) with elements of Southeast Asian cultures and art.

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

Los Angeles-based artist Henry Taylor's large, vibrant paintings of prominent Black figures such as Olympian Alice Coachman (See Alice Jump, 2011) and artist David Hammons (Hammons meets a hyena on holiday, __________ celebrated by admirers of twenty-first-century portraiture, attracted legions of new fans in 2024 when they were included in a popular Taylor retrospective at the Whitney Museum.

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

Through the process of photosynthesis, plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create their own food. This amazing ability allows plants________ and provides oxygen for their living things to breathe.

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

Chandni Chowk is a public market in Delhi, India. Both locals and visitors __________the market, buying everything from street food to handmade textiles and jewelry.

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

The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) has a species population of approximately 700,000________less than that of the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), which has a species population of roughly 172,000,000.

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

Reena Esmail's classical composition "Teen Murti" incorporates a raag, a melodic framework used in Hindustani classical music, called Raag Malkauns. Often, interplay between the raag's designated vadi and samvadi (the first-and second-most important notes, respectively) and its prescribed melodic sequences________ a dark mood.

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

In 1965, Morrie Turner's comic strip Wee Pals became the first serial comic by a Black cartoonist to be syndicated, appearing in papers nationwide. Comics by other Black cartoonists followed.__________ Robb Armstrong (Jump Start) and Charlos Gary (Working It Out) joined the ranks of syndicated Black cartoonists in 1989 and 2001,respectively.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

Unlike the sprawling, permanent mural installations of Aurora Reyes Flores and other contemporaries of the Muralismo Mexicano movement, the easily reproducible block print posters that Alberto Beltrán and Jean Charlot created as part of the printmaking collective Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP) were highly portable. _________ the prints were a boon to the TGP's goal of spreading their artwork throughout Mexico and the world beyond.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

In 2014, Nestor Gomez won his first-ever storytelling competition, relating a tale about his life as a Guatemalan immigrant living in Chicago. _______ in 2017, Gomez created the show 80 Minutes Around the World as a platform for others to share stories about their immigration experiences.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

To guarantee the validity of experimental results, scientists rely on precise, unchanging standards of measurement. _______ metrologists (scientists who study measurement) developed the SI, or International System of Units. The SI's units of measurement are based on unchanging values in nature, such as the mass of an electron or the speed of light.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

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

· Atsuto Suzuki is a Japanese particle physicist.

· Particle physicists study subatomic particles.

· Neutrinos are some of the least understood subatomic particles.

· Neutrinos were first discovered in the mid-twentieth century.

· Suzuki is known for his discovery of geoantineutrinos.

The student wants to provide an example of a particle physicist whose research focuses on neutrinos. 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:

· The Future of Nostalgia is a book by Svetlana Boym.

· In it, Boym explores the concept of nostalgia from various angles.

· In Chapter 5, "Reflective Nostalgia," she defines a form of nostalgia interested in meditating on past things.

· In Chapter 14, "Joseph Brodsky's Room and a Half," she discusses themes of nostalgia in Joseph Brodsky's writing.

The student wants to emphasize the order in which the topics appear. 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:

· Iranian scholar Abu Rayhan al-Biruni studied Earth's physical features.

· He theorized that a large landmass existed west of Europe and east of Asia.

· Al-Biruni published his landmass theory in 1037 CE.

The student wants to specify when al-Biruni published his landmass theory. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?