SAT Pastpaper with Solutions

In addition to the giant stock exchanges in places like London, Mumbai, and Tokyo, there are many smaller exchanges such as the Somali Stock Exchange in Mogadishu, Somalia. Though small, by being dedicated to Somalia, it can better address factors that help local businesses ________, and that focus on the success of local businesses benefits investors and the local economy.

 

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

Daniel J. Kliebenstein and colleagues tested whether soil microorganisms from ecologically different settings-ponderosa pine forest, irrigated pasture, and so on-affect plants' flavor chemistry. Although they found associations between plants' glucosinolates (compounds that produce spicy and bitter flavors) and plants' growth conditions, variations in glucosinolates could not be ________  soil microbes specifically.

 

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

The following text is from Rudolfo Anaya's 1972 novel Bless Me, Ultima. Two of the narrator's adult brothers have decided to move away from home. Another brother has decided not to accompany them.

In the morning León and Eugene were gone, but Andrew remained. They had talked long into the night, and finally he had given up the idea of going with them. I think he did not like to follow their ways, and he wanted to please my mother.

©1972 by Rudolfo Anaya

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

In 1951, Ethel Payne, known as the First Lady of the Black Press, began writing for the esteemed Sengstacke newspapers, which included the Chicago Defender. Payne's accomplishment is just one example of the rich history of Black journalism in the United States. That history is preserved by the National Association of Black Journalists, which was founded in Washington, DC, in 1975 to support Black media professionals and honor people like Payne.

According to the text, where was the National Association of Black Journalists founded?

Cedar Hill in Washington, DC, is the house where Frederick Douglass lived for nearly twenty years and wrote one of his autobiographies. Now the house is a museum dedicated to Douglass's life and writings. Visitors travel to this museum to feel more connected to an author they admire. To encourage that sense of connection, the museum's curators have set up exhibits including a re-creation of his personal study. Such exhibits help visitors understand day-to-day life in the house where Douglass felt inspired.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

One challenge faced by researchers studying global urbanization is that different countries have different definitions of what constitutes an urban settlement. Many countries define urban settlements based on the number of people living in them. However, countries do not all use the same number; for example, Iceland uses a minimum population of 200 , while Mali uses 30,000. Other countries use a combination of population and other factors, like the availability of planned public spaces. This variation makes it difficult for researchers to compare aspects of urbanization in different countries.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Because humans occupy the International Space Station (ISS), it also harbors common dust-borne fungi and bacteria found on Earth. In a study of dust collected from the ISS, the growth of fungi like Penicillium chrysogenum and bacteria like Staphylococcus pettenkoferi was acceptably low under the station's standard 25% to 75% relative humidity (RH) conditions but unacceptably high at RH of 85% and above, which could feasibly happen in station areas where crew members exercise.

Which statement about microbial growth aboard the ISS is best supported by the text?

Text 1

Columbia University and the online class provider edX are two of the many institutions offering training programs in entrepreneurship. But what results do such programs produce? In a study of college students in the United States, Korea, China, and Fiji, researcher Sang Lee and colleagues addressed this question and convincingly demonstrated that participants showed high knowledge of entrepreneurship as a result of receiving entrepreneurial training.

Text 2

While studies of entrepreneurial training typically report positive results, a close look at these studies reveals widespread methodological shortcomings. For instance, a 2005 study led by Sang Lee found benefits of entrepreneurial education for college students in four countries, but the study only collected data on students after the training, not before, making it unclear whether the training actually had an effect.

Based on the texts, the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 would most likely disagree about the answer to which question?

Scientists collected information about brown bears in Katmai National Park in Alaska. This information included each bear's sex, age, and approximate weight. Among the bears whose information is shown in the table, the youngest one was the bear with identification number .

 

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

In the 1980s and 1990s, many countries began allowing foreign investors to purchase shares of companies based in those countries.

 

According to the table, in what year did Malaysia make the change mentioned in the text?

The following text is adapted from Henrik Ibsen's 1899 play When We Dead Awaken (translated by William Archer in 1907). Ulfheim is introducing himself to Professor Rubek, a sculptor.

 

ULFHEIM: I believe I have the honour of addressing no less a person than the great Sculptor Rubek.

PROFESSOR RUBEK: (Nods.) I remember meeting you once or twice—the autumn when I was last at home.

ULFHEIM: That's many years ago, now. And then you weren't so illustrious as I hear you've since become.

 

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text?

When used to examine paintings, nonvisible light, such as ultraviolet, can penetrate the painting's visible surface and give art historians important insights into an artist's process. For example, imaging the underlayers of Artemisia Gentileschi's Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1618-20) revealed that Gentileschi originally painted her own face on the figure. Imaging can also provide insights into a painter's choice of materials, showing, for example, whether a painter used titanium oxide pigment in a given work.

 

According to the text, why are the images beneath the surface of a painting valuable to art historians?

Psychologists Gregory Bryant, Dorsa Amir, and colleagues investigated cross-cultural perceptions of spontaneous (real) laughter and volitional (fake or forced) laughter. Study participants from 21 societies, including those in Australia and Iran, listened to randomized recordings of 18 spontaneous laughs taken from natural conversations between pairs of women and 18 volitional laughs produced separately by 18 different women in response to an instruction to laugh. Analysis of the participants' evaluations of the laughs prompted the team to conclude that the ability to distinguish between spontaneous and volitional laughter appears to be universal across cultures.

 

Which potential finding from another study, if true, would most directly strengthen the team's conclusion?

Introducing a new species into a delicate ecosystem can often be harmful. The zebra dove and other fruit-eating birds have established themselves on the Hawaiian island of Oahu after being brought there in the last 150 years. Many plant species on the island rely on the activity of fruit-eating birds to maintain and increase their populations. In recent studies, zebra doves have been found to spread seeds of native forest plants that are at risk of extinction, such as the mamaki shrub and the alahee tree, suggesting that _________.

 

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Some representations of the cataclysmic fate of the comic book planet Krypton illustrate a common trope in disaster stories: people's self-destructive carelessness. Explanations of real-world societal collapse betray a similar pattern. One theory about the downfall of Rapa Nui, for example, argues that residents invited disaster by despoiling the island's Jubaea palm forests, leading to a scarcity of wood for fuel and canoe construction. Archaeological evidence, however, suggests that residents adapted to environmental conditions by relying on grass and other plants for cooking and driftwood for making canoes. Given that other factors—e.g., disease and conflict arising from European contact—played a crucial role in Rapa Nui's eventual demise, it therefore seems unlikely that ________.

 

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Many Indigenous songs serve as repositories of ecological knowledge—e.g., Sakha songs about local ecosystems and O'odham songs about desert plants. In a study by ethnobiologist Dana Lepofsky et al., a song keeper for the Kwakwaka'wakw people provided access to ancient songs referring to the people's creation of terraced intertidal gardens to foster clams for consumption. Cross-references of that information with both archaeological and paleoecological records have revealed significant increases in clam size and productivity concurrent with the most prevalent use of these clam gardens. This finding suggests that researchers should consider _______.

 

Which choice most logically completes the text?

China fir plants' adaptive response to drought conditions—initiated after insufficient water uptake detected by the plants' roots activates hormone—based signaling mechanisms-              responsible for changes to the plants' morphological characteristics.

 

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

The smoke point of refined avocado oil ________ around 520 degrees Fahrenheit. When refined avocado oil is heated past this temperature, it will begin to combust and emit smoke.

 

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

Because many of the first cattle ranchers in the US learned the trade from Spanish-speaking Mexican vaqueros (cowboys), many ranching terms in the English language come from Spanish. One example is the word "rodeo." It comes from the Spanish word rodear. Another example is "cinch." _______ comes from the Spanish word cincho.

 

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

Located in what is now the United Kingdom, the Taversoe Tuick Chambered Cairn is one of the oldest known structures in the world, _________researchers a glimpse into ages long gone.

 

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

In the Suzuki method, classical pieces like Franz Schubert's "Wiegenlied" are taught to beginning music students as young as three, while students of traditional methods often only             such songs at the age of five.

 

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

Portobello Road Market has operated for more than a century, making _______ both a popular shopping destination and an important piece of London's history.

 

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

In the early 1920s, researchers at the US Geological Survey determined the geographic center of Texas using a simple method. First, they attached a string to the middle point of a cardboard cutout of the state and suspended it in the air. ______ they adjusted the suspension point until the cutout hung perfectly flat. Ultimately, this point was determined to be the center.

 

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

When the first railroads were built in Australia in the 1800s, a variety of track sizes (gauges) were used across the continent, resulting in what historians call the "railway gauge muddle." The Victorian Goldfields Railway line in Victoria used broad tracks. _______ in Western Australia used narrow gauge tracks.

 

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

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

· Snow hydrologist Zoe Wellschlager helps maintain automated snow measurement stations throughout the western United States.

·They are called SNOTEL sites.

· There are around 70 sites throughout Alaska.

·There is one at Tokositna Valley.

The student wants to emphasize the number of SNOTEL sites in Alaska. 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:

·Wind is a renewable energy source.

·A wind farm uses turbines to convert wind into electrical power.

· A wind farm's maximum electrical output is called its nameplate capacity.

· Sweetwater Wind Farm is located in Nolan County, Texas.

· Its nameplate capacity is 586 megawatts.

The student wants to emphasize the location of Sweetwater Wind Farm. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?