SAT Pastpaper with Solutions

It would not be productive for supporters of a proposal to increase the toll that drivers must pay to use the Veterans Bridge, which spans the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River in Virginia, to direct their arguments at those drivers who strongly believe that the current toll is too high. There's little point in trying to__________someone whose mind is already made up.

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

Brazilian artist Camila Rosa started her career with a female street art collective called Colectivo Cha. Rosa says that her artistic style has been__________by her time in the group and her interest in things like punk rock and political movements. Those inspirations can be seen in her artworks' references to identity and social justice.

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

The following text is from Agatha Christie's 1924 novel The Man in the Brown Suit.

 

My object in life is to be thoroughly comfortable. I have devoted a certain amount of thought, and a considerable amount of money, to further that end. But I cannot say that I always succeed.

 

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

Can marsh thistle plants grow on Mars? Can pea plants? You might think the answer to these questions is obviously no, but researchers in the Netherlands recently showed that many common plant species can thrive in soil designed to simulate Martian conditions, as long as water is supplied. In fact, some species actually did better in Martian soil than in Earth soil: 54 percent of marsh thistle plants grown in simulated Martian soil were alive after 50 days, compared with 46 percent that were when planted in soil from their home planet.

 

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

The following text is adapted from Matthew Arnold's 1869 nonfiction book Culture and Anarchy.

The Times [a British newspaper], replying to some foreign strictures on the dress, looks, and behaviour of the English abroad, urges that the English ideal is that every one should be free to do and to look just as he likes. But culture indefatigably tries, not to make what each raw person may like, the rule by which he fashions himself; but to draw ever nearer to a sense of what is indeed beautiful, graceful, and becoming, and to get the raw person to like that.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

The first souvenir postcards in the United States were sold at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. People bought them to mail to family and friends or to keep as collectibles. Extremely popular, these postcards sparked a craze for souvenir postcards that lasted into the early 1900s: tourists bought postcards showing pictures of scenery and attractions from across the US, and billions of souvenir postcards were sent through the mail.

 

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

Regulations called RSRs prevent insurance companies from raising prices by large amounts. Researchers Naoki Aizawa and Ami Ko collected data about the years in which various US states implemented RSRs.

 

Which state shown in the table implemented RSRs most recently?

The orbital period of a moon is the time it takes the moon to go around the planet it orbits one time. The table shows the orbital period of three of Jupiter's moons, measured in Earth days.

 

According to the table, what is the orbital period of Europa?

A student is researching copper mining in several countries in 1995 and 2020. Consulting the table, the student finds that the country that mined the smallest amount of copper in 1995 was________.

 

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

Some studies of migrating animals measure how far the animals travel in a year by fitting individuals with GPS tracking collars. Other studies track annual round-trip distance (RTD), which is equal to double the distance separating the two habitats a population migrates between each year. A researcher argues that since GPS records all of an animal's movements, using the GPS method to track a population would result in significantly higher recorded travel distances than using the RTD method would. For example, it's very likely that the distance reported for the________.

 

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

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 daughter from a previous marriage. Chekhov portrays Vanya as feeling underappreciated by the professor, as is evident when_________.

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

High-speed rail (HSR) systems have trains that move at much higher speeds than traditional trains. HSR is expanding in Greece, Sweden, and many other countries around the world. The United States, however, has been slow to build HSR systems. Researchers surveyed United States residents about their attitudes toward HSR. The researchers claim that this survey reveals that there is strong support for building more HSR lines in the United States.

 

Which quotation from a survey respondent would best illustrate the underlined claim?

Many studies have found a positive association between levels of dissolved organic carbon and mercury in bodies of fresh water undisturbed by human activity. Stéphane Guédron, Delphine Tisserand, and colleagues did not find this correlation in an examination of freshwater bodies impacted by wastewater, but Michael E. Berndt and Travis K. Bavin, who studied freshwater bodies disturbed by mining, did find it, leading some scientists to hypothesize that wastewater affects water chemistry differently than mining does. Guédron, Tisserand, and colleagues' study, however, was conducted in Laos, whereas Berndt and Bavin's study was conducted in the United States, suggesting that________.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Over 600 languages are spoken in New York City in addition to English—one can find Amharic spoken in the neighborhood of Norwood, or Ghale in Jackson Heights. Most speakers of Chinese languages reside in the neighborhood of Flushing (part of New York City's borough of Queens), where the dominant Chinese language is Mandarin, and in Chinatown, in the borough of Manhattan, where the dominant Chinese languages are Cantonese and Fuzhounese. Mandarin is widely spoken in north China, while Cantonese and Fuzhounese are widely spoken in south China. It can therefore be inferred that_________.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Scientists recently created a model to predict how shorter winters will affect future mammal population sizes in US national forests. Unfortunately, when the model is applied to large forests, its predictions for large-mammal populations are too high, and when applied to small forests, its predictions for small-mammal populations are too high. Tuskegee National Forest in Alabama is a small forest, covering less than 100,000 acres. If used to evaluate the effect of shorter winters on this forest in ten years, the model would likely therefore________.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

The Eiger, the Mönch, the Jungfrau—Alpine summits like these were little more than wastelands to many Europeans until the eighteenth century, when attitudes toward such intimidating landscapes shifted as part of a broader aesthetic__________by lrish philosopher Edmund Burke, this shift framed mountains as sublime objects capable of producing delightful terror.

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

In Puerto Rico, it's not unusual for a city or town to be known by a nickname that corresponds to one of its notable features, like landscape, climate, famous residents, or chief export. For example, the Puerto Rican municipality of Arecibo is well known for Antonio de los Reyes Correa, the 17th-century army captain who once defended the__________this distinction has earned it a fitting nickname: "the Villa of Captain Correa."

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

In 2010, anthropologist Lívia Barbosa published a study wherein she documented survey respondents' perceptions of popular Brazilian foods, such as coxinha and broa. While the data may now be somewhat outdated, scholars in the future interested in tracking changes in food and sociability in Brazilian society__________Barbosa's study useful.

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

Leptoptilos dubius, also known as the greater__________can be found in places like the Central Tanintharyi Coast in Myanmar and Chitwan National Park in Nepal, but more 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 a conservation effort that aims to bring adjutants back from near extinction.

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

You can see Brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral's bold use of color in her painting Sol Poente (Setting Sun). Created in 1929, the painting_______ bright green cacti towering in front of a candy-orange sky.

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

Many folktales that originate in the Lithuanian language begin with the same phrase. In English, this phrase_________roughly to "beyond nine seas, beyond nine lagoons."

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

John Rankin was an outspoken abolitionist whose Ohio home was a stop on the underground railroad (the network of people and places that some enslaved people used to escape to freedom). _________supporters of the railroad were secretive about their antislavery views. Usually, they were vocal abolitionists like Rankin.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

While some researchers have identified the planet Teegarden's Star c as potentially habitable, it's unlikely that humanity will be able to take advantage of its favorable conditions anytime soon—it's 12.58 light years away. _________at 1,196 light years away, the planet Kepler-1410b is also inaccessible.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

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

· One and All is the name of a sailboat.

· Uku Randmaa is an Estonian sailor.

· He sailed One and All on a nonstop, 254-day journey around the world.

· He set sail from Les Sables d'Olonne, France, in July 2018.

· He returned to Les Sables d'Olonne in March 2019.

The student wants to indicate the name of the sailboat Randmaa sailed. 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:

· Body positions are a fundamental aspect of dance.

· In Cecchetti method ballet, there is a position for the dancer's arms called fourth position en avant.

· In the position, one arm is out to the side, and the other is rounded to roughly align the fingers with the navel.

· In Vaganova method ballet,there is a position for the dancer's arms called big pose.

· In this position, one arm is out to the side, and the other is rounded and raised above the head.

The student wants to emphasize a similarity between the two positions. 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:

· Angelina Weld Grimke was an African American poet, playwright, and journalist.

· Grimke lived and worked in Washington, DC, for many years.

· "To Miss Harriet E. Riggs" is a poem by Grimke.

· It was published in 1923.

The student wants to indicate the year "To Miss Harriet E. Riggs" was published. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?