SAT Pastpaper with Solutions

Community science, which involves professional scientists collaborating with amateur science enthusiasts to study a topic, is often an effective and engaging way to conduct research. It can allow people to assist with conservation efforts, spark youth interest in science, and increase the amount of data researchers can collect. This approach was essential to the success of a study by biologist Abbigail Merrill and colleagues of how butterfly color relates to flower choice, which included findings from hundreds of students and community members in northwestern Arkansas.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

Often, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry is given to a single person, such as Theodore William Richards in 1914. But sometimes the Nobel Committee wants to reward work attributed to two or three individuals, in which case, the award is given ______. For instance, in 2020, Jennifer Doudna was among those awarded for "the development of a method for genome editing."

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

The following text is adapted from the 1895 poem "Ojistoh" by Emily Pauline Johnson, a Kanienkahagen (Mohawk) writer also known as Tekahionwake.

I am Ojistoh, I am she, the wife
Of him whose name  breathes bravery and life
And courage to the tribe who calls him chief.
I am Ojistoh, his white star, and he
Is land, and lake, and sky-and soul to me.

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

The following text is adapted from Mary Seacole's 1857 autobiography Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands.

That journey across the Isthmus [of Panama], insignificant in distance as it was, was by no means an easy one. It seemed as if nature had determined to throw every conceivable obstacle in the way of those who should seek to join the two great oceans of the world.

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

"Tomato" is an example of a loanword-that is, a word that originated in one language and was later adopted by another. The word came to English indirectly from tomate, the Spanish word for the widely cultivated plant. Spanish had borrowed it from Nahuatl, an Indigenous language of Central Mexico, in which the word's original form is tomatl. "Maize" is also Indigenous in origin and entered English through Spanish. But in this case, the original source was Taino, a language of the Caribbean islands, in which the word for the corn plant is mahis.

The author makes which point about the Spanish language?

Though John Crowley, author of Engine Summer, is perhaps not as well known as the most commercially successful American writers of the past fifty years, influential figures have championed his work, including the poet James Merrill and the literary critic Harold Bloom. In his afterword to Crowley's book Little, Big, Bloom praises the novel's adroit blend of what playwright Friedrich Schiller termed the naive and sentimental modes-while Schiller thought works could be classified as either naive (seeking to describe reality) or sentimental (seeking to develop ideas), Little, Big demonstrates that a work can be both.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

In a study by Mika R. Moran, Daniel A. Rodriguez, and colleagues, residents of Panama City, Panama, and Fortaleza, Brazil, were surveyed about parks in their cities. Of the 318 respondents from Panama City,53.5% indicated that they use the city's parks, and of the 938 respondents from Fortaleza, 35.7% indicated using city parks. Given that the percentage of Panama City respondents who reported having access to other desired amenities near parks was much lower than that reported by Fortaleza respondents, the difference in park use can't be explained by Panama City residents having more access to desired nonpark amenities near parks.

Which choice best describes the main idea of the text?

The following text is adapted from Jerome K. Jerome's 1889 novel Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog).

We [people] are creatures of the sun. We love light and life. That is why we crowd into the towns and cities, and the country grows more and more deserted every year. In the sunlight-in the daytime, when Nature is alive and busy all around us, we like the open hill-sides and the deep woods well enough: but in the night, when our Mother Earth has gone to sleep, and left us waking, oh! the world seems so lonesome, and we get frightened, like children in a silent house. Then we sit and sob, and long for the gas-lit streets, and the sound of human voices, and the answering throb of human life.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

Cane is a 1923 novel by Jean Toomer. In one portion of the novel, Toomer establishes a contrast between the narrator's attitude toward life and the attitude of the narrator's love interest, Avey, writing, _______

Which quotation from Cane most effectively illustrates the claim?

Works by Rafael Soriano and Rupert Garcia were featured in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's exhibition Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art. This 2013 exhibition celebrated the diverse achievements _______ artists of Latin American descent.

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

Pigments give paints and dyes their color. Ocher is a mineral-based pigment used to make several colors, including red. Red ocher gets its color from iron oxide. Pigments can also be plant-based; plant-based pigments contain a high level of carbon. In a 2023 study, archaeologists tested the red pigment on decorated beads made by members of the Natufian culture approximately 15,000 years ago. The test showed that the pigment found on several beads contained no iron but had a high level of carbon. This finding led the researchers to conclude that_______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

In an extensive review of existing literature, Léna de Framond and team cataloged the prevalence of broken-wing display-a defensive behavior observed in Haematopus longirostris (pied oystercatcher) and many other species-throughout the Aves class. Documentation of the display in 285 species across 52 families suggests the behavior likely evolved independently multiple times, prompting the team to consider ecological and lifehistory characteristics with hypothesized associations to the behavior's emergence, including traits related to reproduction investment and future reproduction potential. Based on their review of those traits, the team concluded that _______

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

Water flowing around an obstruction creates vortices (patterns of swirls) of varying size; by detecting the vortices, fish can determine the size and position of the obstruction. Testing by Yuzo R. Yanagisuru, Otar Akanyeti, and James C. Liao using models of three head shapes-narrow (low ratio of width to length), intermediate, and wide (high ratio of width to length)-showed that for medium-sized vortices, fish with wide heads would be least able to distinguish between vortices and general turbulence in the water. A second research team has therefore hypothesized that in low-visibility conditions, wider-headed fish will be less likely than narrower-headed fish to detect
obstructions.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the second research team's hypothesis?

The Globe Theatre in London is a reconstruction of the famed venue where many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed. In 1613, a prop cannon ________ during a performance and ignited the Globe's thatched roof. No one was hurt, but in two hours the original Globe was gone.

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

As a leader of the National Woman Suffrage Association in the late 1800s, Ann Quinby of______an important role in the campaign to secure voting rights for US women.

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

Famous for its four-degree tilt, the leaning Garisenda Tower is a popular attraction in Bologna's city center. However, measurements taken in 2023 showed that the tower was rotating in a concerning way. _______ city officials closed the area around the tower so experts could explore solutions to stabilize the historical twelfth-century structure.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

On December 2, 1992, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off into space, commencing Mission_______seven days and seven hours, the mission ended when the shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

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

Trade was vital to the Srivijaya Empire, which reigned in Southeast Asia from around 600 CE to 1200 CE. Its people______tin, medicines, and wood to sell to neighboring societies. In exchange, they received valuable items, such as spices, silk, and porcelain.

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

When languages are no longer spoken, they are considered extinct. ______ the Umbrian language went extinct around the first century BCE, though it was once widely spoken in parts of central Italy.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

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

• The A.M. Turing Award is a prestigious award given for "major contributions of lasting importance to computing."

• Manuel Blum won the award in 1995 for contributions to the foundations of computational complexity theory.

• Raj Reddy won the award in 1994 for pioneering the development of large-scale artificial intelligence systems.

The student wants to emphasize the order in which Manuel Blum and Raj Reddy won the A.M. Turing Award. 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.

• Catherine A. Moore was the lighthouse keeper at Black Rock Harbor Light in Connecticut.

• She held this position from 1817 to 1878.

• Laura J. Hecox was the lighthouse keeper at Santa Cruz Light in California.

• She held this position from 1883 to 1917.

The student wants to emphasize the order in which the two lighthouse keepers began their careers. 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:

· Dinosaur fossil specimens can be found at science museums all over the world.

· Many dinosaur fossil specimens are given nicknames.

· The Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and Field Station in Malta, Montana, houses a dinosaur fossil specimen nicknamed Roberta.

· Roberta lived in the Late Cretaceous period, which ended more than 65 million years ago.

· It is a member of the genus Brachylophosaurus.

The student wants to provide an example of a dinosaur fossil specimen's nickname. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?