sat act practice test

SAT/ACTCombo Sample Test

with Answers & Explanations

*SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.**ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc.

*®

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® **

Copyright ©2006 Kaplan, Inc.All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical,without the written permission of Kaplan, Inc.

Welcome to Kaplan’s SAT/ACT Combo Practice Test. Congratulations on taking this importantstep toward gaining admission to the college of your choice. As you know, colleges use yourscores on tests like the SAT and ACT to make admission decisions. This practice test combinesrepresentative parts of the SAT and the ACT. Your results will give you a sense of how you mightdo on the actual tests.

Keep in mind that a full SAT is 3 hours and 45 minutes and a full ACT (with essay) is 3 hours and25 minutes. This Combo Test sampler will take 90 minutes. At the end, we’ll guide you on how toscore your answers to calculate a percentage on each section.

Here’s what we did:

Before you begin—when to guess:

On the SAT:• Each correct answer increases your raw score by 1 point.• Each incorrect answer decreases your raw score by a fraction of a point (except for Grid-Ins).

If you guess randomly, the points you lose for incorrect answers will likely cancel out the pointsyou get for correct answers. However, if you can eliminate at least one wrong answer, your oddsof guessing correctly increase.Bottom line: On the SAT, if you can eliminate at least one answer choice, it is in your bestinterest to guess.

On the ACT:• Each correct answer increases your raw score by 1 point.• Incorrect answers do NOT decrease your raw score.

Bottom line: On the ACT, you should never leave an answer choice blank.

B C D E

B C D E

B C D E

B C D E

B C D E

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

14–14–14–14–

+ 1

Actual Tests Our Combo Test

SAT

1 Essay Prompt Section 1: 1 Essay Prompt

1 35-question Writing Section1 14-question Writing Section

Section 2: 10-question Writing Section

1 18-question Math Section1 20-question Math Section1 16-question Math Section

Section 3: 10-question Math Section

2 24-question Critical Reading Sections1 19-question Critical Reading Section

Section 4: 10-question Critical ReadingSection

1 Experimental Section None

ACT

1 75-question English Test Section 5: 10-question English Test

1 60-question Math Test Section 6: 10-question Math Test

1 40-question Reading Test Section 7: 10-question Reading Test

1 40-question Science Test Section 8: 10-question Science Test

1 30-minute Writing Test (Essay) Section 1: 1 Prompt Essay

SECTION

21.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

# right inSection 2

# wrong inSection 2

# right inSection 4

# wrong inSection 4

5. 6. 7.

8. 9. 10.

SECTION

31.

2.

3.

4.

# right inSection 3 # 1-4

# wrong inSection 3 # 1-4

# right inSection 3 # 5-10

SECTION

41.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

SECTION

51.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

# right inSection 5

SECTION

61.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

# right inSection 6

SECTION

71.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

# right inSection 7

SECTION

8 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

# right inSection 8

Section 1 1

1

ESSAYTime—25 minutes

The essay gives you an opportunity to show how effectively you can develop and express ideas. You should, therefore, takecare to develop your point of view, present your ideas logically and clearly, and use language precisely.

Your essay must be written on the lined pages in this test booklet—on Test Day you will receive no other paper on which towrite. You will have enough space if you write on every line, avoid wide margins, and keep your handwriting to a reasonablesize. On the actual SAT, people who are not familiar with your handwriting will read what you write. Try to write or print sothat what you are writing is legible to those readers.

Give yourself twenty-five minutes to write an essay on the topic assigned below. DO NOT WRITE ON ANOTHER TOPIC.ON TEST DAY, AN OFF-TOPIC ESSAY WILL RECEIVE A SCORE OF ZERO.

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following quotation and the assignment below.

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Natureand more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.

E. B. White

Assignment: Does human progress depend upon a respect and appreciation for nature? Plan and write an essay inwhich you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken fromyour reading, studies, experiences, or observations.

IF YOU FINISH BEFORE TIME IS CALLED, YOU MAY CHECK YOUR WORK ONTHIS SECTION ONLY. DO NOT TURN TO ANY OTHER SECTION IN THE TEST. STOP

GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE

Section 2 2 2

Despite lackluster sales figures, each of the company’sexecutives were rewarded with bonuses and stockoptions because the stock kept rising.

(A) were rewarded with bonuses and stock optionsbecause the stock kept

(B) was rewarded with bonuses and stock optionsbecause the stock kept

(C) was rewarded with bonuses and stock options;because the stock kept

(D) were rewarded with bonuses and stock options, thestock kept

(E) was rewarded with bonuses and stock options; thestock was keeping

Since the art exhibit opens on Tuesday and will run forone week only, we had decided to order our ticketswell in advance.

(A) we had decided to order our tickets(B) we, having decided to order our tickets(C) we decided to order our tickets(D) we decide to order our tickets(E) we were deciding to order our tickets

Timbuktu, a Malian city that marks the western edge ofthe Sahara Desert, serving as an important trading postfor salt caravans crossing the continent.

(A) Desert, serving as an important trading post forsalt caravans crossing the continent

(B) Desert, serves as an important trading post for saltcaravans crossing the continent

(C) Desert, its importance for salt caravans crossingthe continent as a trading post

(D) Desert, and it served as an important trading postfor salt caravans crossing the continent

(E) Desert, serving as an important trading post, whichit served for salt caravans that crossed thecontinent

One way students can raise their grade in English isbecause of having written a feature article for theschool paper.

(A) because of having written(B) when they write(C) through their writing of(D) by their writing of(E) by writing

3

42

1

The following sentences test correctness and effectiveness of expression. Part of each sentence or the entire sentence is underlined; beneath each sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Choice A repeats the original phrasing; the other four choices are different. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A; if not, select one of the other choices.

In making your selection, follow the requirements of standard written English; that is, pay attention to grammar, choice of words, sentence construction, and punctuation. Your selection should result in the most effective sentence—clear and precise—without awkwardness or ambiguity.

EXAMPLE:

Every apple in the baskets are ripe and labeled according to the date it was picked.

(A) are ripe and labeled according to the date it was picked (B) is ripe and labeled according to the date it was picked (C) are ripe and labeled according to the date they were picked (D) is ripe and labeled according to the date they were picked (E) are ripe and labeled as to the date it was picked

Time—25 Minutes Questions

Directions: For each question in this section, select the best answer from among the choices given and fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet.

A B C D E

ANSWER:

Time—7 Minutes10 Questions

2

3


5 Herbert Hoover, like his predecessor Calvin Coolidge,favored laissez-faire economic policies in response tomarket shifts.

(A) Herbert Hoover, like his predecessor CalvinCoolidge, favored laissez-faire economicpolicies in response to market shifts.

(B) Herbert Hoover was like his predecessor CalvinCoolidge in that he was known to be in favor oflaissez-faire economic policies in response tomarket shifts.

(C) Herbert Hoover, like his predecessor CalvinCoolidge, favored the same laissez-faireeconomic policies that Coolidge did in responseto market shifts.

(D) Herbert Hoover’s preference, like that of hispredecessor Calvin Coolidge, was towardlaissez-faire economic policies in response tomarket shifts.

(E) Much like his predecessor Calvin Coolidge,favoring laissez-faire economic policies was theresponse of Herbert Hoover to market shifts.

Section 2 2 2

According to a recent survey, residents of IndiaA

consume more tea than any other country. No errorB C D E

Even after he achieves stardom, Bruce SpringsteenA B

would occasionally surprise fans with unannouncedC D

concerts in Asbury Park, NJ. No errorE

Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Discourses is considered byA

statesmen and stateswomen as being the seminal workB

concerning the need for the comprehensive study ofC D

politics. No errorE

6

7

8

4


Section 2 2 2

The following sentences test your ability to recognize grammar and usage errors. Each sentence contains either a single erroror no error at all. No sentence contains more than one error. The error, if there is one, is underlined and lettered. If the sen-tence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence iscorrect, select choice E. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

EXAMPLE: ANSWER:

Whenever one is driving late at night, you must take extra precautions againstA B C

falling asleep at the wheel. No errorD E

A B C D E

Section 2 2 2

5

10

Questions 9–10 are based on the following passage.

(1) The pianoforte, or piano, is one of the mostversatile musical instruments in the world. (2)Surprisingly, when it was invented by BartolomeoCristofori in the early eighteenth century, it did notachieve immediate popularity. (3) Cristofori createdthe piano to combine the robust sound of theharpsichord with the dynamic control of theclavichord. (4) However, this remained the dominantkeyboard instrument until Johann Sebastian Bachbegan to champion the piano in 1750. (5)Manufacturers then adapted the piano to produce everlouder tones. (6) So that composers could make betteruse of the piano’s unique trait: its ability to play bothpiano (softly) and forte (loudly). (7) Soon the pianohad many devotees, including Mozart and Haydn, whowrote sonatas and concerti to show off the piano’sdistinctive capabilities.

In context, which is the best way to deal with sentence4 (reproduced below)?

However, this remained the dominant keyboardinstrument until Johann Sebastian Bach began tochampion the piano in 1750.

(A) Delete it. (B) Switch it with sentence 3.(C) Change “However,” to “Even though.”(D) Change “this” to “the harpsichord.”(E) Change “began” to “begun.”

Which of the following is the best version of theunderlined portion of sentences 5 and 6 (reproducedbelow)?

Manufacturers then adapted the piano to produce everlouder tones. So that composers could make better useof the piano’s unique trait: its ability to play bothpiano (softly) and forte (loudly).

(A) tones, because composers could use(B) tones; and composers could make better use of(C) tones, allowing composers to better use(D) tones to make better use for composers of(E) tones, and composers could make better use of

9

Directions: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for each question that follows. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the conventions of standard written English.


Section 3 3 3 3

6

1 Which of the following could be the value of y if 4y – 7y + 6y = 27 ?

(A) –9(B) –2(C) 1(D) 6(E) 9

2

Which of the angles a°, b°, c°, d°, and e°, shown in thefigure above, is the greatest?

(A) a°(B) b°(C) c°(D) d°(E) e°

110°

50°

Note: Figure not drawn to scale.

d°e°

b°a°c°

Time—14 Minutes 10 Questions

Directions: This section contains two types of questions. You have 14 minutes to complete both types. For questions 1–4, solve each problem and decide which is the best of the choices given. Fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet. You may use any available space for scratchwork.

1. Calculator use is permitted.

2. All numbers used are real numbers.

3. Figures are provided for some problems. All figures are drawn to scale and lie in a plane UNLESS otherwise indicated.

4. Unless otherwise specified, the domain of any function f is assumed to be the set of all real numbers x for which f(x) is a real number.

The sum of the measures in degrees of the angles of a triangle is 180.The number of degrees of arc in a circle is 360.A straight angle has a degree measure of 180.

A = πr2

C = 2πr A = wA = bh12

V = wh

w

hhc 2x

x

3x

s

s

2sa

b

r

V = πr2h

hr

b

c2 = a2 + b2 Special Right Triangles

w60˚

45˚

45˚30˚

Not

esR

efer

ence

Inf

orm

atio

n


Section 3 3 3 3


7

3 If 5 is the average (arithmetic mean) of 3 and r, and 9 is the average of 7 and s, then what is the average of rand s ?

(A) 5(B) 7(C) 9(D) 15(E) 23

4 Which of the following equations describes the graphabove?

(A) y = 4 – x2

(B) y = 4 + x2

(C) y = (4 – x)2

(D) y = (4 + x)2

(E) y = –4x2

xO

y

1

1

5 Tom took 20 books out of the library in 1990, and 45books out of the library in 1991. In 1990, Mary took 30books out of the library. The next year the number ofbooks she took out increased by three times as much asthe number of books Tom took out did. How manybooks did Mary take out in 1991 ?

Section 3 3 3 3

8

6If = 3x, where x is equal to 5, what is the

value of k ?

(7 – 2)k + x

3

Each of the remaining 6 questions requires you to solve the problem and enter your answer by marking the ovals in the special grid, as shown in the examples below. You may use any available space for scratchwork.

Directions: For Student-Produced Response questions 5–10, use the grids on the answer sheet page.

• It is recommended, though not required, that you writeyour answer in the boxes at the top of the columns.However, you will receive credit only for darkeningthe ovals correctly.

• Grid only one answer to a question, even though someproblems have more than one correct answer.

• Darken no more than one oval in a column.

• No answers are negative.

• Mixed numbers cannot be gridded. For example: the

number 1 must be gridded as 1.25 or 5/4.

(If is gridded, it will be interpreted as

not )

14

114

114

You may start your answers in any column,space permitting. Columns not neededshould be left blank.

• Decimal Accuracy: Decimal answers must be enteredas accurately as possible. For example, if you obtain ananswer such as 0.1666. . ., you should record the resultas .166 or .167. Less accurate values such as .16 or.17 are not acceptable.

Acceptable ways to grid = .1666. . .

Grid inresult.

Write answerin boxes.

Fractionline

Decimalpoint

Answer: 1.25 or or 5/4

,


Section 3 3 3 3

9

7 In the flowchart above, if the number k chosen in thefirst step is 4, what number will be the result of thethird step?

If k is prime,add 5.

Divide the resultby 3.

If k is not prime,add 3.

Divide the resultby 3.

Select an evennumber, k.

8 In the figure above, ∆PQR and ∆STU are similar. If thelength of side PR is 42, what is the length of side PQ ?

S U

T

Q

RP18

14 10

9

10 The variables x and y represent numbers for which the

statements x – y > 500 and = 0.375 are true. What is

the smallest integer that x can equal?

yx

The square root of a positive number is the same as theoriginal number divided by 35. What is the number?


10

Section 4 4 4 4 4

2

1 Because Roberta had not ------- her company throughthe usual legal pathways, the Internal Revenue Serviceconsidered her firm’s tax-exempt status to be a -------matter.

(A) determined . . confirmed(B) verified . . contradictory(C) established . . disputable(D) undermined . . adverse(E) quantified . . specialized

The Legion of Honor is a chivalrous order founded bythe Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and now -------deserving citizens of France by the president of thenation.

(A) conscripted to (B) consigned to(C) redeemed for (D) conferred upon

(E) divested of

Time—25 Minutes Questions

Directions: For each question in this section, select the best answer from among the choices given and fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet.10

11


11


Questions 3–4 are based on the following passage.

The Bermuda Triangle is a 440,000-square milearea of ocean bordered by Florida, Bermuda, andPuerto Rico. Several ships and airplanes, including afleet of five U.S. bombers, have disappeared whentraveling through this triangle. Some blame a magneticfield for the disappearances, maintaining that magneticforces cause fluctuations in compasses, and causepilots and captains to veer off course unwittingly. Asecond explanation blames violent air currents for themissing crafts; strong wind storms, this theory holds,destroy the ships and sweep the wreckage away fromthe scene, never to be found. Still others believe thereis a more sinister explanation for the disappearances,claiming that an unknown force mysteriously“kidnaps” the vessels. By this theory, the ships remaintrapped in the Triangle, never to return.

The author uses quotation marks around the word“kidnaps” (line 15) in order to

(A) suggest that this is the theory with which theauthor agrees

(B) emphasize the mysterious nature of thisexplanation

(C) show that the word is being used figuratively(D) compare this explanation to the wind current

theory(E) lend credibility to the explanation by implying a

reference to another document

The explanation in lines 12–15 differs most significantlyfrom the others in that it

(A) pertains only to airplanes(B) refers to a process that occurs in other parts of the

world(C) is more widely accepted than the other theories(D) is concerned with preventing future

disappearances(E) does not refer to a scientific phenomenon

Section 4 4 4 4 4

3

Questions 5–10 are based on the following passages.

The significant extension of the human lifespan hasbecome a distinct possibility in light of recent medicaladvances. This possibility goes beyond simply curingcommon fatal diseases such as cancer or heart disease;we may soon be able to extend our actual maximumlifespan from its current limit of around 120 years, to130 years, 140 years, or even beyond. Each of thepassages below discusses the potential benefits anddisadvantages of this possible extension.

Passage 1

Extending the maximum human lifespan wouldcreate serious societal and economic issues for analready overpopulated world. Not only would it worsenthe already pressing problem of overpopulation, but itwould render the task of caring for an increasinglyelderly population nearly impossible. A huge part of ournation’s budget, as well as equally large portions of thebudgets of most of the other nations in the world, isdevoted to providing medical care, prescription drugs,and even physical assistance to the elderly. In fact,many countries have recently cut their budgets forsenior health care because they already cannot afford it.We can only imagine how much more it would cost ifeveryone lived an additional 10 or 20 years.

The extension of the human lifespan also has thepossibility of expanding the current gulf between thewealthy and poor into an unbridgeable chasm. One mustexpect that when these life-extending treatments aremade available to the general public, they will beextremely expensive and therefore only available topeople with the highest incomes. If the wealthy—whoalready have a longer average lifespan than the poor—have 10 or 20 more years to accumulate wealth, the gapbetween the richest and poorest people in the world willonly widen.

Since extending the human lifespan has become adistinct possibility, many scientists have repeatedlyreassured the public that extending the maximumhuman lifespan would also extend the healthy lifespanof humans, allowing us to work and stay healthy longer,and would therefore cause no additional burden on thehealth care systems of the world. They also claim thatmany of the treatments currently being researched could

The passages below are followed by questions based on their content; questions following a pair of related passages may also be based on the relationship between the paired passages. Answer the questions on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passages and in any introductory material that may be provided.

4

Line

(5)

(10)

(15)Line

(5)

(10)

(15)

(20)

(25)

(30)

12

be made available to all who wanted them. However,this optimism may not be warranted. It still stands toreason that a treatment as powerful and desirable asone that extends the human lifespan could not possiblyreach all those who would desire to use it.

Passage 2

In light of all the opposition from the scientificcommunity and even the general public to thepossibility of extending the human lifespan, it wouldbe easy to assume that all research pertaining to thesubject should be immediately discontinued. However,is the goal of extending human life necessarily a badone? We have already been extending the averagelength of our lives by curing or diminishing many ofthe diseases, such as measles or smallpox, that used tokill many people early in life. I doubt many peoplewould argue that we should not have developed thevaccines that prevent people from contracting thosediseases.

One common argument against the development oflife-extending therapies is that these treatments wouldbe only available to a relatively minute portion of thepopulation. While there are many difficult ethicalissues associated with expensive medical treatment, wecannot simply quit researching a potential treatmentbecause of the costs associated with it. Many of ourcurrent treatments for diseases such as cancer wereonce extremely expensive but are now used all over theworld for effective treatment. In some cases, it takes along time for a particular treatment to become widelyavailable, but that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t bedeveloped.

But even if it is ethical to develop life-extendingtreatments, can the economies of the world even affordthem? If many people were living 10 or 20 yearslonger than they currently do, would we have enoughmoney to pay for all of the costs associated with all ofthese additional years of life? Until this point inhistory, societies have always found ways to pay forthe expense created by new scientific discoveries.Often, these discoveries come with benefits that help tooffset the cost; the same may be true with extendinghuman lives. If extending the maximum humanlifespan is something that many people desire, thepotential cost should not discourage us from pursuingthis goal.

The authors of both passages agree that

(A) the development of life-extending treatmentsraises difficult ethical questions

(B) research into life-extending treatments should notbe continued

(C) life-extending treatments, when developed, shouldbe distributed free to everyone

(D) life-extending treatments will never actually beproduced because they are too complex

(E) the government should pass a law defining thelegality of life-extending treatments

The author of Passage 1 includes the statement “whoalready…the poor” (lines 21–22) to emphasize that

(A) it is necessary that wealthy people live longer thanpoor people

(B) extending the human lifespan will only widen thegap in the distribution of wealth

(C) wealthy people need to give more money tocharity

(D) life-extending treatments will enable everyone tohave longer lives

(E) the cost of developing life-extending treatmentsshould be paid by wealthy people

In line 27, “distinct” most nearly means

(A) separate(B) different(C) likely(D) remote(E) pleasing

The purpose of the sentence in lines 45–48 (“Wehave…in life”) is to argue that

(A) dangerous diseases must be cured before scienceshould work to extend the human lifespan

(B) vaccines for potentially fatal diseases should notbe developed

(C) life-extending treatments, if developed, could takethe place of traditional vaccines

(D) the development of life-extending therapies maycause people to be more susceptible to commondiseases

(E) developing life-extending treatments is similar tocuring fatal diseases


Section 4 4 4 4 45

(35)

(40)

(45)

(50)

(55)

(60)

(65)

(70)

(75)

6

7

8

13

In the questions at the beginning of the last paragraphof Passage 2 (lines 65–70) the author suggests that

(A) the development of life-extending treatments willbe impossible due to their enormous costs

(B) the potential costs of extending the human lifespanwill not present a problem

(C) wealthy people will be the only ones who canafford to pay for life–extending treatments

(D) the cost to society of life–extending treatments is alarger problem than the cost to each individual

(E) more scientists are needed to work on thedevelopment of life-extending treatments

Both authors agree that life-extending therapies

(A) need to be regulated by governments(B) should not be researched(C) would initially be extremely expensive(D) have the potential to improve the quality of life(E) should be given free to all people

Section 4 4 4 4 49

10


14

ENGLISH TEST6 Minutes —10 Questions

Directions: In the following passage, certain words andphrases have been underlined and numbered. You willfind alternatives for each underlined portion in the right-hand column. Select the one that best expresses the idea,that makes the statement acceptable in standard writtenEnglish, or that is phrased most consistently with the styleand tone of the entire passage. If you feel that the originalversion is best, select “NO CHANGE.” You will also findquestions asking about a section of the passage or about

the entire passage. For these questions, decide which choicegives the most appropriate response to the given question.For each question in the test, select the best choice, andfill in the corresponding space on your answer sheet. Youmay wish to read each passage through before you beginto answer the questions associated with it. Most answerscannot be determined without reading several sentencesaround the phrases in question. Make sure to read farenough ahead each time you choose an alternative.

Passage I

Henrik IbsenThe plays of Henrik Ibsen are generally thought to have

marked the origin and the beginning of modern drama. 1

His having been a resident playwright in his native Norway,2

Ibsen spent many years there, so perhaps it was natural that2

his early plays, including The Vikings at Helgeland and The

Pretenders, were based on Norwegian history. Before he left

the Norwegian theater, meanwhile, his dramatic themes3

began to change, and he began to explore the inner lives of

those whose personal philosophies were with convention at

odds. One of his early verse plays, Love’s Comedy, written

in 1862, seemed to foreshadow the prose plays he wrote in4

the future. In it, he presents a non-idealized version of

marriage; a point of view which was quite uncommon for the5

times.

1. A. NO CHANGEB. original beginningC. beginning originD. beginning

2. A. NO CHANGEB. In his native Norway, Ibsen spent many years there

as a resident playwright,C. As a resident playwright in his native Norway,D. Ibsen spent many years as a resident playwright in

his native Norway,

3. A. NO CHANGEB. therefore,C. in fact,D. however,

4. A. NO CHANGEB. writesC. would have writtenD. would write

5. A. NO CHANGEB. marriage—aC. marriage aD. marriage. A

Section 5 5 5 5 5 5


[1] Even today, Ibsen heroines are favorites of

actresses who find their strength and lack of convention

challenging to portray. [2] These plays reflect Ibsen’s interest

in the individual’s search for an authentic identity within the

strictures of society and are remarkable for their strong,

independent female lead characters. [3] Ibsen is best known

for the plays he wrote between 1877 and 1890, these include6

A Doll’s House, Ghosts, and Hedda Gabler. [4] The most

controversial of these was A Doll’s House,

one movie critic likened it to “dropping a bomb into7

contemporary life.” [5] Ibsen reluctantly wrote an alternative

ending for the play, but the burgeoning feminist movement

took the original Nora as a spokeswoman for its cause. [6]

Some theaters actually refused to produce the play unless the

ending, in which Nora Helmer leaves her husband and

children, was changed.

In the years that were the later ones of Ibsen’s career, his9

plays became more symbolic, and his characters turned their

questions from society to their inner selves. Such works as

The Master Builder and When We Dead Awaken are thought

to reflect his own regret at having devoted his life to his

work, to the exclusion of close personal relationships.

6. A. NO CHANGEB. these plays includeC. includingD. included

7. A. NO CHANGEB. one movie critic, likening it toC. which one critic likened toD. who one critic likened to

8. Which of the following sequences of sentences makesthis paragraph most logical?A. NO CHANGEB. 2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 6C. 3, 2, 4, 6, 5, 1D. 3, 4, 2, 1, 5, 6

9. A. NO CHANGEB. years that were later inC. later of the years inD. later years of

8

Section 5 5 5 5 5 5

15


10. Suppose the writer had been assigned to write an essayon the development of modern drama. Would this essayfulfill that assignment?

A. No, because it only discusses one playwright.B. No, because Ibsen’s work preceded the

development of modern drama.C. Yes, because Ibsen’s works are thought to mark the

beginning of modern drama.D. Yes, because a number of Ibsen’s plays are

discussed.

Question 10 asks about the preceding passage as a whole.

16

Section 5 5 5 5 5 5


NO TEST MATERIAL ON THIS PAGE


Section 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

18

1. Simone has $6.00 to spend on soda and lemonade. Sodacosts $1.00 per 2-liter bottle and lemonade costs $1.50per 2-liter bottle. Which of the following could be thenumber of bottles of lemonade she purchased if she usedall the money?

I. 0

II. 2

III. 3

A. I onlyB. II onlyC. I and II onlyD. I and III onlyE. I, II, and III

DO YOUR FIGURING HERE.

MATHEMATICS TEST10 Minutes—10 Questions

Directions: Solve each of the following problems, selectthe correct answer, and then fill in the correspondingspace on your answer sheet.

Don’t linger over problems that are too time-consum-ing. Do as many as you can, then come back to the othersin the time you have remaining.

The use of a calculator is permitted on this test. Thoughyou are allowed to use your calculator to solve anyquestions you choose, some of the questions may bemost easily answered without the use of a calculator.

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all of the following shouldbe assumed.

1. Illustrative figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.2. All geometric figures lie in a plane.3. The term line indicates a straight line.4. The term average indicates arithmetic mean.

2. Last month, a clothing store sold a total of $48,000 ofmerchandise. The pie chart below shows how much eachclothing category contributed to the total sales. In dollars, what were the combined total sales of jeans andkhakis last month?

A. $7,000B. $14,400C. $21,600D. $24,000E. $26,400

3. Sides AO and DO of square AODE lie on the diagonalsof square ABCD, as shown below. If the area of squareABCD is 64 square inches, what is the area of squareAODE, in square inches?

A. 8B. 16C. 32D. 42E. 50.5


A

E

O

D

B C

Accessories 5%

Jeans30%Shirts

25%

Sweaters15%

Khakis25%


Section 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

19


Section 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

20

4. The sum of the measures of ∠X and ∠Y is 90° and thesum of the measures of ∠Y and ∠Z is 90°. Which of thefollowing must be true about ∠X and ∠Z ?

A. ∠X and ∠Z are congruent.B. ∠X and ∠Z form a right angle.C. ∠X and ∠Z form a straight line.D. The degree measure of ∠X is less than the degree

measure of ∠Z.E. The degree measure of ∠X is greater than the

degree measure of ∠Z.

5. If the lines l and m, shown below, are parallel, which ofthe following must be true?

A. b° = d°B. c° = d°C. d° = e°D. a° + f° = 180°E. d° + e° = 180°

6. At 9 A.M. on Monday, a researcher measured the mass ofa sample of a certain radioactive element to be 1 gram.The half-life of this element, or the time it takes for halfof a sample to decay, is known to be 4 hours. What doesthe researcher expect the mass of the sample, in grams,to be at 9 A.M. on Tuesday?

A. 614

B. 312

C. 19

D. 18

E. 12


m

l

e° b°

a°d°

c° f °

7. In the figure below, D, E, F, G, H, and J are collinearpoints. Point H bisects GJ. The sum of the lengths of

EF and GH is 15. The length of FG is 34

the length of

HJ. If the length of DE is half the length of FG, and thelength of DE is 3, how long is EJ ?

A. 16B. 23C. 26.5D. 29E. 32

8. If you rolled a die, the probability of getting a 1 would

be 16

. If you rolled a die 3 times, what would be the

probability of getting a 1 all 3 times?

A. 1,2

196

B. 2116

C. 118

D. 16

E. 12


D E F G J H


Section 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

21


Section 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

22

9. For a science fair project, Tristan took measurements ofthe weight of his pet mouse as it grew from infancy toadulthood. He found that the mouse’s weight increasedrapidly during its first few weeks of life, then increasedmore slowly as the mouse approached adulthood. Whichof the following graphs could represent the relationshipTristan found between time (t) and the mouse’s weight(w) ?

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.


t

w

t

w

t

w

t

w

t

w

10. Salma, Luis, and Veronica are siblings. Salma is half asold as Veronica, and Veronica is 3 years younger thanLuis. If Luis is L years old, what is the sum of the threechildren’s ages?

A. 52

L – 92

B. 52

L – 32

C. 2L – 3

D. 12

L – 92

E. 12

L – 32


Section 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

23


24

Section 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7


Passage IHUMANITIES: This passage is adapted from the article“Indians Win Back Sacred Art” by John Anner, which appearedin The Progressive in January, 1993. Reprinted by permissionfrom The Progressive, www.progressive.org, 409 E Main St,Madison, WI 53703.

“The spirits of our ancestors were lonely, and theycalled to us,” is how Pio Cruz, an Amyra Indian fromBolivia, explained his community's search for theirsacred ceremonial weavings. Cruz and his fellow vil-lagers from the little town of Coroma, nestled high in theBolivian Andes, accomplished a rare feat in November.After four years of struggle, they managed to recover thesacred art they had lost to the North American art market.

At the outset, the task seemed hopeless. How couldan impoverished village of 6,000 inhabitants—most ofwhom do not speak Spanish, never mind English—hopeto force wealthy art collectors and dealers in the UnitedStates to hand over goods for which they had paid highprices? The Coromans managed to catalyze a network oflawyers, anthropologists, Native American activists, U.S.Customs officials, and the Bolivian government, to pres-sure the dealers and collectors into returning the weavings.

“It was an amazing case,” says Michael Ratner, alawyer at the Center for Constitutional Rights whohelped the Coromans get the weavings back. “I reallyhave to hand it to them. That they were able to do thismakes you believe that there really is another dimension,a spirit world.” Indeed, the Coromans themselves say thattheir achievement was due to the intervention of theancestral spirits who reside in the weavings and from thehelp they got from Native spirits in North America.

High in the Andean mountains of Bolivia, expertAmyra weavers once produced woven garments withvibrant colors and the texture of silk for the Inca nobles.The Incas are long gone but, remarkably, some of theweavings in use at that time remain. These ancient gar-ments are worshipped in many parts of the Andes; they are not only consulted as oracles andvenerated as encoding the history of the people, but arebelieved to contain the souls of the ancestors. Carefullypreserved in bundles called q’epis, the weavings survivedthe Spanish conquest and the brutal anti-Indian policiesof many Bolivian goverments.

In no village in the Andes are the textiles moreancient, more beautiful, or more valued than in Coroma,Bolivia. Since before Columbus landed in the Americas,the people of Coroma have hidden away their sacredweavings, bringing them out only on November 1st, theDay of the Dead, when the garments are ritually displayedin an all-day celebration of the connection between theworld of the living and the universe of the deceased.Unfortunately for the Coromans, the unsurpassed qualityand antiquity of their weavings make them highly valuableon international markets—a fact that did not escape deal-ers in South American art and antiquities.

According to Cristina Bubba, a social scientist whohas lived and worked in Coroma for more than ten years,some of these dealers took advantage of the November1st celebration to photograph the best weavings. Thenthey took the photographs to Bolivian intermediaries,instructing them to obtain the garments. Over the courseof five or six years, at least 200 of the finest and most pre-cious weavings left Coroma for the United States, to maketheir way onto the walls of collectors wealthy enough topay tens of thousands of dollars for each one. Several of theBolivian intermediaries have since been convicted of theftand imprisoned, along with some of the Coromans whowere entrusted with the weavings’ care.

Under the 1983 Cultural Property ImplementationAct, the United States Information Agency has the powerto declare that articles from a particular country or culturecannot be legally imported into the United States. This banhas to be requested by the country of origin before it cantake effect (a stipulation added after intense lobbying byart dealers).

Currently there is a five-year ban on the importationof Coroma textiles, which have been recognized as beingowned communally by the Indians and of “important his-toric, religious, and social significance in their daily lives,”according to the USIA.

But the ban was not yet in effect when many of theCoroma weavings left Bolivia, so the Coroma Indiansnegotiated a settlement to get back some, but not all, oftheir weavings.

READING TEST9 Minutes—10 Questions

Directions: This test contains a passage followed by several questions.After reading the passage, select the best answer to each question andfill in the corresponding oval on your answer sheet. You are allowed torefer to the passage while answering the questions.

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75


High-society collectors were jolted into handingover a small number of the weavings when they realized they might have to endure vociferous publicprotests on the part of Native American activists. A SanFrancisco art dealer was persuaded to turn over forty-three weavings after Customs raided his home and ware-house.

“I hope this shows Native people that they can win,”says Susan Lobo, a cultural anthropologist who played akey role in the fight. “And I hope it sends a message tocollectors that it is wrong to buy items of veneration,especially those in use by living cultures.”

Meanwhile, in Coroma, “the people are very happy,”says Bubba. “This thing in Coroma is the start of some-thing new; it is going to open a new road.”

1. The passage indicates that thze Amyra Indian’s weav-ings were once produced for which group of people?A. Bolivian intermediariesB. the villagers of CoromaC. Inca noblesD. Andean artisans

2. In the first paragraph, the author attributes the successof the attempt at retrieving Coroman weavings to theassistance of all of the following EXCEPT:A. ancestral and native spirits.B. lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights.C. Native American activists.D. U.S. Customs officials.

3. As it is used in line 14, the word catalyze most nearlymeans:A. oppose a group ofB. increase the rate of C. elicit the support ofD. systematically analyze

4. It is reasonable to infer that the weavings are valuableto the Coromans primarily because:A. they are used during the Day of the Dead celebra-

tion.B. international collectors are willing to pay high

prices to obtain them.C. they represent their ancestors’ struggles against the

anti-Indian Bolivian government.D. they have a great degree of spiritual and cultural

significance.

5. According to the passage, the Coroman’s weavingswere first produced:A. before the Spanish conquest.B. after Columbus landed in the Americas.C. immediately before the formation of the Cultural

Property Implementation Act.D. after the disappearance of the Incan people.

6. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of theCoroman weavings?A. Their colors were often subdued and earthy.B. They are usually kept hidden away.C. They are among the most valuable textiles in the

region.D. They are still used in the Coroman culture.

7. The phrase “High-society collectors were jolted intohanding over a small number of the weavings” (lines80–81) implies that:A. the collectors did not realize the value of the weav-

ings.B. the collectors were pressured to return some of the

weavings.C. physical punishment was used to force the collec-

tors to return the weavings.D. the weavings had such an emotional impact on the

collectors that they returned them.

8. The passage suggests that the struggle to return theCoromans’ weavings has proven to be:A. a disappointing example of legal failings.B. encouraging to art collectors interested in the work

of native peoples.C. largely successful, but still incomplete.D. a useful lesson to cultural anthropologists.

9. The passage suggests that the Coromans believe thattheir weavings were returned primarily because of:A. the harsh stance that the Bolivian government has

taken against art exportation. B. the diligent work of lawyers and activists.C. the agency of spirits embodied within the weavings

themselves.D. the efforts of the United States Information

Agency.

80

85

90

25

Section 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

26

Section 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 710. The passage suggests that the Coromans’ weav-

ings are:I. made of a type of Bolivian cotton with

a silky texture.II. the remnants of Incan ceremonial garb.

III. ancient artifacts once made by AmryaIndians.

A. I onlyB. III onlyC. I and II onlyD. I, II, and III


NO TEST MATERIAL ON THIS PAGE

Passage I

Zoologists hypothesized that the feeding habits of youngmice are affected by 3 factors: gender, ambient temperature,and the proximity of other mice. To investigate 2 of these fac-tors, the zoologists performed studies using a collection ofenvironmentally controlled and structurally identical enclo-sures (E1–E7). To eliminate the influence of gender, the zool-ogists used only male mice.

Study 1

Enclosure E1 was maintained at 15°C, E2 at 25°C, andE3 at 35°C, and each enclosure contained the same number ofmale mice. The mice in E1 consumed the most food of the 3groups during the study, while those in E3 consumed theleast.

Study 2

To measure the effects of changing temperatures, thetemperatures in enclosures E1 and E2 were varied between15°C and 35°C over the course of a week. At all times duringthe week, the temperatures of the 2 enclosures were equal toeach other. The mass of food, measured in grams (g), con-sumed by the mice in each enclosure each day appears inTable 1.

Study 3

The population density of mice and the food abundancewere varied in enclosures E4–E7, which were all maintained at 25°C. After 7 days, measurements of average mouse weightgain (measured in grams) and increase in body length, measured in millimeters (mm), were recorded and appear in Table 2.

1. According to Study 3, which of the following factorsresults in mice with the largest average weight gain?

A. High population density and low food abundanceB. High population density and high food abundanceC. Low population density and low food abundanceD. Low population density and high food abundance

2. The zoologists next tested an eighth enclosure and foundthe average mouse body length increase to be 11 mmafter 7 days. According to this information and the resultsof Studies 1, 2, and 3, which of the following conclusionsis most valid about the conditions in this enclosure?

A. Population density was low, food abundance washigh, and the temperature was above 25°C.

B. Population density was low, food abundance washigh, and the temperature was below 25°C.

C. Population density was high, food abundance waslow, and the temperature was above 25°C.

D. Population density was high, food abundance waslow, and the temperature was below 25°C.

EnclosureMouse

populationdensity

Foodabundance

Averageweight gain

(g)

Averagebody length

increase(mm)

Table 2

E4

E5

E6

E7

high

high

low

low

low

high

low

high

0.2

0.7

0.8

1.5

2

4

5

9

Mass of food (g) consumedDay 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7

Enclosure

Table 1

E1E2

5250

3536

6869

4038

5152

4847

4748


Section 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

28

Directions: This test contains two passages, each followed by several questions. After reading each passage, select the best answer to each question andfill in the corresponding oval on your answer sheet.You may refer to the passages while answering thequestions. You may NOT use a calculator on this test.

SCIENCE TEST

9 Minutes—10 Questions


3. Which of the following most accurately reflects aconclusion that can be drawn from the results of Studies1 and 2 ?

A. Temperature has no effect on the feeding habits ofyoung mice.

B. The temperature in both enclosures during Day 2 ofStudy 2 was closer to 15°C than the temperature onany other day.

C. The temperature in both enclosures during Day 3 ofStudy 2 was closer to 35°C than the temperature onany other day.

D. The temperature in both enclosures during Day 3 ofStudy 2 was closer to 15°C than the temperature onany other day.

4. Assume that wild mice live in a location where droughthas caused food abundance to fall significantly belowaverage for a season. Which of the following would bethe most likely effect on young male mice at this locationduring this season?

A. Rate of weight gain would be above average.B. Rate of weight gain would be below average.C. Rate of body length increase would be above

average.D. Rate of body length increase would be

approximately average.

5. Zoologists observed a population of male mice for whichthe average rate of mouse weight gain increased as foodabundance decreased. Which of the followingexplanations would best account for this result and beconsistent with the results of Studies 1, 2, and 3 ?

A. The mouse population density was high.B. The ambient temperature was higher than 35°C.C. The mouse population density decreased as the food

abundance decreased.D. The mouse population density increased as the food

abundance decreased.

Section 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

29

Passage II

Resistivity is a measure of how efficiently an electriccurrent passes through a material. In general, the resistivityof a semiconductor decreases when some of the atoms of itscrystal lattice are replaced by atoms of a different element.The dopant atoms (those introduced to the semiconductorcrystal) are classified into two categories, p-type and n-type.Figure 1 shows the relationship between resistivity, mea-sured in ohm-centimeters (Ω·cm), and dopant concentration,measured in atoms per cubic centimeter (atoms/cm3), for sil-icon (Si, a semiconductor) at room temperature.

Figure 1Adapted from the Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute’s ElectronicArchive of New Semiconductor Materials; Characteristics andProperties (http://www.ioffe.ru/SVA/NSM)

Room-temperature values for the resistivity of Si for twospecific dopants, gallium (Ga) and arsenide (As), are shownin Table 1.

Mobility is a measure of the ability of an individual elec-tron to move through a semiconductor, and it is closely relat-ed to resistivity and dopant concentration. Table 2 showsvalues of Si electron mobility, measured in square centime-ters per Volt per second (cm2/V/s), for arsenide and phos-phorous (P) dopants, at different temperatures, measured inKelvin (K), and dopant concentrations.

6. A comparison of Trials 3 and 4 suggests that which ofthe following factors affects Si electron mobility?

A. Dopant type

B. Dopant concentration

C. Temperature

D. Resistivity

7. Assume a scientist wishes to determine whether dopantconcentration affects Si electron mobility. Which of thefollowing pairs of trials in Table 2 should the scientistcompare?

A. Trials 3 and 4B. Trials 4 and 6C. Trials 5 and 6D. Trials 5 and 8

8. Which of the following hypotheses about Si dopants atroom temperature is most strongly supported by theresults shown in Figure 1?

A. Si resistivity is higher for p-type dopants than for n-type dopants at a given dopant concentration.

B. Si resistivity is higher for n-type dopants than for p-type dopants at a given dopant concentration.

C. The higher the resistivity, the higher the electronmobility.

D. The higher the resistivity, the lower the electronmobility.

Dopant information

Element TypeConcentration(atoms/cm3)

Temperature(K)

Mobility(cm2/V/s)

Trial

Table 2

3

4

5

6

7

8

As

As

As

P

P

P

n

n

n

n

n

n

1.8 x 1016

1.8 x 1016

1.8 x 1016

1.3 x 1017

1.3 x 1017

1.3 x 1017

50

100

300

50

100

300

13,400

5,200

1,300

5,300

2,900

900

Dopant information

Element TypeConcentration(atoms/cm3)

Si resistivity(Ω.cm)

Trial

Table 1

12

GaAs

pn

8 x 1016

2 x 10150.32.7

concentration N (atoms/cm3)

resi

stiv

ity (

Ω •

cm)

101210–4

10–310–2

10–1100101

102

103

104

1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021

np


Section 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

30

9. Indium (In) acts as a p-type dopant in Si. According toFigure 1 and Table 1, an In concentration of 8 × 1016

atoms/cm3 would yield a Si resistivity of approximately:

A. 0.1 Ω·cm.B. 0.3 Ω·cm.C. 2.7 Ω·cm.D. larger than 2.7 Ω·cm.

10. Based on Table 2, approximately what would be the Sielectron mobility for a phosphorous dopantconcentration of 1.3 × 1017 at a temperature of 75 K?

A. 900 cm2/V/sB. 2,900 cm2/V/sC. 4,100 cm2/V/sD. 5,300 cm2/V/s

Section 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

31


SCORING YOUR TEST

SAT: On Test Day, for each section (Critical Reading, Math, and Writing), your score willrange from 200-800. Your total score is the sum of these three and can range from 600-2400.

ACT: On Test Day, for each Test (English, Math, Reading, and Science), your score will rangefrom 1-36. Your combined score is the average of these four, and also ranges from 1-36.

Your performance on the quizzes in this test is only a rough guide to your abilities and skillsand is in no way meant to predict your actual Test Day performance.

Step 1: Score Your SAT Essay

Self-score your essay using the following criteria. On the actual SAT, the essay accounts forapproximately 25% of your Writing scaled score.

6 Outstanding—Though it may have a few small errors, the essay is well organized and fullydeveloped with supporting examples. It displays consistent language facility, varied sentencestructure, and varied vocabulary.

5 Solid—Though it has occasional errors or lapses in quality, the essay is generally organized and well developed with appropriate examples. It displays language facility, syntactic variety, and varied vocabulary.

4 Adequate—Though it has some flaws, the essay is organized and adequately developedand has some examples. It displays adequate but inconsistent language facility.

3 Limited—The essay does not adequately fulfill the writing assignment and has many flaws.It has inadequate organization and development, along with many errors in grammar or diction (or both). In general, the essay lacks variety.

2 Flawed—The essay demonstrates incompetence with one or more weaknesses. Ideas arevague and thinly developed. It contains frequent errors in grammar and diction and almost novariety.

1 Deficient—The essay demonstrates incompetence with serious flaws. It has no organization,no development, and severe grammar and diction errors. The essay is so seriously flawed thatits basic meaning is obscured.

0 Off-Topic—The essay does not follow the assignment.

How did you rate your essay? If you did not get as high a score on the essay as you wouldlike and need, don’t worry-Kaplan has designed a writing course to help you correctly answergrammar questions and write a strong essay under extreme time pressure.

Step 2: Compute Your Percent Correct

SAT: Check your answers against the Answers and Explanations on the preceding pages.Count up the number of answers you got right and the number you got wrong for each section,then enter your results in the table on the next page. Remember, do not count questions leftblank as wrong. Note: Grid-in questions do not have a wrong-answer penalty, so do not deductanything for wrong answers.

ACT: Check your answers against the Answers and Explanations on the preceding pages.Count the number of answers you got right and enter your results in the table on the next page.

Step 3: Compare your Results

Compare your SAT Writing and ACT English scores. While these two tests are not identical(SAT has three question types and ACT has one), you will get a sense whether you do muchbetter on one than the other. Count the number wrong you got on the SAT. Is this loweringyour score? Learning some Kaplan elimination strategies will help reduce the number ofwrong answers you have on Test Day.

Now compare your SAT Math and ACT Math. There are three main differences between thesetwo tests: the SAT has a wrong answer penalty, the SAT contains Grid-Ins, and the ACT contains trigonometry questions. Compare your two % correct scores. Is one much higher thanthe other? In Kaplan classes, we will teach you our proven math strategies, such as PickingNumbers and Backsolving, to help you get the best possible math score on either test.

Now compare your SAT Critical Reading and ACT Reading scores. There are three main differences between these two tests: the SAT contains both short and long passages whereasthe ACT has only long passages, the SAT includes sentence completion questions, and theSAT has a wrong answer penalty. Compare your two % correct scores. Is your SAT scoremuch higher? Maybe you’re acing the sentence completions because of your great vocabulary.Is your ACT score higher? Maybe the SAT wrong answer penalty is dragging you down. InKaplan classes, our carefully chosen teachers teach our proven methods and strategies toraise your SAT Critical Reading and ACT Reading scores. We will also offer you a vast array ofresources, from practice tests to flashcards to online activities that will help improve your skills.

Now look at your Science score. No comparison here: Science is not tested on the SAT. If youdo well with science and scientific reasoning, then consider the ACT.

Section 2 Writing

# Right

_____

–1/4 # Wrong

–1/4 • _____

–1/4 # M-C Wrong

+ # Grid Ins Right (Questions 5-10)

–1/4 • _____

–1/4 # Wrong

–1/4 • _____

= % Correct

= % Correct

+ _____

= % Correct

= % Correct

= _____ • 10 = _____%

= _____ • 10 = _____%

= _____ • 10 = _____%

= _____ • 10 = _____%

= _____ • 10 = _____%

= _____ • 10 = _____%

= _____ • 10 = _____%

= % Correct

= % Correct

= % Correct

Section 3 Math

# M-C Right(Questions 1-4)

_____

Section 4 Critical Reading

# Right

_____

Section 5 English

# Right

# Right

_____

Section 6 Math

_____

Section 7 Reading

Section 8 Science

# Right

_____

# Right

_____

SAT ACT

Explanations

sect

ion

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SAT/ACTCombo Test

36

Section 1 (SAT Writing—Essay)Grade 6 Essay

As humans, we can sometimes have an antagonistic relationship with the natural world. Ontoo many occasions, we look at nature as something that must be overcome or improved upon. Wehave the tools and knowledge to alter our own environment, but we often do not have the foresight tosee how those alterations might affect the natural world in the long run. In order to avoid damaging oreven destroying the natural world, we must be cautious and thoughtful about the way we interact withand use our natural resources.

Over the past ten years or so, there has been much discussion about pollution and globalwarming. Most scientific evidence shows that air pollutants produced in mass quantities by humanshave been having a cumulative effect on the atmosphere. Air pollution has damaged the ozone layer, somore sunlight reaches the Earth’s surface. The net effect of this is that the Earth’s average tempera-ture is slowly increasing because of the irresponsible way humans have allowed pollution to increase.Effects of global warming include raised sea levels (which can wipe out coastal areas), changing weath-er patterns (which can effect crop production), and warmer oceans (which contributes to the strengthof tropical storms and hurricanes). Thus, by not respecting the delicate balance of the Earth’s atmos-phere, we have harmed ourselves.

Pollution is not the only area in which it becomes apparent that we must have respect for thenatural world. Through years of study, environmentalists have found that ecosystems have very deli-cate balances. Changing any part of the ecosystem can cause disastrous changes that are magnifiedthroughout the ecosystem. A famous example of this occurred in Australia. Originally, the country didnot have any rabbits. But some people imported a small group of rabbits that was released into thecountryside. Within a few years, the rabbit population was out of control. There was no natural preda-tor of rabbits in Australia, so there was nothing to keep the population in check. As the rabbits repro-duced exponentially, they ruined endless acres of vegetation by overgrazing; in addition, some othernative species were wiped out. To this day, Australia has a serious problem controlling the rabbit popu-lation. A workable and longterm solution has not been achieved in over 100 years of dealing with theproblem. If people had had more respect for the natural system, they might have thought that intro-ducing a new species could cause serious problems.

All of this is not to suggest that we should step back from scientific and technologicaladvancements and allow ourselves to be at the mercy of nature’s whims. Instead, we must haverespect for the power of nature and always remember that we are a part of the natural world. Wemust act responsibly as we progress and examine the potential effects of our advancement before weput things into motion. Indeed, we must respect the natural world in the way that is suggested by theoften-used title Mother Earth.

Grader’s Comments: This essay provides a clear, direct answer to the prompt question, andeach paragraph provides support for this answer.

The essay is well organized, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion,indicating that the writer took adequate time formulating a plan. Strong transitions are used toconnect ideas between and within paragraphs, making the essay flow smoothly.

The two body paragraphs present specific details to support the writer’s position. Inaddition, the reasoning in the conclusion shows a fair amount of critical thought.

The writer exhibits strong vocabulary—such as “foresight,” “cumulative,” and “exponen-tially”—throughout the essay. In addition, the writer successfully uses a variety of sentencestructures. Although there are a few minor errors, none of the errors affects readability.

sect

ion

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SAT/ACTCombo Test

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Grade 4 Essay Human progress cannot happen without our respect for the natural world. No matter how

far we advance in science and technology we won’t be able to change the rules of the natural world.This includes weather, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. How we treat the natural world willhave a lot to do with how much progress the human race can make for the next generations.

To start with, there is no way that people can stop the weather. An example of this are hur-ricanes. Over the past few years there has been a lot of hurricanes that have caused serious dam-age and killed people. They have the technology to track the storms and evacuate people ahead oftime, but they don’t have anything that can stop or move a hurricane. And even when we do know ahurricane is coming it can be impossible to evacuate everyone in time. That’s what happened in NewOrleans with Katrina, and that storm left damage that will take years for them to recover from. Sono matter how advanced we are, mother nature always can be more powerful than us. That’s one rea-son that we need to respect the natural world. That means things like protecting wetlands and therainforest and thinking about the way we use resources.

We also need to respect the world because we need it to survive. The oxygen we breathecomes from plants and trees, and the food that we eat comes from the earth. If we destroy tomany trees and forests then the quality of our air decreases. The quality of the soil affects thequality of the food. So if there are pollutions in the soil, those pollutions get into the food that weeat and make people sick. We’ve got aways to go with technology before we aren’t depending on thequality of the earth’s soil, water, and air for our health and survival.

Finally, any kind of scientific progress needs to rely on the rules of the natural world. Forexample the rules of gravity are a part of the equation of how planes and rockets fly. That’s just onenatural rule that we need to respect and work with. The whole human set of chromosomes wasrecently mapped out. They will probably be able to make lots of cures for diseases based on thisknowledge but they must respect the genetic structure of humans. It would get too out of hand ifscientists started messing around with human genes, like with cloning or taking genes from otheranimals.

All in all, there is no way to escape from the fact that humans have to respect nature. It issomething that in the end we can’t control. We can just find ways to work with or work aroundnature, not conquer it. We should think of nature as our partner instead of like an enemy we need tooutwit

Grader’s Comments: The essay addresses the question in the prompt and generallyremains focused on this issue. The introduction and conclusion employ keywords from theprompt. Organization in the essay is good, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, andconclusion, indicating a well-thought-out plan. Simple transitions are used to connect theideas between paragraphs.

Each body paragraph presents sound reasoning in support of the writer’s position,with somewhat detailed examples.

In general, the writer uses simple words and sentence structures. There are severaldistracting errors, including mistakes in subject–verb agreement and pronoun use. In addi-tion, some language (such as “messing around with”) is too slangy for a formal essay.

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Grade 1 Essay When I was in eighth grade (I think) we read a great story called To Build A Fire, it was about

this guy who was out hiking in the wilderness. I think he was a part of the gold rush. It was the dead ofwinter and he was all by himself but he kept on going and going through the snow. He could of stoppedat any time to build a camp and a fire where he could safely spend the night, have something to eat,and make the part of his trip the next morning, but he didn’t stop. He ignored all of the warning signsof cold and tired because he was so stubborn. He wanted to get to his place that night. I think to getmoney or make a deal or something. So by the time he finally stops and tries to make a fire becausehe realizes he can’t make it there that night it’s too late. He can’t get the fire going because his fin-gers are so numb from the cold. He doesn’t have the energy left to keep walking so he dies from thecold.

This story has always stuck with me. The man in the story should of listened to what hisinstinct was telling him instead of to his pride. He should of stopped and build a fire much earlier. Soeverybody could learn a lot from this story about how to respect nature more and why it’s important.

Grader’s Comments: This essay only partially addresses the prompt question, discussingthe need for humans to respect nature but failing to discuss how this is related to humanprogress. The essay focuses more on a plot summary of the short story than on a responseto the question posed in the assignment.

Though the essay has a conclusion, there is no introduction to help the reader con-nect the summary of the story to the question in the Prompt. The essay provides severaldetails about the short story, but these details act mostly as plot summary instead of as sup-port for the author’s position.

Although the errors in the essay do not obscure the writer’s meaning, several errorsare distracting (including run–on sentences, verb tense shifts, and the incorrect constructions“could of” and “should of”).

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Section 2 (SAT Writing)1. B Strategic Advice: Don’t mistake the object of a preposition for the subject of a

verb.Getting to the Answer: This is a common test maker trap. While the plural“executives” is closer to the verb here, its subject is actually the singular “each.” (B),(C), and (E) all change the verb to the singular “was,” but (C) misuses thesemicolon splice, which is only correct when used to combine independent clauses,and (E) creates a grammatically incorrect sentence. (D) does not address the error; additionally, it creates a run-on sentence.

2. C Strategic Advice: The past perfect verb tense is only correct to refer to an actioncompleted prior to another stated past action.Getting to the Answer: Since this sentence does not mention an action completedprior to the decision to order the tickets, the simple past tense “decided” is correct.(B) creates a sentence fragment. (D) and (E) introduce verb tenses that are inappropriate in context.

3. B Strategic Advice: The –ing verb form can never be the predicate verb in asentence.Getting to the Answer: The sentence as written is a fragment. (B) adds thenecessary predicate verb.(C) and (E) do not address the error.(D) creates a grammatically incorrect sentence.

4. E Strategic Advice: The shortest answer choice will not always be correct, but it’s agood place to start.Getting to the Answer: All of the choices here but (E) are unnecessarily wordy.

5. A Strategic Advice: If all of the answer choices are longer than the original, makesure any additions are necessary for logic or grammatical correctness.Getting to the Answer: This sentence is correct as written. All of the other choicesare unnecessarily wordy.

6. D Strategic Advice: When a sentence presents a comparison, make sure that logicalitems are being compared.Getting to the Answer: As written, this sentence compares “residents of India” to“any other country.” (D) should read “residents of any other country” or “those of anyother country.”(A) is correct idiomatic usage.(B) agrees with its plural subject, “residents.”(C) correctly completes the idiomatic comparison “more…than.”

7. B Strategic Advice: Make sure verb tenses logically sequence events in a sentence.Getting to the Answer: We know that this sentence is describing the past becauseof the opening phrase; the present tense verb in (B) should be “achieved” or “hadachieved.”(A) and (D) are correct idiomatic usage.(C) properly uses an adverb to modify a verb phrase.

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8. B Strategic Advice: The verb form “considered” in this context requires the infinitive. Getting to the Answer: (B) should read “to be.”(A) agrees with its singular subject; although the title is plural, only one book ismentioned.(C) and (D) are idiomatically correct in contest.

9. D Strategic Advice: If a pronoun could logically refer to more than one antecedentnoun, the pronoun is ambiguous.Getting to the Answer: Here, “this” could refer to “the harpsichord,” “theclavichord,” or “the piano,” all of which are mentioned in the previous sentence.Changing “this” to “the harpsichord” eliminates the ambiguity. None of the otheranswer choices addresses the ambiguity error; additionally, switching sentences 3and 4 interrupts the chronological flow of the essay; changing “However,” to “Eventhough” creates a sentence fragment; and the verb form suggested in (E) isincorrect without a helping verb.

10. C Strategic Advice: A “sentence” may have multiple nouns and verbs and still be afragment.Getting to the Answer: Sentence 6, as written, is actually a fragment. (C)combines the sentences to both eliminate the sentence fragment and properlyrelate the two ideas. (A) reverses the cause-and-effect relationship between the two sentences. (B) misuses the semicolon splice, which is only correct when used to combine twoindependent clauses.(D) is awkward.(E) loses the cause-and-effect relationship present in the original sentences.

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Section 3 (SAT Math)1. E Strategic Advice: The first step in solving an equation is to get all the terms with

the variable on one side. Sometimes that’s already been done for you.Getting to the Answer: Combine like terms and solve for the variable.4y – 7y + 6y = 27

3y = 27y = 9

2. E Strategic Advice: Whenever you see intersecting lines, look for vertical andsupplementary angles.Getting to the Answer: Find the measure of each angle marked in the figure.The angles marked b° and 110° form a straight line, so they are supplementary andb = 180 – 110 = 70. The measure of angle a° can be found from the triangle in the figure: a + b + 50 =180, so a = 180 – b – 50 = 180 – 70 – 50 = 60.Angles a° and c° are supplementary, so c = 180 – a = 180 – 60 = 120.Angles d° and 50° are vertical, so d = 50.Angles e° and 50° are supplementary, so e = 180 – 50 = 130.Therefore, angle e° is the greatest of these five angles.

3. C Strategic Advice: Whenever you see an average, you’ll need the three-part formula

average = nu

smum

beorfotfetremrms

s. If you know any two parts of the three-part formula,

you can find the third.Getting to the Answer: First, solve for r:

5 = 3

2+ r

10 = 3 + r7 = r

Next, solve for s:

9 = 7

2+ s

18 = 7 + s11 = sFinally, find the average of r and s:

7 +

211 = 9

4. A Strategic Advice: When you need to match a graph on the coordinate plane withan equation, test the equations by plugging in (x, y) points from the graph.Getting to the Answer: Eliminate the equations that are not satisfied by thecoordinates of the points on the graph. Start with points that are easy to work with,like (0, 4). For x = 0:(A) y = 4 – 02 = 4. Keep it.(B) y = 4 + 02 = 4. Keep it.(C) y = (4 – 0)2 = 42 = 16 ≠ 4. Eliminate.(D) y = (4 + 0)2 = 42 = 16 ≠ 4. Eliminate.(E) y = –4(02) = 0 ≠ 4. Eliminate.To choose between (A) and (B), consider the point (2, 0). For x = 2:(A) y = 4 – 22 = 4 – 4 = 0. Keep it.(B) y = 4 + 22 = 4 + 4 = 8. Eliminate.The only answer choice that works for all the points on the graph is (A).

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5. 105Strategic Advice: To avoid confusion, make sure you work systematically when youtranslate a word problem from English to math.Getting to the Answer: In 1990, Tom took out 20 books, and in 1991 he took out45 books, so the number of books he took out increased by 25 from one year to thenext. The increase in the number of books Mary took out is three times that, or 25 ×3 = 75. In 1990 Mary took out 30 books, so in 1991 she took out 30 + 75 = 105books.

6. 8 Strategic Advice: Work methodically and follow PEMDAS.Getting to the Answer: Begin by simplifying the expression in parentheses andsubstituting 5 for x. Then, do the same thing to both sides of the equation until youhave isolated k.

(7 – 2

3)k + x = 3x

5k

3+ 5 = 15

5k + 5 = 455k = 40k = 8

7. 2.33 or 73

Strategic Advice: A prime number has only itself and 1 as factors. The only evenprime number is 2.Getting to the Answer: The number 4 is not a prime number, so follow the rightbranch of the flowchart and add 3 to it to obtain 7. Dividing this value by 3 gives you

73

≈ 2.33.

8. 938 or 32.6 or 32.7

Strategic Advice: In similar triangles, the ratios of the lengths of correspondingsides are equal.Getting to the Answer: Triangles ∆PQR and ∆STU are similar, so the measures oftheir corresponding angles are equal. Since the figure is drawn to scale, you can tellthat ∠STU = ∠PQR and ∠SUT = ∠PRQ. You can tell that SU corresponds to PRand ST corresponds to PQ. The ratios of the lengths of these sides are equal.

SP

UR =

PS

QT

1482 =

P1Q4

18PQ = 14(42)18PQ = 588

PQ = 51888

= 938 = 32.6 ≈ 32.7

9. 1225Strategic Advice: This question is difficult because it expresses an equation inEnglish. Simply translate methodically from English into math, and then solve theresulting equation.Getting to the Answer: Translating the problem into math, you get:

x = 3x5.

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Because x > 0, you can square both sides:

x = 1,

x2

2

25.

1,225x = x2

Since you know x is not equal to zero, you can divide both sides by x:1,225 = x.

10. 801Strategic Advice: When you have two unknowns, try to get one in terms of theother to simplify the situation.Getting to the Answer: Solve the equation for y in terms of x.

yx

= 0.375

y = 0.375xSubstitute this value into the inequality and simplify.

x – y > 500x – 0.375x > 500

0.625x > 500x > 800

The least possible integer value of x is 801.

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Section 4 (SAT Critical Reading)1. C Strategic Advice: Keywords and sentence structure point out cause-and-effect in

the sentence. Ask yourself how the blanks play out this relationship.Getting to the Answer: Roberta did not go through the normal method of creatingher company, so the I.R.S. might consider her tax status a debatable matter.(A) Determined does not make sense for the first blank, and confirmed is theopposite of your prediction.(B) Verified might work for the first blank, but contradictory doesn’t adequatelydescribe a debatable matter.(C) This is correct; established works in context, and disputable nicely matches yourprediction.(D) These words both have very negative meanings that do not make sense in thesentence.(E) While quantified might seem to go along with your prediction, a specializedmatter doesn’t necessarily relate to Roberta’s avoiding the usual legal pathways.contradictory: opposingdisputable: questionable; debatableundermined: damaged; destabilized

2. D Strategic Advice: Keywords can often provide a strong sense of charge for themissing word.Getting to the Answer: Your prediction should account for the positive charges of“chivalrous” and “deserving.” Napoleon founded the Legion, and citizens todayreceive it by having it bestowed upon them by the President.(A) Don’t be misled by fancy vocabulary; it would not make sense to say the honoris conscripted to citizens.(B) Consigned does not have the correct connotation for this sentence.(C) Redeemed for applies to turning something in, not earning or obtaining it.(D) Conferred upon correctly describes how an honor is given to a recipient.(E) Divested is opposite your prediction; you are looking for a word that describesreward, not removal. conscripted: drafted; compulsorily enrolled in military serviceconsigned: entrusted; given over to the care of anotherconferred: bestowed; invested withdivested: deprived of rights or property; sold off

Bermuda Triangle

3. C Strategic Advice: Remember that quotation marks can be used for dramatic andrhetorical effect. Keep in mind the author’s overall purpose and perspective.Getting to the Answer: The author is referring to the actions of an “unknownforce,” so you know “kidnap” isn’t to be taken literally. Quotation marks emphasizethis. (A) Out of Scope; the author does not take a side on the issue.(B) Misused Detail; the passage does describe the disappearances as “mysterious,”but the quotation marks don’t relate directly to this description.(C) This is correct; the quotation marks indicate a non-literal meaning for the wordthat describes the mystery theory.(D) Out of Scope/Distortion; the author doesn’t intend to compare the theories, andthis particular use of quotation marks wouldn’t relate this explanation to any of the

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others.(E) Distortion; the author never credits one explanation as more valid than anyother, and never suggests that the passage directly references any outside sources.

4. E Strategic Advice: Questions that ask you to compare details will often phraseanswer choices in more general language than does the passage itself. Eliminationcan be a useful strategy if prediction proves difficult.Getting to the Answer: Compare the three theories. The first refers to a magneticfield that causes navigation equipment to malfunction. The second attributes thelosses to violent air currents. The third offers only that the disappearances are amystery; predict that the significant difference is the third theory’s lack of a scientificor logical underpinning.(A) Distortion; this part of the passage also mentions “vessels” and “ships.” (B) Out of Scope; the author never mentions other parts of the world.(C) Out of Scope; the author never states that either theory is more widelyaccepted.(D) Out of Scope; the passage does not discuss prevention.(E) Correct; this matches your prediction and demonstrates the non-scientific natureof the theory.

Extending the Human Lifespan

5. A Strategic Advice: Questions that ask for a point of agreement between twopassages are usually asking for a broad point, so looking back at your notes shouldbe research enough as you make a prediction.Getting to the Answer: The two authors disagree on most points; however, theyboth agree that extending the human lifespan could bring about several difficultsituations.(A) This is correct; both authors discuss ethical questions surrounding the extensionof human life.(B) Out of Scope; neither author calls for research to be discontinued; both simplydiscuss its potential. (C) Extreme; the first author has a problem with the potential cost of the treatments,but does not go so far as to call for their free distribution.(D) Out of Scope; neither author ever claims they will not be produced; on thecontrary, they both operate on the assumption that they will be.(E) Out of Scope; neither author discusses government regulation of potentialtreatments.

6. B Strategic Advice: Questions that ask about the purpose of a statement are oftenasking how that statement reinforces a point the author is making, so refer back toyour notes to help you predict an answer.Getting to the Answer: The statement quoted in the question reinforces the mainpoint of the second paragraph: life-extending treatments will increase the gapbetween the wealthy and the poor. Look for the answer choice that best representsthis.(A) Distortion; the author thinks that the difference in average lifespan would be anegative consequence of its increase, certainly not a necessity.(B) Matches your prediction almost word-for-word.(C) Out of Scope; nowhere does the author mention giving money to charity.(D) Distortion; the author thinks that the treatments will only be available to thewealthy.

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(E) Out of Scope; the author never discusses who should pay the costs ofdevelopment.

7. C Strategic Advice: Making a prediction for the meaning of the quoted word will helpyou quickly discard wrong answer choices and avoid selecting a common definitionthat wouldn’t work in context.Getting to the Answer: The author says that life-extending treatments havebecome a “distinct possibility,” meaning they have become much more immediate orprobable. Look for the answer choice that best matches this prediction.(A) Distortion; separate is a primary meaning of “distinct” that is not appropriatehere.(B) Distortion; different is another primary meaning of “distinct” that is notappropriate here.(C) This is correct; likely is a close match for immediate or probable; substitutingthis back into the passage will confirm this.(D) Opposite; the treatments have become more, not less, probable.(E) Out of Scope; the author does not seem pleased about the possibility of thesetreatments.

8. E Strategic Advice: Whenever a question refers to certain lines from the passage,reread those lines before making a prediction. Remember that you may need toresearch around the cited text to place it properly into context.Getting to the Answer: The author claims that we have already been extendingthe human lifespan, and uses the curing of once-deadly diseases as an example.The cited sentence, therefore, makes extending the human lifespan seem similar tosomething we already approve of. Look for the answer choice that correctly relatesthese two concepts. (A) Distortion; the author does not claim that we must finish curing diseases beforewe can research extending our lifespan. (B) Opposite; the author does believe that we should continue to develop vaccines.(C) Out of Scope; the author never claims that life-extending treatments will take theplace of vaccines.(D) Out of Scope; the author never discusses increased susceptibility to diseases.(E) This is correct; the author compares life-extending treatments to vaccines tomake the former seem more palatable.

9. D Strategic Advice: Clues in a question stem, such as the word “suggests,” tell youthat you’ll need to make an inference. Remember not to stray too far from what’sstated in the passage.Getting to the Answer: By saying “but even if it is ethical,” the author puts asidethe question of the individual cost of life-extending treatments to discuss a morepressing one: the cost to society. Which answer choice best reflects thisrelationship?(A) Out of Scope; the author does not think that the development of life-extendingtreatments is impossible. (B) Distortion; the author does believe that the costs will be problematic, but thinksthat this shouldn’t interfere with their development. (C) Misused Detail; the author does believe this, but this is not what is beingdiscussed in the cited text.(D) Correct; the author moves on to discuss societal costs because it is a biggerproblem.(E) Out of Scope; the author never gives an opinion as to whether there are enoughscientists involved in the research.

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10. C Strategic Advice: Using your notes can often help you quickly sort throughinformation and make a more general Detail question like this one much easier.Getting to the Answer: Both authors agree on very little, but they do both mentionthat life-extending therapies would likely be very expensive. (A) Out of Scope; neither author expresses an opinion on government regulation. (B) Extreme; the first author might agree with this statement, but the second onecertainly would not.(C) Correct; both authors agree that therapies would initially cost a lot of money.(D) Extreme; neither author actually expresses an opinion on the effect on quality oflife; length of life is the main topic of discussion.(E) Out of Scope; neither author thinks the treatments should be given out for free.

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Section 5 (ACT English) 1. D Strategic Advice: Check underlined selections for words with essentially the same

meanings.Getting to the Answer: “Origin” and “beginning” mean the same thing; D eliminatesthe redundancy.B and C still contain redundant language.

2. D Strategic Advice: When a long selection is underlined, choose the clearestrevision.Getting to the Answer: Of the choices, D is both clearest and most concise.

3. D Strategic Advice: Use context clues to find the answers to this type of question.Getting to the Answer: Since this sentence tells us that Ibsen’s “dramatic themesbegan to change,” we can infer that a contrast Connections word is needed. Only Dprovides it.A tells us that Ibsen’s historical themes and his changed ones occurred at the sametime, which is illogical.B makes Ibsen’s new themes the result of the old ones, which is also illogical.C denotes emphasis, which is inappropriate here.

4. D Strategic Advice: Use context clues to determine proper verb tense usage.Getting to the Answer: “In the future” is your context clue here; a future tense verbis needed. D is correct.A and B are incorrect for an action that will happen in the future.C indicates that the action discussed didn’t actually happen; we know from contextthat this is incorrect.

5. B Strategic Advice: On the ACT, a dash will only be correct to indicate hesitation or abreak in thought or to set off explanatory elements within a sentence.Getting to the Answer: Since “a point of view which was quite uncommon for thetimes” explains Ibsen’s “non-idealized version of marriage,” the dash in B is correct.A incorrectly places a semicolon between an independent and a dependent clause.C eliminates the punctuation altogether, making the sentence difficult to understand.The second sentence created by D is a fragment.

6. C Strategic Advice: The correct answer choice may not correct a run-on sentence theway you expect it to.Getting to the Answer: C makes the second clause subordinate, correcting therun-on error.B does not address the error.D creates a grammatically incorrect sentence.

7. C Strategic Advice: Some answer choices will correct the original error but introduceadditional problems.Getting to the Answer: As written, this sentence is a run-on. Both B and C addressthe run-on, but B leaves the meaning of the second clause incomplete.D does not address the error; additionally, it uses “who” to refer to a play.

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8. C Strategic Advice: The quickest way to solve a paragraph organization question is tofirst identify a logical topic sentence.Getting to the Answer: A quick scan of the paragraph identifies sentence 3 as themost logical topic sentence, since the paragraph concerns Ibsen’s best-known plays.This eliminates A and B. Now identify the most logical concluding sentence for theparagraph. (Hint: Since only 1 and 6 are possible, those are the only sentencesyou’ll need to consider.) Putting sentence 6 last, as D suggests, tells us that Ibsenrewrote the ending of A Doll’s House before discussing the problem some theatershad with the play. C provides the most logical order to the sentences.

9. D Strategic Advice: If you don’t spot an error in grammar or usage, check for errors instyle.Getting to the Answer: This selection is unnecessarily wordy. D is more concise,while retaining all the meaning of the original sentence.B and C are still unnecessarily wordy.

10. A Strategic Advice: Once you determine whether or not the passage satisfies theconditions in the question stem, you can immediately eliminate two of the fourchoices.Getting to the Answer: This essay would not fulfill an assignment to write aboutthe development of modern drama because it only mentions a single playwright; A iscorrect here.B correctly indicates that the essay would not fulfill the assignment, but the reason-ing contradicts the essay, which tells us that Ibsen’s plays marked the beginning ofmodern drama.C and D incorrectly indicate that the essay would fulfill the assignment.

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Section 6 (ACT Math)1. C Strategic Advice: An easy way to solve Roman numeral questions is to use the

answer choices to evaluate each Roman numeral. Remember to start with thenumeral that appears most often in the answer choices.Getting to the Answer: Set up an equation with s standing for the number ofbottles of soda and l standing for the number of bottles of lemonade. Since Simonespent exactly $6.00, $1.00s + $1.50l = $6.00. Then plug in each possible value of land solve for s, which must be a whole number (since you can’t buy half a bottle ofsoda).I. $1.00s + $1.50(0) = $6.00

$1.00s = $6.00s = 6

Simone could buy 6 bottles of soda and 0 bottles of lemonade. This works, soeliminate B.II. $1.00s + $1.50(2) = $6.00

$1.00s + $3.00 = $6.00$1.00s = $3.00

s = 3Simone could buy 3 bottles of soda and 2 bottles of lemonade. This works, soeliminate A and D. III. $1.00s + $1.50(3) = $6.00

$1.00s + $4.50 = $6.00$1.00s = $1.50

s = 1.5If Simone bought 3 bottles of lemonade, she would not be able to buy a wholenumber of bottles of soda. This does not work, so C is correct.

2. E Strategic Advice: Charts and graphs usually contain more information than youneed, so make sure you answer the question that is asked.Getting to the Answer: Jeans were 30% of the total sales and khakis were 25% ofthe total sales, so combined they were 55% of the total sales. 55% of $48,000 is0.55($48,000) = $26,400.

3. C Strategic Advice: Whenever you see multiple shapes in a figure, look for lengths orangles that are part of more than one shape.Getting to the Answer: The area of square ABCD is the length of a side squaredAB2 = 64AB = 8

The diagonals of a square divide it into two 45–45–90 triangles. The sides of a45–45–90 triangle are in the ratio x : x : x2, so AC and BD equal AB2 = 82.

The center of square ABCD, O, is the midpoint of AC, so AO equals A2C =

82

2 =

42. The area of square AODE is the length of a side squared, or AO2 = (42)2 = 32.

Another way to solve this problem is to notice that all the small triangles in thefigure are equal: ∆AOB = ∆BOC = ∆COD = ∆AOD = ∆ADE. Square ABCD consistsof 4 small triangles and square AODE consists of 2 small triangles. Therefore, the

area of AODE is half of the area of ABCD, or 624 = 32. Thus, C is correct.SAT/ACT

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4. A Strategic Advice: Two angles are congruent if and only if their degree measuresare equal.Getting to the Answer: You are given that ∠X + ∠Y = 90° and ∠Y + ∠Z = 90°.Thus, ∠X = ∠Z = 90° − ∠Y. Since the measures of ∠X and ∠Z are equal, ∠X and∠Z are congruent. A is correct.

5. B Strategic Advice: Don’t assume too much. Only the corresponding angles betweena transversal and the parallel lines must be equal. Remember, ACT diagrams arenot always drawn to scale.Getting to the Answer: A, C, and E compare angles that are formed by differenttransversals intersecting parallel lines, so these angles don’t have any necessaryrelationship. Angle a° is formed by two transversals, so you don’t have anyinformation about what other angles it might equal. However, angles c° and d° areboth formed by the same transversal intersecting parallel lines, so they must beequal. B is correct.

6. A Strategic Advice: Exponents are a short way to write a number multiplied by itselfseveral times.Getting to the Answer: The time it takes for half of the sample to decay is 4 hours.That means that if the mass of the sample is 1 gram at 9 A.M., then it will be half ofa gram after 4 hours, or at 1 P.M. Since at 9 A.M. on Tuesday 24 hours, or 6 4-hour periods, will have passed since 9 A.M. on Monday, the mass of the sample at 9 A.M.

on Tuesday will be 12

6(1) =

614 grams.

7. D Strategic Advice: Sometimes you will need to work backwards to find the answer.Getting to the Answer: Write down what you know from the problem. Start withthe line segment you know the length of (DE), and figure out the lengths of othersegments from there.DE = 3

DE = 12

FG

2DE = FG6 = FG

FG = 34

HJ

43

FG = HJ

43

(6) = HJ

8 = HJH bisects GJ, so HJ = GH = 8GH + EF = 15

8 + EF = 15EF = 7

EJ = EF + FG + GH + HJ = 7 + 6 + 8 + 8 = 29D is the correct answer. E is the length of the entire line segment. Don’t fall into thistrap.

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8. B Strategic Advice: The probability of a series of independent events is the productof the probabilities of all the events.Getting to the Answer: Any time you roll a die, the probability of getting a 1 is

16

.

Each roll is an independent event, so the probability of getting a 1 3 times if you roll

a die 3 times is 16

16

16

= 2116.

9. A Strategic Advice: A steep slope represents a fast rate of change, while a shallowslope represents a slow rate of change.Getting to the Answer: Look for a graph with a positive slope over the entiredomain. The slope should be steep when t is small and shallow when t is large. Theonly graph that fits this description is A.

10. A Strategic Advice: When there are variables in the answer choices, you can picknumbers to avoid complicated calculations or difficult translations.Getting to the Answer: Say Luis is 9 years old, so L = 9. Veronica is 3 yearsyounger than Luis, so Veronica’s age is 9 – 3 = 6. Salma is half Veronica’s age, so

Salma’s age is 62

= 3. The sum of the children’s ages is 9 + 6 + 3 = 18. Plug L = 9 into

the answer choices and look for one which equals 18.

A. 52

(9) – 92

= 425 –

92

= 326 = 18

B. 52

(9) – 32

= 425 –

32

= 422 = 21

C. 2(9) – 3 = 18 – 3 = 15

D. 12

(9) – 92

= 92

– 92

= 0

E. 12

(9) – 32

= 92

– 32

= 62

= 3

The only choice that gives a sum of 18 when L = 9 is A.To solve the problem algebraically, get each child’s age in terms of L. Luis is L yearsold, Veronica is 3 years younger than Luis, or L – 3 years old, and Salma is half

Veronica’s age, or L –

23

years old. Add the ages and simplify:

L + L – 3 + L –

23

= 22L +

22L –

62

+ L2

– 32

= 52

L – 92

.

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Section 7 (ACT Reading) Sacred Coroman Art

1. C Strategic Advice: Be sure to predict an answer choice for Detail questions like thisone. That way, you won’t get distracted by the wrong answer choices, which aresure to include irrelevant details from the passage.Getting to the Answer: This is a Detail question, so the answer should be directlystated in the passage. Lines 32–33 state that the weavings were made for Incanobles, which matches C.A Misused Detail; the Bolivian intermediaries are mentioned because they wereinvolved in the theft of weavings.B Distortion; the Coromans now keep the weavings, but they were not originallymade for them.D Out of Scope; although the makers or recipients of the weavings might be Andeanartisans, the passage never mentions them.

2. A Strategic Advice: Detail questions can be tricky, because the wrong answerchoices will include details that you will find in the passage. Focus on the relevanttext and use elimination on EXCEPT questions.Getting to the Answer: Work through the first paragraph, eliminating answerchoices that correspond to citations to those involved in the effort. B, C, and D areall cited. Only A remains, mentioned extensively throughout the passage but neverin the first paragraph.

3. C Strategic Advice: These kinds of questions are excellent opportunities to predict ananswer. Remember, questions like this often test non-standard usages of words, sodon’t be thrown off by what might seem like a standard definition in the answerchoices.Getting to the Answer: From the context of lines 15–19, you can predict that theword “catalyze” means hire or recruit. More specifically, the people being recruitedare from various places. This prediction best matches C.A Opposite; the group was formed to aid in their effort.B Distortion; this is a common definition for “catalyze” that doesn’t work in context.D Distortion; this has nothing to do with the context of the question and isn’t apossible meaning for “catalyze.”

4. D Strategic Advice: Inference questions like this one can be difficult, because theinformation you need to answer the question can come from anywhere in thepassage. Use your notes to guide your research, and remember to make a strongprediction before evaluating the answer choices.Getting to the Answer: The passage indicates in lines 36–38 that the weavings areconsulted as oracles, and that they are thought to encode the history of the peopleand contain the souls of ancient ancestors. Predict that the weavings are importantbecause of their cultural and spiritual significance, which matches D. A Distortion; this might seem correct, because the weavings are used during thiscelebration, but the passage does not suggest that this is the primary reason theweavings are valuable. B Distortion; that the collectors are willing to pay for the weavings is not why theCoromans value them.

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nC Distortion; though the passage states that the weavings survived the anti-IndianBolivian governments in the past, it does not suggest that this is a reason for theirvalue to the Coromans.

5. A Strategic Advice: The answer to questions like this can be found in the passage,but you may have to put a few pieces of information together to get to the correctanswer. Determine when the events mentioned in the answer choices happenedrelative to the question, and the correct answer will be easy to find.Getting to the Answer: The passage indicates in line 40 that the weavings survivedthe Spanish conquest, so they must have been produced before then. This matchesA perfectly.B Opposite; the passage indicates that the weavings existed before Columbus land-ed in the Americas (line 45).C Opposite; the Cultural Property Implementation Act became law in 1983 (line 70),and the weavings are much older than that.D Opposite; the weavings were produced for Inca nobles (lines 32–33), so they musthave been produced before the Incas disappeared.

6. A Strategic Advice: You won’t be able to predict an answer on questions like this, sobe sure to pay attention to the specific details of the answer choices. You will beable to find evidence in the passage to support all of the choices except for one,which will leave you with the correct answer.Getting to the Answer: All of the answer choices have supporting evidence fromthe passage, except for A. Line 32 states that the colors of the weavings werevibrant, which directly contradicts A, making it the correct answer choice.B can be found in lines 45–47.C is supported by lines 51–53.D is supported by lines 47–51.

7. B Strategic Advice: You won’t able to find the correct answer to an inference questiondirectly in the passage, but it won’t be far off, either. Look at the context of thereferenced lines and predict an answer.Getting to the Answer: A good prediction for this question is that the collectorswere made to return the weavings against their will; “jolted” in this context meansthat they were pressured. This matches B.A Out of Scope; the passage does not imply that the collectors were unaware of thevalue of the weavings. C Extreme; “jolted” does not imply physical punishment in this context.D Distortion; the passage implies that outside influences made the collectors returnthe weavings, not that the collectors returned them of their own accord.

8. C Strategic Advice: You may have to use evidence from several parts of the passageto answer inference questions like this one. Be careful to find supporting evidencefor any predictions you make, and you will be certain to get the right answer.Getting to the Answer: The passage suggests that the return of the weavings hasbeen a success. Lines 20 and 93–94 support the prediction that this has been suc-cessful. Lines 83–85, which says that “some, but not all, of their weavings” have beenreturned, suggests that there are more weavings to be returned. This matches C.A Opposite; the passage only mentions legal successes (lines 15–19), and neversuggests disappointment.B Out of Scope; there is no evidence suggested that art collectors were encouraged

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by the return of the weavings.D Out of Scope; though the passage mentions a cultural anthropologist (line 94),there is no support for the idea that the return of the weavings has been a usefullesson to anthropologists in general.

9. C Strategic Advice: Inference questions like this will try to throw you off with detailsthat come from the passage, but are either distorted or irrelevant to the question. Besure you pay attention to specific information from the passage as you make yourprediction.Getting to the Answer: Many factors dealing with the return of the weavings arecited in the passage, but lines 1–2 and lines 25–29 state that the Coromans them-selves largely credit the ancestral spirits residing in the weavings themselves. Thismakes a good prediction and matches C perfectly.A Distortion; the passage does mention the involvement of the Bolivian government,but never from the perspective of the Coromans.B Misused Detail; although the passage suggests that lawyers and activists workedon this case (lines 16 and 17), there is no evidence to suggest that the Coromansattribute their work to the return of the weavings.D Misused Detail; the USIA was involved, but the Coromans never credit this agencyfor the return of the weavings.

10. B Strategic Advice: Predicting an answer is not an option with questions like this, soyou’ll have to examine the passage carefully for the information to find the correctanswer. Determine which statements have supporting evidence and which onesdon’t, and you’ll be able to pinpoint the right answer choice.Getting to the Answer: Evaluate the Roman numerals in turn:I. Distortion; although line 32 mentions that the weavings have “the texture of silk,”nothing in the passage mentions what type of fabric is used to make the weavings. II. Out of Scope; there is no mention of the weavings coming from ceremonial garb. At this point you know that statement III must be true, because the other two arefalse, and Roman numeral questions like this always have at least one true state-ment. The evidence for statement III can be found in the passage in lines 31–32.Therefore, B must be the correct answer choice.

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tSection 8 (ACT Science)

1. D Strategic Advice: Some questions will simply ask you to extract data directly from afigure.Getting to the Answer: Look for the largest number in the “Average weight gain”column, and find the conditions given in the same row. D is Perfect.

2. B Strategic Advice: Think about the results of each study separately before drawingconclusions.Getting to the Answer: The average body length increase in this eighth enclosureexceeds that of any shown in Table 2. Temperature was not varied in Study 3,though. The results of Study 1 suggest a lower temperature would result inincreased food consumption, making B correct. If this is not obvious, you can noticethat A, C, and D each contain elements that would result in decreased food con-sumption, making B the only possibility.

3. D Strategic Advice: Think about each study separately before integrating their results.Getting to the Answer: The results of Study 1 suggest that, within the giventemperature range, the mice consume more when subjected to colder temperatures.Looking at the daily food consumption alone should then be enough to determinetemperatures roughly. The highest food consumption indicates the lowesttemperature, as in D.

4. B Strategic Advice: Sometimes you are asked to apply the results of the givenexperiment to other situations.Getting to the Answer: Table 2 suggests that lower food abundance results inslower growth, as in B.

5. C Strategic Advice: Apparent contradictions are usually accounted for by adjustingone or two variables.Getting to the Answer: The results of the three studies suggest that rate of weightgain is affected by temperature, food abundance, and population density, but thequestion only mentions a decrease in food abundance. A simultaneous decrease intemperature and/or a decrease in population density would counteract the effects ofthe decreasing food abundance. C is perfect.

6. C Strategic Advice: Infer only what MUST follow from the given data.Getting to the Answer: Temperature is the only variable that differs between Trials3 and 4, making C the correct choice. The other choices may indicate true relation-ships, but they are not suggested by Trials 3 and 4.

7. D Strategic Advice: Isolate one variable at a time to learn about the effects of each.Getting to the Answer: Choose the trials with all variables the same except fordopant concentration. This is the case for D only.

8. A Strategic Advice: Take your time with complicated graphs.Getting to the Answer: While either C or D could be valid statements, neither issupported by Figure 1. Careful inspection of the graph yields that for any dopantconcentration shown, the p-type values are greater than the n-type values, as in A.

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9. B Strategic Advice: Be careful to refer to the correct data.Getting to the Answer: Figure 1 suggests that all p-type dopants yield the sameresistivity versus concentration relationship for Si. Therefore In would act exactly likeGa at the same concentration. Once you realize that, you can just read the resistivityvalue for Ga directly from Table 1.

10. C Strategic Advice: Use trends in the data to interpolate values in between thosegiven.Getting to the Answer: 75 K is right in between 50 K and 100 K, the electronmobilities for which are given in Table 2. Since Table 2 suggests that mobility variesinversely with temperature, the correct mobility should lie between 2,900 and 5,300cm2/V/s, as in C.

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sat act practice test

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