Textual Evidence

1
“The Rock and the Sea” is an 1893 poem by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In the poem, a rock is
portrayed as intending to confront and restrain the sea: ______

Which quotation from “The Rock and the Sea” most effectively illustrates the claim?

a. “I am the Rock. Black midnight falls; / The terrible breakers rise like walls; / With curling lips and
gleaming teeth / They plunge and tear at my bones beneath.”
b. “I am the Sea. The earth I sway; / Granite to me is potter’s clay; / Under the touch of my careless
waves / It rises in turrets and sinks in caves.”
c. “I am the Sea. I hold the land / As one holds an apple in his hand, / Hold it fast with sleepless
eyes, / Watching the continents sink and rise.”
d. “I am the Rock, presumptuous Sea! / I am set to encounter thee. / Angry and loud or gentle and
still, / I am set here to limit thy power, and I will!”

2
In the 1980s, many musicians and journalists in the English-speaking world began to draw attention to
music from around the globe—such as mbaqanga from South Africa and quan họ from Vietnam—that
can’t be easily categorized according to British or North American popular music genres, typically
referring to such music as “world music.” While some scholars have welcomed this development for
bringing diverse musical forms to prominence in countries where they’d previously been overlooked,
musicologist Su Zheng claims that the concept of world music homogenizes highly distinct traditions
by reducing them all to a single category.

Which finding about mbaqanga and quan họ, if true, would most directly support Zheng’s claim?

a. Mbaqanga is significantly more popular in the English-speaking world than quan họ is.
b. Mbaqanga and quan họ developed independently of each other and have little in common
musically.
c. Mbaqanga and quan họ are now performed by a diverse array of musicians with no direct
connections to South Africa or Vietnam.
d. Mbaqanga and quan họ are highly distinct from British and North American popular music genres
but similar to each other.

3
Although many transposons, DNA sequences that move within an organism’s genome through
shuffling or duplication, have become corrupted and inactive over time, those from the long
interspersed nuclear elements (LINE) family appear to remain active in the genomes of some species.
In humans, they are functionally important within the hippocampus, a brain structure that supports
complex cognitive processes. When the results of molecular analysis of two species of octopus—an
animal known for its intelligence—were announced in 2022, the confirmation of a LINE transposon
in Octopus vulgaris and Octopus bimaculoides genomes prompted researchers to hypothesize that that
transposon family is tied to a species’ capacity for advanced cognition.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers’ hypothesis?

a. The LINE transposon in O. vulgaris and O. bimaculoides genomes is active in an octopus brain
structure that functions similarly to the human hippocampus.
b. The human genome contains multiple transposons from the LINE family that are all primarily
active in the hippocampus.
c. A consistent number of copies of LINE transposons is present across the genomes of most octopus
species, with few known corruptions.
d. O. vulgaris and O. bimaculoides have smaller brains than humans do relative to body size, but their
genomes contain sequences from a wider variety of transposon families.

 4
Hip-hop pedagogy is a form of teaching that’s gaining popularity across school subjects. It involves
incorporating hip-hop and rap music into lessons as well as using hip-hop elements when teaching
other subject matters. For example, Quan Neloms’s students look for college-level vocabulary and
historical events in rap songs. Researchers claim that in addition to developing students’ social justice
awareness, hip-hop pedagogy encourages student success by raising students’ interest and
engagement.

Which finding, if true, would most strongly support the underlined claim?

a. Courses that incorporate hip-hop and rap music are among the courses with the highest enrollment
and attendance rates.
b. Educators report that they enjoy teaching courses that involve hip-hop and rap music more than
teaching courses that don’t.
c. Students tend to be more enthusiastic about rap music than they are about hip-hop music.
d. Students who are highly interested in social justice issues typically don’t sign up for courses that
incorporate hip-hop and rap music.

5.
Although many transposons, DNA sequences that move within an organism’s genome through
shuffling or duplication, have become corrupted and inactive over time, those from the long
interspersed nuclear elements (LINE) family appear to remain active in the genomes of some species.
In humans, they are functionally important within the hippocampus, a brain structure that supports
complex cognitive processes. When the results of molecular analysis of two species of octopus—an
animal known for its intelligence—were announced in 2022, the confirmation of a LINE transposon
in Octopus vulgaris and Octopus bimaculoides genomes prompted researchers to hypothesize that that
transposon family is tied to a species’ capacity for advanced cognition.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers’ hypothesis?

a. The LINE transposon in O. vulgaris and O. bimaculoides genomes is active in an octopus brain
structure that functions similarly to the human hippocampus.
b. The human genome contains multiple transposons from the LINE family that are all primarily
active in the hippocampus.
c. A consistent number of copies of LINE transposons is present across the genomes of most octopus
species, with few known corruptions.
d. O. vulgaris and O. bimaculoides have smaller brains than humans do relative to body size, but their
genomes contain sequences from a wider variety of transposon families.

 Quantitive Evidence
1

Investigative journalists research and report about fraud, corruption, public hazards, and more. The
graph shows the number of investigative articles published in the Albuquerque Journal newspaper
from 2010 to 2019. According to an analyst, although the number of investigative articles published in
this newspaper has varied significantly over the period shown, the number overall has fallen since
2010.

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to justify the underlined claim?

a. The newspaper published approximately 1,000 investigative articles in 2010 and approximately 500
in 2019.
b. The smallest annual number of investigative articles published in the newspaper during the period
shown is approximately 1,600 in 2013.
c. The greatest annual number of investigative articles published in the newspaper during the period
shown is approximately 1,000 in 2017.
d. The newspaper published approximately 1,000 investigative articles in 2010 and approximately
1,600 in 2013.

Ecologist Veronika Bókony and colleagues investigated within-species competition among common
toads (Bufo bufo), a species that secretes various unpleasant-tasting toxins called bufadienolides in
response to threats. The researchers tested B. bufo tadpoles’ responses to different levels of
competition by creating ponds with different tadpole population densities but a fixed amount of food.
Based on analysis of the tadpoles after three weeks, the researchers concluded that increased
competition drove bufadienolide production at the expense of growth.

Which choice uses data from the table to most effectively support the researchers’ conclusion?

a. The difference in average tadpole body mass was small between the low and medium population
density conditions and substantially larger between the low and high population density conditions.
b. Tadpoles in the low and medium population density conditions had substantially lower average
bufadienolide concentrations but had greater average body masses than those in the high population
density condition.
c. Tadpoles in the high population density condition displayed a relatively modest increase in the
average amount of bufadienolide but roughly double the average bufadienolide concentration
compared to those in the low population density condition.
d. Tadpoles produced approximately the same number of different bufadienolide toxins per individual
across the population density conditions, but average tadpole body mass decreased as population
density increased.

To investigate the influence of certain estrogen-responsive neurons on energy expenditure, biologist

Stephanie Correa et al. treated female and male mice with either saline solution or clozapine-N4-
oxide (CNO), which activates the neurons. Monitoring the activity levels of the mice by measuring
how frequently the animals broke infrared beams crossing their enclosures, Correa et al. found that
the mice in their study showed sex-specific differences in response to neuron activation: ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the assertion?

a. the four groups of mice differed greatly in their activity levels before treatment but showed
identical activity levels at the end of the monitoring period.
b. CNO-treated females showed a substantial increase and then decline in activity over the monitoring
period, whereas CNO-treated males showed a substantial decline in activity followed by a steep
increase.
c. saline-treated females showed substantially more activity at certain points in the monitoring period
than saline-treated males did.
d. CNO-treated females showed more activity relative to saline-treated females than CNO-treated
males showed relative to saline-treated males.

Electric companies that use wind turbines rely on weather forecasts to predict the maximum amount
of power, in megawatt-hours (MWh), they can generate using wind so that they can determine how
much they’ll need to generate from other sources. When winds are stronger than they were forecast to
be, however, the predicted maximum amount of electricity wind turbines could generate will be too
low. For example, the graph shows that for the West region, the winds were ______

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

a. strong enough to generate about 150 thousand more MWh of electricity from wind turbines.
b. so weak that the electricity from wind turbines was about 175 thousand MWh less than predicted.
c. so weak that the electricity from wind turbines was about 150 thousand MWh less than predicted.
d. strong enough to generate about 175 thousand more MWh of electricity from wind turbines.

Central Ideas & Details

1
The following text is from Edith Nesbit’s 1902 novel Five Children and It. Five young siblings have
just moved with their parents from London to a house in the countryside that they call the White
House.
It was not really a pretty house at all; it was quite ordinary, and mother thought it was rather
inconvenient, and was quite annoyed at there being no shelves, to speak of, and hardly a cupboard in
the place. Father used to say that the ironwork on the roof and coping was like an architect’s
nightmare. But the house was deep in the country, with no other house in sight, and the children had
been in London for two years, without so much as once going to the seaside even for a day by an
excursion train, and so the White House seemed to them a sort of Fairy Palace set down in an Earthly
Paradise.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

a. The house is beautiful and well built, but the children miss their old home in London.
b. The children don’t like the house nearly as much as their parents do.
c. Each member of the family admires a different characteristic of the house.
d. Although their parents believe the house has several drawbacks, the children are enchanted by it.

 2
Disco remains one of the most ridiculed popular music genres of the late twentieth century. But as
scholars have argued, the genre is far less superficial than many people believe. Take the case of disco
icon Donna Summer: she may have been associated with popular songs about love and heartbreak
(subjects hardly unique to disco, by the way), but like many Black women singers before her, much of
her music also reflects concerns about community and identity. These concerns are present in many of
the genre’s greatest songs, and they generally don’t require much digging to reveal.

What does the text most strongly suggest about the disco genre?

a. It gave rise to a Black women’s musical tradition that has endured even though the genre itself
faded in the late twentieth century.
b. It has been unjustly ignored by most scholars despite the importance of the themes addressed by
many of the genre’s songs.
c. It has been unfairly dismissed for the inclusion of subject matter that is also found in other musical
genres.
d. It evolved over time from a superficial genre focused on romance to a genre focused on more
serious concerns.

3
To protect themselves when being attacked, hagfish—jawless marine animals that resemble eels—will
release large quantities of slimy, mucus-like threads. Because these threads are unusually strong and
elastic, scientist Atsuko Negishi and her colleagues have been trying to recreate them in a lab as an
eco-friendly alternative to petroleum-based fibers that are often used in fabrics. The researchers want
to reproduce the threads in the lab because farming hagfish for their slime would be expensive and
potentially harmful to the hagfish.

Which choice best states the text’s main idea?

a. Hagfish are not well suited to being raised in captivity.

b. The ability of hagfish to slime their attackers compensates for their being jawless.
c. Hagfish have inspired researchers to develop a new petroleum-based fabric.
d. The slimy threads that hagfish release might help researchers create a new kind of fabric.

4
Artist Justin Favela explained that he wanted to reclaim the importance of the piñata as a symbol in
Latinx culture. To do so, he created numerous sculptures from strips of tissue paper, which is similar
to the material used to create piñatas. In 2017, Favela created an impressive life-size piñata-like
sculpture of the Gypsy Rose lowrider car, which was displayed at the Petersen Automotive Museum
in Los Angeles, California. The Gypsy Rose lowrider was famously driven by Jesse Valadez, an early
president of the Los Angeles Imperials Car Club.

According to the text, which piece of Favela’s art was on display in the Petersen Automotive Museum
in 2017?

a. A painting of Los Angeles

b. A painting of a piñata
c. A sculpture of Jesse Valadez
d. A sculpture of a lowrider car

 Inferences
1
Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about detective Sherlock Holmes were published between 1887 and
1927. They have inspired countless successful adaptations, including comic strips, movies, and a
television series Sherlock Hound, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who is celebrated for his animated
movies. Until 2014, these stories were copyrighted. The right to adapt was only available to those
who could afford the copyright fee and gain approval from the strict copyright holders of Doyle’s
estate. Some journalists predict that the number of Sherlock Holmes adaptations is likely to increase
since the end of copyright means that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

a. producing adaptations will become easier and less expensive.

b. people will become more interested in detective stories than they were in the 1800s.
c. the former copyright holders of Doyle’s estate will return fees they collected.
d. Doyle’s original stories will become hard to find.

2
“Gestures” in painting are typically thought of as bold, expressive brushstrokes. In the 1970s,
American painter Jack Whitten built a 12-foot (3.7-meter) tool he named the “developer” to apply
paint to an entire canvas in one motion, resulting in his series of “slab” paintings from that decade.
Whitten described this process as making an entire painting in “one gesture,” signaling a clear
departure from the prevalence of gestures in his work from the 1960s. Some art historians claim this
shift represents “removing gesture” from the process. Therefore, regardless of whether using the
developer constitutes a gesture, both Whitten and these art historians likely agree that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

a. any tool that a painter uses to create an artwork is capable of creating gestures.
b. Whitten’s work from the 1960s exhibits many more gestures than his work from the 1970s does.
c. Whitten became less interested in exploring the role of gesture in his work as his career progressed.
d. Whitten’s work from the 1960s is much more realistic than his work from the 1970s is.

3
In her 2021 article “Throwaway History: Towards a Historiography of Ephemera,” scholar Anne
Garner discusses John Johnson (1882–1956), a devoted collector of items intended to be discarded,
including bus tickets and campaign pamphlets. Johnson recognized that scholarly institutions
considered his expansive collection of ephemera to be worthless—indeed, it wasn’t until 1968, after
Johnson’s death, that Oxford University’s Bodleian Library acquired the collection, having grasped
the items’ potential value to historians and other researchers. Hence, the example of Johnson serves to
______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

a. represent the challenge of incorporating examples of ephemera into the collections of libraries and
other scholarly institutions.
b. illustrate both the relatively low scholarly regard in which ephemera was once held and the later
recognition of ephemera’s possible utility.
c. lend support to arguments by historians and other researchers who continue to assert that ephemera
holds no value for scholars.
d. demonstrate the difficulties faced by contemporary historians in conducting research at the
Bodleian Library without access to ephemera.

 4
In many cultures, a handshake can create trust between people. Engineer João Avelino and his team
are designing a robot to shake hands with a human in order to improve human-robot interactions. The
robot hand adjusts its movements and pressure to better imitate the feel of a human hand. The
researchers want the robot’s handshake to feel realistic because ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

a. people are less likely to interact with robots that don’t look like humans.
b. it’s easier to program a robot to perform handshakes than it is to program a robot to perform some
other types of greetings.
c. the robot in the researchers’ study may have uses other than interacting with humans.
d. lifelike handshakes may make people more comfortable interacting with robots.

Words in Context
1
Some foraging models predict that the distance bees travel when foraging will decline as floral
density increases, but biologists Shalene Jha and Claire Kremen showed that bees’ behavior is
inconsistent with this prediction if flowers in dense patches are ______: bees will forage beyond
patches of low species richness to acquire multiple resource types.

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

a. depleted
b. homogeneous
c. immature
d. dispersed

2
The following text is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston’s 1921 short story “John Redding Goes to
Sea.” John wants to travel far beyond the village where he lives near his mother, Matty.
[John] had on several occasions attempted to reconcile his mother to the notion, but found it a difficult
task. Matty always took refuge in self-pity and tears. Her son’s desires were incomprehensible to her,
that was all.

As used in the text, what does the phrase “reconcile his mother to” most nearly mean?

a. Get his mother to accept

b. Get his mother to apologize for
c. Get his mother to match
d. Get his mother to reunite with

3
Osage Nation citizen Randy Tinker-Smith produced and directed the ballet Wahzhazhe, which vividly
chronicles Osage history and culture. Telling Osage stories through ballet is ______ choice because
two of the foremost ballet dancers of the twentieth century were Osage: sisters Maria and Marjorie
Tallchief.

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

a. an unpredictable
b. an arbitrary
c. a determined
d. a suitable

 4
US traffic signals didn’t always contain the familiar three lights (red, yellow, and green). Traffic lights
only ______ red and green lights until the three-light traffic signal was developed in 1923.

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

a. avoided
b. featured
c. appreciated
d. disregarded

5
The following text is adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1837 story “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment.”
The main character, a physician, is experimenting with rehydrating a dried flower.
At first [the rose] lay lightly on the surface of the fluid, appearing to imbibe none of its moisture.
Soon, however, a singular change began to be visible. The crushed and dried petals stirred and
assumed a deepening tinge of crimson, as if the flower were reviving from a deathlike slumber.

As used in the text, what does the phrase “a singular” most nearly mean?

a. A lonely
b. A disagreeable
c. An acceptable
d. An extraordinary

Text Structure & Purpose

1
The following text is from Srimati Svarna Kumari Devi’s 1894 novel The Fatal Garland (translated
by A. Christina Albers in 1910). Shakti is walking near a riverbank that she visited frequently during
her childhood.
She crossed the woods she knew so well. The trees seemed to extend their branches like welcoming
arms. They greeted her as an old friend. Soon she reached the river-side.

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

a. It suggests that Shakti feels uncomfortable near the river.

b. It indicates that Shakti has lost her sense of direction in the woods.
c. It emphasizes Shakti’s sense of belonging in the landscape.
d. It conveys Shakti’s appreciation for her long-term friendships.

2
Works of moral philosophy, such as Plato’s Republic or Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, are partly
concerned with how to live a morally good life. But philosopher Jonathan Barnes argues that works
that present a method of living such a life without also supplying a motive are inherently useful only
to those already wishing to be morally good—those with no desire for moral goodness will not choose
to follow their rules. However, some works of moral philosophy attempt to describe what constitutes a
morally good life while also proposing reasons for living one.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

a. It mentions two renowned works and then claims that despite their popularity it is impossible for
these works to serve the purpose their authors intended.
b. It summarizes the history of a field of thought by discussing two works and then proposes a topic of
further research for specialists in that field.
c. It describes two influential works and then explains why one is more widely read than the other.

10

 d. It provides a characterization about a field of thought by noting two works in it and then details a
way in which some works in that field are more comprehensive than others.
3
Horizontal gene transfer occurs when an organism of one species acquires genetic material from an
organism of another species through nonreproductive means. The genetic material can then be
transferred “vertically” in the second species—that is, through reproductive inheritance. Scientist
Atma Ivancevic and her team have hypothesized infection by invertebrate parasites as a mechanism of
horizontal gene transfer between vertebrate species: while feeding, a parasite could acquire a gene
from one host, then relocate to a host from a different vertebrate species and transfer the gene to it in
turn.

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

a. It explains why parasites are less susceptible to horizontal gene transfer than their hosts are.
b. It clarifies why some genes are more likely to be transferred horizontally than others are.
c. It contrasts how horizontal gene transfer occurs among vertebrates with how it occurs among
Invertebrates.
d. It describes a means by which horizontal gene transfer might occur among vertebrates.

4
Many films from the early 1900s have been lost. These losses include several films by the first wave
of Black women filmmakers. We know about these lost movies only from small pieces of evidence.
For example, an advertisement for Jennie Louise Touissant Welcome’s documentary Doing Their
Bit still exists. There’s a reference in a magazine to Tressie Souders’s film A Woman’s Error. And
Maria P. Williams’s The Flames of Wrath is mentioned in a letter and a newspaper article, and one
image from the movie was discovered in the 1990s.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

a. The text discusses several notable individuals, then explains commonly overlooked differences
between those individuals.
b. The text describes a general situation, then illustrates that situation with specific examples.
c. The text identifies a complex problem, then presents examples of unsuccessful attempts to solve
that problem.
d. The text summarizes a debate among researchers, then gives reasons for supporting one side in that
debate.

5
The following text is from Srimati Svarna Kumari Devi’s 1894 novel The Fatal Garland (translated
by A. Christina Albers in 1910). Shakti is walking near a riverbank that she visited frequently during
her childhood.
She crossed the woods she knew so well. The trees seemed to extend their branches like welcoming
arms. They greeted her as an old friend. Soon she reached the river-side.

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

a. It suggests that Shakti feels uncomfortable near the river.

b. It indicates that Shakti has lost her sense of direction in the woods.
c. It emphasizes Shakti’s sense of belonging in the landscape.
d. It conveys Shakti’s appreciation for her long-term friendships.

11

 Cross-text Connections
1
Text 1
Today the starchy root cassava is found in many dishes across West Africa, but its rise to popularity
was slow. Portuguese traders brought cassava from Brazil to the West African coast in the 1500s. But
at this time, people living in the capitals further inland had little contact with coastal communities.
Thus, cassava remained relatively unknown to most of the region’s inhabitants until the 1800s.
Text 2
Cassava’s slow adoption into the diet of West Africans is mainly due to the nature of the crop itself. If
not cooked properly, cassava can be toxic. Knowledge of how to properly prepare cassava needed to
spread before the food could grow in popularity. The arrival of formerly enslaved people from Brazil
in the 1800s, who brought their knowledge of cassava and its preparation with them, thus directly
fueled the spread of this crop.

Based on the texts, the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 would most likely agree with which
statement?

a. The climate of the West African coast in the 1500s prevented cassava’s spread in the region.
b. Several of the most commonly grown crops in West Africa are originally from Brazil.
c. The most commonly used methods to cook cassava today date to the 1500s.
d. Cassava did not become a significant crop in West Africa until long after it was first introduced.

2
Text 1
Philosopher G.E. Moore’s most influential work entails the concept of common sense. He asserts that
there are certain beliefs that all people, including philosophers, know instinctively to be true, whether
or not they profess otherwise: among them, that they have bodies, or that they exist in a world with
other objects that have three dimensions. Moore’s careful work on common sense may seem obvious
but was in fact groundbreaking.
Text 2
External world skepticism is a philosophical stance supposing that we cannot be sure of the existence
of anything outside our own minds. During a lecture, G.E. Moore once offered a proof refuting this
stance by holding out his hands and saying, “Here is one hand, and here is another.” Many
philosophers reflexively reject this proof (Annalisa Coliva called it “an obviously annoying failure”)
but have found it a challenge to articulate exactly why the proof fails.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 1 most likely respond to proponents of the
philosophical stance outlined in Text 2?

a. By pointing out that Moore would assert that external world skepticism is at odds with other beliefs
those proponents must unavoidably hold
b. By arguing that if it is valid to assert that some facts are true based on instinct, it is also valid to
assert that some proofs are inadequate based on instinct
c. By agreeing with those proponents that Moore’s treatment of positions that contradict his own is
fundamentally unserious
d. By suggesting that an instinctive distaste for Moore’s position is preventing external world skeptics
from constructing a sufficiently rigorous refutation of Moore

12

 3
Text 1
In 2021, a team led by Amir Siraj hypothesized that the Chicxulub impactor—the object that struck
the Yucatán Peninsula sixty-six million years ago, precipitating the mass extinction of the dinosaurs—
was likely a member of the class of long-period comets. As evidence, Siraj cited the carbonaceous
chondritic composition of samples from the Chicxulub impact crater as well as of samples obtained
from long-period comet Wild 2 in 2006.
Text 2
Although long-period comets contain carbonaceous chondrites, asteroids are similarly rich in these
materials. Furthermore, some asteroids are rich in iridium, as Natalia Artemieva points out, whereas
long-period comets are not. Given the prevalence of iridium at the crater and, more broadly, in
geological layers deposited worldwide following the impact, Artemieva argues that an asteroid is a
more plausible candidate for the Chicxulub impactor.

Based on the texts, how would Artemieva likely respond to Siraj’s hypothesis, as presented in Text 1?

a. By insisting that it overestimates how representative Wild 2 is of long-period comets as a class

b. By arguing that it does not account for the amount of iridium found in geological layers dating to
the Chicxulub impact
c. By praising it for connecting the composition of Chicxulub crater samples to the composition of
certain asteroids
d. By concurring that carbonaceous chondrites are prevalent in soil samples from sites distant from
the Chicxulub crater

4
Text 1
Dance choreographer Alvin Ailey’s deep admiration for jazz music can most clearly be felt in the
rhythms and beats his works were set to. Ailey collaborated with some of the greatest jazz legends,
like Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker, and perhaps his favorite, Duke Ellington. With his choice of
music, Ailey helped bring jazz to life for his audiences.
Text 2
Jazz is present throughout Ailey’s work, but it’s most visible in Ailey’s approach to choreography.
Ailey often incorporated improvisation, a signature characteristic of jazz music, in his work. When
managing his dance company, Ailey rarely forced his dancers to an exact set of specific moves.
Instead, he encouraged his dancers to let their own skills and experiences shape their performances, as
jazz musicians do.

Based on the texts, both authors would most likely agree with which statement?

a. Audiences were mostly unfamiliar with the jazz music in Ailey’s works.
b. Ailey’s work was strongly influenced by jazz.
c. Dancers who worked with Ailey greatly appreciated his supportive approach as a choreographer.
d. Ailey blended multiple genres of music together when choreographing dance pieces.

13

 5
Text 1
Today the starchy root cassava is found in many dishes across West Africa, but its rise to popularity
was slow. Portuguese traders brought cassava from Brazil to the West African coast in the 1500s. But
at this time, people living in the capitals further inland had little contact with coastal communities.
Thus, cassava remained relatively unknown to most of the region’s inhabitants until the 1800s.
Text 2
Cassava’s slow adoption into the diet of West Africans is mainly due to the nature of the crop itself. If
not cooked properly, cassava can be toxic. Knowledge of how to properly prepare cassava needed to
spread before the food could grow in popularity. The arrival of formerly enslaved people from Brazil
in the 1800s, who brought their knowledge of cassava and its preparation with them, thus directly
fueled the spread of this crop.

Based on the texts, the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 would most likely agree with which
statement?

Transitions
1
Researchers believe that pieces of hull found off Oregon’s coast are from a Spanish cargo ship that
was lost in 1697. Stories passed down among the area’s Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians support
this belief. ______ Siletz stories describe how blocks of beeswax, an item the ship had been carrying,
began washing ashore after the ship was lost.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

a. For this reason,

b. For example,
c. However,
d. Likewise,

2
When one looks at the dark craggy vistas in Hitoshi Fugo’s evocative photo series, one’s mind might
wander off to the cratered surfaces of faraway planets. ______ it’s the series’ title, Flying Frying Pan,
that brings one back to Earth, reminding the viewer that each photo is actually a close-up view of a
familiar household object: a frying pan.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

a. Alternatively,
b. Consequently,
c. Ultimately,
d. Additionally,

3
“Wishcycling”—putting nonrecyclable items into recycling bins under the mistaken belief that those
items can be recycled—ultimately does more harm than good. Nonrecyclable items, such as greasy
pizza boxes, can contaminate recyclable materials, rendering entire batches unusable. ______
nonrecyclable products can damage recycling plants’ machinery.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

a. Moreover,
b. Fittingly,
c. Nevertheless,
d. On the contrary,

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 4
It has long been thought that humans first crossed a land bridge into the Americas approximately
13,000 years ago. ______ based on radiocarbon dating of samples uncovered in Mexico, a research
team recently suggested that humans may have arrived more than 30,000 years ago—much earlier
than previously thought.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

a. As a result,
b. Similarly,
c. However,
d. In conclusion,

Rhetorical Synthesis
1
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• The painter Frida Kahlo is one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.
• She was born in Coyoacán, Mexico, in 1907.
• She is best known for her vivid and richly symbolic self-portraits.
• The Two Fridas (1939) features two versions of Kahlo sitting together.
• One version wears a European-style dress and the other a traditional Tehuana dress.

The student wants to introduce Kahlo to an audience unfamiliar with the artist. Which choice most
effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

a. The 1939 painting The Two Fridas is one example of a self-portrait by Frida Kahlo.
b. One painting by Frida Kahlo features two versions of herself, with one version wearing a
European-style dress and the other a traditional Tehuana dress.
c. Known for being vivid and richly symbolic, Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits include The Two
Fridas (1939).
d. One of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is best
known for her self-portraits, which are vivid and richly symbolic.

2
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• In 1978, Sámi activists staged protests to block the construction of a dam on the Alta River in
Norway.
• The dam would disrupt Sámi fishing and reindeer herding.
• The dam was ultimately built, but the Alta conflict had a lasting impact.
• It brought international attention to the issue of Sámi rights.
• It led to a set of 2005 legal protections establishing Sámi rights to lands, waters, and
resources.

The student wants to make and support a generalization about the Alta conflict. Which choice most
effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

a. Sámi rights to lands, waters, and resources received international attention and legal protections as
a result of the Alta conflict.
b. During the Alta conflict, Sámi activists staged protests to block the construction of a dam on the
Alta River in Norway that would disrupt local fishing and reindeer herding.
c. Although the dam that the Sámi activists had protested was ultimately built, the Alta conflict had a
lasting impact.
d. The Alta conflict had a lasting impact, resulting in international attention and legal protections for
Sámi rights to lands, waters, and resources.

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 3
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• Muckrakers were journalists who sought to expose corruption in US institutions during the
Progressive Era (1897–1920).
• Ida Tarbell was a muckraker who investigated the Standard Oil Company.
• She interviewed Standard Oil Company executives, oil industry workers, and public officials.
• She examined thousands of pages of the company’s internal communications, including
letters and financial records.
• Her book The History of the Standard Oil Company (1904) exposed the company’s unfair
business practices.

The student wants to emphasize the thoroughness of Ida Tarbell’s investigation of the Standard Oil
Company. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this
goal?

a. Ida Tarbell not only interviewed Standard Oil executives, oil industry workers, and public officials
but also examined thousands of pages of the company’s internal communications.
b. As part of her investigation of the Standard Oil Company, muckraker Ida Tarbell conducted
interviews.
c. Published in 1904, muckraker Ida Tarbell’s book The History of the Standard Oil Company exposed
the company’s unfair business practices.
d. Ida Tarbell, who investigated the Standard Oil Company, was a muckraker (a journalist who sought
to expose corruption in US institutions during the Progressive Era, 1897–1920).

4
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• In 1897, African American inventor Andrew Beard invented an automatic coupler.
• It improved on the existing design of train car couplers.
• It made the job of connecting train cars safer.
• In 1938, African American inventor Frederick Jones invented a mobile refrigeration system.
• It improved on the existing design of food transport trucks.
• It enabled trucks to carry perishable foods farther.

The student wants to emphasize a similarity between Beard’s invention and Jones’s invention. Which
choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

a. Jones’s mobile refrigeration system, which he invented in 1938, made it possible for food transport
trucks to carry perishable foods farther.
b. In 1897, Beard invented an automatic coupler, which made the job of connecting train cars safer.
c. Beard’s automatic coupler and Jones’s mobile refrigeration system both improved on existing
designs.
d. Beard’s invention made the job of connecting train cars safer, whereas Jones’s invention enabled
food transport trucks to carry perishables farther.

Form, Structure, and Sense

1
Wanda Diaz-Merced, an astrophysicist who is blind, has developed software that can translate
astrophysical data into sound. Such tools ______ astrophysicists to detect subtle patterns in data—
patterns that may not be evident in graphs and other visual formats.

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

a. has enabled
b. enable
c. is enabling
d. enables

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 2
Ten of William Shakespeare’s plays are classified as histories. Although each one of these plays,
which include Henry V and Richard III, ______ on a single historical figure (specifically, an English
king), some, such as Henry VI Part One and Henry VI Part Two, feature different episodes from the
same monarch’s life.

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

a. focuses
b. focus
c. are focused
d. were focused

3
After winning the 1860 presidential election, Abraham Lincoln appointed Edward Bates, Salmon P.
Chase, and William H. Seward to his cabinet. Lincoln’s decision was surprising, since each of these
men had run against him, but historians have praised it, noting that Lincoln ______ his rivals’ diverse
talents to strengthen his administration.

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

a. will leverage
b. is leveraging
c. has leveraged
d. leveraged

4
In 1990, California native and researcher Ellen Ochoa left her position as chief of the Intelligent
Systems Technology Branch at a NASA research center ______ the space agency’s astronaut training
program.

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

a. to join
b. is joining
c. joined
d. joins

Boundaries
1
In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is a leader of Umuofia (a fictional
Nigerian clan) and takes pride in his culture’s traditions. However, when the arrival of European
missionaries brings changes to Umuofia, the novel asks a central question: How ______

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

a. will Umuofia’s traditions be affected?

b. Umuofia’s traditions will be affected?
c. Umuofia’s traditions will be affected.
d. will Umuofia’s traditions be affected.

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 2
In discussing Mary Shelley’s 1818 epistolary novel Frankenstein, literary theorist Gayatri Spivak
directs the reader’s attention to the character of Margaret Saville. As Spivak points out, Saville is not
the protagonist of Shelley’s ______ as the recipient of the letters that frame the book’s narrative, she’s
the “occasion” of it.

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

a. novel
b. novel,
c. novel; rather,
d. novel, rather,

3
In 1959, marine biologist Dr. Albert Jones founded the Underwater Adventure Seekers, a scuba diving
______ that is the oldest club for Black divers in the United States and that has helped thousands of
diving enthusiasts become certified in the field.

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

a. club
b. club, and
c. club—
d. club,

4
Emperor Ashoka ruled the Maurya Empire in South Asia from roughly 270 to 232 BCE. He is known
for enforcing a moral code called the Law of Piety, which established the sanctity of animal ______
the just treatment of the elderly, and the abolition of the slave trade.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

a. life;
b. life:
c. life
d. life,

18