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Writing and Language Test

35 M I NU TES, 4 4 QUESTIONS

Turn to Section 2 of your answer sheet to answer the questions in this section.

Each passage below is accompanied by a number of questions. For some questions, you
will consider how the passage might be revised to improve the expression of ideas. For
other questions, you will consider how the passage might be edited to correct errors in
sentence structure, usage, or punctuation. A passage or a question may be accompanied by
one or more graphics (such as a table or graph) that you will consider as you make revising
and editing decisions.

Some questions will direct you to an underlined portion of a passage. Other questions will
direct you to a location in a passage or ask you to think about the passage as a whole.

After reading each passage, choose the answer to each question that most effectively
improves the quality of writing in the passage or that makes the passage conform to the
conventions of standard written English. Many questions include a “NO CHANGE” option.
Choose that option if you think the best choice is to leave the relevant portion of the
passage as it is.

Questions 1-11 are based on the following passage.

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1
At this point, the writer is considering adding the
Prehistoric Printing following sentence.
Fossils provide paleontologists with a convenient
Paleontologists are using modern technology to gain
way of estimating the age of the rock in which
a greater understanding of the distant past. With the aid the fossils are found.

of computed tomography (CT) scanning and 3-D Should the writer make this addition here?

printing, researchers are able to create accurate models of A) Yes, because it supports the paragraph’s
argument with an important detail.
prehistoric fossils. 1 These models have expanded B) Yes, because it provides a logical transition from
the preceding sentence.
C) No, because it is not directly related to the main
point of the paragraph.
D) No, because it undermines the main claim of the
paragraph.

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researchers’ knowledge of ancient species and 2 swear

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2
to advance the field of paleontology in the years to come. A) NO CHANGE
CT scanners use X-rays to map the surface of a fossil B) subscribe
C) vow
in minute detail, recording as many as one million data
D) promise
points to create a digital blueprint. A 3-D printer then
builds a polymer model based on this blueprint, much as
3
a regular computer printer reproduces digital documents The writer is considering deleting the underlined
on paper. 3 Whereas the head of an ordinary computer sentence. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?

printer moves back and forth while printing ink onto A) Kept, because it helps explain why X-rays are
used in CT scanners.
paper, the corresponding part of a 3-D printer moves in B) Kept, because it provides details to illustrate how
multiple dimensions while squirting out thin layers of a 3-D printer works.
C) Deleted, because it contradicts the passage’s
melted polymer plastic. The plastic hardens quickly, information about digital blueprints.
4 it allows the printer to build the layers of the final D) Deleted, because it creates confusion about how
researchers gather data.
model. Compared with older ways of modeling fossils,
scanning and printing in this way is extremely versatile.
4
A) NO CHANGE
B) this
C) which
D) that

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[1] One significant benefit of 3-D printing

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5
technology is its ability to create scale reproductions of A) NO CHANGE
fossils. [2] But now 3-D scale models can be rearranged B) in order for learning
C) so that one is learning
with ease, which is a huge boon to scientists. [3] A team
D) so to learn
led by Drexel University professor Kenneth Lacovara is
making models of dinosaur bones one-tenth the bones’
6
original sizes 5 in order to learn how they fit together
A) NO CHANGE
when the animals were alive. [4] In the past, such B) it’s
research was limited by the weight and bulk of the fossils C) their
D) there
as well as 6 its preciousness and fragility. [5] In many
cases, scientists had to rearrange bones virtually, using
7
artists’ renderings. 7
To make this paragraph most logical, sentence 2
Because CT scanners can map objects that are should be placed
impossible to excavate, CT scanning and 3-D printing A) where it is now.
can also be used to reproduce fossils that scientists B) before sentence 1.
C) after sentence 4.
cannot observe firsthand. 8 By contrast, researchers
D) after sentence 5.

8
A) NO CHANGE
B) Nonetheless,
C) Besides,
D) For example,

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from the National Museum of Brazil 9 has relied on

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9
this technique to study a fossilized skeleton that was A) NO CHANGE
discovered protruding from a rock at an old São Paulo B) relied
C) will rely
railroad site. 10 The fossil was too delicate to be
D) is relying
removed from the rock. Because of the fossil’s delicate
nature, the team dug up a block of stone around the fossil
10
and brought it to their lab. With the aid of a CT scanner Which choice most effectively combines the
and a 3-D printer, they were able to produce a resin underlined sentences?

model of the fossil. Examining the model, the researchers A) The fossil could not be removed from the rock
on account of it being too delicate; moreover, the
determined that 11 one had found a new species, a team dug up a block of stone around it and
brought it to their lab.
75-million-year-old crocodile. While not every discovery
B) The team thought the fossil was too delicate to
will be as dramatic as this one, paleontologists anticipate remove from the rock, and their next decision
was to dig up a block of stone around the fossil
further expanding their knowledge of ancient life-forms and bring it to their lab.
as CT scanning and 3-D printing continue to make fossils C) The fossil was too delicate to be removed from
the rock, so the team dug up a block of stone
more accessible. around the fossil and brought it to their lab.
D) In removing the fossil from the rock, the team
found it was too delicate; then they dug up a
block of stone around the fossil and brought it to
their lab.

11
A) NO CHANGE
B) he or she
C) they
D) it

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Questions 12-22 are based on the following passage.

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12
A) NO CHANGE
Thomas Nast, the Crusading Cartoonist B) Therefore,
“Stop them pictures!” Legend has it that the corrupt C) Furthermore,
D) DELETE the underlined portion.
politician William “Boss” Tweed once used those words
when ordering someone to offer a bribe to Thomas Nast,
13
an artist who had become famous for cartoons that called
Which choice most effectively combines the
for reforms to end corruption. 12 As a result, Tweed’s underlined sentences?
attempt to silence the artist failed, and Nast’s cartoons, A) Powerful political organizations in the 1860s and
the 1870s started taking control of city
published in magazines like Harper’s Weekly, actually governments, and they were known as
“political machines.”
played a key role in bringing Boss Tweed and his cronies
B) Known as “political machines,” in the 1860s and
to justice. the 1870s, political organizations that were
powerful started taking control of city
13 There were powerful political organizations in
governments.
the 1860s and the 1870s. The organizations were known C) City governments were taken control of in the
1860s and the 1870s, and powerful political
as “political machines” and started taking control of city
organizations known as “political machines”
governments. These political machines were able to pack did so.
D) In the 1860s and the 1870s, powerful political
legislatures and courts with hand-picked supporters by
organizations known as “political machines”
purchasing 14 votes, a form of election fraud involving started taking control of city governments.

the exchange of money or favors for votes. Once a

political machine had control of enough important 14
A) NO CHANGE
positions, its members were able to use public funds to
B) votes, being
enrich themselves and their friends. Boss Tweed’s
C) votes, that is
Tammany Hall group, which controlled New York D) votes, which it is
15 City in the 1860s—stole more than $30 million,
15
A) NO CHANGE
B) City in the 1860s,
C) City, in the 1860s,
D) City in the 1860s

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the equivalent of more than $365 million today.

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16
16 Tweed had been elected to a single two-year term in The writer is considering deleting the underlined
sentence. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?
Congress in 1852. Tammany Hall was so powerful and
A) Kept, because it introduces the quote from the
17 corrupt that, the New York Times, commented New York Times in the next sentence.
“There is absolutely nothing . . . in the city which is B) Kept, because it adds a vital detail about Tweed
that is necessary to understand his power.
beyond the reach of the insatiable gang.”
C) Deleted, because it blurs the focus of the
Given the extent of Tweed’s power, it is remarkable paragraph by introducing loosely related
information.
that a single cartoonist could have played such a
D) Deleted, because it contains information that
significant role in bringing about his downfall. Nast’s undermines the main claim of the passage.
cartoons depicted Tweed as a great big bloated thief. One
of the artist’s most 18 famous images showed Tweed 17
A) NO CHANGE
with a bag of money in place of his 19 head. Another
B) corrupt, that the New York Times commented,
featured Tweed leaning against a ballot box with the
C) corrupt that the New York Times commented,
caption “As long as I count the votes, what are you going D) corrupt that the New York Times, commented
to do about it?” These cartoons were so effective in part
because many of the citizens who supported Tweed were 18
illiterate and thus could not read the newspaper accounts A) NO CHANGE
B) famous and well-known
of his criminal activities. Nast’s cartoons, though, widely
C) famous and commonly known
exposed the public to the injustice of Tweed’s political
D) famous, commonly known
machine.

19
Which choice adds the most relevant supporting
information to the paragraph?
A) head; like many other Nast cartoons, that one
was published in Harper’s Weekly.
B) head; Nast would later illustrate Tweed’s escape
from prison.
C) head, one depiction that omits Tweed’s
signature hat.
D) head, an image that perfectly captured Tweed’s
greedy nature.

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Nast’s campaign to bring down Tweed and the 20
Tammany Hall gang was ultimately successful. In the A) NO CHANGE
elections of 1871, the public voted against most of the B) persecuted on
C) persecuted with
Tammany Hall candidates, greatly weakening Tweed’s
D) prosecuted on
power. Eventually, Tweed and his gang were
20 persecuted for a number of charges, including fraud 21
and larceny, and many of them were sent to jail. In 1875 A) NO CHANGE
Tweed escaped from jail and fled to Spain and B) bringing
unwittingly 21 brought about one final 22 pinnacle for C) brings
D) has brought
the power of political cartoons: A Spanish police officer
recognized Tweed from one of Nast’s cartoons.
22
Consequently, Tweed was sent back to jail, and Nast was
A) NO CHANGE
hailed as the man who toppled the great Tammany Hall B) triumph
machine. C) culmination
D) apex

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Questions 23-33 are based on the following passage

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and supplementary material.
A) NO CHANGE
B) its
Rethinking Crowdfunding in the Arts
C) its’
Crowdfunding is a popular way to raise money using D) their
the Internet. The process sounds simple: an artist,
entrepreneur, or other innovator takes his or her ideas 24

straight to the public via a crowdfunding website. The Which choice most effectively combines the
underlined sentences?
innovator creates a video about the project and offers, in
A) With the idea being obviously very attractive, an
exchange for donations, a series of “perks,” from obscure method of photography may be made
available to many at little expense.
acknowledgment on a social media site to a small piece of
B) The idea is obviously very attractive: an obscure
art. Many crowdfunding programs are all-or-nothing; in method of photography may be made available
to many at little expense.
other words, the innovator must garner 100 percent
C) An obscure method of photography may be
funding for the project or the money is refunded to the made available to many at little expense, and the
idea is obviously very attractive.
donors. At 23 it’s best, the system can give creators
D) An obscure method of photography, an idea that
direct access to millions of potential backers. is obviously very attractive, may be made
available to many at little expense.
The home page of one leading crowdfunding site
features a project to manufacture pinhole cameras on a
25
3‑D printer. 24 The idea is obviously very attractive. An
A) NO CHANGE
obscure method of photography may be made available B) Therefore,
to many with little expense. Within weeks, the project C) In effect,
D) As a rule,
was 621 percent funded. In contrast, on the same page, a
small Brooklyn performance venue is attempting to raise
money for its current season. The venue features works of
performance art showcased in a storefront window.
Those who have seen the space consider it vital.
25 However, that group may not be large enough; with
just fourteen days to go in the fund-raising period, the
campaign is only 46 percent funded.

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Artists such as these Brooklyn performers find that

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26
crowdfunding exacerbates problems that already exist. A) NO CHANGE
26 Work, that is easily understood and appreciated, is B) Work that is easily understood and appreciated
is supported,
supported, while more complex work goes unnoticed. C) Work that is easily understood, and appreciated
27 Time that could be used creating art is spent devising is supported
D) Work—that is easily understood and
clever perks to draw the attention of potential appreciated—is supported,
contributors. 28 In addition, audiences may contain
many “free 29 riders,” they did not make contributions. 27
At this point, the writer is considering adding the
following sentence.
Crowdfunding tends to attract contributors from
a wide variety of professional fields.
Should the writer make this addition here?
A) Yes, because it gives more information about the
people who donate to crowdfunding campaigns.
B) Yes, because it reinforces the writer’s point about
the funding of artistic projects.
C) No, because it fails to take into account project
funding received from public institutions.
D) No, because it blurs the focus of the paragraph
by introducing a poorly integrated piece of
information.

28
A) NO CHANGE
B) Conversely,
C) However,
D) Thus,

29
A) NO CHANGE
B) riders,” not making
C) riders,” who did not make
D) riders” to not make

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Ironically, the success of crowdfunding may weaken

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30
overall funding for the arts if people begin to feel that A) NO CHANGE
paying for the art 30 loved by them is someone else’s B) they love
C) loved by him or her
responsibility.
D) he or she loves
[1] One innovative playwright has woven the
deficiencies of the system into her crowdfunding model.
31
[2] Though the price for her tickets was higher than that A) NO CHANGE
of tickets for comparable shows, it was still affordable to B) their
most theatergoers—and reflected the real cost of the C) her
D) its
performance. [3] She presented the total cost for
producing her play on a crowdfunding site. [4] Then she
32
divided the total cost by the number of people she
To make this paragraph most logical, sentence 2
expected to attend the performance. [5] The result of the should be placed

calculation was the minimum donor price, and only A) where it is now.
B) after sentence 3.
donors who paid at least the minimum ticket price were
C) after sentence 4.
allowed to attend the performance. [6] By subverting the
D) after sentence 5.
presumption that money used for her project is an
altruistic donation, the playwright showed that 31 our
work has monetary value to those who enjoy it. 32

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Crowdfunded Projects on Kickstarter in 2012

games food dance

publishing fashion theater
food dance art
art theater food
theater photography photography
fashion art games
photography games publishing
dance publishing fashion

0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100

Money raised Average pledge Success rate (percent
(millions of dollars) (dollars) of fully funded projects)
Adapted from “These Were the Most Successful Projects on Kickstarter Last Year.” ©2013 by The Economist Newspaper Limited.

Question 33 asks about the graphic.

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33
Which choice offers an accurate interpretation of the
data in the graphs?
A) The project category with the lowest amount of
money raised was also the most successfully
funded project category.
B) The project category with the highest average
pledge amount was also the most successfully
funded project category.
C) The project category with the lowest average
pledge amount was also the project category that
raised the most money.
D) The project category with the highest average
pledge amount was also the project category with
the most money raised.

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Questions 34-44 are based on the following passage.

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34
For the sake of the logic and cohesion of the
Investigative Journalism: An Evolving American paragraph, sentence 3 should be
Tradition A) placed where it is now.
[1] The recent precipitous decline of print journalism B) placed before sentence 1.
as a viable profession has exacerbated long-held concerns C) placed after sentence 1.
D) DELETED from the paragraph.
about the state of investigative reporting in the United
States. [2] Facing lower print circulation and diminished
35
advertising revenue, many major newspapers have
A) NO CHANGE
reduced or eliminated investigative resources. B) reporters:
[3] Newspapers, the traditional nurturing ground for C) reporters,
investigative journalism, have been hit especially hard by D) reporter’s;

the widespread availability of free news online. [4] To

36
survive, investigative journalism must continue to adapt
A) NO CHANGE
to the digital age. 34
B) Undertaken in
It is not difficult to understand why
C) Overtaking
a cash-strapped, understaffed publication might feel D) Taking off from
pressure to cut teams of investigative
35 reporter’s—their work is expensive and 37
time-consuming. 36 Taking on the public interest, A) NO CHANGE
B) business scandals,
investigative journalism involves original, often
C) abuse of government power,
long-form reporting on such topics as 37 illegal
D) DELETE the underlined portion.
activities, street crime, corporate wrongdoing, and
political corruption. An investigative story involves one
or more experienced journalists dedicating their full
energy and the resources of the publisher to a piece for a
prolonged period of time. Expensive legal battles may
ensue. The results of this work, though costly, have

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helped keep those in power accountable. The exposure by

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38
Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl At this point, the writer is considering adding the
following sentence.
Bernstein of government misconduct in the Watergate
In 1954, Edward R. Murrow and Fred Friendly
scandal resulted in the resignation of President Richard produced episodes of the CBS television show
Nixon in 1974. More recently, Seymour Hersh, reporting See It Now that contributed to the end of
US senator Joseph McCarthy’s anticommunist
for the New Yorker in 2004, helped publicize the “witch hunts.”
mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by US personnel at Should the writer make this addition here?
Abu Ghraib during the Iraq War. 38 In these and other A) Yes, because it helps clarify that the passage’s
main focus is on investigations of political
cases, exposure from reporters has served as an corruption.
important 39 blockade to or scolding of malfeasance. B) Yes, because it offers an important counterpoint
to the other cases previously described in the
paragraph.
C) No, because it gives an example that is both
chronologically and substantively out of place in
the paragraph.
D) No, because it provides an example that is
inconsistent with the passage’s definition of
investigative journalism.

39
A) NO CHANGE
B) interference to or condemnation of
C) drag on or reproof of
D) deterrent or rebuke to

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While worrisome, the decline of traditional print

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40
media 40 could not entail the end of investigative Which choice most effectively suggests that the
“end of investigative journalism” is a real possibility
journalism. 41 Although many newsrooms have but one that can be prevented?
reduced their staff, some still employ investigative A) NO CHANGE
reporters. Nonprofit 42 enterprises such as the B) need

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project have C) will

D) must
begun to fill the void created by staff losses at newspapers
and magazines. Enterprising freelance reporters, newly
41
funded by nonprofits, make extensive use of social media,
Which choice most effectively sets up the examples
in the following sentences?
A) NO CHANGE
B) Investigative journalism also declined between
the 1930s and 1950s, only to be revived in
the 1960s.
C) According to the Pew Research Center, more
people get their national and international news
from the Internet than from newspapers.
D) Indeed, recent years have witnessed innovative
adjustments to changing times.

42
A) NO CHANGE
B) enterprises: such as
C) enterprises such as:
D) enterprises, such as

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including blogs and Twitter, to foster a public

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43
conversation about key issues. The Help Me Investigate A) NO CHANGE
project, 43 for example, solicited readers to submit tips B) therefore,
C) however,
and information related to ongoing stories to its website.
D) in any case,
Far from marking the end of investigative journalism,
44 cooperation among journalists and ordinary citizens
44
has been facilitated by the advent of the digital age
A) NO CHANGE
through an increase in the number of potential B) the number of potential investigators has
increased since the advent of the digital age
investigators.
owing to the facilitation of cooperation among
journalists and ordinary citizens.
C) the advent of the digital age has increased the
number of potential investigators by facilitating
cooperation among journalists and ordinary
citizens.
D) by facilitating cooperation among journalists
and ordinary citizens the advent of the digital
age has increased the number of potential
investigators.

STOP
If you finish before time is called, you may check your work on this section only.
Do not turn to any other section.

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