Question ID 8ea0034d

Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of

PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence

ID: 8ea0034d
Linguist Deborah Tannen has cautioned against framing contentious issues in terms of two highly competitive
perspectives, such as pro versus con. According to Tannen, this debate-driven approach can strip issues of their
complexity and, when used in front of an audience, can be less informative than the presentation of multiple
perspectives in a noncompetitive format. To test Tannen’s hypothesis, students conducted a study in which they
showed participants one of three different versions of local news commentary about the same issue. Each version
featured a debate between two commentators with opposing views, a panel of three commentators with various views,
or a single commentator.

Which finding from the students’ study, if true, would most strongly support Tannen’s hypothesis?

On average, participants perceived commentators in the debate as more knowledgeable about the issue than
A. commentators in the panel.

On average, participants perceived commentators in the panel as more knowledgeable about the issue than the
B. single commentator.

On average, participants who watched the panel correctly answered more questions about the issue than those who
C. watched the debate or the single commentator did.

On average, participants who watched the single commentator correctly answered more questions about the issue
D. than those who watched the debate did.
Question ID 53efa65d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of

PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence

ID: 53efa65d

Results of Footprint Analysis for Two Sets of Theropod Tracks

Estimated footprint length Average stride length Estimated mean speed (meters
Tracks (centimeters) (meters) per second)

La Torre
32.8 5.23 6.5–10.3
6A

La Torre
28.9 5.57 8.8–12.4
6B

The table shows data from paleontologist Angélica Torices and colleagues’ 2021 study of two sets of dinosaur tracks
preserved in a fossilized lake bed in Spain. The tracks, referred to as La Torre 6A and La Torre 6B, were left by two
individual theropods (dinosaurs that walked on two legs). The team’s findings suggest that of the two theropods, the
one that left the La Torre 6B tracks had a higher maximum mean speed, ______

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

A. a longer footprint, and a longer average stride.

B. a longer footprint, and a shorter average stride.

C. a shorter footprint, and a longer average stride.

D. a shorter footprint, and a shorter average stride.

Question ID 2020e37f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of

PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence

ID: 2020e37f

Percentage of Maize Exported

by Three Countries for Marketing
Years 2009/2010–2013/2014
90
80
70
60
Percent

50
40
30
20
10
0
010 0 11 0 12 0 13 0 14
0 9/2 1 0/2
11/2 12/2
1 3/2
20 20 20 20 20
Marketing year

Argentina
Brazil
United States

Argentina, Brazil, and the United States are among the world’s leading producers of maize (corn), and each country
exports a certain percentage of maize each marketing year, which runs from March to February in Argentina and Brazil
and from September to August in the United States. A student is researching those percentages and finds that for the
marketing year 2012/2013, the percentage of maize exported by ______

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

Brazil increased from the previous marketing year but remained lower than the percentage exported by the United
A. States.

B. Brazil exceeded the percentage exported by Argentina for the first time.

C. Argentina decreased from the previous marketing year but remained the highest among the three countries.

D. the United States reached its highest point during the five marketing years.
Question ID da596981
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of

PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence

ID: da596981

Urban Population of
Algeria, France, Japan, and Nigeria
100
90
Percent of population

80
living in cities

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
70 8 0 90 0 0 10 20
19 19 19 20 20 20
Year

Algeria
France
Japan
Nigeria

The share of the world’s population living in cities has increased dramatically since 1970, but this change has not been
uniform. France and Japan, for example, were already heavily urbanized in 1970, with 70% or more of the population
living in cities. The main contributors to the world’s urbanization since 1970 have been countries like Algeria, whose
population went from ______

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

A. around 50% urban in 1970 to around 90% urban in 2020.

B. less than 40% urban in 1970 to around 90% urban in 2020.

C. less than 20% urban in 1970 to more than 50% urban in 2020.

D. around 40% urban in 1970 to more than 70% urban in 2020.

Question ID 61726f0d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of

PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence

ID: 61726f0d
“Ghosts of the Old Year” is an early 1900s poem by James Weldon Johnson. In the poem, the speaker describes
experiencing an ongoing cycle of anticipation followed by regretful reflection: ______

Which quotation from “Ghosts of the Old Year” most effectively illustrates the claim?

“What does this brazen tongue declare, / That falling on the midnight air / Brings to my heart a sense of care / Akin
A. to fright?”

“The snow has ceased its fluttering flight, / The wind sunk to a whisper light, / An ominous stillness fills the night, /
B. A pause—a hush.”

“It tells of many a squandered day, / Of slighted gems and treasured clay, / Of precious stores not laid away, / Of
C. fields unreaped.”

“And so the years go swiftly by, / Each, coming, brings ambitions high, / And each, departing, leaves a sigh / Linked
D. to the past.”