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The work of molecular biophysicist Enrique M. De La Cruz is known for traditional boundaries between academic disciplines. The university laboratory that De La Cruz runs includes engineers, biologists, chemists, and physicists, and the research the lab produces makes use of insights and techniques from all those fields.<br/><br/>Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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The following text is from Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale. Mr. Verloc is navigating the London streets on his way to a meeting.<br/><br/>Before reaching Knightsbridge, Mr. Verloc took a turn to the left out of the busy main thoroughflare, uproarious with the traffic of swaying omnibuses and trotting vans, in the almost silent, swift flow of hansoms [horse-drawn carriages]. Under his hat, worn with a slight backward tilt, his hair had been carefully brushed into respectful sleekness; for his business was with an Embassy. And Mr. Verloc, steady like a rock--a soft kind of rock--marched now along a street which could with every propriety be described as private.<br/><br/>Which choice best describes the function of the underlined phrase in the text as a whole?

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According to Potawatomi ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer, the Indigenous method of harvesting Hierochloe odorata, on sweetgrass, by snapping the plant off at the root actually wild populations: it may seem counterintuitive, she says, but this method of removal allows new sweetgrass plants to repopulate the space, with an overall increase in number and vigor.<br/><br/>Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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Text 1<br/><br/>Astronomer Mark Holland and colleagues examined four white dwarfs--small, dense remnants of past stars--in order to determine the composition of exoplanets that used to orbit those stars. Studying wavelengths of light in the white dwarf atmospheres, the team reported that traces of elements such as lithium and sodium support the presence of exoplanets with continental crusts similar to Earth's.<br/><br/>Text 2<br/><br/>Past studies of white dwarf atmospheres have concluded that certain exoplanets had continental crusts. Geologist Keith Puttika and astronomer Siyi Xu argue that those studies unduly emphasize atmospheric traces of lithium and other individual elements as signifiers of the types of rock found on Earth. The studies don't adequately account for different minerals made up of various ratios of those elements, and the possibility of rock types not found on Earth that contain those minerals.<br/><br/>Based on the texts, how would Puttika and Xu (Text 2) most likely characterize the conclusion presented in Text 1?

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Bioluminescent beetles called fireflies may seem to create flashes of light randomly, but each species of firefly actually has its own special series of repeated flashes and pauses. These unique allow fireflies of the same species to find each other.<br/><br/>Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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The process of mechanically recycling plastics is often considered because of the environmental impact and the loss of material quality that often occurs. But chemist Takunda Chazovachii has helped develop a cleaner process of chemical recycling that converts superabsorbent polymers from diapers into a desirable reusable adhesive.<br/><br/>Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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Following the principles of community-based participatory research, tribal nations and research institutions are equal partners in health studies conducted on reservations. A collaboration between the Crow Tribe and Montana State University -- this model: tribal citizens worked alongside scientists to design the methodology and continue to assist in data collection.<br/><br/>Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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Historians Tiya Miles and Roy E. Finkenbine have both documented the assistance Indigenous peoples gave to Black freedom seekers leaving the South before the US Civil War. Much of the historical evidence of this help comes from Indigenous oral traditions and from autobiographies written by the freedom seekers. One such narrative is Jermain Loguen's autobiography, which tells about how Neshnabe (Potawatomi) villagers offered him food, lodging, and directions during his 1835 journey from Tennessee to Canada.<br/><br/>Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?

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In 1929 the Atlantic Monthly published several articles based on newly discovered letters allegedly exchanged between President Abraham Lincoln and a woman named Ann Rutledge. Historians were unable to the authenticity of the letters, however, and quickly dismissed them as a hoax.<br/><br/>Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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Text 1<br/><br/>Italian painters in the 1500s rarely depicted themselves in their work. Even more rare were self-portrait paintings that portrayed the artist as a painter. At the time, painting was not yet respected as a profession, so painters mostly chose to emphasize other qualities in their self-portraits, like their intellect or social status. In the city of Bologna, the first artist to depict themself painting was a man named Annibale Carracci. A painting of his from around 1585 shows Carracci in front of an easel holding a palette.<br/><br/>Text 2<br/><br/>In their self-portraits, Bolognese artists typically avoided referring to the act of painting until the mid-1600s. However, Lavinia Fontana's 1577 painting, Self-Portrait at the Keyboard, stands out as the earliest example of such a work by an artist from Bologna. Although the artist is depicted playing music, in the background, one can spot a painting easel by a window.<br/><br/>Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the underlined claim in Text 1?

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In the early 1800s, the Cherokee scholar Sequoyah created the first script, or writing system, for an Indigenous language in the United States. Because it represented the sounds of spoken Cherokee so accurately, his script was easy to learn and thus quickly achieved use: by 1830, over 90 percent of the Cherokee people could read and write it.<br/><br/>Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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Biologist Jane Edgeloe and colleagues have located what is believed to be the largest individual plant in the world in the Shark Bay area of Australia. The plant is a type of seagrass called Posidonia australis, and it approximately 200 square kilometers.<br/><br/>Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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## Text 1<br/><br/>Historians studying pre-lnca Peru have looked to ceramic vessels to understand daily life among the Moche people. These mold-made sculptures present plants, animals, and human faces in precise ways--vessels representing human faces are so detailed that scholars have interpreted facial markings to represent scars and other skin irregularities. Some historians have even used these objects to identify potential skin diseases that may have afflicted people at the time.<br/><br/>## Text 2<br/><br/>Art historian and archaeological Lisa Trever has argued that the interpretation of Moche "portrait" vessels as hyper-realistic portrayals of identifiable people may inadvertently disregard the creativity of the objects' creators. Moche ceramic vessels, Trever argues, are artworks in which sculptors could free their imagination, using realistic objects and people around them as inspiration to explore more abstract concepts.<br/><br/>Based on the texts, what would Lisa Trever (Text 2) most likely say about the interpretation presented in the underlined portion of Text 1?

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The following text is from Nella Larsen's 1928 novel Quicksand.<br/><br/>The trees in their spring beauty sent through her restive mind a sharp thrill of pleasure. Seductive, charming, and beckoning as cities were, they had not this easy unhuman loveliness.<br/><br/>As used in the text, what does the word "beckoning" most nearly mean?

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Text 1<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Text 2<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Based on the texts, both authors would most likely agree with which statement?

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The following text is adapted from Herman Melville's 1857 novel The Confidence-Man. Humphry Davy was a prominent British chemist and inventor.<br/><br/>Years ago, a grave American savant, being in London, observed at an evening party there, a certain coxcombolical fellow, as he thought, an absurd ribbon in his lapel, and full of smart [banter], whisking about to the admiration of as many as were disposed to admire. Great was the savant's disdain; but, chancing ere long to find himself in a corner with the jackanapes, got into conversation with him, when he was somewhat ill-prepared for the good sense of the jackanapes, but was altogether thrown aback, upon subsequently being [informed that he was] no less a personage than Sir Humphry Davy.<br/><br/>Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

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A brief book review cannot fully convey the _______ of Olga Tokarczuk's novel The Books of Jacob, with its enormous cast of characters, its complicated, wandering plot, and its page numbers that count backward (beginning at 965 and ending at 1).<br/><br/>Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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## Text 1<br/><br/>Soy sauce, made from fermented soybeans, is noted for its umami flavor. Ummi--one of the five basic tastes along with sweet, bitter, salty, and sour--was formally classified when its taste receptors were discovered in the 2000s. In 2007, to define the pure umami flavor scientists Rie Ishii and Michael O'Mahony used broths made from shiitake mushrooms and kombu seaweed, and two panels of Japanese and US judges closely agreed on a description of the taste.<br/><br/>## Text 2<br/><br/>A 2022 experiment by Manon Junger et al. led to a greater understanding of soy sauce's flavor profile. The team initially presented a mixture of compounds with low molecular weights to taste testers who found it was not as salty or bitter as real soy sauce. Further analysis of soy sauce identified proteins, including dipeptides, that enhanced umami flavor and also contributed to saltiness. The team then made a mix of 50 chemical compounds that re-created soy sauce's flavor.<br/><br/>Based on the texts, if Ishii and O'Mahony (Text 1) and Junger et al. (Text 2) were aware of the findings of both experiments, they would most likely agree with which statement?

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Yawn contagion occurs when one individual yawns in response to another's yawn. Studies of this behavior in primates have focused on populations in captivity, but biologist Elisabetta Palagi and her colleagues have shown that it can occur in wild primate populations as well. In their study, which focused on a wild population of gelada monkeys (Theropithecus gelada) in Ethiopia, the researchers further reported that yawn contagion most commonly occurred in males and across different social groups instead of within a single social group.<br/><br/>Which choice best describes the function of the first sentence in the text as a whole?

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Africa's Sahara region--once a lush ecosystem--began to dry out about 8,000 years ago. A change in Earth's orbit that affected climate has been posited as a cause of desertification, but archaeologist David Wright also attributes the shift to Neolithic peoples. He cites their adoption of pastoralism as a factor in the region drying out: the pastoralists' livestock depleted vegetation, prompting the events that created the Sahara Desert.<br/><br/>Text 2<br/><br/>Research by Chris Brierley et al. challenges the idea that Neolithic peoples contributed to the Sahara's desertification. Using a climate-vegetation model, the team concluded that the end of the region's humid period occurred 500 years earlier than previously assumed. The timing suggests that Neolithic peoples didn't exacerbate ariidity in the region but, in fact, may have helped delay environmental changes with practices (e.g., selective grazing) that preserved vegetation.<br/><br/>Based on the texts, how would Chris Brierley (Text 2) most likely respond to the discussion in Text 1?

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In the 1970s, video cameras became increasingly affordable for ordinary consumers and gave Ulysses Jenkins and other artists capabilities that were previously unavailable except to television broadcasters. Jenkins recognized and took full advantage of this access to powerful technology to create groundbreaking works of video art, such as Mass of Images (1978).<br/><br/>Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

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The following text is from Charlotte Bronte's 1847 novel Jane Eyre. Jane, the narrator, works as a governess at Thornfield Hall.<br/><br/>I went on with my day's business tranquilly; but ever and anon vague suggestions kept wandering across my brain of reasons why I should quit Thornfield; and I kept involuntarily framing advertisements and pondering conjectures about new situations: these thoughts I did not think to check; they might germinate and bear fruit if they could.<br/><br/>Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

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According to historian Vicki L. Ruiz, Mexican American women made crucial contributions to the labor movement during World War II. At the time, food processing companies entered into contracts to supply United States armed forces with canned goods. Increased production quotas conferred greater bargaining power on the companies' employees, many of whom were Mexican American women: employees insisted on more favorable benefits, and employers, who were anxious to fulfill the contracts, complied. Thus, labor activism became a platform for Mexican American women to assert their agency.<br/><br/>Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?

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Researchers have found a nearly 164,000-year-old molar from a member of the archaic human species known as Denisovans in a cave in Laos, suggesting that Denisovans lived in a wider range of environments than indicated by earlier evidence. Before the discovery, Denisovans were thought to have lived only at high altitudes in relatively cold climates in what are now Russia and China, but the discovery of the tooth in Laos suggests that they may have lived at low altitudes in relatively warm climates in Southeast Asia as well.<br/><br/>Which choice best states the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?

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Using NASA's powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Mercedes Lopez-Morales and colleagues measured the wavelengths of light traveling through the atmosphere of WASP-39b, an exoplanet, or planet outside our solar system. Different molecules absorb different wavelengths of light, and the wavelength measurements showed the presence of carbon dioxide (CO\({}{2}\)) in WASP-39b's atmosphere. This finding not only offers the first decisive evidence of CO\({}{2}\) in the atmosphere of an exoplanet but also illustrates the potential for future scientific breakthroughs held by the JWST.<br/><br/>Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

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