Set - 1

Utah is home to Pando, a colony of about 47,000 quaking aspen trees that all share a single root system. Pando is one of the largest single organisms by mass on Earth, but ecologists are worried that its growth is declining in part because of grazing by animals. The ecologists say that strong fences could prevent deer from eating young trees and help Pando start thriving again.

According to the text, why are ecologists worried about Pando?

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?

The following text is from Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility. Elinor lives with her younger sisters and her mother, Mrs. Dashwood.

Elinor, this eldest daughter, whose advice was so effectual, possessed a strength of understanding, and coolness of judgment, which qualified her, though only nineteen, to be the counsellor of her mother, and enabled her frequently to counteract, to the advantage of them all, that eagerness of mind in Mrs. Dashwood which must generally have led to imprudence. She had an excellent heart;--her disposition was affectionate, and her feelings were strong; but she knew how to govern them: it was a knowledge which her mother had yet to learn; and which one of her sisters had resolved never to be taught.

According to the text, what is true about Elinor?

Sample of Food Items from Gemini Mission

To make sure they got the nutrition they needed while in space, the astronauts of NASA's Gemini missions were given menus for three meals a day (meals A, B, and C) on a four-day rotating schedule. Looking at the sample of food items from these menus, a student notes that on day 1, the menu included ________


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

Biologists have predicted that birds' feather structures vary with habitat temperature, but this hadn't been tested in mountain environments. Ornithologist Sahas Barve studied feathers from 249 songbird species inhabiting different elevations--and thus experiencing different temperatures--in the Himalaya Mountains. He found that feathers of high-elevation species not only have a greater proportion of warming downy sections to flat and smooth sections than do feathers of low-elevation species, but high-elevation species' feathers also tend to be longer, providing a thicker layer of insulation.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Researchers recently found that disruptions to an enjoyable experience, like a short series of advertisements during a television show, often increase viewers' reported enjoyment. Suspecting that disruptions to an unpleasant experience would have the opposite effect, the researchers had participants listen to construction noise for 30 minutes and anticipated that those whose listening experience was frequently interrupted with short breaks of silence would thus _______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

"Loon Point" is a 1912 poem by Amy Lowell. In the poem, which presents a nighttime scene on a body of water, Lowell describes an element of nature as an active participant in the experience, writing, _________

Which quotation from "Loon Point" most effectively illustrates the claim?

Employing high-performance liquid chromatography—a process that uses pressurized water to separate material into its component molecules—astrochemist Yashiro Oba and colleagues analyzed two samples of the Murchison meteorite that landed in Australia as well as soil from the landing zone of the meteorite to determine the concentrations of various organic molecules. By comparing the relative concentrations of types of molecules known as nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite with those in the soil, the team concluded that there is evidence that the nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite formed in space and are not the result of contamination on Earth.

Which choice best describes data from the table that supports the team’s conclusion? 

Paleontologists searching for signs of ancient life have found many fossilized specimens of prehistoric human ancestors, including several from the Pleistocene era discovered in a geological formation in the Minatogawa quarry in Japan. However, to study the emergence of the earliest multicellular organisms to appear on Earth, researchers must turn elsewhere, such as to the Ediacaran geological formation at Mistaken Point in Canada. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the 146-hectare reserve contains more than 10,000 fossils that together document a critical moment in evolutionary history.

What does the text indicate about the geological formation at Mistaken Point?

The following text is adapted from Johanna Spyrfi's 1881 novel Heidi (translated by Elisabeth Stork in 1915). Eight-year-old Heidi and her friend's grandmother are looking at some illustrated books.

Heidi had come and was looking with wondering eyes at the splendid pictures in the large books, that Grandmama was showing her. Suddenly she screamed aloud, for there on the picture she saw a peaceful flock grazing on a green pasture. In the middle a shepherd was standing, leaning on his crook. The setting sun was shedding a golden light over everything. With glowing eyes Heidi devoured the scene.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Many of William Shakespeare's tragedies address broad themes that still appeal to today's audiences. For instance, Romeo and Juliet, which is set in the Italy of Shakespeare's time, tackles the themes of parents versus children and love versus hate, and the play continues to be read and produced widely around the world. But understanding Shakespeare's so-called history plays can require a knowledge of several centuries of English history. Consequently, ___________

Which choice most logically completes the text?

The following text is adapted from Edgar Allan Poe's 1849 story "Landor's Cottage."

During a pedestrian trip last summer, through one or two of the river counties of New York, I found myself, as the day declined, somewhat embarrassed about the road I was pursuing. The land undulated very remarkably; and my path, for the last hour, had wound about and about so confusedly, in its effort to keep in the valleys, that I no longer knew in what direction lay the sweet village of B----, where I had determined to stop for the night.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Mosasaurs were large marine reptiles that lived in the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 100 million to 66 million years ago. Celina Suarez, Alberto Perez-Huerta, and T. Lynn Harrell Jr. examined oxygen-18 isotopes in mosaaur tooth enamel in order to calculate likely mosaaur body temperatures and determined that mosaurs were endothermic--that is, they used internal metabolic processes to maintain a stable body temperature in a variety of ambient temperatures. Suarez, Perez-Huerta, and Harrell claim that endothermy would have enabled mosaurs to include relatively cold polar waters in their range.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Suarez, Perez-Huerta, and Harrell's claim?

Accomplished printmaker and sculptor Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012) used her art to explore the Black experience in the United States. In a paper for an art history class, a student claims that Catlett had a particular talent for unifying various artistic traditions and styles in her work.

Which quotation from a scholar describing Catlett's work would best support the student's claim?

A student is examining a long, challenging poem that was initially published in a quarterly journal without explanatory notes, then later republished in a stand-alone volume containing only that poem and accompanying explanatory notes written by the poet. The student asserts that the explanatory notes were included in the republication primarily as a marketing device to help sell the stand-alone volume.

Which statement, if true, would most directly support the student's claim?