Digital PSAT
Training Packet
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the PSAT/NMQST?
The Preliminary SAT (PSAT) or The National Merit Qualifying Scholarship Test (NMSQT) is a
test that helps you practice for the SAT. For Juniors, the test enables students to enter the
National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) scholarship program.
2. How many times can I take the test?
You can take the PSAT once a year in October as a sophomore and a junior.
3. What is the difference between the Digital SAT and Digital PSAT?
The two tests are structured exactly the same. The only difference is the level of difficulty.
There are two Reading and Writing Modules each containing 27 short passage questions to be
completed in 32 minutes.
There are two Math modules each containing 22 questions to be completed in 35 minutes.
The difficulty of the second module will be determined by how well you do on the first module.
4. How do I register for the PSAT?
All Mitty sophomores and juniors are automatically registered for the test.
5. Can I guess on the PSAT?
Yes. There is no penalty for wrong answers, so do not leave a PSAT question blank!
6. Do colleges care about my PSAT scores?
PSAT scores are NEVER used for college admissions. If you were recognized as a Commended
or National Merit Scholar, you can report the recognition on your college applications.
7. How do I get my scores?
PSAT scores are emailed in November.
Structure for the Digital PSAT Reading and Writing
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This section is made up of 27 short passages that can be grouped into four categories
that follow a specific order.
Always look at the question first before you read the passage. This will help you
strategize your approach.
Part 1: Reading (about 14 questions)
The links below will connect you to Khan Academy for more information.
There are seven types of questions that tend to be in the following order:
1. Words in Context
You will read a short passage that will be missing a word or focus on a specific
word.
2. Purpose
Questions tend to ask the main purpose of the overall text or the meaning of a
specific sentence.
3. Dual Texts
Two short passages that tend to ask how one author might respond to another
author.
4. Main Idea
The question will ask what is the main idea of the text or the main idea about a
specific sentence.
5. Claims
After reading the passage, questions will range from asking which lines from a
poem best support the passage or which answer best supports the passage.
6. Chart/Graph
Questions will ask you to interpret a chart or graph.
7. Conclusion
You will need to select the best answer to complete the passage.
Part 2: Grammar / Punctuation (about 14 questions)
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This section will have short passages missing a segment. The answer choices are
about the proper use of grammar and punctuation. You will know when you reach this
section since every question will state the following: “ Which choice completes the text
so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?”
Part 3: Transitions (about 3 questions)
The reading passage will have a segment missing and you will be asked to select the
most logical transitions that unites the two parts.
Part 4: Bullet Point List (about 3 questions)
A list of bullet points will be followed by a question that will ask you to synthesize the
information in some fashion.
So let’s look at examples of the above types.
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Sample Questions Types
Part 1 Reading (about 14 questions)
Seven types of questions.
1. Words in Context
Sample 1
1 … ……………………………………………..
In the 1960s, Sam Gilliam, a Black painter from
the southern United States, became the first artist
to drape painted canvases into flowing shapes. He
later explored a different style, quilt-like
paintings inspired by the patchwork quilting
tradition of Black communities in the South.
Which choice completes the text with the most
logical and precise word or phrase?
A) predicting
B) refusing
C) hiding
D) creating
Sample 2
2 … ……………………………………………..
The following text is from Henry Guy Carleton's
1884 short story "The Thompson Street Poker
Club."
When Mr. Tooter Williams entered the gilded
halls of the Thompson Street Poker Club
Saturday evening it was evident that fortune had
smeared him with prosperity. He wore a straw
hat with a blue ribbon, an expression of serene
content, and a glass amethyst on his third finger
whose effulgence irradiated the whole room and
made the envious eyes of Mr. Cyanide Whiffles
stand out like a crab's.
As used in the text, what does the word "smeared"
most nearly mean?
A) deceived
B) gifted
C) assaulted
D) criticized
2. Main Purpose
Sample 1
3 ……………………………………………..
Early in the Great Migration of 1910–1970, which
involved the mass migration of Black people from
the southern to the northern United States,
political activist and Chicago Defender writer
Fannie Barrier Williams was instrumental in
helping other Black women establish themselves
in the North. Many women hoped for better
employment opportunities in the North because,
in the South, they faced much competition for
domestic employment and men tended to get
agricultural work. To aid with this transition,
Barrier Williams helped secure job placement in
the North for many women before they even
began their journey.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the
text?
A) To introduce and illustrate Barrier Williams’s
integral role in supporting other Black women
as their circumstances changed during part of
the Great Migration
B) To establish that Barrier Williams used her
professional connections to arrange
employment for other Black women,
including jobs with the Chicago Defender
C) To demonstrate that the factors that motivated
the start of the Great Migration were different
for Black women than they were for Black
men
D) To provide an overview of the employment
challenges faced by Black women in the
agricultural and domestic spheres in the
southern United States
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Sample 2
4 ………………………………………
How lifelike are they?” Many computer
animators prioritize this question as they
strive to create ever more realistic
environments and lighting. Generally, while
characters in computer-animated films
appear highly exaggerated, environments and
lighting are carefully engineered to mimic
reality. But some animators, such as Pixar’s
Sanjay Patel, are focused on a different
question. Rather than asking first whether the
environments and lighting they’re creating
are convincingly lifelike, Patel and others are
asking whether these elements reflect their
films’ unique stories.
Which choice best describes the function of
the underlined question in the text as a
whole?
A) It reflects a primary goal that many
computer animators have for certain
components of the animations they
produce.
B) It represents a concern of computer
animators who are more interested in
creating unique backgrounds and lighting
effects than realistic ones.
C) It conveys the uncertainty among many
computer animators about how to create
realistic animations using current
technology.
D) It illustrates a reaction that audiences
typically have to the appearance of
characters created by computer
animators.
3. Dual Texts
5 ………………………………………
Text 1
What can contribute to climate change besides the
already well-documented impact of human-caused,
or anthropogenic, carbon dioxide production? Some
scientists caution that, while long-term human
impact on global temperatures cannot be
understated, sudden environmental events in a
specific region can have global implications that are
no less critical to understand and thus must be as
carefully monitored as anthropogenic events are.
Text 2
A team of researchers led by Lilly Damany-Pearce
at the University of Exeter conducted a series of
satellite and surface-based observations to determine
the effect of a series of Australian wildfires on the
temperature of Earth's lower stratosphere. By
observing photos from the satellites and inputting
atmospheric data in a cutting-edge climate model,
Damany Pearce and her team were able to establish
a causal connection between the ignition of the
wildfires and the subsequent rise in mean lower
stratosphere temperature during the exact same
period.
Based on the texts, how would Damany Pearce and
her team most likely describe the view of the
scientists presented in Text 1?
A) It likely is only relevant to wildfires rather than
other environmental events.
B) It has merit as a viewpoint due to the evidence
collected by Damany-Pearce and her team.
C) It has dubious value even though
Damany-Pearce and her team seem to have
discovered corroborating evidence.
D) It may seem appealing, but it is contradictory
to Damany-Pearce and her team's findings.
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4. Main Idea
6 ………………………………………
Several scholars have argued that conditions in
England in the late ninth through early eleventh
centuries—namely, burgeoning literacy amid
running conflicts between England’s
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and Danish
invaders—were especially conducive to the
production of the Old English epic poem
Beowulf , and they have dated the poem’s
composition accordingly. It is not inconceivable
that Beowulf emerged from such a context, but
privileging contextual fit over the linguistic
evidence of an eighth- or even seventh-century
composition requires a level of justification that
thus far has not been presented.
Which choice best states the main idea of the
text?
A) Although there are some grounds for
believing that Beowulf was composed
between the late ninth and early eleventh
centuries, advocates for that view tend to rely
on evidence that has been called into question
by advocates for an earlier date.
B) Although several scholars have dated
Beowulf to the late ninth through early
eleventh centuries, others have argued that
doing so privileges a controversial
interpretation of the social conditions of the
period.
C) Although the claim of a late ninth- through
early eleventh-century composition date for
Beowulf has some plausibility, advocates for
the claim have not compellingly addressed
evidence suggesting an earlier date
D) Although Beowulf fits well with the
historical context of England in the late ninth
through early eleventh centuries, it fits
equally well with the historical context of
England in the seventh and eighth centuries.
5. Claims
7 ………………………………………
Although most songbirds build open, cupped
nests, some species build domed nests with
roofs that provide much more protection.
Many ecologists have assumed that domed
nests would provide protection from weather
conditions and thus would allow species that
build them to have larger geographic ranges
than species that build open nests do. To
evaluate this assumption, a research team led
by evolutionary biologist Iliana Medina
analyzed data for over 3,000 species of
songbirds.
Which finding from Medina and her
colleagues’ study, if true, would most directly
challenge the assumption in the underlined
sentence?
A) Species that build open nests tend to have
higher extinction rates than species that
build domed nests.
B) Species that build open nests tend to be
smaller in size than species that build
domed nests.
C)
Species that build open nests tend to use
fewer materials to build their nests than
species that build domed nests do.
D)
Species that build open nests tend to have
larger ranges than species that build
domed nest.
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6. Charts and Graphs
8 ………………………………………
E-book Sales as a Percentage of Total Unit
Sales in All Book Formats for a Large US
Trade Publisher, by Genre, 2006, 2011, 2016
Genre
2006
2011
2016
science fiction and
fantasy
0.6
27.7
36.7
cookbooks
0
2.9
10.5
travel guides
0
5.5
24.6
romance
0.3
40.6
56.2
E-books became an increasingly popular
means of reading in the United States in the
2000s and 2010s, though that popularity was
concentrated in titles that, like those in most
fiction genres, are meant to be read straight
through from beginning to end. For books in
nonfiction genres that do not tell stories and
require the reader to flip back and forth
through a volume, e-books were significantly
less commercially successful. This can be
seen by comparing
Which choice most effectively uses data from
the table to illustrate the claim?
A) the percentage of 2016 cookbook sales
that were e-books with the percentage of
2016 science fiction and fantasy sales
that were e-books.
B) the percentage of 2006 romance sales that
were e-books with the percentage of 2016
romance sales that were e-books.
C) the percentage of 2006 romance sales that
were e-books with the 2006 science
fiction and fantasy sales that were
e-books.
D) the percentage of 2011 travel guide
sales that were e-books with the
percentage of 2016 travel guide sales
that were e-books
7. Conclusion
9 ………………………………………
When the Vinland Map, a map of the world
purported to date to the mid-1400s, surfaced in
1957, some scholars believed it demonstrated that
European knowledge of the eastern coast of
present-day North America predated Christopher
Columbus’s 1492 arrival. In 2021, a team
including conservators Marie-France Lemay and
Paula Zyats and materials scientist Anikó Bezur
performed an extensive analysis of the map and
the ink used. They found that the ink contains
titanium dioxide, a compound that was first
introduced in ink manufacturing in the early
1900s. Therefore, the team concluded that
Which choice most logically completes the text?
A)
mid-1400s Europeans could not have known
about the eastern coast of present-day North
America.
B) the Vinland Map could not have been drawn
by mid-1400s mapmakers.
C) mapmakers must have used titanium
compounds in their ink in the 1400s.
D) there isn’t enough information to determine
when the ink was created
Part 2 Grammar / Punctuation (about 14
questions)
Sample 1
10 ………………………………………
The radiation that during the decay of
radioactive atomic nuclei is known as gamma
radiation.
Which choice completes the text so that it
conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) occur
B) have occurred
C) occurs
D) are occurring
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Sample 2
11 ………………………………………
In the early twentieth century, Joseph Kekuku and
other Hawaiian in the
mainland United States to the bright and lilting
sound of the kīkā kila , or Hawaiian steel guitar.
The instrument soon became a fixture in
American blues and country music.
Which choice completes the text so that it
conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A) musicians introduced audiences
B) musicians’ introduced audiences’
C) musician’s introduced audience’s
D) musicians’ introduced audiences
Part 3 Transitions (about 3 questions)
12 ………………………………………
Phytoplankton play a crucial role in the ocean’s
uptake of carbon from the atmosphere. When
alive, these tiny marine organisms absorb
atmospheric carbon via photosynthesis.
after they die, the phytoplankton sink to the
seafloor, where the carbon in their cells gets
stored in sediment, preventing it from cycling
back into the atmosphere.
Which choice completes the text with the most
logical transition?
A) Specifically,
B) By contrast,
C) Then
D) Nevertheless,
Part 4 Bullet Points List (about 3 questions)
13 ………………………………………
While researching a topic, a student has taken the
following notes:
• Cities tend to have a wide range of flowering
vegetation in parks, yards, and gardens.
• This vegetation provides a varied diet for
honeybees, strengthening bees’ immune
systems.
• On average, 62.5 percent of bees in an urban
area will survive a harsh winter.
• Rural areas are often dominated by
monoculture crops such as corn or wheat.
• On average, only 40 percent of honeybees in a
rural area will survive a harsh winter.
The student wants to make and support a
generalization about honeybees. Which choice
most effectively uses relevant information from
the notes to accomplish this goal?
A) Cities tend to have a wider range of flowering
vegetation than do rural areas, which are
often dominated by monoculture crops.
B) In urban areas, over 60 percent of honeybees,
on average, will survive a harsh winter,
whereas in rural areas, only 40 percent will.
C) The strength of honeybees’ immune systems
depends on what the bees eat, and a varied
diet is more available to bees in an urban area
than to those in a rural area.
D) Honeybees are more likely to thrive in cities
than in rural areas because the varied diet
available in urban areas strengthens the bees’
immune systems
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Sample Questions Types Answer Key and Explanation
1. D
2. B
3. A
4. A
5. B
6. C
7. D
8. A
9. B
10. C
11. A
12. C
13. D
QUESTION 1
Choice D is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of Sam Gilliam’s artworks. As used in this
context, “creating” means producing or bringing something into existence. The text indicates that Gilliam is an artist who made
draped canvases and, later, quilt-like paintings. This context supports the idea that Gilliam explored different styles in his art by
creating special types of paintings.
Choice A is incorrect because the text indicates that Gilliam actually explored and pursued the creation of quilt-like paintings; he
wasn’t just “predicting,” or declaring in advance, the existence of these paintings. Choice B is incorrect because in this context
“refusing” would mean rejecting, and there is nothing in the text to suggest that Gilliam rejected his quilt-like paintings. Instead, the
text indicates that he was exploring and pursuing a new art style in these paintings. Choice C is incorrect because in this context
“hiding” would mean concealing from view, and there is nothing in the text to suggest that Gilliam attempted to conceal his
quilt-like paintings. Instead, the text indicates that he was exploring and pursuing a new art style in these paintings.
QUESTION 2
Choice B This is a Vocabulary question, so follow the basic approach. Treat smeared as if it were a blank and highlight that Mr.
Tooter Williams wore a straw hat with a blue ribbon, an expression of serene content, and a glass amethyst on his third finger. A
good word for the annotation box based off this would be that fortune has "blessed" him with prosperity. Eliminate (A) because it is
the opposite tone of "blessed." Keep (B) because gifted is a good synonym for "blessed." Eliminate (C) because assaulted is the
opposite tone of "blessed." Eliminate (D) because criticized is the opposite tone of "blessed."
QUESTION 3
Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the text’s purpose, which is to discuss the important role
Barrier Williams played in supporting many other Black women as they relocated to the northern United States during the early
years of the Great Migration. After introducing Barrier Williams, the text describes how she helped find jobs for other Black
women, who in many cases relocated in search of better employment prospects than the South could offer at the time. The text
indicates that by doing so, she eased these women’s transition as their circumstances changed.
Choice B is incorrect. Although the text mentions Barrier Williams’s work as a political activist and writer for the Chicago Defender ,
it doesn’t discuss any professional connections she made in these roles or indicate that she used any such connections in her
work to secure employment for other Black women. Choice C is incorrect. Although the text discusses a factor that caused many
women to relocate during the Great Migration, their difficulty finding employment in the South, the text doesn’t indicate that this
factor motivated the start of the Great Migration. Moreover, the text doesn’t discuss the factors that motivated Black men to
migrate. Choice D is incorrect. Although the text mentions the difficult employment prospects for Black women in the domestic and
agricultural sectors in the South during the Great Migration, the text’s main purpose isn’t to provide an overview of the
employment challenges Black women faced in these sectors. Rather, it provides this information to show that Barrier Williams
played a crucial role in supporting many Black women who relocated to the North by helping them achieve one of their main
goals, securing a job.
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QUESTION 4
Choice A is the best answer because it most accurately describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a whole.
The text begins with the underlined question, “How lifelike are they?” The text then explains that many computer animators pose
this question about the environments and lighting that they create for animated films, striving for realistic animation of those
components even if the characters themselves aren’t portrayed in realistic terms. The focus of the text then shifts to describe how
some animators strive to create environments and lighting that reflect the film’s unique stories rather than making them appear
realistic. Therefore, the function of the underlined question is to reflect a primary goal that many computer animators have for
certain components of the animations they produce.
Choice B is incorrect because, as the text makes clear, the underlined question is one posed by computer animators who wish to
create realistic backgrounds and lighting effects, not by those who, instead, wish to create effects that reflect films’ unique stories
and aren’t necessarily realistic; this latter group of animators is discussed later in the text. Choice C is incorrect. As the text
explains, many computer animators strive for realistic environments and lighting, while others do not; this difference of approach
relates to whether these components should be realistic, not to how realism can be achieved using current technology, and the
text never suggests that animators are uncertain how to achieve it. Choice D is incorrect because the underlined question pertains
to the perspective of computer animators, not the audience, and the text never considers audience’s reactions to characters in
animated films.
QUESTION 5
Choice B This is a Dual Texts question, so follow the basic approach. Highlight the view referenced in Text 1: Some scientists
caution that. sudden environmental events in a specific region can have global implica-tions. Highlight what Damany-Pearce and
her team in Text 2 say about the same idea or viewpoint: they were able to establish a causal connection between the ignition of
the wildfires and the subsequent rise in mean lower stratosphere temperature. Write in the annotation box that the two texts
"agree-Text 2 provides example of Text 1." Eliminate (A) because only is extreme: Text 2 never states that only wildfires can affect
global temperature. Keep (B) because it is consistent with the annotation.Eliminate (C) because it is Half Right: Damany-Pearce
and her team have discovered corroborating evidence, so that would not make the view dubious, or doubtful. Eliminate (D)
because it is also Half-Right: the theory is indeed appealing, but it is not contradictory to what Damany-Pearce and her team
found.
QUESTION 6
Choice C is the best answer because it most accurately states the main idea of the text. The text states that some scholars have
dated the composition of Beowulf to the late ninth through early eleventh centuries due to the poem’s fit with that period’s
historical context. The text goes on to say that while it is “not inconceivable that Beowulf emerged from such a context”—that is, it
is possible that Beowulf was composed during the late ninth through eleventh centuries— there is linguistic evidence that the
poem was composed earlier, in the seventh or eighth century. According to the text, favoring the historical context over the
linguistic evidence requires justification that scholars have not yet supplied. In other words, the text suggests that scholars who
favor the later composition date need to explain why the poem’s fit with historical context should take precedence over the
linguistic evidence, but they have not yet done so. Thus, the main idea of the text is that while there is some plausibility to the later
composition date, advocates for the later date have not compellingly addressed evidence suggestive of an earlier date.
Choice A is incorrect because the text says that scholars who date the poem
to the late ninth through early eleventh centuries have failed to account for the linguistic evidence that the poem may have been
composed earlier, not that the evidence those scholars cite in favor of their view is unreliable or that anyone has cast doubt on
that evidence. In other words, the text does not suggest that there are problems with the evidence cited by advocates of the later
composition date, only that there is other evidence of an earlier composition date that those advocates need to consider. Choice B
is incorrect because nothing in the text suggests that those scholars who date the poem to the late ninth through early eleventh
centuries are giving priority to a controversial view of the social conditions at that time. The text makes no reference to any
controversy about how scholars interpret that historical period. Instead, the text suggests that scholars who date the poem on the
basis of its fit with the historical context of England in the late ninth through early eleventh centuries have failed to account for
linguistic evidence that the poem may have been composed earlier. Choice D is incorrect because the text says nothing about
how well the poem fits the historical context of England in the seventh and eighth centuries, let alone that it fits that historical
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context as well as it fits the historical context of the late ninth through early eleventh centuries. Rather, the text says that there is
linguistic evidence that the poem may have been composed in the seventh or eighth century.
QUESTION 7
Choice D is the best answer because it presents a finding that, if true, would challenge the assumption that many ecologists have
made about the connection between the building of domed nests and geographic range in songbirds. The text says that many
ecologists have assumed that since domed nests provide protection from weather conditions, songbird species that build such
nests should be able to have larger geographic ranges than songbird species that build open nests do. If Medina and her
colleagues found that species that build open nests tend to have larger geographic ranges than species that build domed nests
do, their finding would show the opposite of what the ecologists have assumed. It would therefore challenge the ecologists’
assumption.
Choice A is incorrect because nothing in the text suggests that there’s a relationship between songbird species’ extinction rates
and their geographic ranges. The finding that species that build open nests tend to have higher extinction rates than species that
build domed nests do would therefore have no clear bearing on the ecologists’ assumption that domed nests allow species that
build them to have larger geographic ranges than those of species that build open nests. Choice B is incorrect because nothing in
the text suggests that there’s a relationship between songbird species’ sizes and their geographic ranges. The finding that species
that build open nests tend to be smaller in size than species that build domed nests are would therefore have no clear bearing on
the ecologists’ assumption that domed nests allow species that build them to have larger geographic ranges than those of species
that build open nests. Choice C is incorrect because although the text indicates that many ecologists have assumed that there’s a
connection between how songbird species build their nests and the species’ geographic ranges, the text says that this assumption
is based on the shape of the nests—that is, whether the nests are domed or open—not the number of materials used. The finding
that species that build open nests tend to use fewer materials to build their nests than species that build domed nests do would
therefore have no clear bearing on the ecologists’ assumption that domed nests allow species that build them to have larger
geographic ranges than those of species that build open nests.
QUESTION 8
Choice A is the best answer because it uses data from the table to effectively support the claim that book genres that typically
require the reader to start at the beginning of the story and read straight through are more commercially successful as e-books
than other genres. For each of three years, the table presents four book genres and the percentage of total sales for each genre
in e-book format. Cookbooks, a nonfiction genre, do not require the reader to read straight through. According to the table, 10.5
percent of total cookbook sales in 2016 were in the e-book format. The 2016 percentage of e-book sales was 36.7 percent in the
science fiction and fantasy genre, which are typically stories read straight through from start to finish. The higher percentage of
total sales of the story-based e-books in 2016 supports the claim in the text.
Choice B is incorrect because it compares the e-book sales of romance books in 2006 to those in 2016. Romance books are
meant to be read straight through from start to finish. The text claims that books that are not stories and do not require reading
straight through are not as commercially successful in e-book format as those that do. As this choice is only comparing e-book
sales for one genre, it does not support the claim. Choice C is incorrect because both science fiction and fantasy and romance
novels are fiction books meant to be read straight through from beginning to end. The text claims that books that are not stories
and do not require reading straight through are less commercially successful in e-book format than those that do. As this choice
does not compare e-book sales of story genres to e-book sales in genres that are not stories, it does not support the claim.
Choice D is incorrect. Although the data in the table show that the travel guide e-books made up a greater percentage of total
sales in 2016 than in 2011, this doesn’t illustrate the claim in the text that e-books in nonfiction genres not meant to be read
straight through are less commercially successful. The claim cannot be supported without comparing the percentage of e-book
sales between fiction and nonfiction book genres from the table.
QUESTION 9
Choice B is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of Lemay, Zyats, and Bezur’s 2021 analysis
of the Vinland Map. The text indicates that while some scholars have believed that the map was drawn in the mid-1400s, the 2021
analysis showed the presence of the compound titanium dioxide in the ink used to draw the map. The text goes on to say that
titanium dioxide wasn’t used to manufacture ink until the early 1900s, which means that ink containing this compound couldn’t
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have been available to mapmakers in the 1400s. Since mapmakers in the mid-1400s couldn’t have used ink with titanium dioxide,
it follows that the Vinland Map couldn’t have been drawn by mid-1400s mapmakers.
Choice A is incorrect because the 2021 finding that the ink used to draw the Vinland Map wasn’t available until the early 1900s
doesn’t imply that Europeans in the mid-1400s couldn’t have known about the eastern coast of North America. While this finding
suggests that the map couldn’t have been created in the mid-1400s, it doesn’t preclude the possibility that Europeans
nevertheless had knowledge—and perhaps even drew other maps that are no longer in existence or are yet to be discovered by
researchers—of the eastern coast of present-day North America as early as the mid-1400s. Choice C is incorrect because there’s
nothing in the text that suggests that the 2021 discovery of the presence of titanium dioxide in the ink used to draw the Vinland
Map caused Lemay, Zyats, and Bezur to question or reach a new conclusion about when mapmakers began using ink containing
titanium compounds. Instead, the text indicates that titanium dioxide wasn’t used in ink before the early 1900s. This knowledge
led the team
to conclude that the map, which was drawn with ink containing titanium dioxide, couldn’t have been created in the mid-1400s.
Choice D is incorrect because although the text doesn’t indicate that Lemay, Zyats, and Bezur established an exact date for the
creation of the ink that was used to draw the Vinland Map, the text does say that titanium dioxide was introduced in ink
manufacturing in the early 1900s. This fact provides enough information to determine that the ink that was used to draw the map
was created no earlier than the early 1900s. This finding, in turn, led the team to conclude that the Vinland Map couldn’t have
been drawn in the mid-1400s.
QUESTION 10
Choice C is the best answer. The convention being tested is subject-verb agreement. The singular verb “occurs” agrees in
number with the singular subject “radiation.”
Choice A is incorrect because the plural verb “occur” doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject “radiation.” Choice B is
incorrect because the plural verb “have occurred” doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject “radiation.” Choice D is
incorrect because the plural verb “are occurring” doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject “radiation.”
QUESTION 11
Choice A is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of plural nouns. The plural nouns “musicians” and
“audiences” correctly indicate that there were multiple musicians introducing the music to multiple audiences.
Choice B is incorrect because the context requires the plural nouns “musicians” and “audiences,” not the plural possessive nouns
“musicians’” and “audiences’.” Choice C is incorrect because the context requires the plural nouns “musicians” and “audiences,”
not the singular possessive nouns “musician’s” and “audience’s.” Choice D is incorrect because the context requires the plural
noun “musicians,” not the plural possessive noun “musicians’.”
QUESTION 12***
Choice C is the best answer. “Then” logically signals that the event described in this sentence—carbon in phytoplankton cells
being trapped in sediment after the organisms have died—occurs later in a chronological sequence than the event described in
the previous sentence (phytoplankton absorbing carbon while alive).
Choice A is incorrect because “specifically” illogically signals that the information that follows provides specific, precise details
elaborating on the previous information about what phytoplankton do when alive. Instead, this sentence explains what happens
after phytoplankton die—a later step in the chronological sequence of events. Choice B is incorrect because “by contrast”
illogically signals that the information that follows contrasts with the previous information about what phytoplankton do when alive.
Instead, this sentence explains what happens after phytoplankton die—a later step in the chronological sequence of events.
There is no contrast: in both life and death, phytoplankton contribute to the ocean’s carbon uptake. Choice D is incorrect because
“nevertheless” illogically signals that the information that follows is in spite of the previous information about what phytoplankton
do when alive. Instead, this sentence explains what happens after phytoplankton die—a later step in the chronological sequence
of events. There is no contrast: in both life and death, phytoplankton contribute to the ocean’s carbon uptake.
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QUESTION 13
Choice D is the best answer because the sentence makes and supports a generalization about honeybees. It claims that
honeybees living in urban areas are more likely to thrive than rural bees, and it supports the claim with information about the
effect of a varied diet on urban bees’ immune systems.
Choice A is incorrect. While the sentence makes a generalization, it doesn’t mention honeybees. Choice B is incorrect. While the
sentence provides data about honeybee survival, it doesn’t make a generalization about honeybees based on this information.
Choice C is incorrect. While the sentence makes a generalization about honeybees’ diets and immune systems, it doesn’t provide
adequate support for this generalization.
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Reading and Writing Department Practice
Module 2 pages 16-27
English Department
Module 2
Any question labeled Humanities (2, 7, 15, 29, 31) and all Standard English questions
(19-27).
Social Studies Department
Module 2
Any question labeled Social Studies (1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 18, 33)
Science Department
Module 2
Any question labeled Science (3, 6, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 28, 30, 32)
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