Select the most appropriate word to complete the sentence.

1. Unfairly, the ____ of the cost has been paid by just a few members of the group.
A: gift
B: brunt
C: choice
D: divestiture
2. The committee seemed more concerned with long-term plans than with solving ____ immediate problems.
A: apathetic
B: ludicrous
C: classic
D: acute
3. Many ideas that used to be considered outrageous have become part of the _____.
A: mainstream
B: counterculture
C: article
D: gentry
4. The public was shocked when it became clear that Dr. Jackson's miraculous claims were in fact _____.
A: ersatz
B: laughable
C: bogus
D: jealous
5. After war was declared, the army still needed a couple of days to _____.
A: mobilize
B: reconstitute
C: adjudicate
D: remonstrate
Select the best version of the underlined portion of each exam.
6. Without making a sound Geoffrey crept down the stairs.
A: Correct as is
B: sound; Geoffrey crept
C: sound, Geoffrey crept
D: sound, crept Geoffrey
7. At seventeen he shipped as a cabin boy, bound for Liverpool.
A: Correct as is
B: a cabin boy; bound
C: a cabin boy: bound for
D: a cabin boy-#8221;bound for

8. The story is set in Boston, in colonial times when much of the land was undeveloped.
A: Correct as is
B: Boston in colonial times when
C: Boston, in colonial times:
D: Boston, in colonial times,
9. Gina had exams in the following classes, math, history, and science.
A: Correct as is
B: classes: math, history, and
C: classes, math, history, and
D: classes; math, history, and
10. Hector was known as 'Slim', because of his gaunt appearance.
A: Correct as is
B: known as 'Slim because
C: known as 'Slim'
D: known as Slim because

Answer Key
1. B. The brunt of something is the majority.
2. D. Acute can mean of utmost immediate importance.
3. A. Things that are in the mainstream are in common usage.
4. C. Bogus means false.
5. A. The process through which a military is prepared for action is mobilization.
6. C. The dependent clause needs to be separated with a comma.
7. A. A comma is required to separate the clause.
8. D. The clause needs to be separated with commas.
9. B. The list should be introduced with a colon.
10. C. A comma is not necessary, but if it is used it should be inside the quotation marks.
Answer Key
1. C. The author is trying to describe the scene of a lumberjack camp.
2. D. The edge of the pond consists of a dam.
3. B. The narrator begins by describing the shape of the river, then moves on to the wind and the logs in the stream, and
eventually narrows his focus to the camp itself.
4. C. The narrator mentions the first green shoots appearing in the trees.
5. C. An onomatopoeia is a word that is meant to resemble a sound.
6. D. The narrator is describing the patterns traced by the wind in water.
7. C. The intent of the passage is to attract the reader so that a story can be told.
8. A. The mention of stumps and floating logs indicates that this is a lumberjack camp.
9. B. This passage is introducing a new scene and set of characters.
10. B. The narrator is describing a scene which is clearly new to the reader.
Answer Key
1. D. Simplify this problem by converting the decimal to a fraction or vice versa.
2. B. This problem may be simplified by converting the mixed number to a decimal.
3. A. 17 is the next greatest number that is divisible only by one and itself.
4. A. Remember the order of operations: parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction.
5. D. This number can be found by listing the successive multiples for each number until a common multiple is found.
6. B. The length of each side of a cube can be found by finding the cube root of the volume, in this case 3 inches. The
perimeter of a square is the length multiplied by four.
7. D. The equation for slope is y = mx + b, in which m is slope.
8. D. Find the total points scored by multiplying the average by the number of games. Then subtract the given scores from the
total points scored.
9. C. First multiply the 5 across the parentheses, then add three and divide by 5 on both sides.
10. B. The other factor of the polynomial would also be (x -#8221; 3).

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

The time was the year 1872, and the place a bend in the river above a long pond terminating in a dam. Beyond this dam, and
on a flat lower than it, stood a two-story mill structure. Save for a small, stump-dotted clearing, and the road that led from it, all
else was forest. Here in the bottom-lands, following the course of the stream, the hardwoods grew dense, their uppermost
branches just beginning to spray out in the first green of spring. Farther back, where the higher lands arose from the swamp,
could be discerned the graceful frond of white pines and hemlock, and the sturdy tops of Norways and spruce. A strong wind
blew up the length of the pond. It ruffled the surface of the water, swooping down in fan-shaped, scurrying cat's- paws, turning
the dark-blue surface as one turns the nap of velvet. At the upper end of the pond it even succeeded in raising quite
respectable wavelets, which LAP LAP LAPPED eagerly against a barrier of floating logs that filled completely the mouth of the
inlet river. And behind this barrier were other logs, and yet others, as far as the eye could see, so that the entire surface of the
stream was carpeted by the brown timbers. A man could have walked down the middle of that river as down a highway.
On the bank, and in a small woods-opening, burned two fires, their smoke ducking and twisting under the buffeting of the wind.
The first of these fires occupied a shallow trench dug for its accommodation, and was overarched by a rustic framework from
which hung several pails, kettles, and pots. An injured-looking, chubby man in a battered brown derby hat moved here and
there. He divided his time between the utensils and an indifferent youth--his "cookee." The other, and larger, fire centered a
rectangle composed of tall racks, built of saplings and intended for the drying of clothes. Two large tents gleamed white among
the trees.

1. The tone of this passage is:

A: interrogative
B: exclamatory
C: descriptive
D: epic
2. In the first sentence, what does the word 'terminating' mean?
A: destroying
B: feeding
C: eviscerating
D: ending
3. The scope of the narrator's vision:
A: expands as the passage goes along
B: gets smaller as the passage goes along.
C: stays about the same throughout the passage
D: ignores many of the important details
4. What time of year does this take place?
A: late fall
B: the middle of winter
C: the beginning of spring
D: late summer
5. The phrase 'LAP LAP LAPPED' is an example of:
A: personification
B: assonance
C: onomatopoeia
D: metaphor
6. To what is the author referring with the phrase 'cat's paws'?
A: the tracks left by the forest cats
B: the domestic pets kept by the men
C: the chilliness of the morning breeze
D: the patterns made in the water by the wind
7. This passage is most likely taken from a:
A: persuasive essay
B: play
C: fictional story
D: memoir
8. The men of the camp are probably:
A: lumberjacks
B: doctors
C: landscape architects
D: cooks
9. This passage is probably taken from the _____ of a larger work.
A: end
B: beginning
C: middle
D: postscript
10. The purpose of this passage is to:
A: persuade the reader to invest in land
B: introduce a scene
C: glorify the men of the camp
D: develop characters

1. 3.5 + 4 2/5 =
A: 7 4/5
B: 7.75
C: 7 3/5
D: 7.9
2. 9(3 ) =
A: 27 3/4
B: 31.5
C: 27 1/2
D: 30 3/4
3. What is the next-highest prime number after 13?
A: 17
B: 15
C: 14
D: 19
4. Solve: 4 + 5(3 + 1)2 =
A: 84
B: 54
C: 74
D: 94
5. What is the lowest common multiple of 6 and 7?
A: 35
B: 7
C: 18
D: 42
6. What is the perimeter of each side of a cube with a volume of 27 cubic inches?
A: 9 inches
B: 12 inches
C: 14 square inches
D: 5 inches
7. What is the slope of line expressed in the equation 4x + 2y = 6
A: 3
B: 2
C: -3
D: -2
8. Andy averaged 17 points per game during five games of the basketball season. If he scored 12, 24, 20, and 18 in four of the
games, how many points did he score in the fifth?
A: 20
B: 17
C: 15
D: 21
9. Solve for x: 5(x-3) = 20
A: 8
B: 10
C: 7
D: 5
10. Which of the following factors is part of the polynomial x2 - 6x + 9 ?
A: (x + 3)
B: (x - 3)
C: (x - 6)
D: (x + 6)