PRACTICE TEST

11. when The relative word where must be used to refer to a place.
12. both insulated Choice (B) says “both,” but there are three things listed.
13. its To agree with a plural noun (sharks), the plural possessive word their
should be used.
14. enough dense The correct word order is adjective + enough: dense enough.
15. so Such . . . that is used with an adjective + noun phrase (different
surgical skills). (So . . . that is used when an adjective appears
alone.)
16. able The noun ability is needed in place of the adjective.
17. many of which The correct pattern is quantifier + of + relative pronoun.
18. That all A noun clause, which serves as the subject of the sentence, is required
to complete the sentence correctly.
19. chemists To be parallel with the other nouns in the series (physics and math-
ematics), a noun that refers to the name of a field (chemistry) is
needed.
20. experts The adjective expert should not be pluralized.
21. When The only correct choice forms a reduced adverb clause.
22. to The preposition for must be used with the adjective responsible in this
sentence (responsible to is sometimes used with a person).
23. are spotted turtles When a sentence begins with a negative adverbial (Rarely), the subject
and verb must be inverted.
24. the more energy it has This is a proportional statement; it follows the pattern The more X, the
more Y . . .
25. them Both the noun phrase (these craftsmen) and the pronoun refer to the
same people, so the reflexive pronoun themselves should be used.

SECTION 3: READING
1. The correct answer is (D). The primary purpose of this passage is to detail the stages of the sun’s
life in the future.
2. The correct answer is (A). The word fueled is closest in meaning to powered.
3. The correct answer is thermonuclear reactions. The word They refers to thermonuclear reactions.
4. The sun today is a yellow dwarf star. (1) It has existed in its present state for about 4 billion, 600
million years and is thousands of times larger than the earth. (2) The sun is fueled by thermonuclear
reactions near its center that convert hydrogen to helium. (3) They release so much energy that the
sun can shine for about 10 billion years with little change in its size or brightness. It maintains its
size because the heat deep inside the sun produces pressure that offsets the force of
gravity. (4) This balance of forces keeps the gases of the sun from pulling any closer together.
The last sentence of the paragraph refers to a balance of forces. The missing sentence discusses this
balance of forces (between heat and gravity), so it should be placed in front of the last sentence.
5. The correct answer is (A). The sun has existed in its present state for about 4 billion, 600 million
years and can shine for about 10 billion years (paragraph 1). It is expected to become a red giant in
about 5 billion years (paragraph 2). Therefore, it is about halfway through its life as a yellow dwarf.
6. The correct answer is surface. The word core is most nearly OPPOSITE in meaning to surface.
7. The correct answer is (D). Paragraph 2 states that “the core of the sun will shrink and become
hotter.”
8. The correct answer is (C). The second paragraph describes the process by which the sun becomes
a red giant star. The last sentence of that paragraph states: “Temperatures on the earth will become
too hot for life to exist.”
9. The correct answer is (B). Paragraph 3 indicates that the sun will be a white dwarf “after it shrinks
to about the size of the earth.” Paragraph 1 indicates that the sun today is thousands of times larger
than the earth. Therefore, the sun will be thousands of times smaller than it is today.
10. The correct answer is (C). According to the passage, the sun is now a yellow dwarf star; it will
then expand to a red giant star, shrink to a white dwarf star, and finally cool to a black dwarf star.

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 ANSWER KEYS AND AUDIO SCRIPTS

11. The correct answer is (A). The phrase throw off is closest in meaning to eject.
12. The correct answer is the earth. The word there refers to the earth.
13. The correct answer is (D). Although the passage describes the end of the earth, that event is so far
in the future that the author’s tone is scientifically dispassionate.
14. The correct answer is (B). Washington was one of the first people to realize the importance of
canals and headed the first company in the United States formed to build a canal.
15. The correct answer is (C). The word feasibility is closest in meaning to possibility.
16. The correct answer is method. The word means is closest in meaning to the word method.
17. The correct answer is (B). According to paragraph 2, the canal linked Albany on the Hudson River
with Buffalo on Lake Erie.
18. The correct answer is put an end to. The phrase halted is closest in meaning to the phrase put an
end to.
19. The correct answer is (A). The phrase on-again-off-again is closest in meaning to the word
Intermittent.
20. The correct answer is (A). According to the passage, the governor of New York “persuaded the
state to finance and build the canal” (paragraph 3).
21. The correct answer is (C). The cost had been estimated at $5 million but actually cost $2 million
more (paragraph 3), a total of $7 million.
22. The correct answer is (D). The word tolls is closest in meaning to the word Fees.
23. The correct answer is (D). According to paragraph 4, the canal “allowed New York to supplant
(replace) Boston, Philadelphia, and other eastern cities as the chief center of both domestic and
foreign commerce.” The other effects are mentioned in this paragraph.
24. The correct answer is (C). Paragraph 5 indicates that the expansion of the canal would have been
warranted “had it not been for the development of the railroads.” (This means, “if the railroads had
not been developed.”) The railroads must have taken so much traffic away from the canal that
expansion was no longer needed.
25. The correct answer is (B). The word warranted is closest in meaning to justified.
26. The correct answer is (D). The passage mainly deals with the distress signals of trees. There is no
direct information about the other choices in the passage.
27. The correct answer is (A). The reference is to the word trees in the third sentence.
28. The correct answer is attracted. The word drawn is closest in meaning to attracted. The word
drawn is the past participle of the verb draw, which sometimes means to pull or attract.
29. The correct answer is drought-stricken. The word parched has the same meaning as drought-
stricken. A drought is a time of no rainfall. Drought-stricken, therefore, means damaged by a lack of
water. The word parched means very dry.
30. The correct answer is (B). The word plight is closest in meaning to condition. A plight is a
dangerous or terrible condition.
31. The correct answer is “They fastened electronic sensors to the bark of drought-stricken trees and
clearly heard distress calls.”
32. The correct answer is (C). The trees’ signals are in the 50–500 kilohertz range; the unaided human
ear can detect no more than 20 kilohertz (paragraph 2).
33. The correct answer is cracked. The word fractured is closest in meaning to cracked.
34. The correct answer is (D). The signals are caused when the water column inside tubes in trees
break, “a result of too little water.”
35. The correct answer is insects. The word they refers to insects.
36. The correct answer is (A). In the context of the passage, pick up means Perceive.
37. The correct answer is (D). The first and second choices are mentioned in paragraph 3; the third
choice is mentioned throughout the passage; there is no mention of the fourth choice.
38. The correct answer is (C). Paragraph 3 says, “Researchers are now running tests,” implying that, at
the time the article was written, research was continuing.
39. The correct answer is (B). The purpose of the passage is primarily to describe Charlie Chaplin’s
movie, Modern Times.
40. The correct answer is (D). Paragraph 1 states that Chaplin “was motivated to make the film by a
reporter” during an interview.

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 PRACTICE TEST

41. The correct answer is packed. The word jammed is closest in meaning to packed.
42. The correct answer is (B). According to paragraph 3, “Scenes of factory interiors account for only
about one-third of the footage.” Therefore, about two thirds of the film must have been shot outside
the factory.
43. The correct answer is gentle. The word biting is most nearly opposite in meaning to the word
gentle. (Biting here means “sharply critical.”)
44. The correct answer is (C). The phrase going insane could best replace the phrase losing his mind.
45. Scenes of factory interiors account for only about one-third of the footage of Modern Times, but they
contain some of the most pointed social commentary as well as the funniest comic situations. (1) No
one who has seen the film can ever forget Chaplin vainly trying to keep pace with the fast-moving
conveyor belt, almost losing his mind in the process. (2) Another popular scene features an automatic
feeding machine brought to the assembly line so that workers need not interrupt their labor to eat.
All at once, this feeding device begins to malfunction. (3) It hurls food at Chaplin, who is
strapped into his position on the assembly line and cannot escape. (4) This serves to illustrate
people’s utter helplessness in the face of machines that are meant to serve their basic needs.
The word It in the sentence following the missing sentence refers to the feeding device. Also, this
sentence describes the malfunction that is first mentioned in the missing sentence.
46. The correct answer is people’s. The word their refers to people’s.
47. The correct answer is (C). The last sentence of paragraph 3 states: “This (the scene) serves to
illustrate people’s utter helplessness in the face of machines that are meant to serve their basic
needs.”
48. The correct answer is (B). The word utter is closest in meaning to complete.
49. The correct answer is flaws. The word faults is closest in meaning to flaws.
50. The correct answer is (A). The film “does not offer a radical social message” (paragraph 3) and so
would not be considered “revolutionary.” Paragraph 2 states that “Chaplin preferred to entertain
rather than lecture,” so it is “entertaining.” Paragraph 3 mentions that people who have seen the film
cannot forget certain scenes, so it is certainly “memorable.” According to paragraph 2, the opening
scene’s “biting tone . . . is replaced by a gentle note of satire”; therefore, the author would consider
the film “satirical.”

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