PSAT 8/9 Writing and Language Practice Test 3: Gause's Law

PSAT 8/9 Writing

and Language

Practice Test 3:

Gause's Law: It's a Competition

​PSAT Writing Section

• First read the passage, understand the summary & message

• For harder words, read in context and make note of the meaning

• ​If you notice any grammar or structural issues, make a mental note

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

Multiple Choice

Question #1

Which choice most effectively combines the sentences at the underlined portion?

• principles, this includes competition, in which

• competition principles, in which

• principles, competition, and

• principles, including competition, in which

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

Multiple Choice

Question #2

At this point, the writer is considering adding the following sentence. That is, one species will benefit from a certain advantage it has and increase its population, and the other species could eventually go extinct. Should the writer make this addition here?

• Yes, because it elaborates on a concept and clarifies the connection between competition and extinction.

• Yes, because it explains the significance of Gause's research.

• No, because it provides information that is unrelated to the paragraph's main idea.

• No, because it contradicts information given earlier in the paragraph.

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

Multiple Choice

Question #3

Which choice best sets up the information that follows in the passage?

• NO CHANGE

• the first to prove the validity of the principle of competitive exclusion, in 1932.

• later awarded a prize for his life-saving work on antibiotic medications.

• an ecologist who published a number of influential books.

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

Multiple Choice

Question #4

Which choice best maintains the style and tone of the passage?

• NO CHANGE

• nicely

• amazingly

• wonderfully

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

Multiple Choice

Question #5

To make this paragraph most logical, sentence 4 should be placed

• where it is now.

• after sentence 1.

• after sentence 2.

• after sentence 5.

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

Multiple Choice

Question #6

Which choice, if added here, would most effectively introduce the main topic of the paragraph?

• NO CHANGE

• Gause's results confirmed the theory.

• It is important for scientific experiments to contain control groups.

• Gause eventually published his results in a book.

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

Multiple Choice

Question #7

Which choice most effectively sets up the results that follow in the sentence?

• NO CHANGE

• both species continued to grow at the same rate:

• Gause saw a difference in the populations emerge:

• Gause decided to do more experiments:

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

Multiple Choice

Question #8

Which choice uses information from the graph to accurately describe P. caudatum over the 16-day span?

• NO CHANGE

• never containing more than 5 cells.

• going extinct in fewer than 10 days.

• eventually being eliminated entirely from the sample.

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

Multiple Choice

Question #9

At this point, the writer is considering adding the following information: Gause had earned his first degree at Moscow University a few years before publishing his results.Should the writer add the sentence here?

• Yes, because it shows that Gause's scientific research was trustworthy.

• Yes, because it helps the reader understand the passage's main points.

• No, because it contradicts the author's claim about Gause in the previous sentence.

• No, because it adds unnecessary information that is unrelated to the main topic of the paragraph.

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition

Multiple Choice

Question #10

The author wants a conclusion that summarizes the main finding of Gause's experiment. Which choice best accomplishes this goal?

• NO CHANGE

• two species can coexist without competing for resources.

• competition for resources causes both organisms to go extinct.

• when two species compete, one will adapt to find a new niche.

​Gause's Law: It's a Competition