ACT Practice #1 "A Microscope in the Kitchen"

A Microscope in the Kitchen

I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets waiting by

the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide

(1)

table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a

microscope was sitting on the kitchen table. Having

(2)

studied, my mother is a marine biologist. Our

(3)

household might have been described as

(4)

uncooperative. Our meals weren’t always served in the

expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper.

Choose the best answer.

• No Change

• waiting, by the back door

• waiting by the back door,

• waiting by the back door

A Microscope in the Kitchen

I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets waiting by

the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide

(1)

table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a

microscope was sitting on the kitchen table. Having

(2)

studied, my mother is a marine biologist. Our

(3)

household might have been described as

(4)

uncooperative. Our meals weren’t always served in the

expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper.

Choose the best answer.

• No Change

• would sit

• sitting

• sat

A Microscope in the Kitchen

I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets waiting by

the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide

(1)

table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a

microscope was sitting on the kitchen table. Having

studied, my mother is a marine biologist. Our

(3)

household might have been described as

(4)

uncooperative. Our meals weren’t always served in the

expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper.

• No Change

• As my mother's interest is science, she is

• My mother's occupation is that of

• My mother is

A Microscope in the Kitchen

I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets waiting by

the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide

(1)

table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a

microscope was sitting on the kitchen table. Having

(2)

studied, my mother is a marine biologist. Our

household might have been described as

(4)

uncooperative. Our meals weren’t always served in the

expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper.

Choose the best Answer.

• No Change

• There seemed to be no explanation for why Mom ran our household the way she did.

• Our household didn’t run according to a typical schedule.

• Mom ran our household in a most spectacular manner.

Everything was subservient to the disposal of the tides.

(5)

When the tide was low, Mom could be found down on

the mudflats. When the tide was high, she would be

standing on the inlet bridge with her plankton net.

• No change

• was defenseless in the face of

• depended on

• trusted in

Everything was subservient to the disposal of the tides.

(5)

When the tide was low, Mom could be found down on

the mudflats. When the tide was high, she would be

standing on the inlet bridge with her plankton net.

I have great respect for my mother. I learned early that

(6)

the moon affected the tides. Mom was always waiting

for a full or new moon, when low tide would be lower

than average and high tide higher than average. The

moon being aligned with Earth and the sun when full or

(7)

new, so its gravity combines with the sun’s gravity to

(8)

create an even stronger gravitational pull. I knew that it

took about eight hours for the tides to change from high

(9)

to low, sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides. I

didn’t have to wait to learn these things in school. In our

house they were everyday knowledge.

• NO CHANGE

• Our lives were likewise affected by the phases of the moon.

• A relationship exists between the moon and the tides.

• The moon is a mysterious orb afloat in the sky.

I have great respect for my mother. I learned early that

(6)

the moon affected the tides. Mom was always waiting

for a full or new moon, when low tide would be lower

than average and high tide higher than average. The

moon being aligned with Earth and the sun when full or

(7)

new, so its gravity combines with the sun’s gravity to

(8)

create an even stronger gravitational pull. I knew that it

took about eight hours for the tides to change from high

(9)

to low, sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides. I

didn’t have to wait to learn these things in school. In our

house they were everyday knowledge.

Choose the best answer about #7

• NO CHANGE

• Since the moon is

• The moon is

• The moon,

The

moon being aligned with Earth and the sun when full or

new, so its gravity combines with the sun’s gravity to

(8)

create an even stronger gravitational pull.

• No change

• one's

• it's

• its'

I have great respect for my mother. I learned early that

(6)

the moon affected the tides. Mom was always waiting

for a full or new moon, when low tide would be lower

than average and high tide higher than average. The

moon being aligned with Earth and the sun when full or

(7)

new, so its gravity combines with the sun’s gravity to

(8)

create an even stronger gravitational pull. I knew that it

took about eight hours for the tides to change from high

(9)

to low, sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides. I

didn’t have to wait to learn these things in school. In our

house they were everyday knowledge.

If the writer were to delete the phrase “sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides” from the preceding sentence (ending the sentence with a period), the essay would primarily lose a detail that:

• shows how the narrator’s interests are different from the mother’s interests.

• contradicts a point made earlier in the paragraph.

• helps establish the setting for the essay

• displays the narrator’s knowledge of tides.

[1] Often, my brother and I, joined our mother on her

(10)

adventures into tidal lands. [2] At the very low tides of

the full moon, when almost all the water was

sucked away, we found the hideaways where crabs,

(11)

snails, starfish, and sea urchins hid in order not to be

seen. [3] Sometimes we would dig with shovels in the

mud, where yellow and white worms lived in their

leathery tunnels. 13

(13)

• No Change

• brother, and I,

• brother, and I

• brother and I