GMAS review 1

Martha Carey Thomas was born in 1857.  Most women do not go to college then.  Even if they wanted to go, most colleges would not let them in.  Martha Carey Thomas, however, was a woman who got into college.  She went to Cornell University in New York.  She graduated in 1877.  But she was not happy.  She thought that all women who wanted to attend college should be given the opportunity.

  Martha Carey Thomas attended Johns Hopkins University for graduate work.  Then she went to college in France, and then in Switzerland.  By 1884, she had completed her education.  That year, she helped start Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. Bryn Mawr was founded as a college for women.  Martha Carey Thomas was president of Bryn Mawr until 1992.

It is likely that:

• A.Martha Carey Thomas did not want to help other women get an education.

• B.Martha Carey Thomas did all her studying in America.

• C.Martha Carey Thomas was a very young person in 1922.

• D.Martha Carey Thomas went to multiple colleges for her education.

Many museums and zoos rely on docents to help educate their visitors about their collections. Docents may lead guided tours of the facility, answer visitor questions about exhibits, or even support staff members with the routine maintenance of collections. Docents must usually be 15 years or older and be willing to take classes to learn all about the organization’s animals, art, or historical artifacts. They also learn how the institution operates, so they can help visitors find things and assist with safety and security. Although being a docent is not a paid position, most would tell you that the opportunity to work in close proximity to the art, animals, and important objects they love is remarkably rewarding.

Use context clues to determine the definition of artifacts as it is used in the passage.

• a. false statements

• b. fundraising events

• c. interesting objects

• d. outward appearances

Eric and his friend Yorin decided to sail the dangerous West Sea in search of the lost island of Krinos.  It was there that the wonderful lost treasure of King Kranor was buried.

  Eric and Yorin had chosen a special crew for their voyage.  Each man was an experienced sailor.  Each would not give up no matter how difficult the trip might become.

  They sailed for three weeks on the West Sea.  The wind was good, and there were no storms.  Finally, they saw land.  It was an island. “We’ve reached Krinos!” Eric shouted to Yorin and the other men.

Why did Eric and Yorin want to sail to Krinos?

• A.King Kranor was living there.

• B.They liked sailing. 

• C.They wanted to find a treasure.

• D.They had nothing else to do.

I catch up with them as Marlena slides down from Rosie’s head.  “You were brilliant!  Brilliant!” says August, kissing her on the cheek.  “Did you see that, Jacob?  Did you see how brilliant they were?” 

“Sure did.” 

“Do me a favor and take Rosie around, would you?  I’ve got to go back inside.”  He hands me the silver-tipped cane.  He looks at Marlena, sighs deeply, and claps a hand to his breast.  “Simply brilliant.  Brilliant!  Don’t forget,” he says, turning and walking a few strides backward, “you’re on with the horses right after Lottie.”  August heads back to the big top. 

Select the option that best describes the above excerpt.

• A. The characters in this passage are likely students and a teacher who are involved in discussion behind stage after a successful school play.

• B. This passage involves several colleagues, Marlena, August, Jacob and Rosie.  They are some sort of business associates who are about to take the elevator to one of the top floors of a tall building. They are celebrating a successful business deal.

• C. This passage is about circus performers.

• D. This passage is about a young child who appears to be carried on her father’s shoulders on a farm. 

This week, our class will vote on how to use the money we raised through our annual Fall Festival. The class will decide whether the money should be spent on a class field trip or on a set of electronic tablets for the library. I think the funds should be spent on tablets. The tablets can be checked out by students for use at home, just like a library book. If the tablets are preloaded with educational games and books, then students will get hours of reading and working on other brain-challenging tasks. Which sentence should be added to the paragraph to acknowledge the opposing claim?

• A. Tablets are more convenient to take back and forth to school than heavy books, and the tablets can be updated to include the most current information for any middle-school subject.

• B. Some classmates favor the field trip because it will be an unforgettable experience, but that experience lasts only one day, while the experiences offered by tablets will be ongoing. 

• C. Our librarian has agreed to load the tablets with educational games and books that are appropriate for any middle-schooler. 

• D. We have raised enough money to purchase at least ten tablets, maybe more, if we use the school account to purchase the tablets in bulk.

1 More than a hundred years ago, Europeans who wanted to drink coffee typically tied up coffee grounds in a little piece of cloth and boiled it in a pot of water. 2 Some grounds usually got through the cloth and mixed with the drink. 3 The coffee also tasted very bitter. 4 Melitta Bentz invented a much better system for brewing coffee that involved using a heavy paper filter and a pot with holes punched in it. 5 When she poured the boiling water through this contraption, the paper held the coffee grounds, water drained through, and the resulting beverage was a ton better. 

Which edit should be made to maintain the formal style of the paragraph? 

• A. Change “a pot of water” to “some water” in sentence 1.

• B. Change “mixed” to “stirred” in sentence 2. 

• C. Change “punched” to “placed” in sentence 4. 

• D. Change “a ton better” to “much improved” in sentence 5.

1 Jennifer sat in the last row, waiting for her name to be called. 2 She had heard three speeches so far, and she knew her competitors were first-rate. 3 Jennifer looked for the thousandth time at her notes. 4 She knew she didn’t need them, but it reassured her to see the words on the cards. Which sentence should be added between sentence 2 and sentence 3 to establish the context of the paragraph? 

• A. This was the final round of the state finals in public speaking, and Jennifer had already competed against some outstanding competitors to win her spot in the finals. 

• B. Jennifer had been imagining this day for weeks, and she wanted nothing more than to stay calm and remember her key points when her turn came. 

• C. The wait was practically unbearable, but Jennifer hoped to win, and to do that, she needed to study her competition.

• D. Jennifer had plenty of experience as a speaker, but as she waited for her turn, she felt a flutter in her stomach and her hands were trembling.

Which revision of the sentence BEST expresses the ideas clearly and concisely? 

The first thing that we need to take care of when we meet during club time for the Spanish Club is figuring out when we will have elections and also finding out who can be available to be working at the booth for the club fair at school.

• A. Finding a date for elections and then also finding someone who can work at the Spanish Club booth at the club fair are both things that we need to take care of when we meet during club time. 

• B. During the time we meet for Spanish club, our most urgent first thing that we should try to take care of is a date for elections and club fair stuff.

• C. A thing we may want to take care of in Spanish Club is elections and who can be on hand for the Spanish Club booth at the club fair at school when it happens.

• D. During our Spanish Club meeting, we most urgently need to decide on a date for elections and who can work at the Spanish Club booth at the school’s club fair.

Which sentence uses commas correctly? 

• A. She was happy with the quick, satisfying results. 

• B. The group decided to stage the old, original, play.

• C. They painted the old barn with a bright, red paint. 

• D. We went to the beach and built a sturdy, sand tower.

Standard: ELAGSE7L1b. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. b. Choose among simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences to signal differing relationships among ideas. 

Read this sentence. I went to the spring to get some water, and I saw a deer drinking there. Which type of sentence is this? 

• A. simple 

• B. compound 

• C. complex 

• D. compound complex