FC SAT Suite_Text-based Questions Quiz (10 Questions)

Scent is tightly interwoven with our daily lives, often evoking significant memories and important social events. This connection is of growing interest to archaeologists who hope to use it to better understand ancient rituals, trade, social hierarchies, and medicine. Although the speed at which odor molecules dissipate makes identifying ancient scents challenging, advancements in biomolecular technologies show promise in unlocking ancient aromas from preserved artifacts. Archaeological studies making use of these advancements may provide new insights into past societies.

According to the text, what is one reason some archaeologists are interested in recovering scents from ancient artifacts?

• They are investigating whether people's sense of smell has declined in recent centuries.

• They believe the scents could illuminate important aspects of ancient life.

• They think that ancient scents would be enjoyable to people today.

• They hope to develop new medicines using ancient scent molecules.

The following text is adapted from Edith Nesbit’s 1906 novel The Railway Children.

Mother did not spend all her time in paying dull [visits] to dull ladies, and sitting dully at home waiting for dull ladies to pay [visits] to her. She was almost always there, ready to play with the children, and read to them, and help them to do their home-lessons. Besides this she used to write stories for them while they were at school, and read them aloud after tea, and she always made up funny pieces of poetry for their birthdays and for other great occasions.

According to the text, what is true about Mother?

• She wishes that more ladies would visit her.

• Birthdays are her favorite special occasion.

• She creates stories and poems for her children.

• Reading to her children is her favorite activity.

In 2014, Amelia Quon and her team at NASA set out to build a helicopter capable of flying on Mars. Because Mars’s atmosphere is only one percent as dense as Earth’s, the air of Mars would not provide enough resistance to the rotating blades of a standard helicopter for the aircraft to stay aloft. For five years, Quon’s team tested designs in a lab that mimicked Mars’s atmospheric conditions. The craft the team ultimately designed can fly on Mars because its blades are longer and rotate faster than those of a helicopter of the same size built for Earth.

According to the text, why would a helicopter built for Earth be unable to fly on Mars?

• Because Mars and Earth have different atmospheric conditions

• Because the blades of helicopters built for Earth are too large to work on Mars

• Because the gravity of Mars is much weaker than the gravity of Earth

• Because helicopters built for Earth are too small to handle the conditions on Mars

Artist Justin Favela explained that he wanted to reclaim the importance of the piñata as a symbol in Latinx culture. To do so, he created numerous sculptures from strips of tissue paper, which is similar to the material used to create piñatas. In 2017, Favela created an impressive life-size piñata-like sculpture of the Gypsy Rose lowrider car, which was displayed at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California. The Gypsy Rose lowrider was famously driven by Jesse Valadez, an early president of the Los Angeles Imperials Car Club.

According to the text, which piece of Favela's art was on display in the Petersen Automotive Museum in 2017?

• A painting of Los Angeles

• A sculpture of a lowrider car

• A painting of a piñata

• A sculpture of Jesse Valadez

In 2022, researchers rediscovered ancient indigenous glyphs, or drawings, on the walls of a cave in Alabama. The cave’s ceiling was only a few feet high, affording no position from which the glyphs, being as wide as ten feet, could be viewed or photographed in their entirety. However, the researchers used a technique called photogrammetry to assemble numerous photos of the walls into a 3D model. They then worked with representatives of tribes originally from the region, including the Chickasaw Nation, to understand the significance of the animal and humanoid figures adorning the cave.

According to the text, what challenge did the researchers have to overcome to examine the glyphs?

• The cave was so remote that the researchers couldn't easily reach it.

• Some of the glyphs were so faint that they couldn't be photographed.

• The researchers were unable to create a 3D model of the cave.

• The cave's dimensions prevented the researchers from fully viewing the glyphs.

The following text is adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 novel Treasure Island. Bill is a sailor staying at the Admiral Benbow, an inn run by the narrator’s parents.

Every day when [Bill] came back from his stroll he would ask if any seafaring men had gone by along the road. At first we thought it was the want of company of his own kind that made him ask this question, but at last we began to see he was desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did [stay] at the Admiral Benbow (as now and then some did) he would look in at him through the curtained door before he entered the parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a mouse when any such was present.

According to the text, why does Bill regularly ask about “seafaring men”?

• A. He’s hoping to find an old friend and fellow sailor.

• B. He’s trying to secure a job as part of the crew on a new ship.

• C. He isn’t sure that other guests at the inn will be welcoming of sailors.

• D. He doesn’t want to encounter any other sailor unexpectedly.

The following text is adapted from María Cristina Mena’s 1914 short story “The Vine-Leaf.”

It is a saying in the capital of Mexico that Dr. Malsufrido carries more family secrets under his hat than any archbishop. The doctor’s hat is, appropriately enough, uncommonly capacious, rising very high, and sinking so low that it seems to be supported by his ears and eyebrows, and it has a furry look, as if it had been brushed the wrong way, which is perhaps what happens to it if it is ever brushed at all. When the doctor takes it off, the family secrets do not fly out like a flock of parrots, but remain nicely bottled up beneath a dome of old and highly polished ivory.

Based on the text, how do people in the capital of Mexico most likely regard Dr. Malsufrido?

• A. Many have come to tolerate him despite his disheveled appearance.

• B. Few feel concerned that he will divulge their confidences.

• C. Some dislike how freely he discusses his own family.

• D. Most would be unimpressed by him were it not for his professional expertise.

In superfluorescence, electrical charges known as dipoles emit light in synchronized bursts so intense that they are visible to the eye. Until recently, this phenomenon has only been observed at extremely cold temperatures because dipoles cannot synchronize at higher temperatures. But in a study, Melike Biliroglu and colleagues observed superfluorescence at room temperature in thin films made of perovskite and other similarly crystalline materials; the researchers propose that the formation of shock-absorbing quasiparticles called polarons in the material protects dipoles from thermal interference.

Based on the text, how are polarons believed to be involved in the superfluorescence observed in Biliroglu and colleagues’ study?

• A. Polarons enable superfluorescent bursts to cross from one crystalline material to another.

• B. Polarons allow for the dipoles to synchronize despite higher temperatures.

• C. Polarons accelerate the dipoles’ release of superfluorescent bursts.

• D. Polarons decrease the intensity of the superfluorescent burs

Paleontologist Lucas E. Fiorelli and colleagues have reported the discovery at a mine in Brazil of several egg clutches, partially preserved single eggs, and egg shells from the Late Cretaceous period. The researchers have concluded that the area was once a nesting and breeding site for titanosaurs, a group of sauropod dinosaurs. The finding is significant given the previous lack of known nesting sites in northern regions of South America, which led many paleontologists to assume that titanosaurs migrated south to lay eggs.

What does the text most strongly suggest about the site discovered by the researchers?

• A. It is the earliest known example of a titanosaur nesting and breeding site.

• B. It was very difficult to excavate given that it was discovered in a mine.

• C. It may have been occupied by other sauropods in addition to titanosaurs.

• D. It is farther north than any other nesting site discovered in South America.

The following text is adapted from Countee Cullen’s 1926 poem “Thoughts in a Zoo.”

They in their cruel traps, and we in ours,

Survey each other’s rage, and pass the hours

Commiserating each the other’s woe,

To mitigate his own pain’s fiery glow.

Man could but little proffer in exchange

Save that his cages have a larger range.

That lion with his lordly, untamed heart

Has in some man his human counterpart,

Some lofty soul in dreams and visions wrapped,

But in the stifling flesh securely trapped.

Based on the text, what challenge do humans sometimes experience?

• A. They cannot effectively tame certain wild animals because of a lack of compassion.

• B. They cannot focus on setting attainable goals because of a lack of motivation.

• C. They quickly become frustrated when faced with difficult tasks because of a lack of self-control.

• D. They have aspirations that cannot be fulfilled because of certain limitations.