Quiz on Indigenous Languages and Cultures

In the early 1800s, the Cherokee scholar Sequoyah created the first script, or writing system, for an Indigenous language in the United States. Because it represented the sounds of spoken Cherokee so accurately, his script was easy to learn and thus quickly achieved ________ use; by 1830, over 90 percent of the Cherokee people could read and write it. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

• widespread

• careful

• unintended

• infrequent

When Mexican-American archaeologist Zelia Maria Magdalena Nuttall published her 1886 research paper on sculptures found at the ancient Indigenous city of Teotihuacan in present-day Mexico, other researchers readily ________ her work as ground-breaking; this recognition stemmed from her convincing demonstration that the sculptures were much older than had previously been thought. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

• acknowledged

• ensured

• denied

• underestimated

The following text is from Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1899 short story “Martha’s Lady.” Martha is employed by Miss Pyne as a maid. Miss Pyne sat by the window watching, in her best dress, looking stately and calm; she seldom went out now, and it was almost time for the carriage. Martha was just coming in from the garden with the strawberries, and with more flowers in her apron. It was a bright cool evening in June, the golden robins sang in the elms, and the sun was going down behind the apple-trees at the foot of the garden. The beautiful old house stood wide open to the long-expected guest. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

• To convey the worries brought about by a new guest

• To describe how the characters have changed over time

• To contrast the activity indoors with the stillness outside

• To depict the setting as the characters await a visitor’s arrival

Astronomers are confident that the star Betelgeuse will eventually consume all the helium in its core and explode in a supernova. They are much less confident, however, about when this will happen, since that depends on internal characteristics of Betelgeuse that are largely unknown. Astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance and colleagues recently investigated whether acoustic waves in the star could be used to determine internal stellar states but concluded that this method could not sufficiently reveal Betelgeuse’s internal characteristics to allow its evolutionary state to be firmly fixed. Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the overall structure of the text?

• It explains how the work of Nance and colleagues was received by others in the field.

• It presents the central finding reported by Nance and colleagues.

• It identifies the problem that Nance and colleagues attempted to solve but did not.

• It describes a serious limitation of the method used by Nance and colleagues.

According to the text, what is true about Elinor?

• Elinor often argues with her mother but fails to change her mind.

• Elinor can be overly sensitive with regard to family matters.

• Elinor thinks her mother is a bad role model.

• Elinor is remarkably mature for her age.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

• Although inhabiting a home surrounded by fanciful features such as those designed by Gins and Arakawa can be rejuvenating, it is unsustainable.

• Designing disorienting spaces like those in the Gins and Arakawa building is the most effective way to create a physically stimulating environment.

• As a filmmaker, Yamaoka has long supported the designs of conceptual artists such as Gins and Arakawa.

• Although impractical, the design of the apartment building by Gins and Arakawa may improve the well-being of the building’s residents.

In a research paper, a student criticizes some historians of modern African politics, claiming that they have evaluated Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, primarily as a symbol rather than in terms of his actions. Which quotation from a work by a historian would best illustrate the student’s claim?

• “Lumumba is a difficult figure to evaluate due to the starkly conflicting opinions he inspired during his life and continues to inspire today.”

• “The available information makes it clear that Lumumba’s political beliefs and values were largely consistent throughout his career.”

• “Lumumba’s practical accomplishments can be passed over quickly; it is mainly as the personification of Congolese independence that he warrants scholarly attention.”

• “Many questions remain about Lumumba’s ultimate vision for an independent Congo; without new evidence coming to light, these questions are likely to remain unanswered.”

In the twentieth century, ethnographers made a concerted effort to collect Mexican American folklore, but they did not always agree about that folklore’s origins. Scholars such as Aurelio Espinosa claimed that Mexican American folklore derived largely from the folklore of Spain, which ruled Mexico and what is now the southwestern United States from the sixteenth to early nineteenth centuries. Scholars such as Américo Paredes, by contrast, argued that while some Spanish influence is undeniable, Mexican American folklore is mainly the product of the ongoing interactions of various cultures in Mexico and the United States. Which finding, if true, would most directly support Paredes’s argument?

• The folklore that the ethnographers collected included several songs written in the form of a décima, a type of poem originating in late sixteenth-century Spain.

• Much of the folklore that the ethnographers collected had similar elements from region to region.

• Most of the folklore that the ethnographers collected was previously unknown to scholars.

• Most of the folklore that the ethnographers collected consisted of corridos—ballads about history and social life—of a clearly recent origin.

A team of biologists led by Jae-Hoon Jung, Antonio D. Barbosa, and Stephanie Hutin investigated the mechanism that allows Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) plants to accelerate flowering at high temperatures. They replaced the protein ELF3 in the plants with a similar protein found in another species (stiff brome) that, unlike A. thaliana, displays no acceleration in flowering with increased temperature. A comparison of unmodified A. thaliana plants with the altered plants showed no difference in flowering at 22° Celsius, but at 27° Celsius, the unmodified plants exhibited accelerated flowering while the altered ones did not, which suggests that ________.

• temperature-sensitive accelerated flowering is unique to A. thaliana.

• A. thaliana increases ELF3 production as temperatures rise.

• ELF3 enables A. thaliana to respond to increased temperatures.

• temperatures of at least 22° Celsius are required for A. thaliana to flower.

A member of the Cherokee Nation, Mary Golda Ross is renowned for her contributions to NASA’s Planetary Flight Handbook, which ________ detailed mathematical guidance for missions to Mars and Venus. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• provided

• having provided

• to provide

• providing