SAT Boundaries Practice

The algaita is a double reed wind instrument from West Africa. The reed of a wind instrument is the mouthpiece ______ A double reed contains two pieces of cane that vibrate and produce sound as air passes between them.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• where sound is made?

• where is sound made.

• where sound is made.

• where is sound made?

The Mission 66 initiative, which was approved by Congress in 1956, represented a major investment in the infrastructure of overburdened national ______ it prioritized physical improvements to the parks’ roads, utilities, employee housing, and visitor facilities while also establishing educational programming for the public.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• parks and

• parks

• parks;

• parks,

Generations of mystery and horror ______ have been influenced by the dark, gothic stories of celebrated American author Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849).

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• writers

• writers,

• writers—

• writers;

Researchers Amit Kumar and Nicholas Epley investigated how ______ In a series of experiments conducted in 2022, they found that people performing small acts of kindness underestimated the positive effect their actions had on others.  

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• do people perceive acts of kindness.

• do people perceive acts of kindness?

• people perceive acts of kindness?

• people perceive acts of kindness.

While one requires oxygen and one does ______ and anaerobic respiration are both forms of cellular respiration—that is, they are processes by which cells break down glucose to use as energy.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• not aerobic

• not. Aerobic

• not, aerobic

• not; aerobic

Human-made (synthetic) fibers used in clothes and many other consumer products are more durable than most natural plant ______ the manufacture of synthetic fibers requires toxic chemical solvents that can pollute air and water.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• fibers,

• fibers but

• fibers

• fibers, but

Photosynthesis, the mechanism by which plants use sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and water into ______ is fueled in part by an enzyme called Photosystem II that harvests energy-giving electrons from water molecules.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• nutrients

• nutrients and

• nutrients,

• nutrients—

After a spate of illnesses as a child, Wilma Rudolph was told she might never walk again. Defying all odds, Rudolph didn’t just walk, she ______ the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, she won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes and clinched first place for her team in the 4x100-meter relay, becoming the first US woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• ran—fast—during

• ran—fast during

• ran—fast, during

• ran—fast. During

Each night in Gijón, Spain, a section of the city’s marina is bathed in a soft green glow. The source of the glow is the Árbol de la Sidra, a large sculpture made up of 3,200 recycled glass bottles. A lamp inside the tree-shaped structure ______ the green glass.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• will be illuminating

• illuminates

• would illuminate

• illuminated

While light is known as one of the fastest-moving substances, it slows down when passing through some types of matter. One such type of matter is a form of cooled, condensed gas called a Bose-Einstein condensate ______ Dutch physicist Lene Hau famously used a BEC to slow a beam of light to a complete halt.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• (BEC),

• (BEC) and

• (BEC);

• (BEC)