PSAT 8/9_Module 2

The following text is from Nella Larsen’s 1928 novel Quicksand.

The trees in their spring beauty sent through her restive mind a sharp thrill of pleasure. Seductive, charming, and beckoning as cities were, they had not this easy unhuman loveliness.

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As used in the text, what does the word “beckoning” most nearly mean?

• Demanding

• Signaling

• Inviting

• Shifting

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CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

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CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Physicist Joseph Weber performed _______ work in gravitational wave research in the 1960s and 1970s, conducting key experiments that scientists later used as the basis for their own investigations that led to the first verified detection of a gravitational wave in 2015.

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Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

• foundational

• supplementary

• repetitive

• ineffective

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CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

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CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Sueño de Familia is an exhibition of drawings, paintings, and ceramics that explores the artistic heritage of US-based artist Yolanda González. The exhibition ______ five generations, featuring works by González’s great-grandfather, grandmother, mother, and niece as well as González herself.

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Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

• borrows

• spans

• judges

• neglects

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CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

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CCSS.RL.9-10.4

The following text is from Claude McKay’s 1922 poem “Morning Joy.” The speaker is looking out a window and observing a wold, or large area of land.

At night the wide and level stretch of wold,

Which at high noon had basked in quiet gold,

Far as the eye could see was ghostly white;

Dark was the night save for the snow’s weird light.

I drew the shades far down, crept into bed;

Hearing the cold wind moaning overhead T

hrough the sad pines, my soul, catching its pain,

Went sorrowing with it across the plain.

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As used in the text, what does the word “drew” most nearly mean?

• Pulled

• Drained

• Inspired

• Sketched

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Some people have speculated that two helmets with attached horns discovered in Denmark in 1942 belonged to Vikings, but scholars have long been skeptical. Archaeologist Helle Vandkilde and colleagues recently provided radiocarbon dates for the helmets, and their findings ______ scholars’ skepticism: the helmets date to the Nordic Bronze Age, centuries before the Vikings existed.

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Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

• anticipate

• inspect

• reveal

• justify

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Streams and rivers carry soil and rocks from one location to another. But there is another way for these geological materials to move. Scientists call this process “aeolian transport.” In aeolian transport, winds move small particles of soil or rock over potentially great distances. Geologist Melisa Diaz and her team studied dust in Antarctica to find out if it was moved by aeolian transport. They discovered that the dust matched geological material in Australia. Aeolian transport had carried it from one continent to another, across thousands of miles of open ocean.

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Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?

• It presents Melisa Diaz’s remarks about difficulties that her team encountered.

• It introduces a scientific term that is used in the discussion that follows.

• It emphasizes the surprising nature of the findings that are presented.

• It explains the difference between two kinds of geological material.

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

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CCSS.RL.9-10.2

San Francisco is known for the colorful murals painted on many of its buildings. The densest collection of murals is found on Balmy Alley in the Mission District neighborhood. In the 1970s, Latina artists painted vivid scenes of community life on walls along this block. As the original murals have faded, later generations of artists have painted new ones over them. As a result, Balmy Alley has become a living showcase of San Francisco’s artistic spirit, with its murals reflecting changes in the cultural life of the city.

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Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

• To compare the Balmy Alley murals to other murals in San Francisco

• To offer an overview of the history and importance of the Balmy Alley murals

• To urge people to protect the murals of San Francisco from decay

• To describe the rise of mural painting in San Francisco beginning in the 1970s

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Industrial activity is often assumed to be a threat to wildlife, but that isn’t always so. Consider the silver‑studded blue butterfly (Plebejus argus): as forest growth has reduced grasslands in northern Germany, many of these butterflies have left meadow habitats and are now thriving in active limestone quarries. In a survey of multiple active quarries and patches of maintained grassland, an ecologist found silver‑studded blue butterflies in 100% of the quarries but only 57% of the grassland patches. Moreover, butterfly populations in the quarries were four times larger than those in the meadows.

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Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?

• It challenges a common assumption about the species under investigation in the research referred to in the text.

• It introduces discussion of a specific example that supports the general claim made in the previous sentence.

• It suggests that a certain species should be included in additional studies like the one mentioned later in the text.

• It provides a definition for an unfamiliar term that is central to the main argument in the text.

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CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

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Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the researchers’ perspective in Text 1 on the behavior of the magpies without trackers?

• That behavior might have been due to the novelty of the magpies’ captive setting rather than to the novelty of the tracker.

• That behavior likely indicates that the magpies were deliberately attempting to benefit themselves by obtaining the tracker.

• That behavior may not be evidence of selflessness in Gymnorhina tibicen because not all the captured magpies demonstrated it.

• That behavior might be adequately explained without suggesting that the magpies were attempting to assist the other magpie.

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.7

CCSS.RI.8.7

CCSS.RL.8.5

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CCSS.RL.9-10.7

Philadelphia’s Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, founded by Jeri Lynne Johnson, performs classical music, from well-known compositions by Beethoven to contemporary works by Jessie Montgomery. For the orchestra’s iConduct! program, Johnson invites community members to learn some basic elements of conducting and then experience conducting the Black Pearl orchestra themselves.

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Which choice best states the main idea of the text about Philadelphia’s Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra?

• The Black Pearl orchestra performs music from all over the world but mostly performs music composed by Philadelphians.

• Johnson founded the Black Pearl orchestra to perform classical music by contemporary artist Jessie Montgomery.

• The Black Pearl orchestra gives community members the chance to both listen to and participate in classical music performance.

• Johnson has community members conduct an orchestra to demonstrate how difficult the task is.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2