ACT English Practice, 1 Passage

A Microscope in the Kitchen

I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets waiting by the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a microscope was sitting on the kitchen table. Having studied, my mother is a marine biologist. Our household might have been described as uncooperative. Our meals weren’t always served in the expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper. Everything was subservient to the disposal of the tides. When the tide was low, Mom could be found down on the mudflats. When the tide was high, she would be standing on the inlet bridge with her plankton net.

• A. NO CHANGE

• B. waiting, by the back door,

• C. waiting by the back door,

• D. waiting by the back door

Tags

CCSS.L.4.2B

CCSS.L.4.2C

CCSS.L.5.2B

A Microscope in the Kitchen

I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets waiting by the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a microscope was sitting on the kitchen table. Having studied, my mother is a marine biologist. Our household might have been described as uncooperative. Our meals weren’t always served in the expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper. Everything was subservient to the disposal of the tides. When the tide was low, Mom could be found down on the mudflats. When the tide was high, she would be standing on the inlet bridge with her plankton net.

• NO CHANGE

• would sit

• sitting

• sat

Tags

CCSS.L.3.1D

CCSS.L.4.1B

CCSS.L.5.1.B-D

CCSS.L.5.1C

CCSS.L.5.1D

A Microscope in the Kitchen

I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets waiting by the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a microscope was sitting on the kitchen table. Having studied, my mother is a marine biologist. Our household might have been described as uncooperative. Our meals weren’t always served in the expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper. Everything was subservient to the disposal of the tides. When the tide was low, Mom could be found down on the mudflats. When the tide was high, she would be standing on the inlet bridge with her plankton net. 3.

Choose the best answer.

• NO CHANGE

• As my mother’s interest is science, she is

• My mother’s occupation is that of

• My mother is

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

A Microscope in the Kitchen

I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets waiting by the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a microscope was sitting on the kitchen table. Having studied, my mother is a marine biologist. Our household might have been described as uncooperative. Our meals weren’t always served in the expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper. Everything was subservient to the disposal of the tides. When the tide was low, Mom could be found down on the mudflats. When the tide was high, she would be standing on the inlet bridge with her plankton net.

Which choice would most effectively introduce the rest of this paragraph?

• NO CHANGE

• There seemed to be no explanation for why Mom ran our household the way she did.

• Our household didn’t run according to a typical schedule.

• Mom ran our household in a most spectacular manner.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

A Microscope in the Kitchen

I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets waiting by the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a microscope was sitting on the kitchen table. Having studied, my mother is a marine biologist. Our household might have been described as uncooperative. Our meals weren’t always served in the expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper. Everything was subservient to the disposal of the tides. When the tide was low, Mom could be found down on the mudflats. When the tide was high, she would be standing on the inlet bridge with her plankton net.

Choose the best answer.

• NO CHANGE

• was defenseless in the face of

• depended on

• trusted in

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

I have great respect for my mother. I learned early that the moon affected the tides. Mom was always waiting for a full or new moon, when low tide would be lower than average and high tide higher than average. The moon being aligned with Earth and the sun when full or new, so its gravity combines with the sun’s gravity to create an even stronger gravitational pull. I knew that it took about eight hours for the tides to change from high to low, sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides. I didn’t have to wait to learn these things in school. In our house they were everyday knowledge. Often, my brother and I, joined our mother on her adventures into tidal lands. At the very low tides of the full moon, when almost all the water was sucked away, we found the hideaways where crabs, snails, starfish, and sea urchins hid in order not to be seen. Sometimes we would dig with shovels in the mud, where yellow and white worms lived in their leathery tunnels.

Which choice most effectively signals the shift from the preceding paragraph to this paragraph?

• NO CHANGE

• Our lives were likewise affected by the phases of the moon.

• A relationship exists between the moon and the tides.

• The moon is a mysterious orb afloat in the sky.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

I have great respect for my mother. I learned early that the moon affected the tides. Mom was always waiting for a full or new moon, when low tide would be lower than average and high tide higher than average. The moon being aligned with Earth and the sun when full or new, so its gravity combines with the sun’s gravity to create an even stronger gravitational pull. I knew that it took about eight hours for the tides to change from high to low, sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides. I didn’t have to wait to learn these things in school. In our house they were everyday knowledge. Often, my brother and I, joined our mother on her adventures into tidal lands. At the very low tides of the full moon, when almost all the water was sucked away, we found the hideaways where crabs, snails, starfish, and sea urchins hid in order not to be seen. Sometimes we would dig with shovels in the mud, where yellow and white worms lived in their leathery tunnels.

Choose the best answer.

• NO CHANGE

• Since the moon is

• The moon is

• The moon,

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.11-12.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

I have great respect for my mother. I learned early that the moon affected the tides. Mom was always waiting for a full or new moon, when low tide would be lower than average and high tide higher than average. The moon being aligned with Earth and the sun when full or new, so its gravity combines with the sun’s gravity to create an even stronger gravitational pull. I knew that it took about eight hours for the tides to change from high to low, sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides. I didn’t have to wait to learn these things in school. In our house they were everyday knowledge. Often, my brother and I, joined our mother on her adventures into tidal lands. At the very low tides of the full moon, when almost all the water was sucked away, we found the hideaways where crabs, snails, starfish, and sea urchins hid in order not to be seen. Sometimes we would dig with shovels in the mud, where yellow and white worms lived in their leathery tunnels.

Choose the best answer.

• E. NO CHANGE

• F. one's

• G. it's

• H. its'

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.11-12.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

I have great respect for my mother. I learned early that the moon affected the tides. Mom was always waiting for a full or new moon, when low tide would be lower than average and high tide higher than average. The moon being aligned with Earth and the sun when full or new, so its gravity combines with the sun’s gravity to create an even stronger gravitational pull. I knew that it took about eight hours for the tides to change from high to low, sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides. I didn’t have to wait to learn these things in school. In our house they were everyday knowledge. Often, my brother and I, joined our mother on her adventures into tidal lands. At the very low tides of the full moon, when almost all the water was sucked away, we found the hideaways where crabs, snails, starfish, and sea urchins hid in order not to be seen. Sometimes we would dig with shovels in the mud, where yellow and white worms lived in their leathery tunnels.

If the writer were to delete the phrase "sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides" from the preceding sentence (ending the sentence with a period), the essay would primarily lose a detail that:

• shows how the narrator’s interests are different from the mother’s interests.

• contradicts a point made earlier in the paragraph.

• helps establish the setting for the essay.

• displays the narrator’s knowledge of tides.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

I have great respect for my mother. I learned early that the moon affected the tides. Mom was always waiting for a full or new moon, when low tide would be lower than average and high tide higher than average. The moon being aligned with Earth and the sun when full or new, so its gravity combines with the sun’s gravity to create an even stronger gravitational pull. I knew that it took about eight hours for the tides to change from high to low, sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides. I didn’t have to wait to learn these things in school. In our house they were everyday knowledge. Often, my brother and I, joined our mother on her adventures into tidal lands. At the very low tides of the full moon, when almost all the water was sucked away, we found the hideaways where crabs, snails, starfish, and sea urchins hid in order not to be seen. Sometimes we would dig with shovels in the mud, where yellow and white worms lived in their leathery tunnels.

Choose the best answer.

• E. NO CHANGE

• F. brother, and I,

• G. brother, and I

• H. brother and I

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.11-12.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10