9/24 Prep

As Mexico’s first president from an Indigenous community, Benito Juarez became one of the most ______ figures in his country’s history; among the many significant accomplishments of his long tenure in office (1858–1872), Juarez consolidated the authority of the national government and advanced the rights of Indigenous peoples. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

• unpredictable

• important

• secretive

• ordinary

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Mónica Lopes-Ferreira and others at Brazil’s Butantan Institute are studying the freshwater stingray species Potamotrygon rex to determine whether biological characteristics such as the rays’ age and sex have ______ effect on the toxicity of their venom—that is, to see if differences in these traits are associated with considerable variations in venom potency. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

• a disconcerting

• an acceptable

• an imperceptible

• a substantial

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Kelp forests grow underwater along the eastern Pacific Coast. These underwater forests are important to fish and other marine animals. Ocean currents can be powerful and rough, making it difficult for animals to find safe places to hide from predators. The underwater forests slow down the currents. This creates a more _______ environment with calmer waters where animals can take shelter.

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

• A) tranquil

• B) dangerous

• C) imaginative

• D) surprising

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Ofelia Zepeda’s contributions to the field of linguistics are _______: her many accomplishments include working as a linguistics professor and bilingual poet, authoring the first Tohono O’odhamgrammar book, and co-founding the American Indian Language Development Institute.

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

• A) pragmatic

• B) controversial

• C) extensive

• D) universal

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

The Mule Bone, a 1930 play written by Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, is perhaps the best-known of the few examples of ______ in literature. Most writers prefer working alone, and given that working together cost Hurston and Hughes their friendship, it is not hard to see why.

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

• A) characterization

• B) interpretation

• C) collaboration

• D) commercialization

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Archaeologists studying the ancient city of Pompeii in Italy recently discovered a well-preserved food shop known as a thermopolium. The site contains food remains, artworks, and decorations. These items give researchers a better understanding of what dailylife in Pompeii may have been like. For example, the archaeologists found a ceramic jar that they believe likely contained a meat and seafood stew.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

• A) To compare ancient artworks with modern ones

• B) To discuss the political system of Italy

• C) To present a recent archaeological discovery

• D) To describe a region’s climate

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

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?

• A) To convey the worries brought about by a new guest

• B) To describe how the characters have changed over time

• C) To contrast the activity indoors with the stillness outside

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

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

The following text is adapted from Aphra Behn’s 1689 novel The Lucky Mistake. Atlante and Rinaldo are neighbors who have been secretly exchanging letters through Charlot, Atlante’s sister. [Atlante] gave this letter to Charlot; who immediately ran into the balcony with it, where she still found Rinaldo in a melancholy posture, leaning his head on his hand: She showed himthe letter, but was afraid to toss it to him, for fear it might fall to the ground; so he ran and fetched a long cane, which he cleft at one end, and held it while she put the letter into the cleft, and stayed not to hear what he said to it. But never was man so transported with joy, as he was at the reading of this letter; it gives him new wounds; for to the generous, nothing obliges love so much as love.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

• A) It describes the delivery of a letter, and then portrays a character’s happiness at reading that letter.

• B) It establishes that a character is desperate to receive a letter, and then explains why another character has not yet written that letter.

• C) It presents a character’s concerns about delivering a letter, and then details the contents of that letter.

• D) It reveals the inspiration behind a character’s letter, and then emphasizes the excitement that another character feels upon receiving that letter.

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

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?

• A) 2000–2004.

• B) 1995–1999

• C) 1970–1974.

• D) 1985–1989.

Tags

CCSS.8.SP.A.4

Researchers hypothesized that a decline in the population of dusky sharks near the mid-Atlantic coast of North America led to a decline in the population of eastern oysters in the region. Dusky sharks do not typically consume eastern oysters but do consume cownose rays, which are the main predators of the oysters.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers’ hypothesis?

• A) Declines in the regional abundance of dusky sharks’ prey other than cownose rays are associated with regional declines in dusky shark abundance.

• B) Eastern oyster abundance tends to be greater in areas with both dusky sharks and cownose rays than in areas with only dusky sharks.

• C) Consumption of eastern oysters by cownose rays in the region substantially increased before the regional decline in dusky shark abundance began.

• D) Cownose rays have increased in regional abundance as dusky sharks have decreased in regional abundance.