After immigrating from Mexico and obtaining U.S. citizenship, Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo entered politics, earning a reputation for being a fervent defender of Hispanic civil rights. In 1919 Larrazolo was elected governor of ______ in 1928 he became the nation’s first Hispanic U.S. Senator.

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

• A) New Mexico and

• B) New Mexico,

• C) New Mexico, and

• D) New Mexico

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• - Cities tend to have a wide range of flowering vegetation in parks, yards, and gardens.

• - This vegetation provides a varied diet for honeybees, strengthening bees’ immune systems.

• - On average, 62.5 percent of bees in an urban area will survive a harsh winter.

• - Rural areas are often dominated by monoculture crops such as corn or wheat.

• - On average, only 40 percent of honeybees in a rural area will survive a harsh winter.

The student wants to make and support a generalization about honeybees. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

• A) Cities tend to have a wider range of flowering vegetation than do rural areas, which are often dominated by monoculture crops.

• B) In urban areas, over 60 percent of honeybees, on average, will survive a harsh winter, whereas in rural areas, only 40 percent will. 

• C) The strength of honeybees’ immune systems depends on what the bees eat, and a varied diet is more available to bees in an urban area than to those in a rural area.

• D) Honeybees are more likely to thrive in cities than in rural areas because the varied diet available in urban areas strengthens the bees’ immune systems.

The following text is from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel The Secret Garden. Mary, a young girl, is outside trying her new jump rope.

The sun was shining and a little wind was blowing—not a rough wind, but one which came in delightful little gusts and brought a fresh scent of newly turned earth with it. She skipped round the fountain garden, and up one walk and down another.

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

• A) Harsh

• B) Scratchy

• C) Basic

• D) Vague

The following text is adapted from Amy Lowell’s 1912 poem “Summer.”

It is summer, glorious, deep-toned summer,

The very crown of nature’s changing year

When all her surging life is at its full.

To me alone it is a time of pause,

A void and silent space between two worlds,

When inspiration lags, and feeling sleeps,

Gathering strength for efforts yet to come.

As used in the text, what does the phrase “a void” most nearly mean?

• A) A useless

• B) An empty

• C) A forgotten

• D) An incomplete

Archaeologists studying an ancient amphitheater in Switzerland believe that it dates back to the fourth century CE. Their discoveries of a coin made between 337 and 341 CE and era-appropriate building materials ______ evidence for this theory.

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

• A) dismiss

• B) provide

• C) regulate

• D) refuse

Xin Wang and colleagues have discovered the earliest known example of a flower bud in a 164-million-year-old plant fossil in China. The researchers have named the new species Florigerminis jurassica. They believe that the discovery pushes the emergence of flowering plants, or angiosperms, back to the Jurassic period, which occurred between 145 million and 201 million years ago.

According to the text, how old was the fossil that Wang and colleagues discovered?

• A) 150 million years old

• B) 145 million years old

• C) 164 million years old

• D) 201 million years old

The sun never sets during the Arctic summer in the Far North. In response, reindeer in this region must change their sleep habits. Instead of resting when it gets dark, they rest when they need ______ their food.

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

• A) digest

• B) will digest

• C) to digest

• D) digesting

The radiation that ______ during the decay of radioactive atomic nuclei is known as gamma radiation.

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

• A) occurs

• B) have occurred

• C) occur

• D) are occurring

In 1885, Chinese-born California resident Mary Tape became a hero of the Asian American civil rights movement. In January of that year, she won an antidiscrimination case in the California Supreme Court. ______ in April, she wrote an open letter criticizing her local board of education for discrimination. Both actions are remembered today as historic stands against racism.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

• A) Later,

• B) For instance,

• C) In other words,

• D) Rather,

In 1903, environmentalist John Muir guided President Theodore Roosevelt on a scenic, sprawling trip through California’s Yosemite Valley. Upon returning from the three-day excursion, Roosevelt ______ to conserve the nation’s wilderness areas, a vow he upheld for his remaining six years in office.

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

• A) is vowing

• B) vowed

• C) will vow

• D) vows