Reading and Writing:

Questions-Information
and Ideas Drills
D
The ice melted on a Norwegian mountain during a particularly warm
summer in 2019, revealing a 1,700-year-old sandal to a mountaineer
looking for artifacts. The sandal would normally have degraded quickly,
but it was instead well preserved for centuries by the surrounding ice.
According to archaeologist Espen Finstad and his team, the sandal, like
those worn by imperial Romans, wouldn't have offered any protection fr om
the cold in the mountains, so some kind of insulation, like fabric or animal
skin, would have needed to be worn on the feet \.\Tith the sandal.
What does the text indicate about the discovery of the sandal?
A) The discovery revealed that the Roman Empire had more influence on
Norway than archaeologists previously assumed.
B) The sandal would have degraded if it hadn't been removed from the ice.
C) Temperatures contributed to both protecting and revealing the sandal.
D) Archaeologists would have found the sandal eventually without help
from the general public.

D
The following text is adapted from Maria Cristina Mena's 1914 short story
"The Vine-Leaf."
It is a saying in the capital of Mexico that Dr. Malsufrido carries more
family secrets under his hat than any archbishop.
The doctor's hat is, appropriately enough, uncommonly capacious,
rising very high, and sinking so low that it seems to be supported by his
ears and eyebrows, and it has a furry look, as if it had been brushed the
wrong way, which is perhaps what happens to it if it is ever brushed at
all. When the doctor takes it off, the family secrets do not fly out like a
flock of parrots, but remain nicely bottled up beneath a dome of old
and highly polished ivory.
Based on the text, how do people in the capital of Mexico most likely
regard Dr. Malsufrido?
A) Few feel concerned that he will divulge their confidences.
B) Many have come to tolerate him despite his disheveled appearance.
C) Most would be unimpressed by him were it not for his professional
expertise.
D) Some dislike how freely he discusses his own family.
II
AS/\s Cnssi11i probe has detected an unusual wobble in the rotation of
Mimas, Saturn's smallest moon. Using a computer model to study Mirnas's
gravitational interactions with Saturn and tidal forces, geophysicist Alyssa
Rhoden and colleagues have proposed that this wobble could be due to a
liquid ocean moving beneath the moon's icy surface. The researchers
believe other moon should be examined to see if they too might have
oceans hidden beneath their surfaces.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
A) Rhoden and colleagues "ere the first to confirm that several of Saturn's
moons contain hidden oceans.
B) Research has failed to identify signs that there is an ocean hidden
beneath the surface of 1imas.
C) Rhoden and colleagues created a new computer model that identifies
moons with hidden oceans without needing to analyze the moons'
rotation.
D) Research has revealed that an oddity in the rotation of Mimas could be
explained by an ocean hidden beneath its surface.

Hip-hop pedagogy is a form of teaching that's gaining popularity across

school subjects. It involves incorporating hip-hop and rap music into
lessons as well as using hip-hop elements when teaching other subject
matters. For example, Quan eloms's students look for college-level
vocabulary and historical events in rap songs. Researchers claim that in
addition to developing students' social justice awareness, hip-hop
pedagogy encourages student success by raising students' interest
and engagement.
Which finding, if true, would most strongly support the underlined claim?
A) Students tend to be more enthusiastic about rap music than they are
about hip-hop music.
B) Educators report that they enjoy teaching courses that involve hip-hop
and rap music more than teaching courses that don't.
C) Courses that incorporate hip-hop and rap music are among the courses
with the highest enrollment and attendance rates.
D) Students who are highly interested in social justice issues typically don't
sign up for courses that incorporate hip-hop and rap music.
II
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Hector Tobar has built a multifaceted career
as both a journalist and an author of short stories and novels. In an essay
about Tobar's work, a student claims that Tobar blends his areas of
expertise by applying journalism techniques to his creation of works
of fiction.
Which quotation from a literary critic best supports the student's claim?
A) "For one novel, an imagined account of a real person's global travels,
Tobar approached his subject like a reporter, interviewing people the
man had met along the way and researching the man's own writings."
B) "Tobar got his start as a volunteer for El Tecolote, a community
newspaper in San Francisco, and wrote for newspapers for years before
earning a degree in creative writing and starting to publish works
of fiction."
C) "Many of Tobar's notable nonfiction articles are marked by the writer's
use of techniques usually associated with fiction, such as complex
narrative structures and the incorporation of symbolism:'
D) "The protagonist of Tobar's third novel is a man who wants to be a
novelist and keeps notes about interesting people he encounters so he
can use them when developing characters for his stories."

II
Electra is a circa 420-410 BCE play by Sophocles, translated in 1870 by
R.C. Jebb. Electra, who is in mourning for her dead father and her
long-absent brother, is aware of the intensity of her grief but believes it
to be justified: ____
Which quotation from Electra most effectively illustrates the claim?
A) "O thou pure sunlight, and thou air, earth's canopy, how often have ye
heard the strains of my lament, the wild blows dealt against this
bleeding breast, when dark night fails!"
B) "I know my own passion, it escapes me not; but, seeing that the causes
are so dire, will never curb these frenzied plaints, while life is in me."
C) "Send to me my brother; for I have no more the strength to bear up
alone against the load of grief that weighs me down:'
D) "But never will I cease from dirge and sore lament, while I look on the
trembling rays of the bright stars, or on this light of day."
D
Tadpole Body Mass and Toxin Production after Three Weeks in Ponds
Average
Average bufadienolide
number Average concentration
Average of distinct amount of (nanograms
tadpole bufadienolide bufadienolide per milligram
Population body mass toxins per per tadpole of tadpole
density (milligrams) tadpole (nanograms) body mass)
High 193.87 22.69 5,815.51 374.22
Medium 254.56 21.65 5,525.72 230.10
Low 258.97 22.08 4,664.99 171.43
Ecologist Veronika B6kony and colleagues investigated within-species
competition among common toads (Bufo bufo), a species that secretes
various unpleasant-tasting toxins called bufadienolides in response to
threats. The researchers tested B. bufo tadpoles' responses to different levels
of competition by creating ponds with different tadpole population
densities but a fixed amount of food. Based on analysis of the tadpoles after
three weeks, the researchers concluded that increased competition drove
bufadienolide production at the expense of growth.
\11,'hich choice uses data from the table to most effectively support the
researchers' conclusion?
A) The difference in average tadpole body mass was small between the low
and medium population density conditions and substantially larger
between the low and high population density conditions.
B) Tadpoles in the low and medium population density conditions had
substantially lower average bufadienolide concentrations but had
greater average body masses than those in the high population density
condition.
C) Tadpoles in the high population density condition displayed a relatively
modest increase in the average amount of bufadienolide but roughly
double the average bufadienolide concentration compared to those in
the low population density condition.
D) Tadpoles produced approximately the same number of different
bufadienolide toxins per individual across the population density
conditions, but average tadpole body mass decreased as population
density increased.
II
Urban Population of
Algeria, France,Japan, and Nigeria
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Year

_..,._ Algeria
- -0 - France
···O·· Japan
-} Nigeria

The share of the world's population living in cities has increased

dramatically since 1970, but this change has not been uniform. France and
Japan, for example, were already heavily urbanized in 1970, with 70 ° 0 or
more of the population living in cities. The main contributors to the world's
urbanization since 1970 have been countries like Algeria, whose
population went from ____
v\ hich choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the
a sertion?
A) less than 40% urban in 1970 to around 90°0 urban in 2020.
B) less than 20% urban in 1970 to more than 50 ° 0 urban in 2020.
C) around -!0% urban in 1970 to more than 70 ° 0 urban in 2020.
D) around 50% urban in 1970 to around 90°o urban in 2020.
D
Area of Three Glaciers in the
2016 Swiss Glacier Inventory
50

? 40
12
QJ
30

20

10

0
Glacier

Gomer

To monitor changes to glaciers in Switzerland, the government periodically

measures them for features like total area of ice and mean ice thickness,
\\'hich are then reported in the Swiss Glacier llwentory. These
measurements can be used to compare the glaciers. For example, the
Gomer glacier had ____
\ Vhich choice most effectively uses data fr om the graph to complete the
example?
A) a larger area than either the Fiescher glacier or the Unteraar glacier.
B) a smaller area than the Fiescher glacier but a larger area than the
Unteraar glacier.
C) a smaller area than either the Fiescher glacier or the Unteraar glacier.
D) a larger area than the Fiescher glacier but a smaller area than the
Unteraar glacier.

Henry Ossawa Tanner's 1893 painting 77,e Bn11jo Lesson, which depicts an
elderly man teaching a boy to play the banjo, is regarded as a landmark in the
history of works by Black artists in the United States. Scholars should be
cautious when ascribing political or ideological values to the painting,
however: beliefs and assumptions that are commonlr held now may have
been unfamiliar to Tanner and his contemporaries, and vice versa. Scholars
who forget this fact when discussing 77ie Bnnjo Lesson therefore ____
\'\1hich choice most logically completes the text 7
A) risk judging Tanner's painting by standards that may not be historically
appropriate.
B) tend to conflate Tanner's political view \\·ith those of his contemporaries.
C) wrongly assume that Tanner's painting wa intended as a critique of his
fellow artists.
D) forgo analyzing Tanner's painting in favor of analyzing his political
activity.
m
In many cultures, a handshake can create trust between people. Engineer
Joao Avelino and hi team are designing a robot to shake hands with a
human in order to improve human-robot interactions. The robot hand
adjusts its mo,·ements and pressure to better imitate the feel of a human
hand. ll1e researchers want the robot's handshake to feel realistic
because ____
\,Vhich choice most logically completes the text?
A) people are less likely to interact with robots that don't look like humans.
B) it's easier to program a robot to perform handshakes than it is to
program a robot to perform some other types of greetings.
C) the robot in the researchers' study mar ha,·e uses other than interacting
with humans.
D) lifelike handshakes may make people more comfortable interacting
with robots.

m
Tides can deposit large quantities or dead ,·egetation within a salt marsh,
smothering healthy plants and lea\'ing a salt panne-a depression de\'Oid of
plants that tends to trap standing ll'ater-in the marsh's interior. Ecologist
Kathryn Behe hti and colleagues found that burrowing crabs li\'ing \\'ithin
these pannes imprm·e drainage by loosening the soil, leading the pannes to
shrink as marsh plants move back in. At salt marsh edges, howe\'er, crab­
induced soil loosening can promote marsh loss by accelerating erosion,
suggesting that the bu1-ro1,·ing action of crabs ____
Which choice most logically completes the text?
A) can be beneficial to marshes with small pannes but can be harmful to
marshes with large pannes.
B) may promote increases in marsh plants or decreases in marsh plants,
depending on the crabs' location.
C) tends to be more heavily concentrated in areas of marsh interiors with
standing water than at marsh edges.
D) varies in intensity depending on the size of the panne relative to the size
of the surrounding marsh.