Digital SAT Mock Test - 2 - SAT MCQ

Choice 3 is the best answer because it presents the finding that, if true, would best support Suarez, Pérez-Huerta, and Harrell’s claim about mosasaurs. The text states that Suarez, Pérez-Huerta, and Harrell’s research on mosasaur tooth enamel led them to conclude that mosasaurs were endothermic, which means that they could live in waters at many different temperatures and still maintain a stable body temperature.
The researchers claim that endothermy enabled mosasaurs to live in relatively cold waters near the poles. If several mosasaur fossils have been found in areas that were near the poles during the period when mosasaurs were alive and fossils of nonendothermic marine reptiles are rare in such locations, that would support the researchers’ claim: it would show that mosasaurs inhabited polar waters but nonendothermic marine mammals tended not to, suggesting that endothermy may have been the characteristic that enabled mosasaurs to include polar waters in their range.

Choice 1 is incorrect because finding that it’s easier to determine mosasaur body temperatures from tooth enamel data than it is to determine nonendothermic reptile body temperatures wouldn’t support the researchers’ claim. Whether one research process is more difficult than another indicates nothing about the results of those processes and therefore is irrelevant to the issue of where mosasaurs lived and what enabled them to live in those locations.

Choice 2 is incorrect because finding roughly equal numbers of mosasaur and nonendothermic marine reptile fossils in areas that were near the poles in the Late Cretaceous would suggest that endothermy didn’t give mosasaurs any particular advantage when it came to expanding their range to include relatively cold polar waters, thereby weakening the researchers’ claim rather than supporting it.

Choice 4 is incorrect because finding that the temperature of seawater in the Late Cretaceous was warmer than seawater today wouldn’t weaken the researchers’ claim. Seawater in the Late Cretaceous could have been warmer than seawater today but still cold enough for endothermy to be advantageous to mosasaurs, so this finding wouldn’t provide enough information to either support or weaken the researchers’ claim.

Choice 1 is the best answer. The researchers concluded that the meteorite’s nucleobases weren’t the result of soil contamination. Presence of nucleobases in the meteorite and not in soil provides evidence that those nucleobases likely didn’t come from the soil.
Choice 2 is incorrect. This choice doesn’t justify the conclusion. The researchers concluded that the meteorite’s nucleobases weren’t the result of soil contamination. If the nucleobases are present in both the soil and meteorite, then it’s possible that these nucleobases came from the soil.
Choice 3 is incorrect. This choice misreads the table. Purine was not detected in the soil sample.
Choice 4 is incorrect. This choice misreads the table. Both isoguanine and hypoxanthine were detected in both Murchison meteorite samples.

Choice 2 is the best answer. The claim is that low anger does not negatively affect readers’ perceptions of the review, while high anger does negatively affect readers’ perceptions of the review. This choice accurately expresses the supporting data from the “helpfulness of review” part of the graph: that low-anger reviews were rated as slightly more helpful than no-anger reviews, while high-anger reviews were rated as less helpful than no-anger reviews.

Choice 1 is incorrect. This choice does not support the conclusion. The conclusion is only about how participants feel about the review itself—the participants’ ratings of the reviewed product are not relevant.
Choice 3 is incorrect. This choice does not support the conclusion. The conclusion is only about how participants feel about the review itself—the participants’ attitude towards the reviewed product is not relevant.
Choice 4 is incorrect. This choice does not support the conclusion. The conclusion is only about how participants feel about the review itself—the participants’ attitude towards the reviewed product is not relevant.

Choice 4 is the best answer. The researchers concluded that as we approach maximum plausible surface temperatures, there will be a larger percentage of sites where thermal pollution could contribute to meeting home heating needs. By showing that only a small percentage of homes can currently use thermal pollution for home heating, and that this percentage would grow much larger at maximum plausible surface temperatures, this choice supports the researchers’ conclusion.

Choice 1 is incorrect. We do not know how many sites could have all (i.e., 100%) of their local heating needs met by thermal pollution, as the graph only classifies sites by whether "0%," "Up to 25%," and "More than 25%" of heating needs could be met.

Choice 2 is incorrect. The graph is not depicting need for supplemental heating from thermal pollution, but rather potential to use thermal pollution for supplemental heating.

Choice 3 is incorrect. The graph indicates that, at current surface temperatures, less than 10% of sites can meet 25% of local home heating needs and that more than 80% of sites cannot meet any local home heating needs.

Choice 3 is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of the sweet potato in Polynesia. The text indicates that the sweet potato is found in Polynesia but originated in South America, and that the sweet potato was being cultivated by Native Hawaiians and other Indigenous peoples in Polynesia long before sea voyages between South America and Polynesia began. The text goes on to note that research by Muñoz-Rodríguez and colleagues has established that the Polynesian varieties of sweet potato split from South American varieties more than 100,000 years ago, which is thousands of years before humans settled in Polynesia. If Polynesian peoples were cultivating the sweet potato before sea voyages between Polynesia and South America began, and if Polynesian varieties of sweet potato diverged from South American varieties well before people were in Polynesia, it can reasonably be concluded that humans didn’t play a role in bringing the sweet potato to Polynesia.
Choice 1 is incorrect. The text doesn’t provide any information about when the sweet potato began to be cultivated in South America, so there’s no support for the conclusion that cultivation began in Polynesia before it began in South America.
Choice 2 is incorrect because the text indicates that the sweet potato was being cultivated in Polynesia long before sea journeys between Polynesia and South America began. Therefore, it wouldn’t be reasonable to conclude that Polynesian peoples acquired the sweet potato from South American peoples. Additionally, the text indicates that the Polynesian varieties of sweet potato diverged from the South American varieties thousands of years before people settled in Polynesia, which suggests that the sweet potato was already present in Polynesia when people arrived.
Choice 4 is incorrect because the text states that the domestic sweet potato, which is found in Polynesia, descends from a wild South American plant, not from a domesticated South American plant. The only people that the text describes as cultivating the sweet potato are Native Hawaiians and other Indigenous peoples of Polynesia.

Choice 3 is the best answer.
The text tells us that because of the copyright, adapting Sherlock Holmes stories used to be expensive and difficult. This suggests that after the copyright ends, it will be less expensive and less difficult to adapt these stories.
Choice 1 is incorrect. This inference isn’t supported. The text never suggests that the copyright ending will make Sherlock Holmes stories harder to find. Instead, it suggests that adaptations of these stories will be easier and less expensive to make.
Choice 2 is incorrect. This inference isn’t supported. The text never discusses people’s interest in detective stories, so there is no basis to make this inference.
Choice 4 is incorrect. This inference isn’t supported. The text never suggests that copyright fees from the past are returned after a copyright ends, so there is no basis to make this inference.

Choice 3 is the best answer because it presents the conclusion that most logically follows from the text’s discussion of scholars’ understanding of Maya ecology and agricultural marketplaces. The text indicates that scholars used to believe that during the Classic period, the Maya civilization didn’t have agricultural marketplaces. According to the text, scholars held this view because they misunderstood the ecology of areas where the Maya lived. The text points out that people tend to create marketplaces in order to acquire resources they don’t otherwise control. Agricultural marketplaces would have allowed farmers who produced one type of crop to trade that crop for other types of crops that they didn’t produce. The text goes on to say, however, that scholars underestimated the ecological diversity of the Maya areas, meaning that scholars thought that the Maya landscape produced a smaller range of resources than it actually produced. Taken together, then, this information suggests that scholars assumed that marketplaces wouldn’t have allowed Maya people to acquire products different from the products they already produced: that is, if everyone produced the same array of crops, as scholars mistakenly believed, then there wouldn’t have been any need for marketplaces where people could trade those crops.

Choice 1 is incorrect because the text doesn’t say anything about trade between the Maya and people from outside the regions controlled by the Maya. Although scholars’ mistaken belief that the Maya lands weren’t very ecologically diverse would give those scholars a reason to think that the Maya didn’t have marketplaces, it wouldn’t lead scholars to assume that traders from outside Maya lands were uninterested in acquiring resources produced by the Maya. Even if the Maya actually did produce only a small array of resources throughout their lands, there is no reason to believe from the text that people outside Maya lands also produced these same resources and thus would have no need to trade with the Maya people.

Choice 2 is incorrect because the text indicates that scholars underestimated the ecological diversity of the Maya lands, which suggests that they mistakenly believed that the Maya produced a relatively small array of resources throughout their territory, not that the crops the Maya produced varied significantly throughout the Maya lands. Although the scholars might have assumed that a lack of ecological diversity suggests that Maya farming practices were largely the same everywhere, the text does not support that they also assumed there was a lot of variation in the crops that Maya people produced. In fact, the text states that marketplaces emerge when people want to obtain resources they don’t already control. If it were the case that scholars assumed that the crops Maya people produced varied significantly, this would have led them to conclude that Maya people likely established marketplaces so they could trade for resources they didn’t already possess, not that the Maya civilization lacked marketplaces.

Choice 4 is incorrect because nothing in the text suggests that scholars assumed that farmers wouldn’t trade their agricultural products unless they had already met their own needs with those products. Instead, the text says that scholars thought that the Maya lands produced a smaller array of resources than they actually did, which the text suggests led scholars to assume that the Maya didn’t have any need for marketplaces. The scholars’ mistaken belief has no bearing on the issue of whether farmers met their own needs before trading their products.

Choice 2 is the best answer because it most accurately states the main idea of the text. The text indicates that dog owners typically claim that some dog breeds are “more likely than others to have particular personality traits.” In other words, the text points out that a commonly held belief about dog breeds is that their personality traits are heritable. The text then states that Kathleen Morrill and colleagues undertook research about dog trait heritability and found that “behavior varies widely among dogs of the same breed.” Because Morrill and colleagues found evidence for variability rather than consistency in the behavior of dogs of the same breed, the statement that research fails to uphold a commonly held belief about dog breeds and behavior accurately reflects the main idea of the text.

Choice 1 is incorrect. Although the text mentions that humans have long intervened in dogs’ reproduction by intentionally crossbreeding certain dogs, it doesn’t argue that such intervention is essential to the existence of dog breeds.

Choice 3 is incorrect because the text doesn’t discuss the popularity of any dog breeds; breeds are mentioned as having certain traits, but the text says nothing about the popularity of these breeds or traits.

Choice 4 is incorrect. Although the text briefly mentions that Morrill and colleagues conducted a study about dog traits using both surveys and DNA sequencing, this is not the main focus of the text. The text concerns the study’s results about the heritability of dog traits, not the particular methodology used by Morrill and colleagues.

Choice 4 is the best answer. This finding, if true, would support the archaeologists’ conclusion. Dense central settlements linked to smaller ones would provide evidence of cities and suburbs—in other words, “a form of urbanism.”

Choice 1 is incorrect. This finding, if true, would weaken the archaeologists’ conclusion. Widely separated, small settlements with jungle in between would support the long-held belief that the Casarabe culture “was characterized by a sparse, widely distributed population and little intervention in the surrounding wilderness.”
Choice 2 is incorrect. This choice wouldn’t support the researchers’ conclusion. These large cities are located outside Casarabe territory, which doesn’t show evidence of Casarabe urbanism.
Choice 3 is incorrect. This finding wouldn’t support the archaeologists’ conclusion. Scattered small farms in jungle clearings are not good evidence to support the existence of cities (“a form of urbanism”).

Choice 2 is the best answer. It best states the main idea of the text. The text opens with the statement that Taylor uses local plants and vegetables to dye wool. The rest of the text describes how she does this.

Choice 1 is incorrect. This doesn’t state the main idea of the text. The text only mentions one rug: In the Path of the Four Seasons, in which reds and browns are featured. It never mentions whether or not these colors are featured in her other rugs.
Choice 3 is incorrect. This doesn’t state the main idea of the text. The text never says that Taylor finds it difficult to locate Arizona dock roots.
Choice 4 is incorrect. This doesn’t state the main idea of the text. The text never says that In the Path of the Four Seasons is widely acclaimed. Rather, it discusses the rug to illustrate the point made earlier in the passage: that Taylor uses local plants and vegetables to dye wool.

Choice 1 is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of Euro-American farmers’ use of Haudenosaunee agricultural techniques. According to the text, some Euro-American farmers were using these techniques in the early nineteenth century despite few of the farmers having seen Haudenosaunee farms. One explanation for these facts might be that the farmers developed techniques on their own that already had been invented centuries earlier by the Haudenosaunee people, but the text explicitly bars, or rules out, this explanation. If Euro-American farmers didn’t learn these techniques from direct observation of Haudenosaunee practices and didn’t invent the techniques independently, then the most logical explanation is that they learned the techniques from other people who were more directly influenced by Haudenosaunee practices than the farmers themselves were. Once they learned about Haudenosaunee agricultural practices, Euro-American farmers could then apply those practices to their own farming.

Choice 2 is incorrect because the fact that some Euro-American farmers in the northeastern United States were using Haudenosaunee techniques suggests that the techniques were likely useful for the crops the farmers raised, not that the crops typically cultivated by the farmers were not well suited to Haudenosaunee farming techniques. If the farmers’ crops were ill suited to the techniques, it’s unlikely that the farmers would have used those techniques.
Choice 3 is incorrect because the text indicates only that Haudenosaunee agricultural techniques were used by Euro-American farmers in the northeastern United States, not that these techniques were widely used outside this region.
Choice 4 is incorrect because the text states that some Euro-American farmers were using Haudenosaunee farming techniques early in the nineteenth century. This suggests that some Euro-American farmers were beginning to recognize the benefits of these techniques near the start of the century, not that such farmers only began to recognize the benefits of the techniques much later.

• Choice D is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of the location of the province of Xoconochco within the Aztec Empire. As used in this context, “peripheral” means situated toward the outer bounds rather than the center. The text indicates that Xoconochco was located on a coast, hundreds of kilometers away from the capital of the Aztec Empire. The text also states that trade between the province and the capital required “a long overland journey.” This context suggests that Xoconochco was situated toward an edge of the empire’s territory rather than near its center.
• Choice A is incorrect because it wouldn’t make sense in context to refer to Xoconochco’s location within the Aztec Empire as “unobtrusive,” or not blatant or undesirably prominent; it’s not clear how a province’s physical location would or wouldn’t be blatant. Instead of focusing on how noticeable Xoconochco’s location was, the text emphasizes the province’s distance from the capital of the empire, pointing out that because of this distance trade between the two required “a long overland journey.”
• Choice B is incorrect because the text indicates that the province of Xoconochco was located on a coast far from the capital of the Aztec Empire, not that it was “concealed,” or kept out of sight or hidden from view. Nothing in the text suggests that Xoconochco was actually hidden such that people couldn’t see it, and being hidden wouldn’t necessarily result in trade between the province and the capital requiring “a long overland journey.”
• Choice C is incorrect because to say that Xoconochco’s location within the Aztec Empire was “approximate” would mean that the location either wasn’t precisely correct or was close to some other location. Neither of these meanings would make sense in context because the text indicates that Xoconochco’s location is known and that it was far from the empire’s capital, so there’s no reason to characterize the location as either not precisely correct or close to another location.

• Choice A is the best answer because it presents the quotation that most directly illustrates the claim that Cather portrays Alexandra as having a deep emotional connection to her natural surroundings. This quotation states that the country meant a great deal to Alexandra and then goes on to detail several ways in which her natural surroundings affect her emotionally: the insects sound like “the sweetest music,” she feels as though “her heart were hiding” in the grass “with the quail and the plover,” and near the ridges she feels “the future stirring.”
• Choice B is incorrect because the quotation doesn’t suggest that Alexandra had a deep emotional connection to her natural surroundings but instead describes how she interacts with the people around her to learn more about crops, poultry, and experiments with clover hay.
• Choice C is incorrect because the quotation doesn’t suggest that Alexandra has a deep emotional connection to her natural surroundings but instead describes her nighttime departure in a wagon. The quotation says nothing about Alexandra’s emotional state.
• Choice D is incorrect because the quotation doesn’t convey Alexandra’s deep emotional connection to her natural surroundings; instead, this quotation describes how well she understands the markets and livestock.

• Choice A is the best answer because it presents the conclusion that most logically follows from the text’s discussion of military veterans working in civilian government jobs in the United States. The text indicates that the proportion of military veterans working in civilian government jobs is considerably higher than the proportion of military veterans in the population as a whole. The text also notes that the unusually high representation of military veterans in these jobs may be a result of the organizational structures shared by civilian government entities and the military. Hence, it’s reasonable to infer that it’s the familiarity of the structures of civilian government that makes jobs there particularly attractive to military veterans.
• Choice B is incorrect because the text doesn’t address what a typical relationship between military service and later career preferences would be, and there’s no indication that it’s atypical for veterans to work in civilian government jobs after they’ve left the military. On the contrary, the text suggests that many military veterans are drawn to such jobs.
• Choice C is incorrect because the text is focused on the high representation of military veterans in civilian government jobs and doesn’t address nonveterans or their possible interest in military service.
• Choice D is incorrect because the text conveys that military veterans may be particularly interested in civilian government jobs due to the familiarity of organizational structures that are already in place, but there’s no reason to think that this interest would mean that more civilian government jobs will start to require military experience

• Choice C is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of Annie Dodge Wauneka’s work as a Navajo Nation legislator. As used in this context, “persistent” means existing continuously. The text states that Wauneka “continuously worked to promote public health,” traveling extensively and authoring a medical dictionary; this indicates that Wauneka’s effort was persistent.
• Choice A is incorrect because describing Wauneka’s effort related to public health as “impartial,” or not partial or biased and treating all things equally, wouldn’t make sense in context. The text suggests that Wauneka’s continuous work was partial in one way, as she focused specifically on promoting public health throughout the Navajo homeland and to speakers of the Navajo language.
• Choice B is incorrect because the text emphasizes that Wauneka’s effort to promote public health as a Navajo Nation legislator was continuous and extensive, involving wide travels and the authoring of a medical dictionary. Because this work clearly involved care and dedication, it wouldn’t make sense to describe it as “offhand,” or casual and informal.
• Choice D is incorrect because nothing in the text suggests that Wauneka’s effort to promote public health was “mandatory,” or required by law or rule, even though Wauneka was a Navajo Nation legislator. Rather than suggesting that Wauneka’s effort was required for any reason, the text emphasizes the continuous and extensive nature of her work.

• Choice C is the best answer. The conventions being tested are punctuation use between titles and proper nouns and between verbs and integrated quotations. No punctuation is needed to set off the proper noun “Stina Chyn” from the title that describes Chyn, “critic.” Because “Stina Chyn” is essential information identifying the “critic,” no punctuation is necessary. Further, no punctuation is needed between the verb “claims” and the following quotation because the quotation is integrated into the structure of the sentence.
• Choice A is incorrect because no punctuation is needed before or after the proper noun “Stina Chyn.” Setting the critic’s name off with commas suggests that it could be removed without affecting the coherence of the sentence, which isn’t the case.
• Choice B is incorrect because no punctuation is needed before or after the proper noun “Stina Chyn.” Setting the critic’s name off with commas suggests that it could be removed without affecting the coherence of the sentence, which isn’t the case. Additionally, no punctuation is needed between “claims” and the integrated quotation.
• Choice D is incorrect because no punctuation is needed between the verb “claims” and its subject, “critic Stina Chyn.” Additionally, no punctuation is needed between the verb “claims” and the integrated quotation.

• Choice D is the best answer. “For example” logically signals that the information in this sentence—that The Emperor’s Babe is a novel conveyed in lines of poetry—exemplifies the claim in the previous sentence about hybrid works that incorporate elements of both novels and poems.
• Choice A is incorrect because “by contrast” illogically signals that the information in this sentence contrasts with the claim about hybrid works in the previous sentence. Instead, the information demonstrates that Evaristo’s novel is an example of a hybrid work.
• Choice B is incorrect because “consequently” illogically signals that the information in this sentence is a consequence, or result, of the claim about hybrid works in the previous sentence. Instead, the information demonstrates that Evaristo’s novel is an example of a hybrid work.
• Choice C is incorrect because “secondly” illogically signals that the information in this sentence is a second, separate claim from the previous sentence’s claim about hybrid works. Instead, the information demonstrates that Evaristo’s novel is an example of a hybrid work.

• Choice C is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of John Ashbery’s poems. As used in this context, “interpret” would mean decipher the meaning of. The text indicates that Ashbery’s poems have many unusual features, that it’s difficult to tell what exactly the poems’ subject matter is, and that scholars strongly disagree about the poems. This context conveys the idea that it’s difficult to interpret Ashbery’s poems.
• Choice A is incorrect because “delegate” means to assign someone as a representative of another person or to entrust something to someone else, neither of which would make sense in context. The text is focused only on the difficulty that readers have interpreting Ashbery’s poems due to their many unusual features; it doesn’t suggest anything about the poems being difficult to delegate.
• Choice B is incorrect because describing Ashbery’s poems as difficult to “compose,” or put together or produce, would make sense only if the text were about Ashbery’s experience of writing the poems. It could be true that it was difficult for Ashbery to compose his poems, but the text doesn’t address this; it instead discusses how readers interpret and engage with the poems.
• Choice D is incorrect because describing Ashbery’s poems as being difficult to “renounce,” or give up or refuse, wouldn’t make sense in context. The text focuses on the idea that features of Ashbery’s poems are odd or unclear and have caused heated scholarly debate. This context suggests that the poems are difficult to interpret, not that the poems are difficult to renounce.

• Choice A is the best answer because it best states the main idea of the text. According to the text, jalis’ traditional role has been to maintain information about families’ histories and significant events. The text goes on to say that although technological changes have altered jalis’ role somewhat, jalis are still valued for preserving the histories of their communities.
• Choice B is incorrect because the text says nothing about jalis’ views of the various tasks they perform. There is no information to support the idea that many jalis prefer teaching to other tasks.
• Choice C is incorrect because the text doesn’t describe jalis as being sources of entertainment. Rather, jalis are presented as valued sources of knowledge. Additionally, the text gives no indication of how long jalis have been serving their communities.
• Choice D is incorrect because the main focus of the text is on jalis’ role and their continued value despite the effects of technology, not on what technology can now do. Although the text indicates that jalis’ role has changed as a result of technological changes, the text doesn’t present any specific information about technology performing tasks that jalis once performed.

• Choice A is the best answer because it presents the conclusion that most logically follows from the text’s discussion of the study of capuchin monkeys’ cognitive abilities. The text explains that the study failed to distinguish between outcomes for the tasks performed by the capuchin monkeys, such that simpler tasks requiring less dexterity, or skill, were judged by the same criteria as tasks that demanded more dexterity. Because the study didn’t account for this discrepancy, the researchers might have assumed that observed differences in performance were due to the abilities of the monkeys rather than the complexity of the tasks. In other words, the results may suggest cognitive differences among the monkeys even though such differences may not really exist.
• Choice B is incorrect because the text focuses on the fact that the tasks assigned to the capuchin monkeys in the study varied in difficulty and that the variety wasn’t taken into consideration. The text doesn’t suggest that the capuchin monkeys couldn’t perform certain tasks, just that some tasks were more difficult to do.
• Choice C is incorrect because the text doesn’t suggest that the study’s results are indicative of the abilities of capuchin monkeys but not of other monkey species; in fact, the text suggests that the results may not even be an accurate reflection of capuchin monkeys’ abilities.
• Choice D is incorrect because the text doesn’t indicate that the researchers compared results for artificial tasks with those for tasks encountered in the wild, although the tasks described in the text— sliding a panel and putting a straw in a bottle—are presumably artificial.

• Choice C is the best answer because it most accurately describes the overall structure of the text. Throughout the text, the speaker characterizes nighttime as if it were a person who wears clothing (“a garment” that is “velvet soft” and “violet blue”) and a veil “over her face” and who moves her hands “slowly with their gemstarred light” through her dark hair. Thus, the text is structured as an extended comparison of night to a human being.
• Choice A is incorrect because the text never mentions any particular location; instead, it focuses on presenting a single description of night as a person with certain clothing and features.
• Choice B is incorrect because the text doesn’t make any reference to the sun or sunrise; instead, it focuses on presenting a single image of night as a person with certain clothing and features
• Choice D is incorrect. Rather than describing how nighttime changes seasonally (or in any other way), the text presents a single image of night as a person with certain clothing and features.

• Choice B is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of bronze- and brass-casting techniques used by the Igun Eronmwon guild. In this context “adhere to” would mean to act in accordance with. The text states that although members of the Igun Eronmwon guild typically do something with techniques that have been passed down since the thirteenth century, they “don’t strictly observe every tradition.” By establishing a contrast with not always following traditions, the context suggests that guild members do typically adhere to traditional techniques.
• Choice A is incorrect because in this context “experiment with” would mean to do something new with. Although using motors rather than manual bellows is presented as a new approach, the text establishes a contrast between what the guild members typically do with techniques that have been passed down over centuries and the idea that the members “don’t strictly observe every tradition.” The phrase “experiment with” wouldn’t support the contrast because regularly trying new things with the techniques would be an example of not strictly following all traditions.
• Choice C is incorrect because in this context “improve on” would mean to make better. Although using motors rather than manual bellows might be an improved approach, the text establishes a contrast between what the guild members typically do with techniques that have been passed down over centuries and the idea that the members “don’t strictly observe every tradition.” The phrase “improve on” wouldn’t support the contrast because regularly making changes to the techniques would be an example of not strictly following all traditions.
• Choice D is incorrect because in this context “grapple with” would mean to try hard to solve a difficult problem. Although bronze- and brass-casting are likely challenging tasks, nothing in the text suggests that the guild members have any particular difficulties with the techniques passed down since the thirteenth century.

• Choice A is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of finite and nonfinite verb forms within a sentence. Relative clauses, such as the one beginning with “which,” require a finite verb, a verb that can function as the main verb of a clause. This choice correctly supplies the clause with the finite past tense verb “provided.”
• Choice B is incorrect because the nonfinite participle “having provided” doesn’t supply the clause with a finite verb.
• Choice C is incorrect because the nonfinite to-infinitive “to provide” doesn’t supply the clause with a finite verb.
• Choice D is incorrect because the nonfinite participle “providing” doesn’t supply the clause with a finite verb.

Choice B is the correct answer. Of the choices given, only the scatterplots in A and B show a negative association between variables x and y, and of these two associations, the one depicted in choice B is not linear. Choice A is incorrect. The association depicted in this scatterplot is negative, but it can also be linear. Choice C is incorrect. The association depicted in this scatterplot is not linear. However, for x greater than 10, the association between x and y is positive. Choice D is incorrect. There is no clear association between x and y in this scatterplot.

Choice B is correct. The graph of y = (x − 6)(x + 12) is a parabola that opens upward and has a vertical axis of symmetry. The vertex of the parabola lies on this axis of symmetry, and the x-intercepts of the parabola are equidistant from the axis of symmetry. Since the equation y = (x − 6)(x + 12) is in factored form, the x-intercepts of its graph are (6, 0) and (−12, 0). Therefore, the axis of symmetry is the line or x = −3. Because the vertex lies on the line x = −3, the x-coordinate of the vertex must also be x = −3.
Choices A, C, and D are incorrect and may result from misunderstanding the relationship between the given equation and the x-intercepts of the parabola as well as the relationship between the x-intercepts of the parabola and the x-coordinate of the parabola’s vertex. For example, choice C may result from mistakenly taking the x-intercepts of the graph of y = (x − 6)(x + 12) as (−6, 0) and (12, 0) instead of as (6, 0) and (−12, 0).

Notice that the numerator and denominator in have a common factor of 4, which can be “canceled” to yield The two rational expressions now have a common denominator, so combining them is straightforward:

We now have an expression in the form ax + b/ax - b, where a = 2 and b = 1, so a + b = 3.

First, we should notice the fact that n + 8 must be greater than n + 2, no matter the value of n. Next, we should notice that, in order for the product of two numbers to be negative, one of those numbers must be positive and the other one negative. Obviously, the greater number is the positive one, and the lesser one is the negative one. Therefore: n + 2 < 0 and n + 8 > 0
Solve each inequality for n: n < -2 and n > -8
Since n must have an integer value and must satisfy the inequalities above, it can take only the values -7, -6, -5, -4, and -3.

Since Maria accounted for 25% of the total sales, she accounted for (0.25)($24,000) = $6,000 in sales. If she earned 15% commission for all sales, she earned (0.15)($6,000) = $900 in commissions. If Georgia earns 10% in commissions, she earned (0.10)($5,000) = $500. Therefore, Maria earned $900 - $500 = $400 more in commissions that Georgia did.

In quadrant I, both the x- and y-coordinates are positive. Since y = 4 in all four systems, we simply need to find the system for which the x-coordinate of the solution is not positive. We can find the corresponding x-coordinate for each system by just substituting y = 4 and solving for x. Substitute y = 4 into first equation in (A): 3x + 5(4) = 15
Simplify: 3x + 20 = 15
Subtract 20: 3x = -5
Divide by 3: x = -5/3
In this case, we don't need to go any further, because the solution to the system in (A) is (-5/3, 4), which is in quadrant II, not quadrant I.