1.

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% 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 ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the assertion?

A. less than 20% urban in 1970 to more than 50% urban in 2020.
B. less than 40% urban in 1970 to around 90% urban in 2020.
C. around 40% urban in 1970 to more than 70% urban in 2020.
D. around 50% urban in 1970 to around 90% urban in 2020.
2

Investigative journalists research and report about fraud, corruption, public hazards, and more.
The graph shows the number of investigative articles published in the Albuquerque Journal
newspaper from 2010 to 2019. According to an analyst, although the number of investigative
articles published in this newspaper has varied significantly over the period shown, the number
overall has fallen since 2010.

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to justify the underlined claim?

A. The newspaper published approximately 1,000 investigative articles in 2010 and

approximately 500 in 2019.
B. The smallest annual number of investigative articles published in the newspaper during the
period shown is approximately 1,600 in 2013.
C. The greatest annual number of investigative articles published in the newspaper during the
period shown is approximately 1,000 in 2017.
D. The newspaper published approximately 1,000 investigative articles in 2010 and
approximately 1,600 in 2013.
3

Correlations Between Congestion Ratings and Features of the Crowd in Raters' Immediate
Vicinity

Researcher Xiaolu Jia and colleagues monitored individuals' velocity and the surrounding crowd
density as a group of study participants walked through a space and navigated around an
obstacle. Participants rated how congested it seemed before the obstacle, after the obstacle,
and overall, and the researchers correlated those ratings with velocity and density. (Correlations
range from ?1 to 1, with greater distance from 0 indicating greater strength). The researchers
concluded that the correlations with velocity are stronger than those with density.

Which choice best describes data from the table that support the researchers' conclusion?

A. The correlation between congestion ratings before the obstacle and density is further from 0
than the correlation between overall congestion rating and velocity is.
B. The correlation between congestion ratings before the obstacle and velocity is further from 0
than the correlation between congestion overall and velocity is.
C. For each of the three ratings, the correlation with velocity is negative while the correlation
with density is positive.
D. For each of the three ratings, correlations with velocity are further from 0 than the
corresponding correlations with density are.
4

Average Nitrate and Phosphate Concentrations in Seawater after Volcanic Eruption

After a volcanic eruption spilled lava into North Pacific Ocean waters, a dramatic increase of
diatoms (a kind of phytoplankton) near the surface occurred. Scientists assumed the diatoms
were thriving on nutrients such as phosphate from the lava, but analysis showed these nutrients
weren't present near the surface in forms diatoms can consume. However, there was an
abundance of usable nitrate, a nutrient usually found in much deeper water and almost never
found in lava. Microbial oceanographer Sonya Dyhrman and colleagues believe that as the lava
plunged nearly 300 meters below the surface it dislodged pockets of this nutrient, releasing it to
float upward, given that ______

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

A. at 5–45 meters below the surface, the average concentration of phosphate was about the
same in the seawater in the lava-affected area as in the seawater outside of the lava-affected
area.
B. for both depth ranges measured, the average concentrations of nitrate were substantially
higher in the seawater in the lava-affected area than in the seawater outside of the lava-affected
area.
C. for both depth ranges measured in the seawater in the lava-affected area, the average
concentrations of nitrate were substantially higher than the average concentrations of
phosphate.
D. in the seawater outside of the lava-affected area, there was little change in the average
concentration of nitrate from 75–125 meters below the surface to 5–45 meters below the
surface.

Comfort Ratings and Temperature-Adjustment Preferences from One Survey

Nan Gao and her team conducted multiple surveys to determine participants' levels of comfort
in a room where the temperature was regulated by a commercial climate control system.
Participants filled out surveys several times a day to indicate their level of comfort on a scale
from ?3 (very cold) to +3 (very hot), with 0 indicating neutral (neither warm nor cool), and to
indicate how they would prefer the temperature to be adjusted. The table shows three
participants' responses in one of the surveys. According to the table, all three participants
wanted the room to be cooler, ______

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

A. and they each reported the same level of comfort.

B. even though each participant's ratings varied throughout the day.
C. but participant 20 reported feeling significantly colder than the other two participants did.
D. but participant 1 reported feeling warmer than the other two participants did.
6

Distribution of Ecosystem Services Affected by Invasive Species by Service Type

To assess the impact of invasive species on ecosystems in Africa, Benis N. Egoh and colleagues
reviewed government reports from those nations about how invasive species are undermining
ecosystem services (aspects of the ecosystem on which residents depend). The services were
sorted into three categories: provisioning (material resources from the ecosystem), regulating
(natural processes such as cleaning the air or water), and cultural (nonmaterial benefits of
ecosystems). Egoh and her team assert that countries in each region reported effects on
provisioning services and that provisioning services represent the majority of the reported
services.

Which choice best describes data from the table that support Egoh and colleagues' assertion?

A. Provisioning services represent 73% of the services reported for the West region and 33% of
those for the Central region, but they represent 75% of the services reported overall.
B. None of the percentages shown for provisioning services are lower than 33%, and the overall
percentage shown for provisioning services is 75%.
C. Provisioning services are shown for each region, while no cultural services are shown for some
regions.
D. The greatest percentage shown for provisioning services is 88% for the North region, and the
least shown for provisioning services is 33% for the Central region.www.cracksat.net
7. Central ideas

Many intellectual histories of the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s rely heavily on
essays and other explicitly ideological works as primary sources, a tendency that can
overrepresent the perspectives of a small number of thinkers, most of whom were male.
Historian Ashley D. Farmer has shown that expanding the array of primary sources to encompass
more types of print material—including political cartoons, advertisements, and artwork—leads
to a much better understanding of the movement and the crucial and diverse roles that Black
women played in shaping it.

Which choice best describes the main idea of the text?

A. Before Farmer's research, historians had largely ignored the intellectual dimensions of the
Black Power movement.
B. Farmer's methods and research have enriched the historical understanding of the Black Power
movement and Black women's contributions to it.
C. Other historians of the Black Power movement have criticized Farmer's use of unconventional
primary sources.
D. The figures in the Black Power movement whom historians tend to cite would have agreed
with Farmer's conclusions about women's roles in the movement.
8

The following text is adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island. Bill is a
sailor staying at the Admiral Benbow, an inn run by the narrator's parents.

Every day when [Bill] came back from his stroll he would ask if any seafaring men had gone by
along the road. At first we thought it was the want of company of his own kind that made him
ask this question, but at last we began to see he was desirous to avoid them. When a seaman
did [stay] at the Admiral Benbow (as now and then some did) he would look in at him through
the curtained door before he entered the parlour; and he was always sure to be as silent as a
mouse when any such was present.

According to the text, why does Bill regularly ask about "seafaring men"?

A. He isn't sure that other guests at the inn will be welcoming of sailors.
B. He's trying to secure a job as part of the crew on a new ship.
C. He's hoping to find an old friend and fellow sailor.
D. He doesn't want to encounter any other sailor unexpectedly.
9
In a paper about p-i-n planar perovskite solar cells (one of several perovskite cell architectures
designed to collect and store solar power), Lyndsey McMillon-Brown et al. describe a method for
fabricating the cell's electronic transport layer (ETL) using a spray coating. Conventional ETL
fabrication is accomplished using a solution of nanoparticles. The process can result in a loss of
up to 80% of the solution, increasing the cost of manufacturing at scale—an issue that may be
obviated by spray coating fabrication, which the researchers describe as "highly reproducible,
concise, and practical."

What does the text most strongly suggest about conventional ETL fabrication?

A. It typically entails a greater loss of nanoparticle solution than do other established

approaches for ETL fabrication.
B. It is less suitable for manufacturing large volumes of planar p-i-n perovskite solar cells than an
alternative fabrication method may be.
C. It is somewhat imprecise and therefore limits the potential effectiveness of p-i-n planar
perovskite solar cells at capturing and storing solar power.
D. It is more expensive when manufacturing at scale than are processes for fabricating ETLs used
in other perovskite solar cell architectures.
10

In many of his sculptures, artist Richard Hunt uses broad forms rather than extreme accuracy to
hint at specific people or ideas. In his first major work, Arachne (1956), Hunt constructed the
mythical character Arachne, a weaver who was changed into a spider, by welding bits of steel
together into something that, although vaguely human, is strange and machine-like. And his
large bronze sculpture The Light of Truth (2021) commemorates activist and journalist Ida B.
Wells using mainly flowing, curved pieces of metal that create stylized flame.

Which choice best states the text's main idea about Hunt?

A. He often depicts the subjects of his sculptures using an unrealistic style.

B. He uses different kinds of materials depending on what kind of sculpture he plans to create.
C. He tends to base his art on important historical figures rather than on fictional characters.
D. He has altered his approach to sculpture over time, and his works have become increasingly
abstract.
11

The following text is from Edith Nesbit's 1902 novel Five Children and It. Five young siblings
have just moved with their parents from London to a house in the countryside that they call the
White House.

It was not really a pretty house at all; it was quite ordinary, and mother thought it was rather
inconvenient, and was quite annoyed at there being no shelves, to speak of, and hardly a
cupboard in the place. Father used to say that the ironwork on the roof and coping was like an
architect's nightmare. But the house was deep in the country, with no other house in sight, and
the children had been in London for two years, without so much as once going to the seaside
even for a day by an excursion train, and so the White House seemed to them a sort of Fairy
Palace set down in an Earthly Paradise.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

A. The house is beautiful and well built, but the children miss their old home in London.
B. The children don't like the house nearly as much as their parents do.
C. Each member of the family admires a different characteristic of the house.
D. Although their parents believe the house has several drawbacks, the children are enchanted
by it.
12

The following text is adapted from María 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.
13

To protect themselves when being attacked, hagfish—jawless marine animals that resemble eels
—will release large quantities of slimy, mucus-like threads. Because these threads are unusually
strong and elastic, scientist Atsuko Negishi and her colleagues have been trying to recreate
them in a lab as an eco-friendly alternative to petroleum-based fibers that are often used in
fabrics. The researchers want to reproduce the threads in the lab because farming hagfish for
their slime would be expensive and potentially harmful to the hagfish.

Which choice best states the text's main idea?

A. Hagfish are not well suited to being raised in captivity.
B. The ability of hagfish to slime their attackers compensates for their being jawless.
C. Hagfish have inspired researchers to develop a new petroleum-based fabric.
D. The slimy threads that hagfish release might help researchers create a new kind of fabric.

14. Inferences

Adaptations to cold temperatures have high metabolic costs. It is expensive, in terms of energy
use, for land plants and animals to withstand very cold temperatures, and it gets more expensive
the colder it gets, which means that the lower the air temperature, the fewer species have
evolved to survive it. This factor, in conjunction with the decline in air temperature with
increasing elevation, explains the distribution of species diversity in mountain ecosystems: you
find fewer species high up a mountain than at the mountain's base because ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. there are relatively few environments hospitable to species that are adapted to live in low air
temperatures.
B. there are relatively few species with the adaptations necessary to tolerate the temperatures at
high elevations.
C. adaptations that allow plants and animals to survive in rocky environments are metabolically
costly.
D. some mountain environments are at elevations so high that no plants or animals can survive
them.
15

Many animals, including humans, must sleep, and sleep is known to have a role in everything
from healing injuries to encoding information in long-term memory. But some scientists claim
that, from an evolutionary standpoint, deep sleep for hours at a time leaves an animal so
vulnerable that the known benefits of sleeping seem insufficient to explain why it became so
widespread in the animal kingdom. These scientists therefore imply that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. it is more important to understand how widespread prolonged deep sleep is than to

understand its function.
B. prolonged deep sleep is likely advantageous in ways that have yet to be discovered.
C. many traits that provide significant benefits for an animal also likely pose risks to that animal.
D. most traits perform functions that are hard to understand from an evolutionary standpoint.
16
Companies whose products are similar to competing products often pursue a marketing
strategy of brand differentiation, trying to get consumers to associate their brand with unique
attributes (e.g., to think of their brand of rice as the healthy brand, when in fact there is little
difference among brands of the same type of rice). Jaywant Singh and Francesca Dall'Olmo Riley
investigated consumer perceptions of such products, finding that consumers view competing
brands as having largely the same attributes and that any differences in the strength of
consumers' associations of brands with attributes are explained by differences in market share—
the more popular a brand is, the stronger people's associations with it are—suggesting that
______

17

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. consumers tend to perceive products with high market share more positively than they
perceive products with low market share.
B. marketing aimed at brand differentiation influences consumers' perceptions of branded
products but not consumers' purchasing behavior.
C. marketing efforts focused on brand differentiation do not have much effect on consumers'
perceptions of branded products' attributes.
D. differences in consumers' perceptions of products' attributes are less influenced by brand
differentiation than by actual differences between products.
18

Biologist Natacha Bodenhausen and colleagues analyzed the naturally occurring bacterial
communities associated with leaves and roots of wild Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering
plant. The researchers found many of the same bacterial genera in both the plants' leaves and
roots. To explain this, the researchers pointed to the general proximity of A. thaliana leaves to
the ground and noted that rain splashing off soil could bring soil-based bacteria into contact
with the leaves. Alternatively, the researchers noted that wind, which may be a source of bacteria
in the aboveground portion of plants, could also bring bacteria to the soil and roots. Either
explanation suggests that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. A. thaliana leaves and roots are especially vulnerable to harmful bacteria.

B. bacteria carried by wind are typically less beneficial to A. thaliana than soil-based bacteria are.
C. many bacteria in A. thaliana leaves may have been deposited by means other than rain.
D. some bacteria in A. thaliana leaves and roots may share a common source.
19
Arthur Conan Doyle's stories about detective Sherlock Holmes were published between 1887
and 1927. They have inspired countless successful adaptations, including comic strips, movies,
and a television series Sherlock Hound, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who is celebrated for his
animated movies. Until 2014, these stories were copyrighted. The right to adapt was only
available to those who could afford the copyright fee and gain approval from the strict copyright
holders of Doyle's estate. Some journalists predict that the number of Sherlock Holmes
adaptations is likely to increase since the end of copyright means that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. producing adaptations will become easier and less expensive.

B. people will become more interested in detective stories than they were in the 1800s.
C. the former copyright holders of Doyle's estate will return fees they collected.
D. Doyle's original stories will become hard to find.
20

Tides can deposit large quantities of dead vegetation within a salt marsh, smothering healthy
plants and leaving a salt panne—a depression devoid of plants that tends to trap standing water
—in the marsh's interior. Ecologist Kathryn Beheshti and colleagues found that burrowing crabs
living within these pannes improve drainage by loosening the soil, leading the pannes to shrink
as marsh plants move back in. At salt marsh edges, however, crab-induced soil loosening can
promote marsh loss by accelerating erosion, suggesting that the burrowing 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.
21

In her 2021 article "Throwaway History: Towards a Historiography of Ephemera," scholar Anne
Garner discusses John Johnson (1882–1956), a devoted collector of items intended to be
discarded, including bus tickets and campaign pamphlets. Johnson recognized that scholarly
institutions considered his expansive collection of ephemera to be worthless—indeed, it wasn't
until 1968, after Johnson's death, that Oxford University's Bodleian Library acquired the
collection, having grasped the items' potential value to historians and other researchers. Hence,
the example of Johnson serves to ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

A. represent the challenge of incorporating examples of ephemera into the collections of

libraries and other scholarly institutions.
B. illustrate both the relatively low scholarly regard in which ephemera was once held and the
later recognition of ephemera's possible utility.
C. lend support to arguments by historians and other researchers who continue to assert that
ephemera holds no value for scholars.
D. demonstrate the difficulties faced by contemporary historians in conducting research at the
Bodleian Library without access to ephemera.

The End