2/28/24
Researchers have long believed that planets form in the disc of gas and dust encircling a young star, but the discovery of planets that are very different from our own may have the potential of turning this theory of solar system formation upside down.
A. NO CHANGE
B. in turning
C. for turning
D. to turn
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2/27/24
Bar-tailed godwits have migrated 6,000 miles from Alaska to New Zealand for thousands of years, but a clear picture of their travels have emerged only recently. Today, researchers are beginning to uncover the secrets behind these birds’ remarkable journeys.
A. NO CHANGE
B. has emerged
C. emerge
D. emerging
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2/26/24
Take a look at some of the flowers photographed by Carol Sharp, and you might feel as if you’ve suddenly been transported into an alien world. In Sharps’ pictures, pigmented petals contrast starkly with a black background, while specks of light scatter across the blossoms.
A. NO CHANGE
B. Sharp’s
C. Sharps’s
D. Sharps
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2/25/24
Formed by volatile chemical compounds that rapidly disintegrate, odors are often fleeting and rapidly disappear, remaining only in people’s memories.
A. NO CHANGE
B. fleeting, disappearing rapidly,
C. fleeting so that they disappear rapidly,
D. fleeting,
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2/24/24
In 1610, the year Galileo began viewing the sky through the lens of a telescope, he had become the first person to observe Saturn’s rings directly.
A. NO CHANGE
B. has become
C. would become
D. became
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2/23/24
Because fairs often attracted large and uncontrollable crowds, permission to hold one could only be granted by royal charter during the Middle Ages.
(A) NO CHANGE
(B) Because they often attracted large and uncontrollable crowds, permission to hold a fair could only be granted by royal charter during the Middle Ages.
(C) Having often attracted large and uncontrollable crowds, it could only be permitted for a fair to be held by royal charter during the Middle Ages.
(D) Often attracting large and uncontrollable crowds, during the Middle Ages fairs could only be permitted by royal charter.
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2/22/24
In the last few years, some towns in Iceland, India and China have experimented with “floating” cross walks. They rely on three-dimensional optical illusions for their effectiveness, they make the crossings appear to be floating above the ground, thus causing drivers to slow down.
A. NO CHANGE
B. Relying on
C. These rely on
D. Although they rely on
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2/21/24
If you had stepped off a plane in Bogota, Colombia, in the 1960s, one of the first things you would of probably saw outside the airport was a giant billboard. In a slightly menacing tone, it said, “Coffee rust is the enemy. Don’t bring plant materials from abroad.”
A. NO CHANGE
B. would of probably seen
C. would have probably saw
D. would have probably seen
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2/20/24
Enabling workers as well as pedestrians to walk in climate-controlled comfort even when temperatures drop well below zero, and the Minneapolis Skyway System is an interlinked collection of enclosed footbridges that connect various buildings over 11 miles of downtown Minneapolis.
A. NO CHANGE
B. zero, but the Minneapolis Skyway System
C. zero, the Minneapolis Skyway System, which
D. zero, the Minneapolis Skyway System
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2/19/24
Cheetahs are known for their impressive running speeds, which can reach more than 60 miles per hour. Lions are more powerful. However, they are not nearly as fast on their feet.
Which of the following would NOT be an acceptable alternative to the underlined portion?
A. powerful, but they are
B. powerful; they are, however,
C. powerful but
D. powerful, but are
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2/18/24
The “Ring of Fire” is a string of volcanoes, earthquake sites, and tectonic plates around the Pacific. It spreads across 25,000 miles, from the southern tip of South America all the way to New Zealand. Roughly 90% of all earthquakes occur in the ring, with the majority of those quakes resulting from a small number of locations where plates are exceptionally active.
A. NO CHANGE
B. along with
C. in addition to
D. and
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2/17/24
At least in moderate amounts, stress may not be as harmful as we think. In fact, research suggests that people who view stress as a form of motivation perform better under pressure and have less health complaints than those who view stress as debilitating.
A. NO CHANGE
B. less health complaints then
C. fewer health complaints than
D. fewer health complaints then
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2/16/24
In a downtown park in the city of Kumamoto on Kyushu, the southwestern-most of Japan’s main islands, a group of locals can be found trying consistently to complete what could be called the world’s hardest jigsaw puzzle. It’s a problem so large that the pieces cover the size of a football field, a riddle so challenging that it will take them nearly 20 years to complete.
Which choice most strongly emphasizes that the group is focusing intently on the puzzle?
A. NO CHANGE
B. painstakingly
C. excitedly
D. impulsively
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2/15/24
Citrus trees are among the most widely cultivated fruit trees in the world, but until recently, their history has been unclear. Seeking to obtain a better understanding of where these trees originated, the genomes of more than 50 varieties of citrus fruit were analyzed by researchers in the United States and Spain, from the Chinese mandarin to the Seville orange.
A. NO CHANGE
B. an analysis of the genomes of more than 50 varieties of citrus fruit was performed in the United States and Spain by researchers,
C. more than 50 varieties of citrus fruit had their genomes analyzed by researchers in the United States and Spain,
D. researchers in the United States and Spain analyzed the genomes of more than 50 varieties of citrus fruit,
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2/14/24
Creativity is often defined as the ability to come up with new and useful ideas. Like intelligence, it can be considered a trait that everyone, not just creative geniuses possesses in some capacity.
A. NO CHANGE
B. geniuses that possess
C. geniuses possesses,
D. geniuses, possesses
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2/13/24
The origins of saffron are a mystery: competing claims place the wild plants beginning’s in regions along a wide swath of land, from Greece in the eastern Mediterranean all the way to Central Asia.
A. NO CHANGE
B. plants beginnings
C. plant’s beginnings
D. plant’s beginnings’
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2/12/24
At any given time, the vast majority of the volcanic activity on Earth isn’t occurring in continent-covering floods of magma or in explosions like the one at Mount St. Helens. Rather, it’s on the seafloor, where the tectonic plates are spreading apart. As the Earth’s crust splits, the mostly solid mantle layer raises to fill the space created.
A. NO CHANGE
B. raises for filling
C. rises to fill
D. rises in filling
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2/11/24
The fight between the Earth’s magnetic field and the solar wind produces some surprising effects, including: the Aurora, or the Northern and Southern Lights, which can appear when the highly charged particles from the sun hit the Earth’s atmosphere, causing a glowing green light display.\
A. NO CHANGE
B. effects, including the Aurora, or the Northern and Southern Lights,
C. effects, including the Aurora, or the Northern and Southern Lights;
D. effects including the Aurora or the Northern, and Southern Lights
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2/10/24
It is well known that seismic activity can affect hydrologic activity—that is, the movement of water. In the aftermath of nearby large earthquakes, dry streams can start flowing, well levels can go up or down, and eruptions of geysers sometimes occur.
Which choice best maintains the pattern already established in the sentence?
A. NO CHANGE
B. sometimes geysers will erupt.
C. geysers can sometimes erupt.
D. there is an eruption of geysers sometimes.
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2/9/24
Generally speaking, solar eruptions are caused by a sudden, violent rearrangement of the Sun’s magnetic field. At a deeper level, however, the process is controlled by two types of structures that form in the magnetic field of the Sun: ropes and cages. The rope is confined within the magnetic cage. If the cage is strong, it can contain the rope’s contortions, but when the cage is weak, an eruption can cause it to rip through.
As it is used in the last sentence, the word “contain” most nearly means
A. encompass
B. restrict
C. exclude
D. comprehend
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2/8/24
Scientists have found that animals across the spectrum have a keen sense of quantity, able to distinguish not just bigger from smaller or more from less, but two from four, four from ten, and forty from sixty. Orb-weaving spiders, for instance, keep a tally of how many silk-wrapped prey items are stashed in the “larder” segment of their web. In one experiment, scientists removed the items. Despite this, the spiders spent time searching for the stolen goods in direct proportion to how many separate items had been taken.
A. NO CHANGE
B. Subsequently,
C. However,
D. Likewise,
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2/7/24
Whatever the truth behind the origins of macaroni and cheese, this humble dish has become an ultimate comfort food in many cultures and countries, each with their own favored variations.
A. NO CHANGE
B. they’re
C. its
D. its’
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2/6/24
All frozen water consists of molecules arranged in a hexagonal structure similar to a honeycomb; however, the ice coating bobsled tracks or the firm, flattened snow of a ski course is precisely shaped and conditioned, optimizing the properties of this frosty form of water.
A. NO CHANGE
B. firm, flattened, snow of a ski course
C. firm flattened snow, of a ski course
D. firm, flattened snow of a ski course,
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2/5/24
The appearance of tiny cracks in concrete can be harmful because they provide an easy route of entry in for liquids and gasses – and the harmful substances they contain. Even a slender breach the width of a hair can let enough water in to undermine the concrete’s integrity. For example, micro-cracks can allow water and oxygen to infiltrate and then corrode steel supports, causing a structure to collapse.
If the author were to delete the underlined portion, the paragraph would primarily lose
A. a detail that emphasizes the dangerous consequences of tiny imperfections in concrete.
B. a claim that shifts the paragraph away from the discussion of harmful substances.
C. a comment that introduces the main idea of the paragraph.
D. irrelevant information that distracts from the focus of the paragraph.
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2/4/24
Maglev—or magnetic levitation—trains, which use magnets to lift a train above its rails, reducing friction, and increasing possible speeds are already in operation. The most famous one takes passengers from downtown Shanghai to the city’s airport at 270 miles per hour. But of the plans to make a maglev even faster by putting it in a vacuum tube, Hyperloop One is the most advanced.
A. NO CHANGE
B. reducing friction, and to increase possible speeds,
C. reducing friction and increasing possible speeds,
D. reduce friction, and increasing possible speeds
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2/3/24
A new type of vaccine, which could become available in the United States over the next few years, is made by growing viruses in cultures of animal cells rather than with chicken eggs.
A. NO CHANGE
B. in
C. to
D. from
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2/2/24
A factory needs robots to perform repetitive tasks at high volume 24 hours a day. The most common robots are large industrial machines dedicated to specific processes that run independently and can be more than six feet tall and 30 feet long.
A. NO CHANGE
B. processes, which run independently and can be
C. processes. These machines run independently and can be
D. processes; running independently and being
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2/1/24
Sleep-inducing substances may come from the process of making new connections between neurons. Sleep researcher, Chiara Cirelli, suggests that since making these connections, or synapses, is what our brains do when we are awake, maybe what they do during sleep is scale back the unimportant ones, removing the memories or images that don’t fit with the others, or don’t need to be used to make sense of the world.
A. NO CHANGE
B. researcher, Chiara Cirelli
C. researcher Chiara Cirelli,
D. researcher Chiara Cirelli
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