Reading And Writing Test 1 Sat Examination

The following text is from Ezra Pound’s 1909 poem “Hymn III,” based on the work of Marcantonio Flaminio.

As a fragile and lovely flower unfolds its gleaming foliage on the breast of the fostering earth, if the dew and the rain draw it forth; So doth my tender mind flourish, if it be fed with the sweet dew of the fostering spirit, Lacking this, it beginneth straightway to languish, even as a floweret born upon dry earth, if the dew and the rain tend it not.

Based on the text, in what way is the human mind like a flower?

The following text is adapted from Jack London’s 1903 novel The Call of the Wild. Buck is a sled dog living with John Thornton in Yukon, Canada.

Thornton alone held [Buck]. The rest of mankind was as nothing. Chance travellers might praise or pet him; but he was cold under it all, and from a too demonstrative man he would get up and walk away. When Thornton’s partners, Hans and Pete, arrived on the long-expected raft, Buck refused to notice them till he learned they were close to Thornton; after that he tolerated them in a passive sort of way, accepting favors from them as though he favored them by accepting.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Organic farming is a method of growing food that tries to reduce environmental harm by using natural forms of pest control and avoiding fertilizers made with synthetic materials. Organic farms are still a small fraction of the total farms in the United States, but they have been becoming more popular. According to the US Department of Agriculture, in 2016 California had between 2,600 and 2,800 organic farms and _______

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

Biologist Valentina Gómez-Bahamón and her team have investigated two subspecies of the fork-tailed flycatcher bird that live in the same region in Colombia, but one subspecies migrates south for part of the year, and the other doesn't. The researchers found that, due to slight differences in feather shape, the feathers of migratory forked-tailed flycatcher males make a sound during flight that is higher pitched than that made by the feathers of nonmigratory males. The researchers hypothesize that fork-tailed flycatcher females are attracted to the specific sound made by the males of their own subspecies, and that over time the females' preference will drive further genetic and anatomical divergence between the subspecies.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support Gómez-Bahamón and her team's hypothesis?

Ablation Rates for Three Elements in Cosmic Dust, by Dust Source 

Earth’s atmosphere is bombarded by cosmic dust originating from several sources: short-period comets (SPCs), particles from the  asteroid belt (ASTs), Halley-type comets (HTCs), and Oort cloud comets (OCCs). Some of the dust’s material vaporizes in the atmosphere in a process called ablation, and the faster the particles move, the higher the rate of ablation. Astrophysicist Juan Diego Carrillo-Sánchez led a team that calculated average ablation rates for elements in the dust (such as iron and potassium) and showed that material in slowermoving SPC or AST dust has a lower rate than the same material in faster-moving HTC or OCC dust. For example, whereas the average ablation rate for iron from AST dust is 28%, the average rate for _______ 

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

Art collectives, like the United States- and Vietnambased collective The Propeller Group or Cuba’s Los Carpinteros, are groups of artists who agree to work together: perhaps for stylistic reasons, or to advance certain shared political ideals, or to help mitigate the costs of supplies and studio space. Regardless of the reasons, art collectives usually involve some collaboration among the artists. Based on a recent series of interviews with various art collectives, an arts journalist claims that this can be difficult for artists who are often used to having sole control over their work.
Which quotation from the interviews best illustrates the journalist’s claim?

Mycorrhizal fungi in soil benefits many plants, substantially increasing the mass of some. A student conducted an experiment to illustrate this effect. The student chose three plant species for the experiment, including two that are mycorrhizal hosts (species known to benefit
from mycorrhizal fungi) and one nonmycorrhizal species (a species that doesn’t benefit from and may even be harmed by mycorrhizal
fungi). The student then grew several plants from each species both in soil containing mycorrhizal fungi and in soil that had been treated to kill mycorrhizal and other fungi. After several weeks, the student measured the plants’ average mass and was surprised to discover
that _______ 
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?

Several artworks found among the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii depict a female figure fishing with a cupid nearby. Some scholars have asserted that the figure is the goddess Venus, since she is known to have been linked with cupids in Roman culture, but University of Leicester archaeologist Carla Brain suggests that cupids may have also been associated with fishing generally. The fact that a cupid is shown near the female figure, therefore, _______ Which choice most logically completes the text?

Literary agents estimate that more than half of all nonfiction books credited to a celebrity or other public figure are in fact written by  hostwriters, professional authors who are paid to write other _______ but whose names never appear on book
covers. 

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

Like other amphibians, the wood frog (Rana sylvatica) is unable to generate its own heat, so during periods of subfreezing temperatures, it _______ by producing large amounts of glucose, a sugar that helps prevent damaging ice from forming inside its cells. 

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