1

In 1801, a Blackfoot chief named Ac Ko Mok Ki drew a finely detailed map of the Upper Missouri region. This work demonstrates a vast amount of topographic knowledge, as the map features specific names of mountains and rivers, as well as the first-known sketch of the drainage network of the Missouri River. The map is especially notable because Ac Ko Mok Ki also included details about the numerous tribes that lived in the area.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A) It identifies some reasons why the map is impressive.

B) It explains how Ac Ko Mok Ki developed an interest in mapmaking.

C) It emphasizes Ac Ko Mok Ki’s desire to represent other tribes on the map.

D) It details how the map was used for hunting and trading purposes.

2

The following text is adapted from Charles Chesnutt’s 1899 short story “Mars Jeems’s Nightmare.” The narrator and his wife have recently moved to the southern United States, and Julius is their carriage driver.

Julius [was] very useful when we moved to our new residence. He had a thorough knowledge of the neighborhood, was familiar with the roads and the watercourses, knew the qualities of the various soils and what they would produce, and where the best hunting and fishing were to be had. He was a marvelous hand in the management of horses and dogs.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A) To compare the narrator’s reaction to a new home with his wife’s reaction

B) To give an example of Julius’s knowledge about soil

C) To show that the narrator and Julius often hunt and fish together

D) To explain different ways in which Julius was helpful

3

In 2007, computer scientist Luis von Ahn was working on converting printed books into a digital format. He found that some words were distorted enough that digital scanners couldn’t recognize them, but most humans could easily read them. Based on that finding, von Ahn invented a simple security test to keep automated “bots” out of websites. The first version of the reCAPTCHA test asked users to type one known word and one of the many words scanners couldn’t recognize. Correct answers proved the users were humans and added data to the book-digitizing project.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A) To explain how digital scanners work

B) To discuss von Ahn’s invention of reCAPTCHA

C) To call attention to von Ahn’s book-digitizing project

D) To indicate how popular reCAPTCHA is

4

The following text is adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s 1869 novel An Old-Fashioned Girl. Polly, a teenager, is visiting her friend Fanny.

Fanny’s friends did not interest Polly much; she was rather afraid of them [because] they seemed so much older and wiser than herself, even those younger in years. They talked about things of which she knew nothing and when Fanny tried to explain, she didn’t find them interesting; indeed, some of them rather shocked and puzzled her.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A) To explain how Fanny met some of her friends

B) To identify the topics Polly talks about with Fanny’s friends

C) To portray Polly’s reaction to Fanny’s friends

D) To illustrate how Fanny’s friends feel about Polly

5

Researchers have found a nearly 164,000-year-old molar from a member of the archaic human species known as Denisovans in a cave in Laos, suggesting that Denisovans lived in a wider range of environments than indicated by earlier evidence. Before the discovery, Denisovans were thought to have lived only at high altitudes in relatively cold climates in what are now Russia and China, but the discovery of the tooth in Laos suggests that they may have lived at low altitudes in relatively warm climates in Southeast Asia as well.

Which choice best states the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?

A) It dismisses as untrue the research presented in the previous sentence.

B) It defines a term used in the description that follows in the rest of the sentence.

C) It emphasizes the main goal of the research introduced in the previous sentence.

D) It provides context that clarifies the significance of the information that follows in the rest of the sentence.

6

Composer Florence Price won first place for her score Symphony in E Minor at the 1932 Wanamaker Foundation Awards. The piece was performed the following year by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a significant recognition of its quality. Price continued to compose many musical pieces throughout her career, blending traditional Black spirituals with classical European Romantic musical traditions. In recent years, Price’s concertos and symphonies have been performed and recorded by several major orchestras, further preserving her work for others to enjoy.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A) To describe the musical styles that inspired many of Price’s symphonies

B) To argue that more major orchestras should perform Price’s compositions

C) To provide examples of Price’s importance as a composer

D) To compare Price’s scores with those of classical European composers

7

The following text is adapted from Oscar Wilde’s 1897 nonfiction work De Profundis. People whose desire is solely for self-realisation never know where they are going. They can’t know. In one sense of the word it is of course necessary to know oneself: that is the first achievement of knowledge. But to recognise that the soul of a man is unknowable, is the ultimate achievement of wisdom. The final mystery is oneself. When one has weighed the sun in the balance, and measured the steps of the moon, and mapped out the seven heavens star by star, there still remains oneself. Who can calculate the orbit of his own soul?

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a whole?

A) It reinforces the text’s skepticism about the possibility of truly achieving self-knowledge.

B) It speculates that some readers will share the doubts expressed in the text about the value of self-knowledge.

C) It cautions readers that the text’s directions for how to achieve self-knowledge are hard to follow.

D) It concedes that the definition of self-knowledge advanced in the text is unpopular

8

Historians Tiya Miles and Roy E. Finkenbine have both documented the assistance Indigenous peoples gave to Black freedom seekers leaving the South before the US Civil War. Much of the historical evidence of this help comes from Indigenous oral traditions and from autobiographies written by the freedom seekers. One such narrative is Jermain Loguen’s autobiography, which tells about how Neshnabé (Potawatomi) villagers offered him food, lodging, and directions during his 1835 journey from Tennessee to Canada.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?

A) It shows why Loguen decided to write in great detail about his experiences traveling from Tennessee to Canada in his autobiography.

B) It provides an example of an autobiography that describes help given by an Indigenous people to a Black freedom seeker.

C) It argues that autobiographies are particularly important sources of information about geography in the United States before the Civil War.

D) It suggests that most historians believe that Neshnabé villagers were more successful in assisting freedom seekers than other people were

9

Some bird species don’t raise their own chicks. Instead, adult females lay their eggs in other nests, next to another bird species’ own eggs. Female cuckoos have been seen quickly laying eggs in the nests of other bird species when those birds are out looking for food. After the eggs hatch, the noncuckoo parents will typically raise the cuckoo chicks as if they were their own offspring, even if the cuckoos look very different from the other chicks.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A) It introduces a physical feature of female cuckoos that is described later in the text.

B) It describes the appearance of the cuckoo nests mentioned earlier in the text.

C) It offers a detail about how female cuckoos carry out the behavior discussed in the text.

D) It explains how other birds react to the female cuckoo behavior discussed in the text.

10

In most building demolitions, the building materials are destroyed and sent to landfills. City officials in Portland, Oregon, wanted to reduce this waste. The officials passed a law requiring demolition companies to deconstruct some buildings instead. Deconstruction involves carefully taking buildings apart piece by piece. Damage to the materials is avoided so that they can be reused in new constructions. A 2019 study found that 27 percent of materials from deconstructions in Portland were able to be reused. The remaining materials were processed for recycling instead of going to a landfill.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A) To explain an effort made by the city of Portland to reduce demolition waste and some results of that effort

B) To show that popular support for measures that reduce demolition waste has increased since 2019

C) To argue that building deconstruction is not as effective as other measures at reducing demolition waste

D) To discuss laws aimed to reduce demolition waste in Portland and compare them to similar laws in other cities