In 1973, poet Miguel Algarín started inviting other writers who, like him, were Nuyorican-a term for New Yorkers of Puerto Rican heritage-to gather in his apartment to present their work. The gatherings were so well attended that Algarín soon had to rent space in a cafe to accommodate them. Thus, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe was born. Moving to a permanent location in 1981, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its original scope beyond the written word, hosting art exhibitions and musical performances as well. Half a century since its inception, it continues to foster emerging Nuyorican talent.

Which choice best describes the overall purpose of the text?

A) To explain what motivated Algarín to found the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

B) To situate the Nuyorican Poets Cafe within the cultural life of New York as a whole

C) To provide an overview of the founding and mission of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe"

D) To discuss why the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its scope to include art and music.

For his 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies, Beverly Glenn-Copeland wrote songs grounded in traditional soul and folk music, then accompanied them with futuristic synthesizer arrangements featuring ambient sounds and complex rhythms. The result was so strange, so unprecedented, that the album attracted little attention when first released. In recent years, however, a younger generation of musicians has embraced the stylistic experimentation of Keyboard Fantasies. Alternative R&B musicians Blood Orange and Moses Sumney, among other contemporary recording artists, cite the album as an influence.

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

A) It offers examples of younger musicians whose work has been impacted by Keyboard Fantasies.

B) It responds to criticism of Keyboard Fantasies by some younger musicians.

C) It urges contemporary musicians to adopt the unique sound of Keyboard Fantasies.

D) It contrasts Keyboard Fantasies with the recordings of two younger musicians.

Musician Joni Mitchell, who is also a painter, uses images she creates for her album covers to emphasize ideas expressed in her music. For the cover of her album Turbulent Indigo (1994), Mitchell painted a striking self-portrait that closely resembles Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889). The image calls attention to the album’s title song, in which Mitchell sings about the legacy of the postimpressionist painter. In that song, Mitchell also hints that she feels a strong artistic connection to Van Gogh—an idea that is reinforced by her imagery on the cover.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

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

B) It discusses Van Gogh’s influence on Mitchell, then considers Mitchell’s influence on other artists.

C) It describes a similarity between two artists, then notes a difference between them.

D) It describes the songs on Turbulent Indigo, then explains how they relate to the album’s cover.

The following text is from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables. Anne, an eleven-year-old girl, has come to live on a farm with a woman named Marilla in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Anne reveled in the world of color about her.
“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill-several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.”
“Messy things,” said Marilla, whose aesthetic sense was not noticeably developed. “You clutter up your room entirely too much with out-of-doors stuff, Anne. Bedrooms were made to sleep in.”

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A)To demonstrate that Anne has a newly developed appreciation of nature.

B) To show that Anne and Marilla have very different personalities.

C) To emphasize Marilla’s disapproval of how Anne has decorated her room.

D) To describe an argument that Anne and Marilla often have.

Yawn contagion occurs when one individual yawns in response to another’s yawn. Studies of this behavior in primates have focused on populations in captivity, but biologist Elisabetta Palagi and her colleagues have shown that it can occur in wild primate populations as well. In their study, which focused on a wild population of gelada monkeys (Theropithecus gelada) in Ethiopia, the researchers further reported that yawn contagion most commonly occurred in males and across different social groups instead of within a single social group.

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

A) It makes a claim that is challenged in the text.

B) It introduces a problem that is examined in the text.

C) It defines a phenomenon that is discussed in the text.

D)It presents a hypothesis that is evaluated in the text.

When ancient oak planks were unearthed during subway construction in Rome, Mauro Bernabei and his team examined the growth rings in the wood to determine where these planks came from. By comparing the growth rings on the planks to records of similar rings in oaks from Europe, the team could trace the wood to the Jura region of France, hundreds of kilometers from Rome. Because timber could only have been transported from distant Jura to Rome by boat, the team’s findings suggest the complexity of Roman trade routes.

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

A)It describes common methods used in Roman subway construction.

B) It questions how the team was able to conclude that the planks were used to build a boat.

C) It explains why the planks were made from oak rather than a different kind of wood.

D) It presents a conclusion about Roman trade routes based on the team’s findings. 

Many archaeologists assume that large-scale engineering projects in ancient societies required an elite class to plan and direct the necessary labor. However, recent discoveries, such as the excavation of an ancient canal near the Gulf Coast of Alabama, have complicated this picture. Using radiocarbon dating, a team of researchers concluded that the 1.39-kilometer long canal was most likely constructed between 576 and 650 CE by an Indigenous society that was relatively free of social classes.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A) It outlines a method used in some archaeological fieldwork, then explains why an alternative method is superior to it.

B) It describes a common view among archaeologists, then discusses a recent finding that challenges that view.

C) It presents contradictory conclusions drawn by archaeologists, then evaluates a study that has apparently resolved that contradiction.

D) It identifies a gap in scientific research, then presents a strategy used by some archaeologists to remedy that gap.

The following text is from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1910 poem “The Earth’s Entail.”

No matter how we cultivate the land,
Taming the forest and the prairie free;
No matter how we irrigate the sand,
Making the desert blossom at command,
We must always leave the borders of the sea;
The immeasureable reaches
Of the windy wave-wet beaches,
The million-mile-long margin of the sea.

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

A) The speaker argues against interfering with nature and then gives evidence supporting this interference.

B) The speaker describes attempts to control nature and then offers a reminder that not all nature is controllable.

C) The speaker provides examples of an admirable way of approaching nature and then challenges that approach.

D) The speaker presents an account of efforts to dominate nature and then cautions that such efforts are only temporary.

By combining Indigenous and classical music, Cree composer and cellist Cris Derksen creates works that reflect the diverse cultural landscape of Canada. For her album Orchestral Powwow, Derksen composed new songs in the style of traditional powwow music that were accompanied by classical arrangements played by an orchestra. But where an orchestra would normally follow the directions of a conductor, the musicians on Orchestral Powwow are led by the beat of a powwow drum.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A) To describe the difficulties Derksen encountered when producing her album.

B) To argue that Derksen should be recognized for creating a new style of music.

C) To examine how Derksen’s musical compositions blend cultures.

D) To establish a contrast between Derksen’s classical training and her Cree heritage.

Using NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Mercedes López-Morales and colleagues measured the wavelengths of light traveling through the atmosphere of WASP-39b, an exoplanet, or planet outside our solar system. Different molecules absorb different wavelengths of light, and the wavelength measurements showed the presence of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in WASP-39b’s atmosphere. This finding not only offers the first decisive evidence of CO₂ in the atmosphere of an exoplanet but also illustrates the potential for future scientific breakthroughs held by the JWST.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A)It describes how researchers made a scientific discovery, then explains the importance of that discovery.

B) It discusses a method used by some researchers, then states why an alternative method is superior to it.

C) It outlines the steps taken in a scientific study, then presents a hypothesis based on that study.

D) It examines how a group of scientists reached a conclusion, then shows how other scientists have challenged that conclusion.