Researcher Haesung Jung led a 2020 study showing that individual acts of kindness can____prosocial behavior across a larger group. Jung and her team found that bystanders who witness a helpful act become more likely to offer help to someone else, and in doing so, can inspire still others to act.

WWhich choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A) require

B) foster

C) discourage

D) remember

Given that the conditions in binary star systems should make planetary formation nearly impossible, it’s not surprising that the existence of planets in such systems has lacked____explanation. Roman Rafikov and Kedron Silsbee shed light on the subject when they used modeling to determine a complex set of factors that could support planets’ development.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A) A. a discernible

B) an inconclusive

C) a straightforward

D) an unbiased

The artisans of the Igun Eronmwon guild in Benin City, Nigeria, typically____the bronze- and brass-casting techniques that have been passed down through their families since the thirteenth century, but they don’t strictly observe every tradition; for example, guild members now use air-conditioning motors instead of handheld bellows to help heat their forges.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A)adhere to

B) improve on

C) experiment with

D) grapple with

The following text is adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1844 short story “Drowne’s Wooden Image.” Drowne, a young man, is carving a wooden figure to decorate the front of a ship. Day by day, the work assumed greater precision, and settled its irregular and misty outline into distincter grace and beauty. The general design was now obvious to the common eye.

As used in the text, what does the word “assumed” most nearly mean?

A)Speculated

B) Acknowledged

C) Imitated

D) Acquired

The güiro, a musical instrument traditionally made from a dried and hollowed gourd, is thought to have originated with the Taíno people of Puerto Rico. Players use a wooden stick to scrape along ridges cut into the side of the gourd, creating sounds that are highly____: the sounds produced by güiros can differ based on the distance between the ridges, the types of strokes the player uses, and the thickness of the gourd.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A) overlooked

B) routine

C) variable

D) powerful

Handedness, a preferential use of either the right or left hand, typically is easy to observe in humans. Because this trait is present but less____in many other animals, animal-behavior researchers often employ tasks specially designed to reveal individual animals’ preferences for a certain hand or paw.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A) useful

B) intriguing

C) significant

D) recognizable

Like the 1945 play it reimagines—Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba—Marcus Gardley’s 2014 play The House That Will Not Stand prominently features women. In both plays, the all-female cast____an array of female characters, including a strong mother and several daughters dealing with individual struggles.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A) engulfs

B) comprises

C) provokes

D) encourages

In studying the use of external stimuli to reduce the itching sensation caused by an allergic histamine response, Louise Ward and colleagues found that while harmless applications of vibration or warming can provide a temporary distraction, such____stimuli actually offer less relief than a stimulus that seems less benign, like a mild electric shock.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

A)innocuous

B) novel

C) deceptive

D) impractical

The following text is adapted from Oscar Wilde’s 1895 play The Importance of Being Earnest.

CECILY: Have we got to part?
ALGERNON: I am afraid so. It’s a very painful parting.
CECILY: It is always painful to part from people whom one has known for a very brief space of time. The absence of old friends one can endure with equanimity. But even a momentary separation from anyone to whom one has just been introduced is almost unbearable.

As used in the text, what does the word “endure” most nearly mean?

A) Regret

B) Encourage

C) Persist

D) Tolerate

The following text is adapted from Karel Čapek’s 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), translated by Paul Selver and Nigel Playfair in 1923. Fabry and Busman are telling Miss Glory why their company manufactures robots.

FABRY: One Robot can replace two and a half workmen. The human machine, Miss Glory, was terribly imperfect. It had to be removed sooner or later.
BUSMAN: It was too expensive.
FABRY: It was not effective. It no longer answers the requirements of modern engineering. Nature has no idea of keeping pace with modern labor.

As used in the text, what does the word “answers” most nearly mean?

A) Explains

B) Rebuts

C) Fulfills

D) Defends