2019 Test B English

Practice questions from 2019 Test B English, with an explanation of every answer.

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The blobfish

Read this paragraph. (1) The blobfish, a creature that certainly resembles its name, is an unusual fish whose body is mostly composed of pink gelatinous flesh. (2) Because it has…
- Type Grammar and usage
- NYS standards 7L1
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Both Italian gelato and American ice cream

Which pair of revisions need to be made in this paragraph? (1) Both Italian gelato and American ice cream are delightful treats to have on a hot summer day, but…
- Type Grammar and usage, Punctuation
- NYS standards 7L1, 7L2
- Difficulty 3 of 5
In 1967 Kathrine Switzer

Which revision corrects the error in sentence structure in the paragraph? In 1967 Kathrine Switzer signed up for the Boston Marathon using her first and middle initials instead of her…
- Type Sentence structure
- NYS standards 7L1, 7L2
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Martial Arts for the Mind and Body

What is the best way to combine sentences 2 and 3?
- Type Combining and revising sentences
- NYS standards 7W2d, 7L3
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Martial Arts for the Mind and Body

Where should sentence 10 be moved to improve the organization of the second paragraph (sentences 6–10)?
- Type Organization
- NYS standards 7W2a, 7W2d
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Martial Arts for the Mind and Body

Which revision of sentence 12 best maintains the formal style established in the passage?
- Type Precise language and style
- NYS standards 7W2f, 7L3a
- Difficulty 1 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Martial Arts for the Mind and Body

Which transitional phrase should be added to the beginning of sentence 17?
- Type Transitions
- NYS standards 7W2d
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Martial Arts for the Mind and Body

Which sentence would best follow and support sentence 18?
- Type Supporting details
- NYS standards 7W2b
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Martial Arts for the Mind and Body

Which concluding sentence should replace sentence 23 to best support the topic presented in the passage?
- Type Introductions and conclusions
- NYS standards 7W2e
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
The Best Laid Plans of Ravens

How does paragraph 1 introduce the ideas that ravens may perceive time and plan for the future?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
The Best Laid Plans of Ravens

Read these sentences from paragraph 2. For example, many animals hoard food so that they will not run out later, but scientists who study animals would not call hoarding a…
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L4a
- Difficulty 1 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
The Best Laid Plans of Ravens

Read this sentence from paragraph 1. At Lund University in Sweden, researchers argue that ravens may be able to think ahead and even plan for the future. Which sentence from…
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R8
- Difficulty 2 of 5
The Best Laid Plans of Ravens

In the first experiment described in paragraph 4, which of the ravens’ behaviors provides the strongest evidence for the claim that the birds are capable of planning?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R8
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
The Best Laid Plans of Ravens

Read this sentence from paragraph 4. In both experiments, the ravens waited patiently for up to seventeen hours for the researcher to return. How does this sentence fit into the…
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R8
- Difficulty 3 of 5
The Best Laid Plans of Ravens

With which statement would the author of the passage most likely agree?
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R1
- Difficulty 3 of 5
The Best Laid Plans of Ravens

How does paragraph 5 fit into the overall structure of the passage and contribute to the development of ideas?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R8
- Difficulty 3 of 5
The Best Laid Plans of Ravens

The author conveys a point of view on the study of animal intelligence mainly by
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R5
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Looking for the Smallest Spark of Everything

Read lines 5–8 from the poem. So beneath the level of molecules are atoms, and beneath the level of atoms, we find protons, electrons, neutrons; and beneath that— what, exactly?…
- Type Text structure, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R2
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Looking for the Smallest Spark of Everything

The break between the second stanza (lines 5–14) and the third stanza (lines 15–26) serves as a transition from
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Looking for the Smallest Spark of Everything

The main purpose of the comparison in lines 23–24 of the poem is to show
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7L5a, 7R4
- Difficulty 1 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Looking for the Smallest Spark of Everything

Read lines 25–26 from the poem. until everything we think we know bangs against everything else we know. The lines help develop a central idea in the poem by suggesting…
- Type Text structure, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R2, 7R4
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Looking for the Smallest Spark of Everything

Read lines 27–28 from the poem. And there, in the explosion, in the darkness, briefly incandescent, they appear: The imagery in the lines reveals that the speaker
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7R6
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Looking for the Smallest Spark of Everything

Read lines 30–32 from the poem. Their names sound like dinosaurs or maybe bands playing terrible music in someone’s garage. The speaker refers to familiar objects and events in the…
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R4
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Looking for the Smallest Spark of Everything

Read lines 36–39 from the poem. both together and apart, what keeps together the pencil in your hand right now as well as separate from, say, Jupiter. The poet includes…
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R2
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Looking for the Smallest Spark of Everything

The last stanza (lines 33–44) concludes the poem by emphasizing which central idea?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R5
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Looking for the Smallest Spark of Everything

Read lines 39–44 from the poem. They spin, and it is only down there in the darkness—in the vast garage where physicists jot down what they can, whatever seems most…
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R4
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from “The Spirit of the Herd”

Which sentence from the excerpt best explains why Wade reserved Peroxide Jim for “emergency work” (paragraph 1)?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “The Spirit of the Herd”

Paragraphs 1–2 contribute to the development of the central idea of the excerpt by
- Type Text structure, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R2
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “The Spirit of the Herd”

How does paragraph 3 convey the effect of the setting on the cattle drive?
- Type Development of ideas and characters, Text structure
- NYS standards 7R3, 7R5
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from “The Spirit of the Herd”

Which sentence from the excerpt best reveals the mood on the drive before the lightning struck?
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7R1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Excerpt from “The Spirit of the Herd”

How does paragraph 9 fit into the overall structure of the excerpt?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “The Spirit of the Herd”

Read these sentences from the excerpt. He was riding to turn the herd, too, back from the rim, as the horse also knew. (paragraph 11) It was Peroxide Jim’s, according…
- Type Text structure, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R2
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from “The Spirit of the Herd”

Read this sentence from paragraph 13. Close on their left bore down the flank of the herd, and on their right, under their very feet, was a precipice, so close…
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L4a
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Excerpt from “The Spirit of the Herd”

How do the details in paragraphs 14–16 help convey a central idea of the excerpt?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
A Memory Revolution

Which sentence from the passage suggests that using Internet search engines may lead people to rely less on their own ability to recall information?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
A Memory Revolution

The details in paragraph 3 about cognitive offloading convey a central idea of the passage by
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R5
- Difficulty 3 of 5
A Memory Revolution

How do the details about the experiment described in paragraph 5 convey a central idea of the passage?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
A Memory Revolution

The study described in paragraph 6 influenced researchers’ ideas about memory in the digital age by
- Type Development of ideas and characters
- NYS standards 7R3, 7R1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
A Memory Revolution

Which evidence from the passage is most relevant to the claim in paragraph 7 that “ ‘far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep…
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R8, 7R1
- Difficulty 3 of 5
A Memory Revolution

Read this sentence from paragraph 7. As the Internet’s resources continue to expand our “external” memory, some question whether the process may cause people to depend too heavily on technology.…
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R6
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
A Memory Revolution

The effect of the Internet on a person’s memory is illustrated in the passage through the presentation of studies that
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
A Memory Revolution

How does the diagram provide additional support for the topic presented in the passage?
- Type Textual evidence, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R2
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Serpent Mound

Lines 1–2 contribute to the development of ideas in the poem by
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Serpent Mound

What impact do the words “swish,” “chitter,” and “cry” in lines 12–13 have in the poem?
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L5
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Serpent Mound

Which lines reveal how the setting affects the speaker and the men from the museum?
- Type Textual evidence, Development of ideas and characters
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R3
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Serpent Mound

What impact do the phrases “all but / invisible” and “even less obvious” in lines 16–18 have on the meaning of the poem?
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L4a
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Serpent Mound

Read line 28 from the poem. At the mouth end, there was an oval mound How does the line contribute to the development of ideas in the poem?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R6
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Serpent Mound

The poet contrasts the speaker’s and Ruth’s points of view regarding the mound by using dialogue to
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R4
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Serpent Mound

How does the poem’s form contribute to the poem’s meaning?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5
- Difficulty 4 of 5
Serpent Mound

How does the speaker’s interaction with Ruth in lines 37–41 convey a central idea of the poem?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R6
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Massachusetts: Lowell National Historical Park

Read this sentence from paragraph 1. As one Scottish traveler observed during his visit to America, “Niagara and Lowell are the two objects I will longest remember in my American…
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Massachusetts: Lowell National Historical Park

Which sentence from paragraph 2 best supports the idea that Lowell became “a bustling industrial city” (paragraph 1)?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Massachusetts: Lowell National Historical Park

Read this sentence from paragraph 3. From the early to mid-1800s, women left the constricted lifestyle of small rural towns and rural areas for independent industrial city life. Which statement…
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Massachusetts: Lowell National Historical Park

Which sentence best summarizes the mill girls’ time as the dominant workforce in Lowell?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R3
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Massachusetts: Lowell National Historical Park

Read this sentence from paragraph 5. Although Lowell received an influx of Irish families during this time, the Irish were a part of the city’s history from its birth, and…
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Massachusetts: Lowell National Historical Park

A central idea that Lowell was “one of America’s most significant industrial cities” (paragraph 1) is conveyed in the passage primarily through a description of the
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R5
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Massachusetts: Lowell National Historical Park

The reason Lowell lost its status as an industrial leader is best illustrated through the
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5