2024 Test B English

Practice questions from 2024 Test B English, with an explanation of every answer.

The International Space Station

What is the best way to combine these sentences to clarify the relationship between ideas? (1) The International Space Station has been inhabited by crew members since 2000. (2) Tourists…
- Type Combining and revising sentences
- NYS standards 7L1, 7L3a
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
In 1976, the National Basketball Association

Which sentence contains an error in its construction and should be revised? (1) In 1976, the National Basketball Association (NBA) absorbed several teams of the American Basketball Association (ABA), including…
- Type Sentence structure
- NYS standards 7L1
- Difficulty 3 of 5
The Appalachian Trail

Read this sentence. The Appalachian Trail is a really long trail that a lot of people do each year. Which revision of the sentence uses the most precise language?
- Type Precise language and style
- NYS standards 7L3a
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
When coal was used to heat homes

Read this paragraph. (1) When coal was used to heat homes, it frequently left soot stains on the walls. (2) Brothers Cleo and Noah McVicker, who owned a cleaning product…
- Type Grammar and usage, Punctuation
- NYS standards 7L1, 7L2
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Find Time to Volunteer

Which revision of sentence 2 uses the most precise language?
- Type Precise language and style
- NYS standards 7W1c, 7L3a
- Difficulty 1 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Find Time to Volunteer

Which sentence should follow sentence 4 to introduce the main claim of the passage?
- Type Introductions and conclusions
- NYS standards 7W1a
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Find Time to Volunteer

Which sentence is least relevant to the ideas presented in the second paragraph (sentences 5–10) and should be deleted?
- Type Supporting details
- NYS standards 7W1b
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Find Time to Volunteer

Which of these would best follow sentence 12 and support the ideas presented in the third paragraph (sentences 11–12)?
- Type Supporting details
- NYS standards 7W1b
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Find Time to Volunteer

Which concluding sentence should replace sentence 22 to provide the best support for the argument presented in the passage?
- Type Introductions and conclusions
- NYS standards 7W1e
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Moving through Mountains

Which sentence should be added after sentence 5 to introduce the main topic of the passage?
- Type Introductions and conclusions
- NYS standards 7W2a
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Moving through Mountains

Which sentence should be added to follow and support sentence 7?
- Type Supporting details
- NYS standards 7W2b
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Moving through Mountains

Where should sentence 11 be moved in order to improve the organization of the second paragraph (sentences 6–11)?
- Type Organization
- NYS standards 7W2a, 7W2d
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Moving through Mountains

Which sentence presents information that shifts away from the main topic of the third paragraph (sentences 12–16) and should be removed?
- Type Supporting details
- NYS standards 7W2b
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Moving through Mountains

Which transition phrase should be added to the beginning of sentence 18?
- Type Transitions
- NYS standards 7W2d
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Moving through Mountains

Which concluding sentence should be added after sentence 18 to support the topic presented in the passage?
- Type Introductions and conclusions
- NYS standards 7W2e
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language”

How does the author’s use of comparison in paragraphs 4 and 5 contribute to the development of ideas in the excerpt?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language”

Read this sentence from paragraph 6. To see what effects exercise might have on this process, the researchers first recruited 40 college-age Chinese men and women who were trying to…
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language”

Which sentence is the best summary of the research procedure used in the study in the excerpt?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R1
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language”

In the study described in the excerpt, researchers asked English learners to assess the sense of words in context because that task is
- Type Key details
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language”

Read these sentences from paragraph 17. These improvements extend beyond simply aiding in memorization, she added. The exercise also deepened language learners’ grasp of how to use their newly acquired…
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R8
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language”

Paragraph 18 shows that the author’s perspective toward the study described in the excerpt is that
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R8
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language”

Which evidence from the excerpt is most relevant to the author’s claim that there are many unanswered questions about the relationship between movement and learning?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R8, 7R1
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!

Paragraph 1 contributes to the setting of the excerpt by establishing that
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!

In paragraphs 4 and 6, the beginning of the change in seasons affects the characters mainly by
- Type Development of ideas and characters
- NYS standards 7R3, 7R1
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!

How do paragraphs 7 and 9 convey a central idea of the excerpt?
- Type Text structure, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R5
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!

In paragraph 8, the author repeats the word “played” most likely to
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R4
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!

How do paragraphs 11–13 affect the plot of the excerpt?
- Type Text structure, Development of ideas and characters
- NYS standards 7R3, 7R5
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!

In paragraph 20, the phrases “trophies of their hunt” and “paraded around” affect the paragraph by
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L5c
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!

Which quotation from the excerpt best supports the idea that The People feel a connection to members of their group in spite of distance?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R2
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!

Read these sentences from paragraph 22. “Belongs to Red Bear people. Gone then come back.” How does this statement affect the villagers in the excerpt?
- Type Development of ideas and characters
- NYS standards 7R3, 7R1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!

The details in paragraph 5 about the locations of the camps and the details in paragraphs 23–24 about the reaction to the woman convey a theme of the excerpt by
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R5
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph

Which statement describes how the author’s use of problem-solution in paragraph 2 contributes to the development of ideas in the passage?
- Type Text structure, Development of ideas and characters
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Invention of the Telegraph Earlier Signal Systems

The details of the section “The Growth of an Idea” convey a central idea of the passage by suggesting that
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R5
- Difficulty 5 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Invention of the Telegraph

Which statement describes how the author’s use of sequencing in paragraph 3 contributes to the overall structure of the passage?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph

Which sentence is the best summary of how Morse obtained the funding necessary to build his telegraph system?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph

Read this sentence from paragraph 7. The desperate Morse gave the go-ahead, and the line was completed in time for the dramatic and spectacularly successful link between the Supreme Court…
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L5c
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph Earlier Signal Systems

How does the graph support the ideas in paragraph 8?
- Type Textual evidence, Text structure
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R5
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph

The idea that, in the mid-nineteenth century, the United States was mostly unaware of the possibilities of electricity is illustrated in the passage mainly through the
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R3
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Invention of the Telegraph

With which statement would the author most likely agree?
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R2
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph

How does the map provide additional support for a central idea of the passage?
- Type Textual evidence, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R2
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Snowy Mountains

The description in the first stanza (lines 1–7) helps establish a central idea of the poem by
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R5
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Snowy Mountains

Read line 5 from the poem. Pillars of the sky at rest The line helps develop the theme of the poem by suggesting that the mountains
- Type Word meaning and figurative language, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R4, 7R2
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Snowy Mountains

How does isolating the word “Uprise” in line 7 affect the meaning of the poem?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R4
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Snowy Mountains

Which line from the poem best supports the idea that people have sacrificed priceless natural beauty in order to make a profit?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Snowy Mountains

How does the poet develop the speaker’s point of view in the second stanza (lines 8–14)?
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R4
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Snowy Mountains

Which detail from the poem reflects the speaker’s view that people often fail to appreciate what is familiar?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R6
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Snowy Mountains

Read lines 21–22 from the poem. Barrier broken down by those who do not need The joy of time-resisting storm-worn stone, How do the lines help convey the speaker’s point…
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R4
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Snowy Mountains

How do the details in the third stanza (lines 15–26) most contribute to the development of a theme of the poem?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R1
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Snowy Mountains

Read lines 23–26 from the poem. The mountains swing along The south horizon of the sky; Welcoming with wide floors of blue-green ice The mists that dance and drive before…
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7L5, 7R4
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees”

What is the effect of comparing groups of bristlecone pines to “a city within a cemetery” (paragraph 2)?
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L5
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees”

In paragraph 4, the idea that the bristlecone pine can withstand difficult conditions is illustrated mainly through
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees”

Read this sentence from paragraph 5. Empires rose and fell; wars raged;… and the tree from 2500 B.C. continued its implacable slow-motion existence, adding about two-hundredths of an inch to…
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R2
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees”

Which claim is best supported by the details in paragraph 5 about the bristlecone pine’s tree-ring record?
- Type Inferences and conclusions
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R8
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees”

The phrases “clings to life” and “stripped of bark” in paragraph 6 are used to highlight
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L5
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees”

The details in paragraph 7 convey a central idea of the excerpt by suggesting that
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R5
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees”

What is the best summary of the bristlecone pine’s life cycle?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R3
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees”

Throughout the excerpt, the author conveys his point of view mainly by
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R5
- Difficulty 3 of 5