SHSAT Sunset

Six SHSAT Questions

3 English and 3 math

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Question 1 of 6

2026 Practice Test A English, question 18
Passage Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness

Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness

by Grace Livingston Hill

With a lurch the train came to a dead stop and Margaret Earle, hastily gathering up her belongings, hurried down the aisle and got out into the night.

It occurred to her, as she swung her heavy suit-case down the rather long step to the ground, and then carefully swung herself after it, that it was strange that neither conductor, brakeman, nor porter had come to help her off the train, when all three had taken the trouble to tell her that hers was the next station; but she could hear voices up ahead. Perhaps something was the matter with the engine that detained them and they had forgotten her for the moment.

The ground was rough where she stood, and there seemed no sign of a platform. Did they not have platforms in this wild Western land, or was the train so long that her car had stopped before reaching it?

She strained her eyes into the darkness, and tried to make out things from the two or three specks of light that danced about like fireflies in the distance. She could dimly see moving figures away up near the engine, and each one evidently carried a lantern. The train was tremendously long. A sudden feeling of isolation took possession of her. Perhaps she ought not to have got out until some one came to help her. Perhaps the train had not pulled into the station yet and she ought to get back on it and wait. Yet if the train started before she found the conductor she might be carried on somewhere and he justly blame her for a fool.

There did not seem to be any building on that side of the track. It was probably on the other, but she was standing too near the cars to see over. She tried to move back to look, but the ground sloped and she slipped and fell in the cinders1^1, bruising her knee and cutting her wrist.

In sudden panic she arose. She would get back into the train, no matter what the consequences. They had no right to put her out here, away off from the station, at night, in a strange country. If the train started before she could find the conductor she would tell him that he must back it up again and let her off. He certainly could not expect her to get out like this.

She lifted the heavy suit-case up the high step that was even farther from the ground than it had been when she came down, because her fall had loosened some of the earth and caused it to slide away from the track. Then, reaching to the rail of the step, she tried to pull herself up, but as she did so the engine gave a long snort and the whole train, as if it were in league against her, lurched forward crazily, shaking off her hold. She slipped to her knees again, the suit-case, toppled from the lower step, descending upon her, and together they slid and rolled down the short bank, while the train . . . ran giddily off into the night.

The horror of being deserted helped the girl to rise in spite of bruises and shock. She lifted imploring hands to the unresponsive cars as they hurried by her—one, two, three, with bright windows, each showing a passenger, comfortable and safe inside, unconscious of her need.

A moment of useless screaming, running, trying to attract some one’s attention, a sickening sense of terror and failure, and the last car slatted itself past with a mocking clatter, as if it enjoyed her discomfort.

Margaret stood dazed, reaching out helpless hands, then dropped them at her sides and gazed after the fast-retreating train, the light on its last car swinging tauntingly, blinking now and then with a leer in its eye, rapidly vanishing from her sight into the depth of the night.

She gasped and looked about her for the station that but a short moment before had been so real to her mind; and, lo! on this side and on that there was none!

The night was wide like a great floor shut in by a low, vast dome of curving blue set with the largest, most wonderful stars she had ever seen. Heavy shadows of purple-green, smoke-like, hovered over earth darker and more intense than the unfathomable blue of the night sky. It seemed like the secret nesting-place of mysteries wherein no human foot might dare intrude. It was incredible that such could be but common sage-brush, sand, and greasewood wrapped about with the beauty of the lonely night.

No building broke the inky outlines of the plain, nor friendly light streamed out to cheer her heart. Not even a tree was in sight, except on the far horizon, where a heavy line of deeper darkness might mean a forest. Nothing, absolutely nothing, in the blue, deep, starry dome above and the bluer darkness of the earth below save one sharp shaft ahead like a black mast throwing out a dark arm across the track.

As soon as she sighted it she picked up her baggage and made her painful way toward it, for her knees and wrist were bruised and her baggage was heavy.

A soft drip, drip greeted her as she drew nearer; something plashing down among the cinders by the track. Then she saw the tall column with its arm outstretched, and looming darker among the sage-brush the outlines of a water-tank. It was so she recognized the engine’s drinking-tank, and knew that she had mistaken a pause to water the engine for a regular stop at a station.

1^1cinders: track bed made from the residue of burnt coal

From A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS by Grace Livingston Hill—Public Domain

Question

How does Margaret’s experience in paragraph 9 emphasize a theme of the excerpt?

  • AIt confirms Margaret’s understanding that she cannot rely on help from anyone else.
  • BIt leads Margaret to realize that her desire to change her situation is impractical.
  • CIt causes Margaret to believe that her own actions led to an unfavorable outcome.
  • DIt reinforces Margaret’s frustration about her lack of control over her surroundings.
Show the answer

Correct answer: A

The question asks about the relationship between the theme and paragraph 9, where Margaret desperately tries to get someone on the train to notice her.

A. CORRECT. One important theme of this excerpt concerns Margaret’s willingness to take action to ensure that she reaches her destination. This determination, described in Option A, is why she gathers her belongings together without help, gets off the train without being assisted by employees, and then attempts to climb back on while the train employees are busy examining the engine.

B. Incorrect. While the narrator describes her screaming as useless, she does not feel that her efforts overall are useless, and she does not give up until paragraph 10.

C. Incorrect. While Margaret is feeling a sense of “failure” in paragraph 9, she does not condemn herself as the train moves away.

D. Incorrect. Margaret expresses “terror” in paragraph 9 over being unable to catch someone’s attention, not frustration about her lack of control over her surroundings.

Question analysis

This theme question asks how Margaret’s experience in paragraph 9 of A Voice in the Wilderness, as she screams and runs while the train pulls away, emphasizes a theme of the excerpt. It is a lightly reworded version of an earlier handbook question. Every choice describes a believable reaction to being left behind, so the answer depends on the excerpt’s larger pattern.

NYS standards
  • 7R2 theme or central idea
  • 7R3 plot elements and ideas
Grade level
Grade 8 reading and task
Compared with grade 7
Above grade 7 Typical grade 7 theme questions trace a given theme through a text. Here students must decide which theme one frantic paragraph supports, and all four choices describe reactions that fit the scene, so the decision draws on the whole excerpt.
Estimated difficulty
Among the hardest on the SHSAT: a non-obvious approach, heavy reading, or a well-hidden trap.
Evidence
Answered from the whole text
Reading level
Passage: about grade 8, 981 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 65 words.
Students, last 30 days
40% right, of 10 answers
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)

Why it is hard

Each choice names a feeling a stranded traveler might have, and two lean on the paragraph’s own words, “useless” and “failure,” so the paragraph alone cannot decide it. Paragraph 9 must be read as the last link in a chain of trainmen, passengers and a departing train that all leave her to herself. Students who judge from that one paragraph often decide she has given up, though she soon picks up her bags and walks toward the dark shaft by the track.

  1. Reading between the lines major Working it out

    The theme is never stated; it must be drawn from paragraph 9’s cries that no one answers and from the passengers “comfortable and safe inside, unconscious of her need” in paragraph 8. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)

  2. Evidence in several places moderate Working it out

    The pattern begins in paragraph 2, when no trainman helps her off, and runs through the train lurching away “as if it were in league against her” in paragraph 7. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)

Strategy: Sum up in a phrase what keeps happening to Margaret from the start of the excerpt to its end, then check which choice paragraph 9’s own words most clearly add to.

Traps

  • Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
  • Wrong tone or attitude: Misjudges the tone, attitude or point of view, such as reading admiration as criticism, or taking a character's or subject's feelings for the author's.

The wrong answers, classified

How 10 answers split, last 30 days

  • A40%
  • B0%
  • C50%
  • D10%

How the questions are analyzed, and the research behind it

Working it out, step by step

  1. Figure out what the question asks

    This asks about a theme: a big idea a story keeps coming back to. How does what happens in paragraph 9 point to a theme? The right choice should fit a pattern across the whole excerpt.

  2. Read paragraph 9

    Paragraph 9 describes “A moment of useless screaming, running, trying to attract some one’s attention, a sickening sense of terror and failure.” Margaret screams and runs, trying to get someone to notice her. No one does. The last car rolls past “as if it enjoyed her discomfort.”

  3. Find the same thing earlier

    This is not the first time. In paragraph 2, none of the workers “had come to help her off the train.” In paragraph 8, the passengers sit “comfortable and safe inside, unconscious of her need.” That means they don’t know she needs help. Paragraph 9 is one more time when nobody comes. She will have to count on herself.

  4. Check each choice

    • A fits. Her cries go unanswered, just as before. She cannot rely on anyone else.
    • B does not fit. Impractical means not sensible or workable. Her screaming fails, but she never decides that trying to change things is pointless. In paragraph 14 she “picked up her baggage” and set off again.
    • C does not fit. She feels “failure,” but she never blames herself.
    • D does not fit. The paragraph shows terror at being ignored, not frustration about having no control over her surroundings.

  5. Choose the answer

    Paragraph 9 adds one more moment where no one helps Margaret. So the answer is A.

Why this answer and not the closest wrong one

B is the closest wrong choice, because paragraph 9 calls her screaming “useless.” But one failed moment does not mean she gives up. Soon she takes her bags and walks toward the tall dark shape ahead. What stays true from paragraph 2 to paragraph 9 is that no one helps her. That is A.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 18 as shown on the DOE’s digital test, page 26 of its printable version.
As printed in the DOE’s printable version of 2026 Practice Test A English, page 26, question 18.
The passage “Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness” as printed (pages 128–129)The passage “Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness” as printed on page 128 of the DOE handbook.The passage “Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness” as printed on page 129 of the DOE handbook.

Question 2 of 6

2026 Practice Test B English, question 47
Passage The End of an Era

The End of an Era

(1) In 2004, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) landed a rover, or robotic vehicle, named Opportunity on the surface of Mars. (2) The rover’s mission was to search for evidence of water and life on the planet. (3) The rover was designed to gather data on Mars for about 90 days, but Opportunity’s assignment did not come to an end until nearly 15 years later in 2019.

(4) During the rover’s mission, a high-resolution camera on the rover’s robotic arm took magnified photographs of the surface of Mars. (5) The photographs revealed small round rocks scattered across the surface of the planet. (6) The scientists nicknamed these rocks “blueberries” based on the rocks’ resemblance to the fruit. (7) These rocks were important because their spherical shape suggested that liquid water may have flowed over them for a substantial amount of time.

(8) Opportunity continued to provide valuable data about craters and other surface features. (9) Throughout the mission, the rover traveled a total of 28.06 miles across Mars’ surface. (10) When Opportunity had traveled nearly the length of a marathon, scientists celebrated the accomplishment by naming the valley that the rover was in Marathon Valley. (11) However, in 2018, a dust storm spread all over the planet, putting the rover’s progress on hold.

(12) Prior to this planet-wide dust storm, minor dust storms had periodically deposited a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover. (13) These prevented it from charging its batteries. (14) Scientists then had to rely on the passing winds and dust devils to clean off the solar panels. (15) After the massive 2018 dust storm subsided, scientists expected to be able to reestablish communication with Opportunity. (16) They made repeated attempts but to no avail. (17) In 2019, NASA finally declared Opportunity’s mission complete.

(18) Opportunity was an important asset in scientists’ study of Mars; it returned valuable data about our neighbor planet and survived powerful dust storms. (19) NASA described the mission of Opportunity as “one of the most successful and enduring feats of interplanetary exploration.” (20) Even though this rover’s journey ended, other rovers still roam the surface of Mars.

Question

What is the best way to combine sentences 12 and 13?

  • APreventing the rover from charging its batteries, minor dust storms had periodically deposited a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover prior to this planet-wide dust storm.
  • BPeriodically depositing a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover prior to this planet-wide dust storm, minor dust storms had prevented it from charging its batteries.
  • CMinor dust storms, prior to this planet-wide dust storm, prevented the rover from charging its batteries because they had periodically deposited a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover.
  • DPrior to this planet-wide dust storm, minor dust storms had periodically deposited a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover, preventing it from charging its batteries.
Show the answer

Correct answer: D

The question asks for the best way to combine sentences 12 and 13.

A. Incorrect. The phrase “this planet-wide dust storm” in the original sentence 12 makes a direct reference to sentence 11 and therefore acts as a transition that should be kept at the beginning. In this sentence, the transition phrase is placed at the end of the sentence, making the phrase confusing. In addition, the sentence is unnecessarily repetitive and wordy.

B. Incorrect. This combination unnecessarily turns sentence 12 into an overly long participial phrase, making the connection between “it” and its antecedent, “the rover,” unclear and distracting from the subject of the sentence, “minor dust storms.”

C. Incorrect. Not only does this combination move the reference to “this planet-wide dust storm” farther from sentence 11, but it is also unnecessarily wordy, adding “because” and repeating “the rover.”

D. CORRECT. This sentence efficiently and accurately adds sentence 13 to sentence 12 as a participial phrase by changing “These prevented” to “preventing,” while also retaining the meanings of the original sentences 12 and 13.

Question analysis

This sentence-combining question asks for the best way to join two sentences from the rover passage: one saying minor dust storms had periodically coated the rover's solar panels, the other saying this kept it from charging its batteries. The four versions keep the same facts in different orders, so students must judge which is clearest and most concise in context.

NYS standards
  • 7L1 grammar and usage conventions
  • 7L3a precise and concise language
Grade level
Grade 8 reading and task
Compared with grade 7
Above grade 7 Combining two sentences is grade 7 work, usually with one version clearly better. These four are long, keep the same facts and differ in order and wording, so students must weigh clarity and concision across nearly identical sentences, more than typical.
Estimated difficulty
Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
Evidence
Answered from one sentence or line
Reading level
Passage: about grade 11, 337 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 129 words.
Corrected from the DOE handbook
  • Two grammar terms in the explanation were corrected.
Students, last 30 days
64% right, of 11 answers
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)

Why it is hard

None of the versions is plainly ungrammatical, so the ear gives little help, and the version with “because” looks best to students who value a clearly stated cause. Its cost is wordiness and a weaker link: the result comes first and the reference back to sentence 11 is buried mid-sentence. The question rewards keeping the original order, cause then effect, and folding sentence 13 in as a short closing phrase.

  1. How sentences fit together moderate Working it out

    “Prior to this planet-wide dust storm” points back to sentence 11, so the best version keeps it first; three versions move it later, which loosens the link between the two sentences. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)

  2. Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer

    All four versions keep every fact of sentences 12 and 13 and run 29 to 32 words, so none can be ruled out by content; order, pronouns and repetition decide. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)

  3. Complex sentences minor Understanding the question

    Each version is one long sentence built around a participial phrase or a “because” clause, and at that length a stranded “it” or a doubled “the rover” is easy to miss. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)

Strategy: Read sentence 11 first, then compare the versions on how smoothly each connects to it, how many words it uses, and whether every pronoun has a clear antecedent.

Traps

The wrong answers, classified

What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why

  • Explanation: The DOE’s explanation of Option B says the combination turns sentence 12 into “an overly long dependent clause,” and its explanation of Option D says Option D adds sentence 13 to sentence 12 “as a dependent clause” by changing “These prevented” to “preventing.” Neither is a clause: “Periodically depositing a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover prior to this planet-wide dust storm” (Option B) and “preventing it from charging its batteries” (Option D) have no subject or finite verb of their own. Both are participial phrases, and the site now calls them that. The reasoning and the answer, Option D, are unchanged.

How 11 answers split, last 30 days

  • A18%
  • B0%
  • C18%
  • D64%

How the questions are analyzed, and the research behind it

Working it out, step by step

  1. Figure out what the question asks

    This question asks for the best way to join sentences 12 and 13 into one sentence. The best version keeps the meaning, uses few words and is clear. It should also connect smoothly to sentence 11, the sentence before.

  2. Read the sentences in order

    Sentence 11 tells about the giant 2018 dust storm. Sentence 12 begins “Prior to this planet-wide dust storm.” Prior to means before. That phrase points back to sentence 11, so it works best at the start. Sentence 12 says small storms put dust on the solar panels. Sentence 13 gives the result: “These prevented it from charging its batteries.”

  3. Learn the tool: a participial phrase

    A participial phrase is a group of words built on a verb form, often an -ing word. It describes something, but it has no subject and can’t stand alone. Example: The dog ran to the door. It wagged its tail. becomes The dog ran to the door, wagging its tail. Choice D does this. It turns “These prevented” into “preventing.”

  4. Check each choice

    • A is wrong. It starts with the result. It moves “prior to this planet-wide dust storm” to the end, far from sentence 11. It also says “the rover” twice.
    • B is wrong. Its long opening phrase hides the rover. Then “it” comes after “minor dust storms,” so it is hard to tell what “it” means.
    • C is wrong. It adds “because,” puts the result first and says “the rover” twice. It is wordier than D.
    • D is right. It keeps the link to sentence 11 first, gives the cause, then adds the result as a short participial phrase.

    Watch out: C looks clear because “because” names the cause. But it is longer, and it puts an extra phrase between “Minor dust storms” and its verb.

  5. Choose the answer

    So the answer is D: “Prior to this planet-wide dust storm, minor dust storms had periodically deposited a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover, preventing it from charging its batteries.”

Why this answer and not the closest wrong one

C is the closest wrong answer, because “because” makes the cause very clear. But C puts the result first and repeats “the rover.” D keeps the original order, cause then result. It also keeps the link to sentence 11 up front, in fewer words.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 47 as shown on the DOE’s digital test, page 65 of its printable version.
As printed in the DOE’s printable version of 2026 Practice Test B English, page 65, question 47. This is the DOE’s version, before the corrections listed in the analysis.
The passage “The End of an Era” as printed (page 60)The passage “The End of an Era” as printed on page 60 of the DOE handbook.

Question 3 of 6

2026 Practice Test D English, question 12
Passage Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight”

Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight”

by Orville Wright

In 1903 brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright conducted experiments related to flying machines. These experiments would eventually lead to air travel becoming a reliable form of transportation.

During the night of December 16, 1903, a strong cold wind blew from the north. When we arose on the morning of the 17th, the puddles of water, which had been standing about camp since the recent rains, were covered with ice. The wind had a velocity of 10 to 12 meters per second (22 to 27 miles an hour). We thought it would die down before long, and so remained indoors the early part of the morning. But when ten o’clock arrived, and the wind was as brisk as ever, we decided that we had better get the machine out and attempt a flight. We hung out the signal for the men of the Life Saving Station.1 We thought that by facing the flyer into a strong wind, there ought to be no trouble in launching it from the level ground about camp. We realized the difficulties of flying in so high a wind, but estimated that the added dangers in flight would be partly compensated for by the slower speed in landing.

Final Preparations

We laid the track on a smooth stretch of ground about one hundred feet north of the new building. The biting cold wind made work difficult, and we had to warm up frequently in our living room, where we had a good fire in an improvised stove made of a large carbide2 can. By the time all was ready, J. T. Daniels, W. S. Dough and A. D. Etheridge, members of the Kill Devil3 Life Saving Station; W. C. Brinkley of Manteo, and Johnny Moore, a boy from Nags Head,4 had arrived.

We had a “Richard” hand anemometer with which we measured the velocity of the wind. Measurements made just before starting the first flight showed velocities of 11 to 12 meters per second, or 24 to 27 miles per hour. . . .

Audacity—and Calculation

Wilbur having used his turn in the unsuccessful attempt on the 14th, the right to the first trial now belonged to me. After running the motor a few minutes to heat it up, I released the wire that held the machine to the track, and the machine started forward in the wind. Wilbur ran at the side of the machine, holding the wing to balance it on the track. Unlike the start on the 14th, made in a calm, the machine, facing a 27-mile wind, started very slowly. Wilbur was able to stay with it till it lifted from the track after a forty-foot run. One of the Life Saving men snapped the camera for us, taking a picture just as the machine had reached the end of the track and had risen to a height of about two feet. The slow forward speed of the machine over the ground is clearly shown in the picture by Wilbur’s attitude. He stayed along beside the machine without any effort.

Flight

The course of the flight up and down was exceedingly erratic, partly due to the irregularity of the air, and partly to lack of experience in handling this machine. The control of the front rudder was difficult on account of its being balanced too near the center. This gave it a tendency to turn itself when started; so that it turned too far on one side and then too far on the other. As a result the machine would rise suddenly to about ten feet, and then as suddenly dart for the ground. A sudden dart when a little over a hundred feet from the end of the track, or a little over 120 feet from the point at which it rose into the air, ended the flight. As the velocity of the wind was over 35 feet per second and the speed of the machine over the ground against this wind ten feet per second, the speed of the machine relative to the air was over 45 feet per second, and the length of the flight was equivalent to a flight of 540 feet made in calm air. This flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started.

From “How We Made the First Flight” by Orville Wright—Public Domain/Federal Aviation Administration

1Life Saving Station: one of the rescue stations along the Atlantic coastline that provided assistance to mariners in distress

2carbide: a very hard material composed of carbon and other heavy metals

3Kill Devil: the town of Kill Devil Hills in eastern North Carolina

4Nags Head: a town in eastern North Carolina

Question

Read this sentence from paragraph 5.

As the velocity of the wind was over 35 feet per second and the speed of the machine over the ground against this wind ten feet per second, the speed of the machine relative to the air was over 45 feet per second, and the length of the flight was equivalent to a flight of 540 feet made in calm air.

How does the sentence help convey Orville Wright’s perspective about this first flight?

  • AIt suggests that he was frustrated by the poor flying conditions on the day of the flight.
  • BIt emphasizes that he believed the flight was successful despite its short distance.
  • CIt provides a comparison between flight distances under calm and high wind conditions.
  • DIt highlights the importance of such calculations in the success of future flights.
Show the answer

Correct answer: B

The question asks how the sentence from paragraph 5 helps convey Orville Wright’s perspective about the first flight.

A. Incorrect. Although the sentence from paragraph 5 refers to the velocity of the wind during the flight, there is no indication that Orville felt a sense of frustration with the windy conditions. Instead, the sentence emphasizes the “speed of the machine relative to the air” and presents the equivalent flight length if the machine had flown through calm air (“the length of the flight was equivalent to a flight of 540 feet made in calm air”), details that emphasize the importance of the Wrights’ accomplishment.

B. CORRECT. In the sentence from paragraph 5, Orville uses the wind velocity and the machine speed to highlight the distance that the plane covered while in the air and to determine the distance that it would have flown on a day with calm winds, which emphasizes the magnitude of the accomplishment.

C. Incorrect. Since Orville does not suggest in the sentence from paragraph 5 how far the plane traveled under the actual conditions of high winds, the comparison is incomplete. Additionally, this statement does not address the reason that he would make such a comparison, which allowed him to describe the flight in more impressive terms (540 feet versus 120 feet).

D. Incorrect. Unlike the wind velocity calculations made in preparation for the flight, which might help in determining the success of future flights, the comparative calculations that Orville provides in the sentence from paragraph 5 help interpret the results of the first flight (by describing how fast and far the machine flew relative to the flying conditions) and thereby communicate its success. The calculations of the first flight’s relative speed and equivalent distance would not affect the success of future flights, but the information does provide context for understanding the Wright brothers’ accomplishment.

Question analysis

This point-of-view question quotes the long sentence from paragraph 5 in which Orville Wright works out the machine’s speed through the air and the length of an equivalent flight in calm air. Students must decide how this sentence helps convey his perspective on the first flight. The sentence is mostly numbers, from 35 feet per second to 540 feet, which makes its purpose easy to miss.

NYS standards
  • 7R6 point of view and author position
  • 7R1 textual evidence and inferences
Grade level
Grade 8 reading and task
Compared with grade 7
Above grade 7 Grade 7 point-of-view questions usually rest on words that show feeling. This sentence is a chain of speeds and distances with no feeling words, so students must work out why Orville bothers with the arithmetic, a step beyond typical grade 7 work.
Estimated difficulty
Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
What makes it hard
Evidence
Answered from one paragraph or stanza
Reading level
Passage: about grade 7, 816 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 132 words.
Students, last 30 days
50% right, of 10 answers
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)

Why it is hard

Point-of-view questions usually turn on feeling words, and this sentence has none, only speeds and a distance. Students must ask why Orville bothers with the arithmetic, and the answer is that 540 feet in calm air makes a 12-second hop look like the achievement he believed it was. The strongest pull describes the sentence’s content accurately, a comparison of calm and windy flight, without saying what it reveals, so students who answer what instead of why lose the point.

  1. How, not what moderate Working it out

    The question asks why Orville includes this calculation, so students must see that converting a short hop into “a flight of 540 feet made in calm air” is his way of showing that it counted. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

  2. Reading between the lines moderate Working it out

    The sentence holds no word of feeling or judgment; his view that the flight succeeded must be read from his choice to restate about 120 feet over the ground as 540 feet through the air. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)

  3. Complex sentences minor Understanding the question

    The 61-word sentence chains four measurements, a wind over 35 feet per second, a ground speed of ten, an airspeed over 45 and the 540-foot equivalent, joined by “As,” “and” and commas. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)

Strategy: Work out what the speeds and distances in the sentence describe, then ask why Orville includes them at this point and what that choice tells you about his view of the flight.

Traps

  • Wrong purpose or structure: Names a purpose, structure or effect that the part does not serve, or describes what a part says when the question asks what it does.
  • Wrong tone or attitude: Misjudges the tone, attitude or point of view, such as reading admiration as criticism, or taking a character's or subject's feelings for the author's.
  • Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.

The wrong answers, classified

How 10 answers split, last 30 days

  • A0%
  • B50%
  • C30%
  • D20%

How the questions are analyzed, and the research behind it

Working it out, step by step

  1. Figure out what the question asks

    This asks about Orville Wright’s perspective, or point of view. How did he feel about the first flight? The quoted sentence is full of numbers, not feelings. So ask why Orville bothered to do this math.

  2. Sort out the numbers

    The wind blew against the machine at over 35 feet per second. The machine moved over the ground at 10 feet per second. It was flying into the wind, so the air rushed past it even faster. Add them: it moved through the air at over 45 feet per second. The flight lasted 12 seconds. Over the ground, that is 10 × 12 = 120 feet. Through the air, it is 45 × 12 = 540 feet. That is how Orville gets “a flight of 540 feet made in calm air.”

  3. Ask why Orville does this math

    Paragraph 5 says the flight ended “a little over 120 feet from the point at which it rose into the air.” That sounds short. But Orville shows it was really much more. In calm air, the same flight would have gone 540 feet. He wants you to see that the short hop was a real flight. So his view is that the flight was a success.

  4. Check each choice

    • A does not fit. There is no sign of frustration. Orville uses the wind to make the flight count for more.
    • B fits. The math turns a short flight into an impressive one.
    • C does not fit. The sentence does compare calm and windy air. But that only says what the sentence contains, not what Orville thinks.
    • D does not fit. The math measures the flight that just happened. It does not look ahead to future flights.

    Watch out: C is tempting because it describes the sentence correctly. But the question asks about his perspective. C never says how he felt about the flight.

  5. Choose the answer

    Orville does the math to show that his short flight was a real success. So the answer is B, “It emphasizes that he believed the flight was successful despite its short distance.”

Why this answer and not the closest wrong one

C is the closest wrong choice. It is true that the sentence compares a windy flight with one “made in calm air.” But C only tells what the sentence says. The question asks why Orville says it. He turns about 120 feet into 540 feet to show the flight was a real achievement. B gives that reason.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 12 as shown on the DOE’s digital test, page 19 of its printable version.
As printed in the DOE’s printable version of 2026 Practice Test D English, page 19, question 12.
The passage “Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight”” as printed (pages 13–14)The passage “Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight”” as printed on page 13 of the DOE handbook.The passage “Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight”” as printed on page 14 of the DOE handbook.

Question 4 of 6

2026 Practice Test C Math, question 10

Question

Two parallel lines, n and p, rise from lower left to upper right, and both cross a horizontal line m. Where line n crosses line m, the angle above line m, between the left part of m and the upper part of n, is marked r°. Farther right, a vertical segment runs from line p down to line m, meeting m at a right angle (marked with a small square); the angle at the top, between line p and the vertical segment, is marked 73°.

In the figure above, n∥pn \parallel p. Straight line m intersects both line n and line p. What is the value of r?

  • A17
  • B117
  • C163
  • D173
Show the answer

Correct answer: C

The triangle formed by line p, line m, and the line segment connecting the two contains a 73° angle, a right angle (90°), and a missing angle measuring x°. The sum of the interior angles of a triangle is 180°, so begin by finding the value of x:

180∘=73∘+90∘+x180^{\circ} = 73^{\circ} + 90^{\circ} + x

180∘=163∘+x180^{\circ} = 163^{\circ} + x

17∘=x17^{\circ} = x

Line m is a straight line, so it has a measure of 180°. The 17° angle from the triangle and the adjacent angle outside the triangle are supplementary, so they have a sum of 180°. Let s represent the measure of the adjacent angle outside the triangle. The value of s can be determined by subtracting:

s=180∘−17∘s = 180^{\circ} - 17^{\circ}

s=163∘s = 163^{\circ}

Given that n and p are parallel lines and that they have been cut by a transversal, line m, then corresponding angles are congruent. Angles r and s are corresponding angles, so the value of r is congruent to the value of s, which is 163°.

Question analysis

Two parallel lines, n and p, cross a straight line m, and a segment drawn at a right angle to m forms a small triangle with lines m and p, where a 73° angle is marked. Students find the angle r at line n. It combines a triangle's angle sum, a straight angle and parallel lines, and the angle wanted sits away from the marked ones.

NYS standards
  • 8.G.5 angle sums, transversals, angle-angle similarity
  • 7.G.5 angle relationships and equations
Grade level
Grade 8 content, by NYS standard
Compared with grade 7
Above grade 7 Grade 7 angle problems use supplementary, vertical and adjacent angles. This one also needs the angle sum of a triangle and the angles formed by parallel lines and a transversal, grade 8 facts, chained across a busy figure.
Estimated difficulty
Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
Solution
3 steps
Reading level
Question and choices: about grade 3, 21 words.
Students, last 30 days
Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)

Why it is hard

Each fact needs only a subtraction, but the student has to plan a route from the 73° angle at line p over to r at line n. The first number the route gives, the triangle's 17° angle, is listed, and it is the acute partner of r rather than r itself. The figure helps here: r is drawn plainly obtuse, and 163 is also 90 + 73, the triangle's exterior angle, which confirms it.

  1. Reading a figure, table or graph moderate Understanding the question

    The 73° sits between line p and the vertical segment, not between p and m, and r is the obtuse angle above m on the left of line n, far from every marked angle. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)

  2. Combines ideas moderate Working it out

    Three facts chain together: the triangle's angles sum to 180°, the angles along straight line m sum to 180°, and corresponding angles at the parallel lines n and p are equal. (Embretson, 1998; Daniel & Embretson, 2010)

  3. Something you must already know minor Working it out

    The angle pairs formed by a line crossing two parallel lines are a grade 8 topic, and the question uses them without naming them. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

Strategy: Find the third angle of the right triangle, use the straight line m to get the angle beside it, then carry that angle over to line n using the parallel lines.

Traps

  • Stops one step early: A choice is a number from partway through the solution.
  • An arithmetic slip: The right method with a plausible arithmetic error: a digit, a place value or a times-table fact.

The wrong answers, classified

How the questions are analyzed, and the research behind it

Worked solution, step by step

Formulas used

Angles of a triangle
a+b+c=180∘a + b + c = 180^{\circ}
a, b and c are the three angles inside any triangle. They always add up to 180°. If you know two of them, subtract their sum from 180° to find the third.
Angles on a straight line
a+b=180∘a + b = 180^{\circ}
a and b are two angles side by side on a straight line. Together they make a half turn, which is 180°. Use it to find the angle next to one you already know.
Corresponding angles
n∥p⇒corresponding angles are equaln \parallel p \Rightarrow \text{corresponding angles are equal}
The symbol ∥ means is parallel to. When line m crosses two parallel lines, it makes the same angles at each crossing. Angles in the same position at the two crossings are called corresponding angles. They are equal.

  1. Sort out the question

    Lines n and p are parallel, and line m crosses both. Near line p, a straight-up segment meets line m. The small square shows a right angle, 90°. Line p, line m and that segment make a small triangle. Its top angle is 73°.

    You need r, the wide angle where line n crosses line m.

  2. Find the triangle’s third angle

    The third angle is where line p crosses line m. Call it x. Use the triangle rule:

    73+90+x=18073 + 90 + x = 180

    x=180−163=17x = 180 - 163 = 17

    So that angle is 17°.

    Watch out: this is not r. Stopping here gives choice A, 17.

  3. Use the straight line m

    The 17° angle sits above line m, on the right of line p. Beside it, on the left of line p, is a wide angle. Call it s. The two angles fill the straight line m, so they add to 180°:

    s=180−17=163s = 180 - 17 = 163

    So s is 163°.

    Watch out: borrow carefully. 180 − 17 is 163, not 173, choice D.

  4. Carry the angle to line n

    Angle s is above line m and to the left of line p. Angle r is above line m and to the left of line n. They are in the same position, so they are corresponding angles. Since n and p are parallel:

    r=s=163r = s = 163

    So the answer is C, 163.

Check your answer

Look at the figure. Angle r is wider than a right angle, so it must be more than 90°. That rules out 17. Also, the narrow angle beside r, on the right of line n, matches the 17° angle at line p. And 163+17=180163 + 17 = 180, as it should on a straight line.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 10 as shown on the DOE’s digital test, page 83 of its printable version.
As printed in the DOE’s printable version of 2026 Practice Test C Math, page 83, question 10.

Question 5 of 6

2026 Practice Test C Math, question 32

Question

A box plot titled MONTHLY HIGH TEMPERATURES IN NEW YORK above a number line labeled Temperature (°F), from 36 to 88 with a labeled tick every 4. The left whisker starts at about 39, just left of the tick for 40. The box runs from 48 to about 78, between the ticks for 76 and 80, with the median line at 64. The right whisker ends at 84.

The box plot shows the average monthly high temperatures in New York City for 12 months. What is the difference between the range and the interquartile range of the temperature data?

Enter your answer in the space.

Fill-in question: work out the answer and type it as a number.

Show the answer

Correct answer: 15

Determine the range by subtracting the minimum value on the box plot from the maximum value on the box plot:

Maximum value =84∘ F= 84^{\circ}\text{ F}, Minimum value =39∘ F= 39^{\circ}\text{ F}

84∘ F−39∘ F=45∘ F84^{\circ}\text{ F} - 39^{\circ}\text{ F} = 45^{\circ}\text{ F}

Determine the interquartile range by subtracting the lower quartile value on the box plot from the upper quartile value on the box plot:

Upper Quartile Value =78∘ F= 78^{\circ}\text{ F}, Lower Quartile Value =48∘ F= 48^{\circ}\text{ F}

78∘ F−48∘ F=30∘ F78^{\circ}\text{ F} - 48^{\circ}\text{ F} = 30^{\circ}\text{ F}

Determine the difference between the range (45° F) and the interquartile range (30° F):

45∘ F−30∘ F=15∘ F45^{\circ}\text{ F} - 30^{\circ}\text{ F} = 15^{\circ}\text{ F}

Question analysis

A box plot of New York City's average monthly high temperatures for 12 months sits above a number line labeled every 4 degrees. Students type the difference between the range and the interquartile range of the data. Two of the plot's values fall between labeled ticks, so careful reading of the scale decides the answer.

NYS standards
  • 7.SP.1 box plots and interquartile range
  • 6.SP.5c range, center, and overall pattern
Grade level
Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
Compared with grade 7
Above grade 7 Reading a box plot and finding its interquartile range are grade 7 skills. Here two of the five values fall between ticks spaced 4 apart, and the range, the IQR and their difference must all be found and typed with no choices.
Estimated difficulty
Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
Solution
3 steps
Reading level
Question and choices: about grade 7, 36 words.
Students, last 30 days
Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)

Why it is hard

The method is standard, but the key rests on reading the scale between its labels. The axis is ticked only every 4 degrees, and the minimum and the upper quartile land off the ticks, so rounding either one to the nearest label moves the result by a degree or two with nothing to flag it. Students who find the range correctly can also stop there, entering 45, the larger of the two spreads, instead of the difference the question asks for.

  1. Reading a figure, table or graph major Understanding the question

    Two of the five values fall between ticks spaced 4 degrees apart: the left whisker ends just short of the 40 tick, at 39, and the box’s right edge sits midway between 76 and 80, at 78. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)

  2. Many steps minor Working it out

    Four values are read and combined in three subtractions, the range, the interquartile range and then their difference, so one misread value changes the final entry. (Daniel & Embretson, 2010; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)

  3. Something you must already know minor Working it out

    Neither measure is defined on the page: the range spans the whiskers, and the interquartile range is the width of the box, the upper quartile minus the lower. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

  4. An answer in an unexpected form minor Choosing the answer

    The result is typed with no choices to compare, so an entry one or two degrees off, from rounding a value to the nearest tick, looks just as finished as the right one. (Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)

Strategy: Read the minimum, both quartiles and the maximum, judging where each mark falls between the ticks, then subtract for the range and for the IQR, and subtract those two results.

Traps

The wrong answers, classified

How the questions are analyzed, and the research behind it

Worked solution, step by step

Formulas used

Range
range=maximum−minimum\text{range} = \text{maximum} - \text{minimum}
The maximum is the greatest value, at the right end of the right whisker. The minimum is the least value, at the left end of the left whisker. The range tells how far the whole set of data spreads.
Interquartile range (IQR)
IQR=Q3−Q1\text{IQR} = Q_3 - Q_1
Q3 is the upper quartile, the right edge of the box. Q1 is the lower quartile, the left edge of the box. The IQR is the width of the box. It tells how far the middle half of the data spreads.

  1. Sort out the question

    A box plot shows data with five numbers. The two whiskers are the lines on each side of the box. Their ends are the minimum, the least value, and the maximum, the greatest. The box runs from the lower quartile to the upper quartile. These are the middles of the lower half and the upper half of the data. The line inside the box is the median, the middle value.

    You need the range minus the interquartile range (IQR), in degrees.

  2. Read the values between the ticks

    The ticks on the number line are 4 degrees apart. So each degree is one quarter of the space between two ticks. Three values sit right on ticks: the box’s left edge at 48, the median at 64, and the right whisker’s end at 84.

    • The left whisker starts just left of the 40 tick. It sits about one quarter of the way back toward 36. So the minimum is 40−1=3940 - 1 = 39 degrees.
    • The box’s right edge is halfway between 76 and 80. Halfway is 78 degrees.

  3. Find the range

    Use the range formula:

    range=84−39=45\text{range} = 84 - 39 = 45

    The data spread over 45 degrees.

    Watch out: rounding the minimum to the 40 tick gives a range of 44. Then the final answer comes out 14, which is wrong.

  4. Find the IQR

    Use the IQR formula with the two edges of the box:

    IQR=78−48=30\text{IQR} = 78 - 48 = 30

    The middle half of the data spreads over 30 degrees.

    Watch out: reading the box’s right edge as 76 gives an IQR of 28. Then the final answer comes out 17.

  5. Subtract the IQR from the range

    The question asks for the difference between the two:

    45−30=1545 - 30 = 15

    Watch out: 45 is only the range. Do not stop there. Type only the number, with no degree sign.

    So you would enter 15.

Check your answer

The range covers the whole plot, and the IQR covers only the box. So their difference is the two whiskers added together. The left whisker is 48−39=948 - 39 = 9 degrees long. The right whisker is 84−78=684 - 78 = 6 degrees long. 9+6=159 + 6 = 15, which matches.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 32 as shown on the DOE’s digital test, page 105 of its printable version.
As printed in the DOE’s printable version of 2026 Practice Test C Math, page 105, question 32.

Question 6 of 6

2026 Practice Test B Math, question 31

Question

A pizza shop offers a choice of 3 sizes (small, medium, and large) and 7 different toppings. Different pizzas can be created by changing the size and the choice of toppings. If Cody wants to order a pizza with exactly 2 different toppings, how many different pizzas can he create?

  • A6
  • B21
  • C63
  • D126
Show the answer

Correct answer: C

Figure out how many different topping pairs are possible. Use 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 to represent the toppings, and create a list of possible pairs:

1,2; 1,3; 1,4; 1,5; 1,6; 1,7
2,3; 2,4; 2,5; 2,6; 2,7
3,4; 3,5; 3,6; 3,7
4,5; 4,6; 4,7
5,6; 5,7
6,7

So there are 21 different topping combinations for one pizza.

Since there are 3 pizza sizes, multiply the total number of combinations by 3 to get the total number of different pizzas Cody can create: 3×21=633 \times 21 = 63.

Question analysis

Cody orders a pizza with exactly 2 of 7 toppings in one of 3 sizes, and students count how many different pizzas he could create. It tests counting combinations, where the order of the toppings does not matter, combined with a second choice. The challenge is to count every possible pizza exactly once.

NYS standards
  • 7.SP.8b sample spaces for compound events
Grade level
Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
Compared with grade 7
Above grade 7 In grade 7, compound events are usually ordered pairs, such as a coin with a number cube. Here an unordered pair of toppings is chosen from seven and then matched with three sizes, a combination count beyond typical grade 7 work.
Estimated difficulty
Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
What makes it hard
Solution
3 steps
Reading level
Question and choices: about grade 8, 47 words.
Students, last 30 days
Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)

Why it is hard

The question packs two counts into one sentence, each with its own trap. Order does not matter among the toppings, while the size multiplies every pair, and students tend to remember one of these and forget the other. Listing pairs systematically, each topping matched only with later ones, keeps the first count honest, and the stem’s “changing the size and the choice of toppings” is the reminder that size counts too.

  1. Combines ideas moderate Working it out

    Two counts are joined: the unordered pairs of toppings from 7, then the 3 sizes each pair can come in, and a mistake in either count changes the total. (Embretson, 1998; Daniel & Embretson, 2010)

  2. Something you must already know minor Working it out

    Students must know that a pizza with mushroom and onion is the same as one with onion and mushroom, so the ordered count 7 × 6 has to be halved. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

Strategy: Number the toppings 1 to 7, list each pair once by matching every topping only with higher-numbered ones, count the list, then bring in the choice of size.

Traps

The wrong answers, classified

How the questions are analyzed, and the research behind it

Worked solution, step by step

Formulas used

The counting principle
total=m×n\text{total} = m \times n
m is the number of ways to make one choice, and n is the number of ways to make a second choice. Every first choice can go with every second choice, so you multiply. Here, every pair of toppings can come in every size.
Pairs when order does not matter
pairs=n×(n−1)2\text{pairs} = \frac{n \times (n - 1)}{2}
n is the number of items to choose from. There are n ways to pick a first item and n − 1 ways to pick a different second one. That counts each pair twice, once in each order. Dividing by 2 counts each pair once.

  1. Sort out the question

    Each of Cody’s pizzas has one size and exactly 2 different toppings. There are 3 sizes and 7 toppings. Pizzas differ by “changing the size and the choice of toppings.” So a small and a large with the same toppings are two different pizzas. You need to count every pizza once.

  2. List the topping pairs

    Order does not matter: onion with peppers is the same pizza as peppers with onion. So number the toppings 1 to 7, and pair each one only with bigger numbers. Then no pair shows up twice.

    ToppingPairs withPairs
    12, 3, 4, 5, 6, 76
    23, 4, 5, 6, 75
    34, 5, 6, 74
    45, 6, 73
    56, 72
    671

    6+5+4+3+2+1=216 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 21

    There are 21 different pairs of toppings.

  3. Check the pairs with the formula

    Use the pairs formula with 7 toppings:

    7×62=422=21\frac{7 \times 6}{2} = \frac{42}{2} = 21

    Watch out: 7 × 6 = 42 counts every pair twice, once as 1 then 2 and once as 2 then 1. Keeping 42 leads to 42×3=12642 \times 3 = 126, choice D.

  4. Bring in the sizes

    Each of the 21 topping pairs can come in any of the 3 sizes. Use the counting principle:

    21×3=6321 \times 3 = 63

    Watch out: stopping at 21 leaves out the sizes, which gives choice B. Choice A, 6, multiplies the 3 sizes by the 2 toppings on one pizza. That does not count pizzas.

  5. Give the answer

    There are 21 topping pairs, and each one comes in 3 sizes. Cody can create 63 different pizzas. So the answer is C, 63.

Check your answer

Count one size at a time. A small pizza can have any of the 21 pairs, so there are 21 small pizzas. There are also 21 medium and 21 large ones: 21+21+21=6321 + 21 + 21 = 63. That is more than the 21 pairs but fewer than 126, so it is reasonable.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 31 as shown on the DOE’s digital test, page 103 of its printable version.
As printed in the DOE’s printable version of 2026 Practice Test B Math, page 103, question 31.

Sample #55