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Question 1 of 6

2024 Test A English, question 38
Passage 5 Reasons Physical Books Might Be Better Than E-Books

5 Reasons Physical Books Might Be Better Than E-Books

by Shaunacy Ferro

Though e-book1 readers have become a more common sight around town, traditional books still have their evangelists.2 According to The New York Times, e-book sales have been falling in 2015. Print definitely isn’t dead. In fact, according to some research, it may actually be a better choice for some readers. While scientists are still trying to tease out exactly how digital reading affects us differently, here are five ways e-books might be inferior to their dead-tree cousins.

E-books can reduce reading comprehension.

In a study of middle schoolers, West Chester University researchers found that students who read on iPads3 had lower reading comprehension than when they read traditional printed books. They discovered that the kids sometimes skipped text in favor of interactive features in the e-books, suggesting that certain multimedia in children’s e-books can be detrimental to the practice of reading itself. However, the researchers noted that some interactive features in e-books are designed to enhance comprehension, and that those might be more helpful than game-type interactive graphics.

Young kids can get distracted by e-books.

Similar results were found by a small study by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center that consisted of 32 kids reading e-books and print books with their parents. It found that “enhanced” e-books might be distracting. Kids who read enhanced e-books—ones with interactive, multimedia experiences—were more engaged with them physically, but in the end they remembered fewer narrative details than those who read print books or basic e-books.

You remember less about a book’s timeline.

Another study of adults also found that e-books can be hard to absorb. The researchers asked 25 people to read a 28-page story on a Kindle4 and 25 to read the story in paperback, then asked the readers to put 14 events from the story in chronological order. Those who read the story on a Kindle performed worse on the chronology test than the book readers, though they performed about the same as print readers in other tests. Earlier research by the same scholars, from Stavanger University in Norway, found that Norwegian 10th graders also remembered more about texts if they read them in print rather than on a computer screen.

They’re not great as textbooks.

While e-book textbooks are often cheaper (and easier to carry) than traditional door-stop5 textbooks, college students often don’t prefer them. In some surveys of college kids, the majority of students have reported preferring print books. However, a 2012 study from the UK’s National Literacy Trust of kids ages 8 to 16 found that more than 50 percent of children reported preferring screen reading.

They’re tiring.

Staring at a lit screen can be tiring for the eyes and the brain. A 2005 study from Sweden found that reading digitally required a higher cognitive workload than reading on paper. Furthermore, staring at LED6 screens at night can disrupt sleep patterns. A 2014 Harvard study found that people who used e-readers with LED screens at night slept worse and were more tired the next day. So, if you’re going to go for an e-book, go for one without the backlight.

The take-away message? If you’re really trying to absorb material, you might want to go for a physical book. And if you’re going to be up all night studying, turn off the backlight.

However, all this may not mean that reading on a Kindle is really going to melt your brain. For instance, reading an e-book on a computer is a much different experience than reading on a Kindle, which is specifically designed for consuming books. So, too, is playing with an interactive e-book on an iPad, compared to using a simpler e-book device that only presents the text, with no opportunities to click away into digital distractions.

And some studies have found that part of the difference between the way people absorb information from e-books versus paper might be due to approaching e-books differently—in one test, participants didn’t regulate their study time with digital books like they did with paper texts, leading to worse performances. It’s possible that our expectations of e-book reading—as well as the different designs of the digital reading experience on a computer or iPad or Kindle—might affect how we approach the text and how much effort we put into studying them. As generations of e-book readers evolve, and people become more accustomed to the idea of sitting down with a digital textbook, these factors could change—for better or for worse.

“5 Reasons Physical Books Might Be Better Than E-Books” by Shaunacy Ferro from MENTAL FLOSS, October 2, 2015. Copyright © 2015 Mental Floss, Inc.

1e-book: an electronic book, a publication made available digitally for reading on a computer or other device

2evangelists: advocates or supporters

3iPads: tablet computers

4Kindle: device for reading e-books

5door-stop: a reference to the idea that some textbooks are large and heavy enough to hold a door open

6LED: Light-emitting diode; LEDs are often used as a backlight for electronic devices such as smart phones and tablets.

Question

How does paragraph 7 fit into the overall structure of the passage?

  • AIt indicates where the author changes the purpose of the writing.
  • BIt introduces the author’s opinion on the issue.
  • CIt signals a shift in the position of the author.
  • DIt begins the author’s commentary on the preceding information.
Show the answer

Correct answer: D

The question asks for an explanation of the role of paragraph 7 in the overall structure of the passage.

A. Incorrect. The purpose of paragraphs 2–6 is to present reasons physical books might be better than e-books, and paragraph 7 offers summarizing “take-away” advice based on those reasons. As a result, it may seem as though the author’s purpose for writing the entire passage has shifted. However, the author’s advice in paragraph 7, that readers who want to learn from reading “might want to go for a physical book,” makes it clear that paragraph 7, like paragraphs 2–6, continues to serve the same purpose for the passage that the writer expresses in paragraph 1: to inform readers that printed books “may actually be a better choice for some readers” than e-books.

B. Incorrect. In paragraph 7, the author does offer the advice that readers who want to absorb material “might want to go for a physical book” rather than an e-book. Even though the author makes the statement favoring physical books for those who want to learn from their reading, the author is not sharing a personal opinion. Instead, the author offers the advice as a summary of the information presented in paragraphs 2–6, which explore various studies about the advantages of physical books over e-books. Furthermore, the idea that physical books are sometimes a better option is not introduced for the first time in paragraph 7. Instead, it is introduced early in the passage, when the author states in paragraph 1 that physical books “may actually be a better choice for some readers.”

C. Incorrect. Paragraph 7 presents a clear shift in style and content from paragraphs 2–6. Paragraphs 2–6 are each preceded by a heading stating a reason physical books might be a better choice than e-books, and each paragraph provides research evidence. Paragraph 7 shifts to stating a “take-away message”—the author’s advice—which is based on the reasons in paragraphs 2–6. Paragraph 7’s different style and content do not, however, signal a change in the author’s position. Instead, the author’s advice in paragraph 7 (“if you’re really trying to absorb material, you might want to go for a physical book”) actually reinforces the position first introduced in paragraph 1 that physical books “may actually be a better choice for some readers.”

D. CORRECT. The author uses paragraphs 2–6 to present “five ways e-books might be inferior” (paragraph 1) to physical books. Each of paragraphs 2–6 presents one reason for the inferiority of e-books, based on a scientific study. Paragraph 7 indicates a shift because it describes neither a reason e-books might be inferior nor a scientific study. Instead, it presents personal commentary: the “take-away,” or conclusion, the author draws from the studies and evidence presented in paragraphs 2–6. That commentary consists of the author’s own practical advice to readers who want to retain information that they read (“you might want to go for a physical book”) and to those who are “going to be up all night studying” (“turn off the backlight”).

Question analysis

This text-structure question asks how paragraph 7, a two-sentence paragraph that follows the five research sections, fits into the overall structure of an article arguing that printed books might be better than e-books. Students must compare it with the opening claim and the paragraphs around it, and the four choices use similar abstract wording about the author's purpose, opinion and position.

NYS standards
  • 7R5 structure and genre features
  • 7R6 point of view and author position
Grade level
Grade 8 reading and task
Compared with grade 7
Above grade 7 Grade 7 students analyze how sections contribute to a text, but here all four choices are abstract statements about the author's purpose and position, and telling them apart means tracking the argument from the first paragraph to the last.
Estimated difficulty
Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
Evidence
Answered from the whole text
Reading level
Passage: about grade 10, 829 words; question and choices: about grade 8, 49 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

All four choices are abstract claims about the author's purpose and position, so none can be checked against a single sentence. Paragraph 7 does feel like a turn, from studies to advice, which makes the choices about a changed purpose or position tempting, but the advice repeats the view the first paragraph set out. The real hedge comes one paragraph later, and the closest call is whether paragraph 7 introduces a view or comments on evidence already given.

  1. A very close wrong answer major Choosing the answer

    The right choice and the one saying paragraph 7 introduces the author's opinion both find the author's own voice there; they part on whether that view is new, and paragraph 1 already said print “may actually be a better choice”. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)

  2. How, not what moderate Working it out

    The question asks what paragraph 7 does in the article, a short take-away after five research sections, so its advice about physical books and backlights matters only for its role. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

  3. Evidence in several places minor Working it out

    Judging the claims of a shift or a change needs both ends of the article, the stance of paragraph 1 and the “However” that opens paragraph 8. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)

Strategy: Compare what paragraph 7 does with what paragraphs 1–6 do: where was the author's view first stated, and what is new in paragraph 7? Then match that role to a choice.

Traps

  • Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
  • 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.

The wrong answers, classified

How the questions are analyzed, and the research behind it

Working it out, step by step

  1. Know what the question asks

    This asks about the structure of the passage, which means how its parts fit together. You need to name the job paragraph 7 does compared with the paragraphs around it.

  2. Map the passage first

    Paragraph 1 states the author’s view: print “may actually be a better choice for some readers.” Paragraphs 2 through 6 each sit under a bold heading. Each one reports research on one way e-books might be worse than print.

  3. Read paragraph 7

    It begins, “The take-away message?” A take-away is the lesson you carry away. Then the author advises, “If you’re really trying to absorb material, you might want to go for a physical book.” The author also says to “turn off the backlight” when studying late. Both tips come from the studies just before. So paragraph 7 is the author commenting on that evidence.

  4. Check each choice

    • D fits: it “begins the author’s commentary on the preceding information,” and preceding means coming before.
    • A is wrong because the purpose doesn’t change, since the advice still shows print may be better.
    • B is wrong because the author’s opinion first appears in paragraph 1, not paragraph 7.
    • C is wrong because the author softens the view only later, in paragraph 8, with “all this may not mean.”

    Watch out: B is tempting because paragraph 7 really is the author’s own voice. But it is not the first time you hear it.

  5. Choose the answer

    Paragraph 7 turns the research in the five sections into advice, which is commentary on what came before. So the answer is D.

Why this answer and not the closest wrong one

B comes closest, since paragraph 7 really is the author speaking. But the author’s view already appeared in paragraph 1. Paragraph 7 doesn’t introduce it. It sums up the research before it and turns that research into advice. That is commentary on the preceding information, as D says.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 38 as printed on page 61 of the DOE handbook.
As printed in the DOE’s NYC Guide to the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) for 2025 Admissions, page 61, question 38. Open page 61 of the handbook (PDF) The handbook letters this question’s choices E–H; here they are A–D (E = A, F = B, G = C, H = D).
The passage “5 Reasons Physical Books Might Be Better Than E-Books” as printed (pages 58–59)The passage “5 Reasons Physical Books Might Be Better Than E-Books” as printed on page 58 of the DOE handbook.The passage “5 Reasons Physical Books Might Be Better Than E-Books” as printed on page 59 of the DOE handbook.

Question 2 of 6

2026 Practice Test C English, question 20
Passage Bird Talk

Bird Talk

by Carl Sandburg

And now when the branches were beginning to be heavy,
It was the time when they once had said, “This is the
  beginning of summer.”
The shrilling of the frogs was not so shrill as in the
  first weeks after the broken winter;
The birds took their hops and zigzags a little more
  anxious; a home is a home; worms are worms.
The yellow spreads of the dandelions and buttercups
  reached across the green pastures.
Tee whee and tee whee came on the breezes, and the grackles
  chuzzled their syllables.
And it was the leaves with a strong soft wind over them
  that talked most of all and said more than any others
  though speaking the fewest words.
It was the green leaves trickling out the gaunt nowhere
  of winter, out on the gray hungry branches—
It was the leaves on the branches, beginning to be heavy,
  who said as they said one time before, “This is the be-
  ginning of summer.”

We shall never blame the birds who come
  where the river and the road make the Grand Crossing
  and talk there, sitting in circles talking bird talk.
If they ask in their circles as to who is here
  and as to who is not here and who used to be here,
Or if instead of counting up last year as against
  this year, they count up this year as against next
  year, and have their bird chatter about who is here
  this year who won’t be here next year,
We shall never blame the birds.

If I have put your face among leaf faces, child,
Or if I have put your voice among bird voices,
Blame me no more than the bluejays.

“Bird Talk” by Carl Sandburg—Public domain.

Question

Read lines 6–7 from the poem.

The birds took their hops and zigzags a little more
  anxious; a home is a home; worms are worms.

What idea from the second stanza do the lines help develop?

  • AThe birds are eager for the return of warmer months.
  • BThe birds are most likely to thrive during the spring.
  • CThe birds naturally adjust to the seasonal changes.
  • DThe birds instinctively prepare for the future.
Show the answer

Correct answer: C

The question asks how lines 6–7 from the poem develop an idea from the second stanza.

A. Incorrect. In lines 2–3, the tree branches exclaim that “ ‘This is the / beginning of summer,’ ” and the birds respond by taking “their hops and zigzags a little more / anxious” (lines 6–7); however, the birds’ eager reaction to the return of warmer weather is not referenced in the second stanza of the poem, which is more about the nature of birds generally than the changing of the seasons.

B. Incorrect. Birds are more likely to thrive in warmer weather as evidenced by some birds’ migration to a warmer climate during winter, and the creatures in the first stanza are responding to the “ ‘beginning of summer’ ” (line 3) in their own way, such as the birds who are taking “their hops and zigzags a little more / anxious” (lines 6–7). However, the thriving of birds during a particular season is not the focus of the second stanza; rather, it is focused on the general nature of birds.

C. CORRECT. The birds are taking “their hops and zigzags a little more / anxious” (lines 6–7) in light of warmer weather, but they are not making a big to-do of the change because “a home is a home; worms are worms” (line 7) any time of the year. Such a natural adjustment to seasonal changes is reflected in the second stanza, where the birds “count up this year as against next / year” (lines 26–27) because they are well accustomed to the cyclical nature of things.

D. Incorrect. Although the birds’ actions of “hops and zigzags” (line 6) may indicate some sort of preparation, these actions are not preparation but rather the internalized cognizance of the change that has occurred with little conscious thought. As revealed in the second stanza, birds do not ponder much about past or future but rather adapt naturally as things change.

Question analysis

This question on Carl Sandburg’s poem “Bird Talk” quotes lines 6–7, where the birds hop and zigzag “a little more anxious,” and asks which idea from the second stanza they help develop. Students must link two compressed lines in the first stanza to a later stanza about birds gathered at the Grand Crossing, and every choice sounds like a fair claim about birds.

NYS standards
  • 7R5 structure and genre features
  • 7R2 theme or central idea
Grade level
Grade 8 reading and task
Compared with grade 7
Above grade 7 Typical grade 7 poetry questions ask what one line or stanza shows on its own. Here two compressed lines from the first stanza must be tied to an idea the second stanza never states, in Sandburg’s loose, unusual phrasing.
Estimated difficulty
Among the hardest on the SHSAT: a non-obvious approach, heavy reading, or a well-hidden trap.
Evidence
Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
Reading level
Passage: 296 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 5, 70 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 stem runs in an unusual direction: two lines from the first stanza must help develop an idea that only the second stanza holds, and the poem never states it. Students who read “next year” as planning are drawn to preparation, a choice built on the key’s own frame, while others answer from the first stanza’s summer or from what they know about birds. The question rewards hearing the birds’ roll call of who is gone as the same matter-of-fact acceptance as “worms are worms.”

  1. Reading between the lines major Working it out

    Neither stanza states the shared idea: students must hear calm acceptance in “a home is a home; worms are worms” and in birds tallying “who won’t be here next year,” then call it adjusting to change. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)

  2. A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer

    The choice about instinctive preparation shares the key’s shape, birds acting by nature as time passes; it differs only in what the birds do, prepare for the future rather than adjust to the seasons. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)

  3. Evidence in several places moderate Working it out

    Lines 6–7 sit in the first stanza and the idea lives in the second, lines 20–29, so students must carry two lines across the poem and match them to the gathering at the Grand Crossing. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)

  4. Figurative or literary language moderate Understanding the question

    “A home is a home; worms are worms” says nothing on its surface; its meaning, a shrug that life goes on as it always has, has to be read from the repetition. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)

Strategy: Paraphrase the second stanza first: what are the birds doing and saying at the Grand Crossing? Then reread lines 6–7 and ask which idea about birds both passages share.

Traps

  • Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
  • Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
  • Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.

The wrong answers, classified

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 points in an unusual direction. Lines 6–7 are in the first stanza. A stanza is a group of lines set apart by a blank line. But the idea you need is in the second stanza, lines 20–29. The question asks which idea in stanza 2 these earlier lines also help build. So find the idea in stanza 2 first. Then see how lines 6–7 support it.

  2. Find the idea in stanza 2

    In stanza 2, birds sit “in circles talking bird talk.” They ask “who is here / and as to who is not here and who used to be here.” They also talk about “who is here / this year who won’t be here next year.” The birds simply count the changes. They are not upset by them. The speaker says, “We shall never blame the birds.” The idea: birds take the changes that time brings as a normal part of life.

  3. Read lines 6–7 closely

    Lines 6–7 say “The birds took their hops and zigzags a little more / anxious; a home is a home; worms are worms.” As summer comes, the birds hop about a little more nervously and busily. That is a small change. Then the speaker shrugs: “a home is a home; worms are worms.” Life goes on as it always does. The birds change a little and carry on, with no fuss.

  4. See what the two parts share

    Both parts show birds meeting change calmly. In lines 6–7, the season turns, and the birds adjust a little. To adjust is to change a little to fit something new. In stanza 2, the birds note who has come and gone, and life goes on. So lines 6–7 help build stanza 2’s idea: birds naturally adjust to the changing seasons.

  5. Check each choice

    • A does not fit. Stanza 2 never mentions warm weather or being eager for it.
    • B does not fit. Nothing in the poem says birds do best in spring. The poem’s season is the start of summer.
    • C fits. Both parts show birds taking seasonal change calmly, as a matter of course.
    • D does not fit. The birds talk about next year, but they make no plans for it.

    Watch out: D is tempting because “a home is a home” can sound like nest building. But the birds only count who will be missing. They do not get ready for anything.

  6. Choose the answer

    Lines 6–7 and stanza 2 both show birds accepting change as natural. So the answer is C, “The birds naturally adjust to the seasonal changes.”

Why this answer and not the closest wrong one

D is the closest wrong choice. Like C, it says birds act by nature as time passes. But D says they prepare, or get ready. In stanza 2, the birds talk about next year only to count who “won’t be here next year.” In lines 6–7, they hop about and carry on. They adjust to change. They do not plan for it.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 20 as shown on the DOE’s digital test, page 33 of its printable version.
As printed in the DOE’s printable version of 2026 Practice Test C English, page 33, question 20.
The passage “Bird Talk” as printed (page 32)The passage “Bird Talk” as printed on page 32 of the DOE handbook.

Question 3 of 6

2024 Test B English, question 27
Passage Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!

Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!

by Zoa L. Swayne

This narrative is about the Nez Perce, an American Indian tribe, in what is now northern Idaho. The tribe is preparing for a gathering before the coming winter.

In the moon of Ta-Yum, the hottest days of summer, when salmon spawn in the little streams and huckleberries ripen in the high mountains, people from many villages of the Chopunnish Nation gathered in the Oyaip Prairie for the work and festivities of their annual camas1 harvest.

From far and near The People came. . . .

Should a stranger enter their homeland and ask, “Where are you from?” the reply was always, “We are Nee-mee-poo, The People who live here in this place.”

It was a time of Lawtiwa-mah-ton—a time of being friends together—when The People came for this last chance to enjoy being together before the Cold Moons kept them close to their fires. The visiting and trading, the foot racing and horse racing, and the gambling and stick games would be remembered and talked about long after they had forgotten the drudgery of digging and roasting camas, picking berries, or drying meat and fish. Lawtiwa-mah-ton! It was good to be friends together.

As was their custom since wahk-kee-ma, a time far back beyond the memory of man, they set up their camps in the same locations their parents and grandparents had occupied before them. Red Bear’s people, from Kamiah, made their camp near the trail that came out of the mountains. Their neighbors in Kamiah Valley, The People from Tee-e-lap-a-lo, had their camp close by. Across the wide meadow, by the great roasting pits, the camps of the Te-wap-poo and Ask-kah-poo were located. The tepees and ish-nash, brush shelters, of other groups nestled in their accustomed areas in and among the pines in such numbers that they encircled the entire meadow land.

Red Bear’s people had traveled all summer with neighboring bands, gathering and preparing roots, picking and drying berries, drying and smoking meat and fish for their winter food supply. Now they were at the Oyaip camp. The women worked hard to dig and cure as many bags of roots as they could during the warm, sunny days, for the sharp night air brought warnings that WARM was going and COLD was coming.

Everyone helped in some way. Most of the men fished or hunted for meat. While many of the women dug and roasted camas, other women and older children picked and dried berries.

And the younger children played. They played at hunting. They played with the babies. They played with their horses and puppies. They learned how to live through their play.

This sun, happiness, peace, and quiet blessed the Red Bear camp. All were busy with their daily tasks, until sudden cries came from the children playing by the trail.

“People coming! People coming! People coming on the trail from the high mountains!” they called as they ran to their elders, who looked sharply at the figures of approaching horsemen.

Were they friends or enemies? Did they bring good news or bad?

“Who can it be? What brings them here?” were the questions in every mind.

“Could they be the four hunters who had gone to Buffalo Country two summers past? Would they have news of the families who had gone long ago to Buffalo Country and never returned?”

It was customary for a hunting party to be gone for more than one season.

“Looks like hunters,” the older men agreed. “Looks like they had good hunting. Maybe our four hunters. [They have] been gone many moons.”

“Looks like five people—not four,” others observed.

Excitement grew as the riders came close enough to be recognized.

“A-a-a-a-a, they are our four hunters! But who is the fifth person?” they asked.

“Looks like a woman. Who is she?”

The hunters rode up to the welcoming crowd, proud to show off the loads of meat, hides, and other trophies of their hunt. They paraded around the encampment for all to see how strong their Hunting Power had been—what great hunters they, themselves, were.

Red Bear’s people rejoiced at their hunters’ success. Good hunters brought good to everybody. The meat meant plenty of food and the hides meant soft-tanned robes to give comfort through the Cold Moons. But it was the sight of the frail figure of the woman that aroused their curiosity. Who was she? Where had she come from? . . .

“Belongs to Red Bear people. Gone then come back,” the hunters said, as they dismounted and unloaded their packs. . . .

Now they could see! She was the daughter of the family gone so long ago! The girl-child who had left came back now—a grown woman.

“Wat-ku-ese!” the women cried. “Gone-from-Home-then-Come-Back. Wat-ku-ese!” And Wat-ku-ese was her name from that time on.

Gentle arms lifted Wat-ku-ese from her horse. The women brought her food and made a place for her to rest. For many suns they cared for her until she became stronger.

One evening Wat-ku-ese told her story for all to hear.

From DO THEM NO HARM!: Lewis and Clark Among the Nez Perce by Zoa L. Swayne. Published by Caxton Press. Copyright © 1990 by Zoa L. Swayne. Orofino, Idaho and Legacy House, Inc. Orofino, Idaho. All rights reserved.

1camas: a wild, edible plant

Question

How do paragraphs 11–13 affect the plot of the excerpt?

  • AThey establish a feeling of mystery by presenting different points of view about the arriving people.
  • BThey contribute to the rising action by developing the idea that the arriving people could present a problem.
  • CThey lead to a turning point by describing the moment that the crowd realizes why the strangers have come.
  • DThey explain the cause of the main conflict by providing background information about the strangers.
Show the answer

Correct answer: B

The question asks how paragraphs 11–13 affect the plot of the excerpt.

A. Incorrect. The paragraphs contain questions about the arriving people. They do not present differing points of view.

B. CORRECT. The paragraphs ask questions in which the characters wonder whether the arriving people are friends or enemies, or whether they might be bringing good news or bad news. By suggesting that the arriving people could present problems such as these, the paragraphs contribute to the rising action.

C. Incorrect. The paragraphs do not lead to a turning point. Instead, they lead to the climax—the moment the characters discover who the visitors are. This means the paragraphs contribute to the rising action.

D. Incorrect. Paragraphs 11–13 ask questions. They do not provide background information about the strangers; instead, they ask for it.

Question analysis

This plot question asks how paragraphs 11–13, a series of questions the villagers ask as riders approach their camp, affect the plot of the Nez Perce narrative. Students must know terms such as rising action and turning point and apply them precisely, since several choices describe these paragraphs in ways that sound right but place them wrongly in the story.

NYS standards
  • 7R3 plot elements and ideas
  • 7R5 structure and genre features
Grade level
Grade 8 reading and task
Compared with grade 7
Above grade 7 Grade 7 plot questions usually ask what one event causes. Here students apply terms such as rising action and turning point to three short paragraphs of questions, which matches the grade 8 focus on how parts of a story propel the action.
Estimated difficulty
Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
Evidence
Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
Reading level
Passage: about grade 5, 885 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 77 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

Paragraphs 11–13 contain nothing but questions, so the answer depends on what questions do in a plot. Friends or enemies, good news or bad, they raise the chance of trouble and build toward the arrival. The trap is that they also create mystery, and the choice that says so fails only on one phrase about differing viewpoints. A second risk is jumping ahead: at this point no one even knows who the riders are, let alone why they came.

  1. A very close wrong answer major Choosing the answer

    The right choice and the one about mystery both see the questions building uncertainty about the riders; only the claim of “different points of view,” when the questions are “in every mind,” separates them. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)

  2. How, not what moderate Working it out

    The stem asks what paragraphs 11–13 do for the plot, so students must place a run of unanswered questions in the story’s shape rather than retell them. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

  3. Something you must already know minor Working it out

    The choices rely on plot terms the excerpt never explains, rising action, turning point and main conflict, and judging them means knowing what each one names. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

Strategy: Note what the villagers know and do not yet know in paragraphs 11–13, then compare that with what happens later in the excerpt to place these paragraphs in the plot.

Traps

  • Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
  • Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
  • 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.

The wrong answers, classified

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 how paragraphs 11–13 move the story along. You need some plot words. The plot is the order of events in a story. The rising action is the part where tension builds. Tension is the feeling that something big may happen. A turning point is the moment when things change.

  2. Read paragraphs 11 to 13

    These paragraphs are all questions. Paragraph 11 asks: “Were they friends or enemies? Did they bring good news or bad?” In paragraph 12, “Who can it be?” is one of “the questions in every mind.” Paragraph 13 asks if the riders are the hunters who left “two summers past.”

  3. Decide what the questions do

    The words “enemies” and “bad” news show the camp is worried. The riders might bring trouble. No one knows yet. So the questions build tension as the riders get closer. That is rising action. The answers come later. The crowd knows the hunters in paragraph 18. They learn who the woman is in paragraphs 22 and 23.

  4. Check each choice

    • B fits. The questions raise the chance of a problem and build tension.
    • A: there is mystery, but not “different points of view.” Everyone asks the same questions.
    • C: in these paragraphs, no one knows who the riders are yet, let alone why they came. So nothing here is the moment the crowd realizes anything.
    • D: the paragraphs ask about the strangers. They give no background facts about them.

  5. Pick the answer

    Watch out: A is very close. The questions do create mystery. But one wrong phrase, “different points of view,” rules it out. So the answer is B.

Why this answer and not the closest wrong one

A is the closest wrong answer, because the questions do make the scene mysterious. But the questions are “in every mind,” so there are no different points of view. B names what the questions do for the plot: they hint that the riders could bring trouble, and they build tension.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 27 as printed on page 180 of the DOE handbook.
As printed in the DOE’s NYC Guide to the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) for 2025 Admissions, page 180, question 27. Open page 180 of the handbook (PDF)
The passage “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!” as printed (pages 177–178)The passage “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!” as printed on page 177 of the DOE handbook.The passage “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!” as printed on page 178 of the DOE handbook.

Question 4 of 6

2026 Practice Test D Math, question 19

Question

A store manager purchases a piece of furniture for $456.00. To determine the selling price, the manager increases the purchase cost by 125%. A customer buys the furniture and pays an additional 8% sales tax. How much does the customer pay for the furniture?

  • A$615.60
  • B$627.48
  • C$1,108.08
  • D$1,846.80
Show the answer

Correct answer: C

Given a purchase price of $456.00, the 125% increase in price is calculated as:

456×1.25=570456 \times 1.25 = 570

The selling price equals the purchase price plus the increase, or:

456+570=1,026456 + 570 = 1{,}026

The sales tax on the selling price is:

1,026(0.08)=82.081{,}026(0.08) = 82.08

The customer pays the selling price plus the sales tax:

1,026+82.08=1,108.081{,}026 + 82.08 = 1{,}108.08

Question analysis

A store manager buys a piece of furniture for $456.00 and raises the price by 125% to set the selling price, and the customer also pays 8% sales tax. Students find the total the customer pays. It tests percent increase and sales tax in sequence, and reading an increase of more than 100% correctly is the main challenge.

NYS standards
  • 7.RP.3 multistep ratio and percent problems
  • 7.NS.3 four operations with rational numbers
Grade level
Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
Compared with grade 7
Above grade 7 Grade 7 students find markups and sales tax, usually with increases under 100%. An increase of more than 100% is unusual and easy to misread, and two percent changes must be applied in order, which goes beyond routine grade 7 work.
Estimated difficulty
Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
What makes it hard
Solution
4 steps
Reading level
Question and choices: about grade 7, 41 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

A percent above 100 is unusual in grade 7 work, and it is the center of the question: the markup more than doubles the price. Students who treat “by 125%” as “125% of” still find a listed answer after adding tax, and so do students who add $125. A rough check helps: the selling price must be more than twice $456, about $1,000, and the tax adds less than a tenth of that.

  1. Turning words into math moderate Understanding the question

    “Increases the purchase cost by 125%” adds 125% of $456 to the $456 itself, a multiplier of 2.25; reading it as 125% of the cost leaves the original price out. (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; Koedinger & Nathan, 2004)

  2. Many steps moderate Working it out

    Four steps in a row, the increase, the selling price, the tax and the total, each depend on the one before, and two of them are easy to merge or skip. (Daniel & Embretson, 2010; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)

  3. Error-prone arithmetic minor Working it out

    Taking 8% of $1,026 means multiplying by 0.08, and a decimal point one place off, 0.8, makes the tax ten times too large. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)

Strategy: Turn each percent change into a multiplier, remembering that an increase by a percent is added to the original amount, apply the markup and then the tax, and estimate to check the size.

Traps

  • Stops one step early: A choice is a number from partway through the solution.
  • Misunderstands the concept: A wrong belief about a concept: that percents can be added, that area grows like length, that averages can be averaged, that a bigger denominator means a bigger fraction.
  • 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

Percent of a number
p% of n=p100×np\% \text{ of } n = \frac{p}{100} \times n
n is the starting amount, and p is the percent. Percent means out of 100, so 125% is 125/100 = 1.25 and 8% is 8/100 = 0.08. Multiply n by that decimal to find the part.
Price after an increase
new price=old price+increase\text{new price} = \text{old price} + \text{increase}
The old price is what you start with. The increase is the amount added on. To increase by a percent, find that percent of the old price, then add it to the old price. Sales tax is added the same way.

  1. Sort out the question

    The manager pays $456.00 for the furniture. The selling price is that cost increased by 125%. The customer then pays 8% sales tax on top. Sales tax is an extra charge, a percent of the price. You need the total the customer pays.

  2. Find the increase

    Find 125% of $456. As a decimal, 125% is 1.25, which is 1 and a quarter. A quarter of 456 is 114:

    456×1.25=456+114=570456 \times 1.25 = 456 + 114 = 570

    The increase is $570.

  3. Find the selling price

    Increases by means the increase is added to the cost:

    456+570=1,026456 + 570 = 1{,}026

    The selling price is $1,026.

    Watch out: $570 is only the increase. Using it as the price gives $615.60, choice A. And 125% is a percent, not $125. Adding $125 leads to $627.48, choice B.

  4. Find the sales tax

    As a decimal, 8% is 0.08. Find 8% of the selling price:

    1,026×0.08=82.081{,}026 \times 0.08 = 82.08

    The tax is $82.08.

    Watch out: 8% is 0.08, not 0.8. Using 0.8 makes the tax ten times too big and gives $1,846.80, choice D.

  5. Add the tax to the price

    The customer pays the selling price plus the tax:

    1,026+82.08=1,108.081{,}026 + 82.08 = 1{,}108.08

    So the answer is C, $1,108.08.

Check your answer

Estimate. The price more than doubles: $456 plus $570 is about $1,000. Tax of 8% adds about $80. So the total should be a bit over $1,080, and only $1,108.08 is close. Or multiply in one go: 456 × 2.25 × 1.08 = 1,108.08.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 19 as shown on the DOE’s digital test, page 92 of its printable version.
As printed in the DOE’s printable version of 2026 Practice Test D Math, page 92, question 19.

Question 5 of 6

2026 Practice Test D Math, question 35

Question

XYZ Corporation hired 6 people as summer workers. Of these 6 people, 3 will be hired as permanent employees in the fall. If 2 of the 6 people are male, how many of the possible groups of 3 people hired in the fall will include only 1 male?

  • A4
  • B6
  • C12
  • D24
Show the answer

Correct answer: C

An organized list can be used to determine the number of groups of 3 people that include only 1 male.

Let the letters A, B, C, and D represent the females, and let the numbers 1 and 2 represent the males.

Then, create a list of all possible combinations of 3 people with only 1 male.

AB1, AB2, AC1, AC2, AD1, AD2

BC1, BC2, BD1, BD2

CD1, CD2

There are 12 possible groups with only 1 male.

Question analysis

A company hired 6 summer workers, 2 of them male, and will keep 3 as permanent employees in the fall. This counting question asks how many possible groups of 3 include only 1 male. Students count combinations where order does not matter, and the bold word only, with two kinds of workers to combine, makes careful listing essential.

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 Grade 7 students list outcomes with organized lists and tree diagrams, usually ordered ones. Counting unordered groups of three under an "only one" condition, built from two kinds of people, goes beyond that typical work.
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, 41 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 hides a two-stage count in a hiring story. Students tend to get one stage right and forget the other: they count the pairs of women and stop, or they count ordered picks and so find every group twice. Naming the women A to D and the men 1 and 2, then listing the pairs of women alphabetically with each man attached, makes every group visible and checkable.

  1. Combines ideas moderate Working it out

    Two counts are joined: the 6 ways to pick 2 of the 4 women, then the 2 ways to pick the man, and the total is their product. (Embretson, 1998; Daniel & Embretson, 2010)

  2. Something you must already know minor Working it out

    Students must already know that a group is the same whichever order its members are named, so picking one woman and then another repeats the reverse pick. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

  3. Turning words into math minor Understanding the question

    The bold word only means exactly one man, so the other two places in each group of 3 must go to two of the 4 women, a step the stem leaves unsaid. (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; Koedinger & Nathan, 2004)

Strategy: Name the women A to D and the men 1 and 2, list every pair of women without repeats, then attach each man to each pair and count the groups.

Traps

The wrong answers, classified

How the questions are analyzed, and the research behind it

Worked solution, step by step

Formulas used

Counting with two choices
number of groups=ways to pick the man×ways to pick the women\text{number of groups} = \text{ways to pick the man} \times \text{ways to pick the women}
Each way of picking the man can go with each way of picking the two women. So you multiply the two counts. It is like outfits: 2 shirts with 6 pairs of pants make 12 outfits.

  1. Sort out the question

    Six people work for the summer. Two are male, so the other 4 are female. Three will be hired in the fall.

    You need the number of groups of 3 with only 1 male. That means exactly 1 man and 2 women. In a group, order does not matter. Ann, Bea and Carl is the same group as Carl, Ann and Bea.

  2. Give each person a name

    Call the women A, B, C and D. Call the men 1 and 2. Every group you want has 2 letters and 1 number, like AB1.

  3. List the pairs of women

    List each pair once. Start with A, then pair B only with letters after it, and so on:

    • AB, AC, AD
    • BC, BD
    • CD

    That is 6 pairs. BA is not new, since it is the same pair as AB.

    Watch out: counting the order gives 4×3=124 \times 3 = 12 pairs, each one twice. Then doubling for the men gives 24, choice D.

  4. Add a man to each pair

    Each pair of women can go with man 1 or man 2. Use the counting rule:

    6×2=126 \times 2 = 12

    Watch out: stopping at the 6 pairs of women leaves out the men. That gives 6, choice B.

    So the answer is C, 12.

Check your answer

Write out every group. With man 1: AB1, AC1, AD1, BC1, BD1, CD1. With man 2: AB2, AC2, AD2, BC2, BD2, CD2. Each list has 6 groups, and 6+6=126 + 6 = 12. No group repeats, and each has just one man.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 35 as shown on the DOE’s digital test, page 108 of its printable version.
As printed in the DOE’s printable version of 2026 Practice Test D Math, page 108, question 35.

Question 6 of 6

2024 Test B Math, question 53

Question

Which graph represents the solution to |x+1|≥2|x+1|\geq 2?

  • ANumber line from −3 to 3 with a tick at every integer. Closed dots at −3 and 1. The line is shaded from −3 to the left, ending in an arrow, and from 1 to the right, ending in an arrow.
  • BNumber line from −3 to 3 with a tick at every integer. Closed dots at −1 and 1. The line is shaded from −1 to the left, ending in an arrow, and from 1 to the right, ending in an arrow.
  • CNumber line from −3 to 3 with a tick at every integer. Closed dots at −3 and 1, with the segment between them shaded.
  • DNumber line from −3 to 3 with a tick at every integer. Closed dots at −3 and 3. The line is shaded from −3 to the left, ending in an arrow, and from 3 to the right, ending in an arrow.
Show the answer

Correct answer: A

Since |x+1|≥2|x+1|\geq 2, either x+1≤−2x+1\leq -2 or x+1≥2x+1\geq 2.

Solving x+1≤−2x+1\leq -2 for x gives x≤−3x\leq -3.

Solving x+1≥2x+1\geq 2 for x gives x≥1x\geq 1.

A filled circle on a number line represents “or equal to.” So the correct number line representation has filled circles at −3 and 1, with the number line filled to the left of −3 for “less than” and to the right of 1 for “greater than.”

Question analysis

Students choose the number line graph that shows every solution of an inequality in which x + 1 sits inside absolute value bars. It tests absolute value as distance and graphing inequalities. The tricky part is turning one absolute value statement into two pieces and placing each boundary point and shaded ray correctly.

NYS standards
Grade level
Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
Compared with grade 7
Above grade 7 Grade 7 students solve and graph two-step inequalities and know absolute value as distance. An inequality with an absolute value has to be split into two cases, which is outside the grade 6 to 8 standards and well above typical grade 7 work.
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 9, 7 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

Reading |x + 1| as the distance from x to −1 makes this quick: the points 2 units away are −3 and 1, and greater than or equal means outside them. Students who solve only one case and mirror it across 0 land on graphs centered on 0, and students who find both endpoints may still shade between them. The graphs differ in just one dot or one shading choice, so each must be read carefully.

  1. Something you must already know moderate Working it out

    Solving |x + 1| ≥ 2 needs two cases, x + 1 ≤ −2 or x + 1 ≥ 2, joined by or; absolute value inequalities go beyond grade 7, and the stem gives no hint. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

  2. A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer

    The right graph and the segment from −3 to 1 share both filled endpoints, so only deciding between outside and between the boundaries separates them. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)

  3. Reading a figure, table or graph minor Understanding the question

    Four number lines must be read for filled dots and arrow directions, and two of them differ from the right one only in where a single dot sits. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)

Strategy: Read the absolute value as distance from −1 on the number line, find the points exactly 2 units away, and decide whether the solutions lie between or outside them.

Traps

  • Misunderstands the concept: A wrong belief about a concept: that percents can be added, that area grows like length, that averages can be averaged, that a bigger denominator means a bigger fraction.
  • Negatives and direction: Arithmetic with negative numbers, the order of a subtraction, or direction on a number line. (Moving a term across the equals sign without changing its sign is a faulty procedure.)

The wrong answers, classified

How the questions are analyzed, and the research behind it

Worked solution, step by step

Formulas used

Absolute value as distance
|x−a|=distance from x to a|x - a| = \text{distance from } x \text{ to } a
x and a are points on the number line. The bars mean absolute value. |x − a| is how far apart the two points are, which is never negative. Since x + 1 = x − (−1), |x + 1| is the distance from x to −1.

  1. Sort out the question

    You need the graph of every x that makes |x+1|≥2|x + 1| \geq 2 true. The sign ≥ means greater than or equal to. The bars mean absolute value.

    On a number line, a filled dot means that point counts. A thick line with an arrow means all the numbers that way count too.

  2. Read it as a distance

    Adding 1 is the same as subtracting −1, so x+1=x−(−1)x + 1 = x - (-1). By the formula, |x+1||x + 1| is the distance from x to −1.

    So the inequality says that x is at least 2 units away from −1.

  3. Find the two boundary points

    Start at −1 and go 2 units each way.

    −1−2=−3-1 - 2 = -3

    −1+2=1-1 + 2 = 1

    At −3 and at 1, the distance is exactly 2. The words or equal to let them count, so they get filled dots.

  4. Decide which side to shade

    Being at least 2 away means being farther out. Numbers between −3 and 1 are too close to −1. For example, 0 is only 1 unit away. So shade to the left of −3 and to the right of 1.

    In algebra, that is x+1≤−2x + 1 \leq -2 or x+1≥2x + 1 \geq 2. These give x≤−3x \leq -3 or x≥1x \geq 1.

  5. Match the graph

    Choice A has filled dots at −3 and 1, with arrows going outward. That matches.

    Watch out: Choice C shades between −3 and 1. Those are the points within 2 of −1, the answer to |x+1|≤2|x + 1| \leq 2. Choices B and D are centered on 0, but the center here is −1.

    So the answer is A, the graph shaded outward from −3 and 1.

Check your answer

Test a point from each part. For x = 2, |2+1|=3|2 + 1| = 3, and 3 is at least 2. For x = 0, |0+1|=1|0 + 1| = 1, which is less than 2. For x = −3, |−3+1|=2|-3 + 1| = 2, which counts. Graph A agrees with all three.

More questions like this

The original DOE question
Question 110 as printed on page 214 of the DOE handbook.
As printed in the DOE’s NYC Guide to the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) for 2025 Admissions, page 214, question 110. Open page 214 of the handbook (PDF) The handbook letters this question’s choices E–H; here they are A–D (E = A, F = B, G = C, H = D).

Sample #125468