2024 Test B English
Question 1 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 1Question
What is the best way to combine these sentences to clarify the relationship between ideas?
(1) The International Space Station has been inhabited by crew members since 2000.
(2) Tourists will soon be allowed to pay for visits to the space station.
(3) Because the cost is $52–$58 million round trip, few people will be able to take advantage of the opportunity to have a vacation in outer space.
- AThe International Space Station has been inhabited by crew members since 2000, but tourists will soon be allowed to pay for visits to the space station, which cost $52–$58 million round trip, so few people will be able to take advantage of the opportunity to have a vacation in outer space.
- BThe International Space Station has been inhabited by crew members since 2000 and will soon allow tourists to pay for visits, but because the cost is $52–$58 million round trip, few people will be able to take advantage of the opportunity to have a vacation in outer space.
- CThe International Space Station has been inhabited by crew members since 2000, but tourists will soon be allowed to pay for visits to the space station, though the cost is $52–$58 million round trip, so few people will be able to take advantage of the opportunity to have a vacation in outer space.
- DThe International Space Station has been inhabited by crew members since 2000, and tourists will soon be allowed to pay for visits to the space station because the cost is $52–$58 million round trip, therefore few people will be able to take advantage of the opportunity to have a vacation in outer space.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks for the best way to combine the sentences.
A. Incorrect. Although the option combines the sentences in a way that accurately reflects the meaning of each individual sentence, the combined sentence is a string of clauses that do not effectively cohere. Because it is poorly structured, the combined sentence does not clarify the relationship of ideas as effectively as the correct response does. The sentence incorrectly uses “but tourists,” and “which cost” modifies “the space station” but does not modify the trip. Compared with the correct response, the combined sentence in this option is also imprecise and unnecessarily wordy.
B. CORRECT. The option uses a complex sentence to present ideas clearly and precisely, and it shows the relationship between the ideas in the original sentences. In the first part of the sentence, the conjunction “and” correctly joins the first and second sentences by indicating a relationship, rather than a contrast, between the two. In the second part of the sentence, the conjunction “but” adds additional emphasis to the fact that while tourists will be allowed to visit the space station, the cost of the trip will likely prohibit most people from visiting.
C. Incorrect. Although the option combines the sentences in a way that accurately reflects the meaning of each individual sentence, the combined sentence is a string of clauses that do not effectively cohere. Because it is so poorly structured, the combined sentence does not clarify the relationship of ideas as effectively as the correct response does. Compared with the correct response, the combined sentence in this option is also imprecise and unnecessarily wordy.
D. Incorrect. The combination of the sentences contains an illogical relationship between ideas with the statement that tourists will be allowed to pay for visits to the space station because the cost is $52–$58 million round trip. The connection between the idea that “tourists will soon be allowed to pay for visits” and the subsequent “therefore few people will be able to take advantage of the opportunity” is also illogical.
Question analysis
This sentence-combining question gives three sentences about the International Space Station, its crew and the high price of a tourist trip, and asks for the best way to join them into one. Every version keeps the same facts, so students must judge which connecting words show how the ideas relate while the sentences stay long and nearly identical.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students practice joining two short sentences with a fitting conjunction. Here three sentences become one long sentence in four nearly identical versions, so students must weigh every connecting word and clause rather than spot one error.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- How sentences fit together major
- Complex sentences moderate
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 15, 261 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
None of the wrong versions drops a fact, and two of them are loose rather than plainly ungrammatical, so the ear is little help. Students lose the point by accepting the smoothest chain of clauses without asking what each connector claims: whether the crew and the tourists really contrast, what the price belongs to, and what the price explains. The question rewards deciding the three links before reading the versions, then checking them one connector at a time.
How sentences fit together major Working it out
Sentence 2 simply adds to sentence 1, while sentence 3’s price works against the tourist plan and explains why few will go, so every “but,” “though,” “because” or “so” in a version must fit one of those links. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Complex sentences moderate Understanding the question
Each version is one sentence of 48 to 53 words with four clauses, and at that length a “which cost” hanging on the wrong noun or a comma before “therefore” is easy to read past. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
All four versions keep the same facts in the same order and share most of their words, so none can be ruled out by content; each connecting word has to be tested in turn. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Before reading the choices, decide how each sentence relates to the next: added fact, contrast, or cause and result. Then check every connecting word in each version against those links.
Traps
- Misplaced modifier: A describing word or phrase that attaches to the wrong word, or to nothing in the sentence.
- Wordy, vague or informal: A revision is grammatical but wordy, imprecise or too casual for the passage.
- Wrong transition: A connecting word or phrase that signals the wrong relationship, such as contrast where the idea continues.
The wrong answers, classified
A Misplaced modifier (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Keeps the price as the reason few can go, marked by “so,” but misses that “which cost” hangs on “the space station” and that “but” sets crew against tourists.
C Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Keeps every fact in order, but stacking “but,” “though” and “so” in one sentence turns the price into an aside instead of plainly the reason few people will go.
D Wrong transition (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Keeps sentence 3’s “because the cost is” word for word, but here it explains why tourists are allowed, and “therefore” after a comma splices on the result.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need to join three sentences into one. The best version shows clearly how the ideas connect. Joining words do that job. A conjunction is a joining word, like and, but, so or because. Each one tells the reader something. And adds a fact. But shows a contrast (two ideas that pull against each other). Because and so show a cause and its result.
Decide how the three sentences connect
Sentence 1 says crews have lived on the station since 2000. Sentence 2 adds a new fact: tourists will soon be able to visit. That is not a contrast, so it needs and. Sentence 3 works against sentence 2. The trip costs “$52–$58 million round trip.” That price is also the reason few people will go. So you need a contrast and a reason. Example: The pool is open to all, but because it costs $90, few kids swim there.
Test each choice
- B uses “and will soon allow tourists” to add the new fact. Then “but because the cost is” shows the contrast and the reason. Every link is right.
- A joins sentence 2 with “but tourists,” as if crews and tourists were opposites. Also, “which cost” comes right after “the space station.” So it sounds like the station costs that much, not the trip.
- C stacks “but,” “though” and “so” in one long chain. The price turns into a side note instead of the clear reason.
- D says tourists may visit “because the cost is” so high. That makes no sense. And “therefore” after a comma joins two sentences the wrong way.
Pick the answer
Watch out: A is the most tempting. It keeps the price as the reason, with “so.” But its “but” and its “which” send the reader the wrong way. Only one choice links every idea correctly. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong answer. Like B, it says the price keeps most people away. But A sets crews against tourists with “but tourists.” Its “which cost” also seems to give the price of the station. B uses and for the added fact and but because for the price, so each link is clear.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 2 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 2Question
Which sentence contains an error in its construction and should be revised?
(1) In 1976, the National Basketball Association (NBA) absorbed several teams of the American Basketball Association (ABA), including the New York Nets, who played in the Long Island area at the time. (2) The owner of the Nets decided to take the team to New Jersey after the team had financial troubles, where the team played for thirty-five seasons. (3) The New Jersey Nets had sixteen playoff appearances, including two appearances in the NBA finals. (4) In 2012, the team changed ownership and returned to New York, where the team now plays under the name the Brooklyn Nets.
- Asentence 1
- Bsentence 2
- Csentence 3
- Dsentence 4
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks for the identification of the sentence that has an error in its construction and should be revised.
A. Incorrect. There are no errors in the structure of sentence 1. The clause “who played in the Long Island area at the time” correctly modifies the noun “New York Nets.” “Who” is the correct relative pronoun to serve as the subject of the modifying clause because it refers to people rather than objects or things.
B. CORRECT. Sentence 2 contains a structural error. The current placement of the clause “where the team played for thirty-five seasons” suggests that the clause is modifying the term “financial troubles,” which is illogical. The clause “where the team played for thirty-five seasons” should immediately follow the location, “New Jersey.” A revised version of the sentence might read, “After the team had financial troubles, the owner of the Nets decided to take the team to New Jersey, where the team played for thirty-five seasons.”
C. Incorrect. There are no errors in the structure of sentence 3. The phrase “including two appearances in the NBA finals” is a nonrestrictive phrase that provides further detail about the team’s “sixteen playoff appearances.” The phrase is set off by a comma because it is not essential to understanding the meaning of the sentence.
D. Incorrect. There are no errors in the structure of sentence 4. The clause “where the team now plays under the name the Brooklyn Nets” is a nonrestrictive clause that provides further detail about the team after its move back to New York in 2012. The clause is set off by a comma because it is not essential to understanding the meaning of the sentence.
Question analysis
This editing question gives a four-sentence paragraph tracing the Nets basketball team from Long Island to New Jersey and back to Brooklyn, and asks which sentence is built incorrectly. The sentences are long, with commas, parentheses and describing clauses, so students must check what each clause actually describes instead of trusting how smoothly it reads.
- NYS standards
- 7L1 grammar and usage conventions
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Placing clauses so they describe the right word is a grade 7 grammar standard. The paragraph is short and plain, but the correct sentences also carry commas and describing clauses, which matches a careful grade 7 editing task.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- A rule that doesn't sound wrong moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Complex sentences minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 7, 108 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 faulty sentence is easy to understand, because the reader supplies the link between New Jersey and the thirty-five seasons without noticing the clause is in the wrong place. Students who go by sound skip it and suspect a busier sentence instead, most often the first, with its parentheses and a “who” that refers to a team. The question rewards asking, for each describing clause, which word it actually sits beside.
A rule that doesn't sound wrong moderate Working it out
Sentence 2’s “where the team played for thirty-five seasons” follows “financial troubles,” not “New Jersey,” but readers silently attach it to the state, so the misplaced clause does not sound wrong. (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
The stem names no kind of error, and every sentence carries a describing clause or phrase, from “who played” to “including two appearances” to a second “where” clause, so all four must be tested. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
Sentence 1 runs 31 words with two abbreviations in parentheses and a “who” clause, which makes a correct sentence look like the likeliest home for an error. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Strategy: In each sentence, find every describing clause or phrase and the word just before it. Ask whether the clause can logically describe that word; a mismatch marks the sentence to revise.
Traps
- Fixes what isn't broken: Changes a part of the sentence that was already correct, while the real error stays; or, where the question asks which sentence has an error or should go, picks one that is correct and belongs.
The wrong answers, classified
A Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Believes “who” cannot refer to a team, or distrusts the long sentence with two abbreviations, though “who played in the Long Island area” correctly describes the New York Nets.
C Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Takes “including two appearances in the NBA finals” for a fragment tacked on with a comma, though the phrase correctly adds detail to “sixteen playoff appearances.”
D Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Hears the shift from “returned” to “now plays” as a tense error, though “now” marks the present, and this “where” clause sits right after New York, the place it describes.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks which sentence is built wrong. The facts may all be true. The problem is how the parts of a sentence fit together. The question doesn’t say what kind of error to look for. So you need to test all four sentences.
Learn the rule about describing clauses
A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb. Some clauses describe a word. They often start with who or where. A describing clause must sit right next to the word it describes. If it lands next to the wrong word, the sentence says something silly. Example: We went to the beach after the storm, where we swam all day. That says we swam in the storm! Fix: After the storm, we went to the beach, where we swam all day.
Test sentence 2
Sentence 2 ends “after the team had financial troubles, where the team played for thirty-five seasons.” The clause starting with “where” sits right after “financial troubles.” So the sentence says the team played inside its money problems. The clause should describe New Jersey, the place. Fix: After the team had financial troubles, the owner of the Nets decided to take the team to New Jersey, where the team played for thirty-five seasons.
Test sentences 1, 3 and 4
- Sentence 1: “who played in the Long Island area at the time” comes right after “the New York Nets.” A team is a group of people, so who works.
- Sentence 3: “including two appearances in the NBA finals” comes right after “sixteen playoff appearances.” It adds a detail about them, so it fits.
- Sentence 4: “where the team now plays” comes right after “New York,” a place. The word “now” makes the present tense right.
Watch out: Sentence 1 looks busy, with two names in parentheses. That makes choice A tempting. But long is not the same as wrong.
Pick the answer
Only sentence 2 puts a describing clause next to the wrong words. So the answer is B, sentence 2.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
Sentence 1 is the closest wrong answer, because it is long and uses who for a team. But its clause sits right next to the Nets, the team it describes. In sentence 2, the “where” clause sits next to “financial troubles,” not New Jersey. That is why B is right.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 3 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 3Question
Read this sentence.
The Appalachian Trail is a really long trail that a lot of people do each year.
Which revision of the sentence uses the most precise language?
- AThe Appalachian Trail is an extremely long trail that millions of people do each year.
- BThe Appalachian Trail is a 2,200-mile trail that more than a million people hike each year.
- CThe Appalachian Trail is a 2,200-mile trail that two million people hike each year.
- DThe Appalachian Trail is a lengthy trail that a couple million people do each year.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks for the revision of the sentence that uses the most precise language.
A. Incorrect. The word “extremely” does not specify the precise length of the trail (2,200 miles); “millions” is less precise than the specific number of people who hike the trail each year (two million); and the verb “do” imprecisely describes the purpose of visiting the trail (hiking).
B. Incorrect. While the revision specifies the precise length of the trail and the verb “hike” precisely describes the purpose of visiting the trail, “more than a million” is less precise than the specific number of people who hike the trail each year (two million).
C. CORRECT. The length of the trail (2,200 miles), the specific number of people who hike the trail each year (two million), and the action of the visitors (hiking) are clear and precise in this revision of the sentence.
D. Incorrect. The word “lengthy” is less precise than specifying the actual length of the trail (2,200 miles); “a couple million” is less precise than the specific number of people who hike the trail each year (two million); and the verb “do” imprecisely describes the purpose of visiting the trail (hiking).
Question analysis
This precise-language question gives a casual sentence saying the Appalachian Trail is “a really long trail that a lot of people do each year” and asks which revision is most precise. Several revisions swap in more specific words or numbers, so students must check every part of each sentence, not just the first improvement they notice.
- NYS standards
- 7L3a precise and concise language
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Choosing precise wording is grade 7 language work, but this item is one short sentence in everyday words. Typical grade 7 revision sets the same choice inside a paragraph, with more wording to weigh.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 6, 89 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 is quick once each revision is tested on three points: how long the trail is, how many people hike it, and what they do there. The near miss catches students who stop checking once they see the mileage and the verb “hike,” though its count of hikers is still a range. Words such as “extremely” and “lengthy” are the other snare, since they sound sharper without saying any more.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The right revision and the one with “more than a million” share the 2,200-mile length and the verb “hike,” and differ only in the hiker count: an exact two million or an open-ended floor. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Each revision repairs a different part of “a really long trail that a lot of people do,” so all four have to be checked for the length, the count and the verb. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Check each revision on three points: how long the trail is, how many people visit, and what they do there. Keep only a version that is exact on all three.
Traps
- Wordy, vague or informal: A revision is grammatical but wordy, imprecise or too casual for the passage.
The wrong answers, classified
A Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Treats “extremely long” and “millions” as upgrades, though neither gives a length or a count, and the vague verb “do” is still there.
B Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Sees the exact length and the verb “hike” and stops checking, missing that “more than a million” is looser than a specific number of hikers.
D Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Takes the fancier “lengthy” and the casual “a couple million” for sharper wording, though neither is exact and “do” still does not say what visitors do.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need the revision with the most precise language. Precise means exact. A precise word tells the reader exactly what or how much. For example, a lot of homework is vague, but three pages of math homework is precise. The sentence has three vague parts: “a really long trail,” “a lot of people,” and the verb “do.”
Make a three-part test
The most precise revision must fix all three parts.
- How long is the trail? Look for an exact length.
- How many people go? Look for an exact number.
- What do they do there? Do is vague. People hike a trail.
A choice that fixes only one or two parts is not the most precise.
Check each choice
- C gives “a 2,200-mile trail,” “two million people,” and “hike.” It passes all three tests.
- B gives the length and “hike.” But “more than a million” is not exact. It could mean 1.1 million or 5 million.
- A says “extremely long” and “millions.” Neither is exact, and it keeps “do.”
- D says “lengthy” and “a couple million.” These sound fancier but say no more. It also keeps “do.”
Pick the answer
Watch out: B is very close. It has the length and the right verb, so many students stop there. But its count of people is still loose. Only C is exact on all three parts. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer. It matches C on the length, 2,200 miles, and on the verb “hike.” The only difference is the number of hikers. “More than a million” sets a low limit but gives no exact count. “Two million” tells the reader exactly how many, so C is more precise.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 4 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 4Question
Read this paragraph.
(1) When coal was used to heat homes, it frequently left soot stains on the walls. (2) Brothers Cleo and Noah McVicker, who owned a cleaning product company created a doughy substance to help people remove this soot. (3) Over time, as natural gas becomes more common, people had little need for soot cleansers, and the McVickers’ family company struggled to stay in business. (4) Then one day Joe McVicker, Cleo’s son, learned that his sister-in-law had been using the substance for art projects in her classroom, so he remarketed the product as the toy known today as Play-Doh.
Which pair of revisions need to be made in the paragraph?
- A
Sentence 1: Delete the comma after homes.
Sentence 3: Change becomes to became.
- B
Sentence 1: Delete the comma after homes.
Sentence 4: Change remarketed to had remarketed.
- C
Sentence 2: Insert a comma after company.
Sentence 3: Change becomes to became.
- D
Sentence 2: Insert a comma after company.
Sentence 4: Change remarketed to had remarketed.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
This is the answer (C)
The question asks for the pair of revisions needed to correct the errors in the paragraph, which appear in sentence 2 and sentence 3.
Option C is correct because it is the only choice that revises the errors in both sentence 2 and sentence 3.
In sentence 2 (Option C and Option D), a comma needs to follow the word “company” to set off the phrase “who owned a cleaning product company.” A comma is necessary because the phrase is a nonrestrictive clause: the phrase provides extra information about Cleo and Noah McVicker’s line of work, but the phrase is not necessary in order to understand the meaning of the sentence.
The second error is in sentence 3 (Option A and Option C), which incorrectly shifts the verb into the present tense. The clause “as natural gas becomes more common” should be “as natural gas became more common.”
The comma after the word “homes” in sentence 1 (Option A and Option B) is necessary for separating the subordinate clause “When coal was used to heat homes” from the main clause.
In sentence 4 (Option B and Option D), the word “remarketed” is in the past tense established in the rest of the paragraph and should not change to the past perfect tense “had remarketed.”
Question analysis
This editing question gives a short paragraph about how a soot cleaner became the toy Play-Doh and asks which pair of revisions it needs. Students must check comma use and verb tense, and because each choice pairs two edits, one correct fix can hide a wrong one.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Comma rules and verb tense are taught by grade 6, but here the student must judge four separate edits and accept a choice only if both of its edits are needed, which matches grade 7 demand.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- A rule that doesn't sound wrong moderate
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 7, 155 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 paragraph holds two errors of different kinds, an unclosed “who” clause and a slip into present tense, and the other two proposed edits change text that is already correct. Students who catch the tense shift but not the comma are left between two pairs, and many then delete the sound comma after the opening “When” clause. The question rewards finding both errors in the paragraph before reading the pairs.
A rule that doesn't sound wrong moderate Working it out
The “who owned a cleaning product company” clause opens with a comma but never closes, and sentence 2 still reads smoothly aloud, so the missing comma after “company” is easy to miss. (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The right pair and the pair that deletes the comma after “homes” share the “becomes” to “became” fix, so only the comma edit, after “company” or after “homes”, tells them apart. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
The four pairs draw on four possible edits in four sentences, so each edit has to be judged on its own and a pair accepted only when both are needed. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Find the errors yourself before looking at the pairs: check whether each comma is needed or missing, and check that each verb's tense fits when its event happened.
Traps
- Punctuation: A comma, semicolon, colon, dash or apostrophe used where it does not belong, or missing where it does.
- Verb tense or form: The wrong tense, an inconsistent shift of tense, or a wrong verb form.
- Fixes what isn't broken: Changes a part of the sentence that was already correct, while the real error stays; or, where the question asks which sentence has an error or should go, picks one that is correct and belongs.
The wrong answers, classified
A Punctuation (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Gets the “becomes” to “became” fix but, missing the unclosed “who” clause in sentence 2, deletes the comma that correctly ends the opening clause of sentence 1.
B Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Changes two correct parts, deleting the comma after an opening clause and adding a needless past perfect, while both real errors in sentences 2 and 3 stay.
D Verb tense or form (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Adds the needed comma after “company” but thinks the later event needs “had remarketed”, missing the real tense error, the present-tense “becomes” in sentence 3.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
Each choice is a pair of edits. You need the pair where both edits are needed. If even one edit in a pair changes something that was already right, that pair is wrong. The best plan is to find the errors yourself first. Then look for the pair that fixes them.
Check the comma in sentence 2
Sentence 2 says “Brothers Cleo and Noah McVicker, who owned a cleaning product company created a doughy substance.” The part “who owned a cleaning product company” is extra information. The sentence still makes sense without it. Extra information in the middle of a sentence needs a comma on both sides. Example: My aunt, who lives in Ohio, sent me a card. Sentence 2 has the first comma but not the second. So you need to add a comma after “company.”
Check the comma in sentence 1
Sentence 1 starts with “When coal was used to heat homes.” That part is a dependent clause (a group of words with a verb that can’t stand alone as a sentence). When a sentence starts with one, a comma goes after it. Example: When the bell rang, we ran outside. So the comma after “homes” is correct. Deleting it would add an error. That rules out choices A and B.
Check the verb in sentence 3
Verb tense tells when something happens. This paragraph tells a story from the past, so its verbs should stay in the past. Sentence 3 says “as natural gas becomes more common.” The word “becomes” is present tense. But the same sentence uses “had” and “struggled,” which are past tense. So change “becomes” to became.
Check the verb in sentence 4
Sentence 4 says Joe learned about the art projects, so he “remarketed” the product. Remarketed means sold it again in a new way. The form had remarketed is for something that happened before another past event. But Joe remarketed the product after he learned about the art projects. So the plain past “remarketed” is right. No change is needed.
Find the pair that matches
The two needed edits are: add a comma after “company,” and change “becomes” to “became.”
- A fixes the verb but deletes a correct comma.
- B makes two changes that are not needed.
- D adds the comma but changes a verb that was already right.
- C makes exactly the two needed edits.
So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
Choice A is the closest wrong answer, because it has the same “becomes” to “became” fix. But A also deletes the comma after “homes,” and that comma belongs after an opening “When” clause. Only C fixes both real errors and changes nothing that was already right.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 5 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 5Passage Find Time to Volunteer
Find Time to Volunteer
(1) Many people believe that they gain a greater sense of purpose by giving their time to serve others. (2) These are the people who spend their free time volunteering at various places within the community. (3) Those who are served benefit from the work of these volunteers. (4) However, research shows that those who volunteer also receive benefits.
(5) For many students, this proposition may sound impossible. (6) Schoolwork can require hours of study each week. (7) Volunteering at a retirement center or homeless shelter requires both time and energy. (8) Extracurricular activities fill up after-school time. (9) Family obligations and part-time jobs often have to be worked into the schedule, too. (10) However, if students can find time to volunteer, even for a few hours a month, they may find that the benefits outweigh the scheduling difficulties.
(11) To begin with, students who engage in volunteer activities acquire valuable skills and experience, which can help them focus on potential fields of study and career options. (12) Furthermore, when students list volunteer work on college applications, admissions counselors see applicants who care about making their community and college campus a better place.
(13) Volunteerism benefits more than students applying to college. (14) This type of experience is equally important for students moving directly into the workforce after high school. (15) Volunteering demonstrates initiative, dedication, and a strong work ethic, qualities that companies value in a potential employee. (16) In a CareerBuilder study, 60 percent of managers regarded volunteerism as a significant asset when considering applicants.
(17) Students who volunteer undoubtedly make a positive investment in their future, but they also affect their present quality of life. (18) Studies have shown that volunteering is good for both the mind and the body. (19) Volunteering can boost mood levels and reduce anxiety. (20) According to the Mayo Clinic,1 the feeling of doing something meaningful and the appreciation received from that action can reduce stress.
(21) Even the busiest of students can find a way to donate some time to a worthy cause. (22) Though managing different commitments may seem overwhelming at times, students are sure to feel a sense of fulfillment in volunteerism.
1Mayo Clinic: a nonprofit medical organization dedicated to treatment and research
Question
Which revision of sentence 2 uses the most precise language?
- AThese are the people who spend their free time volunteering at animal shelters, helping with activities in community centers, or cleaning up parks.
- BThese are the people who spend their free time helping others in numerous ways at a variety of places, events, or organizations that need support.
- CThese are the people who spend their free time working at local establishments that help people, animals, or other groups in need of assistance.
- DThese are the people who spend a lot of time volunteering at places where they can help people in many ways.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks which revision of sentence 2 uses the most precise language.
A. CORRECT. In sentence 2, the author states that people who volunteer in their free time do so “at various places.” The revision to sentence 2 provides the most precise language because it references three specific places (animal shelters, community centers, and parks) where people often volunteer.
B. Incorrect. Although this sentence mentions “a variety of places, events, or organizations” at which people volunteer, the revision does not use the most precise language, because it does not list specific places, events, or organizations.
C. Incorrect. Although this sentence mentions “local establishments that help people, animals, or other groups,” the revision does not use the most precise language, because it does not name the specific types of establishments at which people can volunteer.
D. Incorrect. Although this sentence mentions “places where [volunteers] can help people in many ways,” the revision does not use the most precise language, because it does not provide specific examples of where people can volunteer.
Question analysis
This revising question uses a persuasive essay urging high school students to find time to volunteer. It asks which rewrite of the second sentence, about the people who spend free time volunteering at various places, uses the most precise language. The trap is that longer, list-like wording can look more specific than it really is.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Grade 7 writers learn to replace vague wording with precise language. Here that skill is applied to one sentence of a plain persuasive essay, with no grammar to fix, which makes it lighter than typical grade 7 revision work.
- Estimated difficulty
- Routine: one familiar step, little to misread.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 354 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 102 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
Sentence 2’s vague phrase is “various places,” and only one revision replaces it with places a reader can picture: animal shelters, community centers and parks. The wrong revisions grow longer or list the kinds of people helped, which can pass for precision on a quick read. Asking whether a revision names a real place settles it.
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Every revision is longer than sentence 2 and sounds more detailed, so each has to be checked for whether it names actual places or only adds general words such as “organizations” and “establishments.” (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Find the vague phrase in sentence 2, then ask of each revision whether it tells the reader something more definite or simply uses more words to say the same thing.
Traps
- Wordy, vague or informal: A revision is grammatical but wordy, imprecise or too casual for the passage.
The wrong answers, classified
B Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Mistakes a longer string of general categories, “places, events, or organizations,” for precision, though none is named and the sentence only grows wordier.
C Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Is drawn by the three-part list of people, animals and other groups, but “local establishments” still leaves the actual places unnamed.
D Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Accepts “a lot of time” and “many ways,” which keep the original’s vagueness and even drop the point that volunteers give their free time.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need to rewrite sentence 2 with more precise language. Precise means exact. Precise words help the reader picture something real. Sentence 2 says: “These are the people who spend their free time volunteering at various places within the community.” Look for the part that is vague.
Find the vague phrase
The vague phrase is “at various places.” Various means different kinds. But the sentence never says which places. You can’t picture them. A better sentence would name real places. Example: I help out at different spots is vague. I help out at the library and the food bank is precise.
Check each choice
- A names three real places: “animal shelters,” “community centers,” and “parks.” You can picture each one.
- B says “a variety of places, events, or organizations.” That is a longer list of general words. It still names nothing real.
- C says “local establishments.” An establishment is a business or group. It still doesn’t say which ones.
- D says “a lot of time” and “many ways.” Those words are vague too. D even drops the idea of free time.
Pick the answer
Watch out: C has a list, “people, animals, or other groups,” so it looks detailed. But that list tells who gets help, not where volunteers go. Only one choice names the places. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer. Its list of people, animals and other groups sounds specific. But “local establishments” could be any place at all. A replaces “various places” with three places a reader can picture: animal shelters, community centers and parks. That makes A the most precise.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Find Time to Volunteer” as printed (page 163)
Question 6 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 6Uses the passage above: “Find Time to Volunteer”.
Question
Which sentence should follow sentence 4 to introduce the main claim of the passage?
- AWith that in mind, high school students should consider engaging in some form of regular volunteerism.
- BFortunately for students, these benefits are guaranteed to produce both immediate and long-term results.
- CIn fact, studies have confirmed that volunteerism can be beneficial for students, the family, and the community.
- DFor this reason, high school students should learn about how helping others can strengthen their communities.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks which sentence should follow sentence 4 to introduce the main claim of the passage.
A. CORRECT. Sentence 4 states that “research shows that those who volunteer also receive benefits.” The sentence in the option logically follows the ideas in sentence 4 and provides the best thesis statement for the passage because it introduces the main claim that high school students should consider the benefits of volunteerism.
B. Incorrect. While the sentence refers to the “benefits” mentioned in sentence 4, it erroneously asserts that “immediate and long-term results” are “guaranteed.” In addition, the sentence does not introduce the main claim of the passage that volunteering is beneficial for high school students.
C. Incorrect. Although the sentence states that “volunteerism can be beneficial for students,” it introduces the idea that “the family, and the community” benefit as well, which is not part of the main argument. Therefore, this sentence should not follow sentence 4 to introduce the main claim of the passage.
D. Incorrect. Although the sentence introduces the claim that “high school students should learn about” volunteering, it focuses on the idea that volunteering strengthens the community, which is not the main claim. This sentence does not accurately introduce the claim that volunteering is beneficial for high school students and thus should not follow sentence 4.
Question analysis
This introduction question asks which sentence should come right after sentence 4 of the volunteering essay to state its main claim. Students must work out what the whole essay argues and match it to an opening line, while the choices mention benefits, studies and communities in ways that sound like a thesis.
- NYS standards
- 7W1a introducing claims and counterclaims
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Stating a precise claim is a core grade 7 argument skill. Students must sense the essay’s claim from all six paragraphs and test four openers that each sound like a thesis, typical of careful grade 7 revision.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Evidence in several places moderate
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- How sentences fit together minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 354 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 76 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
Three of the four sentences sound like a thesis, and two contain “high school students should,” so tone decides nothing. Students go wrong when they choose a sentence that only repeats the research point of sentence 4, or one that urges a different action. The question rewards stating the essay’s claim first, that students should volunteer because it pays off for them, and then finding the sentence that says exactly that.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The essay never states its claim in one sentence; it has to be pieced together from the benefits for college, work and health in paragraphs 3 to 5 and sentence 21’s “Even the busiest of students can find a way.” (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The right sentence and the one about strengthening communities both open with a linking phrase and “high school students should”; they part only on what students should do, volunteer or learn about communities. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
How sentences fit together minor Working it out
The new sentence follows sentence 4’s “those who volunteer also receive benefits,” so it must turn that research point into what students should do about it. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Strategy: Skim the body paragraphs and state in a few words what the essay wants its readers to believe. Then choose the sentence that says exactly that and follows naturally from sentence 4.
Traps
- Off the point: Adds or keeps something that does not support the paragraph's or the passage's focus, or an introduction or conclusion that misses the main point.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
The wrong answers, classified
B Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Follows the word “benefits” from sentence 4 but overstates them as “guaranteed” and never says what students should do, so no claim is introduced.
C Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Likes the research-sounding “studies have confirmed,” but it restates sentence 4 as a fact rather than a claim and widens the benefits to families and the community.
D Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Sees the thesis-like “high school students should,” but it asks students to learn about strengthening communities, a point the essay never develops, instead of urging them to volunteer.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need a sentence to go right after sentence 4. It must introduce the main claim. A claim is the main point a writer wants you to believe or act on. In an essay like this, it is often a should statement. Example: Students should get more sleep. So first figure out what the whole essay argues.
Find the essay’s main claim
The essay keeps urging students to make time to help. Sentence 10 says “if students can find time to volunteer, even for a few hours a month, they may find that the benefits outweigh the scheduling difficulties.” Paragraphs 3 to 5 give benefits for college, jobs and health. Sentence 21 says “Even the busiest of students can find a way to donate some time to a worthy cause.” So the claim is: high school students should volunteer, because it helps them.
Use the clue in sentence 5
The new sentence will sit just before sentence 5. Sentence 5 says “For many students, this proposition may sound impossible.” A proposition is a suggestion. So the sentence before it must suggest something students could do. That points to a sentence telling students to volunteer.
Check each choice
- A says students “should consider engaging in some form of regular volunteerism.” That is the essay’s claim. “With that in mind” links it to the benefits in sentence 4.
- B says the benefits are “guaranteed.” That overstates them, and it never tells students to do anything.
- C just repeats that studies found benefits. It also adds families, which the essay never discusses.
- D tells students to “learn about” helping communities. The essay never argues for that.
Pick the answer
Watch out: D also says “high school students should,” so it sounds like a claim. But it asks them to learn, not to volunteer. Only one choice states what the essay argues. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer, because it also tells high school students what they should do. But the essay never asks students to study how helping makes communities stronger. It argues that volunteering pays off for the students themselves. A says exactly that, and it sets up “this proposition” in sentence 5.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 7 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 7Uses the passage above: “Find Time to Volunteer”.
Question
Which sentence is least relevant to the ideas presented in the second paragraph (sentences 5–10) and should be deleted?
- Asentence 6
- Bsentence 7
- Csentence 8
- Dsentence 9
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks which sentence is least relevant to the ideas presented in the second paragraph (sentences 5–10) and should be deleted.
A. Incorrect. Sentence 5 introduces the topic of the second paragraph, which is that finding time to volunteer “may sound impossible” for many students. Sentence 6 logically follows this idea because it provides one reason why students might hesitate or be unable to volunteer. Therefore, sentence 6 is relevant to the ideas presented in the second paragraph and should not be deleted.
B. CORRECT. Sentence 7 states that “time and energy” are required for volunteering, which partially addresses the topic of the second paragraph about the various commitments that fill high school students’ schedules. However, sentence 7 interrupts the flow of the paragraph by interjecting specific examples (“volunteering at a retirement center or homeless shelter”) into a general list of activities and commitments. Thus, the sentence is the least relevant to the paragraph and should be deleted.
C. Incorrect. In the second paragraph, the author discusses why some high school students may hesitate to volunteer. In sentences 6 and 9, the author points out that “schoolwork” and “family obligations and part-time jobs” are activities that require students’ time and may cause them to hesitate taking on any additional activities. Sentence 8 contributes to this idea by stating that “extracurricular activities” also require a time commitment from students. As a result, sentence 8 contributes to the ideas in the second paragraph and should not be deleted.
D. Incorrect. In the second paragraph, the author acknowledges that some high school students may hesitate to volunteer because of “schoolwork” and “extracurricular activities.” Sentence 9 contributes to this idea by stating that “family obligations and part-time jobs” also require a time commitment and may cause students to hesitate to volunteer. Therefore, sentence 9 contributes to the ideas in the second paragraph and should not be deleted.
Question analysis
This revising question focuses on the second paragraph of the volunteering essay, which explains why students may think they have no time to help others. Students pick the one sentence that is least relevant and should be deleted. Since every sentence touches on how students spend their time, the challenge is seeing which one breaks the paragraph’s line of thought.
- NYS standards
- 7W1b supporting claims with evidence
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Spotting a sentence that does not belong is regular grade 7 revision work. The paragraph is short and plain, but every candidate is loosely tied to students’ busy lives, so students must pin down the paragraph’s exact point first.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- How sentences fit together moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 354 words; question and choices: about grade 5, 22 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 sentence to delete is the only one in the paragraph that mentions volunteering, so students who test each sentence against the essay’s topic keep it and cut one of the others. The paragraph’s point is narrower: sentence 5 says volunteering “may sound impossible” for many students, and sentences 6, 8 and 9 list what already fills their schedules. Sentence 7 is loosely related, which is why the stem asks for the least relevant sentence rather than an irrelevant one.
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
Sentences 6, 8 and 9 list the commitments that already fill students’ time, schoolwork, activities, family and jobs, while sentence 7 turns to what volunteering itself demands and breaks that list. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Every candidate touches on students’ busy lives, and sentence 7 is the only one that mentions volunteering, so each must be tested against the paragraph’s exact point rather than the essay’s topic. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Say in a few words what sentences 5 and 10 tell you the paragraph is about. Then test each listed sentence: does it add to that point, or does it shift to a different one?
Traps
- Fixes what isn't broken: Changes a part of the sentence that was already correct, while the real error stays; or, where the question asks which sentence has an error or should go, picks one that is correct and belongs.
The wrong answers, classified
A Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Cuts sentence 6 because schoolwork says nothing about volunteering, judging by the essay’s topic word, though schoolwork is the first commitment on the paragraph’s list.
C Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Treats extracurricular activities as a separate subject, though sentence 8 adds another after-school demand to the list explaining why volunteering seems impossible.
D Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Senses that the paragraph lists school pressures and cuts family obligations and part-time jobs as outside school, missing that “too” adds them to the same list of demands.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need the sentence in paragraph 2 that fits least and should be cut. Every sentence in a paragraph should support its main point. Example: My dog loves the park. He chases balls. Cats sleep a lot. He rolls in the grass. The cat sentence doesn’t fit. So first find the paragraph’s point. Then test each listed sentence against it.
Find the paragraph’s main point
Sentence 5 says “For many students, this proposition may sound impossible.” The proposition is the idea of volunteering. Sentence 10 says the benefits may “outweigh the scheduling difficulties.” So the paragraph is about why students feel too busy. The sentences in between should list what already fills their time.
Test each listed sentence
- Sentence 6: “Schoolwork can require hours of study each week.” That is one thing that fills their time.
- Sentence 7: “Volunteering at a retirement center or homeless shelter requires both time and energy.” This is about volunteering itself. It names two places, and it breaks the list.
- Sentence 8: “Extracurricular activities fill up after-school time.” These are things like sports and clubs. That is another item on the list.
- Sentence 9: “Family obligations and part-time jobs” fill time “too.” The word too adds them to the same list.
Read the paragraph without it
Try reading sentences 6, 8 and 9 in a row. Schoolwork, activities, family and jobs make one smooth list of things that fill a student’s week. Then sentence 10 answers that worry. Nothing is missing when sentence 7 is gone. That shows it is the least relevant.
Pick the answer
Watch out: Sentence 9 can seem off topic, because family and jobs are outside school. That makes D tempting. But the paragraph is about everything that fills a student’s time. So the answer is B, sentence 7.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
Sentence 9 is the closest wrong answer, because family and jobs are not schoolwork. But its last word, “too,” adds them to the same list as schoolwork and activities. Sentence 7 is the only one about what volunteering takes, not what already fills the week. So B is the one to cut.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 8 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 8Uses the passage above: “Find Time to Volunteer”.
Question
Which of these would best follow sentence 12 and support the ideas presented in the third paragraph (sentences 11–12)?
- AThese students show that they are likely to be responsible, reliable, and helpful young adults. Admissions counselors know that character traits like these will benefit the applicants as well as whomever they interact with.
- BVolunteering can help students meet new people who can provide references and advice to the students when they are applying to colleges. It can also be an invaluable opportunity for students to meet possible future employers.
- CThe counselors hope that young adults who demonstrate this behavior will go on to volunteer during their college years, working on campus in student government and leadership programs or serving in the community at hospitals, schools, and homeless shelters.
- DMany colleges are looking for students who are not just academically successful but who also work well with others and care about improving and serving surrounding communities.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which option would best follow sentence 12 to support the ideas presented in the third paragraph (sentences 11–12).
A. Incorrect. The subject of the main clause in sentence 12 is “admissions counselors.” Although the second sentence in the option mentions “admissions counselors,” it does not support the ideas in the paragraph, because the statement that “admissions counselors know that character traits like these will benefit the applicants” focuses on how students benefit, while sentence 12 focuses on how these traits benefit the community.
B. Incorrect. While sentence 11 discusses the potential academic and professional connections that can be made through volunteering, sentence 12 moves on to the topic of college admissions. Since the sentences in the option revert back to the topic of connections, they do not support and logically follow a sentence about how college admissions counselors view students with volunteering experience.
C. Incorrect. Although the sentence in the option continues on the subject of admissions counselors and follows the idea in sentence 12 that these counselors tend to favor students who “care about making their community and college campus a better place,” the sentence focuses on what students will do while in college rather than on how volunteering helps them get into college. Therefore, the sentence does not best follow sentence 12 and support the ideas presented in the third paragraph.
D. CORRECT. In sentence 12, the author states that college admissions counselors view students who list volunteer work on admissions applications as “applicants who care about making their community and college campus a better place.” The sentence in the option best follows sentence 12 and supports the ideas in the third paragraph because it provides additional details about why admissions counselors look beyond academics when considering students for admissions and the positive qualities assigned to those who have volunteering experience.
Question analysis
This supporting-details question asks which addition would best follow the volunteering essay’s sentence about how college admissions counselors view applicants who list volunteer work. Every option mentions college and sounds reasonable on its own, so students must decide which one develops the paragraph’s point rather than drifting to a related idea.
- NYS standards
- 7W1b supporting claims with evidence
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students choose evidence that supports a claim. Here the options are one or two full sentences, all of them about college, and the right fit depends on the precise idea in sentence 12, a finer judgment than usual.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer major
- How sentences fit together moderate
- A lot to read minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 354 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 153 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
Every option stays on the subject of college, so the work is matching sentence 12’s exact idea: counselors see applicants who care about making their community a better place. The near miss also explains what counselors value, but it swaps caring for the community for a new set of traits and ends on what those traits do for the applicants. Students who restate sentence 12 before reading the options can hear that the right one simply widens it, from community service to what colleges want beyond grades.
A very close wrong answer major Choosing the answer
The right sentence and the two-sentence option about responsible, reliable, helpful students both explain why volunteers impress admissions; only the right one keeps sentence 12’s point, caring about improving communities. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
The new sentence must extend sentence 12’s specific idea, what admissions counselors see in volunteers, rather than return to sentence 11’s skills and careers or move on to college life. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
A lot to read minor Understanding the question
The options run 27 to 39 words, two of them two sentences long, and all four are about college, so topic alone rules none of them out. (Kintsch, 1998; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Restate sentence 12 in your own words, then ask of each option whether it explains or extends that exact point about what admissions counselors value.
Traps
- Off the point: Adds or keeps something that does not support the paragraph's or the passage's focus, or an introduction or conclusion that misses the main point.
The wrong answers, classified
A Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Follows the admissions counselors from sentence 12 but replaces caring for the community with new traits, responsibility and reliability, and turns to how those traits help the applicants.
B Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Is drawn by “applying to colleges,” but networking for references and future employers is a new benefit that neither sentence 11 nor sentence 12 develops.
C Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Stays with the counselors and picks up “college campus” from sentence 12, but jumps ahead to what students might do in college instead of explaining admission decisions.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need the sentence that best follows sentence 12. A good next sentence adds to the same idea. It does not jump to a new point. Example: after Dogs make loyal pets, the sentence They stay by their owners’ side fits. Dogs come in many colors drifts away. So first put sentence 12 in your own words.
Restate sentence 12
Sentence 12 says that “when students list volunteer work on college applications, admissions counselors see applicants who care about making their community and college campus a better place.” Admissions counselors are the people who choose which students get into a college. So the idea is this: colleges like volunteers because volunteers care about their communities.
Check each choice
- D says colleges want students who are “not just academically successful.” That means more than good grades. They also want students who “care about improving and serving surrounding communities.” That explains sentence 12 and builds on it.
- A swaps in new traits: “responsible, reliable, and helpful.” Then it says those traits help the applicants and the people around them. It drops caring for the community.
- B brings in a new benefit: meeting people who can give advice or jobs. Neither sentence 11 nor sentence 12 talks about that.
- C jumps ahead to what students might do in college. It doesn’t explain how volunteering helps them get in.
Pick the answer
Watch out: A is the most tempting. It is about what counselors value, just like the right answer. But it changes the reason they value it. Only D keeps sentence 12’s idea of caring for the community. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong answer. Like D, it explains why admissions counselors like volunteers. But A’s reasons are new ones, such as being responsible and reliable. D keeps sentence 12’s exact idea, caring about the community, and adds that colleges want more than good grades. So D supports the paragraph best.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 9 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 9Uses the passage above: “Find Time to Volunteer”.
Question
Which concluding sentence should replace sentence 22 to provide the best support for the argument presented in the passage?
- AIn every city, there are homeless shelters, food pantries, youth centers, and political campaigns that depend on the support and commitment of hardworking young people.
- BClearly, students who volunteer will experience a host of benefits, such as learning new skills, meeting interesting people, opening up opportunities for the future, and gaining a sense of satisfaction.
- CWhen students carefully evaluate their activities and prioritize volunteerism, they find a way to work it into their schedule and are soon encouraging their peers to do the same.
- DWhether they are seeking admission to college, preparing to enter the workforce, or simply looking to reduce stress, high school students who volunteer can help themselves as much as they help others.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which concluding sentence should replace sentence 22 to provide the best support for the argument presented in the passage.
A. Incorrect. Although the sentence lists examples of organizations that depend on “hardworking young people” as volunteers, it should not replace sentence 22, because its use of specific examples does not provide a strong conclusion to the main idea in the passage, and it does not best support the main argument that students benefit themselves and their community when volunteering.
B. Incorrect. While the sentence supports the argument that students “will experience a host of benefits” through volunteerism, it should not replace sentence 22 as a concluding sentence, because it does not best support the main argument that volunteerism benefits both the students and their community.
C. Incorrect. Although the sentence emphasizes the importance of prioritizing volunteerism, it should not replace sentence 22, because it focuses on the main idea in the second paragraph (“For many students, this proposition may sound impossible.”), rather than the main argument that volunteerism benefits both students and their community. This sentence introduces the idea that student volunteers “are soon encouraging their peers” to volunteer, which does not best support the argument presented in the passage.
D. CORRECT. This sentence should replace sentence 22 to conclude the passage because it lists specific reasons for volunteering (“Whether they are seeking admission to college, preparing to enter the workforce, or simply looking to reduce stress”) and best supports the main argument that volunteering not only helps students but can also help their community (“high school students who volunteer can help themselves as much as they help others”).
Question analysis
This conclusion question asks which sentence should replace the last line of the essay urging high school students to volunteer. Students need a closing statement that best supports the argument as a whole. Several options list benefits or name real places to volunteer, so the challenge is telling an ending that fits the whole essay from one that drifts.
- NYS standards
- 7W1e concluding an argument
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Writing a conclusion that sums up an argument is a grade 7 standard. Students recognize one rather than write it, but they must keep the essay’s several reasons in mind while judging four endings that all sound final.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Evidence in several places moderate
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 354 words; question and choices: about grade 15, 134 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 endings sound final, and the strongest wrong one is a fair-sounding list of benefits that opens with “Clearly.” The right ending wins on fit: its three reasons are the essay’s own, college, work and stress, and it keeps the opening idea that volunteers help others as well as themselves. Students who sketch the essay’s reasons paragraph by paragraph before reading the endings can see which one gathers them and which adds a point of its own.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The reasons a conclusion must gather sit in three body paragraphs, college admission in paragraph 3, the workforce in paragraph 4 and stress in paragraph 5, well before sentence 22. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The right ending and the “host of benefits” ending both list what volunteers gain; they part on whether the list matches the essay’s own reasons and keeps the help volunteers give others. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: List the essay’s reasons for volunteering, one phrase per paragraph, then pick the ending that pulls them together without bringing in a new point.
Traps
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Off the point: Adds or keeps something that does not support the paragraph's or the passage's focus, or an introduction or conclusion that misses the main point.
The wrong answers, classified
A Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Likes the concrete list of shelters, pantries and campaigns, but naming groups that need young volunteers sums up none of the essay’s reasons for volunteering.
B Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Sums up only what students gain, adding “meeting interesting people,” which the essay never mentions, and drops the point that volunteers help others too.
C Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Carries on sentence 21’s point that busy students can find time, then adds students recruiting their peers, so it ends on scheduling instead of the reasons to volunteer.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need a new last sentence for the essay. A good conclusion sums up the argument. It pulls the main reasons together without adding a new idea. Example: an essay on biking to school might end, Biking keeps you fit, saves money and helps clean the air. So first list this essay’s reasons.
List the essay’s reasons
- Paragraph 1: volunteers help others, and “those who volunteer also receive benefits” (sentence 4).
- Paragraph 3: volunteering helps with college applications.
- Paragraph 4: it helps students “moving directly into the workforce,” which means starting a job.
- Paragraph 5: it helps the mind and body, and it “can reduce stress.”
So a good ending names college, work and stress. It also keeps the idea that volunteers help both others and themselves.
Check each choice
- D names all three: “seeking admission to college, preparing to enter the workforce, or simply looking to reduce stress.” It ends with students who “help themselves as much as they help others.” That matches the essay.
- B lists benefits, but it adds “meeting interesting people.” The essay never says that. It also leaves out helping others.
- A lists places that need volunteers. It sums up none of the essay’s reasons.
- C is about fitting volunteering into a schedule and getting friends to join. Getting friends to join is a new idea.
Pick the answer
Watch out: B starts with “Clearly” and lists good things, so it sounds like an ending. But its list is not the essay’s list. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer, because it also sums up what volunteers gain. But it adds a benefit the essay never discusses, and it drops the help volunteers give others. D gathers the essay’s own reasons, college, work and stress, and keeps both sides of the essay’s idea.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 10 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 10Passage Moving through Mountains
Moving through Mountains
(1) An age-old proverb says that necessity is the mother of invention. (2) Centuries of human ingenuity in the face of obstacles prove this to be true. (3) For many years the Swiss Alps, a mountain range spanning southern Switzerland and northern Italy, were such an obstacle. (4) Roads and railways had to navigate around the mountains or through winding tunnels inside the mountains, making the transportation of people and goods difficult and time consuming. (5) In 2016 these burdens were eased with the completion of the Gotthard Base Tunnel.
(6) Construction of the high-speed railway tunnel began in 1996. (7) The tunnel was created through the use of tunnel-boring machines, which are giant drills with a flat rotating head called a cutter head. (8) Each of the tunnel-boring machines used during the construction of the tunnel was about the length of four football fields arranged end-to-end. (9) During the seventeen-year construction period, 28 million tons of rock were removed, enough to rebuild the Great Pyramid of Giza five times. (10) This massive construction project is reported to have cost $12 billion. (11) After that, 4 million cubic meters of concrete, or enough concrete to build eighty-four Empire State Buildings, were used to construct and support the tunnel.
(12) By 2020 the high-speed railway will carry more than 250 freight trains and 55 passenger trains a day, with most traveling at speeds of around 100 to 125 miles per hour. (13) It will be faster for people to travel between northern and southern Europe. (14) The travel time between the European cities of Zurich, Switzerland, and Milan, Italy, will be reduced by an hour. (15) Many European leaders compare the Gotthard Base Tunnel to the Channel Tunnel, a 33-mile underwater tunnel that connects the United Kingdom and France. (16) While there is no roadway in the Channel Tunnel, people can drive their cars onto special trains that will carry vehicles through to the other side.
(17) Just as traffic congestion in major cities led to the construction of underground local transportation, natural formations, such as mountain ranges, have also sent people underground for faster, easier, and cheaper methods of transportation across larger areas. (18) There is renewed interest in constructing innovative methods of transportation that will help eliminate problems associated with traveling to and from certain areas.
Question
Which sentence should be added after sentence 5 to introduce the main topic of the passage?
- AThe construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel was approved by Swiss voters in 1992 and was funded by tolls, fuel taxes, and government loans.
- BLeaders from several European countries attended the opening ceremonies for the Gotthard Base Tunnel, a Swiss tunnel.
- CThe Gotthard Base Tunnel is the world’s longest and deepest railway tunnel, stretching 35.5 miles straight through the base of the Swiss Alps.
- DThe Gotthard Base Tunnel continues to help reduce the number of freight trucks on the roadways in the Swiss Alps.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The Answer is (C)
The question asks which sentence should be added to the end of the first paragraph in order to introduce the topic of the passage, which is the description, construction, and use of the Gotthard Base Tunnel.
Option C correctly presents and describes the Gotthard Base Tunnel.
Option A is incorrect because it offers overly detailed information about the funding used to build the Gotthard Base Tunnel, and it does not provide a description of the tunnel.
Option B is incorrect because it gives details about the opening ceremony of the tunnel, and it does not provide a description of the tunnel.
Option D is incorrect because it offers a result of completing the Gotthard Base Tunnel, rather than offering an introductory statement presenting and describing the tunnel.
Question analysis
This revising question uses a short informational passage about the Gotthard Base Tunnel through the Swiss Alps and asks which sentence best introduces the main topic at the end of the first paragraph. Several choices offer true-sounding facts about the tunnel, so students must tell an introduction apart from a supporting detail.
- NYS standards
- 7W2a introducing and organizing a topic
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Choosing a sentence that introduces a topic and previews what follows is standard grade 7 writing work. The passage is short and factual, and the wrong choices are related details, much like a classroom revision exercise.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Evidence in several places moderate
- How sentences fit together minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 362 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 97 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
Most students find the descriptive sentence once they ask what a reader needs right after the tunnel is first named. Points are lost to sentences that follow on smoothly from the word “completion” or that name a real benefit, but which set up a passage about something else. The right sentence even adds facts the passage never states, so students should judge fit rather than hunt for repeated words.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The topic the new sentence must introduce only emerges across all four paragraphs: what the Gotthard Base Tunnel is, how it was dug, and what it will do for travel. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
How sentences fit together minor Working it out
The added sentence follows sentence 5, which names the tunnel only as what eased the burdens, so it should present the tunnel itself before paragraph 2 turns to its construction. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Strategy: Skim the first sentence of each paragraph to see what the passage as a whole covers, then pick the sentence that would prepare a reader for all of it.
Traps
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Off the point: Adds or keeps something that does not support the paragraph's or the passage's focus, or an introduction or conclusion that misses the main point.
The wrong answers, classified
A Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Picks voter approval in 1992 and funding by tolls, fuel taxes and loans, background that would set up a passage about financing, which this one never discusses.
B Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Follows naturally from “the completion of the Gotthard Base Tunnel” in sentence 5, but an opening ceremony with European leaders is not what the passage goes on to describe.
D Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Offers one result, fewer freight trucks on Alpine roads, which echoes the difficult roads of sentence 4 but does not present the tunnel before the passage explains it.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
The new sentence goes at the end of paragraph 1, right after sentence 5. It must introduce the main topic, which is what the whole passage is mostly about. So first you need to know what the whole passage covers.
Skim the passage for its topic
Sentence 5 ends paragraph 1: “In 2016 these burdens were eased with the completion of the Gotthard Base Tunnel.” Paragraph 2 tells how the tunnel was built. Paragraph 3 tells how it will make travel faster. Paragraph 4 tells why people build tunnels like it. So the passage is about the Gotthard Base Tunnel: what it is, how it was built, and what it does.
See what sentence 5 leaves out
Sentence 5 names the tunnel, but it doesn’t say what the tunnel is. A reader doesn’t yet know how long it is or what makes it special. Then paragraph 2 jumps right into building it. So the new sentence should describe the tunnel itself. That gets the reader ready for the rest.
Check each choice
- A is about voters and money from tolls and taxes. The passage never discusses how the tunnel was paid for.
- B is about an opening ceremony. The passage never describes one.
- C says what the tunnel is: “the world’s longest and deepest railway tunnel,” running “straight through the base of the Swiss Alps.”
- D gives one result, fewer trucks on the roads. That is a detail, not an introduction.
Watch out: D links back to the slow roads in sentence 4, so it seems to fit. But it is one benefit, and the passage never mentions trucks.
Pick the answer
Choice C presents the tunnel and tells what makes it special. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
Choice D is the closest wrong answer. It is about the tunnel, and it ties back to the hard travel in sentence 4. But it gives a result before the reader even knows what the tunnel is. C describes the tunnel itself, and that is what an introduction needs.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Moving through Mountains” as printed (page 48)
Question 11 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 11Uses the passage above: “Moving through Mountains”.
Question
Which sentence should be added to follow and support sentence 7?
- AThe tunnel-boring machine is helpful to tunnel builders in the modern era and has been an improvement over dynamite.
- BThese enormous tunnel-boring machines function somewhat like a cheese grater, with the cutter head grinding slowly through rock and stone.
- CEngineers had considered making a tunnel under the mountains for many years, but it was impossible to do without modern tunnel-boring machines.
- DDifferent types of cutter heads are used with tunnel-boring machines depending on the geology of the area where the tunnel is being created.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
This is the answer (B)
The question asks for a sentence that provides additional details about the tunnel-boring machines used to build the Gotthard Base Tunnel in order to support the description of the machines in sentence 7.
Option B is correct because it offers specific details about how tunnel-boring machines, such as the ones used to create the Gotthard Base Tunnel, drill through rock.
Option A is incorrect because it offers information about how tunnel-boring machines were an improvement over previous methods but does not include information about how the machines work.
Option C is incorrect because it presents the idea that the tunnel could not be built until advances were made in tunnel-boring machine technology and does not describe how the machines function.
Option D is incorrect because, though it explains that there are different types of cutter heads used for different geologies, the geology of the tunnel area is not discussed in sentence 7, nor in the rest of the paragraph.
Question analysis
This revising question asks which new sentence should follow and support a description of the tunnel-boring machines used to dig the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Every choice is about the machines, so students must decide which one actually develops the sentence before it rather than drifting to a related topic.
- NYS standards
- 7W2b developing a topic
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Adding a detail that supports a given sentence is a regular grade 7 writing task. The demand is typical: a short paragraph, plain vocabulary, and wrong choices that stay on the subject of the machines but serve other purposes.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- How sentences fit together moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 362 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 94 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 about tunnel-boring machines, so topic alone settles nothing. The right sentence shows how the machines work and leads into their size in sentence 8, while the strongest wrong one wanders into geology. Some students also distrust the cheese-grater comparison as too casual, though a vivid analogy is exactly the kind of support a definition needs.
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
The new sentence sits between sentence 7, which defines the machines, and sentence 8, which gives their size, so it has to keep describing the machines that dug this tunnel. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Strategy: Reread sentence 7 and note exactly what it describes, then test each choice by asking whether it tells the reader more about that same thing or starts a new point.
Traps
- Off the point: Adds or keeps something that does not support the paragraph's or the passage's focus, or an introduction or conclusion that misses the main point.
- Wordy, vague or informal: A revision is grammatical but wordy, imprecise or too casual for the passage.
The wrong answers, classified
A Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Accepts a general claim that the machine is “helpful to tunnel builders in the modern era”, which praises it without adding any detail about how it works.
C Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Explains why the tunnel could not be built earlier, turning from what the machines are to the project's history, a topic the paragraph never takes up.
D Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Builds on the term “cutter head” from sentence 7, but varying heads for different geology starts a new subject that the paragraph never returns to.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need a sentence to go right after sentence 7. It must support sentence 7. That means it should tell more about the same thing sentence 7 is about.
Read sentence 7 closely
Sentence 7 says: “The tunnel was created through the use of tunnel-boring machines, which are giant drills with a flat rotating head called a cutter head.” So sentence 7 is about the machines and how they dig. Now look ahead. Sentence 8 tells how long each machine was. So the new sentence sits between two sentences about the machines.
Make sense of the key words
To bore means to drill a hole. A tunnel-boring machine is a huge drill that digs a tunnel. The cutter head is the spinning front part that cuts the rock. A good supporting sentence will help you picture how this machine works.
Check each choice
- B compares the machine to a cheese grater, “with the cutter head grinding slowly through rock and stone.” It shows how the machine works.
- A says the machine is “helpful to tunnel builders in the modern era.” That is praise, with no detail about how it works.
- C is about why the tunnel could not be built earlier. That is a new topic.
- D is about different cutter heads for different kinds of rock. The paragraph never talks about kinds of rock.
Watch out: D repeats the words “cutter heads,” so it seems connected. But it starts a subject the paragraph never comes back to.
Pick the answer
Choice B keeps describing the machines from sentence 7 and leads well into sentence 8. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer, because it uses the term “cutter heads” from sentence 7. But it is about choosing heads for different rock, which the paragraph drops at once. B explains how the cutter head of these machines works, and that is exactly what sentence 7 set up.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 12 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 12Uses the passage above: “Moving through Mountains”.
Question
Where should sentence 11 be moved in order to improve the organization of the second paragraph (sentences 6–11)?
- Ato the beginning of the paragraph (before sentence 6)
- Bbetween sentences 6 and 7
- Cbetween sentences 8 and 9
- Dbetween sentences 9 and 10
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The Answer is (D)
The question asks where sentence 11, which completes the detailed steps of how the tunnel was built, should be moved within the second paragraph in order to improve the organization of the paragraph.
Option D, placing the sentence between sentences 9 and 10, is correct because placing the sentence there helps the reader understand the full sequence of steps performed in constructing the tunnel before the cost of the project is introduced.
Option A, placing the sentence at the beginning of the paragraph (before sentence 6), is incorrect because it would not make sense since the process of building the tunnel has not yet been introduced.
Similarly, Option B is incorrect because placing the sentence after sentence 6 would not make sense given that adding concrete would have to happen after the rock was broken down and removed from the tunnel.
Option C, placing the sentence between sentences 8 and 9, would also be incorrect because the use of concrete did not take place before the removal of “28 million tons of rock” (sentence 9).
Question analysis
This revising question asks where to move a sentence about the concrete used to support the Gotthard Base Tunnel so the second paragraph is better organized. Students must follow the order of the construction steps and notice what the sentence's opening words refer back to, since several positions sound acceptable at a glance.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Ordering sentences logically is a grade 7 writing skill. Here the student follows a sequence of construction steps and a time-order signal word, a short, typical grade 7 revision task with four nearby positions to compare.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- How sentences fit together major
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Much to keep track of minor
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 362 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 33 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 turns on two signal phrases: what “After that” must follow, and what “This massive construction project” sums up. Students who see only that the concrete belongs with the digging often park it beside the machine details, before the rock has been cleared. Those who try each position in context see that lining the tunnel can only follow removing the rock.
How sentences fit together major Working it out
Sentence 11 opens with “After that”, so it must follow the rock removal in sentence 9, while “This massive construction project” in sentence 10 reads best as the paragraph's close. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
Moving the sentence between sentences 8 and 9 differs from the right spot, between 9 and 10, by a single sentence, and only seeing that sentence 9's rock removal must come first tells them apart. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Much to keep track of minor Working it out
The construction steps, from the 1996 start through the machines, the 28 million tons of rock and the concrete, have to be kept in order across six sentences. (Sweller, 1988; Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Each of the four positions has to be tried by rereading the paragraph with the concrete sentence in place, since several sound acceptable at a glance. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Look at the signal words that open sentence 11 and ask what event they must follow. Then read the paragraph with the sentence in each position to check the order of events.
Traps
- Sentence in the wrong place: Puts a sentence where it breaks the order of ideas or separates it from what it refers to.
The wrong answers, classified
A Sentence in the wrong place (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Moves the sentence to open the paragraph, where “After that” would follow the 2016 completion in sentence 5, putting the concrete work after the tunnel was finished.
B Sentence in the wrong place (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Reads “After that” as following the 1996 start of construction, which sounds smooth but has the tunnel lined with concrete before any machine had bored it.
C Sentence in the wrong place (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Sees that the concrete comes after the machines did their work but places it before sentence 9, so the tunnel is lined before its 28 million tons of rock are removed.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
Sentence 11 is in the wrong spot. You need to move it so paragraph 2 tells events in the right order. Paragraph 2 is sentences 6 to 11.
Look at the clue words in sentence 11
Sentence 11 says: “After that, 4 million cubic meters of concrete, or enough concrete to build eighty-four Empire State Buildings, were used to construct and support the tunnel.” “After that” is a transition, a word or phrase that links ideas. It tells you the concrete came after some other event. You need to find that event.
Put the building steps in order
Think about how you build a tunnel. First you dig out the rock. Then you line the hole with concrete to hold it up.
- Sentence 6: work began in 1996.
- Sentences 7 and 8: the machines that did the digging.
- Sentence 9: “28 million tons of rock were removed.”
- Sentence 10: the project cost $12 billion.
The concrete must come after the rock is removed. So sentence 11 belongs right after sentence 9.
Read the paragraph in the new order
Sentence 9 removes the rock. “After that,” the concrete is poured. Then sentence 10 sums up “This massive construction project” and its cost. The cost makes a good last point. Right now, sentence 11 comes after the cost. So “After that” seems to mean after paying. That makes no sense.
Check each choice
- A, before sentence 6: “After that” would point back to sentence 5, after the tunnel was finished.
- B, after sentence 6: the concrete would come before any digging.
- C, between 8 and 9: the tunnel would be lined before the rock was removed.
- D, between 9 and 10: the concrete comes right after the rock is removed.
Watch out: C is only one spot away from D. Ask yourself: is the rock gone yet? In C, it isn’t.
Pick the answer
So the answer is D, between sentences 9 and 10.
Now the paragraph goes: start, machines, digging, concrete, cost.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
Choice C is close because it puts the concrete after the machines. But sentence 9 is where the rock is removed, and you can’t line a tunnel that is still full of rock. Only D puts “After that” right after the rock removal.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 13 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 13Uses the passage above: “Moving through Mountains”.
Question
Which sentence presents information that shifts away from the main topic of the third paragraph (sentences 12–16) and should be removed?
- Asentence 13
- Bsentence 14
- Csentence 15
- Dsentence 16
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The answer is (D)
The question asks which sentence should be removed because it presents an idea that shifts away from the main idea of the third paragraph, which is about the transportation benefits of the Gotthard Base Tunnel.
Option D (sentence 16) is the correct response because, even though the sentence provides additional information about the Channel Tunnel, it does not help the reader understand the benefits of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, so it should be removed.
Option A (sentence 13) is incorrect because the idea of faster travel times is important to the development of the main idea of the paragraph.
Option B (sentence 14) is incorrect because the sentence provides a specific example of decreased travel time between two cities when traveling through the Gotthard Base Tunnel, supporting the development of ideas in the paragraph.
Option C (sentence 15) is incorrect because the sentence compares the Gotthard Base Tunnel to another tunnel that provides an important connection between places, and the sentence supports the idea that transportation innovations are beneficial.
Question analysis
This revising question looks at the paragraph describing what the Gotthard Base Tunnel will do for travel in Europe and asks which sentence shifts away from that topic and should be removed. Every sentence is related to tunnels and travel, so students must judge which one no longer serves the paragraph's main point.
- NYS standards
- 7W2b developing a topic
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Cutting a sentence that strays from a paragraph's focus is practiced from grade 6. The paragraph is five sentences of plain facts with one clear topic, so this asks less than a typical grade 7 revision task.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- How sentences fit together minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 362 words; question and choices: about grade 6, 24 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 paragraph drifts gradually, which makes this harder than a plain hunt for the odd sentence out. The Channel Tunnel arrives in sentence 15 as a comparison that still concerns the Gotthard tunnel's importance, and only the next sentence leaves the Gotthard tunnel behind entirely. Students who cut at the first mention of the other tunnel lose the point, so it pays to ask which sentence says nothing about the Gotthard tunnel or the travel it speeds up.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
Sentence 15 is the first to mention the Channel Tunnel, so it looks like the shift, but it still compares that tunnel with the Gotthard; sentence 16 is wholly about car trains under the Channel. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
How sentences fit together minor Working it out
The paragraph's focus, the faster travel the Gotthard tunnel will bring, has to be held while each of sentences 13 through 16 is tested against it. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Strategy: State the paragraph's topic in a few words, then check each listed sentence against it. The sentence to cut is the one that talks about something other than that topic.
The wrong answers, classified
A Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Cuts sentence 13 as a vague restatement, but “It will be faster for people to travel between northern and southern Europe” is the paragraph's central claim.
B Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Treats the Zurich-to-Milan example as a side detail, though the hour saved between those cities is concrete proof of the faster travel the paragraph promises.
C Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Rightly senses the Channel Tunnel is a detour but cuts the comparison that still concerns the Gotthard tunnel, leaving in sentence 16, which is only about car-carrying trains.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
Every sentence in a paragraph should support its main topic. One sentence in paragraph 3 drifts to a different topic. You need to find it so it can be cut.
Find the paragraph’s main topic
Paragraph 3 is sentences 12 to 16. Sentence 12 says the railway will carry many trains at high speeds. Sentence 13 says: “It will be faster for people to travel between northern and southern Europe.” So the topic is how the Gotthard Base Tunnel will make travel faster.
Test each sentence against the topic
- Sentence 13 states the topic: faster travel.
- Sentence 14 gives an example. The trip between Zurich and Milan will be an hour shorter.
- Sentence 15 compares the Gotthard Base Tunnel to the Channel Tunnel. It still talks about the Gotthard tunnel.
- Sentence 16 says “people can drive their cars onto special trains” in the Channel Tunnel. It says nothing about the Gotthard tunnel.
Watch for the trap
Watch out: Sentence 15 is the first to name the Channel Tunnel. So it can look like the place where the paragraph shifts. But it compares that tunnel with the Gotthard tunnel. That keeps it tied to the topic. Sentence 16 leaves the Gotthard tunnel behind completely.
Pick the answer
Sentence 16 is only about car trains in the Channel Tunnel. So the answer is D, sentence 16.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
Choice C, sentence 15, is the closest wrong answer, since it brings in the Channel Tunnel. But it still talks about the Gotthard Base Tunnel by comparing the two. Sentence 16 talks only about the Channel Tunnel, so it is the one that shifts away.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 14 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 14Uses the passage above: “Moving through Mountains”.
Question
Which transition phrase should be added to the beginning of sentence 18?
- AAlthough the Gotthard Base Tunnel is mainly for freight trains
- BWith the Gotthard Base Tunnel taking ten years to complete
- CBecause of the successful completion of the Gotthard Base Tunnel
- DAs the number of trains using the Gotthard Base Tunnel increases
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The answer is (C)
The question asks for a transition that bridges the ideas between sentences 17 and 18 and accurately presents the relationship.
Option C is correct because it bridges the sentences by referring to the Gotthard Base Tunnel as a solution to the problems described in sentence 17 and logically introducing sentence 18.
Option A is incorrect because the use of the word “although” and the mention of freight trains suggest that sentence 18 will be about other types of vehicles that use the Gotthard Base Tunnel, and the transition phrase does not logically precede the sentence.
Option B is incorrect because the reference to the amount of time it took to build the tunnel does not help lead into the idea presented in sentence 18.
Option D is incorrect because it suggests that sentence 18 is related to the increasing number of trains using the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which is not accurate.
Question analysis
This revising question asks which introductory phrase should begin the last sentence of a passage about the Gotthard Base Tunnel, linking it to the idea before it. All four phrases are grammatical and mention the tunnel, so students must work out the logical relationship between the two sentences and check each phrase against the facts given earlier.
- NYS standards
- 7W2d transitions in informative writing
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Choosing a transition that shows how two ideas relate is a core grade 7 writing skill. The two sentences involved are short and the vocabulary is plain, so this is typical classroom revision work.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- How sentences fit together moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 362 words; question and choices: about grade 6, 52 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 task is to see that renewed interest is a result, which calls for an opener that names a cause. Phrases that are merely true of the tunnel, or that tie interest to growing traffic, read smoothly and slip past students who do not test the logic. One opener also gives the construction time as ten years, which careful readers can reject against the seventeen-year period in sentence 9.
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
Sentence 17 widens the view from this tunnel to tunnels in general, and sentence 18 reports renewed interest, so the opener has to name what caused that interest. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
All four openers are grammatical and name the Gotthard Base Tunnel, so each has to be read into sentence 18 and checked against facts given earlier in the passage. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Read sentences 17 and 18 together and decide how they are connected: by contrast, by time, or by cause. Then choose the opening that expresses that link and fits facts already stated.
Traps
- Wrong transition: A connecting word or phrase that signals the wrong relationship, such as contrast where the idea continues.
The wrong answers, classified
A Wrong transition (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Likes the accurate freight detail from sentence 12, but “Although” promises a contrast, and nothing in sentence 18 runs against the tunnel being mainly for freight.
B Wrong transition (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Accepts a time detail that explains nothing about renewed interest and gets the time wrong, since sentence 9 gives a seventeen-year construction period.
D Wrong transition (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Senses that sentence 18 needs a cause but names growing train traffic, a plausible link the passage never makes, when the interest follows from the tunnel's completion.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
A transition is a word or phrase that links two ideas. Some show contrast, like although. Some show time, like then. Some show cause, like because. You need the opening for sentence 18 that shows how it links to sentence 17.
Read sentences 17 and 18 together
Sentence 17 says mountain ranges “have also sent people underground for faster, easier, and cheaper methods of transportation across larger areas.” Sentence 18 says: “There is renewed interest in constructing innovative methods of transportation.” Renewed interest means people care about something again. Innovative means new and creative.
Decide how the ideas connect
Why would people care about new kinds of travel again? Because the whole passage just showed a tunnel that worked. It solved the mountain problem. So sentence 18 is a result. The opening should name the cause.
Check each choice
- C, “Because of the successful completion of the Gotthard Base Tunnel,” names the cause. The tunnel’s success led to new interest.
- A starts with “Although,” which signals a contrast. Nothing in sentence 18 goes against the tunnel being for freight.
- B gives the building time, which doesn’t explain new interest. It is also wrong. Sentence 9 says the work took seventeen years, not ten.
- D names more trains as the cause. The passage never makes that link.
Watch out: D also sounds like a cause, so it is the most tempting wrong choice.
Pick the answer
The new sentence reads: Because of the successful completion of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, there is renewed interest in… So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer, because it also gives a cause. But the passage never says the number of trains made people interested. The tunnel’s success is what the whole passage builds up to, so C links the ideas best.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 15 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 15Uses the passage above: “Moving through Mountains”.
Question
Which concluding sentence should be added after sentence 18 to support the topic presented in the passage?
- AThere is proof that underground tunnels such as the Gotthard Base Tunnel are beneficial to the economy of the surrounding area.
- BThe Gotthard Base Tunnel is an extraordinary example of how human ingenuity and persistence can overcome great obstacles.
- CThe completion of the Gotthard Base Tunnel shows that people can work together to achieve important goals.
- DThe Swiss government is confident that the economic impact of the Gotthard Base Tunnel will be worth its construction cost.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The answer is (B)
The question asks for a concluding sentence that supports key ideas about the topic developed earlier in the passage.
Option B is correct because it supports the points made in the introductory paragraph by affirming the idea that the Gotthard Base Tunnel is an example of a way people have improved life by overcoming obstacles.
Option A is incorrect because the economies of surrounding areas were never mentioned in the passage.
Option C is incorrect because, although the construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel appears to have required many people to work together, the passage does not explicitly mention people or groups working together.
Option D is incorrect because it focuses on the cost of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which is referred to only in sentence 10 of the passage.
Question analysis
This revising question asks which concluding sentence should end the passage about building the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Students must recognize the passage's overall point and choose a conclusion that sums it up, avoiding sentences that sound reasonable but add claims the passage never supports.
- NYS standards
- 7W2e concluding informative writing
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Picking a concluding sentence that reflects a passage's central idea is standard grade 7 writing work. Students must keep the whole short passage in mind and reject conclusions that bring in claims it never makes.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Evidence in several places moderate
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 362 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 92 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 conclusion has to return to the idea the passage opened with, which sits at the far end of the text from where the new sentence goes. Students who have forgotten the proverb about necessity tend to choose by tone, and three choices sound like fitting final lessons or benefits. What the question rewards is matching the conclusion to the opening's own words, ingenuity and obstacles.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The passage's point is set out in sentences 1 to 3, the proverb about necessity and “human ingenuity in the face of obstacles”, about fifteen sentences before the spot where the conclusion goes. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The right conclusion and the teamwork one share a frame, the tunnel as proof of what people can do, and differ only in the lesson: ingenuity against obstacles, from sentences 1 to 3, or teamwork, which the passage never mentions. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Say in one sentence what the whole passage is about, then choose the conclusion that restates that idea without adding claims the passage never makes.
Traps
- Off the point: Adds or keeps something that does not support the paragraph's or the passage's focus, or an introduction or conclusion that misses the main point.
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
The wrong answers, classified
A Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Ends on a claim of “proof” that tunnels help local economies, a benefit that sounds right for a conclusion but that the passage never discusses.
C Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Sees that the ending should state a broad human lesson but picks teamwork, which the passage never raises, instead of the ingenuity against obstacles it opened with.
D Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Seizes on the $12 billion cost, mentioned once in sentence 10, and adds a government opinion the passage never reports, narrowing the ending to one detail.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need a last sentence for the passage. A good conclusion sums up the main idea. It often goes back to the point made at the start. It should not add new claims that the passage never made.
Find the main idea at the start
Sentence 1 says: “An age-old proverb says that necessity is the mother of invention.” Sentence 2 says: “Centuries of human ingenuity in the face of obstacles prove this to be true.” Sentence 3 says the Swiss Alps “were such an obstacle.”
Put the main idea in plain words
A proverb is an old saying. Necessity is the mother of invention means that when people really need something, they find a clever way to get it. Ingenuity means cleverness. An obstacle is something in the way. So the passage says people use cleverness to get past what blocks them. The tunnel is the example.
Check each choice
- B says the tunnel shows “how human ingenuity and persistence can overcome great obstacles.” This repeats the opening idea. Persistence means not giving up.
- A is about the economy, meaning money and jobs, of nearby areas. The passage never discusses that.
- C is about people working together. The passage never mentions teamwork.
- D is about the cost and the government’s opinion. The cost comes up only once, in sentence 10.
Watch out: C sounds like a fine life lesson for an ending. But a conclusion must match this passage, and teamwork is not its point.
Pick the answer
Choice B restates the passage’s main idea without adding anything new. It ties the ending back to the beginning. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because it also uses the tunnel to teach a lesson. But teamwork never comes up in the passage. B uses the passage’s own words, “human ingenuity” against “obstacles,” so it closes the passage the way it opened.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 16 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 16Passage Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language”
Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language”
by Gretchen Reynolds
Many scientists suspect that exercise alters the biology of the brain in ways that make it more malleable and receptive to new information, a process that scientists refer to as plasticity.
But many questions have remained unanswered about movement and learning, including whether exercise is most beneficial before, during or after instruction and how much and what types of exercise might be best.
So for a new study, which was published recently in PLOS One, researchers in China and Italy decided to home in on language learning and the adult brain.
Language learning is interesting. As young children, almost all of us picked up our first language easily. We didn’t have to be formally taught; we simply absorbed words and concepts.
But by early adulthood, the brain generally begins to lose some of its innate language capability. It displays less plasticity in areas of the brain related to language. As a result, for most of us, it becomes harder to learn a second language after childhood.
To see what effects exercise might have on this process, the researchers first recruited 40 college-age Chinese men and women who were trying to learn English. The students had some facility with this second language but were far from proficient.
The researchers then divided the students into two groups. Those in one group would continue to learn English as they had before, primarily while seated in rote vocabulary-memorization sessions.
The others would supplement these sessions with exercise.
Specifically, the students would ride exercise bikes at a gentle pace (about 60 percent of their maximum aerobic capacity) beginning 20 minutes before the start of the lessons and continuing throughout the 15 minutes or so of instruction.
Both groups learned their new vocabulary by watching words projected onto large screens, together with comparable pictures, such as “apple” and a Red Delicious. They were shown 40 words per session, with the sequence repeated several times.
Afterward, the students all rested briefly and then completed a vocabulary quiz, using computer keys to note as quickly as possible whether a word was with its correct picture. They also responded to sentences using the new words, marking whether the sentences were accurate or, in the case of “The apple is a dentist,” nonsensical. Most linguists1 feel that understanding sentences shows greater mastery of a new language than does simple vocabulary improvement.
The students completed eight vocabulary sessions over the course of two months.
And at the end of each lesson, the students who had ridden bikes performed better on the subsequent vocabulary tests than did the students who sat still.
They also became more proficient at recognizing proper sentences than the sedentary students, although that difference did not emerge until after several weeks of instruction.
Perhaps most interesting, the gains in vocabulary and comprehension lingered longest for the cyclists. When the researchers asked the students to return to the lab for a final round of testing a month after the lessons—without practicing in the meantime—the cyclists remembered words and understood them in sentences more accurately than did the students who had not moved.
“The results suggest that physical activity during learning improves that learning,” says Simone Sulpizio, a professor of psychology and linguistics at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan, Italy, and a study co-author.
These improvements extend beyond simply aiding in memorization, she added. The exercise also deepened language learners’ grasp of how to use their newly acquired words.
This study involved college students performing relatively light exercise, though, and cannot tell us whether other people completing other types of exercise would achieve the same results.
It also offers no clues about what is occurring inside the brain that might be contributing to the benefits of the exercise. But many past studies have shown that exercise prompts the release of multiple neurochemicals in the brain that increase the number of new brain cells and the connections between neurons, Dr. Sulpizio says. These effects improve the brain’s plasticity and augment the ability to learn.
From a real-world standpoint, the study’s implications might seem at first to be impractical. Few classrooms are equipped with stationary bicycles. But specialized equipment is probably unnecessary, Dr. Sulpizio says.
“We are not suggesting that schools or teachers buy lots of bicycles,” she says. “A simpler take-home message may be that instruction should be flanked by physical activity.”
From “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language” by Gretchen Reynolds from THE NEW YORK TIMES, August 16, 2017. Copyright © 2017 The New York Times Company.
1linguists: scientists who study language
Question
How does the author’s use of comparison in paragraphs 4 and 5 contribute to the development of ideas in the excerpt?
- AIt identifies why many adults are never able to learn a second language.
- BIt demonstrates why the study of adult language learning tries to include physical activity.
- CIt highlights why more is known about language learning in children than about language learning in adults.
- DIt explains why adults were the subjects of the study rather than children.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how the author’s use of comparison in paragraphs 4 and 5 contributes to the development of ideas in the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. Paragraph 5 does not claim that adults are never able to learn a second language, only that “it becomes harder to learn a second language after childhood.”
B. Incorrect. The issue of physical activity is never addressed in these paragraphs. They compare the relative ease with which children and adults learn languages.
C. Incorrect. Paragraph 4 does not claim that more is known about language learning in children; in fact, it says that children simply absorb language easily and does not attempt to explain how.
D. CORRECT. Because adult brains lose the “innate language capability” of children and have less plasticity when it comes to language learning, the study chose to focus on adults and how exercise might help them learn new languages.
Question analysis
This text structure question asks how the comparison in paragraphs 4 and 5 of Gretchen Reynolds’s article about exercise and learning a new language moves the article forward. Students must connect what those paragraphs say about children’s and adults’ language learning to the study that follows, and judge four explanations of why the comparison matters.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining how a section fits into an article is grade 7 work. Here students must link a comparison of children and adults to the study described later, and the article never states that link outright, which keeps it a solid grade 7 task.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines moderate
- How, not what moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 764 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 76 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 4 and 5 are easy to summarize, children pick up a language easily and adults do not, but the question asks what that contrast sets up. Students who connect it to the article’s opening, about exercise and plasticity, decide it explains the exercise, while paragraph 6 shows it explains the choice of subjects. Reading the sentence right after the comparison, which recruits college-age learners to study “this process,” is the decisive step.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The article never says why the study used adults; the reader must join paragraph 5’s point that adult brains lose plasticity for language to paragraph 3’s “adult brain” and paragraph 6’s “this process.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks what the comparison of children and adults does in the excerpt, so a fair summary of paragraphs 4 and 5 is not enough; its job in setting up the study must be named. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Sum up what paragraphs 4 and 5 compare, then read the paragraphs just before and after them and ask what that comparison sets up for the rest of the article.
Traps
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
The wrong answers, classified
A Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Turns paragraph 5’s point that a second language “becomes harder” to learn after childhood into the absolute claim that many adults are never able to learn one.
B Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Links paragraph 5’s lost plasticity to the exercise idea of paragraph 1, but the reason for adding exercise comes from paragraphs 1 and 2; paragraphs 4 and 5 never mention it.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Reads the contrast between children and adults as a claim about how much scientists know, though paragraph 4 says only that children absorb language without being taught.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks why the author compares two things in paragraphs 4 and 5. A comparison shows how two things are alike or different. You need to say what this comparison does for the rest of the article. So find what is compared. Then see what comes next.
Find the comparison
Paragraph 4 is about children: “As young children, almost all of us picked up our first language easily.” Paragraph 5 is about adults: “by early adulthood, the brain generally begins to lose some of its innate language capability.” Innate means something you are born with. Then it says “it becomes harder to learn a second language after childhood.” So children learn languages easily, and adults find it harder.
See what the comparison sets up
In paragraph 3, “language learning and the adult brain” is named as the study’s focus. Right after the comparison, paragraph 6 says: “To see what effects exercise might have on this process, the researchers first recruited 40 college-age Chinese men and women.” This process means the way adults lose some of that easy learning. So the comparison explains why the study used adults. Adults are the ones who need the help.
Check each choice
- D fits. Adults lose some of their skill with language, so the study tested adults.
- A says adults are “never able” to learn. Paragraph 5 only says it “becomes harder.”
- B brings in exercise. But paragraphs 4 and 5 never mention exercise.
- C says scientists know more about children. Paragraph 4 says nothing about what scientists know.
Watch out: B is tempting because the whole article is about exercise. But the reason to try exercise comes from paragraphs 1 and 2, not from this comparison.
Pick the answer
The comparison shows that adults struggle with new languages more than children do. That is why the researchers studied adults. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer, because exercise is the study’s big idea. But paragraphs 4 and 5 compare only children and adults. They never mention exercise. Their job is to show why adults, not children, were the people studied. That is D.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language”” as printed (pages 171–172)
Question 17 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 17Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language””.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 6.
To see what effects exercise might have on this process, the researchers first recruited 40 college-age Chinese men and women who were trying to learn English.
Which statement describes the function of the sentence in the overall structure of the excerpt?
- AIt indicates a shift from describing the results of the study to describing the process.
- BIt introduces the aspect of the research that was most critical to determining the results.
- CIt marks the change from explaining why the study was conducted to explaining how the study was conducted.
- DIt shows how questions were raised that could be addressed in further research.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how the first sentence from paragraph 6 functions in the overall structure of the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. While paragraph 6 begins to describe how the study was carried out, the results of the study have not been discussed in previous paragraphs.
B. Incorrect. The population used for the study is an important detail that helps describe who participated in the study, as well as an ideal situation (college-age people trying to learn a new language), but this is not critical information used to determine the results.
C. CORRECT. While paragraphs 4 and 5 address why the study focuses on adult language learning, the first sentence of paragraph 6 begins to give details about how the study was conducted, including describing the population being studied: “40 college-age Chinese men and women who were trying to learn English.”
D. Incorrect. The sentence from paragraph 6 does not include examples or discuss questions for further research; it simply introduces the subjects recruited for the study.
Question analysis
This question quotes the sentence in which researchers recruit 40 college-age Chinese students learning English, and asks what job that sentence does in the structure of the article on exercise and language learning. Students must keep track of what the article has covered by that point and what it turns to next, then judge four descriptions that each name a shift or a purpose.
- NYS standards
- 7R5 structure and genre features
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Naming the job a sentence does in an article’s structure is standard grade 7 work. The sentence opens with a clear signal phrase, and students need only recall what the paragraphs before and after it cover.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- How, not what moderate
- A very close wrong answer minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 764 words; question and choices: about grade 8, 106 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 sentence announces its own job with “To see what effects exercise might have on this process,” which points back to the reasons for the study and forward to its method. The main risk is misplacing the results: paragraphs 4 and 5 report facts about how brains learn language, which can pass for findings, but the study’s results come only in paragraphs 13 to 15. Students who outline the article’s order before reading the choices find this quick.
How, not what moderate Working it out
The question asks what the sentence does in the excerpt’s plan, so students must see that paragraphs 1–5 explain why the study was done and that “To see what effects” opens the account of its method. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
The right choice and the one about a shift “from describing the results” both say the sentence turns to how the study was run; they differ only in what they say came before it. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Note what paragraphs 1 through 5 mainly do and what paragraphs 7 through 12 mainly do. The quoted sentence sits between them, so describe the shift it makes.
Traps
- Reversed relationship: Cause and effect, or the order of events, turned around.
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
A Reversed relationship (King et al., 2004)
Rightly sees the turn to the study’s process but puts the results first, perhaps taking paragraph 5’s facts about the adult brain as findings, though results come in paragraphs 13–15.
B Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Rightly notes that the sentence introduces who took part, then calls the 40 college-age learners the most critical factor in the results, a judgment the excerpt never makes.
D Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Fits the open questions of paragraph 2 and the limits in paragraphs 18 and 19, not this sentence, which simply names the students recruited.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what job one sentence does in the article’s plan. The sentence begins paragraph 6: “To see what effects exercise might have on this process.” To answer, look at what comes before it and what comes after it.
See what comes before the sentence
Paragraphs 1 to 5 explain why the study was done. Paragraph 2 says “many questions have remained unanswered about movement and learning.” Paragraph 5 says adult brains lose some of their skill with language. The words “this process” in the sentence point back to that. These paragraphs give reasons. They give no results yet.
See what comes after the sentence
The sentence says the researchers “first recruited” students. To recruit means to sign people up. After that, paragraphs 7 to 12 tell how the study worked. The students were split into two groups. One group rode bikes. Everyone took quizzes. The results come later, in paragraphs 13 to 15. So the sentence is where the article turns from why to how.
Check each choice
- C fits. It marks the change from why the study was done to how it was done.
- A says the article turns away from the results. But no results come before this sentence.
- B says this was the most important part of the study. The article never says that.
- D is about questions for later research. Those come up in paragraphs 18 and 19, not here.
Watch out: A is tempting because it also says the sentence turns to the process. Check its first half too.
Pick the answer
The method is the way the study was carried out. This sentence ends the reasons and starts the method. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong answer. Like C, it says the sentence starts describing how the study was done. But A says the article was describing results before this. It wasn’t. The results, such as the cyclists doing better on quizzes, come in paragraphs 13 to 15.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 18 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 18Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language””.
Question
Which sentence is the best summary of the research procedure used in the study in the excerpt?
- AResearchers had a group of non-English-speaking students learn new English vocabulary by matching words and images on a computer screen, and also by analyzing words in context; some students exercised and some students sat still while learning.
- BResearchers first divided non-English-speaking students into two groups, with one group exercising before and while studying English and the other group studying English without exercising; then, after instruction, student learning was assessed.
- CResearchers first had non-English-speaking students sit on stationary bikes and pedal for 20 minutes before instruction and 15 minutes during instruction; then, after a rest period, students indicated whether English sentences made sense.
- DResearchers asked non-English-speaking students to study English while sitting or biking; then the students’ vocabulary skills were assessed after a short break period and also after a break of a full month without their having studied any of the materials.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks for the best summary of the research procedure used in the study in the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. This summary says that students learned new words by matching words and images and “also by analyzing words in context,” but this last method was how the researchers assessed students, not how the students learned words; the summary is therefore inaccurate.
B. CORRECT. The summary includes the most important information, which is that one group of non-English-speaking students exercised before and during the English lessons, while the other group did not, and that the students’ learning was assessed afterward.
C. Incorrect. This summary is incomplete because it never mentions the control group—that is, the students who studied English without exercising—which was essential to the study so that results could be compared.
D. Incorrect. This summary includes unnecessary details, such as that students were assessed after a short break and also assessed after a month of no studying; it also neglects to mention important points: that one group exercised both before and during learning, while the other group did not exercise at all.
Question analysis
This summary question asks which of four long sentences best sums up how the researchers ran the study of exercise and English vocabulary learning. Each choice packs in real details about bikes, screens, quizzes and timing, so students must check both whether every detail is accurate and whether anything essential to the study’s design has been left out.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students summarize texts, usually choosing among short summaries. Here each choice runs about forty words packed with accurate details from several paragraphs, and students must judge which keeps the study’s essential design, not merely which details are true.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer major
- Evidence in several places moderate
- A lot to read moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 764 words; question and choices: about grade 16+, 157 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
Most of what the wrong summaries say is true, which makes this a test of completeness and weight rather than of accuracy. One summary describes only the cyclists, another slips the sentence quiz into how words were taught, and the most tempting one is accurate but leaves out that the cyclists pedaled before the lesson as well as during it. The right summary is plainer than its rivals: two groups, one exercising, then a test.
A very close wrong answer major Choosing the answer
The sitting-or-biking summary is accurate and names both conditions, as the right one does, but it spends its words on the short rest and the month-later test instead of when the cyclists rode. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The procedure runs from the recruiting in paragraph 6 through the groups, bikes, lessons and quiz in paragraphs 7–12 to the final test in paragraph 15, so it must be gathered before any summary is judged. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
A lot to read moderate Understanding the question
Each summary is a 32- to 40-word sentence packed with real details, the 20 minutes of pedaling, the rest period, the month without study, so the four together form a dense passage of their own. (Kintsch, 1998; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Before reading the choices, note in a few words how the study was set up and how learning was checked. Then test each summary for accuracy and for anything essential it leaves out.
Traps
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
The wrong answers, classified
A Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Adds that students learned “by analyzing words in context,” but judging sentences was part of the quiz after each lesson, while the words were taught with pictures on large screens.
C Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Follows the cyclists’ routine accurately, 20 minutes before and during the lesson, but leaves out the group that studied without exercise, so the comparison at the heart of the study disappears.
D Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Is drawn by accurate details about the short rest and the month-later test, but it builds the summary around them and leaves out that the cyclists rode before the lessons too.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need the best summary of how the study was done. A summary gives the main parts in a few words. It must be accurate, and it can’t leave out anything important. Small details can be skipped.
Find the main parts of the study
- Paragraph 7: “The researchers then divided the students into two groups.”
- Paragraphs 8 and 9: one group rode bikes “beginning 20 minutes before the start of the lessons and continuing throughout the 15 minutes or so of instruction.” The other group sat still.
- Paragraph 11: then all the students took a quiz.
So the key parts are two groups, one that exercised, and a test afterward. The group that sat still matters. It lets the researchers compare.
Check each choice
- B has it all: two groups, one exercising “before and while studying,” then a test.
- A says students learned by “analyzing words in context.” But judging sentences was part of the quiz, not the lessons.
- C describes only the bike riders. It leaves out the group that sat still, so nothing gets compared.
- D spends its words on small details: the short break and the test a month later. It leaves out that the bike riders started 20 minutes before the lesson.
Pick the answer
Watch out: D is tempting because everything in it is true. But a summary should give the main parts, not the side details. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer. Its facts are accurate, and it names both groups. But it builds the summary around the break and the month-later test. It never says the cyclists rode before the lessons too. B gives the main plan plainly: two groups, one exercising, then a test of learning.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 19 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 19Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language””.
Question
In the study described in the excerpt, researchers asked English learners to assess the sense of words in context because that task is
- Abetter at determining the capability learners have of language than simple vocabulary recall.
- Bconsistent with the way earlier research was conducted on adult language learners.
- Ca better way for learners to absorb the meaning of individual vocabulary words.
- Dmore difficult for learners to perform after an extended period of time has passed.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks why the researchers in the excerpt asked the English learners to assess whether the new words made sense in the context of actual sentences.
A. CORRECT. As stated in paragraph 11, “Most linguists feel that understanding sentences shows greater mastery of a new language” than mere memorization of new words, so the researchers realized that asking learners to assess words in context would be a better measure of how well they learned the new words.
B. Incorrect. The excerpt never addresses how earlier research on adult language learners was conducted.
C. Incorrect. Having learners respond to the new words in context was used not as a teaching tool but rather to assess learners’ mastery (paragraph 11).
D. Incorrect. The excerpt describes how proficiency at assessing words in context began to emerge “after several weeks of instruction” (paragraph 14) and never suggests that the task became more difficult after an extended period of time.
Question analysis
This key-details question asks why the researchers in the exercise and language-learning study had students judge whether sentences using their new English words made sense. Students must find the reason the article gives and recognize it in reworded form, while weighing choices that each sound like a sensible reason to use such a task.
- NYS standards
- 7R1 textual evidence and inferences
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Finding a reason the text states outright is routine grade 7 reading. The stem rewords the sentence task as judging “the sense of words in context,” so students must match ideas across different wording, which keeps it at grade level.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 764 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 75 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 rewords the sentence task as assessing “the sense of words in context,” so students first have to recognize it as the quiz with lines like “The apple is a dentist.” Once that paragraph is found, its last sentence supplies the reason. The common error is to forget that the sentences came in the quiz, not the lessons, and so treat them as a way of teaching words.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The article never says why the researchers added sentences; the reason is the linguists’ view that closes paragraph 11, “understanding sentences shows greater mastery,” placed right after the task. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Find the paragraph that describes the quiz with sentences such as “The apple is a dentist,” and read to the end of it for the reason the article gives.
Traps
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
- Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.
The wrong answers, classified
B Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Assumes the researchers copied earlier methods, a reasonable guess about science in general, but the excerpt never describes how past language studies were run.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Treats the sentence task as a way of teaching words, though students did it in the quiz after each lesson to show what they had learned.
D Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Twists paragraph 14’s note that the cyclists’ edge on sentences took several weeks to appear into a claim that the task itself gets harder over time.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks why the researchers had students judge whether sentences made sense. The question calls this “assess the sense of words in context.” Context means the words around a word. So find where the article describes this task. Then look for the reason it gives.
Find the task in the passage
Paragraph 11 describes the quiz. The students “responded to sentences using the new words.” They marked whether each sentence was right or “nonsensical,” which means it makes no sense. One example was “The apple is a dentist.” The very next sentence gives the reason for this task.
Read the reason
Paragraph 11 ends by saying most linguists feel that “understanding sentences shows greater mastery of a new language than does simple vocabulary improvement.” Linguists are scientists who study language. Mastery means real skill. So knowing how to use a word in a sentence shows more skill than just remembering it. That is why the researchers tested sentences.
Check each choice
- A fits. Judging sentences shows more about a learner’s skill than recalling words. Recall means remembering.
- B: the article never says how earlier studies were done.
- C: the sentence task came in the quiz after each lesson. It tested learning. It was not a way to teach words.
- D: paragraph 14 says the cyclists’ lead on sentences took “several weeks” to show up. That doesn’t mean the task got harder.
Watch out: C is tempting if you forget when the sentences came. The words were taught with pictures on screens.
Pick the answer
The researchers used sentences because they show deeper skill than word recall. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because sentences can help people learn words. But in this study the sentences came in the quiz, after the lesson. They measured what students knew. A matches the reason the article gives: understanding sentences “shows greater mastery” than knowing words.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 20 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 20Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language””.
Question
Read these sentences from paragraph 17.
These improvements extend beyond simply aiding in memorization, she added. The exercise also deepened language learners’ grasp of how to use their newly acquired words.
Which sentence from the excerpt best explains why Sulpizio feels confident in the conclusion stated in these sentences?
- A“They were shown 40 words per session, with the sequence repeated several times.” (paragraph 10)
- B“They also responded to sentences using the new words, marking whether the sentences were accurate or, in the case of ‘The apple is a dentist,’ nonsensical.” (paragraph 11)
- C“And at the end of each lesson, the students who had ridden bikes performed better on the subsequent vocabulary tests than did the students who sat still.” (paragraph 13)
- D“They also became more proficient at recognizing proper sentences than the sedentary students, although that difference did not emerge until after several weeks of instruction.” (paragraph 14)
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which sentence from the excerpt best supports Sulpizio’s assertion in paragraph 17 that exercise went beyond helping with memorization to deepen the language learners’ ability to use new vocabulary.
A. Incorrect. This sentence merely describes what the language-learning sessions were like, without making any claims about how the exercise affected the subjects’ understanding of how to use new words.
B. Incorrect. While this sentence does address the fact that learners were required to think about how the new words should be used rather than just memorizing the words, it does not discuss results such as how the exercise affected their ability to do this.
C. Incorrect. This sentence establishes only that exercise helped with the memorization of new words, not that exercise deepened learners’ grasp of how to use the new words.
D. CORRECT. The fact that learners who exercised were better at identifying when the new words were used correctly in sentences directly supports Sulpizio’s assertion that the exercise deepened their grasp of how to use the new words.
Question analysis
This textual evidence question quotes Simone Sulpizio’s conclusion that exercise did more than help learners memorize new English words. Students choose the sentence from the article that best explains why she can be confident of it. All four choices come from the article’s account of the study, so students must match evidence to the exact claim rather than to its general topic.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 evidence questions usually match a quotation to a stated claim. This claim has two parts, gains beyond memorizing and a better grasp of usage, and two quotations touch it closely, a sharper test than typical grade 7 work.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer major
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Evidence in several places minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 764 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 142 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
Sulpizio’s claim has two parts, gains beyond memorizing and a better grasp of using words, and two of the quotations each touch one part. The vocabulary result is real evidence that exercise helped, but of the very memorizing she says the gains went beyond, and the sentence-task description mentions using words but reports no result. Only a result about sentences proves the claim, so the question rewards asking of each line what it shows, not what it is about.
A very close wrong answer major Choosing the answer
The vocabulary-test result in paragraph 13 and the sentence result in paragraph 14 are worded alike, cyclists outperforming students who sat still; only the skill measured, memorizing words or using them, separates them. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Students must map the claim’s two halves onto the study’s two measures: vocabulary tests show memorization, and recognizing proper sentences shows the “grasp of how to use” new words. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
The four quotations come from paragraphs 10, 11, 13 and 14, and each must be weighed against a claim made later, in paragraph 17. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Pin down what the quoted claim says the exercise achieved, then test each sentence by asking whether it reports a result that proves that specific achievement.
Traps
- Supports only part of the claim: In a question about evidence: a line that backs one half of the claim but not the other, or a related point rather than the claim itself.
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
The wrong answers, classified
A True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Picks a sentence about how the lessons were run, 40 words repeated several times, accurate but silent on what the exercise did for the learners.
B Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Matches the claim’s focus on using words to the sentence-judging task, but this line only describes the task and reports no result showing that exercise helped.
C Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Picks a real finding in favor of the cyclists, but better vocabulary-test scores show only the memorizing that Sulpizio says the gains went beyond.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
Sulpizio says the exercise did more than help students memorize words. It “deepened language learners’ grasp of how to use their newly acquired words.” A grasp is an understanding. You need the sentence that best proves this claim. Proof should be a result, not just a description.
Break the claim into two parts
- Part 1: the gains went “beyond simply aiding in memorization.” Memorization is learning words by heart.
- Part 2: the cyclists got better at using the words.
So the proof must show the bike riders did better with words in sentences. A test that only checks memory won’t prove it.
Check each choice
- A (paragraph 10) tells how many words were shown. It gives no result.
- B (paragraph 11) describes the sentence task. But it doesn’t say who did better.
- C (paragraph 13) is a result. But it is about “vocabulary tests,” which check memory. That is the part she says the gains went beyond.
- D (paragraph 14) says the cyclists “became more proficient at recognizing proper sentences than the sedentary students.” Proficient means skilled. Sedentary means sitting still. That is a result about using words.
Pick the answer
Watch out: C is very tempting. It shows that exercise helped. But it proves the wrong kind of help. Only one choice shows the cyclists did better at using words in sentences. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer. Both C and D say the bike riders beat the students who sat still. The difference is the skill that was tested. C’s vocabulary tests show memory. D’s sentence test shows the learners knew how to use the words, which is exactly Sulpizio’s claim.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 21 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 21Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language””.
Question
Paragraph 18 shows that the author’s perspective toward the study described in the excerpt is that
- Athough the study allowed some conclusions to be drawn, these conclusions are limited.
- Bwhile the study focused on moderate exercise, it would have been better to focus on difficult exercise.
- Cwhile the study was performed appropriately, it is doubtful the results can be duplicated.
- Dthough the study was about learning language, its conclusions can be applied to learning in general.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks what paragraph 18 reveals about the author’s perspective toward the study in the excerpt.
A. CORRECT. As paragraph 18 says, the study cannot address “whether other people completing other types of exercise would achieve the same results” as college students riding bikes.
B. Incorrect. While paragraph 18 mentions that the students performed “relatively light exercise,” it never suggests that more rigorous exercise should have been studied, only that it is still unknown what the impact on language learning would be for other populations doing other types of exercise.
C. Incorrect. Paragraph 18 points out only that the study’s results cannot be generalized to other populations performing other types of exercise and never speculates on whether the study’s results could be duplicated.
D. Incorrect. Far from claiming that the study’s results could be applied more broadly to learning in general, paragraph 18 points out the ways in which the study’s results cannot be applied more broadly.
Question analysis
This author’s perspective question asks what paragraph 18 of the article on exercise and language learning shows about how the author views the study. The paragraph is a single sentence, so the difficulty lies in the four choices, each of which pairs a fair-sounding statement about the study with a judgment that must be checked against the paragraph.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Identifying how an author judges a study is grade 7 work on author’s position. Paragraph 18 is a single plain sentence, but the choices make fine distinctions about what research can and cannot show, which keeps the task at grade level.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 764 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 75 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
Paragraph 18 is a single plain sentence, but its “though” marks a turn from reporting the study to limiting it. Every choice frames the author’s view as a concession followed by a doubt or a hope, so students must test the second half against what the sentence says cannot be known. Confusing results that may not apply to other people with results that may not be repeatable is the main trap.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The right choice and the one about duplicating the results both grant the study something and then cast doubt; they differ only in the doubt, about applying the results to others or about repeating the study. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
Paragraph 18 states a fact, that the study “cannot tell us whether other people completing other types of exercise would achieve the same results,” and the author’s judgment must be read from it. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Restate paragraph 18 in your own words before looking at the choices, then pick the choice that says the same thing, checking each word of it against the paragraph.
Traps
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
The wrong answers, classified
B Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads “relatively light exercise” as a complaint and invents a wish for harder exercise, when the author only notes that other kinds remain untested.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Rightly hears doubt in paragraph 18 but changes its object: the author questions whether the results apply to other people and exercise, not whether the study could be repeated.
D Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Echoes the upbeat take-home message of paragraphs 16 and 21 and stretches the findings to all learning, the opposite of paragraph 18’s caution.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how the author feels about the study, based on paragraph 18. The author’s perspective is the author’s point of view. Paragraph 18 is just one sentence, so read it closely.
Read paragraph 18
It says: “This study involved college students performing relatively light exercise, though, and cannot tell us whether other people completing other types of exercise would achieve the same results.” The word though signals a turn. Up to now, the author has reported good results. Here the author points out a limit.
Put it in your own words
The study tested only one kind of person doing one kind of exercise. So we know what happened to college students on bikes. We don’t know if older people, or people who run or swim, would get the same results. The study tells us something, but not everything. Its conclusions are limited, which means they only go so far.
Check each choice
- A fits. The study gave some answers, but they are limited.
- B says the study should have used hard exercise. The author never wishes for that. “Relatively light” is just a fact about the study.
- C says the results may not be duplicated, which means done again with the same results. The author doubts something else: whether the results apply to other people and exercise.
- D says the results apply to all learning. Paragraph 18 says the opposite.
Pick the answer
Watch out: C sounds doubtful, just like paragraph 18. But it doubts the wrong thing. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because paragraph 18 does raise a doubt. But the doubt is not about repeating the study. It is about whether “other people completing other types of exercise would achieve the same results.” That means the conclusions are limited, which is A.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 22 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 22Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language””.
Question
Which evidence from the excerpt is most relevant to the author’s claim that there are many unanswered questions about the relationship between movement and learning?
- Athe method of the study using one type of exercise and people from one age group
- Bthe statement from Sulpizio explaining past studies on neurochemicals in the brain
- Cthe finding of the study that exercise helps people recall information over a long period of time
- Dthe statement from Sulpizio describing how the results of the study can be applied
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks which evidence from the excerpt is most relevant to the author’s claim that there are many unanswered questions about the relationship between movement and learning.
A. CORRECT. While the study revealed that the college students who used exercise bikes did better in their language learning, paragraph 18 indicates that we cannot know “whether other people completing other types of exercise would achieve the same results,” suggesting that there are many unknowns about the relationship between movement and learning.
B. Incorrect. Rather than supporting the claim that there are many unanswered questions about the relationship between movement and learning, this statement offers a possible explanation as to why exercise might improve learning.
C. Incorrect. The finding that exercise helps people retain their language learning longer (paragraph 15) adds to our understanding of the relationship between movement and learning rather than supporting the claim that there are still many unanswered questions.
D. Incorrect. Sulpizio’s statement that the study suggests that “ ‘instruction should be flanked by physical activity’ ” (paragraph 21) does not in any way address the issue of unanswered questions about movement and learning.
Question analysis
This evidence question asks which part of the exercise and language-learning article is most relevant to the author’s early claim that many questions about movement and learning remain unanswered. The choices describe parts of the article in general terms rather than quoting them, so students must locate each one and judge how it bears on that claim.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students trace claims and judge whether evidence is relevant. Here the claim appears early, the evidence is described in summary rather than quoted, and students must see an indirect link across the article, which demands more than usual.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 764 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 84 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 choices describe evidence instead of quoting it, so each must first be located and then weighed against a claim made near the start of the article. The trap is the neurochemical statement: its paragraph begins by admitting what the study cannot show, but the statement itself offers an answer from past research. The key is easy to undervalue because it sounds like a plain description of the method, until it is linked to paragraph 18’s account of what the study cannot tell us.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The right choice names a method, not a question; students must see that one light exercise tried on college students leaves open paragraph 2’s “what types of exercise might be best,” as paragraph 18 says. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The claim sits in paragraph 2, and the choices are short labels that must be traced to paragraphs 15, 18, 19 and 21 before any of them can be judged. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Reread the claim in paragraph 2, then find where each choice’s material appears in the article and ask how directly it bears on that claim.
Traps
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
- Supports only part of the claim: In a question about evidence: a line that backs one half of the claim but not the other, or a related point rather than the claim itself.
The wrong answers, classified
B Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Comes from paragraph 19, which opens with something the study cannot explain, but Sulpizio’s point about neurochemicals offers an answer from past research, not an open question.
C True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Reads the claim as being about how movement and learning are related and picks a key finding, but lasting recall answers a question rather than showing one remains open.
D True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Remembers Sulpizio’s practical advice to flank lessons with activity, a real statement that applies the findings and says nothing about what is still unknown.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
The author claims there are many unanswered questions about movement and learning. You need the evidence that best supports that claim. Evidence is the facts that back up a point. So look for something that shows a question is still open, not something that answers one.
Find the claim
Paragraph 2 says “many questions have remained unanswered about movement and learning.” It names some. One is whether exercise helps most “before, during or after instruction.” Another is “how much and what types of exercise might be best.” Instruction means teaching.
Find what the study left open
The study used one kind of exercise, light biking. It also used one age group, college students. Paragraph 18 says the study “cannot tell us whether other people completing other types of exercise would achieve the same results.” So the question of “what types of exercise” work best is still open. That is what choice A describes.
Check the other choices
- B: in paragraph 19, Sulpizio says past studies show exercise releases “neurochemicals,” or brain chemicals, that help learning. That offers an answer, not an open question.
- C: the finding in paragraph 15, that cyclists remembered words longer, answers a question.
- D: Sulpizio’s advice in paragraph 21 says how to use the results. It says nothing about what is still unknown.
Watch out: Paragraph 19 begins with something the study can’t explain, so B is tempting. But Sulpizio’s statement itself gives an explanation.
Pick the answer
Only the study’s narrow method shows that big questions remain. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer, because its paragraph starts by admitting the study “offers no clues” about the brain. But Sulpizio then fills that gap with what past studies found. A points to what is truly still unknown: whether other people and other kinds of exercise would get the same results.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 23 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 23Passage 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
Paragraph 1 contributes to the setting of the excerpt by establishing that
- Athe story’s location is a plentiful place that allows The People to enjoy a comfortable gathering.
- Bthe events in the story occurred in the past and are being remembered by The People.
- Cthe camp in the story is changing and that the changes are causing problems for The People.
- Dthe story’s plot begins as The People are observing their land and what it offers them.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how paragraph 1 contributes to the setting of the excerpt.
A. CORRECT. Paragraph 1 describes summer “when salmon spawn,” “huckleberries ripen,” and The People gather for “their annual camas harvest.” These descriptions show the abundance of food in the place where the excerpt occurs.
B. Incorrect. Although the setting refers to past events, the narration is not by The People. In addition, the voice narrating the excerpt is not an element of the setting.
C. Incorrect. Nothing in paragraph 1 suggests that the camp is changing in any way. The People gather annually in this place. In addition, the language used to describe the setting does not suggest any problems.
D. Incorrect. The People are not making observations about the setting in paragraph 1. They are described as performing actions, such as gathering “for the work and festivities of their annual . . . harvest.”
Question analysis
This setting question asks what the opening paragraph of Zoa L. Swayne’s narrative Do Them No Harm! establishes about the time and place of the Nez Perce camas harvest. The paragraph is one long sentence crowded with unfamiliar names, so students must look past them to the details and decide what kind of place and season they describe.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Seeing how an opening paragraph sets the scene matches the grade 6 standard, which names setting directly. The paragraph is one long sentence with unfamiliar Nez Perce names, but its details are concrete and the task is a single inference.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Complex sentences minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 5, 885 words; question and choices: about grade 8, 76 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 paragraph is crowded with names, but its details are concrete: fish, berries, a harvest, festivities. Students who add them up see abundance and a happy gathering; those who look past them reach for ideas about who tells the story or about changes to come. The choice about The People observing their land is the subtle one, because the land’s gifts are there but no one in the paragraph is watching them.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Paragraph 1 never calls the place plentiful; that has to be inferred from salmon that “spawn in the little streams,” huckleberries that “ripen,” and many villages gathering for the camas harvest. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
Paragraph 1 is a single sentence that opens with “In the moon of Ta-Yum,” a second time phrase and a “when” clause, so its subject, “people from many villages,” arrives only halfway through. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Strategy: Underline every detail in paragraph 1 about time, place and activity, then decide what overall impression of the setting they create before reading the choices.
Traps
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
B Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly notes that the story is set in the past, then adds that The People are remembering it, though an outside narrator tells the story.
C Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Senses change in the coming cold of later paragraphs and reads trouble into the opening, though paragraph 1 describes a yearly gathering with no hint of problems.
D Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Sees what the land offers, salmon, berries and camas, but has The People surveying it, when paragraph 1 shows them gathering to work and celebrate, not observing.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
The setting of a story is where and when it takes place. This asks what paragraph 1 tells you about the setting. The paragraph is one long sentence with many new names. Look past the names to the details.
Find the details
Paragraph 1 says it is “the hottest days of summer.” It is a time “when salmon spawn in the little streams and huckleberries ripen in the high mountains.” To spawn means to lay eggs. To ripen means to get ready to eat. People from many villages come to the Oyaip Prairie “for the work and festivities” of their yearly harvest. Festivities are celebrations.
Decide what the details show
Fish, berries and a harvest all mean food. So this is a place with plenty to eat. Many villages come together to work and to celebrate. So it is a happy gathering, too. The paragraph shows a rich, friendly place.
Check each choice
- A fits: a plentiful place where The People gather in comfort. Plentiful means having a lot.
- B: the story does happen in the past. But a narrator tells it. A narrator is the voice telling the story. The People are not remembering it.
- C: nothing in paragraph 1 is changing or causing problems. The gathering happens every year.
- D: The People are not studying the land. They have come to work and celebrate.
Watch out: D mentions what the land offers, which is in paragraph 1. But no one in the paragraph is watching the land.
Pick the answer
Paragraph 1 sets up a place full of food and good company. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is a close wrong answer, because the land’s gifts, fish, berries and camas, are all in paragraph 1. But D says The People are observing the land. They are not. They have come “for the work and festivities” of the harvest. A sums up what the details show: plenty of food and a happy gathering.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!” as printed (pages 177–178)
Question 24 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 24Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!”.
Question
In paragraphs 4 and 6, the beginning of the change in seasons affects the characters mainly by
- Acausing them to collect their bounty and feel eager to celebrate before it becomes cold.
- Bmaking them want to rest and relax before the challenging work of the harvest begins.
- Cforcing them to give up leisure time to prepare their camp for the coming winter.
- Dallowing them to trade the goods they have prepared during the warm months.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the beginning of the change of seasons mainly affects the characters.
A. CORRECT. Paragraph 4 describes the time as the last chance for The People to be together “before the Cold Moons kept them close to their fires.” Paragraph 6 tells about how the women were working hard to dig and cure roots, because “WARM was going and COLD was coming.” These paragraphs describe both celebration and preparation before the winter comes.
B. Incorrect. Paragraphs 4 and 6 describe the characters working hard, but there is no discussion of them wanting to rest and relax.
C. Incorrect. While both paragraphs describe some of the work involved in the harvest, paragraph 4 also lists a number of leisure activities, such as visiting, foot racing, horse racing, gambling, and stick games. The characters are still taking the time to relax.
D. Incorrect. While paragraph 4 mentions trading in a list of activities that the characters are doing, this is just one of many activities. Allowing the characters to trade goods is not the way the change in seasons mainly affects them.
Question analysis
This question on how setting shapes characters asks how the first signs of winter mainly affect The People in paragraphs 4 and 6 of Do Them No Harm!, a narrative about a Nez Perce harvest gathering. Students must draw on two separate paragraphs and pick the effect both support, among choices that each borrow real activities from the story.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining how setting shapes what characters do is typical grade 7 work on story elements. Students combine details from two separate paragraphs, a step beyond reading one, but the language is plain and the details concrete.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence in several places minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 5, 885 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 73 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 paragraph shows a different response to the coming winter, play in paragraph 4 and hard work in paragraph 6, and only one choice keeps both. Students who read paragraph 6 alone see work under pressure and decide the cold costs The People their free time, though paragraph 4 lists races and games. The question rewards checking each choice against both paragraphs, not just the one read last.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The right choice and the one about giving up leisure both have The People preparing before the cold; they differ only in whether the season brings celebration or takes it away. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
The answer must fit both paragraphs: paragraph 4’s racing, gambling and stick games before “the Cold Moons” and paragraph 6’s women digging roots because “COLD was coming.” (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Find what paragraphs 4 and 6 each say about the approaching cold, then note what The People do because of it, and choose the effect that fits both paragraphs.
Traps
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Reversed relationship: Cause and effect, or the order of events, turned around.
The wrong answers, classified
B Reversed relationship (King et al., 2004)
Puts rest before work, though the harvest is already under way at the Oyaip camp, and nothing shows The People wanting to relax before it begins.
C Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Sees the hard work of digging and curing roots before winter but misses paragraph 4’s racing, games and visiting, so the loss of leisure is invented.
D Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Seizes on trading, one item in paragraph 4’s list of activities, and treats that single detail as the main effect of the coming cold.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
Summer is ending and winter is coming. This asks how that change mainly affects the characters in paragraphs 4 and 6. Your answer has to fit both paragraphs, not just one.
Read paragraph 4
Paragraph 4 calls this time “this last chance to enjoy being together before the Cold Moons kept them close to their fires.” The Cold Moons are the winter months. The People enjoy “the foot racing and horse racing, and the gambling and stick games.” So, before winter, they celebrate together.
Read paragraph 6
Paragraph 6 says “The women worked hard to dig and cure as many bags of roots as they could during the warm, sunny days.” To cure food means to dry it so it keeps. Why rush? Because “the sharp night air brought warnings that WARM was going and COLD was coming.” So, before winter, they also gather and store food.
Check each choice
- A fits both: they collect their bounty and celebrate before the cold. Bounty means a large supply of good things, like food.
- B: no one wants to rest before the work. The harvest work is already going on.
- C: they don’t give up leisure, which is free time for fun. Paragraph 4 is full of races and games.
- D: trading is only one item in paragraph 4’s list. It is not the main effect.
Pick the answer
Watch out: C is tempting if you read only paragraph 6, which is all hard work. But paragraph 4 shows play. Only one choice fits both paragraphs. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer. Like A, it has The People getting ready for winter. But C says they give up their free time. Paragraph 4 says the opposite: races, games and visiting fill this “last chance to enjoy being together.” A keeps both the work and the fun.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 25 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 25Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!”.
Question
How do paragraphs 7 and 9 convey a central idea of the excerpt?
- Aby explaining that The People often explore different areas, which shows the value of trying new things
- Bby revealing that The People must complete many tasks, which shows the necessity of being organized
- Cby suggesting that The People are influenced by the weather, which shows their close relationship with nature
- Dby demonstrating that The People work together, which shows the importance of contributing to the community
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how paragraphs 7 and 9 convey a central idea of the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. Paragraphs 7 and 9 describe activities that The People do at the Red Bear camp. They do not describe The People exploring new areas.
B. Incorrect. While paragraph 7 lists some of the activities that The People did to help, neither paragraph emphasizes that The People need to be organized.
C. Incorrect. Paragraph 9 mentions how the sun blessed the Red Bear camp. However, these paragraphs do not otherwise mention weather.
D. CORRECT. Paragraph 7 lists activities that The People do with one another. Paragraph 9 states that “all were busy with their daily tasks.” Everyone is contributing to the community in their preparation for winter.
Question analysis
This central idea question asks how two short paragraphs, one listing the camp’s chores and one describing a peaceful day, convey a central idea of the Nez Perce narrative. Each choice joins a statement about The People with a broader lesson, so students must check that both parts are supported by those two paragraphs.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Linking paragraphs to a central idea is standard grade 7 work. Both paragraphs are short and plainly worded, but each choice pairs a claim about The People with a broader lesson, and both halves must hold.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 5, 885 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 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
Both paragraphs are short and plainly worded, and paragraph 7’s first sentence nearly states the idea. The wrong choices each pair something near the text with a lesson it does not teach: the division of jobs read as a call for organization, the blessing of the sun read as dependence on weather. Checking that each half of a choice appears in paragraphs 7 and 9 avoids them.
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
The right choice and the one about many tasks both start from paragraph 7’s list of jobs; they part on the lesson drawn, contributing to the community or being organized. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The lesson is never stated: “Everyone helped in some way” and “All were busy with their daily tasks” have to be read as a picture of a community where each person contributes. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Note what paragraphs 7 and 9 actually describe, then check both halves of each choice: the detail must appear there and the lesson must follow from it.
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.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
The wrong answers, classified
A Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Turns the summer of travel and gathering in paragraph 6 into exploring new places, though paragraph 5 says each group camps where its parents and grandparents camped.
B Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly sees the many tasks of paragraph 7, but the stress falls on everyone helping, and neither paragraph draws a lesson about being organized.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Links the sun that “blessed” the camp in paragraph 9 with the coming cold of paragraphs 4 and 6, but paragraphs 7 and 9 dwell on daily work, not weather.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
A central idea is a big point the story keeps showing. This asks how paragraphs 7 and 9 show one. Each choice has two parts: something The People do, and a lesson. Both parts must come from these paragraphs.
Read paragraphs 7 and 9
Paragraph 7 begins “Everyone helped in some way.” Then it lists jobs. Men fished and hunted. Women dug and roasted camas. Other women and older children picked and dried berries. Paragraph 9 says “All were busy with their daily tasks.”
Decide what the paragraphs show
Every person has a job, and every job helps the whole group. The food they gather will feed everyone through the winter. So the paragraphs show people working together. The lesson is that each person’s part matters to the community. A community is a group of people who live and work together.
Check each choice
- D fits. The People work together, which shows that helping the community matters.
- A: no one explores new places. Paragraph 5 says they camp where their parents and grandparents camped.
- B: there are many tasks, but nothing says being organized is the point. The point is that everyone helps.
- C: paragraph 9 mentions the sun once. The paragraphs are about work, not weather.
Watch out: B starts out right, with many tasks. But its lesson doesn’t come from the text.
Pick the answer
Both paragraphs stress that everyone takes part in the work. That shows how much each person gives to the group. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer, because paragraph 7 does list many jobs. But the paragraph stresses who does them: “Everyone helped in some way.” Nothing says the jobs need careful planning. D draws the lesson the paragraphs really show: each person pitches in for the group.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 26 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 26Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!”.
Question
In paragraph 8, the author repeats the word “played” most likely to
- Aemphasize how much the adults enjoy observing the children.
- Bshow how everyone finds a way to enjoy being at the gathering.
- Cindicate the variety of activities available at the gathering.
- Dcharacterize the manner in which the children master the work of adults.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks what is the most likely reason that the author repeats the word “played” in paragraph 8.
A. Incorrect. Paragraph 7 describes the different tasks that the adults were doing at this time. They were not watching the children play, because they were busy working.
B. Incorrect. While everyone enjoys being at the gathering, the word “played” does not describe the activities of the adults. As described in paragraph 7, the adults are working together at various tasks.
C. Incorrect. The word “played” is used before phrases describing what the children did. It is not used to list activities available for all at the gathering.
D. CORRECT. The word “played” appears before different activities that the children did, such as pretending to hunt, take care of the babies, and take care of the animals. They played by pretending to do adult activities. The last sentence states that the children “learned how to live through their play.”
Question analysis
This word-choice question asks why the author repeats the word “played” in a short paragraph about the younger children at the Nez Perce camp. Students must see what the repetition builds toward and match it to answer choices written in more abstract, formal wording than the simple paragraph itself.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining why an author repeats a word is common grade 7 work on word choice. The paragraph is five short sentences, but the choices are worded abstractly, so students must translate the paragraph’s point into the test’s more formal language.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- How, not what moderate
- Reading between the lines moderate
- The right answer is reworded minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 5, 885 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 53 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 paragraph is five short sentences, and the repetition is obvious; the challenge is saying what it adds up to. Students who stop at the repeated word see a list of games and settle on variety, while those who read to the final sentence find that the play is practice for adult life. The abstract wording of the right choice has to be matched to that plain final sentence.
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks why “played” is repeated four times, so students must name the effect of the pattern, which the closing sentence, “They learned how to live through their play,” spells out. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Playing at hunting, with babies and with horses copies grown-up work, as the hunters of paragraph 7 show, and students must see that likeness to connect the play with learning adult tasks. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
The right answer is reworded minor Choosing the answer
The right choice uses none of paragraph 8’s words, while one wrong choice borrows “enjoy being” together from paragraph 4 and another names the “gathering.” (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Read paragraph 8 to the end and ask what the string of “played” sentences adds up to, then match that idea to a choice even if the wording differs.
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.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
A Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Imagines adults happily watching the children, though paragraph 7 shows the adults busy fishing, hunting, digging and drying food.
B Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Stretches the children’s play to everyone at the gathering, though the adults in paragraph 7 are working, so the repetition describes only the children.
C Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Notices that each “played” introduces a different activity and takes the point to be variety, missing the last sentence about learning to live through play.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
The author uses the word “played” over and over in paragraph 8. Repeating a word is a way to make a point. You need to figure out what point the repetition makes.
Read paragraph 8
Paragraph 8 says: “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.” The last sentence tells you where the list was going.
See what the play has in common
The children “played at hunting,” which means they pretended to hunt. Caring for babies and horses is grown-up work, too. In paragraph 7, the adults hunt, fish and gather food. So the children copy adult work when they play. The last line says “They learned how to live through their play.” Their games are practice for grown-up life.
Check each choice
- D fits. The repeated word shows how the children learn adult work by playing. To master something means to learn to do it well.
- A: the adults aren’t watching. Paragraph 7 shows them busy working.
- B: only the children play. The adults are working.
- C: the play does vary, but variety isn’t the point. The last sentence is.
Pick the answer
Watch out: C is tempting because each “played” leads to a new activity. But the paragraph builds to learning, not to variety. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because hunting, babies and horses are different kinds of play. But the paragraph doesn’t stop at the list. It ends with “They learned how to live through their play.” Each kind of play copies adult work, so D explains why the word is repeated.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 27 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 27Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!”.
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.
- 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.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer major
- How, not what moderate
- Something you must already know minor
- 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.
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)
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)
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
A Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly feels the mystery in the villagers’ questions but adds “different points of view,” though the whole camp shares the same questions.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Jumps ahead to the recognition in paragraphs 17–23; in paragraphs 11–13 the crowd does not yet know who the riders are, let alone why they came.
D Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Notices the hunters gone two summers and the families who never returned, but those details arrive as questions, and the excerpt has no conflict they explain.
Working it out, step by step
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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 28 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 28Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!”.
Question
In paragraph 20, the phrases “trophies of their hunt” and “paraded around” affect the paragraph by
- Asuggesting that the hunters are rewarded for their leadership.
- Bemphasizing that The People are dependent on the hunters for food.
- Crevealing that the hunters are pleased with their success.
- Dindicating that The People have gathered specifically to welcome the hunters.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how the phrases “trophies of their hunt” and “paraded around” affect paragraph 20.
A. Incorrect. The phrase “trophies of their hunt” describes the animals that the hunters have successfully found. They have already received their rewards (the animals) and are showing them to The People.
B. Incorrect. The excerpt describes many ways that The People find and prepare their own food. While they appreciate the extra food, they are not dependent on the hunters.
C. CORRECT. The hunters “paraded around” because they were proud of the animals they had been able to get while hunting. Since a trophy is a recognition of success, they consider these animals their trophies.
D. Incorrect. The phrases show the pride the hunters feel. As paragraph 20 says, the hunters want “all to see how strong their Hunting Power had been.” The phrases are focused on the hunters rather than on those who have gathered around them.
Question analysis
This word-meaning question looks at the phrases “trophies of their hunt” and “paraded around” in the scene where four Nez Perce hunters ride back into camp, and asks what the phrases add to the paragraph. Students must work out what the words suggest in this context, not just their dictionary meanings, and weigh four plausible effects on the paragraph.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Grade 7 students analyze the connotations of words in context. These two phrases are familiar and sit in one short paragraph with helpful context nearby, so this is lighter than typical grade 7 word-choice work.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 5, 885 words; question and choices: about grade 8, 55 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A quotation in the explanation was corrected to match the passage.
- 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
Paragraph 20 nearly states the answer: the hunters are “proud to show off” their loads and parade “for all to see how strong their Hunting Power had been.” Errors come from neighboring details instead: the welcoming crowd in the same paragraph, the food for everyone in the next, or the everyday sense of a trophy as an award. Reading the phrases inside their own sentences settles it.
Figurative or literary language minor Understanding the question
“Trophies of their hunt” turns meat and hides into prizes and “paraded around” suggests a show, and students must read both as signs of pride rather than of awards or ceremony. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
The right answer is reworded minor Choosing the answer
The right choice recasts “proud to show off” in new words, while one wrong choice echoes the “welcoming crowd” and another the “plenty of food” of paragraph 21. (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Think about what each phrase usually suggests, then reread the whole of paragraph 20 to check that meaning against the context before looking at the choices.
Traps
- Dictionary meaning, not meaning here: A common meaning of the word that does not fit its use in this text.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
The wrong answers, classified
A Dictionary meaning, not meaning here (Perfetti, 2007)
Reads “trophies” as prizes handed out for an achievement and adds leadership, but the trophies are the meat and hides, and nothing mentions leading.
B Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Borrows paragraph 21’s point that good hunters bring food for all and inflates it into dependence, though The People gather much of their own food.
D Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Is drawn by the “welcoming crowd” in the same paragraph, but The People came to Oyaip for the camas harvest and simply greet the hunters who arrive.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The handbook’s explanation of Option C says the hunters “parade around.” Paragraph 20, and the question itself, say they “paraded around the encampment,” so the site now quotes “paraded around” and puts the rest of that sentence in the past tense to match.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what two phrases add to paragraph 20: “trophies of their hunt” and “paraded around.” Think about what each phrase suggests. Then check it against the whole paragraph.
Think about each phrase
A trophy is something you show off to prove you won, like a cup for a winning team. Here the trophies are the meat and hides from the hunt. To parade is to march around so people can watch, like in a parade. Both phrases suggest showing off something you are proud of.
Check the whole paragraph
Paragraph 20 says the hunters were “proud to show off the loads of meat, hides, and other trophies of their hunt.” Then “They paraded around the encampment for all to see how strong their Hunting Power had been.” An encampment is a camp. The paragraph ends “what great hunters they, themselves, were.” So the hunters are proud of how well they did.
Check each choice
- C fits. The hunters are pleased with their success.
- A: no one gives the hunters a prize. The trophies are what they caught, and nothing mentions leading.
- B: The People get much of their own food. They dig roots, pick berries and fish. They don’t depend on the hunters to eat.
- D: The People came for the camas harvest. They greet the hunters when they arrive. They did not gather just for them.
Watch out: D is tempting because the paragraph mentions a “welcoming crowd.” But the two phrases describe the hunters, not the crowd.
Pick the answer
Both phrases show the hunters proudly showing off the results of a good hunt. So the answer is C: the hunters are pleased with their success.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D and B are the closest wrong answers, because they use nearby details: the “welcoming crowd” and the food the hunters bring. But the two phrases are about the hunters themselves. They are “proud to show off” what they caught. That pride is C.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 29 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 29Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!”.
Question
Which quotation from the excerpt best supports the idea that The People feel a connection to members of their group in spite of distance?
- A“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.” (paragraph 5)
- B“ ‘Would they have news of the families who had gone long ago to Buffalo Country and never returned?’ ” (paragraph 13)
- C“ ‘Looks like hunters,’ the older men agreed. ‘Looks like they had good hunting.’ ” (paragraph 15)
- D“But it was the sight of the frail figure of the woman that aroused their curiosity.” (paragraph 21)
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks which quotation from the excerpt best supports the idea that The People feel a connection to members of their group in spite of distance.
A. Incorrect. This quotation describes the fact that The People always set up their camps in the same places their parents and grandparents used before them. This quotation highlights the customs The People continue from their ancestors, but it does not focus on their present personal connections.
B. CORRECT. This quotation alludes to The People’s eagerness to hear about the families who had traveled away from their group. This eagerness shows that they still feel a connection to these families, even though they are far apart.
C. Incorrect. This quotation describes The People’s analysis of the visitors—that they may be hunters. It does not show a connection to the visitors.
D. Incorrect. This quotation shows that The People are curious about a stranger who has come into their camp. It does not show closeness to distant members of the group.
Question analysis
This textual evidence question asks which quotation from the Nez Perce narrative best supports the idea that The People feel connected to members of their group even when those members are far away. The quotations come from across the excerpt, so students must make sure the one they choose fits both parts of that idea.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Choosing the quotation that supports an idea is everyday grade 7 work. Here the idea joins two conditions, connection and distance, and the quotations come from across the excerpt, which keeps the demand at a solid grade 7 level.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 5, 885 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 107 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- The explanation described one wrong choice's quotation inaccurately; that sentence was corrected.
- 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 idea joins two conditions, connection and distance, and the quotations satisfy them unevenly. The camp-location line shows a strong tie, but to ancestors across time rather than to members far away, and the line about the woman involves a returning member before anyone knows she is one. The right line is easy to pass over because it is a question, yet asking after families long gone shows they still matter.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The right quotation is a question, not a statement of feeling; students must infer that asking for news of families “gone long ago” shows a bond that distance has not broken. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Each quotation has to pass two tests, a bond with group members and members who are far away, and the camp-location line passes only the first. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Test each quotation against both parts of the idea: does it show a bond with group members, and does that bond reach people who are far away?
Traps
- Supports only part of the claim: In a question about evidence: a line that backs one half of the claim but not the other, or a related point rather than the claim itself.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
A Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Sees a bond in camping where parents and grandparents camped, but that ties The People to ancestors across time, not to members far away.
C Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Remembers that the older men go on to say “Maybe our four hunters,” but the quoted words only judge the hunt and show no feeling for absent members.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Knows the woman turns out to be a lost member, but at this point no one knows who she is, so the curiosity is about a stranger, not a bond.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: Choice A quotes paragraph 5: The People “set up their camps in the same locations their parents and grandparents had occupied before them.” The handbook's explanation says the quotation describes them returning “to perform the same traditional tasks and enjoy the same festivities as their ancestors,” which the sentence doesn't say. The explanation now describes the quotation as it is. The reason A is wrong is unchanged: it shows a custom kept from their ancestors, not a connection to members who are far away. The answer, B, is unchanged.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need the quotation that best shows The People feel close to group members who are far away. The idea has two parts: a connection, and distance. The right quotation must show both.
Test each quotation on both parts
- A (paragraph 5): they camp where “their parents and grandparents” camped. That is a connection, but to people from the past, not to people far away.
- B (paragraph 13): “Would they have news of the families who had gone long ago to Buffalo Country and never returned?” These families are far away and long gone. The People still want news of them.
- C (paragraph 15): the men only guess that the riders are hunters who had a good hunt. They show no feeling for anyone.
- D (paragraph 21): The People are curious about the woman. They don’t know yet that she is one of them.
See why B shows a connection
You only ask for news about people you care about. The families left “long ago.” They went to Buffalo Country, far from the camp. Yet The People still wonder about them. So time and distance have not broken the bond.
Pick the answer
Watch out: A shows a strong bond too, so it is tempting. But it ties The People to their parents and grandparents, across time. It is not about members who are far away. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong answer, because camping where parents and grandparents camped shows a strong tie. But that tie stretches across years, not across distance. B is about families who went far away “long ago,” and The People still want news of them. Only B passes both tests.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 30 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 30Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!”.
Question
Read these sentences from paragraph 22.
“Belongs to Red Bear people. Gone then come back.”
How does this statement affect the villagers in the excerpt?
- AIt increases their concern about why the woman is in their camp.
- BIt makes them hopeful that more lost members will return before the winter.
- CIt causes shock, leading them to grieve for the loss of the woman and her family.
- DIt inspires amazement, making them want to reconnect with their returned family member.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how the statement from paragraph 22 affects the villagers in the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. In paragraph 21, the villagers question who the woman is and from where she has come, but they are merely curious about her and not necessarily concerned, as there is no indication in paragraph 22 that she might be a threat.
B. Incorrect. This statement reveals that the woman is a member of the Red Bear people who has returned, and in paragraph 15 there is a reference to four hunters who have been gone a long time. However, this statement serves only to satisfy the villagers’ curiosity about who this woman is; it does not make the villagers hopeful that other people will also return.
C. Incorrect. Though paragraph 23 reveals that the villagers are somewhat surprised because the girl has grown into a woman, paragraph 24 suggests they are excited to receive her. There is no reason given in paragraph 22 for them to grieve for her loss, since she has returned.
D. CORRECT. The hunters’ words from paragraph 22 amaze the villagers, who do not at first recognize the woman. Once they know she is one of their own, they are eager to interact with her, as revealed in paragraphs 24 and 25, where they give her a new name and care for her.
Question analysis
This question quotes the hunters’ brief words about the frail woman who rides into camp with them, “Belongs to Red Bear people. Gone then come back,” and asks how the statement affects the villagers. Students must follow the scene that comes next and judge the villagers’ feelings from what they shout and do, since the excerpt never names those feelings directly.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining how a line of dialogue affects characters is grade 7 story analysis. The hunters’ words are short and the response follows at once, so the main demand is inferring the villagers’ state of mind, a routine grade 7 step.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 5, 885 words; question and choices: about grade 6, 78 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 hunters’ words answer the question the crowd has been asking, who the woman is, and what follows is recognition and welcome. Students who carry over an earlier mood, worry about strangers or sadness at a long absence, misread the moment. The hopeful-sounding choice about more members returning goes one step past the text, which shows joy over this return and nothing about others.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The villagers’ reaction is never named; it is shown in paragraphs 23–25, where “Now they could see!”, the women cry out her new name and gentle arms lift her from her horse. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Read the paragraphs right after the hunters speak and note what the villagers say and do. Then choose the reaction those words and actions show.
Traps
- 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.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
A Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Carries over the worry of paragraph 11, friends or enemies, though by now the hunters vouch for the woman and the statement removes any reason for concern.
B Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Connects the return to paragraph 13’s wish for news of families who never came back, then assumes hope that others will follow, which the excerpt never shows.
C Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Rightly senses surprise but reads it as grief, prompted by the woman’s frail figure and long absence, though the women cry out her new name and care for her.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
The hunters say: “Belongs to Red Bear people. Gone then come back.” This asks how those words affect the villagers. The story doesn’t name their feelings. So look at what they say and do next.
See what happens next
- Paragraph 23: “Now they could see! She was the daughter of the family gone so long ago!”
- Paragraph 24: the women cry out “Wat-ku-ese!” This becomes her new name.
- Paragraph 25: “Gentle arms lifted Wat-ku-ese from her horse.” The women bring her food and care for her.
Name the feelings
The exclamation points in paragraph 23 show surprise and wonder. A little girl has come back as a grown woman, and they can hardly believe it. That is amazement. Then they give her a name, feed her and care for her. They want to bring her back into the family. That is reconnecting, or becoming close again.
Check each choice
- D fits: amazement, then wanting to reconnect.
- A: the hunters say she belongs to the Red Bear people. That ends any worry.
- B: nothing says they hope others will return before winter.
- C: they are surprised, but they don’t grieve, or feel deep sadness. They cheer and care for her.
Watch out: C is tempting because she is frail and was gone a long time. But the women’s actions are happy and gentle.
Pick the answer
The villagers are amazed, and they rush to welcome her back home. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because the news is a shock and the woman is frail. But nobody mourns. The women shout her new name, and “Gentle arms lifted Wat-ku-ese from her horse.” Those are signs of joy and care. That matches D, amazement and a wish to reconnect.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 31 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 31Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Do Them No Harm!”.
Question
The details in paragraph 5 about the locations of the camps and the details in paragraphs 23–24 about the reaction to the woman convey a theme of the excerpt by
- Arevealing the difficulties posed by moving often each year.
- Bshowing the connectedness among The People through the years.
- Cindicating the value to The People of retelling stories about the past.
- Ddemonstrating the importance of choosing appropriate names.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how the details in paragraph 5 about the locations of the camps and the details in paragraphs 23–24 about the reaction to the woman convey a theme of the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. Paragraph 5 does not reveal that The People move often, only that they come together near each other at this particular time of year. Paragraphs 23–24 reveal a resolution to the difficulty of people who are absent for some time, but they do not relate to the difficulty of moving often each year.
B. CORRECT. The details in paragraph 5 show that each year The People set up their camps beside the same neighbors, in the places their parents and grandparents used before them, demonstrating their connectedness. Similarly, the details in paragraphs 23–24 reveal that The People quickly embrace a member of their group who had gone away but has since returned. Taken together, these sections reveal just how much The People rely on their connectedness, a theme of the excerpt.
C. Incorrect. Although paragraph 5 suggests that The People keep the customs of their ancestors alive, it does not reference storytelling. Further, though paragraphs 23–24 suggest that The People had knowledge of this woman’s absence, they do not indicate that this knowledge came from stories in particular.
D. Incorrect. In paragraph 24, an appropriate new name, meaning “Gone-from-Home-then-Come-Back,” is bestowed on the returned woman. However, the importance of appropriate names is not a theme of the excerpt. Rather, the theme that is emphasized is the importance of the connection among The People, exemplified by the annual gathering and the warm welcome extended to the woman who has returned after a long absence.
Question analysis
This theme question asks how two sets of details in the Nez Perce narrative, where each group pitches its camp and how the camp reacts to a woman who has come back after many years, together convey a theme. Students must connect two parts of the excerpt that are far apart and find the one idea that both of them express.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Tracing a theme across a text is the grade 7 central idea standard. Students must join two passages far apart in the excerpt, but each is concrete, and the theme they share is the kind grade 7 readers routinely name.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 5, 885 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 65 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- The explanation described the wrong paragraph's details; that sentence was corrected.
- 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 set of details on its own suggests several ideas, tradition, travel, naming, but the theme has to explain both at once. Students who focus on paragraph 24’s new name or on storytelling elsewhere in the excerpt choose an idea that fits only one passage. Naming what the old campsites and the warm welcome have in common, ties that last across years and distance, leads straight to the key.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The two sets of details sit eighteen paragraphs apart, the camps in the places “their parents and grandparents had occupied” and the welcome given Wat-ku-ese, and the theme must fit both. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
Neither passage names the theme; students must see that returning to ancestral campsites and embracing a lost daughter both show bonds that last across years. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Sum up each set of details in a phrase, the camp locations and the reaction to the woman, then name the one idea both sets share before reading the choices.
Traps
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
The wrong answers, classified
A Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Assumes the yearly trek means constant moving, but paragraph 5 stresses returning to the same sites, and paragraphs 23–24 say nothing about travel.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Links customs kept “beyond the memory of man” to storytelling, likely recalling Wat-ku-ese telling her story at the end, but neither cited section is about retelling.
D Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Fixes on the naming of Wat-ku-ese in paragraph 24, one vivid detail, and ignores the camp locations in paragraph 5 that the theme must also explain.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The handbook's explanation of B says paragraph 5 shows The People coming together “to share in recreational activities.” The races and games are in paragraph 4; paragraph 5, the one the question names, is about camping each year in the same places as their parents and grandparents, beside the same neighbors. The sentence now describes paragraph 5. The answer, B, is unchanged.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
A theme is a big idea a story shows about life. This asks for the theme shared by two parts of the story. One is paragraph 5, about where the camps go. The other is paragraphs 23–24, about the woman who comes back. The theme has to fit both.
Sum up paragraph 5
Paragraph 5 says they set up camp “in the same locations their parents and grandparents had occupied before them.” The same neighbors camp side by side each year. Red Bear’s neighbors “had their camp close by.” So the families stay tied to each other and to the past, year after year.
Sum up paragraphs 23 and 24
In paragraph 23 the camp learns “She was the daughter of the family gone so long ago!” She left as a little girl and came back grown. Yet they know her as one of their own. In paragraph 24 the women joyfully give her a new name. She is welcomed home after many years.
Find the shared idea
Both parts show bonds that last a long time. The People keep the same camps and neighbors through the years. They also welcome back a member who was gone for years. So the theme is how connected The People stay over time.
Check each choice
- B fits both parts: connectedness through the years.
- A: paragraph 5 is about going back to the same places, not moving often. Paragraphs 23–24 don’t mention moving at all.
- C: neither part is about retelling old stories.
- D: the new name is only in paragraph 24. It says nothing about the camps in paragraph 5.
Watch out: The naming of Wat-ku-ese is easy to remember, so D is tempting. But a theme must fit both parts.
Pick the answer
The camp locations and the warm welcome both show bonds that last through the years. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer, because the naming in paragraph 24 stands out. But a name says nothing about where the camps go in paragraph 5. B explains both parts: The People camp beside the same neighbors year after year, and they welcome back a daughter gone for years.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 32 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 32Passage Invention of the Telegraph
Samuel Morse, an American inventor, is credited with creating the electronic telegraph, a communication device that allows users to send messages using a system of short and long pulses that represent letters, numbers, and punctuation. In 1843 the United States Congress passed the Telegraph Bill, which provided Morse with the funds to build an electric telegraph system.
Invention of the Telegraph
Earlier Signal Systems
Long before Samuel F. B. Morse electrically transmitted his famous message “What hath God wrought?” from Washington to Baltimore on May 24, 1844, there were signaling systems that enabled people to communicate over distances. Most were visual or “semaphore” systems using flags or lights. In the eighteenth century, such systems used an observer who would decipher a signal from a high tower on a distant hill and then send it on to the next station. The young American republic wanted just such a system along its entire Atlantic coast and offered a prize of $30,000 for a workable proposal. The framers of this legislation had no way of knowing that when they used the word “telegraph” to refer to this visual semaphore system, they would be offered an entirely new and revolutionary means of communication—electricity.
The Growth of an Idea
The idea of using electricity to communicate over distance is said to have occurred to Morse during a conversation aboard ship when he was returning from Europe in 1832. Michael Faraday’s recently invented electromagnet was much discussed by the ship’s passengers, and when Morse came to understand how it worked, he speculated that it might be possible to send a coded message over a wire. While a student at Yale College years before, he had written his parents a letter about how interesting he found the lectures on electricity. Despite what he had learned at Yale, Morse found when he began to develop his idea that he had little real understanding of the nature of electricity, and after sporadic attempts to work with batteries, magnets, and wires, he finally turned for help to a colleague at the University of the City of New York, Leonard D. Gale.
Gale was a professor of chemistry and familiar with the electrical work of Princeton’s Joseph Henry, a true pioneer in the new field. Well before Morse had his shipboard idea about a telegraph, Henry rang a bell at a distance by opening and closing an electric circuit. In 1831, he had published an article, of which Morse was unaware, that contained details suggesting the idea of an electric telegraph. Gale’s help and his knowledge of this article proved crucial to Morse’s telegraph system because Gale not only pointed out flaws in the system but showed Morse how he could regularly boost the strength of a signal and overcome the distance problems he had encountered by using a relay system Henry had invented. Henry’s experiments, Gale’s assistance, and, soon after, hiring the young technician Alfred Vail were keys to Morse’s success.
Obstacles and Opportunities
By December 1837, Morse had enough confidence in his new system to apply for the federal government’s appropriation, and during the next year he conducted demonstrations of his telegraph both in New York and Washington.
However, when the economic disaster known as the Panic of 1837 took hold of the nation and caused a long depression, Morse was forced to wait for better times. It was during this period that Morse visited Europe again and tried not only to secure patent protection overseas but to examine competing telegraph systems in England. . . .
By 1843, the country was beginning to recover economically, and Morse again asked Congress for the $30,000 that would allow him to build a telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore, forty miles away. The House of Representatives eventually passed the bill containing the Morse appropriation, and the Senate approved it in the final hours of that Congress’s last session. With President Tyler’s signature, Morse received the cash he needed and began to carry out plans for an underground telegraph line.
Realizing a Great Invention
Morse had hired the ingenious construction engineer Ezra Cornell to lay the pipe carrying the wire, and although Cornell did his job superbly, one of Morse’s partners, Congressman F. O. J. Smith, had purchased wire with defective insulation. Too much time had been wasted laying bad wire, and with the project on a rigid deadline, something had to be done quickly. Cornell suggested that the fastest and cheapest way of connecting Washington and Baltimore was to string wires overhead on trees and poles. The desperate Morse gave the go-ahead, and the line was completed in time for the dramatic and spectacularly successful link between the Supreme Court chamber of the Capitol building and the railroad station in Baltimore.
Soon, as overhead wires connected cities up and down the Atlantic coast, the dots-and-dashes method that recorded messages on a long moving strip of paper was replaced by the operator’s ability to interpret the code in real time. . . . Telegraph lines soon extended westward, and within Morse’s own lifetime they connected the continents of Europe and America.
“Invention of the Telegraph”—Public Domain/Library of Congress
legislation: Telegraph Bill
dots-and-dashes method: the short and long pulses of Morse code that are sent and received by telegraph operators
The first transatlantic electric telegraph message was sent in 1858, and by 1902 the British All-Red Line connected most of the world.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, Bicentennial Edition, Part 2. Washington, D.C., 1975.
Question
Which statement describes how the author’s use of problem-solution in paragraph 2 contributes to the development of ideas in the passage?
- AMorse’s discussion on a ship about Faraday’s electromagnet reminded him of the Yale College lectures on electricity, which he had enjoyed but had not fully understood, inspiring him to learn more about electricity from his colleague Gale.
- BMorse’s discouragement over his lack of knowledge of electricity prompted him to experiment with batteries, magnets, and wires, which led to the development of a new long-distance communication system.
- CMorse’s difficulty in understanding how Faraday’s electromagnet worked was frustrating, and it pushed him to create a system for sending signals over wires.
- DMorse’s longtime fascination was not enough to make up for his lack of knowledge about electricity, so he eventually sought help from Gale.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks for the best explanation of how the use of problem-solution in paragraph 2 helps develop the ideas in the passage. Option D is correct because it explains that Morse realized his problem was that he was not knowledgeable enough to continue his experimentation without help, so the solution was to seek help from a colleague.
Option A is incorrect because, while the discussion on the ship fascinated Morse and reminded him of the lectures he had attended at Yale College, it was his failed attempts with electricity that caused him to reach out to Gale for help.
Option B is incorrect because, while “Morse found when he began to develop his idea that he had little real understanding of the nature of electricity” (paragraph 2), the paragraph does not state that he was discouraged; it was his failed experimentation that resulted in him first realizing that he needed help.
Option C is incorrect because the paragraph states that “Morse came to understand how [Faraday’s electromagnet] worked,” and that understanding is what caused him to think about sending messages over a wire. Also, Morse’s difficulty was in understanding the properties of electricity in general once he began his experimentation.
Question analysis
In this text structure question about “Invention of the Telegraph,” students explain how the problem-and-solution pattern in paragraph 2 develops ideas about Samuel Morse. All four choices are long sentences built from real details about the ship, Yale and Gale, so students must check each one’s account of what led to what.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Identifying problem and solution is familiar from earlier grades, but these choices are long, detail-packed chains in which a single misplaced cause makes an option wrong, which demands closer checking than typical grade 7 items.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Every choice must be checked major
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- The right answer is reworded moderate
- A lot to read moderate
- How, not what minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 910 words; question and choices: about grade 16, 132 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A wrong paragraph number in the explanation was corrected.
- A misspelled name in the explanation was corrected.
- A punctuation slip in the explanation was corrected.
- 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
Every choice is assembled from things the paragraph really mentions, so recognition is useless and only the order of causes decides. The most tempting wrong choice ends with Gale, the right solution, but invents a reminder of the Yale lectures to get there; others turn the failed experiments into the solution or reverse what Morse understood. The question rewards reading each long choice clause by clause, which costs time.
Every choice must be checked major Choosing the answer
Each choice is a chain of two or three causes built from real details, the ship, Faraday, Yale, the batteries and wires, Gale, so every link has to be checked against paragraph 2’s order of events. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The Yale-reminder choice and the key both join Morse’s enjoyment of electricity, his weak grasp of it and his turn to Gale; they part on one detail, the claim that the shipboard talk “reminded him” of Yale, which the paragraph never makes. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
The right answer is reworded moderate Choosing the answer
The key turns the Yale letter and the shipboard speculation into “longtime fascination,” a phrase the passage never uses, while the wrong choices repeat its names and phrases and so look better supported. (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
A lot to read moderate Understanding the question
The four choices run to about 110 words, the longest 37, and paragraph 2 itself packs a voyage, a college letter, failed experiments and a colleague into four sentences. (Kintsch, 1998; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
How, not what minor Working it out
Students must name the paragraph’s problem, too little understanding of electricity, and its solution, Gale, before judging which account of the pattern is accurate. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Name the problem and the solution in paragraph 2 in a few words each, then choose the option whose sequence of events matches the paragraph exactly.
Traps
- Reversed relationship: Cause and effect, or the order of events, turned around.
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
The wrong answers, classified
A Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Ends correctly with Morse learning from Gale, but invents its cause: the paragraph never says the shipboard talk reminded Morse of Yale, and it skips the failed experiments that sent him to Gale.
B Reversed relationship (King et al., 2004)
Reverses cause and effect: the “sporadic attempts” with batteries, magnets and wires exposed Morse’s weak grasp of electricity and sent him to Gale, rather than flowing from discouragement and producing the system.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Says Morse struggled to understand Faraday’s electromagnet, but the paragraph states that he “came to understand how it worked,” and that understanding is what gave him the idea.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The handbook places the sentence “Morse found when he began to develop his idea that he had little real understanding of the nature of electricity” in paragraph 3. It is in paragraph 2, the paragraph the question is about, so the site now says “(paragraph 2).”
- Explanation: The handbook spells Leonard Gale’s name “Gail.” The passage spells it “Gale,” and so does the site now.
- Explanation: The handbook capitalizes “Also” after a semicolon (“over a wire; Also, Morse’s difficulty…”). The site starts a new sentence instead: “over a wire. Also, Morse’s difficulty…”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about problem-solution in paragraph 2. Problem-solution is a way to organize writing. First you learn about a problem, then how someone solved it. Find the problem and the solution. Then pick the choice that tells them in the right order.
Find the problem in paragraph 2
Paragraph 2 starts with “The idea of using electricity to communicate over distance.” It says Morse had enjoyed the electricity lectures at Yale. But then comes the problem: “Morse found when he began to develop his idea that he had little real understanding of the nature of electricity.”
Find the solution
The same sentence goes on: “after sporadic attempts to work with batteries, magnets, and wires, he finally turned for help to a colleague.” “Sporadic” means now and then, not steady. A colleague is a coworker. So Morse was interested in the subject, tried on his own, and did not succeed. His interest was not enough. His solution was to ask Gale for help.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. It ends with Gale, but the paragraph never says the ship talk “reminded him” of Yale. It also skips the failed tries.
- B is wrong. It has the order backward. The experiments showed the problem. They did not build the system.
- C is wrong. The paragraph says Morse “came to understand how it worked,” meaning the electromagnet.
- D fits. Long interest was not enough, so he got help from Gale.
Choose the answer
The problem was Morse’s weak grasp of electricity, and the solution was Gale. So the answer is D, “Morse’s longtime fascination was not enough to make up for his lack of knowledge about electricity, so he eventually sought help from Gale.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest trap. Like D, it mentions Yale, Morse’s weak grasp of electricity and Gale. But it adds a link the paragraph never makes, that the ship talk reminded him of Yale. With long choices, check every part. One made-up link makes the whole choice wrong.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Invention of the Telegraph” as printed (pages 146–148)
Question 33 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 33Uses the passage above: “Invention of the Telegraph”.
Question
The details of the section “The Growth of an Idea” convey a central idea of the passage by suggesting that
- Athe collaborative efforts of colleagues resulted in successful communication over a wire.
- Ba great deal of interest and work was devoted to understanding how to use electricity to send signals.
- CFaraday’s invention of the electromagnet inspired the invention of the telegraph.
- Dcolleges like Yale played a great role in making new discoveries about electricity and its applications.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how a passage section helps convey a central idea of the passage. Paragraph 3 states that “Henry’s experiments, Gale’s assistance, and, soon after, hiring the young technician Alfred Vail were keys to Morse’s success.” The level of interest inspired Morse and others to work together to find a way to use electricity to send long-distance messages.
Option B is correct; the section helps convey a central idea because, overall, the section focuses on what fascinated Morse enough to begin his work and how others were just as interested and willing to work to achieve this goal.
Option A is incorrect because, although the word collaborative suggests that multiple people contributed to the telegraph’s success, the option does not clarify the research and effort needed in order to understand how to use electricity to send signals.
Option C is incorrect because when Morse came to understand how Faraday’s electromagnet worked, Morse wondered if it might be possible to send a coded message over a wire, but that thought later evolved into the telegraph only after more research and experimentation.
Option D is incorrect because the influence of what Morse learned at Yale was only a minor factor in his development of the telegraph.
Question analysis
This central idea question asks what the details in the section “The Growth of an Idea” suggest about the passage “Invention of the Telegraph.” The section covers Faraday’s electromagnet, Morse’s Yale lectures, and help from Gale, Henry and Vail, so students must judge which statement those details support as a group, and more than one choice sounds right.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 central-idea questions usually have one clearly best summary. Here two paragraphs of names and events must be weighed, and several choices restate true details, so judging which fits the whole section is unusually demanding.
- Estimated difficulty
- Among the hardest on the SHSAT: a non-obvious approach, heavy reading, or a well-hidden trap.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer major
- Evidence in several places moderate
- The right answer is reworded moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 910 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 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
This is among the hardest questions in the set because the most tempting wrong choice reads like a paraphrase of the section’s final sentence. Rejecting it means noticing that the section never shows a message getting through and never shows Henry working with Morse, who had not even read his article. The right choice is vague by design, and only a summary of both paragraphs together shows that it fits better.
A very close wrong answer major Choosing the answer
The colleagues choice and the interest-and-work choice both describe effort spent on sending signals by wire; they part on one claim, that the effort “resulted in successful communication,” which the section never shows, the working line arriving in paragraph 7. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The idea emerges only from details across two paragraphs, passengers discussing the electromagnet, Morse’s Yale letter, his failed attempts, Henry’s bell and article, Gale’s relay advice, taken together. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
The right answer is reworded moderate Choosing the answer
The key names none of the section’s people, while the wrong choices echo its “colleague,” “over a wire,” Faraday’s electromagnet and Yale, and so look more firmly rooted in the text. (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Summarize paragraphs 2 and 3 together in one sentence of your own before reading the choices, then choose the statement closest to your summary, checking that every part of it is true of this section.
Traps
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
The wrong answers, classified
A Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly sees teamwork in the section’s close, but successful communication over Morse’s wire comes later, under “Realizing a Great Invention,” and the passage never shows Henry working with Morse.
C Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Treats the spark as the whole story: Faraday’s electromagnet gave Morse the idea, but the section goes on to years of failed attempts and help from others.
D Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Inflates a passing mention: Morse’s Yale lectures appear once, and the section notes that despite them he had “little real understanding of the nature of electricity.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what the section “The Growth of an Idea” says about a central idea, or main message. The section is paragraphs 2 and 3. Sum up both paragraphs together before you look at the choices.
List the section’s details
On the ship, Faraday’s electromagnet “was much discussed by the ship’s passengers.” Morse had found the electricity lectures at Yale interesting. He made “sporadic attempts” on his own. In paragraph 3, Henry “rang a bell at a distance by opening and closing an electric circuit.” Gale showed Morse how to use Henry’s relay system.
Find what the details share
Look at what links these details. Passengers talked about electricity. Morse was curious and kept trying. Henry ran tests and wrote an article. Gale gave advice. All of it is people taking an interest in electricity and working to send signals with it. That is the section’s main point. A working telegraph line does not appear until paragraph 7.
Check each choice
- A is close but wrong. Morse’s telegraph does not send a message until paragraph 7. Also, Henry never worked with Morse. At first, Morse did not even know about Henry’s article.
- B fits. It covers the interest and the work in both paragraphs.
- C is wrong. The electromagnet gave Morse the idea, but that is only the start of the section.
- D is wrong. Yale is only a small part of paragraph 2. And “Despite what he had learned at Yale,” Morse still knew little.
Choose the answer
The section shows lots of interest and effort aimed at sending signals with electricity. So the answer is B, “a great deal of interest and work was devoted to understanding how to use electricity to send signals.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A sounds like a summary of the section’s last sentence, which is why it tempts. But it claims the teamwork “resulted in successful communication,” and that only happens in a later section. B claims less, so every detail in paragraphs 2 and 3 fits it.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 34 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 34Uses the passage above: “Invention of the Telegraph”.
Question
Which statement describes how the author’s use of sequencing in paragraph 3 contributes to the overall structure of the passage?
- AIt shows that several people were simultaneously attempting to create an electric telegraph.
- BIt shows how the invention of the electric telegraph depended on information and techniques discovered by others.
- CIt shows that multiple means of long-distance communication were being used at the same time.
- DIt shows how quickly long-distance communication changed from visual signals to electrical signals.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how the use of sequencing, or arranging in chronological order, in paragraph 3 contributes to the overall structure of the passage. Paragraph 3 outlines the information that Gale knew who Henry was (“Well before Morse had his shipboard idea about a telegraph, Henry rang a bell at a distance by opening and closing an electric circuit”) and that Gale told Morse. Gale’s input was “crucial to Morse’s telegraph system,” and hiring Vail was an additional and necessary help.
Therefore, Option B is correct because the creation of Morse’s telegraph involved a series of steps that each built upon earlier ideas and inventions from others, such as Henry, Gale, and Vail.
Option A is incorrect because, although the inventions and advancements of others assisted in the development of the telegraph, the passage does not suggest that the other men were attempting to create their own telegraph systems.
Option C is incorrect because the only other long-distance communication system mentioned in the passage is the outdated semaphore system discussed in paragraph 1.
Option D is incorrect because the telegraph system was in development for more than ten years because of the lack of funding and the need for further experimentation.
Question analysis
Students explain how the sequence of events in paragraph 3 of “Invention of the Telegraph” contributes to the passage’s overall structure. The paragraph names several people and their roles in a few long sentences, and the choices make claims about the invention’s history that must each be checked against it.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Sequencing is familiar grade 7 structure work. This paragraph packs several people and dates into long sentences, but once the order is clear the role of the sequence is fairly direct, so the demand is typical.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Complex sentences moderate
- How, not what moderate
- Much to keep track of minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 910 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 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
Paragraph 3 is dense, but its last sentence nearly states the answer: Henry’s experiments, Gale’s help and Vail were “keys to Morse’s success.” Students lose the point when Henry’s telegraph-like article makes them imagine a race, or when the stem’s “overall structure” sends them back to the semaphore towers of paragraph 1. The question rewards reading the time markers as a chain of borrowed knowledge.
Complex sentences moderate Understanding the question
The key facts sit in embedded sentences, such as “an article, of which Morse was unaware, that contained details suggesting the idea,” and a 53-word sentence on what Gale showed Morse. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks what the order of events contributes to the passage’s structure, so students must see the time words, “Well before,” “In 1831,” “soon after,” as showing Morse building on others’ work. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Much to keep track of minor Working it out
Four people, Henry, Gale, Vail and Morse, and two of Henry’s inventions have to be kept straight to see who supplied what to whom. (Sweller, 1988; Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990)
Strategy: Put the events of paragraph 3 in order, noting who did what and when, then ask what that order shows about Morse’s invention.
Traps
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
The wrong answers, classified
A Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Reads Henry’s article “suggesting the idea of an electric telegraph” as a rival effort, but the paragraph places Henry’s work “well before” Morse’s and shows it helping him.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Brings back the flag and light systems of paragraph 1, which came before the telegraph; paragraph 3 describes no other means of communication in use alongside it.
D Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Follows the passage’s overall move from semaphore to electricity but adds “how quickly,” though Morse’s idea of 1832 did not become a working line until 1844.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about sequencing in paragraph 3. Sequencing means putting events in time order. You need to say what that order shows about Morse’s invention.
Put paragraph 3’s events in order
Paragraph 3 uses time words. “Well before Morse had his shipboard idea about a telegraph, Henry rang a bell at a distance.” It adds that “In 1831, he had published an article” that hinted at an electric telegraph. Then Gale showed Morse “a relay system Henry had invented.” Last, Morse hired Alfred Vail “soon after.”
See what the order shows
A relay is a device that boosts a signal so it can travel farther. Each event in the order is someone else’s work that helped Morse. Henry’s work came first. Gale passed it on. Vail added his skill. The last sentence sums it up: these were all “keys to Morse’s success.” So Morse built his telegraph on what others had found.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. Henry’s work came “well before” Morse’s and helped him. Nobody was racing at the same time.
- B fits. The order shows Morse depending on earlier work by Henry, Gale and Vail.
- C is wrong. Paragraph 3 talks only about electric work. Flags and lights are in paragraph 1.
- D is wrong. Nothing here shows speed. Morse’s idea came in 1832, and his line opened in 1844.
Choose the answer
The time order shows one person’s work feeding the next, all leading to Morse. So the answer is B, “It shows how the invention of the electric telegraph depended on information and techniques discovered by others.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the strongest trap, because Henry’s article had details “suggesting the idea of an electric telegraph.” That can sound like a rival. But the time words show Henry came first, and Gale used his work to help Morse. Earlier work that helps is what B describes.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 35 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 35Uses the passage above: “Invention of the Telegraph”.
Question
Which sentence is the best summary of how Morse obtained the funding necessary to build his telegraph system?
- AMorse’s application for a federal grant was delayed until 1843, so he spent time traveling in Europe, where he concentrated on obtaining a patent for his system.
- BMorse applied for a government grant that required both houses of Congress and the president to pass a bill awarding him $30,000 for his telegraph project.
- CMorse applied for a government appropriation and conducted telegraph demonstrations to show that his system could work, and after a delay caused by a financial depression, Congress approved the $30,000 appropriation in 1843.
- DWorking with Gale and Vail allowed Morse to find flaws in Henry’s work and to develop his own ideas before applying for the federal government appropriation.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks for the best summary of how Morse obtained the funding necessary to build his telegraph system.
A. Incorrect. This summary focuses mostly on what Morse did while his application for funding was delayed in the United States rather than on how Morse acquired the funding, because during this period, Morse tried “not only to secure patent protection overseas but to examine competing telegraph systems in England” (paragraph 5). Therefore, it is not the best summary of how Morse obtained the funding necessary to build his telegraph system.
B. Incorrect. Although this summary mentions how Morse applied for the “federal government’s appropriation” (paragraph 4), it primarily focuses on the actions of the House of Representatives and the Senate, not on Morse’s efforts to obtain funding. Therefore, it is not the best summary of how Morse obtained the funding necessary to build his telegraph system.
C. CORRECT. This summary best describes how Morse obtained the funding that he needed for his telegraph system, because it explains that Morse applied “for the federal government’s appropriation, and during the next year he conducted demonstrations of his telegraph” (paragraph 4). In paragraph 5, the author explains the impact that the Panic of 1837 had on Morse’s request. In paragraph 6, the author describes how by 1843, economic times had improved, so Morse again “asked Congress for the $30,000” and was awarded the funds after “the Senate approved it.”
D. Incorrect. This summary is not the best summary of how Morse obtained the funding necessary to build his telegraph system, because it relates how Morse worked with others to develop his ideas about the telegraph and how Gale and Vail were the “keys to Morse’s success” (paragraph 3) before he applied for funding.
Question analysis
Students read “Invention of the Telegraph” and pick the best one-sentence summary of how Samuel Morse secured federal funding for his telegraph line. The money story is spread over several paragraphs alongside other events in Morse’s life, and the four long choices each blend true details, so students must decide what a good summary of this one process includes.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Summarizing a short chain of events is everyday grade 7 work, and every fact needed is stated plainly. The main demand is patience with long choices rather than any hard inference.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- A lot to read minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 910 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 126 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A date in the passage introduction was corrected.
- A wrong word in the explanation was corrected.
- 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
Every choice is built from real events, so the question is less about spotting a false statement than about judging what a summary of the funding must contain. Students who accept the first accurate sentence they meet stop at the account of Congress and the president, which skips the years between application and approval. Listing the stages first, application, demonstrations, delay and vote, turns the long choices into a quick checklist.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The summary about both houses and the president is accurate and ends where the key does, with the $30,000 approved; what separates them is the middle stretch, the demonstrations and the depression’s delay, which only the key covers. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The funding story is split over paragraphs 4 to 6: the December 1837 application, demonstrations in New York and Washington, the Panic of 1837 with a trip to Europe, and the 1843 request and vote. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
A lot to read minor Understanding the question
Each choice is a single sentence of 26 to 33 words carrying dates, a dollar amount, Congress and several people, and every piece has to be checked against the passage. (Kintsch, 1998; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Find the part of the passage about paying for the telegraph and jot down each step in order; then pick the summary that matches your list from start to finish without wandering off it.
Traps
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
The wrong answers, classified
A Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Builds the summary on Morse’s European patent trip, something he did while the money stalled, and drops the demonstrations and the 1843 vote that actually produced the funds.
B Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Gives only the final step, a bill passed by the House and Senate and signed by the president, and omits the demonstrations and the depression that held the money up for years.
D Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Pulls in paragraph 3, where Gale and Vail help Morse build the system, which concerns the invention, not the money, and puts the flaws in Henry’s work, though Gale found them in Morse’s system.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Passage: The 2024–2025 handbook’s introduction says “In 1844, the United States Congress passed the Telegraph Bill.” Congress passed the $30,000 appropriation in March 1843; 1844 is the year of Morse’s first message. Paragraph 6 describes the 1843 approval, and Option C, the correct answer, says 1843, so the introduction reads “In 1843.” The site shares this passage with 2018 Test B English, where the same correction is recorded.
- Explanation: The handbook says Option A focuses on what Morse did while his application was delayed “rather than on how Morse acquired the patent.” The question asks how Morse obtained his funding, and the patent is what Option A does focus on, so the site now says “rather than on how Morse acquired the funding.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question wants a summary. A summary is a short retelling that keeps only the main points, in the order they happen. The topic is narrow: how Morse got the money for his telegraph. So the best choice must be true, stay on the money, and tell that story from beginning to end.
Find where the money story is told
The funding story runs through paragraphs 4, 5 and 6. By December 1837, Morse felt ready “to apply for the federal government’s appropriation” (paragraph 4). The next year, “he conducted demonstrations of his telegraph both in New York and Washington” (paragraph 4). Then a money crisis “caused a long depression,” and Morse “was forced to wait for better times” (paragraph 5). In 1843 he “again asked Congress for the $30,000,” and this time he got it (paragraph 6).
Explain the words and list the steps
Some words may be new. An appropriation is money that lawmakers agree to pay out for a planned project. Demonstrations are public shows that prove a machine works. A depression is a long period when businesses struggle and cash is scarce. Now put the story in order:
- Morse asked for the money.
- He showed people his telegraph working.
- Hard times made him wait.
- In 1843 Congress said yes to the $30,000.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. It is mostly about a trip to Europe for a patent (a legal right that stops others from copying an invention). Morse made that trip while he waited. A leaves out the demonstrations and the vote.
- B does not fit. It is true, but it gives only the final step, when the House, the Senate and the president approved the bill. It skips the demonstrations and the years of waiting.
- C fits. It covers the request, the demonstrations, the delay from the depression and the 1843 approval, in that order.
- D does not fit. Gale and Vail helped Morse build the telegraph, not pay for it. And the flaws Gale pointed out were in Morse’s system, while D puts them in Henry’s work.
Choose the answer
Only one choice tells the whole funding story, from the first request to the final yes, without drifting to other topics. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the hardest choice to rule out, because nothing in it is false. But it starts at the very end of the story. It drops the demonstrations Morse gave and the long wait during the depression. A summary must hold all the main steps, and C is the only choice that does.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 36 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 36Uses the passage above: “Invention of the Telegraph”.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 7.
The desperate Morse gave the go-ahead, and the line was completed in time for the dramatic and spectacularly successful link between the Supreme Court chamber of the Capitol building and the railroad station in Baltimore.
The words “dramatic” and “spectacularly” in the sentence convey a
- Asense of relief and fulfillment that the line was finished.
- Bsense of wonder and celebration that the telegraph line was accomplished.
- Cfeeling of excitement about the future possibilities of the telegraph.
- Dfeeling of confidence about being able to continue the work.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks what the words “dramatic” and “spectacularly” convey in the sentence from paragraph 7.
A. Incorrect. While there may have been some feelings of relief and fulfillment when the lines were finished, the passage instead focuses on the wonder and joy that Morse and Cornell felt after overcoming setbacks and completing the construction of the telegraph system.
B. CORRECT. Morse and Cornell rushed to post the wires overhead, and the “rigid deadline” (paragraph 7) was successfully met. The words have a positive and victorious tone that is consistent with the feeling of wonder that it worked and of celebration that the construction was completed.
C. Incorrect. The passage does not share whether Morse or Cornell considered the future possibilities of the telegraph; it shares only that the finished product was “dramatic,” implying it was amazing to see.
D. Incorrect. While the passage later discusses the expansion of overhead wires “up and down the Atlantic coast” and how they “connected the continents of Europe and America” (paragraph 8), there is no evidence shared in the passage that Morse planned to continue his work with electricity.
Question analysis
Students judge the connotation of two words, “dramatic” and “spectacularly,” in the sentence from “Invention of the Telegraph” that describes the completion of Samuel Morse’s first telegraph link from Washington to Baltimore. Because the same sentence calls Morse “desperate” and says the line was finished just in time, several feelings seem to fit the moment, and the choices name four of them.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Judging what two adjectives convey is standard grade 7 word-choice work, and the sentence is printed with the question. The challenge is that all four choices name believable feelings, so students must separate the words’ own connotations from the situation around them.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 910 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 91 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 quoted sentence offers two tempting sources for the answer besides the two words the stem names: Morse is “desperate,” and the line is finished “in time.” Students who read the situation rather than the words choose relief, and those who think ahead to paragraph 8’s spreading wires choose excitement about the future. The question rewards asking what “dramatic” and “spectacularly” say about the link itself, an event that impressed and was celebrated.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The relief choice is built like the key, a pair of feelings about the finished line; only the feelings differ, and “dramatic” and “spectacularly” point to wonder at a public success, not release from worry. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Neither word names an emotion: “dramatic” and “spectacularly” describe the link itself, so the feeling they carry has to be inferred from their sense of an impressive public show. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
All four choices name a positive feeling that suits a race against a “rigid deadline,” so tone alone rules none of them out. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Before reading the choices, picture something you would call dramatic and spectacularly successful, and name the feeling those words give it; then find the choice closest to that feeling.
Traps
- 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.
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
The wrong answers, classified
A Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Takes what Morse probably felt, relief after a “desperate” scramble to beat the deadline, for what the author’s two words convey, which is admiration for a striking success.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Brings in paragraph 8, where wires spread along the coast and across the ocean, but this sentence is about the first finished link and says nothing of what might follow.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Assumes success would leave Morse confident about pressing on, but the sentence never looks past the finished line, and the two words describe the event, not his plans.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question is about connotation, the feeling a word carries beyond its dictionary meaning. It names two words, “dramatic” and “spectacularly.” Your job is to name the feeling those two words give the sentence. Other words in the sentence should not decide your answer.
See what is happening in paragraph 7
Just before this sentence, Morse’s team lost time laying wire that turned out to be faulty. The job was also “on a rigid deadline” with no time to spare. Cornell had a quick fix: to “string wires overhead on trees and poles” instead. Morse agreed, and the line was done in time. The sentence describes the moment the first link worked, from the Capitol in Washington to the train station in Baltimore.
Work out what the two words suggest
A dramatic event grabs your attention, the way the high point of a movie does. Spectacularly comes from spectacle, a grand sight that makes people stop and stare. So the author is saying the link was more than finished. It was a thrilling public success. Words like these make a reader marvel at what was done and want to cheer.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Morse was “desperate,” so he may have felt relief. But that feeling comes from the word “desperate,” not from the two words the question asks about.
- B fits. Wonder matches an amazing sight, and celebration matches a great success.
- C does not fit. This sentence is only about the finished link. Wires spreading to other places come later, in paragraph 8.
- D does not fit. The two words describe the event itself. They tell nothing about Morse’s plans for more work.
Choose the answer
The words “dramatic” and “spectacularly” make the first telegraph link sound like a thrilling show. So the answer is B, a “sense of wonder and celebration that the telegraph line was accomplished.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest trap, since it also names two good feelings about the finished line. But relief is the quiet feeling you get when worry ends. The words “dramatic” and “spectacularly” are loud and showy. They make the link sound like something to gasp at and cheer for, and that is wonder and celebration.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 37 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 37Uses the passage above: “Invention of the Telegraph”.
Question
How does the graph support the ideas in paragraph 8?
- AIt indicates how welcome the improvement of long-distance communication was in the United States.
- BIt provides evidence of the dramatic increase in the number of telegraph messages as Morse’s system expanded across the United States.
- CIt reveals that by the twentieth century millions of people had used the telegraph despite earlier hesitations about the system.
- DIt shows how improvements that allowed Morse code to be read in real time made relaying telegraph messages faster and increased the system’s usage.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how the graph supports the ideas in paragraph 8. The graph shows the number of messages transmitted from 1870 to 1920. In 1920 almost 160 million messages were transmitted, showing a “dramatic”—more than double—increase from 1910, which makes Option B the correct answer.
Option A is incorrect because, while it can be implied from the expansion shown on the graph that people possibly welcomed the improvement in long-distance communication, the graph does not state this explicitly.
Option C is incorrect because the graph does not show how many people used the telegraph, but rather it shows the number of messages sent. Additionally, paragraph 8 provides no details about hesitation on the part of individuals.
Option D is incorrect because, while improvements in recording and interpreting code were made, the graph does not show the effect of this advancement on the speed or number of messages being transmitted.
Question analysis
This question asks how a graph that accompanies “Invention of the Telegraph” supports the ideas in paragraph 8, the passage’s closing account of what followed the first telegraph line. Students must connect a data display to a paragraph of text, and the choices differ in how much they claim a graph of this kind could prove.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Connecting a graph to a paragraph is standard grade 7 work with mixed formats. The demand is typical: read the paragraph, read the data, and check that a claim about the graph does not go beyond it.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Reading a figure, table or graph moderate
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Combines ideas minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 910 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 88 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A misreading of the graph in the explanation was corrected.
- 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 graph is simple to read; the challenge is deciding how much a count of messages can prove. Wrong choices claim the graph shows public feeling, numbers of people, or the effect of one improvement, and the last of these is tempting because paragraph 8 mentions that improvement. Students who ask what the vertical axis measures can reject all three quickly.
Reading a figure, table or graph moderate Understanding the question
The bar graph counts messages in millions, rising from about 10 in 1870 to about 155 in 1920; it measures neither people, nor speed, nor causes, which is what rules out three choices. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The key and the real-time-reading choice both tie the rise in messages to a change described in paragraph 8; they part on one detail, the claim that relaying became “faster,” which a count of messages cannot show. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Combines ideas minor Working it out
Students must join the graph’s fifty years of growth to paragraph 8’s spread of overhead wires along the coast, westward and across the ocean. (Embretson, 1998; Daniel & Embretson, 2010)
Strategy: Reread paragraph 8 and look at what the graph measures, then for each choice ask whether both the paragraph and the graph back it up.
Traps
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
The wrong answers, classified
A Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Infers from the growth that people welcomed the telegraph, which may be true, but a count of messages cannot show how anyone felt about the change.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Treats messages as people, reading “in millions” as millions of users, and adds “earlier hesitations” that neither the graph nor paragraph 8 mentions.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Takes real-time reading of code from paragraph 8 and credits it with the rise in messages, but the graph shows only totals, not what caused them or how fast messages moved.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The handbook says 1920 showed an “almost double” increase from 1910. The graph shows about 75 million messages in 1910 and about 155 million in 1920, so the number more than doubled. The site now says “more than double.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how the bar graph supports paragraph 8. To answer, you need to know two things. What does paragraph 8 say? And what does the graph actually measure?
Read paragraph 8
Paragraph 8 says that “overhead wires connected cities up and down the Atlantic coast.” Then “Telegraph lines soon extended westward, and within Morse’s own lifetime they connected the continents of Europe and America.” So the main idea is growth. The telegraph spread farther and farther.
Read the bar graph
The graph’s title is Telegraph Messages Transmitted, 1870–1920. Its side axis counts messages, in millions. The bars rise every ten years. There were about 10 million messages in 1870 and about 75 million in 1910. In 1920 there were about 155 million. That last jump is more than double. The graph counts messages. It does not count people, speed or feelings.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. A count of messages can’t show how welcome something was. That is a feeling.
- B fits. The bars show a huge rise in messages as the lines spread.
- C is wrong. The graph counts messages, not people. Nothing mentions “earlier hesitations” either.
- D is wrong. Paragraph 8 does mention reading code “in real time,” or right away. But the graph shows totals only. It can’t show what caused the rise or how fast messages moved.
Choose the answer
The graph shows messages rising from about 10 million to about 155 million as the wires spread. So the answer is B, “It provides evidence of the dramatic increase in the number of telegraph messages as Morse’s system expanded across the United States.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest trap, since paragraph 8 really does mention reading code in real time. But ask what the side of the graph measures. It counts messages, nothing else. A count can show that use grew, as B says. It can’t show that messages got faster, or why.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 38 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 38Uses the passage above: “Invention of the Telegraph”.
Question
The idea that, in the mid-nineteenth century, the United States was mostly unaware of the possibilities of electricity is illustrated in the passage mainly through the
- Adescription of the government’s initial desire to expand a semaphore signaling system that used either flags or lights along the Atlantic Coast.
- Bdelay by the House of Representatives to pass the bill funding Morse’s telegraph line six years after he first applied for the appropriation.
- Cdiscussions of the newly invented electromagnet that sparked the idea of sending codes through wires.
- Ddescription of how an electric circuit could be closed to ring a bell at a distance.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks for information that conveys the idea that the United States was mostly unaware of the possibilities of electricity in the mid-nineteenth century. The passage states that most signaling systems at the time were “visual or ‘semaphore’ systems using flags or lights” (paragraph 1) and that the United States was looking for “just such a system along its entire Atlantic coast” (paragraph 1).
Option A is correct because waving lights and flags reveals how limiting and simple the system of the time was, and Option A states that the United States wanted to expand this system, not improve upon it.
Option B is incorrect because the delay in funding had to do with the Panic of 1837 and the “long depression” (paragraph 5), not because the House of Representatives was not aware or ready for innovation in the use of electricity.
Option C is incorrect because it focuses on what prompted Morse to consider an electronic wire-based communications system.
Option D is incorrect because it describes a basic aspect of an early electrical discovery that demonstrated the interest of scientists in the possibilities of electricity, not the United States as a whole.
Question analysis
Students identify how “Invention of the Telegraph” mainly illustrates the idea that, in the mid-1800s, the United States was largely unaware of what electricity could do. The idea is implied rather than stated, so students must decide which detail truly reveals the nation’s thinking at the time.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 evidence questions often match a stated idea to a sentence. This idea is only implied, so students must infer what a historical detail reveals about a whole nation’s understanding, closer to grade 8 inference.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 910 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 102 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 asks about a whole nation’s understanding, so details about individuals with electrical interests, the ship’s passengers and Henry, show the opposite of what is needed. The real trap is the funding delay, which looks like official indifference but has an economic cause the passage states. Students who remember that the semaphore plan came with a remark about not knowing electricity was coming find the answer.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The idea is implied: wanting a semaphore system shows unawareness only alongside paragraph 1’s comment that its framers “had no way of knowing” they would be offered electricity. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The choices point to four separate places, paragraph 1’s semaphore plan, the funding delay of paragraphs 4 to 6, the shipboard talk in paragraph 2 and Henry’s bell in paragraph 3, and each must be checked there. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
“Semaphore” and “appropriation” are uncommon words, and the passage defines “semaphore” only in passing, as systems “using flags or lights.” (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: For each choice, find the detail in the passage and ask whether the author uses it to show what the country did or did not understand about electricity.
Traps
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
- Supports only part of the claim: In a question about evidence: a line that backs one half of the claim but not the other, or a related point rather than the claim itself.
The wrong answers, classified
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Reads the long wait for funding as doubt about electricity, but the passage gives a different cause, the Panic of 1837 and the “long depression” that followed.
C Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
The ship’s passengers did discuss the new electromagnet, but that shows a few people interested in electricity, not a country unaware of what it could do.
D Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Henry’s bell rung at a distance is a real detail, but it shows a scientist exploring electricity’s uses, the opposite of unawareness, and says nothing about the nation.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks which part of the passage best shows an idea. The idea is that in the mid-1800s, the United States mostly did not know what electricity could do. Look for a detail about the country as a whole, not about one scientist.
Find the detail in paragraph 1
Paragraph 1 says most early systems were visual, or semaphore, “systems using flags or lights.” Then it says, “The young American republic wanted just such a system along its entire Atlantic coast.” The next sentence explains that its lawmakers “had no way of knowing” they would be offered “an entirely new and revolutionary means of communication—electricity.”
Explain what the detail shows
A semaphore system sends signals people can see, like waving flags. The country asked for that old kind of system. It did not ask for an electric one, because it did not know one was possible. “Revolutionary” means bringing a huge change. So the government’s plan shows how unaware the nation was of what electricity could do.
Check each choice
- A fits. The government wanted to spread flags and lights, not electric signals.
- B is wrong. The delay had a money cause. The Panic of 1837 “caused a long depression.” It was not about electricity.
- C is wrong. Passengers talking about the electromagnet shows interest in electricity, the opposite of not knowing about it.
- D is wrong. Henry ringing a bell shows one scientist exploring electricity. It says nothing about the whole country.
Choose the answer
The country’s wish for a flags-and-lights system shows it did not yet see what electricity could do. So the answer is A, the description of the government’s plan for a semaphore system along the Atlantic Coast.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest trap, because a long wait for money can look like doubt about electricity. But paragraph 5 gives the real cause, the Panic of 1837 and the hard times after it. A is backed by the passage’s own words: the lawmakers “had no way of knowing” electricity was coming.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 39 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 39Uses the passage above: “Invention of the Telegraph”.
Question
With which statement would the author most likely agree?
- AMorse’s telegraph was successful because the wires were strung aboveground rather than underground as originally planned.
- BUnderstanding the importance of Morse’s telegraph requires detailed knowledge of electrical systems.
- CThe implementation of Morse’s telegraph system was overly influenced by economic factors.
- DMorse’s invention of the telegraph made a great stride toward better connecting people across the United States and across the world.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which statement best represents a viewpoint held by the author of the passage. Paragraph 8 states that “Telegraph lines soon extended westward, and within Morse’s own lifetime they connected the continents of Europe and America.”
Therefore, Option D is correct because the author presents Morse’s telegraph as a great leap in the ability to quickly communicate messages over distances never before imagined.
Option A is incorrect because the author explains that the aboveground wiring was used only because “Cornell suggested that [it was] the fastest and cheapest way” (paragraph 7), not because it would be more successful.
Option B is incorrect because the author conveys the importance of this advancement in communication without providing detailed information about electrical systems.
Option C is incorrect because, while the Panic of 1837 caused a delay in Morse’s funding, the author shows that Morse received the appropriation in 1843 and was able to overcome the financial setback he faced.
Question analysis
This question asks which statement the author of “Invention of the Telegraph” would most likely agree with, based on the passage’s account of Samuel Morse’s work. Students must infer the author’s view from the passage as a whole, and every choice takes up a real topic from the story, so each must be checked for how strongly it is supported.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Inferring an author’s position from an informational text is typical grade 7 work. The author’s attitude is fairly clear in the passage’s word choice, so this matches a routine state-test question in demand.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Evidence in several places minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 910 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 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 passage’s admiration for Morse’s achievement is steady from the first paragraph to the map, so most students recognize the author’s view. The wrong choices each take a real episode, the overhead wires, Morse’s struggle with electricity, the depression, and turn it into a judgment the author never makes. Watching for evaluative words such as “overly” and “because” separates them.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The author never states an opinion outright; it shows in word choice such as “revolutionary,” “ingenious,” “spectacularly successful” and the heading “Realizing a Great Invention.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
Support for the key is spread from paragraph 1’s “revolutionary means of communication” to paragraph 8’s lines that “connected the continents” and the map caption’s line that “connected most of the world.” (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Look for the author’s own judgments, the words that show approval or criticism, then choose the statement those words support most directly.
Traps
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
A Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Turns a deadline fix into the reason for success: Cornell proposed overhead wires as “the fastest and cheapest way” after bad wire wasted time, not as a better design.
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Shifts Morse’s own need to understand electricity onto the reader, though the author conveys the invention’s importance with almost no technical detail about how it works.
C Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Economic factors did matter, the Panic of 1837 delayed funding and cost drove the overhead wires, but “overly” adds a criticism the author never makes.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks which statement the author would most likely agree with. The author never states an opinion directly. So look for word choice that shows approval or criticism. Then pick the statement those words support.
Find the author’s judging words
Start with paragraph 1. There the author calls electricity “an entirely new and revolutionary means of communication,” which is strong praise. The last section has the heading “Realizing a Great Invention,” more praise. In paragraph 8, the lines spread until “they connected the continents of Europe and America” in Morse’s lifetime. The map caption adds that by 1902 the line “connected most of the world” as well.
Put the author’s view in plain words
“Revolutionary” means bringing a huge change. “Great Invention” is plain praise. The author also shows the lines spreading from city to city, then across oceans. So the author admires the telegraph as a big step forward in linking people. That is what “a great stride” means: a big step forward.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. Overhead wires were used because they were “the fastest and cheapest way” after bad wire wasted time. That doesn’t make them the reason for success.
- B is wrong. The author shows the telegraph’s importance with almost no technical detail.
- C is wrong. Money problems did delay Morse. But “overly” means too much, and the author never makes that complaint.
- D fits. The author praises how the telegraph connected the country and the world.
Choose the answer
The author’s words praise the telegraph for linking people far apart. So the answer is D, “Morse’s invention of the telegraph made a great stride toward better connecting people across the United States and across the world.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest trap, because money troubles really did matter. The Panic of 1837 delayed the funding. But the word “overly” turns a fact into a complaint, and the author never complains. D matches the praise the author gives from the first paragraph to the map.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 40 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 40Uses the passage above: “Invention of the Telegraph”.
Question
How does the map provide additional support for a central idea of the passage?
- Aby demonstrating that Morse’s telegraph system greatly exceeded the limitations of previous long-distance communication systems
- Bby indicating that Morse was lacking foresight by seeking a patent only in North America
- Cby proving that Gale’s advice helped Morse extend the telegraph’s range much farther than first thought possible
- Dby showing that the Morse telegraph had a surprisingly immense influence across the world
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the map provides additional support for a central idea of the passage.
A. CORRECT. The map shows the telegraph line crossing continents in 1902, just forty-four years after the first transatlantic message was sent in 1858. This is a much greater distance than the first line Morse built between “the Supreme Court chamber of the Capitol building and the railroad station in Baltimore” (paragraph 7).
B. Incorrect. The map shows the distance the line covers; it does not indicate Morse’s lack of foresight in seeking patents only in North America.
C. Incorrect. While Gale’s advice was crucial to Morse’s success, the map shows the physical line stretching across continents many years later, after their initial work.
D. Incorrect. While it can be inferred that the telegraph had influence across the world, the amount of influence cannot be determined.
Question analysis
This question pairs “Invention of the Telegraph” with a map of the British All-Red Telegraph Line in 1902 and asks how the map adds support for a central idea of the passage. Students must read a world map with a key and a caption, connect what it shows to the story of Samuel Morse’s invention, and sort through four claims about the map that vary in how far they go.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Linking a graphic to a text is familiar grade 7 work. Here students must pin down a central idea of the passage and work out how a 1902 world map, made decades after Morse’s first line, bears on it, a step beyond typical demand.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer major
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Reading a figure, table or graph moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 910 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 75 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- An inaccurate detail in the explanation was corrected.
- 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
Lines on a map can prove how far the telegraph reached, and the question turns on how much more than that each choice claims. The key depends on a link back to paragraph 1, where a message went only as far as the next hilltop tower, read many minutes before the map. The influence choice skips that link and states the map’s message in bigger terms, so students who do not ask what a map of routes can show are drawn to it.
A very close wrong answer major Choosing the answer
The influence choice, a telegraph with “a surprisingly immense influence across the world,” sounds like a fair reading of lines circling the globe; it differs from the key in claiming impact and surprise rather than reach beyond earlier systems. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The earlier systems the key measures against are in paragraph 1, towers on distant hills passing flag and light signals from station to station, far from the map at the end of the passage. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Reading a figure, table or graph moderate Understanding the question
The map shows a 1902 British line from London to Canada and Vancouver, south through Bermuda and Barbados to Cape Town, and on to India, Australia and New Zealand, with Washington left unconnected. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Look at what the map and its caption actually show, sum up a central idea of the passage in your own words, and keep only a choice that both of them back up.
Traps
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Reads the unconnected Washington dot as a patenting mistake of Morse’s, though a map of lines shows nothing about patents and paragraph 5 has him seeking protection overseas.
C Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Remembers that Gale’s relay advice solved Morse’s “distance problems,” but a 1902 map that names no inventors cannot prove what that advice made possible decades earlier.
D Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Turns the map’s reach into a claim about impact, though routes on a map show where messages could travel, not how much the world changed or that anyone was surprised.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The handbook says the 1902 line came “forty-four years after the first message was sent in 1858.” The first telegraph message was Morse’s in 1844 (paragraph 1); 1858 is the year of the first transatlantic message, as the map’s caption says. The site now says “the first transatlantic message.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks how a graphic adds to the passage. You need two things. First, what does the map really show? Second, which central idea, a main point the whole passage builds, does it back up?
Read the map and its caption
This map is a picture of one British network of telegraph wires, as it stood in 1902. In its key, a thick black line stands for an electric telegraph line. From London, a line crosses the Atlantic Ocean and Canada to Vancouver. Other lines reach Bermuda, Barbados, Cape Town, India, Australia and New Zealand. According to the caption, by 1902 this network “connected most of the world.”
Recall the older ways of signaling
Next, compare that with paragraph 1. Before electricity, people signaled with flags or lights. An observer would “decipher a signal from a high tower on a distant hill and then send it on to the next station.” So a message could only jump as far as a person could see. Even Morse’s first line, in paragraph 6, reached Baltimore, just “forty miles away.”
Connect the map to that idea
The caption says the first message across the Atlantic was sent in 1858. Only 44 years later, in 1902, lines crossed several oceans and linked much of the globe. Paragraph 8 adds that telegraph lines “connected the continents of Europe and America” before Morse died. So the map supports a central idea: electric telegraph lines went far beyond the reach of older signal systems.
Check each choice
- A fits. Lines that span oceans go far past the limits of hilltop towers.
- B does not fit. A map of lines shows nothing about patents. Also, paragraph 5 says Morse sought patent protection in Europe, too.
- C does not fit. The map names no inventors, so it cannot prove what Gale’s advice did decades before.
- D does not fit. The map shows where lines went, not how much they changed the world, and nothing on it shows surprise.
Choose the answer
The map shows telegraph lines reaching around the globe, far past what flags and towers could do. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest trap, because lines around the world seem to prove a huge effect. But a map of routes shows only how far messages could travel. It cannot measure influence, and it cannot show that anyone was surprised. A sticks to what a map of lines can prove: the telegraph reached much farther than earlier systems.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 41 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 41Passage Snowy Mountains
Snowy Mountains
by John Gould Fletcher
Higher and still more high,
Palaces made for cloud,
Above the dingy city-roofs
Blue-white like angels with broad wings,
Pillars of the sky at rest
The mountains from the great plateau
Uprise.
But the world heeds them not;
They have been here now for too long a time.
The world makes war on them,
Tunnels their granite cliffs,
Splits down their shining sides,
Plasters their cliffs with soap-advertisements,
Destroys the lonely fragments of their peace.
Vaster and still more vast,
Peak after peak, pile after pile,
Wilderness still untamed,
To which the future is as was the past,
Barrier spread by Gods,
Sunning their shining foreheads,
Barrier broken down by those who do not need
The joy of time-resisting storm-worn stone,
The mountains swing along
The south horizon of the sky;
Welcoming with wide floors of blue-green ice
The mists that dance and drive before the sun.
“Snowy Mountains” by John Gould Fletcher—Public Domain
Question
The description in the first stanza (lines 1–7) helps establish a central idea of the poem by
- Acomparing the length of time the mountains have existed with the length of time the city has existed.
- Bcontrasting the grandeur of the mountains with the structures in the city below them.
- Cimplying that the mountains are a source of inspiration to the people in the city below.
- Dsuggesting that the mountains are larger than the people in the city realize.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how the description in the first stanza helps establish a central idea of the poem. The poem is mostly about the grandeur of the mountains in spite of the spread of civilization. The first stanza contrasts these two elements, which is stated in Option B.
Option A is incorrect because it is a detail that is referenced later in the poem.
Option C is incorrect because the poem actually communicates the message that people do not recognize the greatness of the mountains.
Option D is incorrect because, although the first stanza mentions the size of the mountains, it does not imply that people cannot see how large the mountains are.
Question analysis
This question about John Gould Fletcher’s poem “Snowy Mountains” asks how the first stanza’s description helps establish a central idea of the poem. Students must interpret images such as palaces, pillars and angels, decide what the opening lines do with them, and judge which choice states that role without adding ideas.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Linking one stanza to a poem’s central idea is a common grade 7 task, and these images are vivid and concrete. The inverted, century-old syntax adds a little challenge but no unusual demand.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Figurative or literary language moderate
- Complex sentences minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: 161 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 8, 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
The first stanza sets its majestic images directly against “the dingy city-roofs,” so students who read it as a picture find the contrast without much trouble. The losses come from importing ideas from later in the poem, people’s neglect in stanza 2 or the passing of time, into seven lines that contain neither. The inverted word order slows a first reading but does not hide the meaning.
Figurative or literary language moderate Understanding the question
The contrast is carried by images, not statements: “Palaces made for cloud” and “angels with broad wings” rise “Above the dingy city-roofs,” and students must read grandeur and drabness from those pictures. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
The stanza is one inverted sentence: five lines of images come before its subject, “The mountains,” in line 6 and its verb, “Uprise,” in line 7. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Strategy: Reread lines 1–7 and sum up in a phrase what the stanza does, then check each choice against those seven lines.
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
A Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Brings in time, which the poem raises only in line 9 and line 18; the first stanza sets mountains against city by height and splendor, not by age.
C Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Assumes that majestic mountains inspire the people below them, a common idea about nature, but the stanza shows no reaction from the city, and the next stanza says the world “heeds them not.”
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Combines line 1’s “Higher and still more high” with the poem’s later charge that people ignore the mountains, but nothing in lines 1–7 says the city misjudges how large they are.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks how the first stanza helps build a central idea of the poem. A stanza is a group of lines in a poem, like a paragraph. A central idea is a main message. Only lines 1 to 7 matter here, from “Higher and still more high” to “Uprise.”
Read the pictures in lines 1–7
The mountains are called “Palaces made for cloud” in line 2. In line 4 they are “Blue-white like angels with broad wings.” In line 5 they are “Pillars of the sky at rest.” Palaces, angels and pillars are all grand, high and beautiful. But line 3 places them “Above the dingy city-roofs.”
Explain what the pictures show
“Dingy” means dull and dirty. So the stanza sets two things side by side. Up high are the shining, noble mountains. Down below are the drab roofs of the city. This is a contrast: two things put together to show how different they are. Grandeur means greatness and splendor. The stanza shows the mountains’ grandeur next to the plain city.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. Time is not in lines 1–7. It first comes up in line 9, “They have been here now for too long a time.”
- B fits. Grand mountains rise over dingy city roofs.
- C is wrong. The stanza never shows people being inspired. In fact, line 8 says “the world heeds them not,” or pays them no attention.
- D is wrong. Line 1 says the mountains are high. But nothing says the city misjudges their size.
Choose the answer
The first stanza puts splendid mountains above a dull city. So the answer is B, “contrasting the grandeur of the mountains with the structures in the city below them.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest trap. It mixes line 1 with an idea from later in the poem, that people ignore the mountains. But the question is about lines 1–7 only. Those lines show a contrast in looks: high and splendid against low and dingy. They say nothing about what people think.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Snowy Mountains” as printed (page 142)
Question 42 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 42Uses the passage above: “Snowy Mountains”.
Question
Read line 5 from the poem.
Pillars of the sky at rest
The line helps develop the theme of the poem by suggesting that the mountains
- Aserve a noble and supportive purpose in the world.
- Battract the clouds with their strength and permanence.
- Cremain untamed through the ages.
- Dprovide protection for the people.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the line from the poem helps develop the theme of the poem. Line 5 helps develop the theme that the mountains are more important than people realize by suggesting that the mountains serve a noble, foundational purpose in the world, as explained in Option A.
Option B is incorrect because, while the poem does describe the strength and permanence of the mountains, the line does not suggest that these traits attract the clouds.
Option C is incorrect because, while the line states that the highest peaks are “at rest,” that phrase describes stillness, not wildness; the poem calls the mountains “still untamed” only later (line 17), and line 5 does not suggest it.
Option D is incorrect because, while pillars are strong and may indicate shelter, there is no suggestion in the line that the mountains are protecting the people. Additionally, this concept is not a theme of the poem.
Question analysis
This figurative language question asks how the metaphor “Pillars of the sky at rest” in “Snowy Mountains” helps develop the poem’s theme. Students must work out what calling mountains pillars of the sky suggests about them, and it is tricky because every choice sounds like something this poem could say.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students interpret metaphors, but here they must also connect a short image to the poem’s theme and choose among abstract options, a step closer to grade 8 work on figurative meaning and theme.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Figurative or literary language major
- The right answer is reworded moderate
- Combines ideas minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: 161 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 3, 52 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A claim in the explanation that the poem contradicts was corrected.
- 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
This is hard because every choice says something the poem could plausibly mean, and two of them borrow real phrases from other lines. Students who test choices against the poem as a whole find support for the wrong ones; the question rewards testing them against the single image of pillars holding up the sky. Seeing that pillars both support and ennoble a structure leads directly to the key.
Figurative or literary language major Understanding the question
The answer depends on unpacking one metaphor: pillars hold up a roof, so “Pillars of the sky” casts the mountains as supports of the heavens, and “at rest” adds a calm, dignified strength. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
The right answer is reworded moderate Choosing the answer
The key uses words the poem never does, “noble” and “supportive,” while wrong choices echo “cloud” from line 2 and “untamed” from line 17 and so look anchored in the text. (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Combines ideas minor Working it out
Students must interpret the image and then link it to the poem’s theme, that the mountains matter more than the world below recognizes. (Embretson, 1998; Daniel & Embretson, 2010)
Strategy: Ask what a pillar is and why a poet might call mountains “pillars of the sky,” then test each choice against line 5 alone before thinking about the rest of the poem.
Traps
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
B Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Strength and permanence fit both pillars and the poem, but attracting clouds comes from line 2’s “Palaces made for cloud,” and line 5 says nothing about drawing clouds in.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Takes “Wilderness still untamed” from line 17, a genuine idea of the third stanza, and attaches it to line 5, whose pillars “at rest” suggest calm support, not wildness.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Follows the pillar image one step too far, from pillars to a roof to shelter for people, though neither the line nor the poem shows the mountains protecting anyone.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The handbook rejects Option C by saying the mountains “do not remain untamed or untouched,” but line 17 calls them “Wilderness still untamed,” and the handbook’s own explanation of the third-stanza question relies on that line. The site now says that “at rest” describes stillness, not wildness, and that the poem calls the mountains “still untamed” only later, in line 17, so line 5 does not suggest it.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what one image, line 5, adds to the poem’s theme. A theme is the big message of a poem. Here the theme is that the mountains are great and important, even though people ignore them. You need to decide what “Pillars of the sky” says about the mountains.
Look closely at line 5
Line 5 reads “Pillars of the sky at rest.” It is part of the first stanza’s list of grand pictures. The list also has “Palaces made for cloud” in line 2. Line 5 is a metaphor. A metaphor calls one thing by the name of another to compare them, without using “like” or “as.”
Explain what pillars do
A pillar is a tall, strong column that holds up a roof. Big, important buildings, like temples and courthouses, have pillars. So calling the mountains “Pillars of the sky” makes them seem to hold up the sky. That is a supporting job. It is also a grand, noble one. “At rest” adds calm. The pillars stand still and steady.
Check each choice
- A fits. Holding up the sky is a noble, supportive job.
- B is wrong. Clouds come from line 2. Line 5 says nothing about pulling clouds in.
- C is wrong. “Wilderness still untamed” is line 17, not line 5. Pillars “at rest” suggest calm, not wildness.
- D is wrong. Pillars hold up roofs, and roofs can shelter people. But the line never shows the mountains protecting anyone.
Choose the answer
Pillars hold things up and make a building grand. So the answer is A, “serve a noble and supportive purpose in the world.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the strongest trap, because the poem really does call the mountains untamed. But that is line 17. Test each choice against line 5 alone. A pillar is a support, and a pillar of the sky is a grand one. Only A comes straight from that picture.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 43 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 43Uses the passage above: “Snowy Mountains”.
Question
How does isolating the word “Uprise” in line 7 affect the meaning of the poem?
- AIt creates a contrast between the great plateau and the city buildings.
- BIt reveals the similarity between the tall buildings in the city and the tall mountains on the horizon.
- CIt creates a vision of the region before people developed the land.
- DIt emphasizes that the mountains dominate the landscape.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how the isolation of the word affects the meaning of the poem. The isolation of the word “Uprise” powerfully emphasizes the first stanza’s description of the magnificent mountains standing tall above the land below, as expressed in Option D.
Option A is incorrect because the word describes the mountains and, therefore, does not create a contrast between the plateau and the city buildings, but rather between the mountains and the plateau.
Option B is incorrect because the word contrasts the mountains with the plateau; it does not compare the mountains to the buildings in the city.
Option C is incorrect because the first stanza describes the already developed land over which the mountains rise.
Question analysis
In “Snowy Mountains,” the opening stanza builds a long sentence about the mountains and saves its verb, “Uprise,” for a line of its own. This poetry structure question asks how isolating that single word affects the poem’s meaning, so students need to think about how a line break shapes what the reader notices, as well as about what the stanza describes.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 poetry questions often ask about word choice; this one asks about a structural choice, a one-word line, which is less familiar, though the stanza’s images make the intended effect fairly easy to sense.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Complex sentences moderate
- How, not what moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: 161 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 8, 64 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
Students who see that “Uprise” is the verb the whole stanza has been building toward recognize the effect quickly: the mountains rise over everything else in the picture. Those who treat the word as one more image look for a comparison instead and find several, because the stanza is full of buildings, roofs and a plateau. The real test is sorting which contrast belongs to the mountains.
Complex sentences moderate Understanding the question
The stanza is one long sentence that withholds its subject until line 6 and its verb until line 7, so “Uprise” lands as the payoff of five lines of images. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
How, not what moderate Working it out
The question asks about a line break, a structural choice, rather than a word’s meaning, and students must judge what setting one verb on its own line makes the reader notice. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Read the stanza aloud and notice where the long sentence finally reaches its verb, then ask what ending on that single word makes the reader see.
Traps
- Taking figurative language literally: A choice reads a figure of speech or image at face value.
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
The wrong answers, classified
A Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly senses a contrast in the stanza but pairs the wrong things: “Uprise” sets the mountains against the land below them, not the plateau against the city’s buildings.
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Notices that the mountains are compared to “Palaces” and “Pillars,” but those grand buildings are set against the “dingy city-roofs,” so the stanza contrasts mountains and city rather than likening them.
C Taking figurative language literally (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Takes “Uprise” at face value, as mountains pushing up out of the plateau long ago, but line 3’s “dingy city-roofs” place the scene in a land already built on.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about a choice the poet made in how the poem looks. Line 7 is only one word: “Uprise.” You need to say what setting that word alone on its line does to the meaning.
Find the sentence the word ends
The whole first stanza is one long sentence. Lines 1 to 5 are a string of pictures: palaces, angels, pillars. The subject, “The mountains from the great plateau,” does not come until line 6. Line 7 then gives the verb, or action word, which is “Uprise.” A plateau is a wide area of high, flat land.
Think about the effect
“Uprise” means rise up. The reader waits six lines for this action. Then it stands by itself, like the mountains standing alone over the land. The short line makes you stop and picture them rising above everything, even “the dingy city-roofs.” So the mountains dominate the scene. To dominate is to tower over and be the main thing you notice.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. “Uprise” is about the mountains rising. It does not set the plateau against the city buildings.
- B is wrong. The stanza does not show the city and the mountains as alike. The city roofs are “dingy,” while the mountains are like palaces.
- C is wrong. Line 3 already shows a city, so this is not the land before people.
- D fits. The lone word makes the mountains tower over the whole picture.
Choose the answer
Ending the long sentence on one lone word makes the mountains stand out over everything. So the answer is D, “It emphasizes that the mountains dominate the landscape.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest trap, because the stanza does contain a contrast. But it is between the mountains and everything below them. “Uprise” is the mountains’ own action, so its effect must be about the mountains. Only D keeps the focus there.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 44 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 44Uses the passage above: “Snowy Mountains”.
Question
Which line from the poem best supports the idea that people have sacrificed priceless natural beauty in order to make a profit?
- A“Above the dingy city-roofs” (line 3)
- B“The world makes war on them,” (line 10)
- C“Tunnels their granite cliffs,” (line 11)
- D“Plasters their cliffs with soap-advertisements,” (line 13)
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks for the line from the poem that best supports the idea that people have sacrificed natural beauty for profit.
A. Incorrect. While city roofs may spoil the natural beauty, they do not directly symbolize financial gain or profit in line 3.
B. Incorrect. Although making a profit might have been the root cause of the damage that was done to the mountains, making war on the mountains is not a direct message about profit or financial gain in line 10.
C. Incorrect. Although tunneling through the mountains affects the natural beauty of the mountains, it does not directly symbolize financial gain or profit in line 11.
D. CORRECT. Advertisements are often used as a means to gain a profit, as implied by the soap advertisements in line 13. Additionally, the word “Plasters,” in line 13, communicates a negative connotation for the use of advertisements on the priceless natural beauty of the mountains.
Question analysis
In this textual evidence question on John Gould Fletcher’s poem “Snowy Mountains,” students pick the line that best backs the claim that people traded priceless natural beauty for profit. Most of the quoted lines show damage of some kind, so the deciding question is which one also shows why the damage was done.
- NYS standards
- 7R1 textual evidence and inferences
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Matching a claim to a quoted line is standard grade 7 evidence work, and these four lines are short and numbered. The images are concrete, so little inference is needed once the claim is read carefully.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: 161 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 6, 45 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
Three of the four quoted lines show damage to the mountains, which meets the first half of the claim and makes the question a test of the second half. Students who look only for harm tend to settle on the loudest image of attack, “makes war on them.” The one line that contains a product for sale is the only one showing beauty traded for money, and once that is seen the choice is quick.
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
Lines 10, 11 and 13 all show people harming the mountains, so each must be held against the claim’s second half, making a profit, which only one of them carries. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
No line names money; profit has to be read from “soap-advertisements,” which exist to sell a product, while “Plasters” supplies the spoiling of the cliffs’ beauty. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Underline the two things the claim needs, harm to the mountains’ beauty and a money motive, then read each quoted line and cross out any that shows only one of them.
Traps
- Supports only part of the claim: In a question about evidence: a line that backs one half of the claim but not the other, or a related point rather than the claim itself.
- Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.
The wrong answers, classified
A Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Connects “dingy city-roofs” with industry and money-making, but line 3 only places the city below the peaks and shows neither profit nor harm done to them.
B Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Chooses the stanza’s fiercest line, but “makes war on them” shows attack in general with no motive, so it backs the lost beauty without the profit.
C Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Brings in a real-world reason, tunnels dug for railways or mines that earn money, though line 11 itself shows only the cliffs being cut, with no sign of gain.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for evidence: the line that best supports an idea. Notice that the idea makes two claims. People have spoiled the mountains’ beauty, and they did it to make money, or a profit. The best line must show both parts, not just one.
Read the four lines in the poem
Choice A, “Above the dingy city-roofs,” comes from the first stanza, where the poem praises the peaks. Dingy means grimy and gloomy. The other three choices come from the second stanza, where people attack the mountains. In order, they are “The world makes war on them” (line 10), “Tunnels their granite cliffs” (line 11) and “Plasters their cliffs with soap-advertisements” (line 13).
Test each line for harm and money
An advertisement is a sign that tries to get you to buy something. Soap ads are there to sell soap, so they are about profit. To plaster something is to cover it thickly and messily, like paste on a wall. Picture the bright cliffs smeared with ugly signs, all to sell a product.
Line Harms the mountains? Shows money? 3 No No 10 Yes No 11 Yes No 13 Yes Yes Check each choice
- A does not fit. Line 3 only places the dirty city below the peaks. It shows no harm to the mountains and no money.
- B does not fit. The words “makes war” show an attack, but not the reason for it.
- C does not fit. Tunnels do damage the cliffs. You may know that tunnels are dug for trains or mines, but the line itself never mentions money.
- D fits. It shows the beauty spoiled and a product being sold.
Choose the answer
Only line 13 shows both the harm and the money behind it. So the answer is D, line 13.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the strongest trap, because “makes war” is the fiercest image of harm in the poem. But the idea also needs a reason: making a profit. War on the mountains could happen for any reason. Only the soap ads show something being sold, so only D backs up both parts of the idea.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 45 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 45Uses the passage above: “Snowy Mountains”.
Question
How does the poet develop the speaker’s point of view in the second stanza (lines 8–14)?
- Aby describing images of the mountains’ awe-inspiring size and strength
- Bby illustrating the differences among the various ways humans can affect the natural environment
- Cby criticizing society for taking careless, harmful courses of action against nature
- Dby demonstrating how the mountains and the people are able to benefit from each other
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how the poet develops the speaker’s point of view in the second stanza.
A. Incorrect. The speaker’s descriptions of the mountains’ awe-inspiring size and strength mainly occur in the first and third stanzas, while in the second stanza, the speaker focuses on humanity and its negative effect on the mountains.
B. Incorrect. The wording of the second stanza—“makes war” (line 10), “Splits down their shining sides” (line 12), and “Destroys the lonely fragments” (line 14)—communicates the speaker’s position that people’s main impact on the mountains is destructive; the wording does not illustrate different ways people impact the natural environment.
C. CORRECT. In the second stanza, the speaker criticizes the destructive actions of “the world” (lines 8 and 10) against the mountains—actions such as tunneling “their granite cliffs” (line 11) and destroying “the lonely fragments of their peace” (line 14).
D. Incorrect. In the second stanza, the speaker does not describe a positive relationship between the mountains and the people.
Question analysis
This point-of-view question on the poem “Snowy Mountains” asks how the poet develops the speaker’s outlook in the second stanza, lines 8–14. Students must read the stanza on its own, decide what attitude its images and verbs express, and then find the choice that names both that attitude and the way it comes across.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Below typical grade 7 demand. Grade 7 point-of-view questions often require weighing subtle or shifting attitudes; this stanza is seven short lines with one consistent stance, carried by strong action words, so it suits grade 6.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- How, not what moderate
- Figurative or literary language minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: 161 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 10, 66 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 speaker’s anger in lines 8–14 is plain, and most students sense that the stanza blames people. Points are lost to choices that describe the poem’s admiration of the peaks, which belongs to the stanzas around this one, or that list the stanza’s actions without their hostility. Staying inside the seven lines and reading the attitude in verbs such as “makes war” and “Destroys” settles it quickly.
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks how the viewpoint is built, and the answer lies in what the world does in lines 10–14: it “makes war,” “Tunnels,” “Splits,” “Plasters” and “Destroys.” (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Figurative or literary language minor Understanding the question
The stanza personifies the mountains as victims, ignored and robbed of “the lonely fragments of their peace,” so the criticism of people comes through sympathy for the peaks. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Read lines 8–14 by themselves and put the speaker’s attitude into a few words of your own before looking at the choices.
Traps
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
The wrong answers, classified
A Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Describes the first and third stanzas, which marvel at the peaks’ height and vastness; in lines 8–14 the “granite cliffs” and “shining sides” appear only as things being damaged.
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Sees that the stanza names several human actions, tunneling, splitting and plastering, but they are all blows in one “war,” not different kinds of effect laid side by side.
D Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads tunnels and advertisements as people putting the mountains to use, a kind of exchange, and misses the hostility of “The world makes war on them.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about point of view. That is how the speaker, the voice talking in the poem, feels about the subject. It also asks how the poet shows that feeling. Look only at the second stanza, lines 8 to 14.
Read the second stanza closely
The stanza opens with “But the world heeds them not” (line 8). To heed something is to pay attention to it. Then “the world” starts to act. It “makes war on them,” “Tunnels their granite cliffs,” and “Splits down their shining sides.” It covers them with ads. Finally, in line 14, it “Destroys the lonely fragments of their peace.”
Decide what the speaker thinks
Here “the world” means people in general. People ignore the mountains, yet keep hurting them. Each action is an attack: making war, tunneling, splitting, plastering, destroying. The speaker is clearly on the mountains’ side. By listing these acts, the speaker blames people for being careless and harmful. Blaming someone for what they do wrong is called criticism.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Size and strength fill the first and third stanzas, as in “Higher and still more high” and “Vaster and still more vast.” In lines 8 to 14, the mountains are only victims.
- B does not fit. The stanza lists several acts, but it does not compare them. They are all part of one “war.”
- C fits. The stanza blames society for ignoring and harming the mountains.
- D does not fit. The stanza shows no give-and-take. People only harm the mountains, and the mountains get nothing back.
Choose the answer
The speaker’s view comes through a list of careless, harmful acts that the poem plainly condemns. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice, because the stanza really does name several ways people affect the mountains. But the speaker is not studying how they differ. Each one is another blow in the same attack, and the speaker is upset by all of them. C names that anger as criticism, which is what the stanza does.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 46 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 46Uses the passage above: “Snowy Mountains”.
Question
Which detail from the poem reflects the speaker’s view that people often fail to appreciate what is familiar?
- A“The mountains from the great plateau” (line 6)
- B“They have been here now for too long a time.” (line 9)
- C“Splits down their shining sides,” (line 12)
- D“To which the future is as was the past,” (line 18)
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks for the detail from the poem that reflects the speaker’s view that people often fail to appreciate that which is familiar.
Line 9 (Option B) most directly supports this idea by implying that the mountains have been here for so long that people are accustomed to seeing them and no longer appreciate their beauty and value, making Option B the correct response.
Option A is incorrect because line 6 describes the mountains’ location, rather than their longevity or familiarity.
Option C is incorrect because, in line 12, the mention of harm that has been done to the mountains does not connect to a sense of overfamiliarity.
Option D is incorrect because, although line 18 alludes to the longevity of the mountains, it does not connect the longevity with a sense of overfamiliarity or the failure of people to appreciate the mountains’ worth.
Question analysis
Students pick the detail from the poem “Snowy Mountains” that reflects the speaker’s view that people often fail to appreciate what is familiar. The idea is never stated outright, so students must read each quoted line in its context and decide which one implies both familiarity and a loss of appreciation.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Evidence questions like this are typical grade 7 work, but the support here is implied rather than stated, which adds an inference step beyond simple matching of words.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: 161 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 3, 52 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 claim joins two ideas, long familiarity and failing to appreciate, and the right line shows them only together with the line before it. Students who match the idea of time pick the line about the future and the past, and those who match neglect pick a line of damage. Reading line 9 as the explanation for line 8 is the key move.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The line never says “familiar”; its meaning comes from its place right after “But the world heeds them not,” where being here “too long” reads as the reason for that neglect. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Each quoted line has to be read in its stanza, because out of context lines 9 and 18 both sound like statements about time. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Restate the claim as “people stop valuing something because they are used to it,” then check each quoted line within its stanza for a reason people might stop noticing the mountains.
Traps
- Supports only part of the claim: In a question about evidence: a line that backs one half of the claim but not the other, or a related point rather than the claim itself.
The wrong answers, classified
A Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
Line 6 only places the mountains above “the great plateau” and touches neither familiarity nor appreciation, so it mainly draws students who are guessing.
C Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Shows people harming the mountains, which fits the speaker’s complaint that they are not valued, but “Splits down their shining sides” gives no sign that familiarity is the cause.
D Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Notices that line 18 stresses how long the mountains endure, but it describes their permanence, not people growing used to them and ceasing to value them.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for a line that shows one of the speaker’s views: people often fail to appreciate what is familiar. Familiar means something you know well and see all the time. To appreciate is to value something. So the line must show people no longer valuing the mountains because they are used to them.
Read each line in its place
Line 9 says, “They have been here now for too long a time.” Read it with line 8 just before it: “But the world heeds them not.” “Heeds” means pays attention to. So the world ignores the mountains. Line 9 gives the reason. They have been around so long that people are used to them.
Explain what line 9 means
The mountains have not done anything wrong by being old. The words “too long” show how people feel about them. Something you see every day starts to seem plain. You stop noticing it. That is exactly the idea in the question: people stop valuing what is familiar.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. Line 6 only tells where the mountains are, above “the great plateau.”
- B fits. It explains that people ignore the mountains because they have seen them for so long.
- C is wrong. Line 12 shows harm, but it does not say familiarity is the cause.
- D is wrong. Line 18 means the mountains do not change over time. It is about how long they last, not about people getting used to them.
Choose the answer
Line 9 explains why the world ignores the mountains: people are too used to them. So the answer is B, “They have been here now for too long a time.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest trap, since lines 9 and 18 both talk about time. But line 18 praises the mountains for lasting. Line 9 follows “the world heeds them not” and explains it. Only line 9 links long familiarity to people not caring.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 47 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 47Uses the passage above: “Snowy Mountains”.
Question
Read lines 21–22 from the poem.
Barrier broken down by those who do not need
The joy of time-resisting storm-worn stone,
How do the lines help convey the speaker’s point of view?
- AThey suggest that the speaker wants to remove the obstacles that prevent others from experiencing the wonders of nature.
- BThey reveal the speaker’s opinion that some people are too busy to appreciate natural beauty.
- CThey reflect the speaker’s dismay that people destroy the natural landscape without understanding the ramifications of their actions.
- DThey explain that the speaker is confident that nature will never be fully destroyed by people.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how lines 21–22 help convey the speaker’s point of view.
A. Incorrect. The word “barrier” (line 21) refers to the speaker’s opinion that the mountains were “spread by Gods” (line 19) and not to an obstacle that the speaker thinks should be removed.
B. Incorrect. While the lines indicate that people have lost the need to connect with nature, they do not reveal that the speaker thinks that the cause of this loss is busyness.
C. CORRECT. The words “those who do not need / The joy” in lines 21–22 reflect the speaker’s sadness that people do not realize that they are destroying something wonderful and irreplaceable.
D. Incorrect. Although the speaker does say that the stone is “time-resisting” (line 22), this belief is only a small detail of the speaker’s point of view.
Question analysis
Two lines from the final stanza of “Snowy Mountains” describe a barrier broken down by people who do not need “The joy of time-resisting storm-worn stone,” and students must explain how these lines convey the speaker’s point of view. The phrasing is compact and old-fashioned, with an unusual use of “need,” so working out the plain meaning comes before choosing among close descriptions of the speaker’s feelings.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students often infer a speaker’s attitude from clear statements. Here the attitude must be drawn from a compressed sentence broken across two lines, and the choices differ in fine shades of feeling and cause.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Complex sentences major
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: 161 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 9, 99 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
Before any choice can be judged, the compressed, inverted verse has to be put into plain English: people with no use for the old stone’s joy have broken the barrier down. Once that paraphrase is in hand, the speaker’s sorrow is clear, yet two wrong choices offer nearby readings. One supplies a cause the lines never give, busyness, and the other turns the stone’s endurance into a promise that the same sentence contradicts.
Complex sentences major Understanding the question
The lines break mid-phrase, “those who do not need / The joy of time-resisting storm-worn stone,” inside a sentence whose subject arrives only in line 23, so who breaks what must be untangled first. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Neither dismay nor ignorance is stated; both must be inferred from describing the people as not needing “The joy” of the stone they break down. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
“Barrier” here means the mountain range as a great wall, not an obstacle, and the key turns on “ramifications,” a word many seventh graders will not know. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Read lines 21–22 with the lines just before them, restate the sentence in your own words, and then decide what the speaker thinks of the people it describes.
Traps
- Dictionary meaning, not meaning here: A common meaning of the word that does not fit its use in this text.
- Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
The wrong answers, classified
A Dictionary meaning, not meaning here (Perfetti, 2007)
Hears “Barrier” in its everyday sense of something blocking the way, but here it is the mountain range itself, “spread by Gods,” and the speaker regrets its breaking.
B Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Supplies a familiar modern explanation, people too busy for nature, though the lines say only that some people do not need this joy and never say why.
D Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Stretches “time-resisting” into certainty that nature can never be destroyed, overlooking that these lines show the barrier already “broken down” by people.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about point of view: what the speaker thinks and feels. Read lines 21 and 22, and decide what they show about the speaker’s attitude toward the people in them.
Read the lines with the ones before
Two lines earlier, the poem names the mountains a “Barrier spread by Gods” (line 19). A barrier is a wall, and here the wall is the mountain range itself. Line 21 says this barrier is “broken down by those who do not need” something. Line 22 says what that something is: “The joy of time-resisting storm-worn stone.”
Put the lines in plain words
Time-resisting means the stone has held out against ages of time. Storm-worn means storms have rubbed it down. So this stone is very old and very tough. In plain words: the mountains are being torn down by people who have no use for the joy this ancient stone can give. The speaker sounds sad and troubled that something so lasting is wrecked by people who do not value it.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Here “Barrier” means the mountains, not something blocking the way. The speaker is sorry it was broken, not eager to remove it.
- B does not fit. The lines never give a reason, such as being too busy. That idea comes from outside the poem.
- C fits. Dismay is a mix of sadness and alarm. Ramifications are the effects an action leads to later on. The speaker is dismayed that people wreck the mountains with no thought for what they are losing.
- D does not fit. The stone is “time-resisting,” but the same lines show it broken down. They express sorrow, not confidence.
Choose the answer
The lines show the mountains being broken by people who see no value in them, and the speaker is upset. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the strongest trap, because being too busy for nature sounds like a fair reason. But lines 21 and 22 never explain why these people do not need the stone’s joy. B adds a cause from outside the poem. C stays with what the lines show: damage to the mountains, done by people who do not value them, and the speaker’s distress.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 48 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 48Uses the passage above: “Snowy Mountains”.
Question
How do the details in the third stanza (lines 15–26) most contribute to the development of a theme of the poem?
- Aby reflecting nature’s capacity to resist change
- Bby showing that nature is capable of influencing human will
- Cby exposing how a lack of awareness leads to nature’s ruin
- Dby explaining why people must respect nature
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the details in the third stanza most contribute to the development of a theme of the poem.
A. CORRECT. In the third stanza, phrases such as “Wilderness still untamed” (line 17), “time-resisting storm-worn stone” (line 22), and “The mountains swing along” (line 23) convey the message that in spite of the destruction described in the second stanza, the mountains manage to maintain their wild magnificence.
B. Incorrect. While the phrase “Barrier broken down” (line 21) conveys the idea that people can have some effect on the natural landscape, it does not convey how nature affects people.
C. Incorrect. The phrase “those who do not need” (line 21) implies a choice to damage nature and not a lack of awareness or understanding.
D. Incorrect. The third stanza is not a call to humanity to respect the mountains but a description of the untamed, welcoming mountains and the joy they provide for those who appreciate them.
Question analysis
Students trace how the details of the third and final stanza of “Snowy Mountains,” lines 15–26, most contribute to developing a theme of the poem. Because the stanza is a single sentence that runs from line 15 to the poem’s last word, students must keep its whole movement in mind before deciding what it adds.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 theme questions usually rest on a few clear details. Here students must hold a twelve-line stanza of inverted, piled-up phrases in mind and pick among four reasonable lessons about nature, a heavier load closer to grade 8.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Complex sentences moderate
- Figurative or literary language moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: 161 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 7, 55 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 final stanza holds both endurance and damage, and the stem’s “most” asks which of the two its details build. Students who fix on the broken barrier choose ruin, a reading the second stanza seems to confirm, while those who tally the stanza’s details find untamed wilderness, time-resisting stone and mountains swinging at ease. Because the stanza is one long, inverted sentence, that tally is slow, which is what makes the question hard.
Complex sentences moderate Understanding the question
Lines 15–26 are one sentence in which phrase after phrase, from “Vaster and still more vast” to “storm-worn stone,” comes before its subject, “The mountains,” in line 23. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Figurative or literary language moderate Understanding the question
The message of endurance is carried by personification: the peaks have “shining foreheads,” are “spread by Gods,” and “swing along” the horizon welcoming the mists. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The theme has to be assembled from details scattered over twelve lines, “Wilderness still untamed,” “the future is as was the past,” “time-resisting,” and weighed against the single line of damage. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Read lines 15–26 as one long sentence, find its main subject and verb, and sum up its message in a phrase; then check each choice against the whole stanza, not a single line.
Traps
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.
- Reversed relationship: Cause and effect, or the order of events, turned around.
The wrong answers, classified
B Reversed relationship (King et al., 2004)
Turns the influence around: in this stanza people break down the barrier while the peaks endure, and nothing shows the mountains shaping what people want.
C Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Builds on line 21’s “Barrier broken down,” the stanza’s one line of damage, and lets it stand for twelve lines that mostly celebrate the mountains as wild and lasting.
D Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
States the lesson a nature poem is expected to teach, that people must respect nature, but the stanza describes the mountains and never tells readers what to do.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about theme, the big message of the poem. You need to see what the details of the third stanza, lines 15 to 26, add to that message. The word “most” matters. Pick the idea that most of the details support, not just one line.
Gather the details in lines 15 to 26
The peaks grow “Vaster and still more vast” (line 15). They are a “Wilderness still untamed” (line 17). For them, the future is “as was the past” (line 18). Their stone is “time-resisting” (line 22). In the last four lines, “The mountains swing along” the sky and welcome the mists. Only line 21 shows damage: the barrier is “broken down.”
Find what the details share
Untamed means still wild, not controlled by people. If the future is the same as the past, the mountains are not changing. Time-resisting means they hold out against the years. And at the end of the stanza, they are still moving along at ease. Nearly every detail shows the same thing. The mountains last and stay wild, which is nature’s power to resist change.
Check each choice
- A fits. Wild, unchanging, time-resisting mountains show nature holding out against change.
- B does not fit. It turns things around. In this stanza, people affect the mountains. Nothing shows the mountains changing what people want.
- C does not fit. Line 21 shows damage, but it is one line out of twelve. The stanza does not end in ruin either: the mountains still swing along and welcome the mists.
- D does not fit. These lines paint a picture of the peaks. They give readers no orders and no reasons to behave a certain way.
Choose the answer
Most of the third stanza shows mountains that stay wild and lasting. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest trap, because line 21 does show the barrier “broken down,” and the second stanza is full of harm. But this question is about the third stanza, and it asks what the details most add. Most of the other lines there show mountains that are vast, wild and lasting. That builds A, not ruin.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 49 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 49Uses the passage above: “Snowy Mountains”.
Question
Read lines 23–26 from the poem.
The mountains swing along
The south horizon of the sky;
Welcoming with wide floors of blue-green ice
The mists that dance and drive before the sun.
The personification in these concluding lines of the poem suggests that the mountains are
- Agracious hosts who are untroubled by the actions of people.
- Bunaware of their coming destruction.
- Clively entertainers who are amused by the everyday concerns of people.
- Dtoo proud to reveal their pain.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks what the personification in the concluding lines of the poem suggests about the mountains.
A. CORRECT. Line 25’s use of the word “Welcoming” suggests that the mountains are kind hosts. Lines 23 and 26, with language such as “The mountains swing along” and “The mists that dance and drive before the sun,” imply the carefree nature of the mountains as they resist the destructive work of humanity.
B. Incorrect. The personification in the lines conveys a sense of optimism and endurance, with no language to suggest coming destruction.
C. Incorrect. Although the lines mention that “the mountains swing along” (line 23) and “the mists . . . dance” (line 26), the personification is used to describe the mountains’ perseverance, rather than to suggest that the mountains are amused by the concerns of others.
D. Incorrect. Although the second stanza develops the idea that the mountains have been mistreated by humans, which might be a source of pain, the concluding lines emphasize the joy and perseverance of the mountains as they “swing along” (line 23) despite significant adversity.
Question analysis
Students interpret the personification in the closing lines of “Snowy Mountains,” lines 23–26, and decide what it suggests about the mountains on the south horizon. They need to see which human actions the poet gives the mountains and what kind of character those actions create, and then choose among four quite different personalities.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 readers routinely interpret personification, and here the four lines are printed with the question. The images are concrete and the choices give the mountains clearly different roles and moods, so careful matching settles it.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- Figurative or literary language moderate
- Complex sentences minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: 161 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 6, 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
The closing lines are calm and generous, and the task is to turn their personification into a character. Students who give the mists’ dancing to the mountains see performers, but the performer choice also has the mountains amused by people’s concerns, which nothing here supports, so a careful reader rejects it. The remaining losses come from carrying the second stanza’s damage into lines that show only ease and welcome.
Figurative or literary language moderate Understanding the question
The human traits must be sorted by who has them: the mountains “swing along” and are “Welcoming,” while the mists are the ones that “dance and drive before the sun.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
In “Welcoming with wide floors of blue-green ice / The mists,” the object of “Welcoming” comes after a long phrase and a line break, so who welcomes whom is easy to lose. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Strategy: Underline each verb or describing word in lines 23–26 that gives the mountains a human trait, then check every choice against all of them.
Traps
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
B Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Takes the mountains’ carefree swinging as ignorance and adds the earlier stanzas’ damage to it, but these four lines are serene and hint at no destruction to come.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Gives the mists’ dancing to the mountains and so makes them performers, then adds amusement at people’s concerns, though here the mountains only swing along and welcome the mists.
D Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Imagines a brave face hiding the wounds of the second stanza, but the lines show the mountains at ease and welcoming, with no sign of pride or pain.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about personification. That is when a writer describes a thing as if it were a person, with human actions or moods. You need to decide what kind of character the mountains seem to be in lines 23 to 26.
Find who does each action
The four lines are one sentence. In line 23, “The mountains swing along” the edge of the sky. Line 25 shows them “Welcoming with wide floors of blue-green ice.” The guests arrive in line 26: “The mists that dance and drive before the sun.” The mountains do two things here, swing along and welcome. The dancing belongs to the mists.
Decide what the actions suggest
Welcoming guests is what a host does. A host invites others in and makes them comfortable. Gracious means warm and polite. To swing along is to move in a relaxed, easy way. The second stanza was full of harm, yet here the mountains seem calm. They are untroubled, or not worried or upset.
Check each choice
- A fits. The mountains welcome the mists like gracious hosts, and they move at ease.
- B does not fit. Nothing in these lines hints at harm to come. The mood is calm and bright.
- C does not fit. Line 26 gives the dancing to the mists. And nothing shows the mountains laughing at people’s daily worries.
- D does not fit. There is no sign of pride or hidden pain. The mountains seem relaxed and open.
Choose the answer
Like kind hosts, the mountains greet their guests and stay calm. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C may tempt you, because swinging and dancing both sound lively. But check who dances: line 26 gives the dancing to the mists. The mountains are the ones “Welcoming” them, so they are hosts, not entertainers. C also says the mountains are amused by people, and these lines never show that.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 50 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 50Passage Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees”
Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees”
by Alex Ross
About forty-five hundred years ago, not long after the completion of the Great Pyramid at Giza, a seed of Pinus longaeva, the Great Basin bristlecone pine, landed on a steep slope in what are now known as the White Mountains, in eastern California. The seed may have travelled there on a gust of wind, its flight aided by a winglike attachment to the nut. Or it could have been planted by a bird known as the Clark’s nutcracker, which likes to hide pine seeds in caches; nutcrackers have phenomenal spatial1 memory and can recall thousands of such caches. This seed, however, lay undisturbed. On a moist day in fall, or in the wake of melting snows in spring, a seedling appeared above ground—a stubby one-inch stem with a tuft of bright-green shoots.
Most seedlings die within a year; the mortality rate is more than ninety-nine percent. The survivors are sometimes seen growing in the shadow of a fallen tree. The landscape of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, as this area of the White Mountains is called, is littered with fragments of dead trees—trunks, limbs, roots, and smaller chunks. Pinus longaeva grows exclusively in subalpine regions of the Great Basin, which stretches from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada to the Wasatch Range, in Utah. Conditions are generally too arid for the dead wood to rot; instead, it erodes, sanded down like rock. The remnants may harbor nutrients and fungi that help new trees grow. Bristlecones rise from the bones of their ancestors—a city within a cemetery.
Coast redwoods and giant sequoias, California’s gargantuan world-record-holding trees, can grow fifty feet or more in their first twenty years. Bristlecones rise agonizingly slowly. After four or five years, the seedling on the steep slope would have been just a few inches higher, sprouting needles in place of the embryonic shoots. The needles are a deep green, tough, resinous, and closely bunched in groups of five. On a mature tree, they live for fifty years or more. Decades may have passed before the tree was human height, and decades more before it resembled a conventional pine. Bristlecone saplings grow straight up, with relatively sparse foliage, looking like undernourished Christmas trees. After a few hundred years—by which time the Old Kingdom of Egypt had fallen—it was probably forty or fifty feet in height.
Many tree species live for hundreds of years. A smaller but not inconsiderable number, including the sequoias and certain yews, oaks, cypresses, and junipers, survive for thousands. Once a bristlecone has established itself in the unforgiving conditions of the White Mountains, it can last almost indefinitely. The trees tend to grow some distance from one another, so fires almost never destroy an entire stand. Because only a few other plant species can handle the dry, cold climate, the bristlecones face little competition. Unlike most plants, they tolerate dolomite soil, which is composed of a chalky type of limestone that is heavily alkaline and low in nutrients. As for insect threats, bristlecone wood is so dense that mountain-pine beetles and other pests can rarely burrow their way into it.
Empires rose and fell; wars raged; . . . and the tree from 2500 B.C. continued its implacable slow-motion existence, adding about two-hundredths of an inch to the diameter of its trunk each year. Minute changes in the tree-ring record make bristlecones an exceptionally useful source of data about changing conditions on Earth. When rains are heavier than normal, the rings widen. When volcanic eruptions cause global cooling, frost rings make the anomaly2 visible. . . .
As the millennia go by, bristlecones become contorted and wraithlike.3 The main stem, or leader, dies back. Entire branches, even the trunk itself, become fossils. At first glance, the tree may look dead. Such is the case of the forty-five-hundred-year-old tree that clings to life near the tourist path that now runs through the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Spears of dead wood jut into the air. The trunk is a marbled hulk stripped of bark, like driftwood thrown from a vanished ocean. A ribbon of live bark runs up one side, funneling water and nutrients to clumps of green needles high above. All told, the tree is an unprepossessing specimen; most people march past it without giving it a second glance. . . .
. . . No two super-elderly trees look alike, to the point where they have acquired the characteristics of individuals. Trees are prone to anthropomorphism; we project our dreams and our anxieties onto them. Bristlecones have been called elders, sentinels, sages. The possibility that climate change will cause their extinction has inspired a spate4 of alarmed news stories, although tree scientists tend to discount the idea that the bristlecones are in immediate danger. They have survived any number of catastrophes in the past; they may survive humanity.
From “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees” by Alex Ross from THE NEW YORKER, January 20, 2020. Copyright © 2020 by Condé Nast. All rights reserved.
1spatial: relating to physical space
2anomaly: oddity
3wraithlike: ghostly
4spate: sudden abundance
Question
What is the effect of comparing groups of bristlecone pines to “a city within a cemetery” (paragraph 2)?
- AIt illustrates that the new tree’s appearance is markedly different from that of mature bristlecone pines.
- BIt emphasizes the new tree’s ability to use resources left by prior generations of bristlecone pines.
- CIt highlights the tree’s capacity for a long life if it is able to survive to maturity.
- DIt reveals that the tree’s dense growth patterns are unusual in arid conditions.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks what the effect is of comparing groups of bristlecone pines to “a city within a cemetery” (paragraph 2).
A. Incorrect. The reference to “a city within a cemetery” describes how new trees use the remnants of their “ancestors” (paragraph 2) and makes no comment on the appearance of young versus mature trees.
B. CORRECT. The “cemetery” contains “the bones of their ancestors” (paragraph 2)—“ancestors” being earlier generations of bristlecone pines—which provide some of the nutrients that the new trees need.
C. Incorrect. The reference to “a cemetery” is not a comment on how long bristlecone pines can live; rather, it illustrates that the new pines are using remnants of their “ancestors” (paragraph 2) to grow.
D. Incorrect. Although the climate is mentioned in paragraph 2, it is not the reason for the comparison to “a city within a cemetery.” The comment is intended to illustrate how the new trees use nutrients left behind by the old ones.
Question analysis
This figurative language question on Alex Ross’s article about the bristlecone pine, one of the Earth’s oldest trees, asks what effect the author creates by comparing groups of these trees to “a city within a cemetery.” Students must interpret a metaphor in context, and the choices raise ideas the excerpt discusses elsewhere, so they must stay with what this comparison itself conveys.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Interpreting a metaphor from nearby context is standard grade 7 work. The phrase closes a paragraph whose earlier sentences give the needed context, so the demand is typical, though the excerpt’s rich vocabulary adds some reading load.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Figurative or literary language moderate
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 8, 851 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 79 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 comparison closes paragraph 2, and the sentence just before it explains it: the dead wood may hold nutrients and fungi that help seedlings grow. Students who read the image on its own reach for ideas from elsewhere in the excerpt, such as the trees’ great age, the look of young and old trees, or the dry climate. The question rewards reading the metaphor against its neighbors, which makes it fairly quick.
Figurative or literary language moderate Understanding the question
Both halves of the metaphor need decoding: the “city” is the living bristlecones, and the “cemetery” is the dead trunks, limbs and roots littering the slope, “the bones of their ancestors.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
The sentence that explains the image, “The remnants may harbor nutrients and fungi that help new trees grow,” depends on “remnants” and on “harbor” in its less familiar sense of hold. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Work out what the “city” and the “cemetery” each stand for by rereading the sentences just before the phrase, then choose the effect that both halves of the comparison support.
Traps
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
- Taking figurative language literally: A choice reads a figure of speech or image at face value.
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
The wrong answers, classified
A Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Reads the city and the cemetery as young and old trees that look different, a contrast drawn between paragraphs 3 and 6, though here the cemetery is dead wood.
C True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Applies the excerpt’s main idea, the trees’ great age, to this phrase, but a city in a cemetery shows living trees rising from dead ones, not how long they last.
D Taking figurative language literally (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Takes “city” at face value as crowded growth and pairs it with the paragraph’s “arid” conditions, though paragraph 4 says bristlecones grow some distance apart.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about a comparison. In paragraph 2, the author calls groups of bristlecones “a city within a cemetery.” You need to figure out what this picture helps the reader understand about the trees.
Read the sentences around it
Paragraph 2 says the forest floor is “littered with fragments of dead trees—trunks, limbs, roots, and smaller chunks.” Next it says, “The remnants may harbor nutrients and fungi that help new trees grow.” Then comes the comparison: “Bristlecones rise from the bones of their ancestors—a city within a cemetery.”
Decode the two halves of the picture
Remnants are leftover pieces. To harbor something here means to hold it. Fungi are living things such as mushrooms and molds. A cemetery is a place for the dead, so it stands for the dead wood. A city is full of life, so it stands for the living trees. Their ancestors are the trees that lived and died before them. So new trees grow out of the old ones’ remains and use what those remains hold.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The image is about living trees and dead wood. It says nothing about how young and old trees look.
- B fits. New trees use the nutrients and fungi left behind by earlier generations.
- C does not fit. The excerpt does show that bristlecones live long, but this image is about growing from dead wood.
- D does not fit. A city may sound crowded, but paragraph 4 says the trees “grow some distance from one another.”
Choose the answer
The comparison shows living trees rising from, and feeding on, the remains of their ancestors. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is tempting, because long life is what the whole excerpt is about. But the sentence just before the comparison explains it: the dead wood may hold nutrients that help new trees grow. The picture is about the living drawing on the dead, which is what B says.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees”” as printed (pages 193–194)
Question 51 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 51Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees””.
Question
In paragraph 4, the idea that the bristlecone pine can withstand difficult conditions is illustrated mainly through
- Aa comparison of the bristlecone pine with similar trees that are known for their long lives.
- Ba description of specific qualities of the bristlecone pine that make it suited to its environment.
- Can explanation of why the White Mountains are the best place for the bristlecone pine to grow.
- Dan examination of why the bristlecone pine has few competitors in the White Mountains.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how paragraph 4 mainly conveys the idea that the bristlecone pine can withstand difficult conditions.
A. Incorrect. While paragraph 4 does mention the bristlecone pine in conjunction with other long-living trees, this does not explain in any way how the bristlecone pine can survive difficult conditions.
B. CORRECT. Paragraph 4 mentions several qualities that help the bristlecone pine survive a difficult environment: it can survive in a “dry, cold climate” as few plants can, it tolerates a soil that is heavily alkaline and low in nutrients, and the density of its wood protects it from insects.
C. Incorrect. Paragraph 4 focuses on the qualities of the bristlecone pine that make it well suited to the White Mountains rather than on why the White Mountains are well suited to bristlecone pines.
D. Incorrect. While paragraph 4 does acknowledge that the bristlecone pine has few competitors because the pine can stand conditions few other plants can stand, it is the examination of the pine’s unique qualities that explains how the pine survives those conditions.
Question analysis
Students examine paragraph 4 of an article about the bristlecone pine and decide how it mainly illustrates the idea that this tree can withstand harsh conditions. The paragraph mixes comparisons with other species, facts about the White Mountains and facts about the tree, so students must recognize the main way the author builds the idea.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 students often identify how a paragraph supports an idea, and this one is typical in demand: one plainly written paragraph of seven sentences, with a few unfamiliar terms such as “dolomite” and “alkaline.”
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- How, not what moderate
- The right answer is reworded minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 8, 851 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 79 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
Paragraph 4 opens with other long-lived trees and then lists what lets the bristlecone last: spacing that keeps fires from spreading, tolerance of dry cold and poor soil, and wood too dense for beetles. The strongest lure lifts one item from that list and calls it the paragraph’s method. Students who step back and ask what most of the sentences describe see a set of the tree’s own traits.
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks how paragraph 4 makes its case, so its sentences have to be sorted by kind: a comparison with other long-lived trees, the setting, and the bristlecone’s own traits. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
The right answer is reworded minor Choosing the answer
The key names no detail, only “specific qualities” that suit the tree to “its environment,” while the wrong choices echo the paragraph’s long-lived trees, the White Mountains and “little competition.” (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Reread paragraph 4 and label each sentence by what it tells you, then ask which kind of detail carries most of the paragraph’s case that the tree is tough.
Traps
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
- Reversed relationship: Cause and effect, or the order of events, turned around.
The wrong answers, classified
A True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Notices that the paragraph opens by naming sequoias, yews and other trees that live for thousands of years, but that comparison sets the scene and shows nothing about surviving hardship.
C Reversed relationship (King et al., 2004)
Turns the relationship around: the paragraph shows the tree fitted to “unforgiving conditions,” not the White Mountains suiting the tree, let alone being the best place for it.
D Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Takes one result, little competition because few plants handle the dry, cold climate, for the paragraph’s main method, when it is one item in a list of survival traits.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how paragraph 4 mainly shows that the bristlecone can survive harsh conditions. Mainly means the method used in most of the paragraph, not in a single sentence. So sort the sentences by what they do.
Sort what paragraph 4 tells you
Here is what the paragraph covers, in order:
- Many trees live hundreds or even thousands of years.
- Once settled, a bristlecone “can last almost indefinitely,” or with no set end.
- The trees grow apart, so a fire rarely burns a whole group.
- Few plants can stand the dry, cold climate, so there is little competition.
- They can live in dolomite soil, which is chalky and low in nutrients.
- Their wood is so dense, or tightly packed, that beetles can rarely bore in.
Find the pattern
After the first two sentences, nearly every sentence describes the tree itself. It grows spread out. It handles cold, dry air and poor soil. Its wood is too hard for insects. Each of these is a quality, or trait, that fits the tree to its tough home. That list of traits is how the paragraph shows the tree’s toughness.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Other long-lived trees are named only at the start. That sets the scene but shows nothing about surviving hardship.
- B fits. Most of the paragraph lists the tree’s own traits that help it survive.
- C does not fit. It turns things around. The paragraph shows the tree suited to harsh mountains, not the mountains being the best place for it.
- D does not fit. Little competition is one item in the list, not the main method.
Choose the answer
Paragraph 4 mainly works by describing what lets the bristlecone handle its harsh home. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest trap, since paragraph 4 does say the trees face little competition. But that is just one result. The paragraph also points to spacing, tolerance of poor soil and dense wood. B covers all of these traits together, so it names the main method.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 52 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 52Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees””.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 5.
Empires rose and fell; wars raged; . . . and the tree from 2500 B.C. continued its implacable slow-motion existence, adding about two-hundredths of an inch to the diameter of its trunk each year.
The sentence contributes to the development of ideas in the excerpt by
- Aemphasizing the bristlecone pine’s precise growth pattern.
- Bsuggesting that things that seem well established face threats.
- Cdescribing the pace of the life cycle of the bristlecone pine.
- Dexplaining the reason for the bristlecone pine’s longevity.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how the first sentence of paragraph 5 contributes to the development of ideas in the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. While “two-hundredths of an inch” is a reference to the bristlecone pine’s growth pattern, the point of the reference—and of the entire sentence—is to emphasize the incredibly slow pace of the pine’s life cycle.
B. Incorrect. While “wars raged” is a threat that empires face, the point of mentioning wars and the rise and fall of empires is to emphasize the bristlecone pine’s slow-paced life cycle by contrasting its slowness with the big, dramatic changes taking place in human history during that life cycle.
C. CORRECT. Making reference to huge changes in human history such as the rise and fall of empires and the raging of wars provides a sharp contrast to the incredibly slow growth of the bristlecone pine.
D. Incorrect. This sentence describes how slowly the bristlecone pine grows in contrast to how dramatically human history changes in the same time span but never explains the reasons for the pine’s longevity.
Question analysis
This text structure question quotes a sentence from paragraph 5 of Alex Ross’s excerpt on bristlecone pines, the one that begins “Empires rose and fell; wars raged.” Students must explain how the sentence contributes to the development of ideas, and the choices offer four plausible readings of its purpose.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 students regularly explain how a sentence develops an idea. This sentence adds demanding vocabulary such as “implacable” and mixes human history with a botanical detail, but it is printed with the question, so the overall demand stays typical.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- How, not what moderate
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 8, 851 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 83 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 sentence sets the rise and fall of empires beside a tree that adds a sliver of trunk each year, and its job is the contrast between those two speeds. Students who stop at the opening clauses read a warning about threats, and those who know the excerpt is about age expect the sentence to explain that age. Holding the whole sentence together shows that it describes how slowly the tree lives.
How, not what moderate Working it out
Students must work out why an article about a tree mentions empires and wars: the human upheavals are a fast-moving backdrop that makes the tree’s “slow-motion existence” look slower still. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
“Implacable,” meaning relentless and unstoppable, describes the tree’s steady life, and students who do not know it lose part of the contrast the sentence builds. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Ask why an article about a tree mentions empires and wars at all, and what the sentence’s last clause adds; then pick the purpose the whole sentence serves.
Traps
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
- 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.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
The wrong answers, classified
A Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Takes the figure “about two-hundredths of an inch” as a sign of precision, though “about” makes it approximate and the number is there to show how little the trunk grows.
B Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Treats the falling empires and raging wars as the sentence’s point, a warning that established things are threatened, when they serve as a backdrop of rapid change.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Joins the tree’s slow growth to its great age and concludes that the sentence explains its longevity, but it only shows the tree outlasting history; paragraph 4 gives the reasons.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about the job of one sentence, the first one in paragraph 5. You need to decide what it adds to the excerpt’s ideas. Look at both halves of the sentence, the part about people and the part about the tree.
Look at both halves of the sentence
The first half is about human history: “Empires rose and fell; wars raged.” These are huge, fast changes. The second half is about the tree. It “continued its implacable slow-motion existence.” It added “about two-hundredths of an inch to the diameter of its trunk each year.”
Work out what the sentence shows
Implacable means steady and impossible to stop. Slow-motion means extremely slow. Diameter is the distance straight across the trunk. Two-hundredths of an inch is a tiny amount. While whole empires came and went, the tree barely grew. This contrast, a side-by-side difference, makes the tree’s pace of life seem even slower.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The amount is “about” two-hundredths of an inch, so it is not exact. The number is there to show how little the tree grows.
- B does not fit. Empires and wars are a background of fast change, not a warning about threats.
- C fits. The sentence shows how slowly the tree lives and grows.
- D does not fit. The sentence shows the tree outlasting history but never says why it lives so long. Paragraph 4 gives those reasons.
Choose the answer
The sentence sets fast human history beside the tree’s tiny yearly growth. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is tempting, because the sentence does show a very old tree. But showing that something lasts is not the same as explaining why. The sentence gives no cause. It only sets fast human change beside slow growth, and that describes the pace of the tree’s life, as C says.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 53 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 53Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees””.
Question
Which claim is best supported by the details in paragraph 5 about the bristlecone pine’s tree-ring record?
- AThe bristlecone pine must be protected from extinction so that there is a record of changing Earth conditions.
- BThe structure of the bristlecone pine allows scientists to predict changing Earth conditions over time.
- CThe slow growth process of the bristlecone pine allows it to survive in spite of changing Earth conditions.
- DThe bristlecone pine can be used to gather information on changing Earth conditions because of its long life.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which claim is best supported by the details about the bristlecone pine tree’s ring record presented in paragraph 5.
A. Incorrect. In paragraph 5, the author explains that the bristlecone pine is “an exceptionally useful source of data about changing conditions on Earth,” and this suggests that the information presented by the trees is particularly valuable and important. However, while the paragraph explains that the data provided by the trees are important, it does not address the need to protect the trees from any threat of extinction. The only reference to the trees’ extinction is in paragraph 7, when the author addresses the “possibility that climate change will cause their extinction” but then explains that “scientists tend to discount the idea that the bristlecones are in immediate danger.”
B. Incorrect. Paragraph 5 describes “minute changes in the tree-ring record” that make bristlecone pines “an exceptionally useful source of data about changing conditions on Earth,” and examples of those changing conditions are described in the present tense: “When rains are heavier than normal, the rings widen.” However, the term “record” indicates that the tree rings are already formed by the time scientists study them. The trees provide information about the past, which is emphasized by the description at the beginning of paragraph 5 of historic events one tree lived through. The excerpt contains no information about whether scientists can use the climate patterns of the past as evidenced by tree rings to make predictions about the future.
C. Incorrect. Paragraph 5 describes the “slow-motion existence” of the bristlecone pine and provides examples of the record of “changing conditions on Earth” reflected in the rings of the trees. However, although the paragraph makes it clear that the trees have been able to survive these changing conditions, the paragraph does not indicate that the slow growth of the trees, each of which adds only “about two-hundredths of an inch to the diameter of its trunk each year,” is the key to their survival. Instead, paragraph 4 lists other reasons why an established bristlecone pine “can last almost indefinitely,” including distance between individual trees; tolerance for cold, dry conditions and dolomite soil; and wood that is resistant to insects.
D. CORRECT. Paragraph 5 emphasizes the longevity of the bristlecone pine by discussing its “implacable slow-motion existence” and how this makes the trees a valuable source of information for scientists. The author explains that “minute changes in the tree-ring record make bristlecones an exceptionally useful source of data about changing conditions on Earth.” A tree that has been alive since 2500 B.C., like the one in paragraph 5, can provide a long record of the changing climate.
Question analysis
Students decide which claim is best supported by the details about tree rings in paragraph 5 of an article on the ancient bristlecone pines of California’s White Mountains. Every choice links the trees to changing conditions on Earth, so the challenge is noticing which claim stays within what the paragraph actually says.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Choosing the claim a paragraph supports is core grade 7 inference work, and paragraph 5 is only four sentences long. The demand is typical: one careful reading of those sentences, plus attention to the exact wording of each claim.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 8, 851 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 85 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- An inaccurate detail in the explanation was corrected.
- 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 claims tie the bristlecone to changing conditions on Earth, so the paragraph’s topic cannot separate them; only what the paragraph supports can. Two claims go a step past it, one turning a record of the past into a tool for prediction and the other making slow growth the cause of survival. The right claim also goes slightly beyond the words, but only by linking the ring record to the tree’s forty-five centuries.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The predicting choice shares the key’s frame, the tree giving scientists knowledge of “changing conditions on Earth”; they part on direction, since a ring “record” shows past conditions and forecasts nothing. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Paragraph 5 credits the rings’ “minute changes,” not the tree’s age, so the key’s “because of its long life” has to be inferred from a tree that has been growing since 2500 B.C. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Every claim mentions changing conditions on Earth, so none can be dropped as off topic; each must be tested against what the four sentences of paragraph 5 actually say. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Restate in your own words what paragraph 5 says the tree rings record, then ask of each claim whether those four sentences alone would let you say it.
Traps
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
- Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.
The wrong answers, classified
A Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Turns the value of the ring data into a familiar conservation argument, but paragraph 5 calls for no protection, and paragraph 7 says scientists doubt the trees are in immediate danger.
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Reads the present-tense examples, rings that widen when rains are heavy, as a way to forecast, but a tree-ring record shows conditions already past and predicts nothing.
C Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Links the “slow-motion existence” to the tree’s survival as cause and effect, a connection paragraph 5 never makes, and leaves out the tree-ring record the question asks about.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: In explaining why Option C is wrong, the handbook says paragraph 4 lists “bark that is resistant to insects.” Paragraph 4 says that bristlecone wood “is so dense that mountain-pine beetles and other pests can rarely burrow their way into it”; it says nothing about the bark. The site now says “wood that is resistant to insects.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks which claim is best supported by paragraph 5’s details about tree rings. A tree ring is the layer of wood a tree adds each year. You need the claim those details really back up, without adding ideas the paragraph never gives.
Find the tree-ring details
Paragraph 5 says, “Minute changes in the tree-ring record make bristlecones an exceptionally useful source of data about changing conditions on Earth.” Then it gives examples. “When rains are heavier than normal, the rings widen.” When volcanoes cool the planet, “frost rings” show it. The same paragraph describes a tree that has been growing since 2500 B.C.
Explain what the details mean
Minute (said my-NOOT) means tiny. Data means facts and measurements. Each year adds a ring, so the rings work like a diary of conditions on Earth. A tree alive since 2500 B.C. holds about 4,500 years of these yearly entries. Its long life is what makes its record so long and so useful.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Paragraph 5 never says the tree must be protected. Paragraph 7 even says scientists doubt it is in immediate danger.
- B does not fit. A record shows what already happened. Nothing says the rings can predict the future.
- C does not fit. Paragraph 5 never says slow growth keeps the tree alive. Paragraph 4 gives the reasons, such as wood too dense for insects. C also leaves out the rings.
- D fits. A tree that lives for thousands of years keeps a ring record of changing conditions over all that time.
Choose the answer
The rings record changes on Earth, and the tree’s great age makes that record long. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B comes nearest to the right answer. Like D, it says the tree gives scientists facts about changing conditions on Earth. But the rings are a “record,” and a record tells about the past, not the future. D stays with what the paragraph supports: a long-lived tree holds a long record of change.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 54 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 54Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees””.
Question
The phrases “clings to life” and “stripped of bark” in paragraph 6 are used to highlight
- Athat the tree is fragile and needs help to avoid becoming extinct.
- Bhow the tree can be misunderstood because of its appearance.
- Chow the tree interests observers with its unusual appearance.
- Dthat the tree manages to survive even when partially fossilized.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks what the phrases “clings to life” and “stripped of bark” in paragraph 6 are used to emphasize.
A. Incorrect. While these two phrases are suggestive of the tree’s fragility, nothing in this paragraph suggests that the tree needs help to avoid extinction.
B. Incorrect. While the tree may be misunderstood to be dead because it is “stripped of bark,” the phrase “clings to life” emphasizes the fact that the tree is not dead but manages to survive.
C. Incorrect. The paragraph says that far from being interested in the tree’s unusual appearance, “most people march past it without giving it a second glance” (paragraph 6).
D. CORRECT. The phrase “clings to life” emphasizes that the tree is still surviving even though it is partially fossilized, as shown by its “marbled hulk stripped of bark” (paragraph 6).
Question analysis
This word meaning question asks what the phrases “clings to life” and “stripped of bark” highlight in paragraph 6 of an article about a forty-five-hundred-year-old bristlecone pine. Students must interpret figurative and descriptive language in context, read the phrases against the rest of the paragraph, and find the idea the author uses them to stress.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining what figurative phrases emphasize is everyday grade 7 work. Both phrases sit in one short paragraph of concrete description and the choices are brief, so the demand is typical, though vocabulary such as “unprepossessing” adds some load.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Figurative or literary language moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 8, 851 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 56 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
One phrase points to death and the other to life, and the question asks what the pair stresses together. The strongest lure explains only the bark phrase: paragraph 6 does say the tree may look dead, so a choice about being misunderstood seems well grounded. Students who give “clings to life” equal weight see a tree that survives even as its trunk turns to fossil.
Figurative or literary language moderate Understanding the question
“Clings to life” personifies the tree as holding on by a thread, and “stripped of bark” belongs to the image of a “marbled hulk” like driftwood, so the pair sets death beside survival. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The key’s “partially fossilized” is never said of this tree; it comes from linking “stripped of bark” to the paragraph’s earlier statement that “Entire branches, even the trunk itself, become fossils.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Decide what each phrase suggests by itself, then what the two say when read together within paragraph 6, and choose the idea that both phrases support.
Traps
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
The wrong answers, classified
A Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Hears fragility in “clings to life,” which the phrase does suggest, but adds a need for help against extinction that paragraph 6 never mentions and paragraph 7 plays down.
B True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Rests on a real point of paragraph 6, that the tree “may look dead” at first glance, but “clings to life” stresses its survival, not how people misjudge it.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Assumes an odd-looking tree draws attention, reversing the paragraph, which says “most people march past it without giving it a second glance.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about two phrases in paragraph 6, “clings to life” and “stripped of bark.” You need to see what they point out when you read them together. Look for the idea that both phrases support.
Find the phrases in paragraph 6
In very old bristlecones, “Entire branches, even the trunk itself, become fossils” (paragraph 6). Next the author describes one 4,500-year-old tree “that clings to life near the tourist path” (paragraph 6). Its “trunk is a marbled hulk stripped of bark,” like driftwood. Still, “A ribbon of live bark runs up one side,” carrying water and nutrients to green needles high above.
Work out what each phrase means
To cling to life is to hold on to it hard, like gripping a rope. A fossil here is wood so old and dead that it has hardened, almost like stone. A hulk is a big, empty shell. Stripped of bark means the bark is gone. So one phrase shows a bare, fossil-like trunk, and the other shows a tree that is still alive. Together they show a tree that survives even though much of it has turned to fossil.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The phrase “clings to life” does hint that the tree is fragile. But nothing in paragraph 6 says it needs help to avoid dying out.
- B does not fit. The paragraph says the tree “may look dead.” But “clings to life” stresses that it survives, not that people misjudge it.
- C does not fit. Paragraph 6 says the opposite: “most people march past it without giving it a second glance.”
- D fits. The bare, fossil-like trunk and the tree’s grip on life together show survival.
Choose the answer
The two phrases set a dead-looking trunk beside a tree that refuses to die. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest trap, because the tree really can look dead. But B explains only the bark phrase. The phrase “clings to life” tells you the tree is still living. D uses both phrases: a trunk that has turned to fossil, and a tree that survives anyway.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 55 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 55Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees””.
Question
The details in paragraph 7 convey a central idea of the excerpt by suggesting that
- Athe success of the bristlecone pine lies in its ability to resist climate change.
- Bthe uncommon appearance of the bristlecone pine is related to its ability to survive.
- Cthe attachment that humans have to the bristlecone pine is understandable.
- Dthe longevity of the bristlecone pine continues to encourage experts.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which central idea of the excerpt is supported by the details in paragraph 7.
A. Incorrect. While paragraph 7 mentions the pines’ ability to survive climate change, the central idea is about the trees’ longevity. Surviving climate change is a part of the pines’ longevity, but just surviving climate change does not fully encompass the central idea of the excerpt.
B. Incorrect. Although the paragraph mentions that the “super-elderly trees” are each unique in appearance, their appearance does not directly connect to their ability to survive. The details in paragraph 7 emphasize the durability and longevity of the trees.
C. Incorrect. While the beginning of paragraph 7 expresses the idea that each bristlecone pine appears to be a unique individual and supports the idea that humans relate to the pines, the paragraph expresses a stronger central idea in the last two sentences about the pines’ survival.
D. CORRECT. The longevity of bristlecone pines is a central idea of the excerpt. Experts are encouraged that bristlecone pines have survived many catastrophes, and the details in the second half of paragraph 7 draw direct attention to the trees’ longevity.
Question analysis
Students explain how the details in paragraph 7, the closing paragraph of Alex Ross’s excerpt on bristlecone pines, convey a central idea of the whole piece. The paragraph moves from people seeing old trees as individuals to alarmed news stories and the views of tree scientists, so students must decide which thread ties to the excerpt’s main idea.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 central idea questions often ask what a passage is mostly about. Here students must connect one closing paragraph that touches several topics to an idea of the whole excerpt, reading its details for what they imply as well as what they say.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines major
- The right answer is reworded moderate
- Evidence in several places minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 8, 851 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 63 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
Paragraph 7 moves through several topics, trees that look like individuals, people projecting feelings onto them, alarmed news and calm scientists, and only its last two sentences connect to the excerpt’s main idea. The strongest lure states a true point about human attachment that the paragraph does make, while the key has to be inferred from the scientists’ calm and the trees’ record of survival. Naming the central idea first, the trees’ extraordinary age, shows which thread of the paragraph serves it.
Reading between the lines major Working it out
Nothing in paragraph 7 says experts are encouraged; it has to be read from “tree scientists tend to discount the idea that the bristlecones are in immediate danger,” set against the “alarmed news stories.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
The right answer is reworded moderate Choosing the answer
The key speaks of “longevity” and of experts being encouraged, words the paragraph never uses, while two wrong choices repeat its “climate change” and “survive” and so look better anchored. (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
Recognizing longevity as a central idea draws on the whole excerpt: the tree from the time of the Great Pyramid in paragraph 1, its endurance in paragraph 4 and its ring record in paragraph 5. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Name the central idea of the whole excerpt first, then reread paragraph 7 and find the sentences that connect to it.
Traps
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
A Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Joins the paragraph’s mention of climate change to the trees’ survival and makes resisting it the secret of their success, but the paragraph only reports fears and gives no such cause.
B Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Links the remark that no two old trees look alike to their survival, a connection paragraph 7 never draws; the detail shows only that they seem like individuals.
C True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Relies on the paragraph’s real remarks about people calling the trees elders, sentinels and sages, but that human attachment is a side point, not a central idea of the excerpt.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how paragraph 7 connects to a central idea, a main point of the whole excerpt. So first name that idea. Then find which details in paragraph 7 point to it.
Name the excerpt’s central idea
The excerpt follows a tree that has lived about 4,500 years. Paragraph 1 starts its story near the time of the Great Pyramid. A settled bristlecone “can last almost indefinitely” (paragraph 4). Paragraph 5 shows a tree living on while empires “rose and fell.” So a central idea is the bristlecone’s amazing longevity, or long life.
Find the matching details in paragraph 7
Paragraph 7 first says people treat the old trees almost like persons. Then it turns to climate change. News stories sound alarmed, “although tree scientists tend to discount the idea that the bristlecones are in immediate danger.” To discount an idea is to doubt it. The last sentence gives the reason: “They have survived any number of catastrophes in the past; they may survive humanity.”
Explain what the details suggest
A catastrophe is a terrible disaster. The trees have lived through so many disasters that scientists are not very worried. In other words, the trees’ long record of survival gives the experts hope. That ties paragraph 7 to the central idea of longevity.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Climate change comes up only as a fear in the news. The paragraph never says the trees succeed by resisting it.
- B does not fit. Paragraph 7 says no two old trees look alike, but it never links their looks to their survival.
- C does not fit. People do call the trees “elders, sentinels, sages,” but that feeling is a side point, not a central idea.
- D fits. Experts take comfort from how long the trees have survived.
Choose the answer
Paragraph 7 ends on the trees’ long survival and the experts’ calm about their future. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the strongest trap, because paragraph 7 really does say people feel close to the trees. But the question asks for a central idea of the whole excerpt. Long life runs through every paragraph, and the last two sentences of paragraph 7 tie into it. That is why D fits better.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 56 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 56Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees””.
Question
What is the best summary of the bristlecone pine’s life cycle?
- AThe bristlecone pine takes root as a stubby seedling in the mountains. Over time, it grows slowly in a hostile environment with alkaline soil that ensures little competition from other trees.
- BThe bristlecone pine grows up slowly from the fragments of its dead ancestors. Over time, it begins to become contorted in appearance but continues to funnel water and nutrients to its stem.
- CThe bristlecone pine grows slowly in an environment hostile to other trees. Over time, its trunk and some branches fossilize, but it funnels water and nutrients to other parts that are still alive.
- DThe bristlecone pine grows only in one location in the mountains. Over time, it develops sparse foliage that fossilizes slowly, but the trunk and branches stay alive, as revealed by ribbons of live bark.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks for the best summary of the bristlecone pine’s life cycle.
A. Incorrect. Though the summary in this option covers key points in the life cycle, it focuses on minor details (“stubby seedling” and “alkaline soil”) while leaving out major details of the life cycle (for example, the fact that parts of the trees become fossilized over time).
B. Incorrect. This option addresses the unique quality of the pine growing from “fragments of its dead ancestors”; however, it does not address the fossilization phase, which is a major part of the life cycle. In addition, this option incorrectly states that the tree continues to funnel nutrients to its stem.
C. CORRECT. The option describes the key phases of the pine’s life cycle without focusing on minor details. The organization of the summary is chronological, and the information presented is accurate.
D. Incorrect. The option focuses more on the location and the appearance of the pine than on the phases of the pine’s life cycle. The option also describes the pine’s appearance inaccurately: it says that the foliage fossilizes and the trunk and branches stay alive, but paragraph 6 says that “entire branches, even the trunk itself, become fossils.” It provides little information about the main phases of the pine’s life cycle.
Question analysis
This summary question asks students to choose the best summary of the life cycle of the Great Basin bristlecone pine, as described across Alex Ross’s excerpt about the Earth’s oldest trees. Each choice is two sentences long and sounds accurate, and the differences lie in which stages of the tree’s long life each one includes and how faithfully it reports them.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Summarizing a process is regular grade 7 work, but this life cycle unfolds across six paragraphs of dense description, and each choice is a two-sentence summary with accurate-sounding details, so spotting small omissions and errors takes more than typical care.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- Every choice must be checked major
- Evidence in several places moderate
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 8, 851 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 141 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- An inaccurate statement in the explanation was corrected.
- 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 good summary of this life cycle has to reach old age, when the trunk and branches turn to fossil while a strip of bark keeps the tree alive, and it has to get that stage right. One wrong choice never gets past youth, another reaches old age but keeps the wrong part alive, and a third mixes up which parts fossilize. Recalling paragraph 6 exactly, with every choice two sentences long, is what makes the question slow.
Every choice must be checked major Choosing the answer
Each two-sentence summary sounds accurate, and its flaw is an omission or a wrong detail, such as nutrients sent to a stem that dies back or foliage that fossilizes, so every clause must be checked. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The life cycle runs across six paragraphs: the seedling in paragraph 1, the dead ancestors in 2, slow growth in 3, harsh conditions in 4, and fossilized wood with a live ribbon of bark in 6. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The ancestors-and-stem summary has the key’s shape, slow growth, then decline, then water and nutrients still funneled; it differs in where they go, the stem, which paragraph 6 says “dies back.” (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Before reading the choices, list the stages of the tree’s life from seed to old age with one detail each, then check every sentence of each summary against the passage.
Traps
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
The wrong answers, classified
A Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Covers only the tree’s youth, the stubby seedling and slow growth in poor alkaline soil, and stops before the fossilizing and the live strip of bark that mark its old age.
B Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Starts accurately with growth among dead ancestors and a contorted old age, but sends water and nutrients to the stem, which dies back, and leaves out fossilization.
D Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Assembles real words from the excerpt, sparse foliage, fossils and live bark, but swaps which parts fossilize and shrinks a range across the Great Basin to one location.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The handbook says Option D “contains an accurate description of the pine’s appearance.” It does not: Option D says the foliage fossilizes and the trunk and branches stay alive, but paragraph 6 says that “entire branches, even the trunk itself, become fossils,” as the correct answer, Option C, also says. The site now says that the option describes the pine’s appearance inaccurately.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for the best summary of the bristlecone’s life cycle. A life cycle is the stages of a living thing’s life, from its start to old age. A good summary covers the main stages in order and gets each one right.
List the stages from the excerpt
- Young: the seedling grows “agonizingly slowly” (paragraph 3).
- Settled: it lives where few plants “can handle the dry, cold climate” (paragraph 4).
- Old: “The main stem, or leader, dies back,” and “Entire branches, even the trunk itself, become fossils” (paragraph 6).
- Still alive: “A ribbon of live bark runs up one side, funneling water and nutrients to clumps of green needles high above” (paragraph 6).
Explain the hard words
Hostile means unfriendly or harsh. To fossilize here means to turn into hard, dead wood, almost like stone. To funnel is to carry something along a narrow path. Contorted means twisted out of shape. Nutrients are the things a plant needs to grow. Foliage means leaves, which for a pine are its needles.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. It stops while the tree is young. It never reaches old age, when parts of the tree turn to fossil.
- B does not fit. The main stem “dies back,” so water is not sent to the stem. B also leaves out the fossil stage.
- C fits. It gives slow growth in a harsh place, then a fossilized trunk and branches, with water still carried to the living parts.
- D does not fit. Paragraph 2 says bristlecones grow in high areas across the Great Basin, a region that stretches into Utah. That is not one location. D also mixes up the parts: the trunk and branches turn to fossil, not the foliage.
Choose the answer
Only one summary reaches old age and gets every stage right. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B looks the most like the right answer. Like C, it moves from young growth to old age and has water and nutrients still flowing. But it sends them to the stem, and paragraph 6 says the stem “dies back.” C sends them to the parts still alive, which matches the ribbon of live bark.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 57 of 57
2024 Test B English, question 57Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees””.
Question
Throughout the excerpt, the author conveys his point of view mainly by
- Asharing details about the qualities of the bristlecone pine that make it an unusual tree.
- Bcomparing the bristlecone pine to global empires that lasted thousands of years before falling.
- Cexplaining the way the seemingly sickly appearance of the bristlecone pine contrasts with its ability to survive.
- Darguing that the bristlecone pine has survived past threats to its survival and will continue to thrive.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the author mainly conveys his point of view throughout the excerpt.
A. CORRECT. The author clearly conveys his interest in and admiration of the bristlecone pine by sharing many details throughout the excerpt that show how unusual the tree is; these include details about the tree using remnants from previous generations (paragraph 2), details about the tree’s “agonizingly” slow growth rate (paragraph 3), and details about the incredibly difficult growing conditions that the tree thrives in (paragraph 4).
B. Incorrect. While the author does briefly compare the bristlecone pine to global empires (paragraphs 1, 3, and 5), he mainly offers many details throughout the excerpt about what makes the bristlecone pine so unusual.
C. Incorrect. While paragraph 6 largely focuses on the contrast of the pine’s sickly appearance with its ability to survive, this is just one detail about the pine that makes it unusual. The author offers many such details throughout the excerpt.
D. Incorrect. The author suggests in paragraph 7 that the bristlecone pine “may survive humanity,” but this is just one detail about the bristlecone that the author offers in an excerpt full of details, each of which contributes to an understanding of how unusual this tree is.
Question analysis
This point-of-view question asks how Alex Ross mainly conveys his view of the bristlecone pine throughout an excerpt from his article “The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees.” His attitude is never stated directly, and each choice is tied to something in the piece, so students must judge what he does most consistently.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 readers are regularly asked how an author reveals a point of view in nonfiction. This excerpt is long and descriptive, and every choice grows out of a real detail, so students must weigh the whole piece before choosing.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Evidence in several places moderate
- How, not what moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 8, 851 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 75 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
Every choice grows from something real in the excerpt, so the question turns on the word “throughout.” The strongest lure describes paragraph 6 well but nothing else, another inflates the closing “may survive humanity” into an argument, and a third makes the history references the method. Students who sum up each paragraph in a few words see that most of them describe an unusual feature of the tree, which is how the author’s admiration comes through.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The author’s view has to be gathered from across the excerpt: seedlings rising from dead wood, growth “agonizingly slowly,” wood too dense for beetles, the ring record and the fossilized trunk. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks how the view is conveyed, a method, so students must notice that the author seldom states an opinion and instead piles up details that make the tree remarkable. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Note in a few words what the author does in each paragraph, then test each choice against that list, keeping in mind that the question says “throughout.”
Traps
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
The wrong answers, classified
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Turns the brief mentions of the Great Pyramid, the Old Kingdom and fallen empires, which mark how long the tree has lived, into a comparison with empires that lasted millennia.
C Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Takes paragraph 6’s contrast between a tree that “may look dead” and one that “clings to life” for the author’s method throughout, though it is one striking detail among many.
D Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Hardens the closing “they may survive humanity” into a confident claim that the tree will thrive, and calls the excerpt an argument, though it mostly describes.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how the author mainly shows his point of view, his attitude toward the bristlecone. The word “throughout” means across the whole excerpt. So the answer must describe something he does in most paragraphs, not just one.
Note what each paragraph does
- Paragraph 1: a seed lands about 4,500 years ago.
- Paragraph 2: young trees grow from the dead wood of old ones.
- Paragraph 3: they grow “agonizingly slowly.”
- Paragraph 4: they survive cold, dry air, poor soil and insects.
- Paragraph 5: their rings record changes on Earth.
- Paragraph 6: an ancient tree looks dead but “clings to life.”
- Paragraph 7: the trees “may survive humanity.”
Find the pattern
Almost every paragraph adds a fact about something unusual in the tree. The author rarely states his opinion outright. Instead, he piles up amazing details: its great age, its slow growth, its toughness. These details show his wonder and respect without his having to say so.
Check each choice
- A fits. Across the whole excerpt, the author shares details that make the tree unusual.
- B does not fit. The pyramid, the Old Kingdom and the fallen empires come up only briefly, to mark how long the tree has lived. They are not the author’s main method.
- C does not fit. The contrast between looking sickly and staying alive belongs to paragraph 6 only.
- D does not fit. The excerpt mostly describes rather than argues. And “they may survive humanity” is a maybe, not a promise that the trees will thrive.
Choose the answer
The author’s view comes through the many unusual details he gathers. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the strongest trap, because paragraph 6 really does contrast a tree that “may look dead” with one that “clings to life.” But the question says “throughout.” That contrast is one detail in one paragraph. A describes what the author does in nearly every paragraph.
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The original DOE question
