2023
This test has the first 120 of the 228 questions that match.
Question 1 of 120
2026 Practice Test A English, question 43Passage The Benefits of Indoor Plants
The Benefits of Indoor Plants
(1) In an age of endless media content, it is easy to see why people might prefer to stay inside. (2) According to a study sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans spend an average of 87 percent of their time indoors. (3) Scientists say that this separation between people and nature puts people at risk for physical and psychological issues.
(4) During the process of photosynthesis, plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and remove many harmful toxins from the air. (5) Spending prolonged periods of time indoors, away from plants, deprives people of these benefits. (6) Air that is not regularly detoxified can lead to a condition known as sick building syndrome. (7) This disorder first came to light in the 1970s when many office workers in the United States began to complain of unexplained flu-like symptoms. (8) Researchers determined the cause to be volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. (9) VOCs are harmful chemicals that are emitted by everyday objects such as carpet, furniture, cleaning products, and computers. (10) The NASA Clean Air Study found a simple way to remove a significant number of VOCs within a 24-hour period: add plants to indoor spaces.
(11) Adding plants to indoor spaces has psychological benefits too. (12) Research has long linked time spent in natural environments with increased energy and feelings of contentment. (13) While being outdoors is an excellent option for improving a person’s mental health, recent research has indicated that encountering natural elements while indoors can also help. (14) To experience the maximum benefit of natural elements, experts suggest placing at least one live plant per 100 square feet of home or office space.
(15) Connecting with nature, even just by being near an indoor plant, is a significant factor in a person’s well-being. (16) Sitting in front of an electronic screen all day isn’t natural, and today’s workers need to get up and get outdoors. (17) Richard Ryan, a psychology professor at the University of Rochester, puts it this way: “Nature is something within which we flourish, so having it be more a part of our lives is critical, especially when we live and work in built environments.”
Question
Which sentence should follow sentence 3 to best introduce the topic of the passage?
- APlacing plants in homes and offices can provide a healthy bridge between nature and the indoors.
- BIt is important for people to realize that they need to spend more time near plants, whether indoors or out in nature.
- CFor their personal health and well-being, people need to spend more time outdoors or bring the outdoors in.
- DIndividuals with little connection to nature can experience illness, depression, and higher levels of stress.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks which sentence should follow sentence 3 to best introduce the topic of the passage.
A. CORRECT. The sentence introduces the overall topic by previewing the main ideas in the passage. It introduces the connection between natural elements and well-being (“a healthy bridge”) and sets up the main argument of the passage (“Placing plants in homes and offices” can increase people’s well-being).
B. Incorrect. Although sentence 3 mentions the connection between “people and nature,” this sentence references the importance of spending time near plants while both indoors and outdoors. However, the passage focuses specifically on the benefits of having indoor plants.
C. Incorrect: Though the sentence describes a reason why indoor plants are important (“For [people’s] personal health and well-being”), the topic of the passage is related to the need for indoor plants, not the need for people to spend more time outdoors.
D. Incorrect. While the sentence refers to how time away from nature can affect health and well-being, the vague wording (“little connection to nature”) makes this sentence too broad to introduce the topic of the passage, and thus, it should not follow sentence 3.
Question analysis
This revising question works with the four-paragraph passage “The Benefits of Indoor Plants” and asks which sentence should follow sentence 3 to introduce the passage's topic. The opening paragraph ends on the health risks of time spent away from nature, and every choice continues that thought in some way, so students must judge which one prepares a reader for what the passage goes on to cover.
- NYS standards
- 7W2a introducing and organizing a topic
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Introducing a topic so that it previews what follows is a grade 7 writing standard, practised often in class. The passage is short and plainly worded, and the choices differ in focus rather than in grammar, typical 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
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- How sentences fit together minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 346 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 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 first paragraph ends on a problem, and all four choices continue it plausibly, so the decision is about scope. The passage is about plants indoors, and the near miss offers outdoor time as an equal remedy, while another widens the subject to plants anywhere and a third simply restates the danger. Students who skim the topic sentences of the later paragraphs before choosing see that only an indoor solution introduces what follows.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The choice ending “or bring the outdoors in” sounds like the key's “bridge between nature and the indoors,” but it adds spending more time outdoors, a remedy the passage does not develop. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The topic only emerges from the later paragraphs: plants cleaning indoor air in sentences 4–10, their psychological benefits in 11–14, and nature brought indoors in 15–17. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
How sentences fit together minor Working it out
The new sentence must follow sentence 3's warning about “separation between people and nature” and lead into sentence 4's photosynthesis, so it has to name plants as the remedy. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Strategy: Skim the first sentence of each later paragraph to see what the passage actually covers, then test each choice: would it set up those paragraphs without promising something they never discuss?
Traps
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
- Says it twice: Repeats an idea that the sentence or passage already states.
The wrong answers, classified
B Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Accepts a sentence about needing plants, but “whether indoors or out in nature” widens the subject to plants anywhere, while the passage discusses only plants inside.
C Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Is drawn by “bring the outdoors in” and “health and well-being,” but the other half, spending more time outdoors, is a remedy the passage never goes on to develop.
D Says it twice (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Follows sentence 3 smoothly by naming illness, depression and stress, but that only restates its “physical and psychological issues” and never introduces plants, the passage's subject.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This revising question asks you to add a sentence that introduces the topic. Such a sentence tells the reader what the passage will be about. For example, an essay about why dogs make good pets might start: Dogs make loyal, loving pets. The new sentence goes after sentence 3, so it must also follow from it.
Find the passage’s topic
Skim the rest of the passage. Sentences 4–10 tell how plants clean indoor air. Sentences 11–14 say plants indoors help the mind. Sentences 15–17 say even an indoor plant connects you with nature. So the topic is plants inside homes and offices. The title says it too: “The Benefits of Indoor Plants.”
Connect it to sentence 3
Sentence 3 names a problem: “this separation between people and nature puts people at risk for physical and psychological issues.” Psychological means having to do with the mind and feelings. The best next sentence should name the fix the passage talks about: bringing plants indoors.
Check each choice
- A is right. It names plants “in homes and offices” as “a healthy bridge between nature and the indoors.” A bridge connects two things, so plants bring nature inside. That sets up every later paragraph.
- B is wrong. “Whether indoors or out in nature” widens the topic to plants anywhere. The passage only discusses plants inside.
- C is wrong. It offers two fixes: more time outdoors, or bringing the outdoors in. The passage develops only the second. C never even mentions plants.
- D is wrong. It just repeats sentence 3’s problem in new words. It never brings up plants, the subject of the passage.
Look closely at choice C
Watch out: C sounds close because of “bring the outdoors in.” But the passage gives no tips for spending more time outside. Sentence 13 mentions being outdoors only on its way to the indoor point. So half of C promises something the passage never delivers.
Choose the answer
Only one choice moves from sentence 3’s problem to the passage’s answer, plants inside. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because “bring the outdoors in” sounds like A. But C gives equal weight to spending more time outdoors, and the passage never develops that idea. A points only to plants indoors, which is exactly what the rest of the passage is about.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “The Benefits of Indoor Plants” as printed (page 60)
Question 2 of 120
2026 Practice Test A English, question 45Uses the passage above: “The Benefits of Indoor Plants”.
Question
Which sentence could best follow sentence 13 to support the ideas in the third paragraph (sentences 11–14)?
- AA global study of 7,600 workers from sixteen countries revealed that employees who worked in spaces with natural elements, such as indoor plants, were more creative and productive than employees who worked in spaces without natural elements.
- BSpecifically, a study suggests that one well-known hotel is popular among guests because its owners have made a significant investment in landscaping and indoor plants known to have a relaxing effect.
- CIn fact, one recent study suggested that people who are routinely exposed to natural elements seem to increase their compassion for others, perhaps because that exposure generates compassion for the environment in which they live.
- DAccording to a study that was conducted in 2003, plants can reduce the amount of noise that people perceive in indoor spaces with hard surfaces, just as adding carpet can make a room seem quieter.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks for the sentence that could best follow sentence 13 to support the ideas in the third paragraph (sentences 11–14).
A. CORRECT. The sentence could best follow sentence 13 because it directly supports the main idea of the third paragraph that indoor plants provide “psychological benefits” (sentence 11) by presenting the findings of a relevant research study. The details about the study provide a concrete example of the mental benefits of indoor plants: the employees in the study who worked near plants “were more creative” and accomplished more than those who worked in spaces without plants.
B. Incorrect. Although the sentence describes a study in which indoor plants were found to have a positive effect, it does not clearly support the ideas in sentences 11–14, because the sentence focuses on the popularity of the hotel rather than psychological benefits. Therefore, this sentence does not best follow sentence 13 to support the ideas in the third paragraph.
C. Incorrect. Although the sentence suggests that being “routinely exposed to natural elements” can increase the positive emotion of compassion, it could not best follow sentence 13, because the reference to “natural elements” is too vague to sufficiently support the ideas in the third paragraph. The sentence does not logically follow the idea from sentence 13, which refers specifically to “encountering natural elements while indoors.”
D. Incorrect. The sentence develops the idea that indoor plants are helpful by comparing them to carpeting and stating that they can reduce the amount of noise that people perceive. Noise cancellation, though convenient, is irrelevant to the topic of the third paragraph, which is specific to the psychological benefits of indoor plants. Therefore, this sentence does not best follow sentence 13 to support the ideas in the third paragraph.
Question analysis
This supporting-details question asks which sentence could best follow sentence 13 to back up the third paragraph (sentences 11–14) of the indoor-plants passage. All four options report a study or finding about plants or nature, so students must check each against what the paragraph is about and where sentence 13 leaves off.
- NYS standards
- 7W2b developing a topic
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 writers choose relevant evidence for a point. Here each option is a long sentence describing a plausible study, and the best fit depends on matching the paragraph's exact point, a finer judgment 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 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- How sentences fit together moderate
- A lot to read minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 346 words; question and choices: about grade 15, 151 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 cites a study about plants or nature, and two name feelings, a relaxing effect and compassion, which sound more psychological than the key's creativity and productivity. The decision rests on two conditions from the paragraph: the benefit must be psychological, and the nature must be indoors. Students who test only one condition end up with the compassion study, which is not about indoor spaces, or the hotel, whose finding is about popularity.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The compassion choice and the key both report a study tying natural elements to a mental effect; the compassion study drops the indoor setting that sentence 13 specifies and turns to caring for others. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
The added sentence sits between sentence 13's research on “encountering natural elements while indoors” and sentence 14's one plant per 100 square feet, so it must give evidence about nature indoors. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
A lot to read minor Understanding the question
The options run 31 to 37 words, each describing a different study, so four separate findings must be read and held against the paragraph's point. (Kintsch, 1998; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Restate sentences 11 and 13 in your own words, then ask of each option whether it gives evidence for that exact point or for a related benefit the paragraph does not discuss.
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 Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Spots indoor plants and a “relaxing effect,” but the finding is that a hotel is popular with guests, a business result rather than evidence about people's well-being.
C Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Sees compassion as a psychological benefit, but the study covers exposure to “natural elements” in general, not the indoor encounters of sentence 13, and its benefit is caring for others.
D Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Accepts any benefit of indoor plants, but rooms that seem quieter are an acoustic advantage, not the psychological effects that sentence 11 names as the paragraph's subject.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This revising question asks for a supporting detail. A supporting detail is a fact or example that backs up a paragraph’s point. The new sentence goes after sentence 13, in the third paragraph. So first pin down that paragraph’s exact point.
Find the paragraph’s point
Sentence 11 states it: “Adding plants to indoor spaces has psychological benefits too.” Psychological benefits are good effects on the mind and feelings. Sentence 13 adds that “encountering natural elements while indoors can also help.” Natural elements are bits of nature, like plants.
Set two tests
So the new sentence must pass two tests. First, it must show a benefit for the mind. Second, it must be about nature indoors. Think of a paragraph about how bedtime reading helps kids sleep. A study about bedtime reading would fit. A study about reading on the bus would not.
Check each choice
- A is right. Workers near “natural elements, such as indoor plants,” were “more creative and productive.” Creative means good at new ideas. Productive means getting more done. Both are benefits for the mind, and the plants are indoors.
- B is wrong. The finding is that a hotel is popular with guests. That is about business, not people’s minds.
- C is wrong. It is about being “routinely exposed to natural elements” anywhere, not indoors. Its benefit is caring for others.
- D is wrong. Making a room seem quieter is about sound, not the mind.
Watch out: C names a feeling, compassion, so it sounds like a benefit for the mind. But it drops the indoor setting that sentence 13 is about.
Choose the answer
Only one choice shows a benefit for the mind from nature indoors. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because compassion is a feeling. But its study is about natural elements in general, not inside a building. Sentence 13 is about nature indoors, and sentence 14 tells how many plants to put in a room. A fits right between them.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 3 of 120
2026 Practice Test A English, question 46Uses the passage above: “The Benefits of Indoor Plants”.
Question
Which sentence presents ideas irrelevant to the topic of the passage and should be deleted?
- Asentence 11
- Bsentence 14
- Csentence 15
- Dsentence 16
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks for the sentence that presents ideas irrelevant to the topic of the passage and should be deleted.
A. Incorrect. Sentence 11 presents one of the key reasons why plants are so important in indoor spaces: they have a positive effect on mental health. The idea that plants provide psychological benefits is relevant to the topic of the passage, and the sentence should not be deleted.
B. Incorrect. Sentence 14 is relevant to the topic because it explains how many plants a person should add to a space in order to experience “the maximum benefit of natural elements.” This idea addresses the main topic of the passage, and the sentence should not be deleted.
C. Incorrect. Although “connecting with nature” is somewhat broader than the topic of the passage, sentence 15 is relevant and belongs in the passage because it specifically refers to using indoor plants as one way to connect with nature (“even just by being near an indoor plant”). Therefore, the sentence should not be deleted.
D. CORRECT. While the topic of the passage is the harm caused by the “separation between people and nature” (sentence 3), the reference in sentence 16 to “an electronic screen” is irrelevant to the topic of the passage. The idea that “today’s workers need to get up and get outdoors” (sentence 16) is, in fact, the opposite of what the passage argues, and the sentence should be deleted.
Question analysis
Which sentence in the last two paragraphs of the indoor-plants passage presents ideas irrelevant to its topic and should be deleted? Each of the four listed sentences mentions nature, plants or well-being in some way, so students must pin down exactly what the passage argues before deciding which one does not serve it.
- NYS standards
- 7W2b developing a topic
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Spotting a sentence that strays from a passage's topic is regular grade 7 revision work. The passage is short and plainly worded, and its topic is named in its title, so this is a typical grade 7 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
- How sentences fit together moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 346 words; question and choices: about grade 6, 19 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 stray sentence is camouflaged by its links to the opening: screens recall the media of sentence 1, and “isn't natural” sounds like the passage's theme. What gives it away is its advice, to leave the building, when the passage argues for bringing nature into it, along with its chatty tone. Students who cut a sentence for being general or practical have judged by style rather than by the passage's claim.
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
Sentence 16 echoes sentence 1's “endless media content” with its “electronic screen,” so it seems connected, yet its call to “get outdoors” pulls against a passage about bringing plants inside. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
The four listed sentences span paragraphs 3 and 4, and each mentions nature, plants or well-being, so each must be read in place and tested against the passage's point. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Say in one phrase what the whole passage argues, then read each listed sentence in place and ask whether it supports that argument or steers the reader toward a different idea.
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 11 because it turns from air quality to the mind, though it is the topic sentence of the paragraph on psychological benefits.
B Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Sees the advice of one live plant per 100 square feet as a practical aside, though it tells readers how to get the benefit the passage describes.
C Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Thinks sentence 15's “connecting with nature” strays beyond indoor plants, missing that “even just by being near an indoor plant” ties it directly to the passage's topic.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need to find the sentence that is off topic. Every sentence in a passage should support its main point. For example, in a paragraph about why dogs make good pets, My cousin has a red bike doesn’t belong. You would cut a sentence like that.
Name the passage’s topic
The title is “The Benefits of Indoor Plants.” The passage says plants inside clean the air and help the mind. Its fix for too much time indoors is to bring nature inside, with plants in homes and offices.
Read sentence 16 in place
Sentence 16 says, “Sitting in front of an electronic screen all day isn’t natural, and today’s workers need to get up and get outdoors.” It switches to screens. It tells workers to go outside. It never mentions plants. The passage doesn’t object to going outdoors. Sentence 13 even calls it “an excellent option.” But sentence 16 steers away from the topic, plants indoors, to a different fix.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. Sentence 11 is the third paragraph’s topic sentence: plants indoors help the mind.
- B is wrong. Sentence 14 tells how many plants to use, one per 100 square feet. That helps readers get the benefit.
- C is wrong. “Connecting with nature” sounds broad. But it adds “even just by being near an indoor plant,” which ties it to the topic.
- D is right. Sentence 16 is about screens and going outside, not indoor plants.
Watch out: Sentence 15 is tempting because it starts with a big idea. Read the whole sentence before you cut it.
Choose the answer
Without sentence 16, sentence 15 leads straight into the professor’s words about nature in our lives. Nothing is lost. So the answer is D, sentence 16.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
Sentence 15 is the closest wrong answer, because “connecting with nature” sounds wider than the topic. But it names an indoor plant, so it supports the passage. Sentence 16 names no plant at all. It sends workers outdoors, a different idea from bringing nature inside.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 4 of 120
2026 Practice Test A English, question 47Uses the passage above: “The Benefits of Indoor Plants”.
Question
Which concluding sentence should follow sentence 17 to best support the information presented in the passage?
- ABecause indoor plants absorb the carbon dioxide in our air and release the oxygen we need to breathe, they are vital to our wholeness and wellness.
- BExperts say that adding a Boston fern, a spider plant, or an aloe vera plant is a good place to start if you want to begin to incorporate nature into your home or office.
- CMore people should consider bringing natural elements inside to improve general wellness and reverse some of the negative effects of an indoor-centered society.
- DAs one study has confirmed, houseplants are a wise investment because they can remove almost 90 percent of the toxins in the air within the span of 24 hours.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks for the concluding sentence that should follow sentence 17 to best support the information presented in the passage.
A. Incorrect. Although the sentence describes plants as “vital to our wholeness and wellness,” the detail about the absorption of carbon dioxide from the air is overly specific and does not capture the broader argument presented in the passage (that placing plants indoors “is a significant factor in a person’s well-being” [sentence 15]).
B. Incorrect. The sentence’s reference to particular types of plants suitable for indoor spaces supports the idea of incorporating nature into a home or office, but the sentence does not address the benefits people can experience for doing so and thus does not present a logical conclusion for the information in the passage.
C. CORRECT. The sentence directly presents the argument of the passage (“More people should consider bringing natural elements inside”) and supports the central ideas in the second and third paragraphs relating to the health and psychological benefits of having indoor plants.
D. Incorrect. Although the sentence notes the positive impact that houseplants can have on air quality, the sentence does not logically follow the preceding information about the overall benefits to a person’s health and well-being.
Question analysis
This conclusion question asks which sentence should follow the last line of the indoor-plants passage, a quotation from a psychology professor about nature and people who live and work in built environments. Students must choose an ending that fits the passage as a whole, not only its last paragraph, and every option sounds like a reasonable closing line when read on its own.
- NYS standards
- 7W2e concluding informative writing
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Choosing a concluding sentence that reflects a whole passage is standard grade 7 writing work. The passage is seventeen plain sentences, so keeping its main points in view is manageable, and the task matches typical grade 7 revision.
- 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
- The right answer is reworded minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 346 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 125 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 endings sound like conclusions: one praises plants as “vital,” one offers practical first steps, and one cites a striking statistic. Only one, though, restates the passage's whole argument, that people should bring nature indoors for their health. Students lose the point when an ending repeats a single fact, such as photosynthesis or toxin removal, or adds new specifics, and the question rewards weighing each ending against all four paragraphs.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
A fitting ending must gather the air-cleaning benefits of sentences 4–10, the psychological benefits of 11–14 and the closing case for keeping nature near, ideas that lie across three paragraphs. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
The right answer is reworded minor Choosing the answer
The key speaks of “natural elements” and “an indoor-centered society,” new wording for the passage's argument, while two wrong endings repeat its carbon dioxide, oxygen and toxins. (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: List what each paragraph contributes, then choose the ending that sums up the passage's message rather than repeating a single fact or adding a new one.
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 Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Likes the conclusive “vital to our wholeness and wellness,” but the ending rests on one air-quality fact from sentence 4 and leaves out the psychological benefits.
B Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Likes ending on a practical first step, but naming a Boston fern, a spider plant and aloe vera adds new details and says nothing about why plants help.
D Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Returns to the toxin-removal finding of paragraph 2 with a new figure, “almost 90 percent,” narrowing the ending to air quality and dropping the mental-health benefits.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need a concluding sentence, the last line of the passage. A good conclusion sums up the main point of the whole passage. It doesn’t add new facts. For example, an essay about recess might end: Recess helps kids’ bodies and minds, so schools should keep it.
Sum up the passage
- Sentences 1–3: People spend most of their time indoors, away from nature, and that puts their health at risk.
- Sentences 4–10: Indoor plants clean the air.
- Sentences 11–14: Indoor plants help the mind.
- Sentences 15–17: Being near nature, even one plant, matters for well-being.
So the main point is: bring nature indoors to help both body and mind.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. It rests on one fact from sentence 4, about carbon dioxide and oxygen. It leaves out the benefits for the mind.
- B is wrong. It adds new details, three kinds of plants. It doesn’t say why plants help.
- C is right. “Bringing natural elements inside” is the passage’s fix. Wellness means good health, of body and mind. “An indoor-centered society” recalls sentences 1 and 2, about people staying inside.
- D is wrong. It brings back only the toxins, with a new number, “almost 90 percent.” It drops the benefits for the mind.
Watch out: A sounds like an ending because it calls plants “vital to our wholeness and wellness.” But its reason covers only the air we breathe.
Choose the answer
Only one ending sums up the whole passage: people should bring nature inside for their health. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong answer, because it sounds like a strong ending. But it repeats one fact, that plants turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. The passage also argues that plants help the mind. C covers the whole argument: bring nature inside to improve wellness.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 5 of 120
2026 Practice Test A English, question 49Question
Which pair of revisions is needed to correct the errors in the paragraph?
(1) Yalina, Michael, and Malcolm love making pancakes with their granddad on Saturday mornings. (2) Yalina’s job is to open the box and pour the pancake mix into a bowl, slowly adding water, eggs, melted butter, and blueberries. (3) Michael uses a wooden spoon to vigorously stir the mixture until it is smooth, and Malcolm helps Granddad carefully pour the batter onto a griddle one-fourth cup at a time. (4) Granddad turns each pancake when they start to bubble, while all three siblings get the table ready for a sweet delicious breakfast.
- ASentence 1: Delete the comma after Yalina, AND change their to her.
- BSentence 2: Change is to are, AND delete the comma after bowl.
- CSentence 3: Change it is to they are, AND delete the comma after smooth.
- DSentence 4: Change they start to it starts, AND insert a comma after sweet.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which two revisions are needed to correct the paragraph.
A. Incorrect. The comma is needed after “Yalina” to separate the first and second names in the series of three names (Yalina, Michael, and Malcolm). The possessive determiner “their” is also correct as written because it refers back to “Yalina, Michael, and Malcolm,” a plural group of people.
B. Incorrect. Changing “is” to “are” would introduce an error in subject-verb agreement into the sentence; the singular subject “Yalina’s job” requires the singular verb “is.” The comma after “bowl” is required because it separates the phrase “slowly adding water, eggs, melted butter, and blueberries,” which modifies how Yalina prepares the batter, from the remainder of the sentence.
C. Incorrect. “It is” refers to the singular noun “mixture,” so this singular pronoun and verb form is correct. The comma after “smooth” is necessary because this is a compound sentence where two independent clauses (“Michael uses a wooden spoon to vigorously stir the mixture until it is smooth” and “Malcolm helps Granddad carefully pour the batter onto a griddle one-fourth cup at a time”) are joined using a coordinating conjunction, which requires a comma.
D. CORRECT. The plural pronoun “they” refers incorrectly to a singular antecedent, “each pancake.” The pronoun should be changed to a singular one to match its antecedent. A comma is needed between two adjectives of equal importance that modify the noun “breakfast.” Because “sweet” and “delicious” could be written as “sweet and delicious,” they are of equal importance, and a comma is needed.
Question analysis
This editing question gives a four-sentence paragraph about three siblings making blueberry pancakes with their granddad and asks which pair of revisions corrects its errors. Eight words or commas are underlined, and each choice bundles a pronoun or verb change with a comma change in one sentence, so a choice is right only if both of its edits are needed.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Pronoun and verb agreement and comma use are grade 6 and 7 conventions. Checking eight underlined spots across four long sentences, and accepting a pair only when both edits are needed, matches typical grade 7 editing.
- 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
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 8, 149 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 errors sit together in the paragraph's last sentence, and neither is heard easily, so students who judge by ear look for problems elsewhere. The strongest pull applies two familiar but wrong rules, no comma before “and” and a plural pronoun for a mixture of several ingredients, to a sentence that is already correct. The question rewards testing each pronoun against its noun and each comma against a rule before reading the pairs.
A rule that doesn't sound wrong moderate Working it out
Both real errors sound natural: “each pancake … when they start to bubble” passes because several pancakes are cooking, and “sweet delicious breakfast” seldom sounds as if it needs a comma between its adjectives. (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
Eight underlined spots are paired into four proposed revisions, one pair per sentence, and a pair is right only if both of its edits fix real errors, so every edit has to be tried in place. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Before reading the choices, test each underlined spot yourself: find what each pronoun and verb refers to, and decide whether each comma is needed. Then look for the pair whose two edits both fix real errors.
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.
- Agreement: A verb that does not agree with its subject, or a pronoun that does not agree with the word it stands for.
- Punctuation: A comma, semicolon, colon, dash or apostrophe used where it does not belong, or missing where it does.
The wrong answers, classified
A Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Deletes the comma after the first of three names in a series and changes “their” to “her,” though the pronoun refers to all three siblings.
B Agreement (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Counts two tasks, opening the box and pouring, and wants the plural “are,” though the subject is the singular “job,” and drops the comma before “slowly adding.”
C Punctuation (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Applies the rule that a comma never comes before “and,” though this one joins two complete clauses, and makes “it” plural for the ingredients, though it means the mixture.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
Eight spots are underlined. Each choice offers two changes in one sentence. A choice is right only if both of its changes fix real errors. So test each underlined spot yourself first.
Test sentence 1
Commas go between the items in a list of three or more: ham, eggs, and toast. So the comma after “Yalina” is needed. “Their” is plural, and it means all three kids, so it is correct too. Nothing needs fixing here, so A is out.
Test sentence 2
A verb must match its subject, the word the sentence is about. Here the subject is “Yalina’s job,” one job, so “is” is right. Example: My chore is easy, not My chore are easy. The comma after “bowl” is needed too. It shows that “slowly adding water” tells what Yalina does. Without it, the bowl seems to be adding the water. So B is out.
Test sentence 3
“It” means “the mixture,” one thing, so “it is” is correct. The comma after “smooth” comes before “and.” When and joins two complete sentences, put a comma before it. Example: I made the salad, and Dad grilled the fish. Here both halves are complete: Michael stirs, and Malcolm pours. So C is out.
Watch out: Some students learn that a comma never goes before and. That is not true when and joins two complete sentences. Believing it leads to C.
Fix the pronoun in sentence 4
A pronoun must match its noun in number. One thing takes it, and more than one takes they. Here the noun is “each pancake,” one at a time. So “they start” should be “it starts.” Example: Each cookie is done when it turns brown.
Watch out: Many pancakes are on the griddle, so they sounds fine. But each means you are talking about one pancake at a time.
Fix the comma in sentence 4
Two describing words of equal weight need a comma between them. Test: can you put and between them, or swap them? Sweet and delicious breakfast and delicious, sweet breakfast both work. So write sweet, delicious breakfast. Compare three small dogs. You can’t say three and small dogs, so no comma there.
Choose the answer
Both changes in sentence 4 fix real errors. Fixed, it reads: Granddad turns each pancake when it starts to bubble, while all three siblings get the table ready for a sweet, delicious breakfast. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer. It relies on two wrong ideas: that a comma never comes before and, and that a mix of many ingredients needs they. But the comma joins two complete sentences, and “it” means the one mixture. Only D’s two changes both fix real errors.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 6 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 14Passage Excerpt from In Search of the Unknown
Excerpt from In Search of the Unknown
by Robert W. Chambers
It was at that time the policy of the trustees and officers of the Zoological Gardens neither to employ collectors nor to send out expeditions in search of specimens. The society decided to depend upon voluntary contributions, and I was always busy, part of the day, in dictating answers to correspondents who wrote offering their services as hunters of big game, collectors of all sorts of fauna, trappers, snarers, and also to those who offered specimens for sale, usually at exorbitant rates.
To the proprietors of . . . mangy lynxes, moth-eaten coyotes, and dancing bears I returned courteous but uncompromising refusals—of course, first submitting all such letters, together with my replies, to Professor Farrago.
One day towards the end of May, however, just as I was leaving Bronx Park to return to town, Professor Lesard, of the reptilian department, called out to me that Professor Farrago wanted to see me a moment; so I . . . retraced my steps to the temporary, wooden building occupied by Professor Farrago, general superintendent of the Zoological Gardens. The professor, who was sitting at his desk before a pile of letters and replies submitted for approval by me, pushed his glasses down and looked over them at me with a whimsical smile that suggested amusement, impatience, annoyance, and perhaps a faint trace of apology.
“Now, here’s a letter,” he said, with a deliberate gesture towards a sheet of paper impaled on a file—“a letter that I suppose you remember.” He disengaged the sheet of paper and handed it to me.
“Oh yes,” I replied, with a shrug; “of course the man is mistaken—or—”
“Or what?” demanded Professor Farrago, tranquilly, wiping his glasses.
“—Or a liar,” I replied.
After a silence he leaned back in his chair and bade me read the letter to him again, and I did so with a contemptuous tolerance for the writer, who must have been either a very innocent victim or a very stupid swindler. I said as much to Professor Farrago, but, to my surprise, he appeared to waver.
“I suppose,” he said, with his near-sighted, embarrassed smile, “that nine hundred and ninety-nine men in a thousand would throw that letter aside and condemn the writer as a liar or a fool?”
“In my opinion,” said I, “he’s one or the other.”
“He isn’t—in mine,” said the professor, placidly.
“What!” I exclaimed. “Here is a man living all alone on a strip of rock and sand between the wilderness and the sea, who wants you to send somebody to take charge of a bird that doesn’t exist!”
“How do you know,” asked Professor Farrago, “that the bird in question does not exist?”
“It is generally accepted,” I replied, sarcastically, “that the great auk has been extinct for years. Therefore I may be pardoned for doubting that our correspondent possesses a pair of them alive.”
“Oh, you young fellows,” said the professor, smiling wearily, “you embark on a theory for destinations that don’t exist.”
He leaned back in his chair, his amused eyes searching space for the imagery that made him smile.
“Like swimming squirrels, you navigate with the help of Heaven and a stiff breeze, but you never land where you hope to—do you?”
Rather red in the face, I said: “Don’t you believe the great auk to be extinct?”
“Audubon saw the great auk.”
“Who has seen a single specimen since?”
“Nobody—except our correspondent here,” he replied, laughing.
I laughed, too, considering the interview at an end, but the professor went on, coolly:
“Whatever it is that our correspondent has—and I am daring to believe that it is the great auk itself—I want you to secure it for the society.”
When my astonishment subsided my first conscious sentiment was one of pity. Clearly, Professor Farrago was on the verge of dotage—ah, what a loss to the world!
I believe now that Professor Farrago perfectly interpreted my thoughts, but he betrayed neither resentment nor impatience. I drew a chair up beside his desk—there was nothing to do but to obey, and this fool’s errand was none of my conceiving.
Together we made out a list of articles necessary for me and itemized the expenses I might incur, and I set a date for my return, allowing no margin for a successful termination to the expedition.
“Never mind that,” said the professor. “What I want you to do is to get those birds here safely. Now, how many men will you take?”
“None,” I replied, bluntly; “it’s a useless expense, unless there is something to bring back. If there is I’ll wire you, you may be sure.”
“Very well,” said Professor Farrago, good-humoredly, “you shall have all the assistance you may require. Can you leave to-night?”
The old gentleman was certainly prompt. I nodded, half-sulkily, aware of his amusement.
“So,” I said, picking up my hat, “I am to start north to find a place called Black Harbor, where there is a man named Halyard who possesses, among other household utensils, two extinct great auks—”
We were both laughing by this time. I asked him why on earth he credited the assertion of a man he had never before heard of.
“I suppose,” he replied, with the same half-apologetic, half-humorous smile, “it is instinct. I feel, somehow, that this man Halyard has got an auk—perhaps two. I can’t get away from the idea that we are on the eve of acquiring the rarest of living creatures. It’s odd for a scientist to talk as I do; doubtless you’re shocked—admit it, now!”
But I was not shocked; on the contrary, I was conscious that the same strange hope that Professor Farrago cherished was beginning, in spite of me, to stir my pulses, too.
“If he has—” I began, then stopped.
The professor and I looked hard at each other in silence.
“Go on,” he said, encouragingly.
But I had nothing more to say, for the prospect of beholding with my own eyes a living specimen of the great auk produced a series of conflicting emotions within me which rendered speech profanely superfluous.
From IN SEARCH OF THE UNKNOWN by Robert W. Chambers—Public Domain
Audubon: John James Audubon, an ornithologist and artist who created scientific illustrations of birds
dotage: a loss of reasoning brought about by old age
Question
Read paragraph 2 from the excerpt.
To the proprietors of . . . mangy lynxes, moth-eaten coyotes, and dancing bears I returned courteous but uncompromising refusals—of course, first submitting all such letters, together with my replies, to Professor Farrago.
This paragraph helps develop the plot by establishing that the narrator
- Adislikes writing refusal letters for the animals offered to the zoological society.
- Battempts to predict what the professor would say in the refusal letters.
- Cbelieves that many of the animals offered are not acceptable for the zoological society.
- Dresents the professor’s insistence on reviewing the refusal letters.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how paragraph 2 helps develop the plot.
A. Incorrect. As paragraph 1 indicates, writing such letters is one of the main parts of the narrator’s job (“and I was always busy, part of the day, in dictating answers to correspondents”), and he shows no indication of disliking this work. The letters are to inform people whether the zoo will accept their animals.
B. Incorrect. Paragraph 2 indicates that the narrator offers his letters to the professor merely for official approval. At the start of the excerpt, the narrator is confident in his reply and does not anticipate that his response will differ from that of the professor, so he has no need to “predict what the professor would say.”
C. CORRECT. The phrase “uncompromising refusals” in paragraph 2 indicates the confidence that the narrator initially has in his belief that the animals described in the letters are not of value to the society. This confidence is badly shaken as the plot unfolds, as when Professor Farrago states that “ ‘I am daring to believe that it is the great auk itself’ ” (paragraph 23). The narrator’s transition from an attitude of dismissive doubt to one of budding hopefulness is a major part of the plot (“But I was not shocked; on the contrary, I was conscious that the same strange hope that Professor Farrago cherished was beginning, in spite of me, to stir my pulses, too” [paragraph 34]).
D. Incorrect. The narrator does not resent the professor’s review of the letters; instead, the phrase “of course” in paragraph 2 shows that he expects to submit the letters to the professor as part of his job.
Question analysis
In this plot question on an excerpt from Robert W. Chambers’s novel In Search of the Unknown, students read paragraph 2, in which a zoo employee describes answering people who offer animals for sale. The question asks what the paragraph establishes about the narrator. Its old-fashioned vocabulary and its long, dash-broken sentence make the narrator’s attitude harder to pin down.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining how one paragraph develops a plot is regular grade 7 work, and this one is quoted in full. Its early-1900s wording, with words such as “proprietors” and “uncompromising,” adds some load but no unusual reasoning.
- 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
- Hard words moderate
- Complex sentences minor
- The right answer is reworded minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 1066 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
The paragraph’s attitude sits in its adjectives: lynxes that are “mangy,” coyotes that are “moth-eaten” and refusals that are “uncompromising.” Students who read that scorn as the narrator’s mood about his job, or who hear grumbling in “of course,” choose a feeling about the work instead of a judgment of the animals. The plot point is that the narrator starts out sure the offers are worthless, the confidence the great auk letter is about to test.
Hard words moderate Understanding the question
“Proprietors,” “uncompromising,” “mangy” and “moth-eaten” carry the meaning: the owners of shabby animals get firm refusals, and a student who misses these words cannot tell what the narrator thinks of the offers. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
The paragraph is one inverted sentence that opens with “To the proprietors of,” reaches “I returned” only midway and ends with a dash clause about the professor’s review. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
The right answer is reworded minor Choosing the answer
Three wrong choices repeat the paragraph’s “refusals” and “letters,” while the right one restates the scorn for the animals as a judgment that they do not suit the society. (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Paraphrase paragraph 2 in plain modern words, noting what each descriptive word reveals about the narrator, then keep only a choice those words actually support.
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 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 Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Moves the scorn of “mangy” and “moth-eaten” from the animals to the task, though the refusals are “courteous” and paragraph 1 presents answering letters as routine daily work.
B Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Builds a guessing game from his sending each reply to Professor Farrago, though he expects his refusals simply to be approved and nothing shows him second-guessing the professor.
D Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Hears irritation in the dash and “of course,” but the phrase marks the review as routine, and his clash with the professor begins only with the great auk letter.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what paragraph 2 tells you about the narrator, the person telling the story. It also asks how that sets up the plot, the chain of events in a story. The paragraph is one long, old-fashioned sentence. So put it in plain words first.
Put paragraph 2 in plain words
Proprietors are owners. People wrote offering animals to the zoo. The narrator lists some: “mangy lynxes, moth-eaten coyotes, and dancing bears.” Mangy means with patchy, sick-looking fur. Moth-eaten means old and worn out. He sent the owners “courteous but uncompromising refusals.” Courteous means polite. Uncompromising means firm, with no chance of changing his mind.
Decide what it shows about him
The words “mangy” and “moth-eaten” show what he thinks of the animals. To him, they are shabby and not good enough for the zoo. He turns them all down. This sets up the plot. When the letter about the great auk comes, he is ready to reject it too. That is where the story’s conflict begins.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. His refusals are polite, and paragraph 1 shows that answering letters is his everyday job. Nothing says he dislikes it.
- B does not fit. He sends his replies to the professor to be approved. He is not guessing what the professor would say.
- C fits. He judges that the animals offered are not good enough.
- D does not fit. “Of course” shows that the review is normal. He does not resent it, or feel bitter about it.
Watch out: A is tempting because the narrator sounds scornful. But his scorn is for the animals, not for the job.
Choose the answer
Paragraph 2 shows the narrator turning down animals he thinks are unfit. So the answer is C, “believes that many of the animals offered are not acceptable for the zoological society.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong choice. The narrator’s words do sound scornful. But the scorn is aimed at the animals, “mangy” and “moth-eaten,” not at the job of writing letters. His refusals are even “courteous.” C names his real judgment: these animals are not right for the zoo.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Excerpt from In Search of the Unknown” as printed (page 21)
Question 7 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 15Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from In Search of the Unknown”.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 3.
The professor, who was sitting at his desk before a pile of letters and replies submitted for approval by me, pushed his glasses down and looked over them at me with a whimsical smile that suggested amusement, impatience, annoyance, and perhaps a faint trace of apology.
What does the phrase “a faint trace of apology” convey about the professor?
- AIt indicates that the professor feels bad that he has to call the narrator to his office after work.
- BIt shows that the professor is hesitant to share his opinions with the narrator.
- CIt implies that the professor is uncomfortable criticizing the narrator’s work.
- DIt suggests that the professor knows that the conversation will be frustrating for the narrator.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks what the phrase “a faint trace of apology” in paragraph 3 conveys about the professor.
A. Incorrect. The fact that the narrator had intended to leave the office for the day is not the source of the professor’s faintly apologetic manner, which is instead caused by the professor’s understanding that their conversation about the letter and the expedition is likely to cause an argument (“with a whimsical smile that suggested amusement, impatience, annoyance” [paragraph 3]). In paragraph 29, the professor asks the narrator if he can leave on an expedition that same evening, which indicates that the professor does not feel bad about taking up the narrator’s time after work.
B. Incorrect. The paragraphs that follow the sentence from paragraph 3 show the professor sharing his opinions without pause, even when his opinion of the narrator is unflattering (“ ‘Like swimming squirrels, you navigate with the help of Heaven and a stiff breeze, but you never land where you hope to—do you?’ ” [paragraph 17]).
C. Incorrect. The professor knows that the narrator will push back regarding the letter, but the professor is not uncomfortable challenging the narrator. Professor Farrago seems perfectly at ease and comfortable as he begins the discussion with the narrator.
D. CORRECT. The professor is both amused and annoyed by the narrator’s dismissal of the possibility that great auks still exist, and the professor knows that the narrator is likely to react negatively to being sent on what the narrator considers a “fool’s errand” (paragraph 25).
Question analysis
This question focuses on a single phrase in the excerpt from Robert W. Chambers’s In Search of the Unknown: as the professor looks up from a pile of letters, his whimsical smile shows “a faint trace of apology.” Students must work out what that hint of apology says about him. The phrase is brief and old-fashioned, and several explanations for it seem natural.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students often infer a character’s feelings from a description. Here the phrase ends a 46-word sentence of early-1900s prose, follows three other moods, and has to be interpreted from the scene as a whole, beyond typical grade 7 work.
- 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 analyze
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines major
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Complex sentences minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 1066 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 123 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 phrase comes before a word of the conversation is spoken, so the reason for the apology lies ahead in the text. Two natural guesses compete with it: the professor has called the narrator back just as he was leaving, and he is about to question one of the narrator’s replies. Only a reader who follows the scene to the narrator’s scorn for the letter and the errand sees that the professor, at ease throughout, is sorry for what he is about to put the narrator through.
Reading between the lines major Working it out
Nothing explains the apology; students must reason from the talk that follows, in which the professor sends the narrator after birds the narrator believes extinct, that the professor expects resistance. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The choice about criticizing the narrator’s work and the right one both tie the apology to the coming talk about a letter; one places discomfort in the professor, the other frustration in the narrator. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
What the professor anticipates appears only later: the narrator’s scorn for the letter in paragraphs 5–14 and his view of the trip as a “fool’s errand” in paragraph 25. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
The phrase closes a 46-word sentence, after a clause about the pile of letters and a run of three other moods, “amusement, impatience, annoyance.” (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Strategy: Read the full sentence and then the conversation it opens, and test each choice against how the professor actually speaks and acts in that conversation.
Traps
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
- 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 Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Ties the apology to the timing, since Professor Lesard stopped the narrator as he was leaving Bronx Park, but the professor later asks him to leave on the trip that same night.
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Reads the apology, and the “embarrassed smile” of paragraph 9, as reluctance to speak, though the professor states his belief in the letter plainly and even teases the narrator.
C Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly senses that the professor is about to challenge the narrator’s reply to a letter, but he does it “placidly” and “coolly,” with no sign of discomfort.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what one phrase shows about the professor: “a faint trace of apology.” Faint means slight, and a trace is a small sign. So his smile looks a little bit sorry. Why would he feel sorry? You find out from the talk that follows.
Read the whole sentence
Paragraph 3 says the professor looked at the narrator “with a whimsical smile that suggested amusement, impatience, annoyance, and perhaps a faint trace of apology.” Whimsical means playful. He is amused by the narrator and a bit annoyed with him. Then he picks up a letter the narrator has already turned down.
See what the professor is about to do
The professor is about to defend that letter. Then he sends the narrator after the birds in it. The narrator thinks the birds are extinct, or all dead. In paragraph 25 he calls the trip “this fool’s errand,” a pointless job. The professor seems to know the narrator will hate this. That is why his smile looks a little sorry.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. He later asks, “Can you leave to-night?” (paragraph 29). He is not sorry about taking the narrator’s time.
- B does not fit. He shares his opinion plainly: “He isn’t—in mine” (paragraph 11).
- C does not fit. He does challenge the narrator, but calmly. He speaks “placidly” and “coolly,” with no sign of being uneasy.
- D fits. He knows the talk will annoy the narrator.
Watch out: C is tempting because the professor is about to disagree with the narrator. But nothing shows that he is uncomfortable about it.
Choose the answer
The slight apology shows that the professor expects the narrator to be frustrated. So the answer is D, “It suggests that the professor knows that the conversation will be frustrating for the narrator.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong choice. Both C and D link the apology to the talk about the letter. But C puts the bad feeling in the professor, as if he were nervous. He is not. He speaks “placidly,” which means calmly. D puts the bad feeling in the narrator, and the narrator does get upset.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 8 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 16Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from In Search of the Unknown”.
Question
How does the exchange between the professor and the narrator in paragraphs 8–11 contribute to the development of the characters?
- AIt establishes the conflict between the professor and the narrator concerning the validity of the letter.
- BIt suggests a theme of collaboration because the narrator and the professor regularly work together.
- CIt reveals the characters’ traits by contrasting the narrator’s distrust with how easily the professor is deceived by what he reads.
- DIt hints that the resolution will involve the narrator accepting the professor’s opinion about the content of the letter.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the exchange between the professor and the narrator in paragraphs 8–11 contributes to the development of the characters.
A. CORRECT. Paragraphs 8–11 help develop the characters by revealing the difference between the opinions of the narrator and the professor. The narrator believes without any doubts that Halyard, the man who wrote the letter about the auks, is either “ ‘a liar or a fool’ ” (paragraph 9), while the professor believes in the possibility that the writer of the letter could actually be telling the truth (“I said as much to Professor Farrago, but, to my surprise, he appeared to waver” [paragraph 8]).
B. Incorrect. In paragraph 8, the narrator reacts to the letter writer with “a contemptuous tolerance,” and he is shocked to learn that the professor actually agrees with the man (paragraph 11) whom the narrator has bluntly condemned as a liar or a fool (“ ‘In my opinion,’ said I, ‘he’s one or the other.’ ” [paragraph 10]). The exchange presents an emphatic disagreement between the narrator and the professor, and it does not show them working together in a collaborative manner.
C. Incorrect. Although the narrator initially distrusts the contents of the letter and shows “contemptuous tolerance for the writer” (paragraph 8), the excerpt portrays the professor as experienced and intelligent, not as one who is easily deceived.
D. Incorrect. While the narrator does begin to consider the professor’s perspective at the end of the excerpt, paragraphs 8–11 primarily serve to establish the difference of opinion between the narrator and the professor about the writer of the letter.
Question analysis
This question on the excerpt from In Search of the Unknown asks how a short exchange in paragraphs 8–11, in which the narrator and Professor Farrago discuss a letter about a bird, contributes to the development of the two characters. Students must read what each man says and decide what the exchange adds. Some choices describe the pair accurately in part only.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 The task matches the grade 8 standard on how lines of dialogue reveal character, but the four paragraphs are short and the two speakers’ positions are stated outright, so the demand stays at a typical 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 analyze
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- How, not what minor
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 1066 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 90 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 four paragraphs are short and the disagreement is plain, so most students see that the men differ about the letter. The difficulty lies in the wording of the choices. One describes the contrast in terms of character, which suits the stem, but calls the professor easily deceived, a judgment only the narrator holds. The right choice speaks of a conflict, which sounds like plot rather than character, so students must trust that the conflict is what reveals the two men.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The choice that contrasts the narrator’s distrust with an easily deceived professor and the right one both set the men’s views of the letter against each other; they part on whether the professor is fooled. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
How, not what minor Working it out
The stem asks about the characters, while the right choice names a conflict over the letter, so students must see that the disagreement itself is what reveals each man. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The professor’s side is four words, “He isn’t—in mine,” and students must read them as openness to the letter’s truth, set against the narrator’s flat “one or the other.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Sum up in a phrase what each man says and does in paragraphs 8–11, then check every part of each choice against those four paragraphs, since a choice can describe one character correctly and the other not.
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.
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
The wrong answers, classified
B True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Rests on a true fact, that the narrator submits his work to the professor, but in paragraphs 8–11 the two disagree sharply and nothing shows them cooperating.
C Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Gets the narrator’s distrust right but adopts his view that the professor is gullible, though the professor only declines to call the writer a liar or a fool and stays calm.
D Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Knows that the narrator later comes to share the professor’s hope, in paragraph 34, but in paragraphs 8–11 he still insists the writer is “one or the other.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what paragraphs 8–11 show about the two characters. Look at what each man says about the letter. Then compare their views.
Find the narrator’s view
In paragraph 8, the narrator reads the letter with “a contemptuous tolerance for the writer.” Contemptuous means full of scorn. He thinks the writer is “either a very innocent victim or a very stupid swindler.” A swindler is a cheat. In paragraph 10, he says the writer is a liar or a fool: “he’s one or the other.”
Find the professor’s view
The professor does not agree. In paragraph 8, the narrator notices that “to my surprise, he appeared to waver.” To waver means to be unsure. In paragraph 11, the professor answers, “He isn’t—in mine.” He means that in his opinion the writer is not a liar or a fool. So the two men clash over whether the letter is true. A clash like this is a conflict.
Check each choice
- A fits. The two men disagree about whether the letter can be trusted. Validity means whether something is true.
- B does not fit. They do work together, but here they disagree.
- C does not fit. The narrator’s distrust is right, but the professor is not fooled. He calmly refuses to call the writer a liar.
- D does not fit. The narrator starts to hope later, in paragraph 34. In paragraphs 8–11 he does not budge.
Watch out: C is tempting because half of it is true. The narrator does distrust the letter. But the idea that the professor has been fooled is only the narrator’s view.
Choose the answer
Paragraphs 8–11 set the narrator’s scorn against the professor’s open mind. So the answer is A, “It establishes the conflict between the professor and the narrator concerning the validity of the letter.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong choice. It is right about the narrator’s distrust. But it speaks of “how easily the professor is deceived.” Deceived means tricked. The story never shows that. He stays calm and thinks for himself. A describes both men correctly: they disagree about the letter.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 9 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 17Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from In Search of the Unknown”.
Question
The professor’s observations in paragraphs 15–17 create tension in the excerpt by causing the narrator to feel
- Aflustered by the professor’s criticism of his logic.
- Bannoyed by the professor’s sarcasm about his inexperience.
- Cconfused by the professor’s lack of respect for his opinion.
- Dfrustrated by the professor’s lack of interest in his theory.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the professor’s observations in paragraphs 15–17 create tension in the excerpt.
A. CORRECT. The professor criticizes “ ‘you young fellows’ ” (paragraph 15), suggesting that the ideas of young scientists like the narrator are unsupported (“ ‘like swimming squirrels’ ” [paragraph 17]) and inaccurate (“ ‘but you never land where you hope to—do you?’ ” [paragraph 17] and “ ‘you embark on a theory for destinations that don’t exist’ ” [paragraph 15]). The narrator then becomes “red in the face” (paragraph 18), indicating that the narrator is upset by the professor’s criticism, and asks the professor about the great auk in an attempt to defend himself.
B. Incorrect. While the narrator does experience a negative reaction to the professor’s words, the professor is being genuine, not sarcastic. In fact, the sarcasm comes from the narrator in paragraph 14 (“ ‘It is generally accepted,’ I replied, sarcastically, ‘that the great auk has been extinct for years. Therefore I may be pardoned for doubting that our correspondent possesses a pair of them alive’ ”), not from the professor.
C. Incorrect. The professor’s observations cause the narrator to blush with embarrassment (“rather red in the face” [paragraph 18]), but the narrator understands the point that the professor is making about the narrator’s acceptance of the idea that great auks do not exist. The narrator recognizes that the professor is criticizing his youthful ideas, not his opinion.
D. Incorrect. The professor shows amusement with the narrator’s perspective. The narrator is embarrassed and upset by the professor’s words, but the narrator does not display frustration with the professor’s lack of interest in a commonly held view of the existence of a certain species of bird.
Question analysis
In this question on In Search of the Unknown, Professor Farrago makes remarks about “you young fellows,” comparing them to swimming squirrels that never land where they hope. Students must decide how these remarks in paragraphs 15–17 make the narrator feel and so create tension. The comparison is odd and old-fashioned, and the four choices name similar negative feelings with different causes.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students infer feelings from a character’s reactions, usually from plainly stated emotions. Here the cause is a puzzling figurative jab about “swimming squirrels,” the reaction is shown only through a physical sign, and the choices offer four close negative feelings.
- 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
- Figurative or literary language major
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 1066 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 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 professor’s two images are odd, and students must decode them as a comment on how the narrator reasons before they can say why he blushes. Every choice names an unpleasant feeling, so the decision rests on its cause. “You young fellows” makes sarcasm about inexperience the natural guess, but the sarcasm in this scene is the narrator’s own, and the professor smiles “wearily” and speaks in earnest. The narrator’s pointed reply shows he followed the criticism, not that it confused him.
Figurative or literary language major Understanding the question
The criticism comes in images: young men who “embark on a theory for destinations that don’t exist” and who, like swimming squirrels, “never land where you hope to,” a picture of reasoning that goes astray. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The choice about annoyance at sarcasm and the right one both name a bad reaction to the professor’s remarks; they part on the cause, sincere criticism of his logic or mockery of his youth. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The narrator never names his feeling; it shows only in “Rather red in the face” and in the defensive question that follows about whether the great auk is extinct. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Paraphrase what the professor says about “you young fellows” in paragraphs 15–17, find how the narrator reacts in paragraph 18, and choose the feeling and the cause that both fit.
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.
- 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.
- Word match: Repeats striking words or phrases from the text, so it looks supported, but its meaning does not fit the question.
The wrong answers, classified
B Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Hears mockery in “Oh, you young fellows,” but the professor is sincere; the sarcasm belongs to the narrator, who “sarcastically” insists in paragraph 14 that the great auk is extinct.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Takes the blush in paragraph 18 as confusion, though the narrator answers at once with a pointed question, which shows he understood the professor’s point well enough to push back.
D Word match (Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Is drawn by “theory” in paragraph 15 and calls the professor uninterested, though he engages the narrator’s view closely enough to answer it with two vivid images.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how the professor’s words in paragraphs 15–17 make the narrator feel. Tension is a feeling of strain between characters. Each choice names a feeling and a cause. Both parts must be right.
Read what the professor says
In paragraph 15 he says, “Oh, you young fellows,” and “you embark on a theory for destinations that don’t exist.” To embark means to set out on a trip. He means young men set out with an idea toward places that are not there. Their reasoning leads them to wrong answers. In paragraph 17 he adds, “Like swimming squirrels, you navigate with the help of Heaven and a stiff breeze, but you never land where you hope to—do you?”
Understand the picture
A swimming squirrel can’t really steer. It drifts with luck and the wind. The professor is saying the narrator’s thinking drifts the same way and misses the truth. That is a criticism of his logic, or reasoning. In paragraph 18, the narrator is “Rather red in the face.” He is flustered, which means embarrassed and upset.
Check each choice
- A fits. He turns red after the professor criticizes his reasoning.
- B does not fit. Sarcasm is saying the opposite of what you mean in order to mock. The professor means what he says. The sarcastic one is the narrator, in paragraph 14.
- C does not fit. He is not confused. He fires back a sharp question right away.
- D does not fit. The professor answers the narrator’s idea closely, so he is interested in it.
Watch out: B is tempting because “you young fellows” points to the narrator’s youth. But the professor is sincere, not sarcastic.
Choose the answer
The professor says the narrator’s reasoning goes astray, and the narrator turns red. So the answer is A, “flustered by the professor’s criticism of his logic.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice. Both A and B say the narrator feels bad. But B blames sarcasm. Paragraph 14 says the narrator “replied, sarcastically,” so the sarcasm is his own. The professor means his words seriously. A names the real cause: criticism of the narrator’s thinking.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 10 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 18Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from In Search of the Unknown”.
Question
How does the interaction between the narrator and the professor in paragraphs 26–28 contribute to the development of the theme?
- AIt illustrates the professor’s patience as the narrator argues against making the expedition.
- BIt reveals the narrator’s frustration with his limited role in making decisions for the zoological society.
- CIt emphasizes the professor’s desire to acquire new specimens for the zoological society at any cost.
- DIt shows the narrator’s acceptance of his assignment despite his personal objections.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how the interaction between the narrator and the professor in paragraphs 26–28 contributes to the development of the theme.
A. Incorrect. Paragraphs 26–28 do not show the narrator arguing against making the expedition. He instead argues that it is unnecessary for the professor to pay to send extra men on the expedition. The narrator points out that he can ask for assistance if he does, in fact, find great auks (“ ‘None,’ I replied, bluntly; ‘it’s a useless expense, unless there is something to bring back. If there is I’ll wire you, you may be sure’ ” [paragraph 28]).
B. Incorrect. When the professor criticizes the narrator’s blind acceptance of the theory about the existence of the auks, the narrator is frustrated and embarrassed. This frustration does not stem from his inability to make decisions for the zoological society.
C. Incorrect. The professor states that “ ‘what I want you to do is to get those birds here safely’ ” (paragraph 27), which indicates that his main priority is the birds’ safety rather than acquiring specimens regardless of the consequences (i.e., at any cost).
D. CORRECT. Paragraph 26 describes the professor and the narrator making practical plans for the expedition (“we made out a list of articles necessary for me and itemized the expenses I might incur”), indicating the narrator’s acceptance of his assignment while also revealing that he does not anticipate a “successful termination to the expedition.” Paragraph 28 further describes the personal objections of the narrator, who believes that adding extra men to the expedition is pointless (“ ‘a useless expense’ ”), since he does not expect to find any great auks to bring back.
Question analysis
This theme question on In Search of the Unknown asks how paragraphs 26–28, in which the narrator and Professor Farrago talk over supplies, expenses and how many men to bring, contribute to the development of the theme. Students must decode formal, old-fashioned phrasing, then judge what the interaction shows. Every choice sounds like something the excerpt might say.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 theme questions trace an idea through clear events. Paragraphs 26–28 are dense with formal phrasing such as “allowing no margin for a successful termination,” and each choice pairs a real detail with a claim, which pushes the task above grade 7.
- 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 moderate
- Reading between the lines moderate
- How, not what minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 1066 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 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
Each choice pairs a real feature of the scene with a claim, and the claims must be checked against three short paragraphs of formal prose. The narrator does object, bluntly, so the choice that has him arguing against the trip draws strongly; what he rejects is the cost of extra men, while he plans the trip itself. Students who decode “allowing no margin for a successful termination” see the whole picture: he is going, and he expects to fail.
Complex sentences moderate Understanding the question
Paragraph 26 is a 36-word sentence that ends “allowing no margin for a successful termination to the expedition,” formal wording for planning as if the search will fail. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The narrator never says he accepts the trip; his acceptance shows in the planning, and his objection in the blunt “None” and “a useless expense” of paragraph 28. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
How, not what minor Working it out
The stem asks about the theme, yet every choice describes a character’s attitude, so students must judge which attitude these paragraphs show rather than look for a stated theme. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Translate each of paragraphs 26–28 into plain modern words, then check each choice’s claim about the narrator or the professor against exactly what those three paragraphs show.
Traps
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- 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 Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Gets the professor’s patience right, since he answers “Never mind that,” but the narrator never argues against going; he refuses only to take men along.
B Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Carries over the grudging obedience of paragraph 25, “nothing to do but to obey,” though in paragraphs 26–28 the narrator sets his own return date and decides how many men to take.
C Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Inflates the professor’s wish for the birds into a desire for specimens “at any cost,” though the two men itemize expenses and he asks for the birds to arrive safely.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how paragraphs 26–28 build the theme. A theme is a big message of a story. Read the three paragraphs. Decide what the narrator does and what he thinks.
Read paragraph 26
Paragraph 26 says “Together we made out a list of articles necessary for me and itemized the expenses I might incur.” Articles are supplies, and itemized means listed one by one. So the narrator is planning the trip. But he sets a return date “allowing no margin for a successful termination to the expedition.” A margin is extra room. He leaves no extra time in case he finds the birds. He plans as if he will find nothing.
Read paragraphs 27 and 28
The professor asks how many men he will take. The narrator answers bluntly, which means in a short, plain way. He takes none. Extra men would be “a useless expense, unless there is something to bring back.” He still thinks the birds are not real. Yet he does not refuse to go. He accepts the job while doubting it.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The professor is patient, but the narrator never argues against going. He only refuses to take men.
- B does not fit. Here the narrator makes decisions himself, like his return date and how many men to take.
- C does not fit. They count the costs, and the professor wants the birds safe. That is not “at any cost.”
- D fits. He plans the trip but shows he thinks it is pointless.
Watch out: A is tempting because the professor does stay calm. But the narrator is planning the trip, not fighting it.
Choose the answer
The narrator does the job while making his doubts clear. So the answer is D, “It shows the narrator’s acceptance of his assignment despite his personal objections.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong choice. The professor does answer calmly, “Never mind that.” But A says the narrator argues against making the trip. He does not. He helps plan it and only objects to taking men. D captures both parts: he goes, and he still doubts.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 11 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 19Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from In Search of the Unknown”.
Question
Which sentence from the excerpt best explains why the professor is eager to send the narrator on an expedition?
- A“I believe now that Professor Farrago perfectly interpreted my thoughts, but he betrayed neither resentment nor impatience.” (paragraph 25)
- B“Together we made out a list of articles necessary for me and itemized the expenses I might incur, and I set a date for my return, allowing no margin for a successful termination to the expedition.” (paragraph 26)
- C“ ‘What I want you to do is to get those birds here safely.’ ” (paragraph 27)
- D“ ‘I can’t get away from the idea that we are on the eve of acquiring the rarest of living creatures.’ ” (paragraph 33)
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which sentence from the excerpt best explains why the professor is eager to send the narrator on an expedition.
A. Incorrect. The sentence from paragraph 25 says that the professor “perfectly interpreted” the narrator’s thoughts: in paragraph 24, the narrator suspects the professor is losing his ability to reason because his request (to secure the great auk for the society) seems impossible. The professor is excited about the discovery, but the narrator doubts whether the discovery is real. The sentence does not explain why the professor is excited, however.
B. Incorrect. Paragraph 26 shows the professor and the narrator planning the logistics of the trip, but it does not explain why the professor is eager to send the narrator on the expedition.
C. Incorrect. Although the sentence from paragraph 27 expresses the professor’s interest in having the narrator bring the birds back safely, it does not show the underlying reason why the safety of the birds is so crucial, which is that the great auk is extremely rare.
D. CORRECT. The sentence from paragraph 33 reveals the professor’s excitement to get “ ‘the rarest of living creatures,’ ” the great auk. In paragraph 14, the narrator states that “it is generally accepted . . . that the great auk has been extinct for years,” which would make a living auk incredibly rare and explains the professor’s eagerness for the narrator to go on the expedition.
Question analysis
This textual evidence question asks which sentence from In Search of the Unknown best explains why Professor Farrago is eager to send the narrator to collect a pair of great auks from a man who wrote to the zoo. Students must find the sentence that gives the professor’s reason, and the four quotations, from paragraphs 25 to 33, all concern the expedition in some way.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Choosing the sentence that best explains a character’s motive is standard grade 7 evidence work. The four quotations are short and labeled, but students must tell a reason for the professor’s eagerness apart from sentences that merely relate to the trip.
- 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
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 1066 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 109 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A detail in the explanation was attributed to the wrong paragraph; it 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 quotation concerns the expedition, so the question rests on the difference between a sentence that relates to the trip and one that gives the professor’s reason for wanting it. The order to bring the birds back safely shows his eagerness plainly and draws students who stop there. Only the sentence about “the rarest of living creatures” supplies a motive, and it gains its weight from the narrator’s earlier claim that the great auk is extinct.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The professor’s order to “get those birds here safely” and the right sentence are both his words about the birds; one says what he wants, the other why he wants it. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The right sentence never mentions the expedition, and its force depends on paragraph 14, where the narrator says the great auk “has been extinct for years.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
“On the eve of acquiring” is an idiom for being about to obtain, and a student who takes “eve” as evening misses that the professor feels the prize is near. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Restate the question as “Why does the professor want the narrator to go?” and ask of each quotation whether it gives a reason or only describes part of the plan.
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.
- Word match: Repeats striking words or phrases from the text, so it looks supported, but its meaning does not fit the question.
- 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 the professor reading the narrator’s doubts with “neither resentment nor impatience,” a true picture of his calm that says nothing about why he wants the birds.
B Word match (Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Is drawn by “the expedition” at the end of the sentence, but the list of supplies, costs and a return date is planning, not the professor’s motive.
C Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Takes the professor’s instruction to bring the birds safely as his reason, but it states what he wants done; why the birds matter appears only in paragraph 33.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The DOE’s explanation of Option A says “In the sentence from paragraph 25, the narrator suspects the professor is losing his ability to reason.” That suspicion is in paragraph 24 (“Clearly, Professor Farrago was on the verge of dotage,” where dotage is “a loss of reasoning brought about by old age”). The sentence from paragraph 25, which is Option A, says that the professor “perfectly interpreted my thoughts” and showed “neither resentment nor impatience.” The site now says: “The sentence from paragraph 25 says that the professor ‘perfectly interpreted’ the narrator’s thoughts: in paragraph 24, the narrator suspects the professor is losing his ability to reason.” The rest of the explanation is unchanged: Option A is still wrong because the sentence does not explain why the professor is eager to send the narrator.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for evidence: the sentence that best explains why the professor is eager to send the narrator. So look for a reason, not a plan or an order.
Recall what the narrator believes
In paragraph 14, the narrator says “that the great auk has been extinct for years.” Extinct means no longer alive anywhere on Earth. So a living great auk would be amazingly rare. The letter writer claims to have two of them.
Find the professor’s reason
In paragraph 33, the professor says, “I can’t get away from the idea that we are on the eve of acquiring the rarest of living creatures.” On the eve of means just about to. Acquiring means getting. He thinks the zoo is close to getting the rarest animal alive. That is why he is eager to send the narrator.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. It is from paragraph 25. It says the professor understood the narrator’s thoughts. Those thoughts are in paragraph 24: the professor was “on the verge of dotage,” or losing his reason in old age. A shows the professor’s calm, not his reason.
- B does not fit. It describes planning the trip, not why.
- C does not fit. It says what the professor wants done, but not why the birds matter.
- D fits. It gives his reason: a chance at the rarest of creatures.
Watch out: C is tempting because the professor is talking about the birds. But it is an order, not a reason.
Choose the answer
Only D explains what makes the trip so exciting to the professor. So the answer is D, “I can’t get away from the idea that we are on the eve of acquiring the rarest of living creatures.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong choice. In C, the professor says “What I want you to do is to get those birds here safely.” That tells what he wants. D tells why he wants it: the birds may be “the rarest of living creatures.” The question asks for the reason, so D fits better.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 12 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 20Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from In Search of the Unknown”.
Question
How does paragraph 34 help develop the plot of the excerpt?
- AIt shows that the narrator is beginning to consider the possibility of finding the great auks.
- BIt demonstrates that the narrator is struggling to understand why the professor thinks the great auks exist.
- CIt establishes that the narrator is willing to let the professor overrule him about the great auks.
- DIt emphasizes that the narrator feels a sense of urgency to complete the expedition to locate the great auks.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how paragraph 34 helps develop the plot of the excerpt.
A. CORRECT. Despite his initial disbelief, the narrator admits in paragraph 34 that he is starting to feel the “same strange hope” the professor feels, which is to find the great auks (paragraph 33).
B. Incorrect. While the narrator does make an effort in paragraphs 11–22 to understand the professor’s thinking, paragraph 34 reveals that the narrator has been affected by the professor’s “strange hope” for the auks and is beginning to share this hope “in spite of” himself.
C. Incorrect. The narrator describes a feeling of hope in paragraph 34 that would not be present if he had simply been overruled by the professor and did not share any of the professor’s belief in the possibility that the auks exist. In addition, it was established before paragraph 34 that the narrator was willing to be overruled (“I drew a chair up beside his desk—there was nothing to do but to obey, and this fool’s errand was none of my conceiving” [paragraph 25]).
D. Incorrect. The narrator does not express a sense of urgency in paragraph 34 to complete the expedition. Instead, he expresses hope that the great auks might really exist.
Question analysis
This plot question on In Search of the Unknown asks how paragraph 34, a single long sentence near the end of the excerpt, helps develop the story of the narrator’s assignment to bring back two great auks. Students must put its formal phrasing into plain words and connect it to the conversation that comes before it.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining how a paragraph moves a plot forward is regular grade 7 work, and paragraph 34 is a single sentence. Its formal wording, such as “in spite of me” and “stir my pulses,” has to be put into plain words first.
- 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
- Complex sentences minor
- Figurative or literary language minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 1066 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
Put into plain words, the paragraph has the narrator admitting that the professor’s hope is starting to take hold of him, which is the turn the question asks about. The losses come from reading it through earlier scenes: his obedience in paragraph 25 makes giving way to the professor look like the point, and the word “strange” makes puzzlement look likely. The paragraph records a change in what he believes, not in what he does.
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
Paragraph 34 is one 31-word sentence that turns on “on the contrary” and breaks its main clause with “in spite of me,” so its point, a hope beginning to stir, arrives late. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Figurative or literary language minor Understanding the question
“To stir my pulses” means to excite, and a student who reads it as a racing heart may take it for haste to leave rather than hope that the birds exist. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Restate paragraph 34 in plain modern words, then test each choice against what this paragraph itself says about the narrator.
Traps
- 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.
- 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)
Takes “the same strange hope” as the narrator puzzling over the professor’s belief, though the sentence says that hope is now stirring in the narrator himself.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Brings in paragraph 25, where the narrator draws up a chair because he must obey, but paragraph 34 shows him starting to share the hope, not yielding to an order.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads stirring pulses as eagerness to finish the trip quickly, though the excitement is about the chance that the birds exist, and the paragraph says nothing of speed.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how paragraph 34 moves the story forward. Read that paragraph closely. Then decide what has changed for the narrator.
Read paragraph 34 closely
Paragraph 34 says “But I was not shocked; on the contrary, I was conscious that the same strange hope that Professor Farrago cherished was beginning, in spite of me, to stir my pulses, too.” On the contrary means the opposite is true. Cherished means held dear. To stir his pulses means to make his heart beat faster with excitement.
Put it in your own words
The professor hopes the great auks are real. Now the narrator feels that same hope starting in himself. “In spite of me” means he did not want to feel it, but he does. Before, he called the letter writer a liar or a fool. Now he is starting to think the birds might really be found.
Check each choice
- A fits. He begins to hope that the birds could be found.
- B does not fit. He is not puzzling over the professor’s belief. He is starting to share it.
- C does not fit. Giving in to the professor came earlier, in paragraph 25: “there was nothing to do but to obey.” Paragraph 34 is about hope, not obeying.
- D does not fit. Nothing in the paragraph is about hurrying.
Watch out: D is tempting because a racing pulse can sound like rushing. But the excitement is about the birds, not about speed.
Choose the answer
Paragraph 34 shows the narrator’s doubt starting to turn into hope. So the answer is A, “It shows that the narrator is beginning to consider the possibility of finding the great auks.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong choice. The narrator did agree to obey the professor. But that happened in paragraph 25, and he was not happy about it. In paragraph 34, something new happens. He feels “the same strange hope” as the professor. A names that change.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 13 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 21Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from In Search of the Unknown”.
Question
Which sentence best demonstrates the professional relationship between the narrator and the professor?
- A“He disengaged the sheet of paper and handed it to me.” (paragraph 4)
- B“Clearly, Professor Farrago was on the verge of dotage—ah, what a loss to the world!” (paragraph 24)
- C“I drew a chair up beside his desk—there was nothing to do but to obey, and this fool’s errand was none of my conceiving.” (paragraph 25)
- D“ ‘Very well,’ said Professor Farrago, good-humoredly, ‘you shall have all the assistance you may require.’ ” (paragraph 29)
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks which sentence best demonstrates the professional relationship between the narrator and the professor.
A. Incorrect. Although the professor’s handing of the paper to the narrator indicates that they are beginning to discuss the letter about the great auk, the sentence from paragraph 4 does not convey the relationship between a subordinate employee (the narrator) and a superior (the professor).
B. Incorrect. The sentence from paragraph 24 presents the narrator’s immediate internal reaction to the professor’s words. The sentence emphasizes that the professor’s belief in the great auk’s existence is so outrageous that the narrator initially thinks the professor is starting to lose touch with reality. This is a momentary reaction to the professor’s words, not a demonstration of the professional relationship between the two.
C. CORRECT. The sentence from paragraph 25 reveals that while the narrator disagrees with the professor (“this fool’s errand was none of my conceiving”), he obeys because he works for the professor (“there was nothing to do but to obey”).
D. Incorrect. The professor’s good-humored offer of assistance in the sentence from paragraph 29 does not best demonstrate the underlying employer-employee relationship between the professor and the narrator. The narrator has to go on the expedition because the professor, his boss, told him to.
Question analysis
This textual evidence question on In Search of the Unknown asks which sentence best demonstrates the professional relationship between the narrator, who answers letters for a zoological society, and Professor Farrago. The four quotations come from different points in their conversation about a letter. Several show the two men dealing with each other, so students must weigh which one shows the relationship most clearly.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Picking the sentence that best shows a relationship between characters is typical grade 7 evidence work. The four quotations are short and labeled, and the main step is deciding what a professional relationship would look like in this scene.
- 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
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 1066 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 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
Several quotations show the two men interacting, and the professor’s offer of “all the assistance you may require” even shows him controlling the society’s resources. The best evidence is the sentence in which the employee’s position is plain: he disagrees, yet he must obey. Students who read “professional” loosely as anything that happens at work pick the handing over of the letter, and those who look only at the professor’s authority stop at his offer of help.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Students must first decide what a professional relationship looks like here, a superior and an employee bound to carry out his orders, before they can see it in “nothing to do but to obey.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
All four sentences show the two men dealing with each other, from handing over a letter to granting help, so each must be weighed for what it shows about rank. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
The right sentence ends “this fool’s errand was none of my conceiving,” old-fashioned wording for saying the pointless trip was not his idea, which shows the disagreement that makes his obedience telling. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Decide first what a professional relationship between these two men involves, then ask of each quotation whether it shows that relationship or only a passing moment between 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.
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
- 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)
Treats the handing over of a letter as a boss giving an order, though the gesture only opens their discussion and shows nothing about who must answer to whom.
B True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Chooses the narrator’s private verdict that the professor is near “dotage,” an accurate view of his thoughts in paragraph 24 but a passing reaction, not a sign of their working roles.
D Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Sees the professor granting help as a superior’s power, which is partly right, but the sentence shows his good humor more than the narrator’s duty to follow orders.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for the sentence that best shows their professional relationship. That means how they relate at work: who is the boss, and who must follow orders. Paragraph 3 calls Professor Farrago the “general superintendent of the Zoological Gardens.” He is the man in charge. The narrator sends him letters for approval.
Look for a sign of boss and worker
Paragraph 25 says “I drew a chair up beside his desk—there was nothing to do but to obey, and this fool’s errand was none of my conceiving.” To obey means to do what you are told. A fool’s errand is a pointless task. “None of my conceiving” means it was not his idea.
Put it in your own words
The narrator thinks the trip is silly. Still, he must do it, because the professor is his boss. A worker who disagrees but follows orders anyway shows a work relationship clearly. That is what this sentence does.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Handing over a letter starts their talk. It shows nothing about who is in charge.
- B does not fit. It is the narrator’s private thought that the professor is losing his reason in old age. It is a passing reaction.
- C fits. The narrator must obey even though he disagrees.
- D does not fit. It shows the professor in a good mood. It does not show the narrator’s duty to follow orders.
Watch out: D is tempting because a boss is the one who offers help. But the sentence mostly shows his good humor.
Choose the answer
Only C shows the narrator following an order he does not agree with. So the answer is C, “I drew a chair up beside his desk—there was nothing to do but to obey, and this fool’s errand was none of my conceiving.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong choice. The professor does have the power to offer “all the assistance you may require.” But that sentence mainly shows him being friendly. C shows the heart of the work relationship. The narrator thinks the job is foolish, yet he has “nothing to do but to obey.”
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 14 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 22Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from In Search of the Unknown”.
Question
How does the author develop the contrast between the narrator’s point of view and the professor’s point of view?
- Aby providing both the narrator’s and professor’s thoughts on how age and experience influence each other’s reasoning
- Bby using the conversation between the narrator and the professor to emphasize their reactions to the letter
- Cby describing the professor’s persistent efforts to change the narrator’s mind about the letter
- Dby including dialogue that explains why the professor is the supervisor and the narrator is his subordinate
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how the author develops the contrast between the narrator’s point of view and the professor’s point of view.
A. Incorrect. The excerpt does not describe the narrator’s thoughts about how age and experience influence the professor’s reasoning in enough detail to fully contrast them against the thoughts about the narrator that the professor expresses in paragraphs 15–17. The narrator’s idea that the professor might be “on the verge of dotage” (paragraph 24) is meant in a humorous way.
B. CORRECT. The primary conflict of the excerpt revolves around the narrator’s disagreement with the professor about whether the letter about the great auks could be true. As the two men converse, their contrasting attitudes toward the letter become clear: the narrator dismisses the possibility of great auks out of hand (“ ‘of course the man is mistaken’ ” [paragraph 5]; “ ‘here is a man . . . who wants you to send somebody to take charge of a bird that doesn’t exist!’ ” [paragraph 12]), while the professor calmly admits that although “ ‘nine hundred and ninety-nine men in a thousand would throw that letter aside and condemn the writer’ ” (paragraph 9), he himself believes that the writer could be telling the truth (“ ‘How do you know,’ asked Professor Farrago, ‘that the bird in question does not exist?’ ” [paragraph 13]).
C. Incorrect. The professor explains why he disagrees with the narrator (paragraphs 19–21), but he does not make persistent efforts to convince the narrator to change his mind about the letter. Instead he states that the narrator will go on an expedition to retrieve “ ‘whatever it is that our correspondent has’ ” (paragraph 23), thereby requiring the narrator to go collect the great auks whether the narrator believes in them or not.
D. Incorrect. The point of the dialogue is not to explain the subordinate-supervisor relationship between the narrator and the professor but rather to contrast what each character believes about the contents of the letter.
Question analysis
This point-of-view question asks how Robert W. Chambers develops the contrast between the narrator’s outlook and Professor Farrago’s in the excerpt from In Search of the Unknown. Students must step back from single lines and judge the author’s method across the whole excerpt. The choices describe techniques in general terms, and several connect to real moments in the story.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Analyzing how an author contrasts two characters’ points of view is the grade 7 standard itself, but here students must judge the main method across the whole excerpt, and each choice names an abstract method that touches something in the text.
- 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
- How, not what major
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 1066 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 right choice is plain enough to seem too obvious, so students look for something more specific. The excerpt offers a candidate: the professor teases “you young fellows,” and the narrator decides the old man is near “dotage,” which makes age look like the method. Those remarks are passing jokes, while the men’s opposite reactions to Halyard’s letter run through the whole conversation. The question rewards judging what carries the contrast from start to end rather than what is most striking.
How, not what major Working it out
The question asks for the author’s method across the whole excerpt, and every choice names an abstract technique, so students must step back from single lines to see that the dialogue carries the contrast. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The choice about age and experience and the right one both describe the two men’s opposed views as they come out in the excerpt; they part on the subject, their ages or the letter. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The contrast builds from the narrator’s “of course the man is mistaken” in paragraph 5 to the professor’s appeal to “instinct” in paragraph 33, so no single passage shows the method. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: For each choice, find where the excerpt does what the choice describes, and ask whether that method carries the contrast through the whole excerpt or appears only once or twice.
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.
- 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 Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Notices the jab at “you young fellows” and the narrator’s thought of “dotage,” but two passing remarks about age are not how the author builds the contrast across the excerpt.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Overstates the professor’s role, since he asks a few calm questions and then simply assigns the trip, never working to win the narrator over.
D Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Knows that the professor is the superior, but no line of dialogue explains how either man got his position; the talk is about the letter, not their ranks.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about the author’s method. How does the author show that the two men see things differently? Look at how the whole excerpt is built, not just one line.
Notice how the excerpt is told
Most of the excerpt is a conversation. The two men talk back and forth about the letter. Each answer shows how one man reacts to it. So their reactions to the letter are where the contrast shows up. A contrast is a clear difference between two things.
Find the two reactions
The narrator says “of course the man is mistaken” (paragraph 5). He laughs at the idea of “a bird that doesn’t exist!” (paragraph 12). The professor stays open. In paragraph 13 he asks how the narrator can be sure “that the bird in question does not exist.” In paragraph 23, he is “daring to believe” it is the great auk.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Age comes up only twice: “you young fellows” and the narrator’s thought about “dotage.” Two short remarks do not build the contrast.
- B fits. The talk about the letter shows their opposite reactions.
- C does not fit. The professor asks a few calm questions and then simply sends the narrator. He does not keep trying to change his mind.
- D does not fit. No line explains how either man got his job.
Watch out: A is tempting because those remarks about age are real. But they are passing moments, not the author’s main method.
Choose the answer
The author builds the contrast through the two men’s talk about the letter. So the answer is B, “by using the conversation between the narrator and the professor to emphasize their reactions to the letter.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong choice. The professor does tease “you young fellows,” and the narrator does think of “dotage.” But those are two quick remarks. From paragraph 5 to paragraph 33, the two men keep reacting to the letter in opposite ways. That steady back-and-forth builds the contrast, so B fits.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 15 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 29Passage Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy
Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy
Inside the 40,000-acre Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in northern Oklahoma, herds of bison roam on the scenic land that is home to hundreds of different species of plants and animals. While one of the greatest threats to the prairie is wildfire, the use of controlled fires is actually an effective way to protect this idyllic landscape.
Fires that are started by lightning or other natural circumstances are inevitable, and the results can be disastrous. However, hundreds of years ago the American Indian people who inhabited the Great Plains area between Minnesota and Texas realized that these fires could also be helpful. The bison in the area seemed to prefer grazing on tender new grass on the recently burned land rather than on grass in the unburned areas. The American Indian people began to deliberately burn areas of land for bison to graze on, which enticed the herds away from the people’s crops.
Today conservationists at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve and farmers in the Great Plains continue to use controlled burns for land management. Intentionally burning a portion of land can dramatically improve the quality of the vegetation that regrows there. The fires burn away weedy undergrowth and help limit the overcrowding of shrubs and trees in the burn area, creating less competition for water and nutrients. Additionally, the process of burning excess plant matter adds nitrogen, an essential element for plant growth, to the soil.
One common target of controlled burns at the preserve and the surrounding area is the invasive red cedar tree. A single red cedar tree can consume up to 40 gallons of water per day, taking this vital resource away from other plant life. These tall trees also cast shade that prevents sunlight from reaching the plants beneath them. The fast-growing red cedar trees tend to crowd out prairie grasses, the primary food source for wild and domestic animals that make the prairie their home. An imbalance in one component of the prairie’s ecosystem affects the entire web of life. Controlled burns help maintain this ecosystem’s delicate balance.
Of course, these controlled fires are intended to burn only a portion of an area. A total burn, which is a risk with an uncontrolled wildfire, would destroy all wildlife as well as the crops farmers plant for income. The key to using controlled fires is knowing which areas of land to burn and when. Conservation experts at the preserve employ the “patch-burn” approach, meaning they rotate which portion of land is burned each year. They study the land to find out which areas would most benefit from being burned, and then they arrange about a dozen burns over one-third of the land. This patch burning contains the fire within a specific area and allows animals in the burn area to safely relocate. The following year, conservationists will burn a different section of the preserve, while the land burned the previous year regrows healthier than before.
Researchers have tracked and studied the variety of plant species and animals that live on the preserve, and their studies show that the patch-burn approach has restored biodiversity to the area by promoting the growth of species that were at risk of being crowded out. The patch-burn system is so successful that the conservationists at the preserve provide training to prairie farmers about conducting controlled burns on their own land. Burning land to make it healthy may seem counterintuitive, but strategic controlled fires have helped the prairie sustain life for hundreds of years and, with careful management, will continue to do so.
Question
According to the passage, how did fires started by natural causes prompt American Indians to begin practicing controlled burns?
- Aby drawing animals in to the area to feed on the new growth sprouting from the burned land
- Bby destroying tall trees and reducing the shade that had hindered the growth of planted crops
- Cby burning off excess vegetation and increasing the availability of nutrients for the remaining plants
- Dby causing changes to the bison’s migration habits as bison herds fled from the wildfires on the prairie
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how observing the effects of the fires started by natural causes prompted American Indians to begin practicing controlled burns.
A. CORRECT. In paragraph 2, the author states that American Indians observed bison “grazing on tender new grass on the recently burned land rather than on grass in the unburned areas.” These observations prompted the practice of controlled burns as a means of enticing “the herds away from the people’s crops.”
B. Incorrect. Although the author mentions in paragraph 4 that the primary targets of a controlled burn are red cedar trees and that “these tall trees also cast shade that prevents sunlight from reaching the plants beneath them,” this detail supports why conservationists use controlled burns today, not what initially prompted the use of controlled burns.
C. Incorrect. While the author states in paragraph 3 that “the process of burning excess plant matter adds nitrogen, an essential element for plant growth, to the soil” and that “intentionally burning a portion of land can dramatically improve the quality of the vegetation that regrows there,” these details do not explain the initial observations that prompted American Indians to practice controlled burning.
D. Incorrect. While paragraph 2 mentions that bison moved to a new area to graze because they preferred the “tender new grass on the recently burned land,” there is no indication in the passage that bison changed their migration habits in order to flee wildfires.
Question analysis
This key-details question about an article on controlled burns at an Oklahoma tallgrass prairie preserve asks how fires started by lightning or other natural causes led American Indians to begin burning land on purpose. Students must find the passage's account of that early practice, and since the article describes several effects of fire, each choice has to be checked against what those first observers actually saw.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Finding a stated cause in an informational text is regular grade 7 reading. The answer sits in one short paragraph, but the article describes several effects of fire, old and new, and the choices draw on them, which keeps the demand typical.
- 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
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 598 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 86 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 points to one short paragraph, but the article goes on to list many more benefits of fire, and two wrong choices borrow them: shade cleared from under red cedars and nutrients returned to the soil. Both are true of controlled burns today, not of what the Great Plains peoples first noticed. Students who return to paragraph 2 and restate the bison’s taste for freshly burned grass find the answer quickly.
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Two wrong choices name real benefits of burning from later paragraphs, cedar shade removed in paragraph 4 and nutrients freed in paragraph 3, so each must be tested against what the early peoples saw. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
Paragraph 2 never says the bison’s grazing caused the practice; students connect “realized that these fires could also be helpful” to the preference for burned land and the deliberate burns that follow. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Go to the paragraph about the Great Plains peoples of hundreds of years ago, restate in your own words what they noticed after natural fires, and test each choice against that observation.
Traps
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
- 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.
The wrong answers, classified
B Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Borrows paragraph 4’s red cedars, whose shade blocks sunlight from the plants beneath them, and adds “planted crops,” though that shade explains modern burns, not the first deliberate ones.
C True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
States paragraph 3’s real benefits, weedy undergrowth burned away and nitrogen added to the soil, but the article gives them as reasons for burning today, not as what the early peoples observed.
D Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Remembers that bison moved onto burned land but turns their preference for “tender new grass” into herds fleeing wildfire, a change in migration the passage never describes.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks about a cause. Long ago, fires started by lightning gave American Indians an idea. They began to burn land on purpose. You need to find what they saw that led them to do it. A controlled burn is a fire that people set and keep inside a planned area.
Find the right paragraph
Paragraph 2 tells this part of the story. It says the people “realized that these fires could also be helpful.” Then it says what they noticed: “The bison in the area seemed to prefer grazing on tender new grass on the recently burned land rather than on grass in the unburned areas.”
Put it in your own words
Grazing means eating grass. After a fire, soft new grass grew, and the bison liked it best. So the people began to burn land on purpose. The new grass pulled the herds to that land. That kept the bison away from the crops. The paragraph says the burning “enticed the herds away from the people’s crops.” Enticed means tempted or drew.
Check each choice
- A is right. The burned land drew animals, the bison, to eat the new grass.
- B is wrong. The shade of tall trees comes from paragraph 4. It explains why people burn red cedars today, not how burning began.
- C is wrong. Burning off weeds and adding nutrients come from paragraph 3. Nutrients are what plants need to grow. These are reasons for burning today.
- D is wrong. The bison moved toward the fresh grass. The passage never says herds fled from fires.
Watch out: C is true about controlled burns. But the question asks what first gave the people the idea. Paragraph 2 says it was the bison.
Choose the answer
The early people saw bison come to burned land to eat the new grass. So the answer is A: “by drawing animals in to the area to feed on the new growth sprouting from the burned land.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because it names real good effects of fire. But paragraph 3 gives those as reasons people burn land “today.” The question asks how burning began hundreds of years ago. Paragraph 2 says it began when people watched bison feed on burned land.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy” as printed (page 41)
Question 16 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 30Uses the passage above: “Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy”.
Question
Targeting red cedar trees in controlled burns affects the animals that live on the prairie mostly by
- Aensuring that the animals’ main food source has the conditions needed for it to thrive.
- Bendangering the animals that live near the trees scheduled for removal.
- Cmaking sure that the water supply for the animals is sufficient.
- Dreducing the animals’ natural source of shade and protection from the elements.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how targeting red cedar trees in controlled burns affects the animals that live on the prairie.
A. CORRECT. According to information in paragraph 4, targeting invasive red cedar trees with controlled burns affects animals that live on the prairie by ensuring that these trees do not “crowd out prairie grasses, the primary food source for wild and domestic animals that make the prairie their home.” The paragraph also states that each red cedar tree consumes “up to 40 gallons of water per day, taking this vital resource away from other plant life.” Removing red cedars thus increases the amount of water available to the prairie grasses and helps maintain favorable conditions for the animals’ main source of food.
B. Incorrect. Although the author mentions the potential danger to wildlife from an uncontrolled burn in paragraph 5, the author emphasizes that patch burning “allows animals in the burn area to safely relocate.” Therefore, the animals that live near trees scheduled for removal are not endangered by the controlled burns.
C. Incorrect. In paragraph 4, the author states that “a single red cedar tree can consume up to 40 gallons of water per day, taking this vital resource away from other plant life.” However, the author does not suggest that reducing the number of red cedar trees through controlled burns ensures a sufficient water supply for animals that live on the prairie.
D. Incorrect. In paragraph 4, the author states that “these tall trees also cast shade that prevents sunlight from reaching the plants beneath them.” However, the author does not suggest that using controlled burns to eliminate red cedar trees reduces a natural source of shade for prairie animals. The red cedar trees are invasive; therefore, the author does not consider them a “natural” part of the prairie ecosystem.
Question analysis
This question asks how burning invasive red cedar trees on purpose mostly affects the wild and domestic animals that live on the Oklahoma prairie. Students follow a chain of cause and effect through the paragraph on red cedars, which describes the trees' heavy water use, their shade and their spread, and must pick out the effect that matters most to the animals.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 readers routinely trace how one change leads to another in an informational text. This chain stays within one paragraph, but the paragraph names several things the cedars take from the prairie, and the stem's “mostly” asks for the main effect.
- 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 between the lines moderate
- Much to keep track of minor
- The right answer is reworded minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 598 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 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
Paragraph 4 lists three harms the red cedar does, drinking water, casting shade and crowding out grasses, and the wrong choices hand the water and the shade straight to the animals. In the text, all three harms fall on plants, and animals feel them only through the grasses they eat. Students who ask who suffers each harm see that protecting the food supply is the main effect the stem’s “mostly” asks for.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Paragraph 4 never names an effect on animals; students must chain the cedars crowding out “prairie grasses,” the grasses being “the primary food source,” and the burns that remove the cedars. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Much to keep track of minor Working it out
The paragraph names three harms at once, 40 gallons of water a day, shade over the plants below and crowding, and students must track which living things each harm reaches. (Sweller, 1988; Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990)
The right answer is reworded minor Choosing the answer
The right choice speaks of “conditions needed for it to thrive” without naming grass or cedars, while the wrong ones repeat the paragraph’s vivid details of water and shade. (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Reread the paragraph about red cedars and list each way the trees harm the prairie, then ask which of those harms reaches the animals and which would matter to them most.
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 that fire near animals must endanger them, a common belief, though paragraph 5 says patch burning “allows animals in the burn area to safely relocate.”
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Seizes on the 40 gallons a red cedar drinks each day, but the passage says that water is taken from “other plant life,” not from the animals’ supply.
D Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Turns the cedars’ shade, which blocks sunlight from “the plants beneath them,” into shelter for animals, though the passage treats the invasive trees as a harm, never a natural refuge.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks about cause and effect. People burn red cedar trees on purpose. You need to find how that mostly helps the animals. The word “mostly” means you want the biggest effect, not just any effect.
Find what the red cedars do
Paragraph 4 is about red cedars. It names three harms. First, one tree can drink “up to 40 gallons of water per day, taking this vital resource away from other plant life.” Second, the trees “cast shade that prevents sunlight from reaching the plants beneath them.” Third, they “tend to crowd out prairie grasses, the primary food source for wild and domestic animals.”
Ask who each harm hurts
Look at who loses each time. The water is taken from “other plant life.” The shade blocks light from “the plants beneath them.” The crowding pushes out prairie grasses. So every harm falls on plants. The animals feel it through the grass, because grass is their main food. Primary means main. So burning the cedars mostly helps the animals by protecting their food.
Check each choice
- A is right. The animals’ main food source is prairie grass. With the cedars gone, the grass gets water, sunlight and room to grow.
- B is wrong. Paragraph 5 says patch burning “allows animals in the burn area to safely relocate.” Relocate means move somewhere else.
- C is wrong. The cedars take water from plants. The passage never says the animals run short of water.
- D is wrong. The shade blocks light from plants. The passage never calls it shelter for animals.
Watch out: The 40 gallons of water is a striking fact, so C is tempting. But that water is taken from “other plant life.”
Choose the answer
Burning the cedars keeps the grass healthy, and the grass feeds the animals. Thrive means grow well. So the answer is A: “ensuring that the animals’ main food source has the conditions needed for it to thrive.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because paragraph 4 does talk about water. But it says the cedars take water from plants, not from animals. The grass, the animals’ main food, is what suffers from all three harms. So A fits better.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 17 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 31Uses the passage above: “Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy”.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 6.
The patch-burn system is so successful that the conservationists at the preserve provide training to prairie farmers about conducting controlled burns on their own land.
The author includes this sentence to show that
- Athe conservationists are better qualified to lead preservation efforts than farmers are.
- Bthe conservationists are eager to involve others in the preservation of the prairie.
- Cthe conservationists’ efforts will restore the original beauty and biodiversity of the region.
- Dthe conservationists’ training program should serve as a model for other conservation organizations.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks what the author intends to show by using the second sentence in paragraph 6 in the passage.
A. Incorrect. Although the author refers to the conservationists as “experts” in paragraph 5 and states that conservationists “provide training to prairie farmers” (paragraph 6), the second sentence in paragraph 6 does not imply that the conservationists are better qualified to lead preservation efforts than farmers are. Instead, the sentence shows that conservationists believe that prairie farmers are capable of performing the controlled burns that contribute to overall conservation efforts.
B. CORRECT. The conservationists are eager to involve others in the preservation of the prairie, because “studies show that the patch-burn approach has restored biodiversity to the area by promoting the growth of species that were at risk of being crowded out” and that the process has “helped the prairie sustain life for hundreds of years” (paragraph 6). The second sentence in paragraph 6 describes how conservationists are sharing their knowledge about preservation techniques with people who live on the prairie.
C. Incorrect. Although the author points out in paragraph 6 that “studies show that the patch-burn approach has restored biodiversity to the area by promoting the growth of species that were at risk of being crowded out,” the idea that controlled burns may help restore the original biodiversity of the prairie is not the focus of the second sentence in paragraph 6, which notes only that conservationists are providing training to farmers about controlled burns.
D. Incorrect. The author mentions in paragraph 6 that the patch-burn system has been “successful” and suggests in the last sentence of the paragraph that the use of controlled burns will continue to benefit the prairie ecosystem. These details imply that this system will continue to be used and may even become more widespread. However, the second sentence in paragraph 6 merely describes a patch-burn training program that already exists and does not suggest that this program should serve as a model for other organizations.
Question analysis
This question quotes a sentence from the last paragraph of the prairie article, about the preserve's conservationists training farmers to run controlled burns on their own land, and asks why the author includes it. Students must work out what this one sentence contributes, and because every choice sounds like something a successful program might show, the test is whether the sentence itself supports it.
- NYS standards
- 7R5 structure and genre features
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining why an author includes a sentence is everyday grade 7 work. The sentence is short and plainly worded, and the choices stay close to the passage's ideas, so each must be measured against what the sentence itself says.
- 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
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 598 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 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
Every choice reads something into one plain sentence, so the decision is how far the sentence lets a reader go. Teaching farmers to burn their own land shows a wish to spread the work, which the right choice calls eagerness to involve others. The wrong choices go further: to a ranking of experts over farmers, to restoring the region’s original beauty, or to a model for other organizations, none of which the sentence states.
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks why the author includes the training sentence, so students must say what it adds after the studies of restored biodiversity, not merely restate that farmers are trained. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Nothing in the sentence calls the conservationists “eager”; that has to be read from their choosing to teach their method to farmers so that it spreads beyond the preserve. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Restate the sentence in your own words, then ask what it adds to the paragraph's account of the patch-burn system's success, rejecting any choice that claims more than the sentence says.
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.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
The wrong answers, classified
A Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads experts training farmers as a ranking of who should lead, though the sentence shows trust that farmers can run burns themselves, not a claim of superior qualifications.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Draws on the sentence before, where studies show “the patch-burn approach has restored biodiversity,” and adds “original beauty,” though the training sentence itself is about sharing the method.
D Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Takes “so successful” as an endorsement and stretches one preserve’s training of local farmers into a model that other conservation organizations should follow, a recommendation the author never makes.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks why the author put one sentence in the passage. The sentence says the patch-burn system works so well that the preserve’s experts train farmers. You need to decide what that sentence shows, and no more.
Read the sentence closely
The sentence says “the conservationists at the preserve provide training to prairie farmers about conducting controlled burns on their own land.” Conservationists are people who work to protect nature. Conducting means carrying out. So the experts teach farmers to do the burns themselves.
Decide what it shows
Why would experts teach their method to others? Because they want more people to help. Their method works, so they share it. Then the burns can happen on farms too, not only at the preserve. That shows they want others to join in protecting the prairie. Preservation means keeping something safe and healthy.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. Teaching farmers shows trust that farmers can do it. It doesn’t say experts should lead instead of farmers.
- B is right. Training farmers brings more people into caring for the prairie.
- C is wrong. Restored biodiversity comes from the sentence before. Biodiversity means many kinds of living things. This sentence is about sharing the method.
- D is wrong. The author never says other groups should copy this program.
Watch out: The words “so successful” make D sound right. But the sentence only says the preserve trains local farmers. It doesn’t call the program a model for others.
Choose the answer
The experts share their method so farmers can help too. So the answer is B: “the conservationists are eager to involve others in the preservation of the prairie.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer, because “so successful” sounds like high praise. But D adds an idea the sentence never states: that other groups should copy the program. B stays with what the sentence shows, experts teaching farmers so they can help.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 18 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 32Uses the passage above: “Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy”.
Question
Which sentence supports the idea that farmers and people who manage land may be concerned about using fire as a way to benefit the land?
- A“While one of the greatest threats to the prairie is wildfire, the use of controlled fires is actually an effective way to protect this idyllic landscape.” (paragraph 1)
- B“The American Indian people began to deliberately burn areas of land for bison to graze on, which enticed the herds away from the people’s crops.” (paragraph 2)
- C“This patch burning contains the fire within a specific area and allows animals in the burn area to safely relocate.” (paragraph 5)
- D“The following year, conservationists will burn a different section of the preserve, while the land burned the previous year regrows healthier than before.” (paragraph 5)
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks which sentence supports the idea that farmers and people who manage land may be concerned about using fire as a way to benefit the land.
A. CORRECT. The sentence from paragraph 1 supports the idea that farmers and people who manage land may be concerned about using fire as a way to benefit the land because it acknowledges that “one of the greatest threats to the prairie is wildfire.”
B. Incorrect. Although the sentence from paragraph 2 relates how American Indians “began to deliberately burn areas of land for bison to graze on” and to protect people’s crops, the sentence does not support the idea that farmers and people who manage land may be concerned about using fire as a way to benefit the land. Instead, it focuses on the cause-and-effect relationship between bison and newly burned areas.
C. Incorrect. The sentence from paragraph 5 provides details about how “patch burning contains the fire” and “allows animals in the burn area to safely relocate,” but it does not adequately support the idea that farmers and people who manage land may be concerned about using fire as a way to benefit the land, because it does not mention that wildfires can be a threat to the prairie.
D. Incorrect. While the sentence from paragraph 5 does explain how “conservationists will burn a different section of the preserve” in order to rotate the process year after year so that the burned land has time to regrow, the sentence does not support the idea that farmers and people who manage land may be concerned about using fire as a way to benefit the land because it does not mention the potential for total burns.
Question analysis
This evidence question asks which sentence from the article on controlled prairie burns supports the idea that farmers and others who manage land may be concerned about using fire to benefit it. The passage never states that concern directly, so students must infer it, and all four quoted sentences, taken from across the article, talk about burning land in some way.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 evidence questions usually ask for support of an idea the text states. This idea, that people who manage land may worry about using fire, is never stated outright, so students must infer which sentence implies it, more than typical.
- 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 major
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 598 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 123 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 idea to support is about people’s feelings, yet none of the four sentences mentions farmers worrying, so students have to decide what would justify such worry. The opening sentence does it by naming wildfire as a great threat before praising controlled fire, a concession many students read past as background. The strongest pull is the sentence on containing the fire, which implies caution but presents patch burning as the answer, not the concern.
Reading between the lines major Working it out
No sentence mentions worry; students must see that calling wildfire “one of the greatest threats to the prairie” gives landowners a reason to fear fire, and that “actually” answers that fear. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The patch-burn sentence about containing the fire “within a specific area” also hints at fire’s danger; it differs from the right one by describing the safeguard without ever naming a threat. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
The four sentences come from paragraphs 1, 2 and 5, and each is about burning land, so each must be tested for a hint of risk rather than for its topic. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Before rereading the choices, decide what a sentence would need to say to show that landowners have reason to be wary of fire, then test each quoted sentence for exactly that.
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
B True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Links “the people’s crops” to farmers, but the sentence tells how early burns drew bison away from the crops and shows no worry about fire itself.
C Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Sees caution in containing the fire “within a specific area,” but the sentence explains how patch burning keeps animals safe and never says fire threatens the land.
D Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Takes the yearly rotation as a careful precaution, but the sentence describes the schedule and land that “regrows healthier than before,” which backs the benefit, not the worry.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is an evidence question. Evidence is the words in a text that back up an idea. The idea here is that farmers might worry about using fire to help land. No sentence says farmers are worried. So look for a sentence that gives them a reason to fear fire.
Decide what the evidence needs
A sentence that supports this idea must show that fire can be dangerous. If fire can harm land, people have a reason to be careful with it. So test each sentence with one question: does it say fire is a threat?
Look closely at paragraph 1
Choice A quotes paragraph 1. Its first half says “one of the greatest threats to the prairie is wildfire.” That is a reason to fear fire. Its second half says controlled fires are “actually” helpful. The word “actually” pushes back against that fear. It means: you might expect fire to hurt the land, but here it helps.
Check each choice
- A is right. It names wildfire as a great threat. That gives farmers a reason to worry about fire.
- B is wrong. It tells how early burns drew bison away from crops. It shows no danger from fire.
- C is wrong. It tells how patch burning keeps the fire in one area. It describes a safety step but never names a threat.
- D is wrong. It describes burning a new section each year. It shows a benefit: land that “regrows healthier than before.”
Watch out: C hints that fire must be contained, or kept in, so it sounds careful. But it describes the solution, not the danger.
Choose the answer
Only one sentence names fire as a danger. So the answer is A, the sentence from paragraph 1: “While one of the greatest threats to the prairie is wildfire, the use of controlled fires is actually an effective way to protect this idyllic landscape.” Idyllic means peaceful and lovely.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because keeping fire “within a specific area” suggests caution. But C only explains how patch burning works. It never says fire can harm the prairie. A does, by calling wildfire one of the greatest threats.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 19 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 33Uses the passage above: “Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy”.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 6.
Burning land to make it healthy may seem counterintuitive, but strategic controlled fires have helped the prairie sustain life for hundreds of years and, with careful management, will continue to do so.
The words “counterintuitive” and “strategic” in the sentence convey the idea that
- Athe safest methods are sometimes the least effective at solving complex challenges.
- Bthorough investigation of uncommon methodologies can lead to beneficial results.
- Cdetailed planning can ensure that a potentially destructive action has a positive impact.
- Dplans that entail a certain amount of risk almost always result in success.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks which idea the words “counterintuitive” and “strategic” convey in the last sentence in paragraph 6 in the passage.
A. Incorrect. Though the author states in paragraph 6 that conservationists have used safe and “strategic” methods, those methods have not been ineffective, since “the patch-burn system is so successful that the conservationists at the preserve provide training to prairie farmers about conducting controlled burns on their own land” (paragraph 6). Therefore, the words “counterintuitive” and “strategic” in the last sentence of paragraph 6 do not convey the idea that the safest methods are sometimes the least effective at solving complex challenges.
B. Incorrect. Although the author points out in paragraph 6 that researchers’ studies have shown “that the patch-burn approach has restored biodiversity to the area by promoting the growth of species that were at risk of being crowded out,” the author does not suggest that the methodologies conservationists used to conduct the patch burns are uncommon, since the methods were used by “the American Indian people [who] began to deliberately burn areas of land for bison to graze on” (paragraph 2). Therefore, the words “counterintuitive” and “strategic” in the last sentence of paragraph 6 do not convey the idea that thorough investigation of uncommon methodologies can lead to beneficial results.
C. CORRECT. In paragraph 1, the author states that “one of the greatest threats to the prairie is wildfire,” so the idea of conducting controlled burns suggests risk and runs “counter,” or contrary, to people’s common expectations, or “intuition,” about the dangers of fires. Thus, the words “counterintuitive” and “strategic” in the last sentence of paragraph 6 convey the idea that detailed planning can ensure that a potentially destructive action has a positive impact.
D. Incorrect. The author states in paragraph 6 that “the patch-burn system is so successful that the conservationists at the preserve provide training to prairie farmers.” This statement supports the idea of the action being “strategic” in order to achieve success. However, the statement does not suggest that because the process is “counterintuitive,” or unexpected, it involves a certain amount of risk to achieve that success. Therefore, the words “counterintuitive” and “strategic” in the last sentence of paragraph 6 do not convey the idea that plans that entail a certain amount of risk almost always result in success.
Question analysis
This vocabulary question takes the last sentence of the prairie article, which says burning land to make it healthy may seem counterintuitive, and asks what the words “counterintuitive” and “strategic” convey together. Students need the meaning of a hard word built from a prefix, then must match the pair to a general statement, and the choices are worded abstractly.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 A typical grade 7 vocabulary question asks what one word means in context. This one pairs a hard word, “counterintuitive,” with “strategic” and asks for the idea they express together, with four abstract general statements to weigh.
- 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 moderate
- Hard words moderate
- Combines ideas minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 598 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 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
Students first need the meaning of “counterintuitive,” then must see what it says here: that burning land to heal it seems backward because fire destroys. “Strategic” supplies the other half, careful planning. The most tempting wrong answer gets the planning right but misreads the first word as “uncommon,” and others turn the pair into a rule about risk or a warning about safe methods. The question rewards translating each word before reading the abstract choices.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The choice about “thorough investigation of uncommon methodologies” follows the key’s pattern, planning that leads to a good result, and differs only in calling the method uncommon instead of potentially destructive. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Hard words moderate Understanding the question
“Counterintuitive,” contrary to what one would expect, is an uncommon word, and the choices add “methodologies” and “entail,” so the options are as hard to read as the sentence. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Combines ideas minor Working it out
The two words point different ways, one to burning that seems harmful and one to careful planning, and the answer must join both into a single general statement. (Embretson, 1998; Daniel & Embretson, 2010)
Strategy: Break “counterintuitive” into its parts, counter and intuitive, decide what each of the two words says about burning land, then find the statement that joins both meanings without adding claims of its own.
Traps
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- 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 Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Reads “counterintuitive” as a hint that the safe choice fails, but the sentence praises carefully managed fire and never says safer methods are less effective.
B Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Matches “strategic” to thorough investigation, since the experts “study the land,” but takes “counterintuitive” to mean uncommon, though the passage traces burning back hundreds of years.
D Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Hears risk in “counterintuitive” and success in “strategic” but turns them into a rule that risky plans “almost always” succeed, far more than one sentence about the prairie claims.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks about two words in the last sentence: “counterintuitive” and “strategic.” You need the idea the two words give together. So first figure out what each word means here.
Break down “counterintuitive”
Counter means against. Intuitive means what you would naturally expect. So counterintuitive means the opposite of what you would expect. The sentence says “Burning land to make it healthy may seem counterintuitive.” Fire usually destroys things. So burning land to help it seems backward. Paragraph 1 even calls wildfire “one of the greatest threats to the prairie.”
Figure out “strategic”
Strategic means carefully planned to reach a goal. Paragraph 5 shows that planning. The experts “study the land to find out which areas would most benefit from being burned.” Then they burn only part of the land each year. Put the two words together. Fire seems harmful, but careful planning makes it helpful.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. The sentence doesn’t say safe methods fail. It praises a method that works.
- B is wrong. It treats counterintuitive as if it meant uncommon. But burning isn’t new. Paragraph 2 says people did it “hundreds of years ago.”
- C is right. Strategic matches detailed planning. Counterintuitive matches an action that could destroy, fire, which turns out to help.
- D is wrong. “Almost always” is far too strong. The sentence is about prairie fires, not all risky plans.
Watch out: B gets strategic right, since the experts study the land. But counterintuitive doesn’t mean uncommon. It means against what you would expect.
Choose the answer
Fire seems destructive, but a careful plan makes it helpful. So the answer is C: “detailed planning can ensure that a potentially destructive action has a positive impact.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer, because its first part, careful study, fits strategic. But its second part calls the method uncommon, and people have burned the prairie for hundreds of years. C fits both words: careful planning, and an action that seems harmful but helps.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 20 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 34Uses the passage above: “Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy”.
Question
With which statement would the author most likely agree?
- AIt is important to explain the purposes and the risks of controlled burns to the people living near a proposed burn area.
- BIt is necessary to thoroughly examine a particular region in order to plan and execute a successful controlled burn.
- CMonitoring animals’ reactions after a controlled burn on the prairie is a minor part of scientists’ research.
- DConservationists should consider the helpful aspects of invasive species before executing a controlled burn.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks with which statement the author of the passage would most likely agree.
A. Incorrect. In paragraph 5, the author states that “patch burning contains the fire within a specific area and allows animals in the burn area to safely relocate,” and paragraph 6 states that conservationists “provide [important] training to prairie farmers about conducting controlled burns on their own land.” However, the author does not explicitly take a position about the importance of explaining the purposes and the risks of controlled burns to the people living near a proposed burn area. Therefore, the evidence in the passage does not strongly suggest that the author would agree with this statement.
B. CORRECT. In paragraph 5, the author points out that conservationists “study the land to find out which areas would most benefit from being burned, and then they arrange about a dozen burns over one-third of the land” and “rotate which portion of land is burned each year” so that animals, such as bison, can “safely relocate.” Therefore, the author would most likely agree that it is necessary to thoroughly examine a particular region in order to plan and execute a successful controlled burn.
C. Incorrect. The author of the passage would be unlikely to agree that monitoring animals’ reactions after a controlled burn on the prairie is a minor part of scientists’ research. In paragraph 5, the author explains that patch burning “allows animals in the burn area to safely relocate” and that conservationists “burn a different section of the preserve” each year to ensure that animals have an abundant area to graze while other areas are being burned.
D. Incorrect. According to the information in paragraph 4, conservationists commonly target invasive red cedar trees because they are tall trees that “crowd out prairie grasses, the primary food source for wild and domestic animals that make the prairie their home.” Since the focus is on the harm that the invasive red cedar can cause, the author would be unlikely to agree that conservationists should consider the helpful aspects of invasive species before executing a controlled burn.
Question analysis
This point-of-view question asks which statement the author of the prairie-burning article would most likely agree with. Students infer the author's position from details spread through the passage, and since some choices sound like sensible advice in general, each must be traced back to what the article actually supports.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Inferring what an author would agree with is typical grade 7 work on point of view. The choices draw on different paragraphs, and the author's views are stated fairly plainly, so careful checking settles it without a long chain of 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
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 598 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 81 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 right statement is close to a paraphrase of paragraph 5, where the experts study the land before choosing where to burn, so careful readers settle this quickly. The risk is a statement that sounds wise in general: explaining a burn’s purposes and risks to its neighbors is good practice, but the article never raises it. The other two contradict the text, which values research on animals and treats red cedars only as a harm.
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
The statements touch different parts of the article, research in paragraph 6, invasive species in paragraph 4 and safety in general, so each must be traced to what the author says, if anything. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The author never gives an opinion on planning burns; agreement must be inferred from the report that experts “study the land” before arranging about a dozen burns. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: For each statement, find the paragraph it relates to and ask whether the author says something close to it, says the opposite, or says nothing; choose only a statement the text backs.
Traps
- Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.
- 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 Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Agrees with a sensible safety practice, telling neighbors about a burn’s purposes and risks, but the article discusses training farmers, never informing people who live near a burn.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Notices that the article says more about land than about animals and calls watching them minor, though paragraph 6 reports researchers tracking the preserve’s animals and finding biodiversity restored.
D Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Imagines a balanced view in which invasive species have helpful sides, though paragraph 4 presents the red cedar only as a threat that drinks water, blocks sunlight and crowds out grasses.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks which statement the author would most likely agree with. The author doesn’t state an opinion on these ideas outright. So check each statement against what the passage says. Pick the one the passage backs up.
Find what the author stresses
Paragraph 5 says “The key to using controlled fires is knowing which areas of land to burn and when.” Next it says the experts “study the land to find out which areas would most benefit from being burned.” Only after that do they plan “about a dozen burns over one-third of the land.” A dozen means 12.
Put it in your own words
The author calls knowing where and when to burn “the key.” A key is the most important part. The experts study the land before they plan a single burn. So the author thinks careful study comes first. A burn works only when people know the land well.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. This sounds like good advice. But the passage never talks about warning neighbors before a burn.
- B is right. It matches paragraph 5. The experts study the land, then plan the burns.
- C is wrong. Paragraph 6 says researchers “tracked and studied” the animals. The author treats that research as important, not minor.
- D is wrong. Paragraph 4 shows the invasive red cedar only as harmful. Invasive means spreading where it doesn’t belong.
Watch out: A is tempting because it is wise in real life. But you must pick what this author would agree with, based on the passage.
Choose the answer
The author shows the experts studying the land before they plan. Execute here means carry out. So the answer is B: “It is necessary to thoroughly examine a particular region in order to plan and execute a successful controlled burn.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong answer, because explaining a burn to the neighbors is sensible. But the passage never raises it. B matches what paragraph 5 actually says: the experts “study the land” before they plan the burns.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 21 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 35Uses the passage above: “Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy”.
Question
How do the diagram and its text provide additional support for the topic presented in the passage?
- Aby depicting how the landscape in a given area changes as the patch-burn method is applied
- Bby indicating that patch-burn fires are best suited for use in areas with certain features
- Cby revealing that the patch-burn method is used primarily on uninhabited areas of land
- Dby comparing the size of the area burned by the patch-burn method with that of unburned areas
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the diagram and its text provide additional support for the topic presented in the passage.
A. CORRECT. The text of the diagram states that “by using a patch-burn method, conservationists and farmers can reduce the risk of unintentional fires and control where grazing animals, such as bison, roam.” By showing the pattern of controlled burns and the resulting bison migration in a given area, the diagram depicts how the landscape changes as the patch-burn method is applied.
B. Incorrect. Although the text mentions areas “where grazing animals, such as bison, roam,” the diagram does not depict distinctive features of the land such as trees or brush and therefore does not indicate that patch-burn fires are best suited for use in areas with certain features.
C. Incorrect. While the text mentions “grazing animals, such as bison” and the diagram shows the bison grazing in only one area, the diagram and its text do not indicate that the patch-burn method is used on uninhabited land.
D. Incorrect. While the areas of land depicted in the diagram do indicate that the sizes of the areas differ, the text provided does not compare the sizes of the areas burned by the patch-burn method with those of unburned areas or indicate that this factor is important in reducing the risk of uncontrolled fires or controlling “where grazing animals, such as bison, roam.”
Question analysis
This question asks how a diagram titled “Overview of the Patch-Burn Method,” printed with the article on controlled burns at an Oklahoma prairie preserve, supports the passage's topic. The diagram shows a stretch of land divided into three areas, each with a caption, so students must take in what the picture and its text show together and tie that to the article.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining how a graphic adds to a text is a grade 7 skill. This diagram is simple and clearly labeled, but students must take in its three areas and captions together and match them to an abstract description, a typical 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 analyze
- What makes it hard
- Reading a figure, table or graph moderate
- Reading between the lines moderate
- How, not what minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 598 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
The diagram shows three areas side by side, and the key insight is that they are one piece of land at three moments in the patch-burn cycle. Students who read it only as a map look for spatial claims instead, about land features, people or the sizes of the areas. The caption calling the unburned area “overrun with weeds” is the likeliest snare, since it sounds like advice on which land to burn.
Reading a figure, table or graph moderate Understanding the question
The diagram’s meaning is split among a map of three shaded areas, an introduction and three captions, which must be read together to see what the picture adds to the passage. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Nothing in the diagram mentions the passing of time; students must infer that the unburned, recently burned and previously burned areas are stages the same land passes through as the burns rotate. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
How, not what minor Working it out
The stem asks how the diagram supports the passage, a question of function, so describing what is drawn is not enough; it must be tied to the yearly rotation of paragraph 5. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Read the diagram's title, introduction and three captions before the choices, sum up in one sentence what the diagram shows, and check each choice against something you can actually point to in it.
Traps
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
The wrong answers, classified
B Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads the caption calling the unburned area “overrun with weeds” as advice on which land suits a burn, though the captions describe each stage, not features that make land suitable.
C Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Sees no houses or people on the map and decides patch burns are kept to empty land, though bison graze there and a caption mentions crops growing.
D True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Notices that the three shaded areas differ in size, which is true of the drawing, but no caption compares them, and size is not what the diagram explains.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks how the diagram helps the passage. A diagram is a drawing that explains how something works. You need to say what it adds, not just what it shows. So read its title, its short introduction and its three captions. Captions are the short notes under a picture.
Read the diagram
The title, printed in capital letters, is “Overview of the Patch-Burn Method.” The drawing shows one stretch of land. A stream splits it into three areas, labeled “Unburned Area,” “Recently Burned Area” and “Previously Burned Area.” A herd of bison stands in the recently burned area.
Read the three captions
- The unburned area “is overrun with weeds and has the greatest risk of catching fire.”
- The recently burned area “has been cleared of all plants.” Bison come to eat the fresh grass that grows there.
- The previously burned area “is cleared of weeds, and young trees and crops grow freely and thrive.”
These are three stages the same land goes through: weedy, burned, then healthy. Paragraph 5 says the experts burn a different section each year, while “the land burned the previous year regrows healthier than before.”
Check each choice
- A is right. The diagram shows land changing from weedy, to burned, to healthy as the method is used.
- B is wrong. The captions describe each stage. They don’t say some kinds of land suit burning best.
- C is wrong. Bison live in the drawing, and a caption mentions crops. Uninhabited means with no one living there, and nothing says that.
- D is wrong. The areas are different sizes in the drawing. But no caption compares sizes.
Watch out: B is tempting because “overrun with weeds” sounds like a reason to burn. But that caption describes the first stage. It is not a rule for choosing land.
Choose the answer
Depicting means showing in a picture. So the answer is A: “by depicting how the landscape in a given area changes as the patch-burn method is applied.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer, because the weedy unburned area does sound like land that needs a fire. But the diagram gives no rules for picking land. It shows one piece of land changing, stage by stage, as the burns rotate. That is what A says.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 22 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 36Passage Letter from Brooklyn
Letter from Brooklyn
by Jacob Scheier
I can already see how this will end.
How I will grow tired of the bridge’s
steep incline, and the absent-minded tourists
wandering into the bicycle path.
The weather will turn cold.
But that all happens later.
For now it is the early edge of fall,
leaves green still while the air narrows,
is slightly crisp, almost grazing
the hair of my arm like a passing stranger,
as though the air has been forced into intimacy
by the brevity of daylight.
But when it starts darkening at 4,
this closeness, I know, will be a felt distance,
like someone drawing your attention
to their lack of intimacy.
These days I am still walking at a cathedral pace
beneath the branches bending across avenues,
brownstones like rows of lived-in chapels,
like a pop-up picture book I could have had as a child,
but didn’t. How Brooklyn makes me nostalgic
for the moment I am walking inside of.
These late afternoons filled
with a loneliness that makes me feel
distinctly myself, and an awareness
of how rare that is.
“Letter from Brooklyn” from LETTER FROM BROOKLYN: POEMS by Jacob Scheier, published by ECW Press. Copyright © 2013 by Jacob Scheier All rights reserved.
brevity: briefness
cathedral: meditative
chapels: private places of prayer or worship
nostalgic: yearning for the past
Question
How does the structure of the poem affect the poem’s meaning?
- AThe lack of a rhyming pattern suggests that the beauty of each passing day is unique.
- BThe lengths of the sentences represent the complexity of the thoughts being represented.
- CThe use of complete sentences implies the speaker’s appreciation for the clear beginning and ending of each season.
- DThe single long stanza reflects the continuous flow of the speaker’s thoughts.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how the structure of the poem affects its meaning.
A. Incorrect. Though the poem lacks a rhyming pattern, such a structure is not related to the uniqueness of the passing days. The speaker is savoring “the early edge of fall” (line 7) and describes walks taken on “these days” (line 17), but the beauty the speaker appreciates is attributed to the fall season rather than to a unique day. Further, the poem is primarily concerned with broad seasonal shifts, not the passing of each day, and the absence of rhyme does not suggest that each day is unique in its beauty.
B. Incorrect. The poem includes both long sentences (such as the one in lines 7–12) and short sentences (such as those in lines 5 and 6). However, the sentence lengths are not connected with the complexity of the ideas expressed.
C. Incorrect. A complete sentence serves to present the beginning and the end of a single thought, but the poem is not primarily concerned with the speaker’s thoughts on the “clear beginning and ending of each season.” Though it contrasts the speaker’s feelings and experiences during different seasons, the poem does not present descriptions focused specifically on the beginnings or ends of these seasons.
D. CORRECT. Unlike poems that are broken into stanzas reflecting unified groups of thoughts, this poem is one long stanza. This structure serves to emphasize the uninterrupted flow of the speaker’s thoughts from time to time and experience to experience without a clear break between any specific thoughts.
Question analysis
This poetry question asks how the structure of Jacob Scheier's “Letter from Brooklyn,” a poem about walking through the city in early fall, affects its meaning. Students must look at how the poem is built, its sentences, line breaks, stanzas and lack of rhyme, and decide which feature really shapes what the poem says.
- NYS standards
- 7R5 structure and genre features
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 standards ask how a poem's form shapes its meaning. Here each choice names a feature of form that students must first confirm in the poem and then link to its meaning, a typical grade 7 poetry task on a short poem.
- 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
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Something you must already know minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: 217 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 8, 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
Checking whether a feature exists rules out little here, since the poem is unrhymed, its sentences vary widely and it has one stanza. The decision rests on which feature matches what the speaker does: thoughts move from future to present to memory without a break. The strongest pull ties the lack of rhyme to the uniqueness of each day, which sounds like the poem’s theme of rare moments but is not something rhyme or its absence can show.
How, not what moderate Working it out
The question is about form, so students must ask what the single unbroken stanza does: it carries the speaker from the coming cold back to the present walk without a pause. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
Three choices name features the poem really has, no rhyme, sentences from five words to six lines, and one stanza, so the meaning each feature is given is what separates them. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Something you must already know minor Working it out
Students must know what a stanza and a rhyming pattern are, and that a poem without stanza breaks has no white space marking separate groups of thought. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: For each choice, first check that the poem really has the feature named, then ask whether that feature fits what the speaker is doing throughout the poem, not just in one line.
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.
- 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)
Applies the habit of finding meaning in free verse, linking the missing rhyme to each day’s unique beauty, which echoes “how rare that is” but follows from nothing in the form.
B Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Rightly sees sentences ranging from five words to six lines, but gives their length a job, matching complex thoughts, that the poem never connects to it.
C Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Assumes complete sentences marking each season’s clear start and end, though the last four lines are a fragment and the poem follows fall’s gradual early turn.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks how the poem’s structure shapes its meaning. Structure means how the poem is built: its stanzas, its sentences and its rhyme. A stanza is a group of lines set apart by a blank line. It is like a paragraph in a poem.
Look at how the poem is built
The poem has 26 lines and no blank lines, so it is one long stanza. The lines don’t rhyme. The sentences have many lengths. Line 5, “The weather will turn cold,” is short. The sentence in lines 7–12 runs six lines.
Follow the speaker’s thoughts
The speaker is the voice talking in the poem. Line 1 jumps ahead: “I can already see how this will end.” Line 6 comes back: “But that all happens later.” Then the speaker describes the fall air, then the walk, then a lonely feeling. One thought slides into the next with no stop. One unbroken stanza matches that steady flow.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. The poem has no rhyme. But missing rhyme can’t show that each day’s beauty is unique, or one of a kind.
- B is wrong. The sentences do vary in length. But the poem doesn’t link long sentences to hard thoughts.
- C is wrong. The poem isn’t about each season’s clear start and end. It describes fall just starting to turn.
- D is right. The single stanza matches thoughts that flow on with no breaks.
Watch out: Three choices name real features of the poem. So don’t stop at Is this true? Ask whether that feature really creates the meaning the choice gives it.
Choose the answer
Continuous means going on without stopping. So the answer is D: “The single long stanza reflects the continuous flow of the speaker’s thoughts.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong answer, because the poem does praise a rare moment. But rhyme, or no rhyme, can’t show that each day is unique. One long stanza can show thoughts flowing without a stop. That is how the speaker thinks, from line 1 to line 26.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Letter from Brooklyn” as printed (page 50)
Question 23 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 37Uses the passage above: “Letter from Brooklyn”.
Question
Which lines support the idea that a change in the weather will lessen the speaker’s appreciation for the city?
- A“as though the air has been forced into intimacy / by the brevity of daylight.” (lines 11–12)
- B“But when it starts darkening at 4, / this closeness, I know, will be a felt distance,” (lines 13–14)
- C“like someone drawing your attention / to their lack of intimacy.” (lines 15–16)
- D“These days I am still walking . . . / beneath the branches bending across avenues,” (lines 17–18)
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks which lines from the poem support the idea that a change in the weather will lessen the speaker’s appreciation for the city.
A. Incorrect. These lines focus on the positive way the air feels to the speaker during “the early edge of fall” (line 7). They suggest that the speaker appreciates this experience currently, while being aware that the feeling might not last.
B. CORRECT. In these lines, the speaker describes the shift in the “closeness” of the air as the weather changes and “it starts darkening at 4.” The speaker clearly indicates that the positive emotions surrounding this closeness, with “leaves green still” and the air “slightly crisp” (lines 8–9), will soon be “a felt distance,” suggesting that the turn in the weather will make the city less appealing.
C. Incorrect. Although these lines compare the darkening, changing weather to a person revealing a “lack of intimacy,” that specific comparison does not focus on a diminishing appreciation for the city.
D. Incorrect. These lines describe the “cathedral pace” (line 17) at which the speaker walks, emphasizing a meditative or thoughtful experience. Such a description suggests the speaker still appreciates the city, not that the speaker’s appreciation will lessen.
Question analysis
This evidence question asks which lines from “Letter from Brooklyn” support the idea that a change in the weather will lessen the speaker's appreciation for the city. All four choices come from the middle of the poem, where the speaker describes the feel of the early-fall air through figurative comparisons, so students must read each pair of lines closely for both parts of the idea.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Choosing lines that support an idea is standard grade 7 evidence work. Here the idea is carried by figurative comparisons about the air, and the four choices sit within a few lines of one another, so separating them takes closer reading than is typical.
- 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 moderate
- Figurative or literary language moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: 217 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 6, 74 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 come from lines 11–18, and three speak of closeness, distance or intimacy, so the vocabulary of the claim is everywhere. The idea has two parts, a change in the weather and a weaker feeling for the city, and only one pair of lines holds both. The strongest pull is the second half of the same sentence, which puts the loss of intimacy most vividly but leaves the darkening behind in the lines before.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
Lines 13–14 and 15–16 are one sentence split in two: the first half names the darkening at 4 and the coming distance, the second only describes what that distance feels like. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Figurative or literary language moderate Understanding the question
The weaker feeling for the city is never stated; it comes through images, the air’s “closeness” turning into “a felt distance,” like a person pointing out their “lack of intimacy.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
Students must accept “when it starts darkening at 4” as the change in the weather the stem names, since the lines speak of daylight, not of cold or rain. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Split the idea into its two parts, a change in the weather and a weaker feeling for the city, and choose the lines that hold both on their own, without help from the lines around 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.
The wrong answers, classified
A Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Takes “the brevity of daylight” as the coming change, but these lines say the short days force the air “into intimacy,” a closeness the speaker enjoys now.
C Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Chooses the vivid “lack of intimacy,” which does show the feeling weakening, but these lines only finish the simile and never mention the darkening that causes it.
D Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Hears a coming change in “still walking,” but the lines show the speaker enjoying a slow walk under the branches now and say nothing of the weather turning.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is an evidence question. The idea has two parts. First, the weather will change. Second, the speaker will enjoy the city less. You need the lines that hold both parts by themselves.
Read the lines around the choices
Lines 9–12 describe the early-fall air now. It is “almost grazing / the hair of my arm like a passing stranger.” Grazing here means lightly touching. The speaker says the air feels close, like “intimacy.” Intimacy means a warm, close feeling between people. Lines 13–16 then look ahead to shorter days.
Find both parts in lines 13–14
Lines 13–14 say: “But when it starts darkening at 4, / this closeness, I know, will be a felt distance”. Darkening at 4 means the sun setting at 4 o’clock, as days get shorter. That is the change in the weather. “This closeness” is the warm feeling the speaker has now. It will turn into distance. So the good feeling will fade.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. Lines 11–12 describe the closeness the speaker enjoys now. Nothing has faded yet.
- B is right. It names the change, the early dark, and the loss, closeness turning into “a felt distance.”
- C is wrong. Lines 15–16 finish the comparison: the distance feels like a person pointing out their “lack of intimacy.” But these lines never mention the weather.
- D is wrong. Lines 17–18 show the speaker enjoying a slow walk now. They say nothing about the weather turning.
Watch out: C is tempting because “lack of intimacy” sounds like a lost feeling. But the change in weather is back in lines 13–14.
Choose the answer
Only one pair of lines holds both the change and the fading feeling. So the answer is B, lines 13–14, which begin “But when it starts darkening at 4”.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because it shows the good feeling slipping away. But lines 15–16 only describe what that distance feels like. They don’t say what causes it. Lines 13–14 give both parts: the early dark and the fading closeness.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 24 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 38Uses the passage above: “Letter from Brooklyn”.
Question
Read lines 5–6 from the poem.
The weather will turn cold.
But that all happens later.
How do the lines develop a central theme of the poem?
- AThey highlight a contrast between the different seasons.
- BThey show the sequence of the changes that are expected to occur.
- CThey warn about a problem that requires thoughtful preparation.
- DThey emphasize the importance of valuing the present.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how lines 5–6 develop a central theme of the poem.
A. Incorrect. In this poem, the speaker describes the impressions of one day in one season: “For now it is the early edge of fall, / leaves green still while the air narrows, / is slightly crisp” (lines 7–9). Despite the reference in line 5 to the eventual arrival of cold weather, lines 5–6 primarily emphasize the speaker’s wish to stay focused on the present moment. A contrast between seasons is not a central theme of the poem.
B. Incorrect. The words “The weather will turn cold” in line 5 refer to one change that is expected to occur, but lines 5–6 do not show a sequence of changes. The line that follows returns to the present: “For now . . .” (line 7).
C. Incorrect. Although the statement that the weather “will turn cold” in line 5 could be construed as a warning, there is no support in lines 5–6 for the idea that some problems require thoughtful preparation. The speaker is reflecting on a fleeting experience, not preparing to solve a problem.
D. CORRECT. Immediately after the line “The weather will turn cold” (line 5), the speaker returns to the current moment: “But that all happens later” (line 6). These lines help develop a central theme by emphasizing the speaker’s choice to value and focus on the present moment. The “But” at the start of line 6 shows the speaker pulling back from the future and refocusing on the present, thus emphasizing the importance of savoring “the moment I am walking inside of” (line 22).
Question analysis
This theme question quotes two short lines from early in “Letter from Brooklyn,” where the speaker says the weather will turn cold, and asks how they develop a central theme of the poem. Students must work out what the pair of lines does at that point and connect it to the whole poem, since each choice describes something two lines about the future could plausibly do.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining how particular lines develop a poem's theme is core grade 7 work. These two lines are short and plainly worded, so the demand lies in relating them to the theme of the whole poem, which 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
- Reading between the lines moderate
- How, not what moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: 217 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 5, 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
Two short, plain lines carry a theme only when read with their neighbors: the speaker forecasts cold, then dismisses it with “But that all happens later” and returns to “For now.” Students who read line 5 alone take the pair as a forecast and look for contrast, sequence or warning. The tempting contrast choice has some truth, since “But” does mark a turn, yet the turn is from future to present, not from one season to another.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Line 6 never says the present matters; students infer it from “But” pulling back from the forecast and from “For now” in line 7 turning to the early fall around the speaker. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks how two lines develop a theme, so students must see their job, setting the future aside, rather than their content, a prediction of cold weather. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Read the lines just before and after lines 5–6, decide what the speaker does with the thought of cold weather, and connect that to what the poem as a whole keeps returning to.
Traps
- Wrong purpose or structure: Names a purpose, structure or effect that the part does not serve, or describes what a part says when the question asks what it does.
- Wrong 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 Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Sees cold weather set against early fall and hears contrast in “But,” yet the turn in line 6 is from later to now, and the poem never weighs one season against another.
B Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Takes the opening forecast, tiring of the bridge and the tourists and then the cold, as a sequence, though lines 5–6 name one change and then set it aside.
C Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Treats the coming cold as a problem to plan for, though the speaker makes no preparations and simply dismisses the future with “But that all happens later.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks how lines 5–6 help build a theme. A theme is a big message about life that a poem keeps coming back to. So ask what these two lines do in the poem. Then link that to the whole poem.
Read the lines in place
Lines 1–5 look ahead. The speaker will grow tired of the bridge and the tourists, and “The weather will turn cold.” Then line 6 says, “But that all happens later.” Line 7 begins “For now it is the early edge of fall.” So the speaker thinks of the future, then pushes it aside.
Put it in your own words
“But” marks a turn. The speaker turns from later back to now. It is like saying, Sure, winter is coming, but it isn’t here yet. Then the poem spends many lines enjoying the fall walk. Line 22 speaks of “the moment I am walking inside of.” So lines 5–6 help show a big idea: enjoy the present while you have it.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. The turn is from later to now, not from one season to another. The poem doesn’t compare seasons.
- B is wrong. Lines 5–6 name one change, cold weather, and then set it aside. That is not a sequence, or series of steps.
- C is wrong. The speaker doesn’t get ready for the cold. The speaker simply says it “happens later.”
- D is right. The lines push the future aside so the speaker can enjoy the present.
Watch out: A is tempting because “But” signals a contrast. Ask what is being contrasted. It is later and now, not two seasons.
Choose the answer
Valuing means treating something as precious. So the answer is D: “They emphasize the importance of valuing the present.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong answer, because line 6 does turn with “But.” Yet the turn moves from the future back to “For now.” The poem never weighs one season against another. It keeps coming back to the present moment, which is what D says.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 25 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 39Uses the passage above: “Letter from Brooklyn”.
Question
Read lines 7–9 from the poem.
For now it is the early edge of fall,
leaves green still while the air narrows,
is slightly crisp,
The word choice in the lines helps convey the speaker’s belief that
- Athe beauty of the current season should still be appreciated.
- Bthe changes in the weather signify the end of the most pleasant season.
- Cthe transition from one season to another happens swiftly and without warning.
- Dthe change in the weather is so subtle that people rarely observe or feel it.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks what belief of the speaker is conveyed by the word choice in lines 7–9 of the poem.
A. CORRECT. Words and phrases in these lines, such as “leaves green still” and “slightly crisp,” have a positive connotation, indicating that the speaker believes in appreciating this season while it still lasts.
B. Incorrect. Although imagery such as “leaves green still” and “slightly crisp” in these lines suggests that the speaker enjoys the season, the speaker never indicates that the present season is the most pleasant of all seasons.
C. Incorrect. The phrases “the early edge of fall” and “the air narrows” in these lines imply that the season is just beginning to change, but there is no indication from these phrases that the changes will be swift and without warning. In fact, the narrowing of the air could be a warning of a greater, more gradual change in weather.
D. Incorrect. The speaker experiences the change in weather as subtle: “the air narrows, / is slightly crisp.” However, the speaker does not refer to the viewpoints of others. The entire viewpoint in the poem is personal and introspective, as represented by the use of the pronoun “I” throughout.
Question analysis
This word-choice question quotes three lines from “Letter from Brooklyn” describing the early edge of fall, when the leaves are still green and the air is slightly crisp. Students must work out what the connotations of these words reveal about the speaker's belief, and several choices mix an accurate reading of the lines with a claim they do not support.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining how word choice conveys a speaker's feelings is everyday grade 7 work. These three lines are short and concrete, but their meaning rests on the connotations of a few small words, which matches a typical grade 7 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 understand
- What makes it hard
- Figurative or literary language moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: 217 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 5, 86 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 three lines are short, and every choice builds on something real in them: a change in the weather, a season ending, subtlety. What separates the answer is the time words, “For now,” “early edge” and “still,” which say that something good is present and passing. Students lose the point by stretching a reasonable sense of loss into a claim about the best season, or by turning the speaker’s private notice into what other people miss.
Figurative or literary language moderate Understanding the question
The belief lies in connotation: “early edge of fall” and “leaves green still” mark a season only starting to turn, and “the air narrows” describes the change through an image. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
“For now” at the start of line 7 signals that the moment will pass, and students must infer that the speaker values it for that reason, since no line states the belief. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Mark the words in lines 7–9 that describe time and the feel of the air, decide whether each sounds positive, negative or neutral, then choose the belief that fits those connotations and nothing more.
Traps
- 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.
- 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 Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Senses loss in a turning season, which the poem does suggest, but claims the speaker sees this as ending “the most pleasant season,” a ranking the lines never make.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Reads “the air narrows” as a sudden shift, though “early edge” and “slightly crisp” describe a season only beginning to turn, gradually and with clear signs.
D Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly hears the change as subtle in “slightly crisp,” but adds that people rarely notice it, though the lines record the speaker feeling it on the hair of an arm.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question is about word choice. The exact words a poet picks can show feelings. You need the belief that lines 7–9 show. So look at what each word suggests, not only what it means.
Mark the time words
The lines say “For now it is the early edge of fall, / leaves green still while the air narrows, / is slightly crisp.” Notice the time words. “For now” means this won’t last. “Early edge” means fall has just begun. “Still” means the leaves have not changed color yet.
Hear what the words suggest
“Slightly crisp” means a little cool and fresh. It sounds pleasant, not harsh. When the air “narrows,” it seems to tighten and grow cooler. So the speaker enjoys this moment. The time words show the speaker knows it will pass. Put together, they say: this lovely early fall is still here, so enjoy it now.
Check each choice
- A is right. “Still” and “For now” show the season is still here to enjoy.
- B is wrong. The speaker never calls this the most pleasant season. Nothing ranks the seasons.
- C is wrong. “Early edge” and “slightly” describe a slow, gentle change, not a sudden one.
- D is wrong. The change is subtle, or hard to notice. But the speaker feels it on “the hair of my arm.” The lines say nothing about other people.
Watch out: D starts out right, because the change is gentle. But it adds a claim about other people that the lines never make.
Choose the answer
The words show a pleasant season that is still here, for now. So the answer is A: “the beauty of the current season should still be appreciated.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer, because the poem does hint that something good is ending. But the lines never call fall the best season. They say only that this pleasant time is here “for now.” That fits A: enjoy the season while it lasts.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 26 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 40Uses the passage above: “Letter from Brooklyn”.
Question
Which idea does the comparison of the brownstone houses to “a pop-up picture book I could have had as a child, / but didn’t” in lines 20–21 convey?
- AIt reveals that some people are still influenced by powerful images from childhood.
- BIt indicates that the neighborhood the speaker is walking through is charming and appealing.
- CIt suggests that the speaker has wanted to live in the neighborhood since childhood.
- DIt suggests that people often experience lingering regret from their past.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks what the comparison of the brownstone houses to “a pop-up picture book I could have had as a child, / but didn’t” (lines 20–21) conveys.
A. Incorrect. While the lines explain that the neighborhood reminds the speaker of images from childhood pop-up books, those images are not described as very powerful or influential.
B. CORRECT. Pop-up picture books are likely to delight a child with their unique, often beautiful representations of buildings that pop up out of the page. The comparison in these lines helps explain how the speaker views these brownstones with a childlike wonder and appreciation.
C. Incorrect. Though in these lines the speaker compares this neighborhood to scenes in children’s pop-up picture books, there is no clear evidence that the speaker wants to live there, only that the speaker appreciates its appeal.
D. Incorrect. The lines state that the speaker did not have a “pop-up picture book” of the neighborhood’s brownstones as a child, but not in a way that emphasizes regret. Rather, the speaker compares the neighborhood to images from pop-up books in general to suggest that the neighborhood looks beautiful and delightful.
Question analysis
This figurative-language question asks what idea the poem conveys by comparing Brooklyn's brownstone houses to “a pop-up picture book I could have had as a child, / but didn't.” Students must interpret a simile in context, deciding how the closing words “but didn't” fit with the rest of the comparison and with the speaker's mood during the walk.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Interpreting a simile in a poem is routine grade 7 work. This comparison uses a familiar childhood object, and the only complication is the added “but didn't,” which invites a reading that the rest of the lines must confirm or rule out.
- 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
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: 217 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 8, 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 core of the simile is easy: a row of brownstones looks like a pop-up picture book, something charming. The difficulty is the closing “but didn’t,” which tempts students toward regret or toward a story about the speaker’s childhood. Students who ask what the comparison says about the houses, rather than about the speaker’s past, see that the lines praise the neighborhood.
Figurative or literary language moderate Understanding the question
The simile likens brownstones to a pop-up picture book, and its point, that the street looks as delightful as a child’s book, has to be drawn from what such books are like. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The tag “but didn’t” invites a reading of regret, so students must decide from the walk at a “cathedral pace” around it that the comparison is about delight, not loss. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Work out what the brownstones and a pop-up picture book have in common, decide what part “but didn't” plays in the comparison, and test each choice against what the lines actually say.
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.
- Taking figurative language literally: A choice reads a figure of speech or image at face value.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
The wrong answers, classified
A Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Generalizes from one speaker’s comparison to what “some people” feel and calls the images “powerful,” though the lines describe how the brownstones look, not lasting childhood influences.
C Taking figurative language literally (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads “could have had as a child” as a fact about the speaker’s childhood wishes, though the simile only compares the houses to pages in a book.
D Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Hears regret in “but didn’t” and widens it to people in general, though the speaker mentions the missing book only in passing while enjoying the walk.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks about a simile. A simile compares two things using like or as. Here the speaker compares brownstones to a pop-up picture book. Brownstones are old row houses built of reddish-brown stone. You need the idea this comparison gives.
Read the comparison
Lines 19–21 say “brownstones like rows of lived-in chapels, / like a pop-up picture book I could have had as a child, / but didn’t.” A pop-up book has pictures that stand up off the page when you open it. These books often show houses and streets. Children love them.
Put it in your own words
So the street looks charming and magical, like a page in a child’s favorite book. The words “but didn’t” just mean the speaker never owned such a book. Around these lines the speaker walks at a “cathedral pace.” The glossary says cathedral means “meditative,” or calm and thoughtful. The mood is peaceful and happy, not sad.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. The lines describe how the houses look. They don’t claim childhood pictures stay powerful for people.
- B is right. Comparing the houses to a pop-up book shows they look charming, or delightful.
- C is wrong. The speaker never says they wanted to live there as a child.
- D is wrong. “But didn’t” is said in passing. The speaker is enjoying the walk, not full of regret, or sorrow over the past.
Watch out: “But didn’t” can sound sad, so D is tempting. Ask what the comparison says about the houses, not about the speaker’s past.
Choose the answer
The comparison praises how the houses look. So the answer is B: “It indicates that the neighborhood the speaker is walking through is charming and appealing.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer, because “but didn’t” hints at something missed. But the speaker is enjoying a slow walk under the branches. The simile’s job is to show how lovely the brownstones look. That points to B, not to regret.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 27 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 41Uses the passage above: “Letter from Brooklyn”.
Question
Read these lines from the poem.
I can already see how this will end. (line 1)
How Brooklyn makes me nostalgic
for the moment I am walking inside of. (lines 21–22)
The lines develop a central idea of the poem by
- Asuggesting the speaker’s desire to find a way to break free from the repetitive pattern of daily life.
- Brevealing the speaker’s feelings of disappointment over the predictable change in season.
- Cemphasizing the speaker’s awareness of the future significance of the present moment in the setting.
- Dshowing the speaker’s anticipation of specific emotions caused by an intimate knowledge of the setting.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how line 1 and lines 21–22 develop a central idea of the poem.
A. Incorrect. Although these lines suggest that life is governed by repetitive patterns, such as the change of seasons, they do not suggest that the speaker wishes to break free from these natural cycles of change, and a desire for freedom is not a central idea of the poem.
B. Incorrect. Although the speaker acknowledges that colder weather will inevitably bring disappointment, the speaker does not suggest in these lines that the predictability of changing weather is itself disappointing. Rather, the speaker recognizes the value of enjoying the present moment.
C. CORRECT. These lines connect the present warmer weather with the future colder weather and develop the central idea that the present “moment I am walking inside of” must be embraced because the speaker will be “nostalgic” for it in the future.
D. Incorrect. In these lines, the speaker is aware that specific emotions will occur in the future, during cold weather, but this awareness is only part of the more complex central idea of the poem, which is that current emotions and feelings must be recognized, experienced, and appreciated.
Question analysis
This central-idea question pairs the first line of “Letter from Brooklyn” with lines 21–22, where Brooklyn makes the speaker nostalgic “for the moment I am walking inside of,” and asks how they develop a central idea of the poem. Students must link excerpts from opposite ends of the poem, untangle a paradoxical image and choose among four abstract statements.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students analyze how lines develop a central idea. Here two excerpts twenty lines apart must be read together, one of them built on a paradox, and the four choices are long and abstract, well beyond typical grade 7 work.
- 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 analyze
- What makes it hard
- Figurative or literary language major
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: 217 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 7, 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
This is among the hardest questions in the set because the two excerpts must be joined through a paradox and then matched to four long, abstract statements. Line 1 foresees an ending; lines 21–22 miss a moment while it is still happening, so both look at now from the future. Students who see only the foresight pick the choice about anticipated emotions, while those who hear gloom in “how this will end” settle on disappointment or a wish to escape.
Figurative or literary language major Understanding the question
Lines 21–22 are a paradox: “nostalgic,” glossed as yearning for the past, is aimed at “the moment I am walking inside of,” so the speaker already feels the present as a future memory. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The choice about anticipating “specific emotions” shares the key’s link between future and present; it differs by tracing those feelings to knowing the setting well, which neither excerpt says. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The excerpts are the poem’s first line and lines 21–22, twenty lines apart, and what joins them, the speaker looking ahead at the present, shows only when they are read side by side. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Paraphrase each excerpt on its own, using the glossary's meaning of “nostalgic,” then decide what the first line and the last two share and match that to a choice.
Traps
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- 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 Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Links “how this will end” and growing tired of the bridge to a dull routine and imagines a wish to escape it, which the poem never expresses.
B Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Hears resignation in “I can already see how this will end” and reads it as disappointment with the seasons, missing that the speaker treasures the present walk.
D Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly sees the speaker foreseeing feelings in line 1, but traces them to an “intimate knowledge of the setting,” while lines 21–22 long for the present moment itself.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question gives two pieces of the poem: line 1 and lines 21–22. You need the central idea they build together. A central idea is the main point the poem keeps working toward. Read each piece alone first, then join them.
Read line 1
Line 1 says “I can already see how this will end.” The speaker looks ahead. Lines 2–5 then list what will come: growing tired of the bridge, and the cold. So the speaker already pictures the future while living in the present.
Read lines 21–22
The lines say “How Brooklyn makes me nostalgic / for the moment I am walking inside of.” The glossary says nostalgic means “yearning for the past.” Yearning means longing. But the speaker longs for now, a moment still happening. That is a paradox, an idea that seems impossible but makes sense. The speaker knows this walk will be a precious memory.
Join the two pieces
Both pieces look at the present from the future. In line 1, the speaker sees the end coming. In lines 21–22, the speaker already misses the walk. So the speaker knows this present moment will matter later. Significance means importance.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. The speaker never wants to break free from daily routine.
- B is wrong. Line 1 can sound gloomy. But the speaker isn’t upset with the seasons. The speaker treasures the walk.
- C is right. The speaker sees that this moment in Brooklyn will be precious later.
- D is wrong. The speaker does foresee feelings. But neither piece says they come from knowing the place well.
Watch out: D gets the looking-ahead part of line 1 right. But lines 21–22 long for the moment itself, not for feelings caused by knowing the city.
Choose the answer
So the answer is C: “emphasizing the speaker’s awareness of the future significance of the present moment in the setting.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer, because line 1 does show the speaker foreseeing feelings. But D says they come from an “intimate knowledge of the setting.” Neither piece says that. Lines 21–22 miss the moment while it is still happening. C captures that: the present will matter in the future.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 28 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 42Uses the passage above: “Letter from Brooklyn”.
Question
The speaker’s thoughts throughout the poem develop a theme by showing that
- Aalthough people may hold expectations for the future, some people long for present experiences while they are still happening.
- Bthough people come from different places, most people feel drawn to the special charm a city holds.
- Calthough people can make decisions about their life, there will always be some things beyond their control.
- Dthough general expectations exist, people have no way of knowing what a given day will actually bring.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the speaker’s thoughts throughout the poem develop a theme.
A. CORRECT. The speaker’s thoughts develop some tension because seasonal change will inevitably come: “The weather will turn cold” (line 5). However, the speaker is still able to enjoy the present experience because “that all happens later” (line 6). In lines 21–22, the speaker begins to describe experiences that create a longing for the present, even while it is still happening (“How Brooklyn makes me nostalgic / for the moment I am walking inside of”), developing a theme of the poem.
B. Incorrect. The speaker’s thoughts reveal an appreciation for the city, but this appreciation is highly personal and individual. These thoughts do not indicate that most people will feel drawn to cities.
C. Incorrect. Some things, such as seasons, are beyond human control, as the speaker concedes: “I can already see how this will end” (line 1). However, the theme of the poem is not that certain things are inevitable, but that one can live in the present moment and enjoy that experience before change occurs.
D. Incorrect. The speaker’s thoughts are not showing that people are surprised by what the days bring; the thoughts of the speaker suggest that people experience many seasons in Brooklyn and have reasonable expectations about what these days will bring.
Question analysis
This theme question asks what theme the speaker's thoughts develop across all of “Letter from Brooklyn,” from the opening line about how things will end to the closing lines about loneliness on late afternoons. Each choice is a broad statement about people in two parts, so students must check both halves against the speaker's reflections.
- NYS standards
- 7R2 theme or central idea
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Stating a theme is a grade 7 standard, often tested with one clearly fitting choice. Here every choice is a two-part general statement about people, and students must test both halves of each against a whole poem of abstract reflection, more than typical.
- 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
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Evidence in several places minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: 217 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 9, 82 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 four themes are broad statements about people, each in two halves, and every one can borrow something from the poem: the seasons are beyond control, the city has charm, the future brings surprises. The right one matches the speaker’s double vision, knowing what is coming and longing for the present while it lasts. The strongest pull is the theme about things beyond control, whose second half fits the turning seasons and whose first half the poem never raises.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The poem never states its theme; it must be built from the speaker’s forecasts in lines 1–6 and the paradox of being “nostalgic / for the moment I am walking inside of.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
Every choice is a two-part “although” or “though” statement about people, and three have one plausible half, so each half must be checked against the poem on its own. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
The theme draws on the whole poem, from the opening “I can already see how this will end” to the lonely late afternoons of lines 23–26. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Sum up in a sentence what the speaker keeps thinking about from the first line to the last, then test both halves of each choice against the poem and reject any half it does not support.
Traps
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- 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 Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Turns one speaker’s love of Brooklyn into a claim that “most people” feel drawn to a city’s charm, though no other person’s view appears in the poem.
C Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Accepts the half about things beyond control, since the weather will turn cold regardless, but the poem says nothing about people making decisions about their lives.
D Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Turns the coming season into an unknown, though the speaker opens with “I can already see how this will end” and knows exactly what the weather will bring.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks for the theme of the whole poem. A theme is a big message about life. Each choice has two halves, joined by although or though. Both halves must fit the poem. If one half doesn’t, the choice is wrong.
Trace the speaker’s thoughts
The poem opens by looking ahead: “I can already see how this will end.” The speaker expects to tire of the bridge, and “The weather will turn cold.” Then the speaker turns to now: “But that all happens later.” Most of the poem enjoys the fall walk. Lines 21–22 sum it up: “How Brooklyn makes me nostalgic / for the moment I am walking inside of.”
Put it in your own words
Nostalgic means longing for the past. Yet the speaker longs for the present, while it is still going on. So the speaker does two things at once. The speaker expects what the future will bring. And the speaker treasures, or deeply values, the present. That is the theme.
Check each choice
- A is right. First half: the speaker expects cold weather and boredom. Second half: the speaker longs for the walk while it is still going on.
- B is wrong. Only one person speaks in the poem. Nothing says most people feel drawn to cities.
- C is wrong. The weather is beyond anyone’s control, so its second half fits. But the poem never talks about people making decisions about their lives.
- D is wrong. The speaker knows what is coming. The future isn’t a mystery here.
Watch out: C is tempting because the speaker can’t stop the cold. But test both halves. Its first half, about making decisions, isn’t in the poem.
Choose the answer
So the answer is A: “although people may hold expectations for the future, some people long for present experiences while they are still happening.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because the seasons are beyond the speaker’s control. But the poem never mentions people making decisions about their lives. A matches both halves: the speaker expects what is coming, and longs for the present while it lasts.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 29 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 43Passage The End of an Era
The End of an Era
(1) In 2004, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) landed a rover, or robotic vehicle, named Opportunity on the surface of Mars. (2) The rover’s mission was to search for evidence of water and life on the planet. (3) The rover was designed to gather data on Mars for about 90 days, but Opportunity’s assignment did not come to an end until nearly 15 years later in 2019.
(4) During the rover’s mission, a high-resolution camera on the rover’s robotic arm took magnified photographs of the surface of Mars. (5) The photographs revealed small round rocks scattered across the surface of the planet. (6) The scientists nicknamed these rocks “blueberries” based on the rocks’ resemblance to the fruit. (7) These rocks were important because their spherical shape suggested that liquid water may have flowed over them for a substantial amount of time.
(8) Opportunity continued to provide valuable data about craters and other surface features. (9) Throughout the mission, the rover traveled a total of 28.06 miles across Mars’ surface. (10) When Opportunity had traveled nearly the length of a marathon, scientists celebrated the accomplishment by naming the valley that the rover was in Marathon Valley. (11) However, in 2018, a dust storm spread all over the planet, putting the rover’s progress on hold.
(12) Prior to this planet-wide dust storm, minor dust storms had periodically deposited a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover. (13) These prevented it from charging its batteries. (14) Scientists then had to rely on the passing winds and dust devils to clean off the solar panels. (15) After the massive 2018 dust storm subsided, scientists expected to be able to reestablish communication with Opportunity. (16) They made repeated attempts but to no avail. (17) In 2019, NASA finally declared Opportunity’s mission complete.
(18) Opportunity was an important asset in scientists’ study of Mars; it returned valuable data about our neighbor planet and survived powerful dust storms. (19) NASA described the mission of Opportunity as “one of the most successful and enduring feats of interplanetary exploration.” (20) Even though this rover’s journey ended, other rovers still roam the surface of Mars.
Question
Which sentence should follow sentence 3 to best introduce the topic of the passage?
- ADespite the challenges of operating on the surface of another planet, the Opportunity rover made many valuable contributions to the field of space research.
- BThe Opportunity rover mission was a success because it informed NASA scientists about how water might have existed on Mars.
- CThroughout the historic mission of the Opportunity rover, NASA scientists had to overcome challenges created by the flaws in the rover’s design.
- DThe Opportunity rover mission surpassed the original timeline of the assignment and allowed scientists to collect additional data about the planet Mars.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks for the sentence that should follow sentence 3 to best introduce the topic of the passage.
A. CORRECT. This sentence best introduces the passage’s topic: the Opportunity rover had many accomplishments on its mission, despite numerous challenges. Some of those accomplishments include providing high-resolution photographs (paragraph 2), traveling long distances (paragraph 3), and providing data about craters and other surface features (paragraph 3).
B. Incorrect. Although paragraph 2 discusses how photographs taken by the rover showed rocks that may have been shaped by water, this idea alone is not the topic of the entire passage.
C. Incorrect. While this sentence incorporates ideas about difficulties the scientists encountered because of the Opportunity rover’s design (paragraph 4), the main topic of the passage is not the design flaws and obstacles scientists encountered throughout the mission. The passage primarily focuses on the achievements of the mission.
D. Incorrect. While it is true that the Opportunity rover mission lasted much longer than planned (sentence 3), this fact is a supporting detail of the passage, not the main topic of the passage; surpassing the original timeline is only one of the rover’s many achievements mentioned in the passage.
Question analysis
This revising question works with “The End of an Era,” a passage about NASA's Opportunity rover on Mars, and asks which sentence should follow sentence 3 to best introduce the topic. Students must keep the whole passage in view, from the rover's photographs and travels to the dust storms that ended its mission, and judge which choice previews it best.
- 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 passage's topic is a standard grade 7 writing task. The passage is twenty plain sentences about one rover mission, and every choice draws on that mission, so it calls for a typical careful comparison.
- 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
- How sentences fit together minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 337 words; question and choices: about grade 14, 101 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 3 already tells a striking story, a 90-day mission that lasted nearly fifteen years, and the most tempting continuation simply repeats it in new words. The other near misses each pick one part of the passage, the water evidence or the dust problems, and make it the whole. The question rewards skimming every paragraph first and choosing the sentence that covers both the achievements and the hardships, the pairing the final paragraph makes.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The topic only emerges from the later paragraphs: the “blueberries” of sentences 4–7, the 28.06 miles of paragraph 3, the dust storms of paragraph 4 and NASA’s praise in sentence 19. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
How sentences fit together minor Working it out
The new sentence follows sentence 3’s surprise that a 90-day mission lasted nearly 15 years, so it must turn from that fact to what the mission achieved. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Strategy: Skim the opening sentence of each later paragraph to see what the passage covers, then ask which choice 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.
- Says it twice: Repeats an idea that the sentence or passage already states.
- 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
B Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Picks the water finding of paragraph 2, a real result, but it covers one paragraph and leaves out the rover’s travels, its endurance and the dust storms.
C Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Builds on the dust that blocked the solar panels in paragraph 4, but the passage never blames flaws in the rover’s design and dwells on its achievements.
D Says it twice (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Follows sentence 3 smoothly, but saying the mission “surpassed the original timeline” only restates the 90 days that became 15 years instead of introducing what comes next.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This revising question asks for a sentence to add after sentence 3. It should introduce the topic of the whole passage. A good introduction gives a preview, a quick look at everything coming. It doesn’t repeat one fact or zoom in on one part. For example, a report on a soccer season might begin: The team lost two stars but still won the title. That previews both the struggles and the wins.
Skim each paragraph
- Paragraph 2 (sentences 4–7): The rover’s camera found small round rocks that hinted at water.
- Paragraph 3 (sentences 8–11): It sent data and traveled 28.06 miles. Then a huge dust storm stopped it.
- Paragraph 4 (sentences 12–17): Dust had covered its solar panels before. After the 2018 storm, NASA could not reach it.
- Paragraph 5 (sentences 18–20): It “returned valuable data about our neighbor planet and survived powerful dust storms.”
Name the topic
So the passage covers two things. One is what the rover achieved: photos, data and miles. The other is its challenges, mainly the dust storms. Challenges are hard problems. Sentence 18 puts both together. The new sentence should preview both.
Check each choice
- A is right. It names the challenges and the “many valuable contributions.” That covers the whole passage.
- B is wrong. Water is only paragraph 2. It leaves out the travel and the dust storms.
- C is wrong. The passage never blames flaws in the rover’s design. It mostly praises the rover.
- D is wrong. Sentence 3 already says the mission lasted far past 90 days. D repeats it instead of looking ahead.
Watch out: D follows sentence 3 smoothly, so it sounds right. But it only restates sentence 3 in new words.
Choose the answer
So the answer is A: “Despite the challenges of operating on the surface of another planet, the Opportunity rover made many valuable contributions to the field of space research.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer, because it flows right after sentence 3. But it only repeats that the mission lasted longer than planned. A previews both halves of the passage: the rover’s achievements and the challenges it survived. Sentence 18 sums up the same two ideas.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “The End of an Era” as printed (page 60)
Question 30 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 44Uses the passage above: “The End of an Era”.
Question
Which word should be added to the beginning of sentence 8 to provide a better transition to the third paragraph (sentences 8–11)?
Move the correct answer to the box.
(8) ____ Opportunity continued to provide valuable data about craters and other surface features.
On the test you drag one of the tiles into the box; here, choose it.
- AOverall,
- BFurthermore,
- CMeanwhile,
- DConsequently,
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks for the word that should be added to the beginning of sentence 8 to provide a better transition to the third paragraph (sentences 8–11).
“Overall,” is incorrect and should not be added. While sentence 8 is a more general statement than sentence 7, the word “Overall” would imply that all of the third paragraph features general information about the Opportunity rover. Instead, paragraphs 2 and 3 both describe specific accomplishments of the Opportunity rover (the discovery of possible water on Mars and the distance the rover traveled), so these paragraphs require a word between them that does not transition from the specific to the general.
“Furthermore,” is incorrect and should not be added. The word “Furthermore” would suggest that the author is making an argument in paragraph 2 that is further developed by the statement in sentence 8 and the rest of paragraph 3. Because this is not the case, the word “Furthermore” is not a suitable transition from one paragraph to the next.
“Meanwhile,” is correct and should be added. The word “Meanwhile” is an appropriate transition to add to the beginning of sentence 8, since the actions of the Opportunity rover in paragraph 2 (taking photographs) and in paragraph 3 (traveling long distances) happened at the same time and both served critical functions to the overall mission.
“Consequently,” is incorrect and should not be added. The word “Consequently” would create a cause-and-effect relationship that does not exist between the paragraphs. The passage gives no indication that the rover’s actions in the third paragraph (traveling a far distance) resulted from the actions in the second paragraph (taking photographs).
Question analysis
In this transition question, sentence 8 opens the third paragraph of the Opportunity rover passage with a blank, and on the test students move one of four word tiles into the box. The paragraph before ends with the “blueberries,” small round rocks that hinted at water, so students must decide how the rover's further work relates to that discovery.
- NYS standards
- 7W2d transitions in informative writing
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Choosing a transition is regular grade 7 writing work, but this one links two paragraphs, and two of the four words fit the sentence's grammar and sound natural, so the choice turns on exactly how the paragraphs relate.
- 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 moderate
- How sentences fit together moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 337 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 43 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
Two tiles sound natural in the blank, and the one most students reach for first is an all-purpose adding word. The key goes a step further: it marks the rover’s work in paragraph 3 as happening alongside the photographs of paragraph 2, a relationship the word “continued” supports. Students who test each tile against how the paragraphs relate, rather than against the sound of the sentence, also rule out a summing-up word and a cause word.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
“Furthermore” and “Meanwhile” both let paragraph 3 add to paragraph 2; only “Meanwhile” also says the rover’s further work went on during the same mission, as “continued” implies. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
The tile must link the “blueberries” of paragraph 2 to the craters and miles of paragraph 3, so students must decide how two paragraphs relate, not just two sentences. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The timing is never stated; it comes from “During the rover’s mission” in sentence 4 and “continued” in sentence 8, which place both kinds of work in the same years. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: State in your own words how what the rover did in paragraph 2 relates to what it did in paragraph 3, then test the relationship each tile signals against that.
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)
Treats sentence 8 as a summing up because it is broader than sentence 7, though paragraph 3 goes on to give new specifics such as the 28.06 miles.
B Wrong transition (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Adds paragraph 3 as one more achievement, which sounds natural, but “Furthermore” signals a point being built up, not two kinds of work carried on during one mission.
D Wrong transition (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Hears “continued” as a result of the blueberry discovery and adds a cause-and-effect link, though nothing says the rover’s later work followed from its photographs.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
On the test, you move one word tile into the box at the start of sentence 8. The word is a transition, a word that shows how two ideas connect. Some transitions add an idea, some show a result, some sum up, and some show time. You need the one that links paragraph 2 to paragraph 3.
Compare the two paragraphs
Paragraph 2 begins “During the rover’s mission.” It tells how the camera found the round rocks called “blueberries.” Paragraph 3 begins “Opportunity continued to provide valuable data about craters and other surface features.” Craters are bowl-shaped holes in the ground. So paragraph 3 tells about other work the rover kept doing in those same years.
Test each transition
- Overall sums things up. But paragraph 3 gives new facts, like the 28.06 miles.
- Furthermore adds one more reason to an argument, as in Dogs are loyal. Furthermore, they are fun. But paragraph 2 isn’t arguing a point. It tells what the rover did.
- Meanwhile means during that same time. It links things that go on together.
- Consequently means as a result. But the photos didn’t cause the rover’s later work.
See why “Meanwhile” fits
While the camera was finding blueberries, the rover was also studying craters and driving many miles. The word “continued” in sentence 8 shows that the work kept going. “Meanwhile” tells the reader these jobs happened during the same mission.
Watch out: “Furthermore” sounds natural in the blank, so many students choose B. But it only says here is one more point. It doesn’t show two kinds of work going on at the same time.
Choose the answer
With the tile in place, sentence 8 reads: Meanwhile, Opportunity continued to provide valuable data about craters and other surface features. So the answer is C: move the tile “Meanwhile,” into the box.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B, “Furthermore,” is the closest wrong answer, because it also adds information. But it treats paragraph 2 as one point in an argument. The passage just tells what the rover did. “Meanwhile” links the two paragraphs in time, and it matches the word “continued.”
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 31 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 45Uses the passage above: “The End of an Era”.
Question
Which revision of sentence 11 best maintains the formal style established in the passage?
- AHowever, in 2018, a dust storm covered the planet, bringing the rover’s progress to a standstill.
- BHowever, in 2018, a dust storm shrouded the planet, impermanently halting the rover’s progress.
- CHowever, in 2018, a dust storm enveloped the whole of the planet, arresting the rover’s progress for a time.
- DHowever, in 2018, a dust storm covered up the whole planet, which quickly brought a stop to the progress of the rover.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks for the revision of sentence 11 that best maintains the formal style established in the passage.
A. CORRECT. This sentence uses clear and formal writing throughout. The phrase “covered the planet” is accurate and formal without being overly poetic, and “standstill” is a precise word for putting something “on hold,” as expressed by the original sentence, while maintaining the formal style of the passage.
B. Incorrect. Although the sentence is formal in style, the word “shrouded” is overly poetic, and the phrase “impermanently halting” is too stilted and formal for the style and tone of the passage.
C. Incorrect. Although the sentence is formal in style, the words “enveloped” and “arresting” are overly poetic, especially when used in the same sentence, and the phrases “the whole of the planet” and “for a time” are needlessly wordy and imprecise, compared with the formal scientific language of the passage.
D. Incorrect. The phrases “covered up the whole planet” and “quickly brought a stop to the progress of the rover” are less formal and unnecessarily wordy, compared with the formal style established by the rest of the passage.
Question analysis
This style question asks which revision of sentence 11, about the 2018 dust storm that covered Mars and stopped the Opportunity rover, best maintains the formal style of the passage. All four versions say the same thing, so students must compare word choice and wordiness and decide which one reads like the rest of the passage.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Keeping a formal style is grade 7 writing work, usually tested by spotting slang or casual wording. Here all four revisions keep the meaning and differ in register by degrees, so students must judge the passage's own style closely, more than typical.
- 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
- Something you must already know moderate
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 337 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 80 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 what “formal” means. Many students equate it with impressive words and choose the revision with “enveloped” and “arresting,” or the one with “shrouded,” missing that both are more poetic than a passage that reports dates and distances. The casual revision is easy to reject, so the real test is preferring the plainest formal sentence to the grandest one.
Something you must already know moderate Working it out
Students must know that a formal informational style is plain and precise, so words such as “shrouded,” “enveloped” and “arresting” are too ornate for a passage that reports miles and dates. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
All four revisions keep the meaning of sentence 11 and differ only in register and length, so each must be heard against the passage’s voice rather than checked for errors. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
“Impermanently,” “shrouded” and “arresting,” in its sense of stopping, are uncommon words, and students must judge how they sound in the passage, not only what they mean. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Reread a few sentences around sentence 11 to hear the passage's voice, then check each revision for casual phrasing, needless words and words that would sound out of place in that voice.
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)
Equates formal with elevated, so “shrouded” and “impermanently halting” seem best, though both are stilted and poetic beside the passage’s plain reporting of facts.
C Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Avoids casual words, but “enveloped” and “arresting” are poetic, and “the whole of the planet” and “for a time” add words the plain version does without.
D Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Keeps the meaning, but the casual “covered up” and the roundabout “brought a stop to the progress of the rover” make it wordier and less formal.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks which version of sentence 11 keeps the passage’s formal style. Formal writing is serious and clear, like a textbook. It avoids slang and casual words. But formal doesn’t mean fancy. Formal writing about science uses plain, exact words. For example, The game got called off is casual. The contest was halted indefinitely is too fancy. The game was canceled is formal and plain.
Hear the passage’s voice
Sentence 9 says “the rover traveled a total of 28.06 miles across Mars’ surface.” Sentence 12 says minor storms “deposited a layer of dust onto the solar panels.” The words are exact and plain. The passage gives dates and numbers. It doesn’t paint poetic pictures.
Check each revision
- A is right. “Covered the planet” is plain and exact. A standstill is a complete stop, a clear way to say “on hold.”
- B is wrong. “Shrouded” is poetic. A shroud is a cloth wrapped around a body. “Impermanently halting” sounds stiff and odd.
- C is wrong. “Enveloped” and “arresting” are fancy words. Here arresting means stopping. “The whole of the planet” and “for a time” add extra words.
- D is wrong. “Covered up” is casual. “Brought a stop to the progress of the rover” is wordy, or longer than it needs to be.
Watch out: Many students think formal means big words, so they choose C. But a passage of dates and miles calls for plain words.
Choose the answer
Only A is both formal and plain, like the rest of the passage. So the answer is A: “However, in 2018, a dust storm covered the planet, bringing the rover’s progress to a standstill.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because it has no slang and sounds serious. But “enveloped” and “arresting” are poetic, and “the whole of the planet” is wordy. The passage reports facts in plain words. A says the same thing in the plainest formal way.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 32 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 46Uses the passage above: “The End of an Era”.
Question
Read this sentence.
One of Opportunity’s major contributions was finding possible evidence of the presence of water on Mars.
Where should the sentence be added to the passage?
- Abetween sentences 2 and 3
- Bat the beginning of the second paragraph (before sentence 4)
- Cat the end of the second paragraph (after sentence 7)
- Dbetween sentences 8 and 9
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks where the sentence should be added to the passage.
A. Incorrect. While sentence 2 refers to Opportunity’s mission to search for evidence of water, sentence 3 mentions the rover lasting much longer than anticipated. Placing the sentence between these two ideas, rather than at the start of the second paragraph, where it introduces the topic of the paragraph, would create a disjointed and confusing experience for the reader.
B. CORRECT. The sentence introduces the idea of finding possible evidence of water on Mars, which is the main topic of the second paragraph.
C. Incorrect. The sentence sets up the main idea of paragraph 2, which is the possibility of water on Mars. As a concluding sentence, it would be repetitive and confusing.
D. Incorrect. The sentence introduces the possibility of water on Mars, while sentences 8 and 9 discuss other surface features and the distance traveled by the rover. Adding the sentence here would create a disorganized paragraph.
Question analysis
This organization question gives a new sentence about Opportunity's possible discovery of evidence of water on Mars and asks where it should be added to the rover passage. Students must follow the order of ideas across the first three paragraphs, because the sentence echoes ideas that appear in several places and could seem to fit more than one of them.
- NYS standards
- 7W2a introducing and organizing a topic
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Deciding where a sentence belongs is typical grade 7 revision work. The four positions span three paragraphs of a plain passage, and the sentence's wording connects to more than one of them, so the order of ideas must be checked.
- 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
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 337 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 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 new sentence reads well in more than one place, because water comes up in sentence 2, in sentence 7 and near the “valuable data” of sentence 8. Its wording settles the matter: “One of Opportunity’s major contributions” announces a topic, so it belongs ahead of the evidence. The strongest pull places it as a closing line after sentence 7, where it restates the point the blueberries have just made.
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
The new sentence names a contribution in general terms, so it belongs before sentence 4, where the camera and the “blueberries” supply the details, not after them. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The two positions in paragraph 2, before sentence 4 and after sentence 7, both keep the sentence beside the water evidence; they differ only in whether it introduces the details or sums them up. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Find what the new sentence is about and where the passage discusses that, then read the sentence in each offered position and check whether it introduces, interrupts or repeats the ideas around it.
Traps
- Sentence in the wrong place: Puts a sentence where it breaks the order of ideas or separates it from what it refers to.
- Says it twice: Repeats an idea that the sentence or passage already states.
The wrong answers, classified
A Sentence in the wrong place (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Matches the sentence to sentence 2’s search for water, but there it announces the finding before the photographs are described and cuts into the account of the mission’s length.
C Says it twice (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Uses it as a wrap-up after the blueberries, a common paragraph shape, but there it only repeats sentence 7’s point about water instead of introducing the paragraph’s topic.
D Sentence in the wrong place (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Links “major contributions” to the “valuable data” of sentence 8, though paragraph 3 covers craters, distance traveled and the dust storm, not water.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks where a new sentence belongs. First find what the sentence is about. Then find where the passage talks about that. Last, decide whether the sentence should start that part, interrupt it or end it.
Read the new sentence
It says that one of Opportunity’s major contributions was “finding possible evidence of the presence of water on Mars.” It names a big idea in general terms. A sentence like that is a topic sentence. A topic sentence tells what a paragraph will be about. It usually comes first. For example, Dogs help people in many ways. comes before the details about guiding, herding and comforting.
Find where water comes up
Paragraph 2 (sentences 4–7) gives the details. The camera took close-up photos. They showed small round rocks, nicknamed “blueberries.” Sentence 7 says the rocks’ round shape “suggested that liquid water may have flowed over them.” So the new sentence should come right before these details, at the start of paragraph 2.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. Between sentences 2 and 3, it would announce the finding before the photos are described. It would also break up the facts about the mission’s length.
- B is right. Before sentence 4, it introduces the paragraph about the round rocks and water.
- C is wrong. After sentence 7, it would only repeat the point sentence 7 just made.
- D is wrong. Paragraph 3 is about craters, miles and the dust storm, not water.
Watch out: C is tempting because some paragraphs end with a summary. But sentence 7 already makes the point about water.
Choose the answer
So the answer is B: “at the beginning of the second paragraph (before sentence 4).”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because it keeps the sentence in the paragraph about water. But the sentence names a topic, so it works best before the details. After sentence 7, it would repeat what the blueberries just showed. Before sentence 4, it tells readers what is coming.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 33 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 47Uses the passage above: “The End of an Era”.
Question
What is the best way to combine sentences 12 and 13?
- APreventing the rover from charging its batteries, minor dust storms had periodically deposited a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover prior to this planet-wide dust storm.
- BPeriodically depositing a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover prior to this planet-wide dust storm, minor dust storms had prevented it from charging its batteries.
- CMinor dust storms, prior to this planet-wide dust storm, prevented the rover from charging its batteries because they had periodically deposited a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover.
- DPrior to this planet-wide dust storm, minor dust storms had periodically deposited a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover, preventing it from charging its batteries.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks for the best way to combine sentences 12 and 13.
A. Incorrect. The phrase “this planet-wide dust storm” in the original sentence 12 makes a direct reference to sentence 11 and therefore acts as a transition that should be kept at the beginning. In this sentence, the transition phrase is placed at the end of the sentence, making the phrase confusing. In addition, the sentence is unnecessarily repetitive and wordy.
B. Incorrect. This combination unnecessarily turns sentence 12 into an overly long participial phrase, making the connection between “it” and its antecedent, “the rover,” unclear and distracting from the subject of the sentence, “minor dust storms.”
C. Incorrect. Not only does this combination move the reference to “this planet-wide dust storm” farther from sentence 11, but it is also unnecessarily wordy, adding “because” and repeating “the rover.”
D. CORRECT. This sentence efficiently and accurately adds sentence 13 to sentence 12 as a participial phrase by changing “These prevented” to “preventing,” while also retaining the meanings of the original sentences 12 and 13.
Question analysis
This sentence-combining question asks for the best way to join two sentences from the rover passage: one saying minor dust storms had periodically coated the rover's solar panels, the other saying this kept it from charging its batteries. The four versions keep the same facts in different orders, so students must judge which is clearest and most concise in context.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Combining two sentences is grade 7 work, usually with one version clearly better. These four are long, keep the same facts and differ in order and wording, so students must weigh clarity and concision across nearly identical sentences, more than typical.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- 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 moderate
- Complex sentences minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 337 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 129 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- Two grammar terms in the explanation were corrected.
- Students, last 30 days
- 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 versions is plainly ungrammatical, so the ear gives little help, and the version with “because” looks best to students who value a clearly stated cause. Its cost is wordiness and a weaker link: the result comes first and the reference back to sentence 11 is buried mid-sentence. The question rewards keeping the original order, cause then effect, and folding sentence 13 in as a short closing phrase.
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
“Prior to this planet-wide dust storm” points back to sentence 11, so the best version keeps it first; three versions move it later, which loosens the link between the two sentences. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
All four versions keep every fact of sentences 12 and 13 and run 29 to 32 words, so none can be ruled out by content; order, pronouns and repetition decide. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
Each version is one long sentence built around a participial phrase or a “because” clause, and at that length a stranded “it” or a doubled “the rover” is easy to miss. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Strategy: Read sentence 11 first, then compare the versions on how smoothly each connects to it, how many words it uses, and whether every pronoun has a clear antecedent.
Traps
- Wordy, vague or informal: A revision is grammatical but wordy, imprecise or too casual for the passage.
- Unclear pronoun: A pronoun whose reference is vague or ambiguous, or one in the wrong case.
The wrong answers, classified
A Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Opens with the effect as a participial phrase, which pushes “prior to this planet-wide dust storm,” the link to sentence 11, to the end and names “the rover” twice.
B Unclear pronoun (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Packs sentence 12 into a 19-word opening phrase, so “it” follows “this planet-wide dust storm” and no longer points clearly to the rover buried inside the phrase.
C Wordy, vague or informal (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Likes the clear cause word “because,” but the result now comes first, “the rover” appears twice, and “prior to this planet-wide dust storm” splits the subject from its verb.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The DOE’s explanation of Option B says the combination turns sentence 12 into “an overly long dependent clause,” and its explanation of Option D says Option D adds sentence 13 to sentence 12 “as a dependent clause” by changing “These prevented” to “preventing.” Neither is a clause: “Periodically depositing a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover prior to this planet-wide dust storm” (Option B) and “preventing it from charging its batteries” (Option D) have no subject or finite verb of their own. Both are participial phrases, and the site now calls them that. The reasoning and the answer, Option D, are unchanged.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks for the best way to join sentences 12 and 13 into one sentence. The best version keeps the meaning, uses few words and is clear. It should also connect smoothly to sentence 11, the sentence before.
Read the sentences in order
Sentence 11 tells about the giant 2018 dust storm. Sentence 12 begins “Prior to this planet-wide dust storm.” Prior to means before. That phrase points back to sentence 11, so it works best at the start. Sentence 12 says small storms put dust on the solar panels. Sentence 13 gives the result: “These prevented it from charging its batteries.”
Learn the tool: a participial phrase
A participial phrase is a group of words built on a verb form, often an -ing word. It describes something, but it has no subject and can’t stand alone. Example: The dog ran to the door. It wagged its tail. becomes The dog ran to the door, wagging its tail. Choice D does this. It turns “These prevented” into “preventing.”
Check each choice
- A is wrong. It starts with the result. It moves “prior to this planet-wide dust storm” to the end, far from sentence 11. It also says “the rover” twice.
- B is wrong. Its long opening phrase hides the rover. Then “it” comes after “minor dust storms,” so it is hard to tell what “it” means.
- C is wrong. It adds “because,” puts the result first and says “the rover” twice. It is wordier than D.
- D is right. It keeps the link to sentence 11 first, gives the cause, then adds the result as a short participial phrase.
Watch out: C looks clear because “because” names the cause. But it is longer, and it puts an extra phrase between “Minor dust storms” and its verb.
Choose the answer
So the answer is D: “Prior to this planet-wide dust storm, minor dust storms had periodically deposited a layer of dust onto the solar panels of the rover, preventing it from charging its batteries.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, because “because” makes the cause very clear. But C puts the result first and repeats “the rover.” D keeps the original order, cause then result. It also keeps the link to sentence 11 up front, in fewer words.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 34 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 50Question
Which sentence in the paragraph contains an error in construction and should be revised?
(1) On the evening of July 13, 2019, a major power outage affected the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. (2) Leaving approximately 73,000 residents without electricity for three long hours, lights did not function, refrigerators did not stay cold, and air conditioners did not work. (3) Longtime city residents were particularly confused because an eerily similar event had occurred years earlier—on the exact same day! (4) The famous New York City Blackout of 1977, which lasted for 25 hours, also happened on July 13, an odd coincidence to say the least.
Move the answer to the box. There is only one error in construction.
Contains an error in construction
On the test you drag one of the tiles into the box; here, choose it.
- ASentence 1
- BSentence 2
- CSentence 3
- DSentence 4
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks which sentence in the paragraph contains an error in construction.
Sentence 1: Construction is correct. An introductory prepositional phrase is correctly punctuated in sentence 1 and describes when the power outage occurred. Similarly, the direct object, “the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City,” is presented clearly in terms of what area was “affected” by the power outage.
Sentence 2: Contains an error in construction. In sentence 2, the phrase “Leaving approximately 73,000 residents without electricity for three long hours” is a dangling modifier because it is not clearly modifying any word or words in the sentence. It actually further describes the “power outage” in sentence 1. In clear and correct construction, all modifiers should be in the same sentence as and near the words they describe in order to avoid confusion.
Sentence 3: Construction is correct. A dash is used appropriately in sentence 3 to show a break in thought and to introduce the phrase “on the exact same day.”
Sentence 4: Construction is correct. Two commas are used correctly in sentence 4 to set off the nonessential clause “which lasted for 25 hours” from the rest of the sentence. Similarly, one comma is used to set off the nonessential appositive “an odd coincidence to say the least.” Both of these elements are nonessential to the sentence’s overall meaning and are thus correctly separated from the sentence by the use of commas.
Question analysis
This editing question gives a four-sentence paragraph about the July 13, 2019, blackout on Manhattan's Upper West Side, which fell on the same date as the famous 1977 New York City blackout. On the test students move one sentence tile into a box marked as containing an error in construction, and since the error is not named, every sentence must be checked.
- NYS standards
- 7L1 grammar and usage conventions
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Finding a sentence with a construction error in a short paragraph is typical grade 7 editing. The question does not name the kind of error, and the paragraph's dash, exclamation point and added phrases all give students something to second-guess.
- 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 moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 8, 122 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 dangling phrase is easy to accept because the reader already knows from sentence 1 what left the residents in the dark. Students who do not ask what the opening phrase describes look elsewhere, and sentence 4 is the likeliest victim, since its closing phrase about an odd coincidence seems to hang loose. The question rewards naming the subject of each sentence and checking that every added phrase belongs to it.
A rule that doesn't sound wrong moderate Working it out
The opening phrase of sentence 2, “Leaving approximately 73,000 residents without electricity,” has no word to modify; it sounds acceptable because sentence 1’s power outage supplies the missing subject. (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
The error is not named, and three sentences hold features that invite doubt: sentence 1’s date and place names, sentence 3’s dash and exclamation point, sentence 4’s two set-off phrases. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Take the sentences one at a time: name the subject and main verb, ask what each opening or added phrase describes, and check whether each mark of punctuation has a job.
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)
Suspects the long opening date or the string of place names, though sentence 1 has a clear subject and verb and its introductory phrase is correctly punctuated.
C Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Treats the dash and the exclamation point as errors because they look informal, though the dash correctly sets off “on the exact same day” and the sentence is complete.
D Fixes what isn't broken (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Rightly checks what each phrase describes but decides “an odd coincidence to say the least” dangles, though it correctly sums up the whole clause before it.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks which sentence is built wrong. On the test, you move one sentence tile into the box. The question doesn’t name the kind of error. So check each sentence. Find its subject, who or what the sentence is about, and its verb.
Learn the rule: no dangling modifier
A modifier is a word or phrase that describes something. An opening phrase must describe the subject right after the comma. If it can’t, it is a dangling modifier. Example: Running to the bus, my backpack fell. The backpack wasn’t running! Fix: Running to the bus, I dropped my backpack.
Test sentence 2
Sentence 2 opens with “Leaving approximately 73,000 residents without electricity for three long hours.” What did the leaving? The power outage did, but the outage is back in sentence 1. After the comma, the subject is “lights.” Lights didn’t leave people without power. So the opening phrase dangles. One fix: The outage left about 73,000 residents without electricity for three long hours. Then a new sentence lists what stopped working.
Check the other sentences
- Sentence 1 is correct. Its opening phrase tells when, and a comma sets it off. Its subject is “a major power outage,” and its verb is “affected.”
- Sentence 3 is correct. The dash sets off “on the exact same day” for effect. The sentence is complete.
- Sentence 4 is correct. Commas set off “which lasted for 25 hours.” The ending, “an odd coincidence to say the least,” sums up the fact before it.
Watch out: Sentence 4 tempts many students, because its ending seems to hang loose. But it names the whole fact before it, the same date. That is allowed.
Choose the answer
Only sentence 2 has an opening phrase with nothing to describe. So the answer is B: move the tile “Sentence 2” into the box labeled “Contains an error in construction.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
Sentence 4 is the closest wrong answer, because “an odd coincidence to say the least” seems loose. But it sums up the whole idea before it, which is correct. In sentence 2, the opening phrase should describe the outage. Yet the word after the comma is “lights.”
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 35 of 120
2026 Practice Test B English, question 51Question
How should the paragraph be revised?
(1) Danielle spent several hours preparing for an upcoming audition for a play at the community theater. (2) First she did vocal exercises to practice her diction and projection so that her words would carry clearly throughout the large auditorium. (3) Then she studies the text of the monologue to better understand the emotions, and motivations of the character she plans to portray. (4) Finally she recited her monologue in front of a mirror many times, making slight adjustments and improvements to her performance each time.
- ASentence 1: Change spent to had spent, AND insert a comma after play.
- BSentence 2: Change did to does, AND insert a comma after projection.
- CSentence 3: Change studies to studied, AND delete the comma after emotions.
- DSentence 4: Change recited to recites, AND delete the comma after times.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how the paragraph should be revised.
A. Incorrect. The revisions in this option introduce new errors. The word “spent” is correct in the simple past tense because it encompasses the actions described throughout the rest of the paragraph, all of which happened during those “several hours.” Additionally, adding a comma after the word “play” would be incorrect because it would unnecessarily separate the prepositional phrase “at the community theater” from the rest of the sentence.
B. Incorrect. The revisions in this option introduce new errors. The word “did” is correct as written in the past tense because the past tense is used throughout the paragraph. There is no comma needed after the word “projection” because “so” is functioning not as a conjunction but rather as part of the conjunction phrase “so that,” which does not take a comma.
C. CORRECT. Changing the word “studies” from the present tense to the past tense “studied” is necessary to match the past tense established in the paragraph (“spent,” “recited”). Additionally, the comma after the word “emotions” needs to be removed because the words “emotions and motivations” are part of a group (series) of two elements, and when there are only two elements in a series, a comma is not used.
D. Incorrect. The revisions in this option introduce new errors. The word “recited” is correct as written in the past tense because the past tense is used throughout the paragraph. Also, removing the comma after “times” is incorrect because the comma is needed in order to separate the modifying phrase “making slight adjustments and improvements to her performance each time” from the main clause.
Question analysis
This grammar and punctuation question gives a four-sentence paragraph about Danielle preparing for an audition at the community theater, with eight spots underlined. Each answer choice pairs a verb change with a comma change in a single sentence, so students must judge verb tense and comma use together and accept a choice only if both of its edits are needed.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Keeping verb tense consistent and using commas correctly are taught before grade 7, and this paragraph is short and plain. Each choice bundles two edits, so a student who spots one real error can confirm the answer with the other.
- Estimated difficulty
- Routine: one familiar step, little to misread.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 10, 133 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 shift to “Then she studies” stands out in a story told in the past tense with “spent,” “did” and “recited,” and finding either half of the right option is enough to choose it. That makes this one of the easiest editing questions. Students who miss it usually trust a half-remembered comma rule, such as a comma before “so,” and stop checking the verb in the same option.
A rule that doesn't sound wrong minor Working it out
Only two nouns, “emotions” and “motivations,” follow “the,” so the comma between them has no job, yet a habit of putting commas before “and” in lists hides it. (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
The four options each pair a tense change with a comma change, one option per sentence, and an option is right only when both of its edits repair real errors. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Find the tense of the paragraph's first verb, check every underlined verb against it, and then confirm that the comma change in the same choice is needed too.
The wrong answers, classified
A Verb tense or form (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Thinks “had spent” is needed because the preparing came before the audition, and accepts a comma after “play” that would cut off “at the community theater.”
B Punctuation (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Applies the rule of a comma before “so” joining two clauses, missing that “so that” opens a purpose clause with no comma, and accepts the present-tense “does.”
D Verb tense or form (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Notices that the tenses clash but takes the present-tense “studies” as the standard, shifts “recited” to match, and drops the comma that sets off “making slight adjustments.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This question asks how to fix the paragraph. Each choice makes two changes in one sentence: a verb change and a comma change. A choice is right only if both changes fix real errors. So check both halves.
Rule 1: keep one tense
Tense is when an action happens: past, present or future. A story should stay in one tense. Example: I woke up and eat breakfast mixes tenses. It should be I woke up and ate breakfast. This paragraph is in the past: “spent,” “did,” “recited.” But sentence 3 says “Then she studies.” That is present tense. It should be “studied.”
Rule 2: no comma between two
When only two things are joined by and, don’t put a comma between them. Example: I like apples and pears. Sentence 3 says “the emotions, and motivations.” There are only two things, so the comma should go. Fixed: the emotions and motivations of the character.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. “Spent” is already correct past tense. A comma after “play” would cut off “at the community theater.”
- B is wrong. “Does” is present tense, so it would create an error. And no comma goes before “so that.”
- C is right. “Studied” fixes the tense, and dropping the comma fixes the pair.
- D is wrong. “Recites” would create an error. The comma after “times” is needed to set off “making slight adjustments and improvements to her performance each time.”
Watch out: B tempts students who remember a comma before “so.” But “so that” tells a purpose, why she practiced, and takes no comma.
Choose the answer
So the answer is C: “Sentence 3: Change studies to studied, AND delete the comma after emotions.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer, because many students put a comma before “so.” But “so that” explains a purpose, and it takes no comma. Also, B’s change to “does” would break the past tense. Both of C’s changes fix real errors.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 36 of 120
2026 Practice Test C English, question 8Passage Excerpt from “Niagara Falls”
Excerpt from “Niagara Falls”
by Rupert Brooke
The real secret of the beauty and terror of the Falls is not their height or width, but the feeling of colossal power and of unintelligible disaster caused by the plunge of that vast body of water. If that were taken away, there would be little visible change, but the heart would be gone.
The American Falls do not inspire this feeling in the same way as the Canadian. It is because they are less in volume, and because the water does not fall so much into one place. By comparison their beauty is almost delicate and fragile. They are extraordinarily level, one long curtain of lacework and woven foam. Seen from opposite, when the sun is on them, they are blindingly white, and the clouds of spray show dark against them. With both Falls the colour of the water is the ever-altering wonder. Greens and blues, purples and whites, melt into one another, fade, and come again, and change with the changing sun. Sometimes they are as richly diaphanous as a precious stone, and glow from within with a deep, inexplicable light. Sometimes the white intricacies of dropping foam become opaque and creamy. And always there are the rainbows. If you come suddenly upon the Falls from above, a great double rainbow, very vivid, spanning the extent of spray from top to bottom, is the first thing you see. If you wander along the cliff opposite, a bow springs into being in the American Falls, accompanies you courteously on your walk, dwindles and dies as the mist ends, and awakens again as you reach the Canadian tumult. And the bold traveller who attempts the trip under the American Falls sees, when he dare open his eyes to anything, tiny baby rainbows, some four or five yards in span, leaping from rock to rock among the foam, and gambolling beside him, barely out of hand’s reach, as he goes. One I saw in that place was a complete circle, such as I have never seen before, and so near that I could put my foot on it. It is a terrifying journey, beneath and behind the Falls. The senses are battered and bewildered by the thunder of the water and the assault of wind and spray; or rather, the sound is not of falling water, but merely of falling; a noise of unspecified ruin. So, if you are close behind the endless clamour, the sight cannot recognise liquid in the masses that hurl past. You are dimly and pitifully aware that sheets of light and darkness are falling in great curves in front of you. Dull omnipresent foam washes the face. Farther away, in the roar and hissing, clouds of spray seem literally to slide down some invisible plane of air.
Beyond the foot of the Falls the river is like a slipping floor of marble, green with veins of dirty white, made by the scum that was foam. It slides very quietly and slowly down for a mile or two, sullenly exhausted. Then it turns to a dull sage green, and hurries more swiftly, smooth and ominous. As the walls of the ravine close in, trouble stirs, and the waters boil and eddy. These are the lower rapids, a sight more terrifying than the Falls, because less intelligible. Close in its bands of rock the river surges tumultuously forward, writhing and leaping as if inspired by a demon. It is pressed by the straits into a visibly convex form. Great planes of water slide past. Sometimes it is thrown up into a pinnacle of foam higher than a house, or leaps with incredible speed from the crest of one vast wave to another, along the shining curve between, like the spring of a wild beast. Its motion continually suggests muscular action. The power manifest in these rapids moves one with a different sense of awe and terror from that of the Falls. Here the inhuman life and strength are spontaneous, active, almost resolute. . . . A place of fear.
One is drawn back, strangely, to a contemplation of the Falls, at every hour, and especially by night, when the cloud of spray becomes an immense visible ghost, straining and wavering high above the river, white and pathetic and translucent. The Victorian lies very close below the surface in every man. There one can sit and let great cloudy thoughts of destiny and the passage of empires drift through the mind; for such dreams are at home by Niagara. I could not get out of my mind the thought of a friend, who said that the rainbows over the Falls were like the arts and beauty and goodness, with regard to the stream of life—caused by it, thrown upon its spray, but unable to stay or direct or affect it, and ceasing when it ceased. In all comparisons that rise in the heart, the river, with its multitudinous waves and its single current, likens itself to a life, whether of an individual or of a community. A man’s life is of many flashing moments, and yet one stream; a nation’s flows through all its citizens, and yet is more than they. In such places, one is aware, with an almost insupportable and yet comforting certitude, that both men and nations are hurried onwards to their ruin or ending as inevitably as this dark flood. Some go down to it unreluctant, and meet it, like the river, not without nobility. And as incessant, as inevitable, and as unavailing as the spray that hangs over the Falls, is the white cloud of human crying. . . . With some such thoughts does the platitudinous heart win from the confusion and thunder of a Niagara peace that the quietest plains or most stable hills can never give.
From LETTERS FROM AMERICA by Rupert Brooke—Public Domain
diaphanous: sheer, translucent
platitudinous: clichéd, common
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 3.
These are the lower rapids, a sight more terrifying than the Falls, because less intelligible.
Which statement best describes how the sentence fits into the overall structure of the excerpt?
- AIt signals a change from the positive aspects of the Falls to the negative aspects.
- BIt indicates a progression from the literal description of the water to a discussion of timeless truths.
- CIt reinforces a shift from the qualities of the Falls to the qualities of the river.
- DIt introduces a contrast between the obvious and the hidden features of the rapids.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks for the statement that best describes how the sentence from paragraph 3 fits into the overall structure of the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. Although in paragraph 2 the author describes the beauty of the Falls as both an “ever-altering wonder” and an “assault of wind and spray,” in paragraph 3 the author does not signal a change from the positive aspects of the Falls to the negative aspects. Instead, the author provides a description of the river and the rapids below the Falls.
B. Incorrect. While the author compares the water of the river to “a slipping floor of marble, green with veins of dirty white, made by the scum that was foam” in paragraph 3, the statement that the lower rapids are “more terrifying than the Falls, because less intelligible” does not indicate a progression from the literal description of the water to a discussion of timeless truths. Instead, the author is merely describing all aspects of the rapids, both literally and figuratively.
C. CORRECT. The first sentence of paragraph 3 moves the description “beyond the foot of the Falls” to “the river” and then the paragraph begins to describe this location in further detail (“a dull sage green,” “hurries more swiftly,” “smooth and ominous,” “waters boil and eddy”) before reinforcing this shift by confirming it again with the words “These are the lower rapids, a sight more terrifying than the Falls.”
D. Incorrect. Although the author states that the waters of the rapids “boil and eddy” and suggests that the rapids are “less intelligible,” these statements do not introduce a contrast between the obvious and the hidden features of the rapids. They merely describe a feature and the sight of the lower rapids.
Question analysis
This text structure question quotes a sentence from paragraph 3 of Rupert Brooke’s “Niagara Falls,” in which the lower rapids are called “more terrifying than the Falls,” and asks how it fits the excerpt’s overall organization. It rewords a question from the 2018 handbook’s Test B. Every choice describes a turn the essay could plausibly take, so students need a clear picture of what each paragraph covers.
- NYS standards
- 7R5 structure and genre features
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 A typical grade 7 structure question asks what one paragraph adds. This one asks where a sentence from the middle of paragraph 3 fits in the whole essay, which means summing up four long paragraphs of century-old prose.
- 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
- How, not what major
- Much to keep track of moderate
- Hard words moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 987 words; question and choices: about grade 8, 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
A sentence that compares the rapids with the Falls is easy to misplace, because both of its subjects appear elsewhere in the excerpt. The strongest pull is a real turn in the essay, from describing water to musing on destiny, that comes a paragraph later, while “more terrifying” draws students who forget that terror runs through the excerpt from its first sentence. The 2026 verb “reinforces” rewards those who saw that paragraph 3 had already left the Falls with “Beyond the foot of the Falls the river.”
How, not what major Working it out
The task is to place one sentence in the essay’s plan, and the sentence pulls the wrong way: it mentions “the Falls” and “more terrifying,” though its job is to confirm that paragraph 3 has already moved downstream to the rapids. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Much to keep track of moderate Working it out
Placing the sentence takes a summary of all four long paragraphs at once: the Falls’ power, the two Falls’ beauty and the trip behind them, the river below, and the night thoughts on destiny. (Sweller, 1988; Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990)
Hard words moderate Understanding the question
“Less intelligible” means harder to make sense of; a student who takes it as harder to see is led toward a contrast between obvious and hidden features of the rapids. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Sum up each of the four paragraphs in a few words, find where this sentence sits in that outline, and choose the description of the essay’s movement at exactly that point.
Traps
- 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)
Takes “more terrifying” as the essay’s first turn from the Falls’ beauty to their dangers, but this sentence is about the rapids, and paragraph 1 already speaks of “unintelligible disaster.”
B Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Names a turn the excerpt really makes, from describing the water to “thoughts of destiny and the passage of empires,” but that turn comes in paragraph 4, not at the rapids.
D Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Reads “less intelligible” as less visible and finds a contrast between obvious and hidden features, though rapids that “boil and eddy” and leap like “a wild beast” are in plain view.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is a text structure question. Structure is the plan of a piece of writing: what each part does and how the parts connect. You get one sentence from paragraph 3. You must decide what job it does in the plan of the whole excerpt. So first sum up what each of the four paragraphs is about.
Sum up the four paragraphs
- Paragraph 1: the real secret of the Falls is “the feeling of colossal power.” Colossal means huge.
- Paragraph 2: the two Falls, their colors, the rainbows, and the scary trip behind the water.
- Paragraph 3: the river below the Falls and its wild rapids.
- Paragraph 4: the author goes back to the Falls at night and thinks about life and destiny, or what happens in the end.
See where paragraph 3 begins
Paragraph 3 opens with “Beyond the foot of the Falls the river is like a slipping floor of marble.” Beyond the foot means past the bottom. So the author has already left the Falls. He follows the river as it “hurries more swiftly” and the waters “boil and eddy,” or swirl. Then comes the sentence: “These are the lower rapids, a sight more terrifying than the Falls, because less intelligible.” Rapids are a stretch of fast, rough water. Less intelligible means harder to make sense of.
Decide what the sentence does
The sentence names the new place: the lower rapids. It also sets the rapids against the Falls. That tells you again that the essay has moved from the Falls to the river below them. To reinforce something is to make it stronger. The sentence reinforces a shift, or change of subject, that the paragraph’s first sentence began.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Terror is not new here. Paragraph 1 already speaks of “unintelligible disaster,” and paragraph 2 calls the trip behind the Falls “a terrifying journey.”
- B does not fit. The essay does turn to big, timeless ideas, but in paragraph 4, not here.
- C fits. The sentence confirms the move from the Falls to the river.
- D does not fit. The rapids are in plain sight. “Less intelligible” means harder to understand, not hidden.
Watch out: B names a real turn in the essay. But it comes one paragraph later, with “thoughts of destiny and the passage of empires.”
Choose the answer
The sentence names the rapids and compares them with the Falls. That confirms the essay has moved downstream. So the answer is C, “It reinforces a shift from the qualities of the Falls to the qualities of the river.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice, because the essay really does move from describing water to big ideas about life. But that move comes in paragraph 4, at night. The sentence in paragraph 3 is still describing water. Its job is to name the rapids and confirm that the essay has left the Falls for the river.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Excerpt from “Niagara Falls”” as printed (pages 134–135)
Question 37 of 120
2026 Practice Test C English, question 11Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “Niagara Falls””.
Question
In paragraph 4, the idea that human life and history ultimately end in the same way is illustrated mainly through
- Athe discussion of how the rainbows visible in the Falls are like the art and beauty created by humankind.
- Bthe comparison between the movement of water in the Falls and the human experience.
- Cthe inclusion of details that show that every observer’s experience with the Falls is different.
- Dthe acknowledgment that contemplating the Falls at night sparks an awareness of humankind’s destiny.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how paragraph 4 of the excerpt mainly illustrates the idea that human life and history ultimately end in the same way.
A. Incorrect. In paragraph 4, the author compares the rainbows visible in the Falls to “the arts and beauty,” which share the rainbows’ dependence on “the stream of life”—that is, they are “caused by it, thrown upon its spray, but unable to stay or direct or affect it, and ceasing when it ceased.” This comparison does not illustrate the idea that human life and history ultimately end in the same way but rather that art and beauty, like human beings, are unable to “stay or direct or affect” their ultimate fate.
B. CORRECT. The author concludes in paragraph 4 that the movement of the Falls can be compared to people and history when he writes, “both men and nations are hurried onwards to their ruin or ending as inevitably as this dark flood.” This comparison illustrates the idea that human life and history ultimately end in the same way.
C. Incorrect. Although in paragraph 4 the author states that “One is drawn back, strangely, to a contemplation of the Falls” and provides an account of “a friend, who said that the rainbows over the Falls were like the arts and beauty and goodness, with regard to the stream of life,” the author does not provide details to show that every observer’s experience with the Falls is different. Rather, the author explains that “the Victorian lies very close below the surface in every man” (paragraph 4).
D. Incorrect. While the setting at night does provide a place of contemplation, the author notes the “dark flood” as the overall illustration of the human experience.
Question analysis
In this question on the closing paragraph of Rupert Brooke’s “Niagara Falls,” students identify the main way the author illustrates the idea that human life and history ultimately end in the same way. It is a lightly reworded version of a 2018 Test B question. The paragraph is long and reflective, mixing several images with abstract thoughts, so students must decide which of them actually illustrates this particular idea.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Most grade 7 work asks how an idea is shown in plain modern prose. This paragraph is a century-old reflection in long sentences with words like “certitude” and “unavailing,” and several of its images could each seem to carry the idea.
- 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
- The right answer is reworded moderate
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 987 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 81 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 offers three pictures, the spray as a night ghost, the friend’s rainbows and the river as a life, and only one of them shows people and nations meeting an end. The 2026 stem’s “ultimately end” makes the rainbows’ “ceasing when it ceased” more tempting, and the night-time “thoughts of destiny” sound like the idea itself. Students who ask what the paragraph uses to show the idea, rather than where it mentions endings or destiny, land on the dark flood.
Complex sentences major Understanding the question
The idea sits inside a hedged sentence, “one is aware, with an almost insupportable and yet comforting certitude, that both men and nations are hurried onwards to their ruin or ending,” and the comparison comes last: “as inevitably as this dark flood.” (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
The right answer is reworded moderate Choosing the answer
The key sums up the paragraph’s river-and-life likeness in its own words, “movement of water” and “human experience,” while the other choices borrow the paragraph’s vocabulary: “rainbows,” “art and beauty,” “night” and “destiny.” (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
“Multitudinous,” “certitude,” “insupportable” and “unavailing” all sit in the lines that carry the idea, and the footnoted “platitudinous” closes the paragraph, so the comparison has to be read through them. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Find the sentence in paragraph 4 that actually states the idea about life and history ending, then ask how that very sentence makes its point and match a choice to it.
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 Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Settles on the friend’s rainbows because they end “ceasing when it ceased,” which echoes the stem’s ending, but the likeness is about art and beauty, not the lives of men and nations.
C Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Relies on the common idea that every visitor sees the Falls in a personal way, but the paragraph speaks of “one” and “every man” in general and records no differences.
D Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Joins the night view to “thoughts of destiny,” both real in paragraph 4, but they tell when and where the reflecting happens, not which picture shows lives and nations sharing an end.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how an idea is shown in paragraph 4. The idea is that people’s lives and whole nations end in the same way: they all come to an end. You need the picture the author mainly uses to show that idea. Paragraph 4 has several pictures, so find the one tied to this idea.
Find the sentence with the idea
Paragraph 4 says “both men and nations are hurried onwards to their ruin or ending as inevitably as this dark flood.” Men means people. Nations means countries and their history. Inevitably means in a way that can’t be stopped. The “dark flood” is the river’s dark water rushing over the Falls.
See how the comparison works
Just before, the author says “the river, with its multitudinous waves and its single current, likens itself to a life.” Multitudinous means very many. A current is water flowing one way. Likens itself to means seems like. A life has many moments but moves one way, like the river. And just as the water must rush on, people and nations rush toward their end. So the idea is shown by comparing moving water with human life.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. A friend compares the rainbows to “the arts and beauty and goodness.” That picture is about art, not about lives and nations ending.
- B fits. The river’s movement stands for human lives and history.
- C does not fit. The paragraph never says that each visitor sees the Falls differently.
- D does not fit. The night view and the “thoughts of destiny” tell when and where the author thinks. They do not show how lives end.
Watch out: D is tempting because destiny, or what happens in the end, sounds like the idea itself. But the question asks what illustrates the idea, and that is the river.
Choose the answer
The author pictures people and nations rushing to their end like the river’s water. So the answer is B, “the comparison between the movement of water in the Falls and the human experience.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong choice. Paragraph 4 really does say the Falls at night stir “great cloudy thoughts of destiny.” But that only tells you the author was thinking about such things. The picture that shows lives and nations ending is the river. They are “hurried onwards to their ruin or ending as inevitably as this dark flood.”
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 38 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 1Passage A Memory Revolution
A Memory Revolution
A high school senior logs on to a computer at the library to double-check the application due date listed on a college admissions website. Nearby, a librarian helps a group of biology students use a database to search for recent studies about mammals. In the past few decades, the Internet has become an integral component of daily life for many people. The seemingly limitless power of search engines made the Internet search extremely common, and today people increasingly rely on the Internet’s vast accumulation of sources to access all types of information. Scientists are beginning to examine how this reliance is modifying the strategies people use to store and prioritize information in their mind.
A Dependable and Valuable Asset
Psychologist Benjamin Storm from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and researchers Sean Stone and Aaron Benjamin devised an experiment to study students’ tendency to depend on the Internet for facts. To begin, the scientists divided sixty participants into multiple groups, including an “Internet” group and a “memory” group, and placed them in front of computers. The Internet group was required to use the search engine Google to answer eight challenging trivia questions. In contrast, participants in the memory group were permitted to use only their personal knowledge to answer the questions. In the second round, the researchers administered notably easier questions. This time, they allowed each group the option of using Google as they answered. Their results showed that 83 percent of the Internet group continued to consult Google in the second round, while only 63 percent of the memory group chose to do so.
People’s growing inclination to rely on the Internet in order to retrieve information, particularly facts and figures, is called cognitive offloading. Canadian researcher Evan F. Risko and British researcher Sam Gilbert, who have written extensively about the topic, say a similar process has been taking place for centuries. In the past, people used resources like encyclopedias to assist their memories; however, today the Internet, serving as a vast extended memory, allows people to digitally access and retrieve much larger volumes of information. Consequently, people’s minds are free for other cognitive feats, such as connecting data, learning new information, or solving problems.
Filing Information Away
The use of the Internet also appears to be modifying the strategies people use to store information in their mind. Researchers Betsy Sparrow from Columbia University, Jenny Liu from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Daniel Wegner from Harvard University conducted several studies to discover how people efficiently manage their information intake.
To begin, the researchers examined how people evaluate which information deserves their effort to remember. For this experiment, participants read forty trivia facts, such as “An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain,” and typed the statements into a computer file. Half the participants had been previously told the file would be saved, while half believed it would be erased. Next, the participants wrote down every fact they could recall. Those who believed the information would be erased and no longer available could recall 40 percent more facts than those who thought the information would be saved.
In another experiment, the same researchers tested the ability of study participants to remember where to access information. For this trial, participants read and typed trivia statements, which they saved in folders with generic names such as “Facts” and “Items.” After spending ten minutes writing down all the facts they could recall from memory, participants were asked which folder contained a particular fact based on a keyword. For example, “Which folder has the fact about ostriches?” Overall, participants recalled the information’s location more often than the content itself, correctly identifying 49 percent of the folders for specific facts while remembering only 23 percent of the actual trivia. The researchers concluded that our memory is adapting to the Internet age by prioritizing where to locate information even when the specific details are forgotten. According to Sparrow, the Internet has become an important form of transactive memory, an external source of the recollections and associative networks that constitute memory.
As the Internet’s resources continue to expand our “external” memory, some question whether the process may cause people to depend too heavily on technology. However, Steven Pinker, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, says, “Knowledge is increasing exponentially; human brainpower and waking hours are not. Fortunately, the Internet and information technologies are helping us manage, search and retrieve our collective intellectual output at different scales, from Twitter and previews to e-books and online encyclopedias. Far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart.”
Question
The details in paragraph 3 about cognitive offloading convey a central idea of the passage by
- Asuggesting that reliance on the Internet for information is inevitable.
- Bdemonstrating how the methods used to store and find information have changed over time.
- Cexplaining how encyclopedias and the Internet are similar sources of information.
- Dimplying that more information can be understood now than ever before.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how the details in paragraph 3 about cognitive offloading convey a central idea of the passage.
A. Incorrect. Although paragraph 3 describes the Internet as “a vast extended memory,” it does not present reliance on the Internet for information as inevitable. The paragraph states that the Internet “allows people to digitally access and retrieve much larger volumes of information” and indicates that this benefit leaves people free to focus on “connecting data, learning new information, or solving problems.” However, these details about the benefits of the Internet do not express an opinion about the inevitability of Internet reliance.
B. CORRECT. A central idea of the passage is that the Internet is changing how people retain information. Paragraph 3 supports this idea by stating that “a similar process has been taking place for centuries” and that “in the past,” resources such as encyclopedias were used to store and find information. The details provided in paragraph 3 about encyclopedias and the Internet show that people have always used resources to remember information and that these resources change over time as people develop new ways to “assist their memories.”
C. Incorrect. While paragraph 3 does compare the use of encyclopedias to obtain information in the past with the use of today’s Internet, this comparison fails to convey the central idea of the passage that the Internet is changing how people remember information.
D. Incorrect. Although paragraph 3 states that “much larger volumes of information” are available on the Internet than what has been available in previous methods of information storage, such as encyclopedias, this fact does not relate to an increase in the ability to understand that information and is not a central idea of the passage.
Question analysis
This central-idea question on “A Memory Revolution,” an article about how relying on the Internet affects the way people remember, asks how the details about cognitive offloading in paragraph 3 convey a central idea of the passage. The paragraph mentions encyclopedias, the Internet and freed-up minds, and the choices each build on a different detail, so students must see what the paragraph adds to the article as a whole.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Tying one paragraph’s details to a central idea is regular grade 7 work. Paragraph 3 is short, but terms such as “cognitive offloading” and “extended memory” are abstract, and students must settle on the article’s central idea before judging the paragraph.
- 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
- The right answer is reworded moderate
- A very close wrong answer minor
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 14, 763 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 61 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- An inaccurate statement about paragraph 3 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
Paragraph 3 is built on a then-and-now contrast: encyclopedias once helped people remember, and today the Internet does the same job on a far larger scale. Students who notice only the pairing take it for a likeness, while those who stop at the opening “growing inclination to rely on the Internet” are tempted to call the reliance unstoppable. The point goes to students who first name the article’s central idea, that the Internet is changing how people remember, and then read the paragraph as one stage in a long history.
The right answer is reworded moderate Choosing the answer
The key’s “methods used to store and find information have changed over time” appears nowhere in paragraph 3, while the wrong choices stay near its own wording: reliance on the Internet, encyclopedias beside the Internet, and more information. (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
The choice calling encyclopedias and the Internet similar sources sets up the same old-and-new pairing as the key; it parts only on likeness versus change, which the paragraph’s “however, today” decides. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
The paragraph explains its idea in abstract terms, “cognitive offloading,” “a vast extended memory” and “other cognitive feats,” which must be decoded before its then-and-now structure shows. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Put the article’s central idea about the Internet and memory into your own words first, then test each choice against what paragraph 3’s sentences actually say, not against a word it shares with them.
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.
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
The wrong answers, classified
A Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Builds on the “growing inclination to rely on the Internet” and a process “taking place for centuries,” then hardens them into “inevitable,” a claim the paragraph never makes.
C True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Sees, accurately, that paragraph 3 sets encyclopedias beside the Internet as aids to memory, but stops at the likeness and misses the “however” that turns the comparison into a change.
D Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Matches “much larger volumes of information” to more information and swaps the paragraph’s “access and retrieve” for “understood,” though reaching more facts is not grasping them better.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The DOE’s explanation of Option A says that paragraph 3 “does not discuss reliance on the Internet for information.” It does: the paragraph opens “People’s growing inclination to rely on the Internet in order to retrieve information, particularly facts and figures, is called cognitive offloading.” What the paragraph does not do is present that reliance as inevitable, which is why Option A is wrong, as the explanation’s last sentence says. The site now reads “it does not present reliance on the Internet for information as inevitable.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is a central idea question. A central idea is a main point the whole article makes. Here the main point is that the Internet is changing how people remember. The question asks how paragraph 3 adds to that point. Paragraph 3 is about “cognitive offloading,” so first work out what that term means.
Read paragraph 3 closely
Paragraph 3 begins: “People’s growing inclination to rely on the Internet in order to retrieve information, particularly facts and figures, is called cognitive offloading.” Then it says “a similar process has been taking place for centuries.” Next comes the key sentence: “In the past, people used resources like encyclopedias to assist their memories; however, today the Internet, serving as a vast extended memory, allows people to digitally access and retrieve much larger volumes of information.”
Put the paragraph in plain words
An inclination is a habit of leaning toward something. Cognitive means having to do with thinking. To offload is to hand a load to someone else. So cognitive offloading means letting an outside tool do some of your remembering. People have done this for a long time. Long ago they used encyclopedias, books full of facts. Today they use the Internet. The word “however” marks the change from then to now. So the paragraph shows the tools for storing and finding facts changing over time.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The paragraph does talk about people relying on the Internet. But it never says that reliance is inevitable, which means it cannot be avoided.
- B fits. The paragraph moves from encyclopedias “in the past” to the Internet “today.” That is a change in how people store and find information.
- C does not fit. The paragraph does set the two side by side. But it uses them to show a change, not to say they are alike.
- D does not fit. People can “access and retrieve” more information. That means find it and pull it up, not understand it.
Watch out: C is tempting because encyclopedias and the Internet both help memory. Read past the likeness to the word “however.”
Choose the answer
Paragraph 3 shows people moving from encyclopedias to the Internet to help them remember. That supports the article’s point that the Internet is changing memory. So the answer is B, “demonstrating how the methods used to store and find information have changed over time.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong choice. Paragraph 3 does compare encyclopedias and the Internet. But the comparison makes a point about change: the Internet now holds “much larger volumes of information.” B names that change. C stops at the likeness, so it misses what the paragraph adds to the article.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “A Memory Revolution” as printed (pages 3–4)
Question 39 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 2Uses the passage above: “A Memory Revolution”.
Question
How do the details about the experiment described in paragraph 5 convey a central idea of the passage?
- AThey suggest that the act of repeating information by typing it on a keyboard may improve a person’s memory.
- BThey explain that a person will forget information faster if the information is considered unimportant.
- CThey indicate that a person may start to forget details when the amount of information becomes overwhelming.
- DThey suggest that memory is affected by whether a person expects to have access to the information in the future.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how the details of the experiment described in paragraph 5 convey a central idea of the passage.
A. Incorrect. Although paragraph 5 states that participants read the trivia facts and then “typed the statements into a computer file,” it does not explain the impact of repetition on memory, nor does this convey a central idea of the passage.
B. Incorrect. Paragraph 5 acknowledges that people evaluate which information is important enough to remember, but it does not describe the rate at which people forget unimportant information. According to the paragraph, information is considered less important to remember if a person believes that he or she will be able to retrieve that information easily in the future. This does not mean the information is unimportant but rather that it is readily available for future access.
C. Incorrect. Paragraph 5 specifies the number of trivia facts that study participants were given to read (forty), but it does not describe the amount of information as a factor in the participants’ memory performance. According to the paragraph, it was not the amount of information but rather the expectation of future availability that affected how much information participants were able to recall.
D. CORRECT. A central idea of the passage is that the way the human memory stores information is changing because of the Internet. The details of the experiment support this idea by indicating that study participants remembered different amounts of information based on whether they “thought the information would be saved” (paragraph 5). Those who “believed the information would be erased and no longer available” (paragraph 5) remembered 40 percent more than those who expected to be able to access the information again in a saved computer file. Therefore, paragraph 5 conveys the central idea that the expectation of future access to information is a key element in “how people evaluate which information deserves their effort to remember.”
Question analysis
Paragraph 5 of “A Memory Revolution” describes an experiment in which people typed forty trivia facts, such as one about an ostrich’s eye, into a computer file and then wrote down all they could recall. This central-idea question asks how the experiment’s details convey a central idea of the passage. Each choice offers a different lesson about memory, so the experiment’s actual result must decide.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining what an experiment’s results show is common grade 7 reading. The experiment in paragraph 5 is told in plain words and its result is a single comparison, so the main demand is restating that result as an idea.
- 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
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 14, 763 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 88 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 experiment is short and its result fits in one sentence, so most students find the idea once they ask what differed between the two groups. The trap is the paragraph’s framing, “which information deserves their effort to remember,” which invites talk of important and unimportant facts and leads to the choice about forgetting. Others reach for what they know about studying, such as writing things down, instead of the one condition the researchers changed.
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
Paragraph 5 never names the cause; students must see that both groups read and typed the same forty facts, so only what they were told about the file can explain the 40 percent gap. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
The choice about forgetting unimportant information shares the key’s idea that how people regard information affects memory; it differs in the reason, importance rather than expected access, and adds a speed nobody measured. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Restate the experiment in paragraph 5 and its result in one sentence of your own, then reject any choice that rests on something the experiment did not set up or measure.
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.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
A Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Brings in the study tip that writing facts down helps memory, but both groups typed the same statements, so typing cannot explain why one group recalled 40 percent more.
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Starts from “which information deserves their effort to remember” and calls the saved facts unimportant, though they were only expected to stay available, and no speed of forgetting was measured.
C Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Takes forty trivia facts for an overload that made people forget, though both groups read the same forty, so the amount cannot explain the difference between them.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is a central idea question. It asks what the experiment in paragraph 5 shows. It also asks how that result supports a main point of the article. The article’s main point is that the Internet is changing how people remember.
Find the experiment in paragraph 5
In paragraph 5, participants, the people in the study, “read forty trivia facts” and “typed the statements into a computer file.” Then: “Half the participants had been previously told the file would be saved, while half believed it would be erased.” The result: “Those who believed the information would be erased and no longer available could recall 40 percent more facts than those who thought the information would be saved.”
Work out what the result means
Both groups read the same forty facts. Both typed them the same way. Only one thing was different: what each group expected to happen to the file. People who thought the facts would be gone remembered more. People who thought the facts would be saved remembered less. So your memory depends on whether you expect to look the facts up later. This fits the article’s point. When people know they can find facts again, they work less to remember them.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Both groups typed the facts, so typing cannot explain why one group remembered more.
- B does not fit. Nobody called the saved facts unimportant. They were just expected to stay available. The study also never measured how fast people forget.
- C does not fit. Both groups read forty facts, so the amount was the same for everyone.
- D fits. What people expected about later access changed how much they remembered.
Watch out: B is tempting because the paragraph talks about “which information deserves their effort to remember.” But the saved facts were not judged unimportant. They were judged easy to find later.
Choose the answer
The only difference between the groups was whether they expected the file to be saved. So the answer is D, “They suggest that memory is affected by whether a person expects to have access to the information in the future.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice. Like D, it says that how people see information affects memory. But B gives the wrong reason and adds a speed of forgetting. The study never tested importance or speed. The one thing it changed was whether people expected to see the facts again. That is exactly what D says.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 40 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 3Uses the passage above: “A Memory Revolution”.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 7.
As the Internet’s resources continue to expand our “external” memory, some question whether the process may cause people to depend too heavily on technology.
How does the sentence contribute to the structure and development of ideas in the passage?
- AIt presents a claim about the risks of relying on the Internet that prompted the research described in paragraphs 2 and 6.
- BIt contrasts a disadvantage of relying on the Internet with the benefits of Internet use that are described in paragraphs 2 and 6.
- CIt signals a shift from a neutral viewpoint in paragraphs 2 and 6 to a presentation of an argument and a counterargument.
- DIt introduces a counterargument and marks a transition from an optimistic tone in paragraphs 2 and 6 to a cautious tone as the counterargument is developed.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how the sentence from paragraph 7 contributes to the structure and development of ideas in the passage.
A. Incorrect. Although the studies showed, in part, that reliance on the Internet is increasing (“participants recalled the information’s location more often than the content itself” [paragraph 6]), the studies were not conducted in order to determine the risks of Internet use. The claim in the sentence did not prompt the research described in paragraphs 2 and 6.
B. Incorrect. While the sentence in paragraph 7 poses a question about the disadvantages of relying on the Internet, paragraphs 2 and 6 present the study data on Internet use and memory in a neutral tone (“correctly identifying 49 percent of the folders for specific facts while remembering only 23 percent of the actual trivia” [paragraph 6]). Neither study describes the availability of information on the Internet as an advantage or a disadvantage.
C. CORRECT. Paragraphs 2 and 6 describe the results of experiments related to the Internet’s effect on memory without commenting on the advantages or disadvantages of relying on that technology, and the sentence in paragraph 7 presents a questioning viewpoint that moves away from the neutral perspective of the broader passage. The opinion in the sentence is directly argued against in the three sentences that follow it, which present an extended quote from Steven Pinker, a psychology professor at Harvard University. Pinker refutes the idea expressed by the sentence, stating that “knowledge is increasing exponentially; human brainpower and waking hours are not.” He adds that technologies such as the Internet “are the only things that will keep us smart.”
D. Incorrect. Although the sentence in paragraph 7 expresses caution about the possible effects of the Internet on memory, the passage does not shift from an optimistic tone to a cautious tone. Actually, paragraph 6 provides the data on Internet use and memory in a neutral tone. The argument expressed by the sentence is also not elaborated on in the sentences that follow, but is immediately argued against by Steven Pinker, a professor of psychology. The last sentence of paragraph 7 in fact refutes the culled sentence: “ ‘Far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart.’ ”
Question analysis
This text-structure question quotes the sentence that opens the last paragraph of “A Memory Revolution,” where some people question whether the Internet may make us depend too heavily on technology. Students decide how it contributes to the structure and development of ideas in the article. Every choice also describes the experiments in paragraphs 2 and 6, so students must judge how the article presents them and what follows.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 structure questions often ask what one sentence does in its paragraph. This one asks how a sentence turns the whole article, and every choice also characterizes paragraphs 2 and 6, closer to grade 8 work on opposing viewpoints.
- 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
- How, not what moderate
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 14, 763 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 129 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 is the article’s only worried note, and the question asks what it does there. Students must judge two things at once: how the earlier studies sound, plain numbers such as 49 and 23 percent with no verdict, and what follows, Pinker’s “However” and a confident rebuttal. The near miss rightly calls the sentence an opposing view but hears the studies as cheerful and expects caution to follow, so only students who read on to the end of paragraph 7 can rule it out.
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks what the sentence does in the article, and its job is a turn: from studies reported without judgment to a worry that Pinker’s quotation rebuts in the same paragraph. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The choice about a counterargument and a cautious tone shares the key’s frame, a shift away from paragraphs 2 and 6 toward opposing views; it differs in calling those paragraphs optimistic and the ending cautious. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
Every choice also characterizes paragraphs 2 and 6, so students must recall how the Google study and the folder study were reported, as percentages with no praise or blame, before judging the sentence. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
The choices judge structure in abstract words, “neutral viewpoint,” “counterargument,” “optimistic tone” and “cautious tone,” which students must match to how the article actually sounds. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Describe in a word or two how paragraphs 2 and 6 present their studies and what the rest of paragraph 7 does with the quoted sentence’s idea, then test both halves of every choice.
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.
- 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)
Assumes the worry about depending on technology launched the research, though it appears only after the studies, and paragraph 2 says its experiment set out to study a “tendency to depend on the Internet.”
B Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Credits paragraphs 2 and 6 with benefits found elsewhere, the freed-up minds of paragraph 3 under the heading “A Dependable and Valuable Asset,” though the two studies report results without calling them good.
D Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Rightly sees an opposing view raised but hears the studies as optimistic and the ending as cautious, when Pinker’s quotation answers the worry at once and closes on “keep us smart.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is a structure question. Structure is how the parts of an article fit together. The question asks what the sentence does at the start of paragraph 7. Each choice also describes paragraphs 2 and 6. So you must check two things: how those paragraphs sound, and what comes after the sentence.
Look at paragraphs 2 and 6
Paragraph 2 reports that “83 percent of the Internet group continued to consult Google in the second round, while only 63 percent of the memory group chose to do so.” Paragraph 6 reports “correctly identifying 49 percent of the folders for specific facts while remembering only 23 percent of the actual trivia.” These paragraphs give numbers. They do not say the results are good or bad. Writing that takes no side like this is called neutral.
Read the sentence and what follows
The sentence says “some question whether the process may cause people to depend too heavily on technology.” That is a worry, an argument against relying on the Internet. The very next word is “However.” Then Steven Pinker answers the worry. He ends, “Far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart.” An answer to an argument is called a counterargument. So the article moves from neutral reports to an argument and a counterargument.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The worry comes after the studies. Nothing says it caused the research.
- B does not fit. Paragraphs 2 and 6 do not describe benefits. They only report numbers.
- C fits. The sentence shifts from neutral reports to an argument, and Pinker’s answer follows.
- D does not fit. Paragraphs 2 and 6 are not optimistic, or hopeful. And the end is not cautious. Pinker answers the worry with confidence.
Watch out: D is tempting because the sentence does raise an opposing view. But D gets both tones wrong.
Choose the answer
The sentence turns the article from plain reports to a debate. So the answer is C, “It signals a shift from a neutral viewpoint in paragraphs 2 and 6 to a presentation of an argument and a counterargument.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong choice. Both C and D see the sentence bringing in an opposing view. But D calls paragraphs 2 and 6 optimistic, when they only give percentages. D also says a cautious tone follows. Instead, Pinker rejects the worry and ends with “keep us smart.” Only C describes both sides of the turn correctly.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 41 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 4Uses the passage above: “A Memory Revolution”.
Question
The study described in paragraph 6 influenced researchers’ ideas about memory in the digital age by
- Ahighlighting instances when organizing detailed information made it easier to remember.
- Bconfirming that keywords can be remembered more easily than large amounts of information.
- Cidentifying a shift in focus from remembering specific information to knowing where to find it.
- Demphasizing that remembering a basic idea is more important than storing detailed information.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how the study described in paragraph 6 influenced researchers’ ideas about memory in the digital age.
A. Incorrect. The study required participants to organize information into folders, but the results suggest that organizing the information did not make the information easier to remember; instead, participants remembered the folder in which to find the information but forgot the information itself.
B. Incorrect. Although the participants in the study were given a keyword, such as “ostrich,” when asked to remember “which folder contained a particular fact,” the study was significant for researchers because it demonstrated that “our memory is adapting to the Internet age by prioritizing where to locate information even when the specific details are forgotten” (paragraph 6). The study confirmed that participants were remembering where the information was stored, because they were able to provide the name of the folder where the information was stored.
C. CORRECT. The study in paragraph 6 demonstrated that participants were better able to recall where to find certain information than to recall the information itself. This influenced researchers’ ideas about memory in the digital age: “Overall, participants recalled the information’s location more often than the content itself, correctly identifying 49 percent of the folders for specific facts while remembering only 23 percent of the actual trivia” (paragraph 6).
D. Incorrect. The study did not examine the relative importance of remembering basic information or storing detailed information. It examined the effect of the Internet on the information that people remember and concluded that human memory “is adapting to the Internet age by prioritizing where to locate information” (paragraph 6).
Question analysis
This development-of-ideas question on “A Memory Revolution” asks how the folder experiment in paragraph 6, where participants saved trivia statements in folders named “Facts” and “Items” and were later quizzed, influenced researchers’ ideas about memory in the digital age. Students must understand what the experiment measured and what the researchers made of it, while the choices echo its keywords, folders and details.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining how a study shaped researchers’ thinking is typical grade 7 work with informational texts. The researchers state their conclusion in paragraph 6, which shortens the search, though the paragraph’s percentages and terms such as “transactive memory” need care.
- 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
- A very close wrong answer minor
- Much to keep track of minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 14, 763 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 67 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A mislabeled term 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 researchers state their conclusion in paragraph 6, that memory is “prioritizing where to locate information even when the specific details are forgotten,” so the question mostly rewards recognizing it in new words. The risk lies in the experiment’s moving parts: a student who mixes up the folder, the fact and the keyword can believe that filing helped recall or that keywords were the finding. The closest wrong choice keeps the downgrading of detail and swaps a basic idea in for location.
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
The choice about a basic idea mirrors the key’s first half, detailed information losing out; it differs only in what wins, a basic idea instead of knowing where the information is kept. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Much to keep track of minor Working it out
Paragraph 6 juggles three things a participant might recall, the fact, its folder and the keyword cue, plus two percentages, so students must keep straight that 49 percent is folders and 23 percent is trivia. (Sweller, 1988; Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990)
Strategy: Locate the researchers’ own conclusion in paragraph 6, restate it in plain words, and choose the option that matches it, not one that borrows a word from the description of the experiment.
Traps
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
- Word match: Repeats striking words or phrases from the text, so it looks supported, but its meaning does not fit the 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.
The wrong answers, classified
A Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Assumes filing the facts in folders must have helped people remember them, though participants recalled only 23 percent of the trivia while naming the right folder 49 percent of the time.
B Word match (Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Seizes on “keyword” in paragraph 6, but the keyword was only the cue in the question put to participants; what they remembered best was a folder with a generic name such as “Facts.”
D Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Reads “prioritizing” as a ranking of what matters and turns knowing where a fact is kept into remembering a basic idea, though participants recalled locations, not the gist of the facts.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The DOE’s explanation of Option B ends by saying that participants “were able to provide the name of the folder (keyword) where the information was stored.” In paragraph 6 the keyword is the cue the participants were given (the same explanation begins “the participants in the study were given a keyword, such as ‘ostrich’”); the folders had generic names such as “Facts” and “Items.” Calling the folder name a keyword makes the sentence seem to support Option B (“keywords can be remembered more easily”), the option it is rejecting. The site drops “(keyword).”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what the study in paragraph 6 taught the researchers about memory today. The researchers state their own conclusion in the paragraph. Find it, put it in plain words, and match it to a choice.
Follow the steps of the study
Participants typed trivia facts and saved them in folders. The folders had plain names, such as “Facts” and “Items.” Later each person got a keyword, a hint word, in a question like “Which folder has the fact about ostriches?” The result: “participants recalled the information’s location more often than the content itself, correctly identifying 49 percent of the folders for specific facts while remembering only 23 percent of the actual trivia.”
Read the researchers’ conclusion
Paragraph 6 says “our memory is adapting to the Internet age by prioritizing where to locate information even when the specific details are forgotten.” To prioritize is to put first. So people now put first knowing where a fact is kept. They may forget the fact itself. That is a shift in focus, a change in what memory pays attention to.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Filing the facts in folders did not help people remember them. They recalled only 23 percent of the facts.
- B does not fit. The keyword, like “ostriches,” was only the hint in the question. What people remembered was the folder, such as “Facts.”
- C fits. Memory shifted from the facts themselves to where to find them.
- D does not fit. People remembered locations, not a basic idea of each fact.
Watch out: D is tempting because “prioritizing” sounds like deciding what matters most. But the study ranked nothing. It found that people recalled where facts were, not what they said.
Choose the answer
The study showed people remembering where facts were kept better than the facts. So the answer is C, “identifying a shift in focus from remembering specific information to knowing where to find it.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong choice. Like C, it says detailed facts lose out. But it says a basic idea wins instead. In the study, what won was location: 49 percent of the folders against 23 percent of the facts. C names location, so C matches the researchers’ own conclusion.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 42 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 5Uses the passage above: “A Memory Revolution”.
Question
How does the diagram provide additional support for the topic presented in the passage?
- AIt reveals why human brains must adapt to obtaining information from the Internet as opposed to other sources.
- BIt indicates how people can use the Internet to help improve their long-term recollection of information.
- CIt shows how study participants’ brains distinguished between important and unimportant details.
- DIt depicts the idea that repetition and rehearsal are necessary to recall information when tools such as search engines are unavailable.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how the diagram provides additional support for the topic presented in the passage.
A. Incorrect. While the diagram indicates that the human brain has the ability to maintain different types of memory, the diagram does not show the need for the brain to adapt to obtaining information from the Internet rather than from other sources.
B. Incorrect. The diagram enhances the reader’s understanding of how long-term memories are formed, but it does not provide details about how the Internet can be used to improve long-term recollection of information.
C. Incorrect. The diagram provides an understanding of how details that are important to people can become stored because of an effort made to recall them. However, the diagram does not show how people decide which information is important and which is not.
D. CORRECT. The diagram depicts the connections that the human brain maintains between the different forms of memory. It also illustrates the idea that repetition and rehearsal are important steps in creating memories, as unrehearsed information will be forgotten. This supports the passage by highlighting the idea that access to search engines and other tools leads people to skip rehearsal and repetition steps that create memories, because people know that the information is readily accessible.
Question analysis
This question pairs “A Memory Revolution” with its flow diagram, “How Memory Works,” which follows new information from sensory memory through short-term and long-term memory, and asks how the diagram supports the topic of the passage. Students must read the diagram’s boxes, arrows and notes and relate them to an article about the Internet that never refers to the diagram, so the connection has to be worked out.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students regularly connect a diagram to a text. This flow diagram of memory never mentions the Internet, so students must build the bridge to the article’s studies themselves, and every choice claims something the diagram alone cannot show.
- 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
- Combines ideas moderate
- Reading a figure, table or graph moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 14, 763 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 81 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 diagram is a general model of memory, and every choice, even the right one, goes beyond it by bringing in the Internet, search engines or the study participants. The way through is to ask which choice rests on something the diagram really shows, and only one names its rehearsal loop and the forgetting of unrehearsed information. The strongest pull uses the diagram’s long-term memory and retrieval but claims the Internet improves recollection, the opposite of what paragraph 5’s experiment found.
Combines ideas moderate Working it out
The diagram never mentions the Internet and the article never mentions the diagram, so students must join its rehearsal loop to paragraph 5’s finding that people who expected the facts to be saved remembered fewer. (Embretson, 1998; Daniel & Embretson, 2010)
Reading a figure, table or graph moderate Understanding the question
Students must follow the arrows from “Attention” into short-term memory and find the “Rehearsal” loop beside “Information is maintained through repetition,” with “Unrehearsed information is forgotten” on the other side. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Three choices tie the diagram to the Internet, adaptation or the study participants, and even the key mentions search engines, so each claim must be held against the boxes and arrows actually drawn. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Trace the diagram’s arrows from new information to long-term memory and say what each label shows, then ask which choice links that process to the studies without crediting the diagram with ideas it never shows.
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.
- 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)
Credits the diagram with the article’s claim that memory is “adapting to the Internet age” and adds a “must,” though its boxes and arrows show memory in general and never mention the Internet.
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Joins the diagram’s long-term memory and retrieval arrow to the Internet as outside memory, though paragraph 5 found that people who expected the facts to be saved recalled fewer of them.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Reads the “Attention” arrow and the forgotten unrehearsed information as a picture of paragraph 5’s experiment, though the diagram shows no participants and nothing about judging what is important.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how the diagram supports the article. The diagram is the flow chart called “HOW MEMORY WORKS” at the end of the passage. It never mentions the Internet. So you must find what it shows, then link that to the article.
Follow the arrows in the diagram
Start at the top. An arrow labeled “New Information” goes into the box “Sensory Memory.” The “Attention” arrow leads to “Short-Term Memory.” From there, two things can happen. On the left, a loop labeled “Rehearsal” sits beside the note “Information is maintained through repetition.” On the right, a note says “Unrehearsed information is forgotten.” A “Storage” arrow leads down to “Long-Term Memory,” and a “Retrieval” arrow leads back up.
Explain what the diagram means
To rehearse information is to repeat it, the way you practice lines for a play. To maintain something is to keep it. So the diagram says that information you repeat stays with you. Information you don’t repeat is lost. Repeating takes effort.
Link the diagram to the passage
Paragraph 5 describes people who typed forty facts. Some thought the file would be saved. Others thought it would be erased. Those who thought it would be erased “could recall 40 percent more facts.” They knew they could not look the facts up later. So they made the effort to remember. The diagram shows that effort: rehearsal. When search engines are at hand, people may skip it.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The diagram never mentions the Internet. It does not say brains must adapt.
- B does not fit. The diagram shows nothing about using the Internet. Paragraph 5 even found that people remembered less when they expected the facts to be saved.
- C does not fit. The diagram shows memory in general. It shows no study participants and no sorting of important facts.
- D fits. The “Rehearsal” loop shows that repeating information keeps it. Without a tool to look things up, that repeating is what lets you recall.
Watch out: B is tempting because the diagram has “Long-Term Memory” and “Retrieval,” and the article calls the Internet an outside memory. But the diagram is about the brain, not the Internet.
Choose the answer
The diagram shows rehearsal keeping information and unrehearsed information being forgotten. That explains why people who can’t look facts up must work to remember them. So the answer is D, “It depicts the idea that repetition and rehearsal are necessary to recall information when tools such as search engines are unavailable.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice. It uses the diagram’s “Long-Term Memory” and “Retrieval” labels. But the diagram never shows the Internet improving recall. The passage says the opposite: expecting the facts to be saved made people remember fewer. D rests on what the diagram really shows, the “Rehearsal” loop and the note “Unrehearsed information is forgotten.”
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 43 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 6Uses the passage above: “A Memory Revolution”.
Question
Which evidence from the passage is most relevant to the claim in paragraph 7 that “ ‘far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart’ ”?
- Athe revelation that most people opted to use the Internet to answer relatively easy trivia questions rather than relying on their own brainpower (paragraph 2)
- Bthe assertion that the storage of information on the Internet frees people to focus on higher-order tasks such as problem solving (paragraph 3)
- Cthe connection between how people organize information in their mind and their ability to recall that information (paragraph 5)
- Dthe description of transactive memory as an expansive external source that people can use to store information (paragraph 6)
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks for the evidence from the passage that is most relevant to the claim in paragraph 7 that “ ‘far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart.’ ”
A. Incorrect. Whether the participants decided to use the Internet to answer easy trivia questions varied based on the options that the participants were given during the first part of the experiment and, therefore, cannot be relevant to the claim in paragraph 7. Even when given the option of using the Internet, some participants chose to recall information from memory instead.
B. CORRECT. The assertion made in paragraph 3 that states that cognitive offloading allows for “people’s minds [to be] free for other cognitive feats, such as connecting data, learning new information, or solving problems” is relevant to the claim in paragraph 7 because it indicates that the ability to store large amounts of information within the brain does not necessarily make someone smart. It also suggests that if people did not have to use so much effort simply organizing and storing information, their brain would be free to conduct higher-order tasks: “the Internet, serving as a vast extended memory, allows people to digitally access and retrieve much larger volumes of information. Consequently, people’s minds are free for other cognitive feats, such as connecting data, learning new information, or solving problems” (paragraph 3).
C. Incorrect. The discussion in the passage connecting how people organize information in their mind and their ability to recall that information focuses on the process of organizing information within human memory rather than on how technology helps keep people’s minds available for complex thoughts.
D. Incorrect. Although the passage provides an accurate description of transactive memory, it provides no indication of how using such memory would advance a person’s ability to maintain or improve intelligent thought.
Question analysis
This evidence question on “A Memory Revolution” quotes the claim, made by Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker at the end of the article, that technologies such as the Internet are the only things that will keep us smart. Students choose the finding from earlier in the passage that is most relevant to it. Each choice summarizes a point about technology or memory, so relevance, not accuracy, decides.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Judging which evidence is most relevant to a claim is standard grade 7 argument work. The claim is short and quoted in the question, and each choice names its paragraph, but students must recall what each paragraph actually showed.
- 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
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence in several places minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 14, 763 words; question and choices: about grade 14, 112 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 reports something the article really says, so the question turns on relevance: which finding would persuade a reader that technology keeps us smart. The transactive-memory finding is the trap, because Pinker himself speaks of retrieving “our collective intellectual output,” and an outside store of facts sounds like his point. That finding shows only that technology holds information; paragraph 3 adds what people do with the freed space, and that step is the claim.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The transactive-memory choice and the key both describe the Internet storing information for people; only the key adds the result, minds free for “connecting data, learning new information, or solving problems,” which is what keeps us smart. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The key never says smart; students must see that freeing minds for “other cognitive feats” is exactly what Pinker means by technology that keeps us smart rather than stupid. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
The four findings come from paragraphs 2, 3, 5 and 6, and each choice’s summary has to be matched back to what its paragraph actually showed before its relevance can be judged. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Restate Pinker’s claim in your own words, then ask of each finding whether it would persuade a doubter of that claim itself or only of something related to it.
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)
Pairs paragraph 2’s Google users with the “brainpower” in Pinker’s quotation, but people choosing a search engine for easy questions fits the worry he answers, not his claim that technology keeps us smart.
C True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Hears smartness in organizing and recalling information, but paragraph 5 found people recalled fewer facts when a computer would save them, which hardly shows technology keeping anyone smart.
D Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Matches transactive memory to paragraph 7’s “external” memory and Pinker’s “retrieve,” but an outside store shows only that technology holds facts, not that it frees minds for harder thinking.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for evidence: the detail that best supports a claim. The claim comes from Steven Pinker in paragraph 7: “Far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart.” Put it in your own words first. Pinker says the Internet does not make us dumb. It helps us think better.
Ask what would prove the claim
To support this claim, a detail must show technology helping people think. A detail that only shows people using the Internet is not enough. Neither is one that only shows the Internet storing facts. Look for a result: something people can do better because of the Internet.
Find that result in paragraph 3
Paragraph 3 says the Internet, “serving as a vast extended memory, allows people to digitally access and retrieve much larger volumes of information.” The next sentence gives the result: “Consequently, people’s minds are free for other cognitive feats, such as connecting data, learning new information, or solving problems.” Consequently means “as a result.” Cognitive feats are hard thinking tasks. Since the Internet holds the facts, your mind has room for harder work.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. People choosing Google for easy questions sounds more like the worry Pinker answers. It does not show anyone getting smarter.
- B fits. Higher-order tasks are harder kinds of thinking. Freeing minds for them is how technology could keep us smart.
- C does not fit. It is about how well people recall facts. In paragraph 5, people even recalled fewer facts when a computer would save them.
- D does not fit. It shows only that the Internet can store information. It does not say what people gain from that.
Watch out: D is tempting because transactive memory sounds like the “external” memory in paragraph 7. But storing facts outside your head is only half the idea. B adds the payoff: room for harder thinking.
Choose the answer
Only paragraph 3 shows the Internet freeing people for harder thinking. So the answer is B, “the assertion that the storage of information on the Internet frees people to focus on higher-order tasks such as problem solving” (paragraph 3).
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong choice. It is true that the Internet works as an outside store of facts. But that alone does not show anyone getting smarter. B goes one step further. Because the Internet holds the facts, minds are free for “connecting data, learning new information, or solving problems.” That step is what Pinker’s claim needs.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 44 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 7Uses the passage above: “A Memory Revolution”.
Question
The effect of the Internet on a person’s memory is illustrated in the passage through the presentation of studies that
- Aexamine how the use of search engines changes the way people evaluate and store information for future access.
- Bhighlight the difference between the capacity of the Internet and the ability of the human brain to locate information.
- Ccompare the type of information that can be obtained from the Internet with the type of information that is stored in the human brain.
- Demphasize the ease of obtaining information through search engines rather than remembering it without assistance.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the studies presented in the passage are used to illustrate the effect of the Internet on a person’s memory.
A. CORRECT. The study described in paragraph 5 examined the effect of computer use on the way people evaluate information, specifically “which information deserves their effort to remember,” and determined that “those who believed the information would be erased and no longer available could recall 40 percent more facts than those who thought the information would be saved.” The study described in paragraph 2 established that the use of Internet search engines increases the “inclination to rely on the Internet in order to retrieve information” (paragraph 3), and the study in paragraph 6 examined how this reliance on technology affects the way people store information: “Overall, participants recalled the information’s location more often than the content itself.”
B. Incorrect. Although a difference in the ability of the human brain and the capacity of the Internet to locate information might seem evident, the studies cited in the passage did not examine the ability or the capacity of either. The studies did not measure what the human brain is capable of but rather how memory is affected by the use of the Internet.
C. Incorrect. While the studies explored the Internet’s effect on the way information is stored in human memory, the type of information was not described or compared. Instead, the studies indicated that location is the main difference between the information stored in the Internet and the information stored in human memory, noting that the Internet has become “an external source of the recollections and associative networks that constitute memory” (paragraph 6).
D. Incorrect. Although it is increasingly common to use the Internet to obtain information (paragraph 2) rather than try to memorize information (paragraph 5), the studies did not examine the difficulty or ease of obtaining/recalling information using either method.
Question analysis
This evidence question asks how the studies described in “A Memory Revolution” illustrate the Internet’s effect on a person’s memory. Students must recall three experiments, one with trivia questions and Google, one with trivia typed into a computer file, and one with named folders, and decide what they examine together. Each choice sounds like a fair claim about the Internet and the brain.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Summing up what a text’s evidence shows is everyday grade 7 work. Here the evidence is three studies spread over paragraphs 2, 5 and 6, which adds recall, but each one is described in plain terms.
- 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
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 14, 763 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 96 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 asks what the article’s studies show together, so a student needs a one-line summary of three experiments before reading the choices. The key is slightly loose, since only the first study uses a search engine, which can make a careful reader hesitate. The strongest pull comes from paragraph 2, where most people turned to Google even for easy questions; it sounds like proof that searching is easier, but no study weighed the effort of looking up against remembering.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The three studies sit in paragraphs 2, 5 and 6, and the key gathers them: turning to Google even for easy questions, recalling less from a saved file, and remembering folders better than facts. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
No sentence says what the studies share; students must abstract it, that expecting later access changes what people bother to store, from experiments built on Google, a computer file and named folders. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Each wrong choice names something the studies might plausibly have measured, the Internet’s capacity, kinds of information or ease of searching, and only a check of the three experiments shows that none did. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Sum up in a phrase what the studies in paragraphs 2, 5 and 6 each tested, then pick the option that describes what they examined rather than a point made elsewhere in the article.
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.
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
The wrong answers, classified
B Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Borrows paragraph 3’s “much larger volumes of information” and Pinker’s remark about “human brainpower,” points made outside the studies, which never measured what the Internet or the brain can hold.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Turns paragraph 6’s gap between recalling where a fact was kept and recalling the fact itself into a comparison of kinds of information, though no study sorted facts by type.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads paragraph 2’s finding that 83 percent of the Internet group kept using Google as proof that searching is easier, though no study compared the effort of searching with remembering.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what the studies in the article have in common. How do they show the Internet’s effect on memory? There are three studies, in paragraphs 2, 5 and 6. Sum up each one in a few words. Then find the choice that fits all three.
Sum up the three studies
- Paragraph 2: People who had used Google kept using it, even for easy questions. In fact, “83 percent of the Internet group continued to consult Google in the second round.”
- Paragraph 5: People who thought a file of facts would be erased remembered more. They decided which facts deserved “their effort to remember.”
- Paragraph 6: People remembered where facts were kept better than the facts themselves.
Find what the studies share
Each study looks at how people treat information when a computer or search engine can hold it for them. People decide what is worth the effort to remember. Judging the value of something like this is called evaluating. People also change what they store in their minds, such as where a fact is instead of the fact. That is the effect on memory.
Check each choice
- A fits. The studies show people judging what to remember and storing where to find it.
- B does not fit. No study measured how much the Internet can hold or what the brain can do.
- C does not fit. No study sorted information into types.
- D does not fit. No study compared how easy it is to search and to remember.
Watch out: D is tempting because most people in paragraph 2 kept using Google. That might seem to show searching is easier. But the study never measured ease. It only counted who used Google.
Choose the answer
Only one choice describes what the studies actually tested. So the answer is A, “examine how the use of search engines changes the way people evaluate and store information for future access.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong choice. It sounds like a fair reason people use Google. But none of the studies timed or rated the effort of searching or remembering. They tested what people chose to remember and what they stored. A describes that. Only the first study used a search engine, but the other two show the same pattern with a computer file and folders.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 45 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 8Passage Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight”
Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight”
by Orville Wright
In 1903 brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright conducted experiments related to flying machines. These experiments would eventually lead to air travel becoming a reliable form of transportation.
During the night of December 16, 1903, a strong cold wind blew from the north. When we arose on the morning of the 17th, the puddles of water, which had been standing about camp since the recent rains, were covered with ice. The wind had a velocity of 10 to 12 meters per second (22 to 27 miles an hour). We thought it would die down before long, and so remained indoors the early part of the morning. But when ten o’clock arrived, and the wind was as brisk as ever, we decided that we had better get the machine out and attempt a flight. We hung out the signal for the men of the Life Saving Station.1 We thought that by facing the flyer into a strong wind, there ought to be no trouble in launching it from the level ground about camp. We realized the difficulties of flying in so high a wind, but estimated that the added dangers in flight would be partly compensated for by the slower speed in landing.
Final Preparations
We laid the track on a smooth stretch of ground about one hundred feet north of the new building. The biting cold wind made work difficult, and we had to warm up frequently in our living room, where we had a good fire in an improvised stove made of a large carbide2 can. By the time all was ready, J. T. Daniels, W. S. Dough and A. D. Etheridge, members of the Kill Devil3 Life Saving Station; W. C. Brinkley of Manteo, and Johnny Moore, a boy from Nags Head,4 had arrived.
We had a “Richard” hand anemometer with which we measured the velocity of the wind. Measurements made just before starting the first flight showed velocities of 11 to 12 meters per second, or 24 to 27 miles per hour. . . .
Audacity—and Calculation
Wilbur having used his turn in the unsuccessful attempt on the 14th, the right to the first trial now belonged to me. After running the motor a few minutes to heat it up, I released the wire that held the machine to the track, and the machine started forward in the wind. Wilbur ran at the side of the machine, holding the wing to balance it on the track. Unlike the start on the 14th, made in a calm, the machine, facing a 27-mile wind, started very slowly. Wilbur was able to stay with it till it lifted from the track after a forty-foot run. One of the Life Saving men snapped the camera for us, taking a picture just as the machine had reached the end of the track and had risen to a height of about two feet. The slow forward speed of the machine over the ground is clearly shown in the picture by Wilbur’s attitude. He stayed along beside the machine without any effort.
Flight
The course of the flight up and down was exceedingly erratic, partly due to the irregularity of the air, and partly to lack of experience in handling this machine. The control of the front rudder was difficult on account of its being balanced too near the center. This gave it a tendency to turn itself when started; so that it turned too far on one side and then too far on the other. As a result the machine would rise suddenly to about ten feet, and then as suddenly dart for the ground. A sudden dart when a little over a hundred feet from the end of the track, or a little over 120 feet from the point at which it rose into the air, ended the flight. As the velocity of the wind was over 35 feet per second and the speed of the machine over the ground against this wind ten feet per second, the speed of the machine relative to the air was over 45 feet per second, and the length of the flight was equivalent to a flight of 540 feet made in calm air. This flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started.
From “How We Made the First Flight” by Orville Wright—Public Domain/Federal Aviation Administration
1Life Saving Station: one of the rescue stations along the Atlantic coastline that provided assistance to mariners in distress
2carbide: a very hard material composed of carbon and other heavy metals
3Kill Devil: the town of Kill Devil Hills in eastern North Carolina
4Nags Head: a town in eastern North Carolina
Question
How does paragraph 1 introduce the idea that the Wright brothers knew that their flight attempt was risky?
- Athrough the mention of a signal to notify lifesaving experts that the flight attempt was about to begin
- Bby providing specific details about the speed of the wind and the Wright brothers’ response to the windy conditions
- Cby suggesting that a slower landing would be necessary at the end of the flight in order to maintain safety
- Dthrough the indication that the Wright brothers waited indoors for most of the morning because of the poor weather
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how paragraph 1 introduces the idea that the Wright brothers knew that their flight attempt was risky.
A. CORRECT. Paragraph 1 describes the Wright brothers hanging out “the signal” to notify the lifesaving crew to stand by as they attempted flight; the need for lifesaving experts to be available in case of an accident introduces the idea that the attempted flight might crash.
B. Incorrect. The specifics on the speed of the wind by themselves do not emphasize the danger of the flight. While the brothers admitted that the strong wind posed certain risks, they also noted that the windy conditions might make landing safer (“estimated that the added dangers in flight would be partly compensated for by the slower speed in landing” [paragraph 1]).
C. Incorrect. A slower landing was expected as a result of the windy conditions, but it was not part of a plan to increase the safety of the flight.
D. Incorrect. While the Wright brothers’ initial decision to wait to see whether the wind would die down does suggest they were concerned about the safety of the flight, the explanation of their decision to proceed with the flight shows that they expected one benefit from the poor weather: “the slower speed in landing” (paragraph 1).
Question analysis
This question on Orville Wright’s account “How We Made the First Flight” asks how the opening paragraph, which describes a cold, windy December morning at the brothers’ camp, introduces the idea that the Wright brothers knew their flight attempt was risky. Students must judge which of four details from the paragraph does that work, and the paragraph mentions both dangers and reasons for confidence.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Finding how a paragraph introduces an idea is grade 7 work, but this paragraph is long and old-fashioned, every choice points to something it mentions, and students must decide which detail most clearly signals that the brothers saw a risk.
- 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
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Complex sentences minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 7, 816 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 93 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 1 states the danger outright only in its last sentence, and that sentence then weighs it against a gentler landing, so the choice built on the brothers’ response to the wind is the strongest pull. The key rests on a quieter detail whose meaning comes from a footnote: men from a rescue station were signaled before the attempt. Students must decide which detail shows the brothers preparing for trouble, not just noticing the weather, and that test is narrower than most expect.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The key never says danger: students must connect “the signal for the men of the Life Saving Station” to footnote 1, rescue stations for “mariners in distress,” and see that summoning rescuers means expecting trouble. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
All four details come from paragraph 1, and its plainest admission of danger, “We realized the difficulties of flying in so high a wind,” sits inside a wrong choice, so each detail must be weighed for what it shows. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
The paragraph’s last sentence sets danger against benefit, “the added dangers in flight would be partly compensated for by the slower speed in landing,” and students must untangle it to see the brothers playing the risk down. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Strategy: Locate each of the four details in paragraph 1, reread the sentence it sits in, and ask what that detail on its own reveals about what the brothers feared could go wrong.
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.
- 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 Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Seizes on the wind speeds and “We realized the difficulties of flying in so high a wind,” but the response the paragraph describes is a calculation that a slower landing would offset the danger.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Turns the slower landing, a side effect of facing a strong wind, into a safety step the brothers needed, when the paragraph counts it as a partial offset to the added danger.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads the wait for calmer air as fear and stretches “the early part of the morning” into most of it, though at ten o’clock they decided to fly in the same brisk wind.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how paragraph 1 first shows that the Wright brothers knew their flight was risky. Risky means it could end badly. All four choices name details from paragraph 1. Your job is to find the detail that shows them getting ready for trouble.
Find the signal in paragraph 1
Paragraph 1 says “We hung out the signal for the men of the Life Saving Station.” The small number 1 after “Station” points to footnote 1 at the end of the excerpt. Read it. A Life Saving Station was “one of the rescue stations along the Atlantic coastline that provided assistance to mariners in distress.” Mariners are sailors. Distress means danger or trouble.
Work out what the signal means
The brothers called rescue workers before they tried to fly. People call rescuers only when someone might get hurt. So the signal shows the brothers knew the flight could go wrong. They wanted help close by in case of a crash.
Check each choice
- A fits. Signaling rescuers shows the brothers planned for trouble.
- B does not fit. The wind speeds are only numbers. The brothers’ response was to fly anyway, thinking “there ought to be no trouble in launching.”
- C does not fit. The slower landing was a side effect of the wind. They counted it as a plus, not as a safety step they needed.
- D does not fit. They stayed inside only “the early part of the morning,” hoping the wind would die down. Then they went out in the same wind.
Watch out: B is tempting because the paragraph says “We realized the difficulties of flying in so high a wind.” But that same sentence weighs those dangers against a slower landing. It plays the risk down.
Choose the answer
The call to the rescue station is the detail that shows the brothers preparing for danger. So the answer is A, “through the mention of a signal to notify lifesaving experts that the flight attempt was about to begin.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice. The paragraph does admit the wind made flying harder. But the brothers then argue the danger down: a slower landing would partly make up for it. A shows them acting on the risk. They called in rescuers before they flew. You only do that if you think something could go wrong.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight”” as printed (pages 13–14)
Question 46 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 9Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight””.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 4.
Wilbur having used his turn in the unsuccessful attempt on the 14th, the right to the first trial now belonged to me.
The sentence contributes to the development of ideas in the excerpt by
- Ademonstrating the challenge of the extreme winter conditions during the flight.
- Brevealing how many tries it took for Wilbur Wright to finally get the machine to take flight.
- Cdemonstrating that both Orville and Wilbur Wright were eager to pilot what could potentially be the first flight.
- Dsuggesting a sense that both brothers felt confident they would soon succeed in completing the first flight.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how the sentence from paragraph 4 contributes to the development of ideas in the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. The sentence from paragraph 4 does not refer to the challenge of the winter conditions during the flight attempt.
B. Incorrect. While the sentence from paragraph 4 specifically references a previous flight several days earlier, it does not state how many attempts came before Wilbur’s attempt on December 14.
C. CORRECT. The sentence from paragraph 4 indicates that the Wright brothers had agreed to take turns attempting to achieve the first flight, which suggests their eagerness to each be the first to successfully fly the machine.
D. Incorrect. Orville’s trial came about simply because the brothers took turns, which would suggest that there was no greater likelihood of success or reason to be more confident at that moment than there had been for previous attempts.
Question analysis
This question quotes the sentence that opens the “Audacity—and Calculation” section of Orville Wright’s account, in which he explains that the first trial on December 17 was his because Wilbur had used his turn on the 14th. Students decide how the sentence contributes to the development of ideas in the excerpt. Several choices bring in other parts of the story, so students must stay with what this one sentence shows.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining what one quoted sentence adds is routine grade 7 work. This sentence is short but opens with an old-fashioned “Wilbur having used his turn” construction, and its point about the brothers is implied rather than stated.
- 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 moderate
- Complex sentences minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 7, 816 words; question and choices: about grade 8, 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 sentence is about whose turn it is, and the question asks what that arrangement says about the brothers. A quick reader may lose the subject in the opening phrase and think Wilbur is still trying, or may carry the cold of earlier paragraphs into a sentence that never mentions it. The harder call is between eagerness and confidence: the heading “Audacity—and Calculation” makes confidence sound right, but a failed attempt three days earlier gives no reason for it.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The choice about confidence matches the key’s frame, both brothers feeling something about the first flight; it differs in one word, confident instead of eager, and only eagerness follows from taking turns. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The sentence names no feeling; eagerness has to be read from the turn-taking itself, the brothers alternating for “the right to the first trial,” a chance each wanted to be his. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
The sentence opens with an absolute phrase, “Wilbur having used his turn in the unsuccessful attempt on the 14th,” whose subject is not the subject of the main clause, so a reader can lose track of who flies. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Strategy: Untangle the sentence first: say who used a turn, when, and who goes next. Then ask what the arrangement it describes suggests about the two brothers, and test each choice against that.
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.
- 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)
Carries the frozen puddles and “biting cold wind” of paragraphs 1 and 2 into this sentence, which says nothing about the weather and is only about whose turn it was.
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Loses the subject of the opening phrase and has Wilbur keep trying until he flies, though the sentence mentions one failed attempt and gives this trial to Orville.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads “the right to the first trial” and the heading “Audacity—and Calculation” as confidence, but taking turns says nothing about their odds, and the attempt on the 14th had failed.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what one sentence adds to the excerpt. The sentence is short, but it starts in an old-fashioned way. First untangle who did what. Then ask what the sentence tells you about the two brothers.
Untangle the sentence
The sentence is “Wilbur having used his turn in the unsuccessful attempt on the 14th, the right to the first trial now belonged to me.” The first part gives a reason. In plain words: Wilbur already had his turn on the 14th. Unsuccessful means it failed. The second part says: so now it is my turn. The “me” is Orville, who wrote the excerpt. A trial here is a try.
Ask what taking turns shows
The brothers took turns trying to fly. Each one had a “right” to a turn. You take turns when both people want the same chance. Each brother wanted to be the pilot. This could be the first flight in history, so both were eager. Eager means they really wanted it.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The sentence says nothing about the cold or the wind.
- B does not fit. It mentions only one failed try by Wilbur. And this trial was Orville’s, not Wilbur’s.
- C fits. Taking turns shows that each brother wanted to fly the machine.
- D does not fit. Nothing in the sentence shows confidence. The last try had failed, and it was simply Orville’s turn.
Watch out: D is tempting because the section heading is “Audacity—and Calculation.” Audacity means boldness. But taking turns shows eagerness, not a belief that they would succeed.
Choose the answer
The turn-taking shows that both brothers wanted to fly. So the answer is C, “demonstrating that both Orville and Wilbur Wright were eager to pilot what could potentially be the first flight.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong choice. Both C and D describe how the brothers felt about the first flight. But the sentence gives no reason to feel sure of success. It even mentions “the unsuccessful attempt on the 14th.” What it does show is that each brother wanted his own turn. That is eagerness, so C fits better.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 47 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 10Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight””.
Question
The photograph mentioned in paragraph 4 is significant because it
- Adocuments that the machine rose into the air as soon as the tethering wire was released.
- Bprovides proof of the critical moment the machine took flight.
- Cdocuments that the wind reduced the speed of the plane at the start of the flight.
- Dprovides proof that the pilot had to gradually increase the height of the plane in the air.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks why the photograph mentioned in paragraph 4 is significant.
A. Incorrect. According to paragraph 4, the photograph was not taken immediately after the tethering wire was released but rather after an intervening period during which “Wilbur ran at the side of the machine, holding the wing to balance it on the track.” The picture was not taken until “the machine had reached the end of the track,” which occurred after a “forty-foot run” (paragraph 4).
B. CORRECT. The photograph mentioned in paragraph 4 is significant because it provides proof that the machine did, in fact, take flight: “One of the Life Saving men snapped the camera for us, taking a picture just as the machine had reached the end of the track and had risen to a height of about two feet. The slow forward speed of the machine over the ground is clearly shown in the picture by Wilbur’s attitude. He stayed along beside the machine without any effort.”
C. Incorrect. The photograph mentioned in paragraph 4 is described as showing the plane moving forward through the air at a height of two feet, but while the effect of the wind may be visible, it is not why the photo is significant. Instead, the photograph provides proof that the plane is, in fact, moving through the air (“One of the Life Saving men snapped the camera for us, taking a picture just as the machine had reached the end of the track and had risen to a height of about two feet. The slow forward speed of the machine over the ground is clearly shown in the picture by Wilbur’s attitude”).
D. Incorrect. Although the plane is shown at a height of two feet in the photograph mentioned in paragraph 4, the picture documents only one moment of the plane’s flight and does not provide proof that the pilot had to gradually increase the height of the plane in the air.
Question analysis
This question on Orville Wright’s account of the first airplane flight asks why the photograph mentioned in paragraph 4, taken by one of the Life Saving men, is significant. The photograph itself is not printed with the excerpt, so students must work from Orville’s description of the moment it was taken. Several choices describe the machine’s movement, so each must be checked against that description.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 readers often explain why a detail matters. This photograph is not printed, so students must picture it from Orville’s description, which uses “attitude” in an old sense meaning posture, and then judge why the picture mattered.
- 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
- Reading between the lines moderate
- The right answer is reworded moderate
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 7, 816 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 68 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 photograph is not printed, so students work from three sentences of description, and the last two tell what Orville thinks the picture shows: the machine’s slow speed, visible in Wilbur’s easy pace. That stated detail is the strongest lure. The question asks for significance instead, which the excerpt leaves unstated; students must link the moment captured, the machine just off the track at the end of its run, to paragraph 5’s closing claim that this was the first such flight in history.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Orville never says why the picture matters; students must notice it was taken “just as the machine had reached the end of the track and had risen to a height of about two feet,” the instant of lift-off. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
The right answer is reworded moderate Choosing the answer
The key’s “critical moment the machine took flight” appears nowhere, while the wrong choices echo the paragraph’s released wire, the slow speed Orville says the picture shows, and the “height of about two feet.” (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
Orville says the slow speed shows “by Wilbur’s attitude,” using attitude in an old sense, Wilbur’s posture as he keeps pace, which students must decode to follow the description of the picture. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Reread the three sentences about the picture in paragraph 4, note when it was taken and what Orville says it shows, then weigh which choice explains why such a picture would matter.
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)
Collapses the release of the wire and the lift-off into one moment, skipping Wilbur’s run beside the machine; it rose only after a forty-foot run, when the picture was taken.
C True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Takes Orville’s own remark that the picture shows “the slow forward speed of the machine” as its significance, but that is a detail in the picture, not why a picture of this moment matters.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Treats the two-foot height as one step in a steady climb, though a single picture catches one instant and paragraph 5 describes sudden rises to ten feet and darts toward the ground.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks why the photograph in paragraph 4 matters. The photograph is not printed with the excerpt. You have to picture it from Orville’s words. Find when it was taken. Then ask why a picture of that moment would be important.
Read the description of the photograph
Paragraph 4 says “One of the Life Saving men snapped the camera for us, taking a picture just as the machine had reached the end of the track and had risen to a height of about two feet.” The next sentences say “The slow forward speed of the machine over the ground is clearly shown in the picture by Wilbur’s attitude. He stayed along beside the machine without any effort.”
Work out what the picture shows
The machine had just left the track and was two feet in the air. So the picture caught the moment it lifted off. Here “attitude” means the way Wilbur held his body. He kept up with the machine easily, so it was moving slowly. Paragraph 5 says this flight was “the first in the history of the world” of its kind. A photo of that lift-off is proof that it really happened.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The machine did not rise at once. It lifted “after a forty-foot run.”
- B fits. The picture caught the moment the machine first took flight.
- C does not fit. The picture does show the slow speed. But that is a detail in the photo, not why the photo matters.
- D does not fit. One picture shows one moment. It cannot show a steady climb. In fact, paragraph 5 says the machine rose and dropped suddenly.
Watch out: C is tempting because Orville himself says the slow speed is “clearly shown in the picture.” But the question asks why the picture is significant, which means important.
Choose the answer
The photo captured the very moment the first flight began. So the answer is B, “provides proof of the critical moment the machine took flight.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong choice. Orville does say the picture shows the machine’s slow speed. But slow speed is not what makes this photo special. It was taken just as the machine “had risen to a height of about two feet” at the end of the track. That is proof of the first moment of flight, as B says.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 48 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 11Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight””.
Question
How do the details in paragraph 5 about the uneven nature of the flight convey a central idea of the excerpt?
- Aby explaining how the flawed design of the machine caused it to turn unpredictably in the air and brought the first flight by a person to an abrupt end
- Bby indicating that the difficulty in controlling the flight was caused by the rudimentary instruments of the machine and the inexperience of the pilot
- Cby explaining how the pilot and the plane overcame adverse conditions in order to complete the first piloted flight
- Dby indicating that the gradual change in wind velocity created an extreme environment in which to maneuver the plane and maintain its flight
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how the details in paragraph 5 about the uneven nature of the flight convey a central idea of the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. Paragraph 5 explains that the rudder was unbalanced and the effect that this issue had on the flight, but the rudder was only part of the reason for the short flight. The length of the flight is not a central idea of the excerpt.
B. Incorrect. Although paragraph 5 does explain that the equipment contributed to the difficulty of controlling the plane’s flight, the lack of control over the flight is not a central idea of the excerpt, which focuses instead on the Wright brothers’ achievement of a successful flight despite the challenges involved.
C. CORRECT. The details in paragraph 5 describe the difficulties that the weather conditions and mechanical issues presented and how Orville’s flight was successful despite those problems. The Wright brothers’ ability to overcome difficult circumstances and complete the first flight is a central idea of the excerpt.
D. Incorrect. While paragraph 5 does emphasize the difficulty caused by the wind, it does not describe a “gradual change” in the wind, only that it was irregular.
Question analysis
This central-idea question asks how the details in paragraph 5 of Orville Wright’s “How We Made the First Flight,” which describe the machine darting up and down because of uneven air, a hard-to-control front rudder and the pilot’s inexperience, convey a central idea of the excerpt. The paragraph also includes speeds and distances, and students must decide what its details mean for the account as a whole.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Linking a paragraph’s details to a central idea is regular grade 7 work. This paragraph is long and technical, with a rudder problem and a calculation of speeds, and most choices restate its problems accurately, so students must decide what the details add up to.
- 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
- The right answer is reworded moderate
- A lot to read minor
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 7, 816 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 115 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 paragraph 5 is about trouble, the uneven air, a rudder balanced too near the center, an inexperienced pilot and a dart that ended the flight, and two wrong choices describe that trouble accurately. What turns the details into a central idea is the paragraph’s last sentence, which calls the 12-second flight the first of its kind in history. Students who stop before it, or who take the problems as the point, miss that the excerpt is a story of success.
The right answer is reworded moderate Choosing the answer
The key’s “overcame adverse conditions” sums up the paragraph in new words, while the wrong choices repeat its own: the rudder’s “tendency to turn itself,” the dart that “ended the flight,” the “lack of experience” and “the velocity of the wind.” (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
A lot to read minor Understanding the question
Paragraph 5 runs about 250 words, and its problems and a 61-word speed calculation all come before the closing sentence, the only one that presents the flight as a success. (Kintsch, 1998; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The paragraph never says anyone overcame anything; students must set its problems beside its last sentence, a machine that “sailed forward” and landed “as high as that from which it started,” to see success despite them. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Note what each part of paragraph 5 describes, from its first sentence to its last, then decide what the excerpt as a whole is about and choose the option that ties the two together.
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.
- 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 narrow (King et al., 2004)
Gets the rudder and the dart that ended the flight right but builds on that one failure, dropping the paragraph’s closing point that the short flight was still history’s first.
B True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Restates the paragraph’s own explanation of the erratic course, inexperience and a hard-to-control rudder, which is accurate, but treats the lack of control as the point when the excerpt builds toward success.
D Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Picks up “the velocity of the wind” and the hard flying but invents a “gradual change” in the wind, when the paragraph speaks only of “the irregularity of the air.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is a central idea question. A central idea is a main point of the whole excerpt. Paragraph 5 describes an uneven, bumpy flight. The question asks how those details support a main point. So read the whole paragraph, including its last sentence.
Find the problems in paragraph 5
Paragraph 5 begins “The course of the flight up and down was exceedingly erratic, partly due to the irregularity of the air, and partly to lack of experience in handling this machine.” Erratic means jumpy and hard to predict. The front rudder, a part that steers, was hard to control. The machine “would rise suddenly to about ten feet, and then as suddenly dart for the ground.”
Read the last sentence
Then the paragraph turns. It says “This flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight.” Nevertheless means “even so.” The wind, the hard steering and the pilot’s inexperience all worked against him. Even so, the flight worked. Conditions that work against you are called adverse.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The rudder problem and the sudden end are real. But A stops there and misses that the flight was a first.
- B does not fit. Paragraph 5 does blame the rudder and the pilot’s inexperience. But the excerpt is about success, not about the lack of control.
- C fits. The problems show what Orville overcame to make the first flight.
- D does not fit. The paragraph never says the wind changed gradually, or slowly. It speaks of “the irregularity of the air.”
Watch out: B is tempting because it repeats the paragraph’s own reasons for the bumpy flight. But true details are not the same as the main point.
Choose the answer
The problems in paragraph 5 make the success at the end more impressive. So the answer is C, “by explaining how the pilot and the plane overcame adverse conditions in order to complete the first piloted flight.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice. It is true that the rudder and the pilot’s “lack of experience” made the flight hard to control. But that is only the first part of paragraph 5. The last sentence calls the flight the first of its kind. The problems show what had to be overcome. C ties the details to that success.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 49 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 12Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight””.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 5.
As the velocity of the wind was over 35 feet per second and the speed of the machine over the ground against this wind ten feet per second, the speed of the machine relative to the air was over 45 feet per second, and the length of the flight was equivalent to a flight of 540 feet made in calm air.
How does the sentence help convey Orville Wright’s perspective about this first flight?
- AIt suggests that he was frustrated by the poor flying conditions on the day of the flight.
- BIt emphasizes that he believed the flight was successful despite its short distance.
- CIt provides a comparison between flight distances under calm and high wind conditions.
- DIt highlights the importance of such calculations in the success of future flights.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how the sentence from paragraph 5 helps convey Orville Wright’s perspective about the first flight.
A. Incorrect. Although the sentence from paragraph 5 refers to the velocity of the wind during the flight, there is no indication that Orville felt a sense of frustration with the windy conditions. Instead, the sentence emphasizes the “speed of the machine relative to the air” and presents the equivalent flight length if the machine had flown through calm air (“the length of the flight was equivalent to a flight of 540 feet made in calm air”), details that emphasize the importance of the Wrights’ accomplishment.
B. CORRECT. In the sentence from paragraph 5, Orville uses the wind velocity and the machine speed to highlight the distance that the plane covered while in the air and to determine the distance that it would have flown on a day with calm winds, which emphasizes the magnitude of the accomplishment.
C. Incorrect. Since Orville does not suggest in the sentence from paragraph 5 how far the plane traveled under the actual conditions of high winds, the comparison is incomplete. Additionally, this statement does not address the reason that he would make such a comparison, which allowed him to describe the flight in more impressive terms (540 feet versus 120 feet).
D. Incorrect. Unlike the wind velocity calculations made in preparation for the flight, which might help in determining the success of future flights, the comparative calculations that Orville provides in the sentence from paragraph 5 help interpret the results of the first flight (by describing how fast and far the machine flew relative to the flying conditions) and thereby communicate its success. The calculations of the first flight’s relative speed and equivalent distance would not affect the success of future flights, but the information does provide context for understanding the Wright brothers’ accomplishment.
Question analysis
This point-of-view question quotes the long sentence from paragraph 5 in which Orville Wright works out the machine’s speed through the air and the length of an equivalent flight in calm air. Students must decide how this sentence helps convey his perspective on the first flight. The sentence is mostly numbers, from 35 feet per second to 540 feet, which makes its purpose easy to miss.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 point-of-view questions usually rest on words that show feeling. This sentence is a chain of speeds and distances with no feeling words, so students must work out why Orville bothers with the arithmetic, a step beyond typical grade 7 work.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 3, strategic thinking · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- How, not what moderate
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Complex sentences minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 7, 816 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 132 words.
- Students, last 30 days
- Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)
Why it is hard
Point-of-view questions usually turn on feeling words, and this sentence has none, only speeds and a distance. Students must ask why Orville bothers with the arithmetic, and the answer is that 540 feet in calm air makes a 12-second hop look like the achievement he believed it was. The strongest pull describes the sentence’s content accurately, a comparison of calm and windy flight, without saying what it reveals, so students who answer what instead of why lose the point.
How, not what moderate Working it out
The question asks why Orville includes this calculation, so students must see that converting a short hop into “a flight of 540 feet made in calm air” is his way of showing that it counted. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The sentence holds no word of feeling or judgment; his view that the flight succeeded must be read from his choice to restate about 120 feet over the ground as 540 feet through the air. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
The 61-word sentence chains four measurements, a wind over 35 feet per second, a ground speed of ten, an airspeed over 45 and the 540-foot equivalent, joined by “As,” “and” and commas. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Strategy: Work out what the speeds and distances in the sentence describe, then ask why Orville includes them at this point and what that choice tells you about his view of the flight.
Traps
- Wrong purpose or structure: Names a purpose, structure or effect that the part does not serve, or describes what a part says when the question asks what it does.
- Wrong tone or attitude: Misjudges the tone, attitude or point of view, such as reading admiration as criticism, or taking a character's or subject's feelings for the author's.
- Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.
The wrong answers, classified
A Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Links the high wind to the cold, hard morning of paragraphs 1 and 2 and assumes Orville resented it, though here he uses the wind’s speed to make the flight count for more.
C Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Describes what the sentence contains, a flight measured against one in calm air, without saying what that comparison shows about Orville’s view of the flight, which is what the question asks.
D Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Assumes careful calculations must be meant to guide later flights, a reasonable idea about early aviation, but this sentence measures the flight just made and looks no further ahead.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about Orville Wright’s perspective, or point of view. How did he feel about the first flight? The quoted sentence is full of numbers, not feelings. So ask why Orville bothered to do this math.
Sort out the numbers
The wind blew against the machine at over 35 feet per second. The machine moved over the ground at 10 feet per second. It was flying into the wind, so the air rushed past it even faster. Add them: it moved through the air at over 45 feet per second. The flight lasted 12 seconds. Over the ground, that is 10 × 12 = 120 feet. Through the air, it is 45 × 12 = 540 feet. That is how Orville gets “a flight of 540 feet made in calm air.”
Ask why Orville does this math
Paragraph 5 says the flight ended “a little over 120 feet from the point at which it rose into the air.” That sounds short. But Orville shows it was really much more. In calm air, the same flight would have gone 540 feet. He wants you to see that the short hop was a real flight. So his view is that the flight was a success.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. There is no sign of frustration. Orville uses the wind to make the flight count for more.
- B fits. The math turns a short flight into an impressive one.
- C does not fit. The sentence does compare calm and windy air. But that only says what the sentence contains, not what Orville thinks.
- D does not fit. The math measures the flight that just happened. It does not look ahead to future flights.
Watch out: C is tempting because it describes the sentence correctly. But the question asks about his perspective. C never says how he felt about the flight.
Choose the answer
Orville does the math to show that his short flight was a real success. So the answer is B, “It emphasizes that he believed the flight was successful despite its short distance.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong choice. It is true that the sentence compares a windy flight with one “made in calm air.” But C only tells what the sentence says. The question asks why Orville says it. He turns about 120 feet into 540 feet to show the flight was a real achievement. B gives that reason.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 50 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 13Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight””.
Question
Which sentence from the excerpt best supports the idea that the Wright brothers had to adapt their plans for the flight in order to accommodate the weather conditions?
- A“When we arose on the morning of the 17th, the puddles of water, which had been standing about camp since the recent rains, were covered with ice.” (paragraph 1)
- B“We realized the difficulties of flying in so high a wind, but estimated that the added dangers in flight would be partly compensated for by the slower speed in landing.” (paragraph 1)
- C“After running the motor a few minutes to heat it up, I released the wire that held the machine to the track, and the machine started forward in the wind.” (paragraph 4)
- D“The course of the flight up and down was exceedingly erratic, partly due to the irregularity of the air, and partly to lack of experience in handling this machine.” (paragraph 5)
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks which sentence from the excerpt best supports the idea that the Wright brothers had to adapt their plans for the flight in order to accommodate weather conditions.
A. Incorrect. Although the sentence from paragraph 1 mentions the rainy weather and frozen puddles, it does not specifically explain how these weather conditions forced the brothers to adapt their plans for the flight.
B. CORRECT. The sentence from paragraph 1 reveals that the Wright brothers adapted by making a risk calculation, based on the wind speed, before the flight. The high speed of the wind could cause difficulties in flight while simultaneously allowing for a slower, more controlled landing.
C. Incorrect. The sentence from paragraph 4 does mention wind, but it describes what Orville was doing during the attempted flight, not the factors he considered before the flight in order to adapt the plan.
D. Incorrect. Although the sentence from paragraph 5 mentions the “irregularity of the air” during the flight, the sentence does not describe how the brothers adapted their plans for the flight based on the weather.
Question analysis
This evidence question on Orville Wright’s account of the first flight asks which sentence best supports the idea that the Wright brothers had to adapt their plans for the flight to the weather conditions. The four quotations come from paragraphs 1, 4 and 5 and all mention ice, wind or air, so students must look past the weather words to what each sentence shows the brothers doing.
- NYS standards
- 7R1 textual evidence and inferences
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Choosing the sentence that best supports an idea is core grade 7 evidence work. The four quotations are printed in full with their paragraph numbers, and the idea has two parts, weather and a change of plans, so the check is careful but typical.
- 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
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 7, 816 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 148 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 idea has two parts, the weather and a change in the brothers’ plans, and every quotation carries the first. Students who look only for weather words can be drawn to the erratic flight or the launch into the wind. Only one sentence shows the brothers thinking about the wind before they flew and deciding how to proceed, and once the second half of the idea is in view the choice is quick.
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
All four quotations mention ice, wind or air, so the weather half of the idea rules nothing out; each must be checked for the other half, a decision the brothers made because of it. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The key never says plan or adapt; students must see that weighing “the added dangers in flight” against “the slower speed in landing” is the brothers fitting their decision to the wind. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Split the idea into its two parts, the weather and a change in the brothers’ plans, and keep only a quotation that shows both, not one that shows the weather alone.
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 the frozen puddles as proof of harsh weather, which they are, but the sentence only sets the scene and shows nothing the brothers did or decided because of it.
C Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Takes running the motor “to heat it up” and starting “in the wind” as adjustments to the cold, but the sentence narrates the launch and never says a plan changed.
D Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Notices “the irregularity of the air” linking the weather to the flight, but this sentence explains why the course was erratic once the machine was up, not how the brothers prepared.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for the sentence that best supports an idea. The idea has two parts. First, there was bad weather. Second, the brothers had to adapt, or change, their plans because of it. All four choices mention ice, wind or air. So look for the one that also shows a decision.
Check each sentence for both parts
- A shows the weather: icy puddles. But no one decides anything.
- B shows the wind and the brothers’ thinking about it before the flight.
- C describes the launch. It tells what Orville did, not a change of plans.
- D explains why the flight was bumpy once it was in the air. It shows no plan.
Read the sentence that fits
Paragraph 1 says “We realized the difficulties of flying in so high a wind, but estimated that the added dangers in flight would be partly compensated for by the slower speed in landing.” To estimate is to make a careful guess. Compensated for means “made up for.” The brothers knew the strong wind made flying harder. They weighed that against a good effect: a slower landing. Then they decided to fly anyway.
Explain how this shows adapting
The brothers did not just notice the wind. They thought about how it would change the flight, the bad and the good. They also planned on “facing the flyer into a strong wind.” Making plans that fit the weather is what adapting means.
Watch out: D is tempting because it links “the irregularity of the air” to the flight. But it tells what happened during the flight, not how the brothers planned for it.
Choose the answer
Only one sentence shows the brothers fitting their decision to the wind before they flew. So the answer is B, “We realized the difficulties of flying in so high a wind, but estimated that the added dangers in flight would be partly compensated for by the slower speed in landing.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong choice. It does connect the weather to the flight. But it describes what happened in the air, after the plans were made. The idea needs the brothers changing plans because of the weather. Only B shows them thinking through the wind’s dangers and benefits before they decided to fly.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 51 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 14Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “How We Made the First Flight””.
Question
The use of chronological structure contributes to the development of ideas in the excerpt by
- Aoutlining the actions that the Wright brothers took to prepare for and successfully complete the first flight.
- Bidentifying the primary factors that allowed the Wright brothers to overcome obstacles and achieve the first flight.
- Cshowing how the Wright brothers applied lessons learned from their previous flight attempts to accomplish the first flight.
- Ddemonstrating how the Wright brothers analyzed the impact of wind velocity to identify the ideal conditions for the first flight.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the use of chronological structure contributes to the development of ideas in the excerpt.
A. CORRECT. Through the chronological structure, Orville addresses all stages of the flight in a way that builds from flight concerns and preparations for takeoff to his experiences during the flight and his successful landing.
B. Incorrect. While obstacles are presented within the excerpt, the chronological structure emphasizes the events that ended in the successful achievement of flight on that day rather than how the Wright brothers overcame obstacles.
C. Incorrect. The chronological structure of the excerpt does not show that the Wright brothers applied lessons learned from their previous attempts at flight; instead, the structure describes Orville’s December 17 attempt.
D. Incorrect. While Orville’s narrative certainly shows a strong need to analyze wind speed, this idea is not conveyed through the chronological structure of the excerpt. Additionally, the description of the first flight on December 17 indicates that it did not take place in ideal conditions (“We realized the difficulties of flying in so high a wind” [paragraph 1] and “The course of the flight up and down was exceedingly erratic, partly due to the irregularity of the air” [paragraph 5]).
Question analysis
This text-structure question asks how the chronological structure of Orville Wright’s “How We Made the First Flight,” an account that begins on the night of December 16, 1903, contributes to the development of ideas in the excerpt. Students must see what telling events in time order does for the account. Each choice names a purpose that could suit a story of the first airplane flight.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Grade 7 structure questions often ask how a less obvious pattern, such as problem and solution, shapes ideas. This excerpt is plainly told in time order, with dates and section headings, so recognizing what that order does is a lighter 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
- How, not what minor
- A very close wrong answer minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 7, 816 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 87 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 excerpt is plainly chronological, with a date in its first sentence and headings that move from “Final Preparations” to “Flight,” so the structure is easy to recognize. The difficulty is in saying what that order does. The strongest pull sounds like the excerpt’s central idea, success over obstacles, but ranking the causes of success is analysis, not sequence, and the other choices invent lessons from the failed attempt on the 14th or a search for ideal winds.
How, not what minor Working it out
The question asks what telling events in time order does, and the excerpt moves from the night of December 16 through laying the track and the launch to the flight, so the structure’s job is to trace those steps. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
The choice about the primary factors shares the key’s ending, achieving the first flight; it differs in its first half, an analysis of what made success possible, which a time order does not set out. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Skim the section headings and the first sentence of each paragraph to see how the excerpt moves through time, then test each choice against what a time order can do.
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.
- 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 Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Expects the structure to explain why the flight succeeded, a fair summary of the excerpt’s message, but time order tells events as they happened and never ranks which factors mattered most.
C Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Builds on the failed attempt of the 14th and assumes the brothers learned from it, though the excerpt only contrasts that calm start with this windy one.
D Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Recalls the anemometer readings and the risk estimate and turns them into a search for ideal conditions, though the brothers flew in a wind whose difficulties and added dangers they admitted.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is a structure question. Chronological structure means telling events in time order, from first to last. The question asks what that order does for the excerpt. So first check how the excerpt moves through time.
Trace the order of events
Look at the section headings and the start of each paragraph.
- Paragraph 1 starts “During the night of December 16, 1903.” The brothers decide to fly.
- Under “Final Preparations,” they lay the track and measure the wind.
- Under “Audacity—and Calculation,” Orville takes off.
- Under “Flight,” the machine flies and lands.
Say what the time order does
The story moves step by step. It goes from getting ready, to taking off, to flying, to landing. Each step leads to the next. By the end, you have followed everything the brothers did to make the first flight happen. The last sentence says the machine “had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started.”
Check each choice
- A fits. Time order lays out what the brothers did to prepare and then to fly.
- B does not fit. Primary factors are the main causes. Time order tells events as they happen. It does not rank which causes mattered most.
- C does not fit. The excerpt mentions the failed try on the 14th. But it never says what they learned from it.
- D does not fit. They did not wait for ideal, or perfect, conditions. They flew in a strong wind and knew its dangers.
Watch out: B is tempting because the excerpt does show success over problems. But naming the main causes of success is a different job from telling events in order.
Choose the answer
The time order walks you through the preparations, the takeoff and the flight. So the answer is A, “outlining the actions that the Wright brothers took to prepare for and successfully complete the first flight.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice. The excerpt does show the brothers succeeding despite problems. But time order cannot explain which factors mattered most. It just tells events in the order they happened. That is what A says: the time order outlines the actions, from getting ready to completing the flight.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 52 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 15Passage Wolves of the Sea
Wolves of the Sea
The cool and misty landscape of the Great Bear Rainforest can be found along the coast of British Columbia, Canada, and its nearby islands, from Vancouver Island to the Alaskan border. Within this protected area, wolves roam the forests, islands, and beaches. When biologist Chris Darimont began to study these wolves, he wanted to confer with local First Nations groups, as aboriginal Canadians are known, in order to learn what they knew about these wolves. He spoke with Chester Starr, an elder of the Heiltsuk Nation that has occupied the Great Bear Rainforest for thousands of years. What Starr had to say about the wolves changed Darimont’s perception of the animals.
Starr asked Darimont which wolves he and his team were going to study—the timber wolves (mainland wolves) or the coastal wolves on the islands. The question took Darimont by surprise. Biologists had always believed that the wolves that are sometimes spotted swimming between islands and eating salmon are the same wolves that live on the mainland. Darimont was intrigued by Starr’s classification of the wolves as two different groups. At first, he was hesitant to accept the idea. The distances between the mainland and the islands are small, less than a mile. Why would the wolves on the islands be any different from the wolves on the mainland? To find out, Darimont and his research team studied the wolves on the islands and in the densely forested territory of the Great Bear Rainforest for ten years.
Throughout the study, Darimont recorded several significant, observable differences between the “sea wolves,” as they are nicknamed, and the mainland wolves. Compared with the mainland wolves, the sea wolves are smaller in size and are strong swimmers. In 1996 sea wolves were spotted on an island nearly eight miles from any other land formation. While mainland wolves almost exclusively eat meat, such as deer and elk, and teach their young to hunt for land animals, sea wolves get as much as 90 percent of their nutrition from the sea and teach their young to dig for clams and to catch fish. Sea wolves regularly swim between islands and have been known to sneak up on a seal sunning itself on a rock and make a leaping attack from the water. Some salmon-eating mainland wolves come and go from the islands with the fish-spawning season, but the sea wolves are full-time island residents. Darimont suspects that some sea wolves live their entire life on the islands.
The sea wolves displayed not only physical and behavioral differences but also genetic variations from the mainland wolves. After collecting and analyzing the DNA in 800 samples of gray fur and wolf waste, researchers could produce hard biological evidence that sea wolves had genetic markers that made them distinct from the mainland wolves. A genetic marker is a variation in a DNA sequence that can be used to identify individuals or a species because it is passed down to offspring. Darimont hypothesizes that a change in habitat led to the eventual genetic differences between sea wolves and mainland wolves. Many years ago, loss of habitat and food sources forced some mainland wolves out to the islands. They learned to eat everything from kelp and fish eggs to the remains of sea creatures that washed up on the beach. Wolves living on the islands and mainland wolves became more isolated and rarely mated with each other. Over time the two types of wolves became more distinct.
It turned out that Chester Starr was right all along. “It sounded totally bizarre at first,” admits Darimont, “that there could be two versions of the species.” But he now realizes that this skepticism “definitely reflected my ignorance of indigenous knowledge at the time.” Learning to trust the wisdom of the Heiltsuk people opened Darimont up to knowledge accumulated over millennia and positioned him so that he could gather new scientific evidence about one of British Columbia’s most elusive species, the sea wolf.
Question
The details in paragraph 1 contribute to a central idea of the passage by showing that Darimont
- Abelieved the Great Bear Rainforest was an ideal location to study wolves in their natural habitat because it is a protected area.
- Bvalues different perspectives, because the information that Starr provided influenced the focus of Darimont’s research.
- Cthought the Great Bear Rainforest would provide opportunities to study different groups of wolves because the area includes forests and islands.
- Dunderstands the importance of respecting local community members, because Darimont sought permission from an elder of the Heiltsuk Nation before starting his research.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how the details about Darimont in paragraph 1 contribute to a central idea of the passage.
A. Incorrect. Although paragraph 1 includes the detail that the Great Bear Rainforest is a protected area, finding an ideal location to study wolves is not a central idea of the passage. Additionally, the paragraph does not describe Darimont’s beliefs about the Great Bear Rainforest.
B. CORRECT. Paragraph 1 explains why Darimont wanted to consult with Chester Starr, an elder of the Heiltsuk Nation: “When biologist Chris Darimont began to study these wolves, he wanted to confer with local First Nations groups, as aboriginal Canadians are known, in order to learn what they knew about these wolves.” The details in paragraph 1 show that Darimont valued Starr’s perspective (“What Starr had to say about the wolves changed Darimont’s perception of the animals”), even though it was different from Darimont’s own perspective at that time.
C. Incorrect. Paragraphs 1 and 2 show that Darimont did not initially believe that the mainland wolves and the coastal wolves were different groups. Therefore, the details in paragraph 1 do not provide evidence that Darimont chose the Great Bear Rainforest because of an expectation that there were separate groups of island wolves and timber wolves. Instead, he chose the Great Bear Rainforest for the opportunity to study what he had presumed to be one group of wolves.
D. Incorrect. Although Darimont sought out Chester Starr, an elder of the Heiltsuk Nation, before beginning his research, Darimont’s purpose in doing so was not to request Starr’s permission to study the wolves but to learn from Starr’s expert knowledge of the area and its wolves (“When biologist Chris Darimont began to study these wolves, he wanted to confer with local First Nations groups, as aboriginal Canadians are known, in order to learn what they knew about these wolves” [paragraph 1]).
Question analysis
This central idea question on “Wolves of the Sea,” an article about the coastal wolves of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest, asks what the details in paragraph 1 show about the biologist Chris Darimont. Students must connect an introductory paragraph to the idea the whole passage develops, and each choice pairs a claim about Darimont with a reason that has to be checked.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Linking an opening paragraph’s details to a central idea is standard grade 7 work. Paragraph 1 is plainly written, but each choice is a two-part claim about Darimont with a reason attached, so both halves must be checked against the text.
- 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 between the lines moderate
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence in several places minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 10, 662 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 97 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A missing word in the explanation was restored.
- 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 pairs a claim about Darimont with a reason, so students who check only the first half can talk themselves into the respect choice, whose motive, asking permission, is a real-world custom the paragraph never mentions. The paragraph’s setting details, a protected area of forests and islands, invite readers to build beliefs about the study site that Darimont never states. The question rewards reading paragraph 1 as the opening of the passage’s larger story: a scientist learning from local knowledge.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Paragraph 1 never says Darimont values other views; that has to be drawn from his wish “to learn what they knew” and from Starr changing “Darimont’s perception of the animals.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The respect choice shares the key’s picture of Darimont turning to the Heiltsuk and differs only in its reason: asking an elder’s permission instead of learning what the Heiltsuk knew about the wolves. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
The central idea the paragraph serves is stated only in paragraph 5, where trusting “the wisdom of the Heiltsuk people” opens Darimont to knowledge “accumulated over millennia.” (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Sum up what paragraph 1 says Darimont did and why, recall what the passage as a whole is about, and test both parts of each choice, the claim and its reason, against the paragraph’s own words.
Traps
- Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.
- 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.
- Word match: Repeats striking words or phrases from the text, so it looks supported, but its meaning does not fit the question.
The wrong answers, classified
A Word match (Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Picks up “protected area” from paragraph 1 and turns it into Darimont’s reason for choosing the site, though the paragraph never says what he thought of the rainforest.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Credits Darimont with expecting different groups of wolves, though it was Starr who drew that line; paragraph 2 says the question “took Darimont by surprise.”
D Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Supplies a familiar custom, asking an elder’s permission before research begins, though paragraph 1 says Darimont went to the First Nations “to learn what they knew about these wolves.”
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The DOE’s explanation of Option C says Darimont “chose Great Bear Rainforest.” The passage, and the next sentence of the same explanation, say “the Great Bear Rainforest,” so the site adds “the.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is a central idea question. A central idea is a main point the whole passage builds. You need to see how paragraph 1 helps build that point. Each choice has two parts: something about Darimont, and a reason. Both parts must match the paragraph.
Find the passage’s central idea
The last paragraph spells it out. Starr “was right all along.” Then it says, “Learning to trust the wisdom of the Heiltsuk people opened Darimont up to knowledge accumulated over millennia.” Millennia means thousands of years. So a central idea is that a scientist learned from the long knowledge of the local people.
Read what paragraph 1 shows
Paragraph 1 says Darimont “wanted to confer with local First Nations groups, as aboriginal Canadians are known, in order to learn what they knew about these wolves.” To confer is to talk and share ideas. The paragraph ends, “What Starr had to say about the wolves changed Darimont’s perception of the animals.” His perception is the way he saw and understood them. So Darimont listened to a different point of view, and it changed how he saw the wolves.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. The paragraph calls the area protected. But it never says what Darimont thought of it as a place to study.
- B is right. A perspective is a point of view. Darimont wanted to hear what the First Nations knew. Starr’s words changed how he saw the wolves and what he set out to study.
- C is wrong. Darimont did not expect two groups of wolves. In paragraph 2, Starr’s question “took Darimont by surprise.”
- D is wrong. Darimont never asks for permission. He went “to learn what they knew about these wolves.”
Watch out: D sounds kind and respectful, so it pulls hard. But asking an elder’s permission is a custom you may know from real life. The paragraph never mentions it.
Choose the answer
Paragraph 1 shows Darimont seeking out what Starr knew and letting it change his view. That fits the passage’s central idea about trusting local knowledge. So the answer is B, “values different perspectives, because the information that Starr provided influenced the focus of Darimont’s research.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer. Like B, it shows Darimont turning to a Heiltsuk elder. But its reason is wrong. Paragraph 1 says he wanted “to learn what they knew about these wolves,” not to get permission. B gives the reason the passage gives: what Starr knew changed Darimont’s view.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Wolves of the Sea” as printed (pages 23–24)
Question 53 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 16Uses the passage above: “Wolves of the Sea”.
Question
Why does the author include details about the conversation between Starr and Darimont in paragraph 2?
- Ato explain why Starr had closely observed the relationship between the two groups of wolves Darimont wanted to study
- Bto show that Darimont was hoping to work with Starr and to study both groups of wolves in the area
- Cto highlight that Darimont was unfamiliar with the area and expected Starr to help him find wolves to study
- Dto emphasize that the question asked by Starr caused Darimont to review his initial assumption about the wolves
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks why the author includes details about the conversation between Starr and Darimont in paragraph 2.
A. Incorrect. The details in paragraph 2 do not explain why Starr had closely observed the two groups of wolves. Instead, they convey that Starr believed the wolves to be separate groups (“Starr asked Darimont which wolves he and his team were going to study—the timber wolves (mainland wolves) or the coastal wolves on the islands”), a supposition that intrigued Darimont and ultimately changed the course of his research study.
B. Incorrect. Although paragraph 1 indicates that Darimont did hope to work with Starr (“he wanted to confer with local First Nations groups, as aboriginal Canadians are known, in order to learn what they knew about these wolves”), Darimont did not initially plan to study both groups of wolves in the area because, as the conversation in paragraph 2 indicates, he did not initially know they were two distinct groups of wolves.
C. Incorrect. The details about the conversation in paragraph 2 highlight that Darimont was eager to learn from Starr’s knowledge of the wolves (“Darimont was intrigued by Starr’s classification of the wolves as two different groups”), but they do not indicate that Darimont expected Starr’s help to find the wolves.
D. CORRECT. According to paragraph 2, Starr wanted to know which group of wolves Darimont planned to study—“the timber wolves (mainland wolves) or the coastal wolves on the islands.” The author states that the question “took Darimont by surprise,” adding that “Darimont was intrigued by Starr’s classification of the wolves as two different groups.” The author adds that Darimont was initially “hesitant to accept the idea” that the wolves were separate groups but ultimately spent years studying the two groups of wolves. These details indicate that the question Starr posed to Darimont forced Darimont to reevaluate his initial assumption “that the wolves that are sometimes spotted swimming between islands and eating salmon are the same wolves that live on the mainland” and investigate Starr’s observation that the wolves had separated into two distinct groups.
Question analysis
In paragraph 2 of “Wolves of the Sea,” the Heiltsuk elder Chester Starr asks Darimont whether his team will study the timber wolves or the coastal wolves on the islands. This question asks why the author includes the details of that conversation, so students must explain what a short exchange does for the passage, not just what was said.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining why an author includes a detail is everyday grade 7 structure work. The paragraph in question is short and plainly written, and each choice can be checked against it directly, so the demand is typical of grade 7.
- 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
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 10, 662 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 paragraph is short and the turn in it is clear: a question surprises Darimont, he doubts it, and he sets out to test it. The main risk is the choice that mixes a true fact from paragraph 1, that Darimont wanted to learn from Starr, with a plan to study two groups he did not yet know existed. Students who keep the order of events straight, what Darimont believed before and after Starr spoke, rule it out.
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks why the conversation is there, so students must say what Starr’s question about “the timber wolves … or the coastal wolves” does to Darimont’s research, not just repeat it. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
Paragraph 2 never says Darimont rethought anything; the review of his assumption is pieced together from “took Darimont by surprise,” “hesitant to accept” and the ten-year study that followed. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Read all of paragraph 2, not just Starr’s question, and say in your own words why the conversation matters to the research; then reject choices that add facts the paragraph never gives.
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.
- 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 Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Assumes the conversation is there to show how Starr came to know the two groups, but paragraph 2 reports only his question, never how or why he watched the wolves.
B Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly recalls that Darimont hoped to learn from Starr, but he could not have planned to study “both groups” before Starr’s question told him there were two.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Turns Darimont’s wish to learn what the Heiltsuk knew into a newcomer asking a local guide to find wolves for him, a reason the passage never gives.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about the author’s purpose. Why did the author put the talk between Starr and Darimont into paragraph 2? Don’t just retell the talk. Ask what it does to Darimont and his research.
Find the conversation
Paragraph 2 opens with Starr’s question. He asked which wolves the team would study, “the timber wolves (mainland wolves) or the coastal wolves on the islands.” Next, “The question took Darimont by surprise.” Why? “Biologists had always believed” that the island wolves were “the same wolves that live on the mainland.”
Follow what happens next
Darimont “was intrigued,” which means curious. Still, “At first, he was hesitant to accept the idea.” Hesitant means unsure and slow to agree. Then, “To find out,” his team studied the wolves for ten years. So Starr’s question made Darimont rethink his first belief. He had assumed, or believed without checking, that all the wolves were one group.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. The paragraph gives Starr’s question. It never says how or why Starr watched the wolves.
- B is wrong. Darimont did hope to learn from Starr. But he could not plan to study both groups before he knew there were two.
- C is wrong. Nothing says Darimont needed Starr to help him find wolves.
- D is right. The question surprised Darimont and sent him to test his first idea. His initial assumption means that first idea.
Watch out: B mixes a true fact from paragraph 1 with a plan Darimont did not have yet. Keep the order of events straight.
Choose the answer
The talk shows Starr’s question changing how Darimont thought about the wolves. So the answer is D, “to emphasize that the question asked by Starr caused Darimont to review his initial assumption about the wolves.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer. It is true that Darimont wanted to work with Starr. But before Starr spoke, Darimont thought all the wolves were one group. So he had no plan to study two groups. D fits the order of events: Starr asks, Darimont is surprised, and then he tests his old idea.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 54 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 17Uses the passage above: “Wolves of the Sea”.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 4.
After collecting and analyzing the DNA in 800 samples of gray fur and wolf waste, researchers could produce hard biological evidence that sea wolves had genetic markers that made them distinct from the mainland wolves.
The phrase “hard biological evidence” conveys that the goal of the research team was to
- Adevelop a procedure in order to ensure their study yielded plentiful data about the wolves.
- Bseek definitive scientific proof of the number of wolf species present in the area of the study.
- Cconduct a study to evaluate multiple theories about the diets of different wolf species.
- Ddiscover if the new data would provide information different from that of previous studies.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks what the phrase “hard biological evidence” in the sentence from paragraph 4 conveys about the goal of the research team.
A. Incorrect. Although the research team followed a labor-intensive procedure, the phrase “hard biological evidence” refers to the product of their scientific research (the genetic markers revealed within the DNA samples), not the process by which they collected it. Their goal was not to develop a procedure for data collection but to determine precisely how many species of wolf were present in the area.
B. CORRECT. The research team wanted to prove or disprove the theory that two separate groups of wolves were present in the area, an idea that was already supported by the observations of scientists and local indigenous people. The phrase “hard biological evidence” conveys that the scientists wanted to bolster their observations of the wolves with concrete scientific data about the wolves’ biological makeup. The goal of the researchers was to use the data to prove how many species of wolf were present in the area of the study.
C. Incorrect. The research team gathered extensive data during their study (“After collecting and analyzing the DNA in 800 samples of gray fur and wolf waste” [paragraph 4]), and their goal in doing so was to evaluate a single theory about the wolves: that the wolves had evolved into two separate and genetically distinct species. The research team did not conduct the study in order to evaluate multiple theories about the diets of the wolves.
D. Incorrect. The phrase “hard biological evidence” does not suggest that the research team was hoping to discover if the new data would provide information that was different from previous studies. In fact, the goal of the research team was to use the genetic data to supplement their initial sources of information about the wolves and their own observations from the field.
Question analysis
This word-in-context question quotes a sentence from paragraph 4 of “Wolves of the Sea” about DNA taken from 800 samples of gray fur and wolf waste, and asks what the phrase “hard biological evidence” shows about the research team’s goal. Students must work out what the phrase says about the evidence and then turn that into a statement of purpose, choosing among four plausible aims for a study.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students regularly interpret a phrase in context. Here the phrase must be turned into a claim about the team’s purpose, which the passage never states outright, and the four choices are abstract research goals that each sound reasonable.
- 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
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Hard words moderate
- Evidence in several places minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 10, 662 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 114 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 asks for a purpose, but the phrase it quotes describes a result, so students have to reason from the kind of evidence produced to what the team wanted it for. Readers who take “hard” as difficult drift toward a goal about procedure, and those who remember that biologists had long thought the wolves were one group are drawn to a goal of overturning earlier studies. The key’s “number of wolf species” is looser than the passage’s “two versions of the species,” which can make careful readers hesitate.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The passage never states the team’s goal, so students must work back from “hard biological evidence” to the question paragraph 2 set up: whether island and mainland wolves are really two groups. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Hard words moderate Understanding the question
“Hard” here means solid and conclusive, as in hard evidence, not difficult; students who know only the everyday sense connect it to the labor of analyzing 800 samples of fur and waste. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
The goal the phrase points to lies two paragraphs back, in Starr’s two-group question and Darimont’s ten-year study “to find out,” not in the sentence the stem quotes. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Replace “hard” with a word that fits evidence produced by DNA analysis, then ask what the team wanted that kind of evidence for, recalling the question Darimont set out to answer.
Traps
- Dictionary meaning, not meaning here: A common meaning of the word that does not fit its use in this text.
- 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.
The wrong answers, classified
A Dictionary meaning, not meaning here (Perfetti, 2007)
Reads “hard” as difficult and ties it to the labor of analyzing 800 samples, so takes the goal to be a thorough procedure rather than conclusive proof.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Brings in the diet differences of paragraph 3, clams, fish and seals, as theories under test, though the DNA work in paragraph 4 asked whether two groups exist.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Knows that biologists “had always believed” the wolves were one group and assumes the team set out to contradict earlier studies, which the phrase about solid proof does not suggest.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what a phrase shows about the team’s goal. A goal is what you are trying to get. The phrase names the kind of evidence the team got. Work back from that to what they wanted it for.
Read the sentence with the phrase
In paragraph 4, the team studied “800 samples of gray fur and wolf waste.” Then they “could produce hard biological evidence that sea wolves had genetic markers that made them distinct from the mainland wolves.” A genetic marker is a small difference in the DNA that parents pass to their young. Distinct means clearly different.
Work out what “hard” means
Here “hard” does not mean difficult. Hard evidence is solid proof that is tough to argue with. Biological means it comes from living things and their bodies. So the team wanted firm proof from the wolves’ own bodies.
Connect the proof to the question
What did they want to prove? Go back to paragraph 2. Starr said there were two groups of wolves. Darimont was unsure. “To find out,” his team studied the wolves. The DNA gave a firm answer: the sea wolves really are a separate group. So the goal was solid proof of how many groups of wolves live there.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. It reads “hard” as hard work. The phrase is about how firm the proof is, not about a procedure.
- B is right. Definitive means final and settled. The team wanted settled proof of how many groups of wolves live there. B says “species,” which goes further than the passage. Darimont speaks only of “two versions of the species.”
- C is wrong. Diets come up in paragraph 3. The DNA work tested whether there were two groups.
- D is wrong. The phrase says nothing about earlier studies.
Watch out: D is tempting because biologists “had always believed” the wolves were one group. But “hard” evidence is about firm proof, not about beating old studies.
Choose the answer
“Hard biological evidence” shows the team wanted firm, scientific proof. So the answer is B, “seek definitive scientific proof of the number of wolf species present in the area of the study.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer. Biologists had thought the wolves were one group, so D can seem to fit. But the phrase “hard biological evidence” is about how firm the proof is. It says nothing about earlier studies. B matches that: the team wanted settled proof of how many groups there were.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 55 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 18Uses the passage above: “Wolves of the Sea”.
Question
The author uses the word “admits” in paragraph 5 most likely to
- Anote that Darimont’s genetic research verified a theory based solely on field observations.
- Bimply that Darimont’s study was disappointing because the conclusion that he reached was not original.
- Cemphasize that Darimont’s study ultimately confirmed an idea that he had initially doubted.
- Dhighlight that Darimont’s results led him to draw a conclusion from his research that his team did not agree with.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks for the most likely reason why the author uses the word “admits” in paragraph 5.
A. Incorrect. The word “admits” highlights the surprising difference between Darimont’s initial idea and the conclusion he ultimately drew from the results of the study. Though Darimont’s genetic research did, in fact, verify the field observations of the wolves, this does not explain the author’s use of the word “admits” in paragraph 5.
B. Incorrect. The conclusion that Darimont reached was actually quite original, since biologists widely believed the two separate groups of wolves to be one (“Biologists had always believed that the wolves that are sometimes spotted swimming between islands and eating salmon are the same wolves that live on the mainland” [paragraph 2]). The author uses the word “admits” in paragraph 5 to emphasize how unexpected Darimont found the conclusion to be (“The distances between the mainland and the islands are small, less than a mile. Why would the wolves on the islands be any different from the wolves on the mainland?” [paragraph 2]), not to indicate that the study was a disappointment.
C. CORRECT. The use of “admits” emphasizes that Darimont found the idea of two species of wolves “ ‘totally bizarre at first’ ” (paragraph 5) but ultimately proved it to be correct. Paragraph 2 suggests that Darimont, like other scientists, “had always believed that the wolves that are sometimes spotted swimming between islands and eating salmon are the same wolves that live on the mainland.” Therefore, the results of the study were likely to strike biologists as bizarre, and the use of the word “admits” in paragraph 5 highlights Darimont’s shift from doubt to confirmation.
D. Incorrect. Darimont’s team conducted the research that helped him confirm Starr’s idea and draw the conclusion that the wolves were separate species (“After collecting and analyzing the DNA in 800 samples of gray fur and wolf waste, researchers could produce hard biological evidence that sea wolves had genetic markers that made them distinct from the mainland wolves” [paragraph 4]). However, the opinions of Darimont’s research team are not described in the passage, and the word “admits” does not indicate that they disagreed with his conclusion.
Question analysis
This word-choice question asks why the author of “Wolves of the Sea” uses the verb “admits” to introduce Darimont’s own comment in paragraph 5, the passage’s last paragraph. Students must weigh what this one verb adds to the quotation, beyond simply reporting speech, and test four explanations that each make a claim about Darimont’s study.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining why an author picked one word is typical grade 7 work. “Admits” is a familiar verb and the quotation it introduces is short, though students must look beyond that one sentence to judge what the verb conveys.
- 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
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 10, 662 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 72 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A stray comma in the explanation was removed.
- 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
Two choices describe what the study did, and both are accurate, so truth alone does not settle the question; the stem asks what one verb adds. Students who remember that the DNA backed up what had been observed can stop there without asking why Darimont would need to admit anything. The other two choices read the concession in “admits” as disappointment or as a dispute with the team, neither of which the passage describes.
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks why the author chose “admits” over a neutral verb like “says,” so students must hear the verb’s sense of conceding an earlier mistake and link it to Darimont’s “totally bizarre” first reaction. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The verification choice and the key both say the study confirmed an earlier idea; only the key adds that Darimont had doubted it, which is the part “admits” actually conveys. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Compare “admits” with a neutral verb such as “says,” decide what extra meaning it carries, and then check which choice that meaning explains, rather than which choice is simply true of the study.
Traps
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
- 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 True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Chooses a fact the passage supports, that the DNA work backed up what had been observed, but that says nothing about why Darimont “admits” his first reaction.
B Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Hears “admits” as a reluctant confession that the study let him down, perhaps because Starr knew first, though the finding was new to biologists and Darimont sounds grateful.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Takes “admits” as giving way in an argument and imagines a team that rejected the conclusion, though the passage never reports what Darimont’s team thought.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: In its explanation of Option B, the DOE ends the quotation from paragraph 2 with a comma before the citation: “…the same wolves that live on the mainland,” [paragraph 2]. Nothing follows in the sentence, and the passage has a period there, so the site drops the comma.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks why the author chose one word, “admits.” The author could have written says. So ask what extra meaning “admits” adds.
Find the word in paragraph 5
Paragraph 5 opens, “It turned out that Chester Starr was right all along.” Next comes “It sounded totally bizarre at first,” admits Darimont, “that there could be two versions of the species.” Bizarre means very strange. He now sees that this “skepticism” showed his “ignorance of indigenous knowledge at the time.” Skepticism means doubt. Indigenous means belonging to the people who first lived in a place.
Work out what “admits” means
To admit something is to say it is true, even if you would rather not. People often admit a mistake. So “admits” tells you Darimont first doubted Starr’s idea and now owns up to it. Back in paragraph 2, he “was hesitant to accept the idea.” Then his study proved that same idea right.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. The DNA work did back up what people had seen. But that fact does not explain why Darimont has to admit anything.
- B is wrong. Nothing says Darimont was let down. He sounds thankful for what he learned.
- C is right. “Admits” shows a change from doubt to agreement. His study confirmed, or proved true, an idea he once found strange.
- D is wrong. The passage never says what his team thought. No one argues with him.
Watch out: A is true about the study, so it is tempting. But the question asks what the word “admits” does, not what the study found.
Choose the answer
“Admits” stresses that Darimont once doubted Starr’s idea but came to see it was right. So the answer is C, “emphasize that Darimont’s study ultimately confirmed an idea that he had initially doubted.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong answer. Like C, it says the study confirmed an earlier idea. But A leaves out the doubt. You only admit something you once got wrong or pushed away. C includes that change, from finding the idea “totally bizarre” to accepting it. That change is what “admits” adds.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 56 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 19Uses the passage above: “Wolves of the Sea”.
Question
Which sentence from the passage best supports the idea that sea wolves had successfully adapted to living on the islands?
- A“While mainland wolves almost exclusively eat meat, such as deer and elk, and teach their young to hunt for land animals, sea wolves get as much as 90 percent of their nutrition from the sea and teach their young to dig for clams and to catch fish.” (paragraph 3)
- B“Sea wolves regularly swim between islands and have been known to sneak up on a seal sunning itself on a rock and make a leaping attack from the water.” (paragraph 3)
- C“Darimont suspects that some sea wolves live their entire life on the islands.” (paragraph 3)
- D“Darimont hypothesizes that a change in habitat led to the eventual genetic differences between sea wolves and mainland wolves.” (paragraph 4)
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks for the sentence from the passage that best supports the idea that sea wolves had successfully adapted to living on the islands.
A. CORRECT. This sentence from paragraph 3 describes a significant difference in the diets of the mainland and sea wolves: the mainland wolves “almost exclusively eat meat, such as deer and elk, and teach their young to hunt for land animals,” whereas the sea wolves had adapted to the point where they derive “as much as 90 percent of their nutrition from the sea and teach their young to dig for clams and to catch fish.” This sentence emphasizes the dietary difference between the two groups of wolves and best supports the idea that sea wolves had successfully adapted to living on the islands.
B. Incorrect. Although this sentence from paragraph 3 describes one technique that the sea wolves used to hunt, it does not offer evidence as strong as that provided by the preceding sentence, which explains that sea wolves were able to derive “as much as 90 percent” (paragraph 3) of their sustenance from the sea alone (versus the mainland wolves, which “almost exclusively eat meat” from land animals [paragraph 3]).
C. Incorrect. Although this sentence from paragraph 3 states that “some sea wolves live their entire life on the islands,” it does not provide strong evidence of the necessary adaptations—namely, how these wolves were able to successfully live their whole lives on the islands. Living on the islands was not necessarily an adaptation in and of itself; the adaptation was the sea-based diet that enabled the sea wolves to live on the islands without access to land animals.
D. Incorrect. Although this sentence from paragraph 4 presents Darimont’s hypothesis that “a change in habitat led to the eventual genetic differences” between the wolves, the sentence does not describe any of the sea wolves’ adaptations nor best support the idea that the sea wolves successfully adapted to living on the islands.
Question analysis
This evidence question on “Wolves of the Sea” asks which sentence best supports the idea that sea wolves had successfully adapted to living on the islands. Three choices come from paragraph 3’s list of differences between sea wolves and mainland wolves and one from paragraph 4, so students must rank closely related sentences by how directly each shows the wolves thriving there.
- NYS standards
- 7R1 textual evidence and inferences
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 evidence questions often have one clearly relevant sentence. Here three neighboring sentences all describe the sea wolves’ island life, so students must decide what counts as successful adaptation and rank strong evidence against nearly as strong.
- 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 moderate
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 10, 662 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 131 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 sentences are about sea wolves, and three describe their island lives, so the question turns on ranking evidence rather than spotting it. The seal attack is one of the passage’s most vivid images and shows a real island skill, which makes it hard to give up for a sentence about diet. The key wins because it shows a whole way of life changing, most food from the sea and the young taught to fish, while the other sentences offer one habit, a hedged guess or a cause.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The seal-hunting sentence sits right after the key in paragraph 3 and also shows sea wolves living off the sea; it differs in showing one hunting trick instead of up to 90 percent of their food. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
No sentence uses the word “adapted,” so students must first decide what would prove an animal thrives in a new place, such as getting its food there and teaching that skill to its young. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Three of the four sentences come from paragraph 3’s list of island habits, and all four mention sea wolves or their habitat, so none can be dismissed at a glance. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Before reading the choices, decide what would prove that an animal has adapted well to a new place, then rank the four sentences by how fully each one shows that, not merely whether it fits.
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
B Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Is impressed by the leaping attack on a seal, a real island skill, but one hunting technique shows less than wolves getting up to 90 percent of their food from the sea.
C Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Matches “live their entire life on the islands” to the claim’s “living on the islands,” but it is Darimont’s guess about where the wolves stay, not how they manage there.
D True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Sees “change in habitat” and thinks of adaptation, but the sentence gives Darimont’s theory of what caused the genetic differences, not evidence that the wolves thrive.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for evidence: the sentence that best supports a claim. The claim is that sea wolves “had successfully adapted to living on the islands.” To adapt is to change so you can live well in a new place.
Decide what strong proof looks like
Before you read the choices, ask what would prove an animal is doing well somewhere new. It can find its food there. It can also teach its young to live there. One clever trick is weaker proof. A guess is weaker still. So look for a sentence that shows a whole way of life built around the new home.
Test the diet sentence
Choice A comes from paragraph 3. It says “sea wolves get as much as 90 percent of their nutrition from the sea and teach their young to dig for clams and to catch fish.” Nutrition is the food a body needs. So almost all their food comes from the sea. They also pass those skills on to their pups. Mainland wolves, by contrast, “almost exclusively eat meat, such as deer and elk.” Exclusively means only.
Check the other choices
- B shows one hunting trick, a leap at a seal. It is a real island skill. But it shows less than a diet that is up to 90 percent from the sea.
- C uses the word “suspects,” so it is only Darimont’s guess. It also tells where some wolves live, not how they manage there.
- D gives Darimont’s idea about what caused the genetic differences. It does not show the wolves doing well.
Watch out: The seal attack in B is the most exciting picture. But one exciting hunt is weaker proof than a whole new diet.
Choose the answer
Sentence A shows sea wolves getting most of their food from the sea and training their young to do the same. So the answer is A, the sentence “While mainland wolves almost exclusively eat meat, such as deer and elk, and teach their young to hunt for land animals, sea wolves get as much as 90 percent of their nutrition from the sea and teach their young to dig for clams and to catch fish.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer. It comes right after A in paragraph 3 and also shows sea wolves living off the sea. But B shows one way of hunting. A shows where nearly all their food comes from, and that they teach it to their young. That is stronger proof that they adapted well.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 57 of 120
2026 Practice Test D English, question 20Uses the passage above: “Wolves of the Sea”.
Question
How did a change in habitat most affect the wolf population of the Great Bear Rainforest over time?
- AIt caused some of the wolves to learn new hunting techniques in order to catch increasingly scarce prey.
- BIt caused the wolves to form smaller packs and eventually separate, establishing distinct territories.
- CIt caused some of the wolves to gradually become a new, genetically distinct species as they adapted behaviorally.
- DIt caused the wolves to adapt their diet as different food sources became available in the area.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how a change in habitat most affected the wolf population of the Great Bear Rainforest over time.
A. Incorrect. Although the island wolves learned new hunting techniques (“dig for clams and to catch fish,” “sneak up on a seal sunning itself on a rock and make a leaping attack from the water” [paragraph 3]), there is no evidence in the passage that these hunting techniques were developed in response to scarcity of prey. The most significant effect of the change in habitat was not an influence on hunting techniques but the behavior differences that evolved because of the isolation of the groups of wolves from each other.
B. Incorrect. The change in habitat did not cause the wolves to form smaller packs but rather served to create distinctive behaviors because of the isolation of one pack from another, eventually causing the groups of wolves to become distinct species.
C. CORRECT. The change in habitat caused the wolves to gradually become two distinct species. Though the “sea wolves regularly swim between islands” and “some salmon-eating mainland wolves come and go from the islands,” the “sea wolves are full-time island residents” (paragraph 3). This behavioral adaptation to their environment caused the sea wolves to become “more isolated” from the mainland wolves; as a result, the two groups “rarely mated with each other,” and “over time the two types of wolves became more distinct” (paragraph 4).
D. Incorrect. Only the sea wolves adapted their diet. They did this not because different food sources became available in the area but because they were in an entirely different area from the mainland wolves.
Question analysis
This cause-and-effect question asks how a change in habitat most affected the wolf population of the Great Bear Rainforest over time, in the article “Wolves of the Sea.” Students must follow the account in paragraphs 3 and 4 of how some wolves came to live on the islands and pick the result the passage treats as the main one, among several that sound possible.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Tracing how one event leads to another is core grade 7 informational reading. The effects here are spread over two paragraphs of science writing, and several choices mix real details with causes the passage never gives, which keeps the demand 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
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 10, 662 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 85 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- Two grammar slips in the explanation were 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
Several effects of the move are real, and the strongest wrong answer names one of them, a change of diet, but gives it the wrong cause by having food appear nearby instead of wolves being forced out to the islands. Students who stop at the first effect they recognize miss that the question asks what happened over time. The key’s “new, genetically distinct species” overstates the passage, which calls the wolves “two versions of the species,” though it is still the only choice that follows the chain to its end.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The chain of effects runs across two paragraphs: the island habits of paragraph 3, then paragraph 4’s loss of habitat, isolation, rare mating and the two types becoming “more distinct” over time. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The word “most” and the phrase “over time” point past the first changes, a new diet and new skills, to the end of the chain, genetic difference, which students must rank as the main effect. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Trace the chain of events in paragraphs 3 and 4 from the wolves’ move to the islands onward, then test each choice for who changed, why, and with what result.
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.
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.
The wrong answers, classified
A Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Joins paragraph 4’s lost food sources to paragraph 3’s new skills, but the scarcity drove wolves to the islands and a new diet, not to new ways of catching scarce prey.
B Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Supplies familiar facts about wolf packs and territories that the passage never mentions; the groups grew apart because island wolves stayed put and rarely mated with mainland wolves.
D Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly sees that diet changed, but only the island wolves changed it, after lost food forced them out, not because new food appeared in the area.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The DOE’s explanation of Option B says “eventually causing the groups of wolves to became distinct species”; the site says “to become.” Its explanation of Option C says the change “caused the sea wolves to ‘became more isolated’ from the mainland wolves,” putting paragraph 4’s past-tense “became” after “to”; the site now reads “caused the sea wolves to become ‘more isolated’ from the mainland wolves.”
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is a cause-and-effect question. The cause is a change in habitat. A habitat is the place where an animal lives and finds food. You need the biggest effect it had “over time.” So follow the whole chain of events to its end.
Find the cause in paragraph 4
Paragraph 4 says, “Many years ago, loss of habitat and food sources forced some mainland wolves out to the islands.” There, “They learned to eat everything from kelp and fish eggs to the remains of sea creatures that washed up on the beach.” Kelp is a kind of seaweed.
Follow the chain to its end
Next, the two groups “became more isolated and rarely mated with each other.” Isolated means cut off. Then, “Over time the two types of wolves became more distinct.” Distinct means clearly different. Darimont thinks the change in habitat “led to the eventual genetic differences.” Genetic means in the DNA, passed from parents to young. So the chain ends with the two groups becoming different in their DNA.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. Lost food sent wolves to the islands. The passage never says they learned tricks to catch scarce, or hard-to-find, prey.
- B is wrong. The passage never mentions packs or territories.
- C is right. Some wolves changed how they live, then grew apart in their DNA. One caution: C says “species.” The passage is more careful. It speaks of “two versions of the species.”
- D is wrong. Only the island wolves changed their diet. They did not find new food nearby. Lost food forced them to move.
Watch out: D names a real effect, a new diet. But that is only an early step, and D gives the wrong reason for it.
Choose the answer
The biggest effect over time was that the island wolves grew different in their DNA from the mainland wolves. So the answer is C, “It caused some of the wolves to gradually become a new, genetically distinct species as they adapted behaviorally.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer, because the diet really did change. But D says new food “became available in the area.” The passage says the opposite: lost food forced some wolves out to the islands. A new diet is also only an early step. C follows the chain all the way to the change in their DNA.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 58 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 9Passage Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian”
Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian”
by Hilary Wilson
In ancient Egypt, literacy was the key to success. However, contrary to popular belief, not all Egyptian scribes understood hieroglyphs. Many relied instead on the simpler hieratic script for the multitude of everyday documents generated by the Egyptian bureaucracy.
Hieroglyphs—“the Words of God”—compose a writing system with more than 1,000 distinct characters, the meanings of which were lost for 1,500 years before they were deciphered by Jean-François Champollion in 1822. Including both ideograms (which convey a whole word or idea, either concrete or abstract, in a single sign) and phonograms (representing either an alphabetic sound or a group of consonants), [the writing system] was used in formal inscriptions on tomb and temple walls as well as on elaborate funerary papyri. For everyday purposes, however, scribes used a shorthand version of the hieroglyphic script known as hieratic, which was quicker to write and more economical of space. The two writings existed side by side for at least 2,500 years.
Scraps of ancient hieratic writing, mostly penned by student scribes on limestone flakes called ostraca, suggest that no matter how humble his origins, an educated Egyptian could achieve almost anything. Horemheb (d.1292 B.C.) is a good example. Born of middle-ranking parents, his scribal training led to an army career. From Scribe of Recruits, during the reign of Akhenaten (1353–1336 B.C.), Horemheb rose through the military ranks and, by the rule of Tutankhamun (1332–1323 B.C.), he was commander in chief of the Egyptian forces. As a close adviser of the young Pharaoh, Horemheb was appointed “Deputy of the King throughout the Two Lands,” and might have expected to succeed to the throne should the king die childless. He had to wait a few years, but eventually Horemheb achieved the pinnacle of his career by becoming the last king of the 18th Dynasty, making his mark by instituting dramatic reforms to the organisation of the army, the judiciary and administration in general. The lasting success of these changes owed much to his scribal background. . . .
But education was not available to all. Government departments and major temples supported schools, where boys commenced their training at six or seven, sometimes earlier. To these boarding establishments . . . family or household servants delivered the students’ food and drink rations daily for several years, during which time the student was not contributing to the family’s income. Boys from poorer families could only hope to be educated with support from a wealthier relative or patron, or through apprenticeship to an older scribe, perhaps the local clerk or land agent, who would teach them the basics of the scribe’s craft. This limited the scope for employment but such “on the job” training allowed apprentices to help out at home while learning. . . .
Scribal education began with the elementary principles of the hieratic script. The lowliest scribes, who trained for just five or six years, probably learned only the rudiments of the hieroglyphic script. Students were set exemplar documents and extracts from popular texts to copy, to practice their hieratic handwriting on basic-format letters, reports and contracts, while absorbing the good advice contained in the texts. Surviving examples of copy-work sometimes include tutors’ corrections added in red. Some significant Egyptian literary works survive almost exclusively from student copies.
A schoolboy “dictionary” of hieroglyphs with their hieratic equivalents shows that a knowledge of more than 450 signs was required for everyday writing purposes. Lessons in record-keeping and filing and labelling enabled any half-competent scribe to perform that most essential of all scribal functions: the making and updating of lists. For professions such as those of government official, priest or lawyer, a scribe would train for several more years, increasing his vocabulary to perhaps a thousand or more signs. Those with the best handwriting or drawing skills might follow the craft of creating beautifully illustrated copies of funerary texts, commonly called Books of the Dead. Others could become draughtsmen, artists or architects. Doctors compiled their own collections of medication recipes, treatments and associated incantations, many copied from texts found in the House of Life, the temple library. Lawyers had to be familiar with the corpus of civil and religious laws and precedents found in the official records, which were administered by archivists. Egypt’s bureaucratic society depended on the skills of an army of scribes of all ranks from filing clerk to tax assessor. For young Egyptians, “be a scribe” was the best of career advice.
From “Scribe Like an Egyptian” by Hilary Wilson from HISTORY TODAY, August 8, 2019. Copyright © 2019 by History Today Ltd. Company.
bureaucracy: an administrative staff of government officials
funerary papyri: a sheet or scroll of papyrus containing religious images and hieroglyphs meant to help the deceased be reborn in the afterlife
rudiments: basics
schoolboy: slang that refers to materials used during the course of receiving an education
draughtsmen: people who draw plans of machinery or structures
corpus: a collection of writings
Question
Which sentence from the excerpt best supports the idea that there were different levels of education for a scribe?
- A“However, contrary to popular belief, not all Egyptian scribes understood hieroglyphs.” (paragraph 1)
- B“For everyday purposes, however, scribes used a shorthand version of the hieroglyphic script known as hieratic, which was quicker to write and more economical of space.” (paragraph 2)
- C“This limited the scope for employment but such ‘on the job’ training allowed apprentices to help out at home while learning.” (paragraph 4)
- D“For professions such as those of government official, priest or lawyer, a scribe would train for several more years, increasing his vocabulary to perhaps a thousand or more signs.” (paragraph 6)
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks for a sentence from the excerpt that best supports the idea that different levels of education were available to scribes.
A. Incorrect. The sentence from paragraph 1 provides evidence that Egyptian scribes used two different forms of writing, but it does not address the topic of education or the different levels of education that were available to scribes.
B. Incorrect. The advantages and purposes of hieratic script are described in this sentence from paragraph 2, but this explanation of the advantages and purposes does not suggest that there were different levels of education for scribes.
C. Incorrect. The fact that scribes could learn their trade through apprenticeships as discussed in this sentence from paragraph 4 does provide evidence that another method of learning to be a scribe was possible, but this process was for a limited entry into becoming a scribe, not the continued education scribes would need in order to work in specific areas.
D. CORRECT. By explaining that certain professions required additional years of training, this sentence from paragraph 6 supports the idea that different levels of education existed for scribes.
Question analysis
This evidence question on Hilary Wilson’s “Scribe Like an Egyptian,” a magazine article about how ancient Egyptian scribes learned their trade, asks which quoted sentence best supports the idea that scribes received different levels of education. The four sentences come from paragraphs 1, 2, 4 and 6, and more than one seems to touch on the idea, so close reading of each decides it.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Choosing the sentence that best supports an idea is routine grade 7 evidence work. Here several quotations touch on ways scribes differed, and the article’s dense, technical wording makes those differences harder to sort 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
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Hard words minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 810 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 110 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
Two of the wrong sentences are not off topic: one says not all scribes understood hieroglyphs, the other that apprenticeship narrowed a scribe’s job prospects, and both imply that scribes differed. The question rewards asking what the idea actually claims, that schooling itself came in stages, and only the sentence about professions that required more years of training says so outright. Students who stop at the first sentence suggesting a difference lose the point.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The right sentence never says “levels”; students must see that training “for several more years” for official, priest or lawyer posts means a higher tier of schooling than the basic course. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
Two other quotations also hint at differences among scribes, paragraph 1’s “not all Egyptian scribes understood hieroglyphs” and paragraph 4’s “limited the scope for employment,” so each must be weighed, not just scanned. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
Terms such as “hieratic,” “economical of space” and “scope for employment” slow the reading of the quotations, and the shorthand sentence is hard to dismiss until hieratic is understood as a script. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Ask what a sentence would have to say to prove that scribal education came in levels, then test each quotation against that and prefer a direct statement over a hint.
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 Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Reads “not all Egyptian scribes understood hieroglyphs” as proof of different levels of schooling, but it reports a difference in knowledge without saying anything about how scribes were taught.
B True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Picks the sentence on hieratic as a faster everyday shorthand, which describes how scribes wrote, not how long or how far any of them studied.
C Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Sees that on-the-job training “limited the scope for employment” and takes it for a lower level of education, though the sentence contrasts two routes into the trade, not stages of study.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for the sentence that best supports one idea: scribes could get “different levels of education.” A level is a stage. Some scribes studied for a short time, and others went on to study more. You need a sentence that shows a difference in schooling, not just any difference between scribes.
Find what each level looked like
Paragraphs 5 and 6 describe the training. Paragraph 5 says the lowest scribes studied for only five or six years. They learned just the basics of hieroglyphs. Paragraph 6 says that more than 450 signs were needed for everyday writing. Then choice D adds a higher level: “For professions such as those of government official, priest or lawyer, a scribe would train for several more years, increasing his vocabulary to perhaps a thousand or more signs.”
Work out what choice D means
A profession is a job that needs special training. Choice D says some jobs needed more years of study and more signs, perhaps over a thousand. A basic scribe stopped sooner and knew fewer signs. So schooling came in stages: a basic course, and then more years for the top jobs. That is what the question means by levels of education.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. It says not all scribes understood hieroglyphs. That is a difference in what scribes knew. It says nothing about how they were taught.
- B does not fit. It explains hieratic, a faster shorthand way of writing. That is about writing, not schooling.
- C does not fit. It is about apprentices, who learned on the job from an older scribe. That is a different way into the work, not a higher or lower stage of study.
- D fits. Some jobs needed several more years of training.
Watch out: A is tempting because it shows that scribes were not all alike. But it never mentions school.
Choose the answer
Only one sentence shows some scribes studying for years after the basic course. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong choice. It shows that some scribes knew hieroglyphs and others did not. But it doesn’t say why, or how long anyone studied. D says plainly that some jobs needed several more years of training. That is a level of education above the basic one.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian”” as shown on the test
Question 59 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 10Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian””.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 2.
Including both ideograms (which convey a whole word or idea, either concrete or abstract, in a single sign) and phonograms (representing either an alphabetic sound or a group of consonants), [the writing system] was used in formal inscriptions on tomb and temple walls as well as on elaborate funerary papyri.
The author’s purpose for including the sentence is to
- Aexplain that hieroglyphs were reserved for royal and religious purposes.
- Bdemonstrate the methods experts use to interpret hieroglyphs.
- Cclarify the significance of hieroglyphs in language and literature.
- Ddescribe the basic features of hieroglyphs and how they were typically used.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks for an explanation of the author’s purpose for including a sentence in paragraph 2 that describes the two types of hieroglyphs and the main uses of this particular writing system.
A. Incorrect. The sentence explains that hieroglyphs were used for formal inscriptions, but it does not suggest that these inscriptions were limited to royal and religious contexts.
B. Incorrect. The sentence describes the two basic types of hieroglyphs, ideograms and phonograms, but it does not address how experts interpret the ancient writing system. A sentence earlier in the paragraph explains that the hieroglyphs were deciphered by Champollion, but it does not explain how he deciphered them.
C. Incorrect. Although the sentence explains that the hieroglyphs were typically used for formal inscriptions, it does not provide an explanation of the significance or importance of hieroglyphs in the Egyptian language.
D. CORRECT. The sentence explains that hieroglyphs included both phonograms and ideograms that were used in formal inscriptions and funeral papyri; therefore, this sentence achieves the purpose of describing the basic features of hieroglyphs as conveying either words and ideas or sounds, in addition to explaining the common uses for the writing system.
Question analysis
This author’s-purpose question quotes a long, technical sentence from paragraph 2 of “Scribe Like an Egyptian” about the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system, and asks why the author includes it. Students must make sense of its specialist vocabulary before they can say what the sentence contributes to the paragraph and to the article.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining why an author includes a sentence is regular grade 7 work. This one is long, with definitions in parentheses and a bracketed insert, but it is quoted in full, so the task stays within one sentence.
- 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
- Complex sentences moderate
- Hard words minor
- How, not what minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 810 words; question and choices: about grade 11, 103 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
Once the parentheses are set aside, the sentence says two simple things: what kinds of signs hieroglyphs were, and where they appeared. The wrong purposes each go one step beyond that, turning tombs and temples into an exclusive royal and religious use, borrowing Champollion’s deciphering from the sentence before, or claiming a significance the sentence never weighs. Students who untangle the syntax first find the matching purpose quickly.
Complex sentences moderate Understanding the question
The quoted sentence runs fifty words, two parenthetical definitions come before the verb, and its subject, the bracketed “[the writing system],” appears only after thirty words of description. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
“Ideograms,” “phonograms” and “funerary papyri” are specialist terms; the parentheses define the first two, but students who stall on them may not reach the sentence’s plain point about where the signs were used. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
How, not what minor Working it out
The stem asks why the author includes the sentence, so students must match the job it does in paragraph 2 to a purpose, and only one purpose stays within what the sentence actually covers. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Restate the quoted sentence in plain words, setting the parentheses aside at first, then choose the purpose that fits everything the sentence says and nothing more.
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.
- 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 Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads “formal inscriptions on tomb and temple walls” and “funerary papyri” as royal and religious only, though the sentence names where hieroglyphs usually appeared, not a rule reserving them.
B Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Remembers that Champollion deciphered the signs, which the sentence before reports, and takes this sentence for an account of how experts read them, though it never mentions interpreting.
C Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Chooses an important-sounding purpose, the significance of hieroglyphs in language and literature, though the sentence never says why the script mattered or mentions any literature.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks why the author put this sentence in paragraph 2. In other words, what job does the sentence do? First work out what the sentence says. Then pick the purpose that matches all of it and adds nothing extra.
Untangle the long sentence
The sentence is long, so set the parentheses aside at first. The main part says the writing system “was used in formal inscriptions on tomb and temple walls as well as on elaborate funerary papyri.” An inscription is writing carved or painted on something. Funerary means having to do with burials. Papyri are scrolls made from papyrus, a kind of early paper.
Read the parentheses
Now add back the two kinds of signs. Ideograms “convey a whole word or idea” in one sign. Phonograms stand for “either an alphabetic sound or a group of consonants.” Consonants are letter sounds like b, t and m. So one kind of hieroglyph shows a meaning, and the other shows a sound.
Sum up the sentence’s job
Put the two parts together. The sentence tells what hieroglyphs were made of: signs for ideas and signs for sounds. It also tells where people usually used them: on tombs, temples and burial scrolls. So its job is to describe what hieroglyphs were like and how they were used.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The sentence says where hieroglyphs usually appeared. It never says they were reserved, or kept only, for kings and religion.
- B does not fit. The sentence before it says Champollion figured out the signs. This sentence never says how experts read them.
- C does not fit. The sentence never says why hieroglyphs mattered, and it never mentions literature.
- D fits. It names both parts: the basic features and the usual uses.
Watch out: Tombs and temples sound royal and religious, so A tempts. But “used in” is not the same as “reserved for.”
Choose the answer
The sentence describes the two kinds of signs and where they were usually used. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong choice. Tombs and temples do suggest kings and religion. But the sentence only lists where hieroglyphs were used. It never says they were kept for those uses alone. D matches everything the sentence says and adds nothing it doesn’t.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 60 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 11Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian””.
Question
Which statement summarizes the process that schools used to train scribes?
- ABoys had to memorize around 450 hieratic signs. Once they had learned these, they were expected to copy literary texts that contained valuable lessons.
- BBoys spent at least five years learning hieratic signs, which they practiced by copying texts. During this period, they were also introduced to basic hieroglyphs.
- CBoys spent five or six years learning the basics of hieratic script. After this period, they could become apprentices and begin learning hieroglyphics.
- DBoys were taught two different scripts. They practiced both types by copying lists and eventually progressed to writing letters, reports, and contracts.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks for the best summary of the process that schools used to train scribes.
A. Incorrect. This summary incorrectly explains that scribes were expected to learn 450 hieratic signs instead of 450 hieroglyphs along with their hieratic versions as explained in paragraph 6. In paragraph 5, the author explains that scribes copied texts as part of the process of learning the scripts rather than as practice after the signs had already been memorized.
B. CORRECT. Paragraph 5 explains that students began by learning hieratic script and studied for about five or six years by using “exemplar documents and extracts from popular texts to copy, to practice their hieratic handwriting.” The paragraph also explains that during this time, they learned only the basics of hieroglyphic script.
C. Incorrect. Although paragraph 5 does explain that the scribes spent five or six years learning hieratic script, it does not suggest that hieroglyphs were learned only during apprenticeships.
D. Incorrect. This summary correctly explains that scribes learned two types of scripts, but the second sentence of the summary is incorrect. In paragraph 5, the author explains that the students copied from exemplar texts, but the author clearly states that the purpose of this copy work was “to practice their hieratic handwriting” and does not suggest that the copy work was used to practice hieroglyphs. Paragraph 6 explains that scribes could make lists as part of their professional skills but does not suggest that copy work was used to help them learn this task. Paragraph 5 mentions letters, reports, and contracts as the formats students practiced on while copying, not as a later stage of their training.
Question analysis
This summary question on “Scribe Like an Egyptian” asks which statement sums up how ancient Egyptian schools trained young scribes. Each choice is a two-sentence summary that combines years of study, kinds of script and copying practice, so students must check every detail against what the article says about scribal education.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Summarizing a process is a grade 7 standard, but these four summaries are long, two-part and mostly accurate, and the details they mix up come from three different paragraphs, so judging them asks more 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 2, skills and concepts · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- The right answer is reworded minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 810 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 104 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A detail in the explanation that misdescribes the excerpt 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 wrong summary opens with something true or nearly true, so a quick reading of first sentences cannot separate them. Most of the errors concern order: one makes copying follow memorizing, one turns apprenticeship into a later stage where hieroglyphs begin, and one makes the copied letters, reports and contracts a later step. Students who check the order of training against paragraph 5, not just the facts, find the only summary with nothing out of place.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The apprenticeship summary repeats the right one’s opening, years of hieratic study, and parts from it on one phrase: hieroglyphs come “After this period” instead of “During this period.” (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The details sit in three paragraphs: the five or six years, the copying and the hieroglyph basics in paragraph 5, apprenticeship in paragraph 4, and the 450-sign dictionary and list-making in paragraph 6. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
The right answer is reworded minor Choosing the answer
The right summary puts the text in new words, “at least five years” and “basic hieroglyphs,” while wrong ones repeat its own details: “five or six years,” the “450” signs, “letters, reports, and contracts.” (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Note what the article says students learned, for how long and by what method, then check both sentences of each summary against those notes; one wrong detail rules a summary out.
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.
The wrong answers, classified
A Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Takes paragraph 6’s 450 signs, hieroglyphs listed with their hieratic forms, as hieratic signs to memorize first, and makes copying come afterward, though copying was how students learned.
C Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Gets the five or six years of hieratic right, then makes apprenticeship, the other route paragraph 4 offers poorer boys, a later stage where hieroglyphs are first taught.
D Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly says two scripts were taught, then claims students copied lists for both and only later wrote letters, reports and contracts, though paragraph 5 ties copying to hieratic and to those very formats.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The DOE’s explanation of Option D ends: “Paragraph 6 explains that scribes could make lists and write letters as part of their professional skills but does not suggest that copy work was used to help them learn these tasks.” Paragraph 6 mentions the making and updating of lists, but not letters. Letters come up in paragraph 5, where students copy texts “to practice their hieratic handwriting” on basic-format letters, reports and contracts, so the excerpt does tie the copy work to letters. The site now says that paragraph 6 explains that scribes could make lists as part of their professional skills but does not suggest that copy work was used to help them learn this task, and that paragraph 5 mentions letters, reports, and contracts as the formats students practiced on while copying, not as a later stage of their training. Option D is still wrong, and the answer, B, is unchanged.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for the best summary of how schools trained scribes. A summary retells the main steps in a few words. Each choice has two sentences. Both must match the article, including the order of the steps. One wrong detail rules a choice out.
Find the training in paragraph 5
Paragraph 5 says training began with the basics of hieratic script. The lowest scribes studied for five or six years, and others studied longer. In that time they learned only the basics of hieroglyphs. Students were given “exemplar documents and extracts from popular texts to copy, to practice their hieratic handwriting.” Exemplar means model. Extracts are short pieces. So they learned by copying good examples.
Sort out paragraphs 4 and 6
Two other paragraphs hold details that look alike. Paragraph 4 describes apprenticeship. An apprentice learns on the job from a skilled worker. It was another way in for boys from poorer families, not a step after school. Paragraph 6 mentions a list of hieroglyphs with their hieratic forms. It says more than 450 signs were needed for everyday writing. It never says students memorized them before copying.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The 450 signs were hieroglyphs paired with their hieratic forms. And copying was how students learned, not a step after memorizing.
- B fits. Students spent at least five years on hieratic, practiced by copying, and learned basic hieroglyphs along the way.
- C does not fit. Apprenticeship was a different route, not a later stage. Hieroglyphs were not saved for apprentices.
- D does not fit. The copying was to practice hieratic. Lists come up in paragraph 6 as a job skill, not as practice. Letters, reports and contracts were what students copied, not a later stage.
Choose the answer
Watch out: C starts out right, with five or six years of hieratic. Then it says hieroglyphs came “After this period” instead of during it. That one change makes it wrong.
Only B gets every detail and the order right. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong choice. It gets the five or six years of hieratic right. But it says hieroglyphs came afterward, through apprenticeship. Paragraph 5 says students learned the basics of hieroglyphs during their schooling. Apprenticeship was a separate path for poorer boys. B says “During this period,” which matches.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 61 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 12Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian””.
Question
Which claim is best supported by the information presented in paragraphs 3 and 4?
- AEducation was difficult for the common citizens of Egypt to obtain.
- BOnce students began studying to become scribes, their future held more possibilities.
- CIf someone wanted to become a scribe, support from outside sources such as the government or a temple was necessary.
- DBecoming a successful scribe required a student’s family to sacrifice time and money in order to ensure the best education.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks for the claim that is best supported by the details in paragraphs 3 and 4.
A. Incorrect. While paragraph 4 does explain that boys from poorer families had more challenges in receiving an education, the paragraph also provides examples of obtaining a patron or getting an apprenticeship as ways that these aspiring scribes could attain an education. Furthermore, the details in paragraph 3 do not provide any support for the claim that “common citizens” had difficulty getting an education because that paragraph focuses on the example of one person who was able to become a king as a result of his background as a scribe.
B. CORRECT. In paragraph 3, the author provides an example of a person who used his skills as a scribe to rise through the ranks of society by describing the achievements of Horemheb to support the idea that “no matter how humble his origins, an educated Egyptian could achieve almost anything.” The author continues in paragraph 4 to explain that with the proper support, some young Egyptians could become educated, thereby opening more opportunities for themselves.
C. Incorrect. Paragraph 4 explains that schools were supported by the government and religious institutions, but it also explains that apprenticeships were a method of learning the craft of the scribe. As the paragraph indicates, boys could also be helped in their education by support from “a wealthier relative or patron.”
D. Incorrect. In paragraph 4, the author details the sacrifices that families made to keep their sons at the schools, while boys from poorer families could only hope for a patron or an apprenticeship. Paragraph 4 also explains that apprentices could help out at home while learning, so the sacrifice of time and money was not required of every family.
Question analysis
This inference question asks which claim is best supported by paragraphs 3 and 4 of “Scribe Like an Egyptian,” which tell the story of the scribe Horemheb and describe who could get a scribal education in ancient Egypt. Students must weigh each claim against both paragraphs together, and several claims echo a single sentence closely enough to look supported.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Choosing the claim a passage best supports is core grade 7 work. Here the claim must fit two paragraphs that do different jobs, one telling a single man’s story and one explaining access to schooling, and some choices fit only part of that.
- 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
- Evidence in several places moderate
- The right answer is reworded moderate
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 810 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 75 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A misdescription of the passage in the explanation of one wrong answer 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 trap is a claim that paragraph 4 seems to state almost word for word, which makes it feel safer than the right one. But the question asks for support from both paragraphs, and Horemheb’s story points the other way, toward what schooling made possible. The two other wrong claims harden paragraph 4’s details into rules, a necessary sponsor or a required family sacrifice, so words like “necessary” and “required” are the ones to test.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The claim must fit two paragraphs that do different work: paragraph 3 follows Horemheb from army scribe to king, and paragraph 4 explains who could pay for schooling and what the alternatives were. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
The right answer is reworded moderate Choosing the answer
The right claim restates paragraph 3’s “an educated Egyptian could achieve almost anything” in new words, while the most tempting wrong one nearly copies paragraph 4’s opening, “education was not available to all.” (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
Students must connect Horemheb’s rise with paragraph 4’s account of who got schooling to see that both paragraphs are about education opening doors, a link the author leaves implicit. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Sum up paragraph 3 and paragraph 4 in a sentence each, then test every claim against both summaries, watching for words that make a claim stronger than the text.
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.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
A Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Rests on paragraph 4’s opening, “education was not available to all,” and ignores paragraph 3, whose Horemheb shows an educated man rising from modest origins to the throne.
C Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Makes the government and temple schools of paragraph 4 “necessary,” overlooking its other routes: help from “a wealthier relative or patron,” or apprenticeship to a working scribe.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Turns the rations and lost income that some families bore in paragraph 4 into a requirement for every successful scribe, and adds “the best education,” which the paragraph never mentions.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The DOE’s explanation of D said paragraph 4 details sacrifices “necessary for some poorer families,” and that paragraph 3’s Horemheb, born of middle-ranking parents, shows the sacrifice was not required of all families. In paragraph 4 the rations and lost income are those of families whose sons were at the schools; poorer boys could only hope for a patron or an apprenticeship; and paragraph 3 says nothing about what Horemheb’s family gave up. The explanation now says so: D is wrong because apprentices could help out at home while learning, so not every family made the sacrifice.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks which claim is best supported by paragraphs 3 and 4 together. A claim is a statement that someone says is true. The right claim must fit both paragraphs. Watch for strong words, like “necessary,” that go further than the text.
Sum up paragraph 3
Paragraph 3 tells about Horemheb. His parents were middle-ranking, not rich or powerful. His training as a scribe led to a job in the army. He rose to lead the army, then to serve the young king, and in the end he became king himself. The author uses him to show that “no matter how humble his origins, an educated Egyptian could achieve almost anything.” Humble origins means an ordinary family background.
Sum up paragraph 4
Paragraph 4 opens by saying that not everyone could get an education. Government offices and big temples ran schools. Families sent food and drink for years, while the boy earned nothing for them. Poorer boys could hope for help from “a wealthier relative or patron.” A patron is someone who pays for another person’s training. Or they could learn on the job from a working scribe. That path led to fewer jobs.
Put the two paragraphs together
Both paragraphs are about what schooling could do for a boy. Paragraph 3 shows a man rising all the way to king because he trained as a scribe. Paragraph 4 shows that, with the right support, boys could get that schooling. It even notes that the on-the-job path led to fewer jobs. So education opened doors. That is what choice B says.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. It matches only the start of paragraph 4. Paragraph 4 also gives ways in for poorer boys, and paragraph 3 shows a man from an ordinary family rising to the top.
- B fits. Both paragraphs show schooling leading to more possibilities.
- C does not fit. A government or temple school was not “necessary.” A relative, a patron or an apprenticeship could also work.
- D does not fit. Apprentices could help out at home while they learned, so not every family gave up time and money. And the paragraphs never mention “the best education.”
Choose the answer
The claim that fits both paragraphs is that schooling gave a boy more possibilities. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong choice, because paragraph 4 begins by saying not everyone could get an education. But the question asks about paragraphs 3 and 4. Paragraph 3 tells of a scribe from an ordinary family who became king. Paragraph 4 shows ways around the cost. Both point to what education made possible, which is B.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 62 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 13Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian””.
Question
Hieratic script was particularly valuable in a bureaucratic government because
- Ausing hieratic script was an efficient way for scribes to produce large amounts of documentation.
- Bmany members of the general public could comprehend information that was written in hieratic script.
- Cknowledge of hieratic script prepared scribes to serve their society in increasingly challenging roles.
- Dpeople from different professional backgrounds could easily communicate with one another in hieratic script.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks why hieratic script was especially valuable in a bureaucratic government.
A. CORRECT. Hieratic script is described in paragraph 1 as being simpler for the “multitude of everyday documents” generated by the government and as “quicker to write and more economical of space” in paragraph 2. The logical conclusion based on these details is that hieratic script was more efficient for the large amounts of documentation produced by the government.
B. Incorrect. In paragraph 4, the author explains that “education was not available to all,” suggesting that only people who were educated could read and write. The excerpt as a whole does not provide sufficient information to indicate what portion of the general public would be able to comprehend material written in hieratic script.
C. Incorrect. The idea that becoming a scribe could lead to taking different positions in society is addressed in paragraphs 3, 4, and 6. However, the use of hieratic script in the fields of medicine, law, or religion does not necessarily explain the value of the script for the bureaucratic government referenced in the question.
D. Incorrect. Although different professions such as doctors and lawyers used hieratic script, the author uses these professions as examples of different job opportunities for scribes in paragraph 6. There is no discussion in the excerpt about different professions communicating with each other, and these professions were not necessarily part of the bureaucratic government.
Question analysis
This inference question on “Scribe Like an Egyptian” asks why hieratic, one of the two scripts of ancient Egypt, was especially valuable to a bureaucratic government. The article never gives the reason in a single sentence, so students must connect what it says about Egypt’s bureaucracy with what it says about the script itself. Each choice offers a reasonable-sounding benefit.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Drawing a conclusion from two neighboring paragraphs is typical grade 7 inference work. The word “bureaucratic” and the article’s formal style add some load, but the details needed are close together and plainly stated.
- 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
- Evidence in several places minor
- Hard words minor
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 810 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 68 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 two facts that answer the question sit a few lines apart in the first two paragraphs, so the work is mostly connecting them. The wrong reasons all sound like advantages a simpler script might bring, public readability, career preparation, communication across professions, and each rests on a guess or on the excerpt’s talk of scribal careers rather than on what it says hieratic was used for. Students who return to the description of hieratic itself avoid them.
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
The reason is split between paragraph 1, where hieratic serves the “multitude of everyday documents,” and paragraph 2, where it is “quicker to write and more economical of space.” (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
The stem turns on “bureaucratic,” a word students must connect to a government that runs on paperwork; without it, the link to large amounts of documentation is hard to see. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
No sentence says why hieratic helped the government; students must combine speed and compactness with the sheer volume of records to reach efficiency. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Find the sentences that describe hieratic script and what it was used for, then pick the choice those sentences support rather than one that only sounds like an advantage.
Traps
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
- Outside knowledge: A choice is plausible in the real world but not supported by this text.
The wrong answers, classified
B Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reasons that a simpler script must have been readable by ordinary people, though paragraph 4 says “education was not available to all” and the excerpt never says the public read hieratic.
C True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Recalls the careers in paragraphs 3 and 6 that schooling opened to scribes, which is true of the excerpt but explains a scribe’s prospects, not why the government valued hieratic.
D Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Imagines hieratic as a shared language linking doctors, lawyers and officials, a sensible-sounding benefit the excerpt never raises; paragraph 6 names those professions only as careers for scribes.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks why hieratic script was so useful to a bureaucratic government. A bureaucracy is a government run by many officials, with lots of paperwork. Hieratic is the quick, simple form of Egyptian writing. Look for what the article says about hieratic and what it was used for.
Find the evidence in paragraphs 1 and 2
Paragraph 1 says many scribes used hieratic for the “multitude of everyday documents” that the government produced. Multitude means a huge number. Paragraph 2 says hieratic was “quicker to write and more economical of space.” Economical of space means it took up less room on the page.
Connect the two facts
Put the facts together. The government made a huge number of papers. Hieratic was fast to write and used less space. So scribes could turn out lots of papers quickly. Getting a lot done with little time and effort is called being efficient.
Check each choice
- A fits. Hieratic let scribes make large amounts of paperwork quickly.
- B does not fit. Paragraph 4 says “education was not available to all.” The article never says ordinary people could read hieratic.
- C does not fit. Training did lead to careers, but that explains a scribe’s chances, not why the government valued the script.
- D does not fit. Paragraph 6 lists jobs like doctor and lawyer as careers for scribes. It never says those workers wrote to each other in hieratic.
Watch out: B sounds sensible, since a simpler script seems easier for anyone to read. But that is a guess, not something the article says.
Choose the answer
Hieratic was fast and compact, and the government needed a huge number of documents. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice, because a simpler script does sound easier to read. But the article says only some Egyptians got an education. It never says the public could read hieratic. A rests on two facts the article states: the government made a “multitude of everyday documents,” and hieratic was quicker to write.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 63 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 14Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian””.
Question
The diagram after paragraph 6 best provides additional support for the topic of the excerpt by
- Ademonstrating the place of scribes in ancient Egyptian social structure.
- Bdepicting the types of tasks performed by each social class.
- Cindicating that scribes were able to easily improve their social ranking.
- Dcomparing the social positions of each social class in ancient Egypt.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the diagram of ancient Egyptian class structure supports the topic of the excerpt.
A. CORRECT. The focus of the excerpt is the opportunities available to scribes in different professions and how people became scribes and therefore improved their position. By illustrating the position of the scribes in the class structure of ancient Egypt, the diagram supports the idea that scribes were valuable members of society.
B. Incorrect. The professions of the different social classes are shown in the diagram, but it does not address specific tasks. Furthermore, the main topic of the excerpt is the role of the scribes in society rather than the tasks performed by the different social classes.
C. Incorrect. While the diagram does show the position of scribes in the social hierarchy, it does not provide an illustration of movement between the different classes or rankings, so the diagram does not support the idea that scribes were able to improve their social standing.
D. Incorrect. The diagram shows the class structure as hierarchical and can support readers’ efforts to compare the different social positions. However, the role of scribes in society, rather than a general comparison of different classes, is the main focus of the excerpt.
Question analysis
This question on “Scribe Like an Egyptian” asks how the diagram after paragraph 6, a pyramid of ancient Egyptian social classes from the pharaoh at the top to unskilled workers at the base, gives additional support to the excerpt’s topic. Students must decide what the excerpt is mainly about and then judge what the graphic adds, and several choices describe something the pyramid really shows.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Linking a graphic to a text is regular grade 7 work, and this five-level pyramid is simple and clearly labeled. The demand lies in naming the excerpt’s topic first and judging how the diagram bears on 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
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Reading a figure, table or graph moderate
- How, not what minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 810 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 57 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
More than one choice is true of the pyramid, so the question is decided by the excerpt’s topic, not by the picture alone. Students who look only at the diagram see a ranking of all the classes; students who remember that the article is about scribes look for where scribes stand. The choice about rising easily borrows Horemheb’s story from the text and credits it to a drawing that shows no movement.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The choice about comparing every class’s position differs from the right one in a single detail, all classes rather than scribes, and both are true of the pyramid. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Reading a figure, table or graph moderate Understanding the question
Scribes are not a tier of their own: they share the third of five tiers with merchants and craftsmen, below the pharaoh, nobles and priests and above farmers, herders and laborers. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
How, not what minor Working it out
The stem asks how the diagram supports the excerpt’s topic, so students must first decide the topic is scribes, then judge what the picture adds to it. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: State the excerpt’s topic in a few words, then test each choice twice: is it true of the diagram, and does it connect the diagram to that topic?
Traps
- True but not the answer: A choice says something accurate about the text that does not answer this question.
- 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
B Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Notices the small figures at work, such as the herders with their cattle, and takes tasks as the diagram’s point, though its labels name classes and the excerpt is about scribes.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Carries Horemheb’s rise from scribe to king in paragraph 3 over to the diagram, which shows fixed tiers with no arrows or movement, and nothing about rising easily.
D True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Describes what the pyramid plainly does, rank all five classes against one another, which is accurate but misses why the diagram belongs with an excerpt about scribes.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how the diagram after paragraph 6 adds to the topic of the excerpt. First name the topic. Then ask two things about each choice. Is it true of the diagram? And does it connect the diagram to that topic?
Name the excerpt’s topic
The excerpt is about scribes, people trained to read and write for others. It tells how they learned, who could study, and what jobs they could get. Every paragraph comes back to scribes. So the diagram should add something about scribes.
Read the diagram
The diagram is a pyramid with five levels. From the top down, they are the Pharaoh, nobles and priests, then “Traders, shopkeepers, scribes, and artisans,” then herders and farmers, and last unskilled workers. Artisans are skilled craftspeople. Scribes sit in the third level, the middle one. They are below the ruler and the nobles, and above farmers and workers.
Check each choice
- A fits. The diagram shows where scribes stood in Egyptian society, which ties it to the topic.
- B does not fit. The labels name groups of people, not the tasks each group did.
- C does not fit. The levels are fixed, and nothing in the diagram shows anyone moving up. Horemheb’s rise comes from paragraph 3, not the diagram.
- D does not fit. The pyramid does rank all the classes. But that alone does not connect it to an excerpt about scribes.
Watch out: More than one choice is true of the picture. The right one must also fit the topic.
Choose the answer
The diagram supports the topic by showing where scribes fit among the classes of ancient Egypt. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong choice, because the pyramid really does compare every class. But the excerpt is about scribes, not about every class. A is true of the diagram too, and it also links the diagram to the topic. It points to the place of scribes in the middle level.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 64 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 15Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian””.
Question
Based on the excerpt, which statement would the author most strongly agree with?
- ABoys in Egypt were encouraged to enter the same profession as older male relatives.
- BKnowledge of hieroglyphs was helpful to Egyptians who were interested in becoming scribes.
- CHieratic script was more practical to ancient Egyptians than hieroglyphs were.
- DBoys in Egypt who studied for only a few years were unlikely to find employment as scribes.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks for a statement with which the author would most strongly agree.
A. Incorrect. The author only addresses boys who entered the profession of scribes. While the author does address the role of the family in supporting a boy’s education or securing an apprenticeship, the author does not provide any discussion to support the idea that boys were only encouraged to follow the professions of their male relatives.
B. Incorrect. The author explains that communication using hieroglyphs was not widely practiced in everyday correspondence and that hieratic script was the more popular form of writing. While being able to read and use hieroglyphs would have been helpful, it was not common for citizens to use this formal form of communication. In addition, scribes were trained to learn hieroglyphs and hieratic script as part of their education, so prior ability to read or compose hieroglyphs was not a requirement.
C. CORRECT. As described in paragraph 2, hieratic script was more efficient and economical than hieroglyphs. Because this script was used for “everyday purposes,” it was the more practical of the scripts as hieroglyphs were reserved for “formal inscriptions.”
D. Incorrect. In paragraph 6, the author indicates that “any half-competent scribe” could become employed in making and updating lists. While the paragraph later indicates that scribes would need to study several more years to be employed in a wider range of professions, there is no indication that employment as a scribe would be unavailable to a boy who studied for only a few years.
Question analysis
This point-of-view question asks which statement the author of “Scribe Like an Egyptian” would most strongly agree with. The four statements deal with family careers, knowledge of hieroglyphs, Egypt’s two scripts and the length of training, so students must test each one against the article and separate what the author says from what merely sounds likely.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Inferring which statement an author would accept is typical grade 7 work. The four statements draw on different parts of a dense article, and some sound sensible without being backed by it, so each must be checked carefully.
- 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
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 810 words; question and choices: about grade 9, 68 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 right statement is a comparison the author never makes in so many words, while the statement about hieroglyphs sounds like something any author on scribes would accept. The question rewards asking which statement the excerpt itself backs most firmly, and paragraph 2’s contrast between everyday and formal writing does that directly. The two statements about boys rest on assumptions, sons following relatives and short training leaving boys jobless, that the excerpt never makes and partly contradicts.
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
The four statements cover four topics, family careers, hieroglyphs, the two scripts and length of training, so each has to be traced to its own paragraph before they can be compared. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The author never ranks the scripts; “more practical” has to be drawn from paragraph 2, where hieratic is for “everyday purposes” and quicker to write, while hieroglyphs go on “formal inscriptions.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: For each statement, find the paragraph that deals with its topic and decide whether the author says it, implies it or never addresses it; keep the one with the firmest support.
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.
- 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)
Applies the familiar idea that sons follow their fathers’ trades, perhaps prompted by paragraph 4’s “wealthier relative,” though the excerpt never says boys were steered toward relatives’ professions.
B Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Builds on paragraph 6, where more signs led to better posts, but shifts the benefit to the time before training, though boys learned the signs at school starting at six or seven.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Infers from paragraph 6’s extra years for officials, priests and lawyers that short training meant no job, though “any half-competent scribe” could keep lists and the least-trained scribes studied only five or six years.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks which statement the author would most strongly agree with. The author may not say it in the same words, but the excerpt must clearly back it. The four choices cover four topics, so find the paragraph for each one.
Find what the author says about the scripts
Paragraph 1 says many scribes used the simpler hieratic script for everyday papers. Paragraph 2 says hieroglyphs went on “formal inscriptions,” such as tomb and temple walls. Hieratic was used for “everyday purposes.” It was faster to write and took less space. Formal means used for special, serious occasions.
Work out what that means
Practical means useful for real, everyday needs. The author shows hieratic doing the daily work, such as letters, reports and contracts. Hieroglyphs were kept for special uses. So the author would agree that hieratic was more practical than hieroglyphs. The author never uses the words “more practical,” but the facts point there.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The excerpt never says boys were pushed into a relative’s job.
- B does not fit. Boys learned the signs at school, starting at six or seven. The excerpt never says knowing hieroglyphs beforehand helped. Paragraph 1 even says not all scribes understood them.
- C fits. Hieratic was quicker, smaller and used for everyday work.
- D does not fit. Paragraph 6 says “any half-competent scribe” could keep lists. Half-competent means only partly skilled. The lowest scribes studied only five or six years and still worked.
Watch out: B sounds like something any author would accept. But the excerpt does not back it.
Choose the answer
The excerpt shows hieratic doing the everyday work, faster and in less space. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice. Knowing hieroglyphs sounds helpful for a future scribe. But boys learned their signs at school, and paragraph 1 says not all scribes understood hieroglyphs at all. C rests on paragraph 2, where hieratic is quicker to write and used for “everyday purposes.”
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 65 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 17Passage Excerpt from Winter Wheat
Excerpt from Winter Wheat
by Mildred Walker
Ellen, the narrator, is preparing to leave her parents and the family farm for college the next day.
I love Dad’s way of talking that makes him seem different from other ranchers. He’s lived here twenty-three years, but he still says “back East where I come from.” He’s the one who gets excited when I do about spring coming or a serial running in the magazine we’re both reading, but it’s what Mom says that I depend on. When Mom used to say “Don’t worry” about my pet chicken or dog or new calf, it always got well. Dad is always talking of going some place, not now, but next year, maybe. Mom seems to think of nothing farther away than today or perhaps yesterday or tomorrow morning.
Mom folded the ironing board and put it inside their bedroom that was just off the kitchen. She carried in the freshly ironed clothes. Dad went back to his paper. When Mom came back she took beans from the cupboard to soak for tomorrow. Dad always said Mom could make all the dishes he’d had back in Vermont as well as though she were a New Englander herself, instead of a Russian. All of a sudden, I realized that tomorrow when those beans would be ready to eat I’d be going away. It gave me a funny feeling.
“I’ll be taking the train tomorrow night,” I said aloud, more to hear it myself.
“We can drive you into town in the afternoon,” Dad said, dropping his paper on the floor.
“There’s no need to go to town; she can catch the train at Gotham just as well. We haven’t nothing to take us into town for,” Mom said.
“Well, we don’t have to decide tonight,” Dad said, but I knew he wanted to go into Clark City. It wouldn’t be so flat as just seeing me go off on the train from Gotham. My going away was hard on both of them; they were so different—and I was part of them both. It made me uncomfortable to think of leaving them.
While I was getting ready for bed in my room that’s off the front room, I saw how it would be if I left from town. We’d go in right after dinner and go around to the stores, Dad going one way and Mom and I another. Dad would probably have his hair cut at the barbershop and stop in the bank and meet someone he knew to talk to. Then we’d meet at the big store on the corner and go to the cafeteria for supper. The train stops ten minutes or so at the station in town and there are other people and excitement and you have time to wave from the platform and then again from your window by your seat. We went to the station in Clark City to see the Goodals off when they went back to Iowa.
If I left from Gotham, we’d just drive down in the truck and wait till the train came. It only stops long enough for you to get on and you hardly have time to taste the flavor of going away.
I sat on the bed in my pyjamas with my arms around my knees. I couldn’t keep from thinking of that time Dad went back East. I tried to, and then I just sat still and looked straight at it. Sometimes that’s better than working so hard to keep from looking at what’s in your mind.
Dad went all the way back to Vermont. . . . It was in November and it was already dark when the train came through Gotham. Even now, I could feel how cold and dark it was. I held Mom’s hand. Dad was so dressed-up he seemed strange. . . . We stood there without saying anything until Dad told Mom to remember to call Mr. Bardich, our neighbor, if the cow didn’t calve tomorrow.
“I’ll manage,” Mom snapped back.
“I wish you could go, Anna,” Dad said to Mom, “and we could take Ellen.” . . .
“Good-by, Anna Petrovna,” he said, looking at Mom. I had never heard him call her by two names before.
“Good-by,” Mom said, standing still, without smiling.
Then he was gone and the crossroads were darker than ever. The train light shone on the high window in the top of the grain elevator for a moment and then that too was dark. We got into our old Ford and Mom drove back to the house. My throat ached all the way. The name Dad had called Mom kept saying itself in my ears: “Anna Petrovna, Anna Petrovna.” . . .
Our house seemed lonely when we came back to it. It seemed to be hiding under the coulee. I went with Mom to put the truck in the barn that was bigger than the house. I think Mom was prouder of our barn than the house, anyway. We walked back to look at the cow that was going to calve. She was just a big light blob in the dark, waiting. I had thought she was exciting this morning, but now she seemed sad, too.
The wind blew when we walked across the open space to the house and I couldn’t help shivering with the cold. Inside the house it was warm, but empty.
“Bring your nightgown in here and I heat you some milk,” Mom said.
I drank the milk sitting on a stool in front of the stove. It tasted good, but the lonely ache in my throat was still there. I picked up my clothes and hung them neatly behind the stove and put my cup on the sink board. Mom was fixing oatmeal for tomorrow morning.
“Good night, Mom,” I said almost timidly, standing beside her. She seemed wrapped around in a kind of strangeness. Then she turned around and drew me to her. The front of her dress was warm from the stove. I felt the comfortable heat through my gown. She laid her hand against my face and it felt rough and hard but firm. I dared ask her something I wanted to know.
“Mom, was that really your name—what Dad called you?”
Her voice sounded surprised. “Why, Yeléna, you know that; Anna Petrovna. You know I am born in Russia, in Seletskoe.”
“Yes, but I didn’t know your other name,” I said.
“Anna Petrovna Webb.” She pronounced it slowly. “Once I think what a funny name Ben Webb is!” She laughed. Her laugh was warm and low like our kitchen, and comfortable. The house seemed natural and right again. . . .
But now that I am grown, I feel the wall of strangeness between them, more than when I was a child. I wondered how they would get along without me.
From WINTER WHEAT by Mildred Walker, published by University of Nebraska Press. Copyright © 1944 by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1971 by Mildred Walker. All rights reserved.
serial: story published in short segments at regular intervals
coulee: small gulch or ravine
Question
Read these sentences from paragraph 2.
Dad always said Mom could make all the dishes he’d had back in Vermont as well as though she were a New Englander herself, instead of a Russian. All of a sudden, I realized that tomorrow when those beans would be ready to eat I’d be going away. It gave me a funny feeling.
The sentences help develop a theme of the excerpt by
- Asuggesting that life presents people with many challenges.
- Bimplying that the stress of major life events can cause confusion.
- Cdemonstrating that moving on from the familiar is a common human experience.
- Demphasizing the idea that people can easily learn the routines of being part of a new culture.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how the sentences in paragraph 2 help develop a theme of the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. Although the sentences from paragraph 2 describe Ellen’s “funny feeling” upon realizing that she will no longer be home when the beans that her mother is making are ready to eat, the details do not show that life presents many challenges. Additionally, the theme that life presents people with many challenges is not a theme found in the excerpt.
B. Incorrect. The sentences from paragraph 2 state that Ellen has “a funny feeling” while awaiting a major life event, but they do not indicate that she is confused or stressed. The details in the sentences convey a sense of wistfulness, but the theme that the stress of major life events causes confusion is not found in the excerpt.
C. CORRECT. The sentences from paragraph 2 show that Ellen’s mother has moved on from the familiar and left her childhood home behind, just as Ellen is about to do. This information links the experiences of parent and child and helps develop the theme that moving beyond the familiar is a common human experience.
D. Incorrect. Although the sentences from paragraph 2 show that Ellen’s mother has learned to cook New England food very well (“as though she were a New Englander herself”), they do not provide information about how easy or difficult it was for Ellen’s mother to learn a new way of cooking. The theme that people can easily learn the routines of a new culture is not a theme found in the excerpt.
Question analysis
This theme question quotes three sentences from paragraph 2 of the Winter Wheat excerpt, about Mom’s cooking and Ellen’s sudden realization that she is leaving, and asks how they help develop a theme. Students must connect a small kitchen moment to an idea that runs through the whole excerpt, choosing among theme statements that range from narrow to very general.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Explaining how details develop a theme is a grade 7 standard. These sentences never state the idea, so students must infer it from a remark about Mom’s cooking and Ellen’s passing feeling, then link it to the whole excerpt, more 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 analyze
- What makes it hard
- Reading between the lines major
- Evidence in several places moderate
- How, not what minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 4, 1179 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 117 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 sentences seem to be about cooking and a passing mood, and the link to a theme hides in where the parents come from. Students who miss that Dad and Mom both left homes far away read the passage as being about Mom’s skill or Ellen’s nerves, and pick a theme built on one of those. The vague choice about life’s challenges catches students who sense that leaving is hard but cannot pin the theme to these details.
Reading between the lines major Working it out
The theme is never stated: students must notice that “back in Vermont” and “instead of a Russian” mean both parents left their first homes, just as Ellen realizes she will be “going away.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
A theme of the excerpt must hold beyond paragraph 2, so the choice has to be checked against Dad’s trip back East in the flashback and Mom’s Russian name in paragraph 22. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
How, not what minor Working it out
The stem asks how the sentences develop a theme, so a remark about cooking has to be read for what it reveals about the parents’ pasts, not for its subject. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Note what each quoted sentence tells you about the person in it, then pick the theme that these details and the rest of the excerpt both support.
Traps
- 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.
- Wrong tone or attitude: Misjudges the tone, attitude or point of view, such as reading admiration as criticism, or taking a character's or subject's feelings for the author's.
The wrong answers, classified
A Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Chooses a theme loose enough to fit almost any story; the sentences show the parents’ pasts and a sudden realization, not a series of challenges.
B Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Hears stress and confusion in Ellen’s “funny feeling,” though the sentences suggest a quiet, wistful realization, and nothing in the excerpt shows her confused about leaving.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Seizes on Mom cooking “as though she were a New Englander herself” and adds that adapting was easy, which the sentence never says; it praises her skill, not the ease of learning.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how three sentences from paragraph 2 help build a theme. A theme is a big idea about life that a story keeps showing. Look at what each sentence tells you about the people in it, not just at its subject, cooking.
Read the sentence about Mom and Dad
The first sentence says “Dad always said Mom could make all the dishes he’d had back in Vermont as well as though she were a New Englander herself, instead of a Russian.” Vermont is a state far to the east, in New England. Dad grew up there. Mom came from Russia. So both parents left the places where they grew up.
Read the sentences about Ellen
The next sentences say “All of a sudden, I realized that tomorrow when those beans would be ready to eat I’d be going away. It gave me a funny feeling.” The beans are soaking for tomorrow’s meal. Ellen sees that she won’t be home to eat them. She is about to leave her own home, just as her parents once left theirs.
Find the theme
Put the two parts together. Dad left Vermont, Mom left Russia, and now Ellen is leaving the farm. Each of them moves on from a familiar place. So the sentences show that leaving what you know is something many people go through. Ellen’s “funny feeling” is wistful, a quiet sadness, like missing home before you go.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. It is so broad it could fit almost any story. These sentences show leaving home, not many challenges.
- B does not fit. Ellen’s feeling is quiet and wistful. Nothing shows her stressed or confused.
- C fits. Parents and daughter all move on from a familiar home.
- D does not fit. Dad praises Mom’s cooking, but the sentence never says learning it was easy.
Choose the answer
The sentences link Ellen’s leaving to her parents’ own leaving long ago. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice, because a “funny feeling” before a big change could sound like stress. But Ellen is not mixed up or panicked. She simply realizes she will be gone tomorrow. The sentences tie that moment to her parents’ moves from Vermont and Russia. That shared experience of leaving is C.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Excerpt from Winter Wheat” as shown on the test
Question 66 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 18Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Winter Wheat”.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 3.
“I’ll be taking the train tomorrow night,” I said aloud, more to hear it myself.
This remark contributes to the conflict in the excerpt by
- Arevealing Dad’s reasons for wanting to drive to the city.
- Bcausing tension between Mom and Dad.
- Cleading Ellen to distance herself from both Mom and Dad.
- Dshowing Mom’s reluctance to plan that far in advance.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks how the sentence from paragraph 3 contributes to the conflict in the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. Although Ellen’s father does want to drive to the city, this sentence does not reveal his reasons for wanting to do so. Ellen’s father’s wish to drive to the city is important to the conflict of the excerpt not because of his underlying reasons but because his wish differs from Ellen’s mother’s wish to take Ellen to the train at Gotham—a difference of opinion that introduces tension between the parents.
B. CORRECT. The sentence causes Ellen’s parents to propose competing options for taking her to the train, and the resulting conversation recalls fraught memories of an earlier leave-taking in the family. The disagreement between Ellen’s mother and father over where to take Ellen to catch the train heightens the tension between them. Because the primary conflict of the excerpt is Ellen’s anxiety about the effect her leaving will have on the relationship between her parents, this remark contributes to the conflict by bringing her parents’ disagreement into view.
C. Incorrect. Although Ellen will put physical distance between herself and her parents on the following day, the remark she makes does not lead her to emotionally distance herself from her parents. Moreover, the emotional distance between Ellen and her parents is not the primary source of conflict in the excerpt.
D. Incorrect. While paragraph 1 states that Ellen’s mother “seems to think of nothing farther away than today or perhaps yesterday or tomorrow morning,” the sentence in paragraph 3 does not show any reluctance to plan far in advance. Moreover, planning for the future is not a source of conflict in the excerpt.
Question analysis
This plot question quotes Ellen’s remark in paragraph 3 of the Winter Wheat excerpt, said aloud mostly so she can hear it herself, and asks how it contributes to the excerpt’s conflict. Students must first work out what the conflict is, since the story has no fight or villain, and then follow what the remark leads to.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Analyzing how a line of dialogue drives a plot matches the grade 8 wording of the standard. The remark is short and plain, though, and what it sets off plays out in the next few paragraphs, which keeps the demand 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
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- How, not what minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 4, 1179 words; question and choices: about grade 5, 65 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 remark itself is plain, and neither parent raises a voice in reply, so the tension it causes is easy to miss. Students who do not see that the excerpt’s real problem is Ellen’s worry about her parents look for a more visible effect, such as Dad’s wish to drive her or Mom’s habit of thinking no farther than tomorrow. The question rewards reading the remark together with the quiet exchange it starts in paragraphs 4 to 6.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The excerpt never names its conflict; students must infer from paragraph 6 and the closing paragraph that Ellen worries about her very different parents getting along once she leaves. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The remark’s effect unfolds over the next three paragraphs: Dad offers to drive into town, Mom says the Gotham train will do, and Dad puts off the decision. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
How, not what minor Working it out
The question asks what the remark does for the plot, not what it says; a plain statement of travel plans matters only for the disagreement it sets off. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Name the excerpt’s central problem in your own words first, then reread the remark with the paragraphs right after it and pick the choice that shows how the remark feeds that problem.
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.
- 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)
Sees that the remark prompts Dad’s offer to drive Ellen into town but credits it with revealing his reasons, which neither the remark nor his offer gives; Ellen guesses one later.
C Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Turns Ellen’s coming departure into an emotional withdrawal, though after speaking she grows no more distant; she worries about her parents and, in the flashback, clings to Mom.
D Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Recalls paragraph 1’s comment that Mom thinks no farther ahead than tomorrow morning, but the remark shows nothing of the kind: Mom answers it at once with a plan of her own.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how Ellen’s remark adds to the conflict, the main problem in the story. The remark itself is plain. It just says when she will leave. So look at what happens right after she says it.
Name the story’s conflict
In paragraph 6, Ellen says her going away was hard on both parents. They were very different, and she was part of them both. In paragraph 25, she says she feels a distance between them. She wonders how they will get along without her. So the conflict is Ellen’s worry about her two very different parents once she is gone.
See what the remark sets off
Right after Ellen speaks, her parents disagree. In paragraph 4, Dad offers to drive her into town. In paragraph 5, Mom says there is no need, because Ellen can catch the train at Gotham. In paragraph 6, Dad puts off the choice, though Ellen knows he wants to go to town. Neither parent shouts, but they want different things.
Connect the remark to the conflict
Ellen’s simple remark brings her parents’ differences into the open. Their quiet disagreement shows the tension between them. Tension is a tight, uneasy feeling between people. That tension is just what worries Ellen about leaving. So the remark feeds the conflict by causing tension between Mom and Dad.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Dad offers to drive, but no one explains why he wants to.
- B fits. The remark leads straight to the parents’ disagreement.
- C does not fit. Ellen doesn’t pull away from her parents. She worries about them.
- D does not fit. Paragraph 1 says Mom doesn’t think far ahead. But here Mom answers at once with a plan of her own.
Watch out: D borrows a detail from paragraph 1. The remark itself shows nothing of the kind.
Choose the answer
The remark starts a quiet disagreement about how Ellen will leave. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A is the closest wrong choice, because the remark does lead to Dad’s offer to drive. But Dad never gives his reasons. What matters is that Mom wants something else. Their different wishes show the tension between them, and that tension is what Ellen worries about. That is B.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 67 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 19Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Winter Wheat”.
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 9.
I tried to, and then I just sat still and looked straight at it.
How does the phrase “looked straight at it” contribute to the meaning of the excerpt?
- AIt shows that Ellen is willing to deal with a problem directly instead of ignoring it.
- BIt suggests that Ellen studies all parts of an issue and not just its surface.
- CIt illustrates that Ellen examines both sides of an argument.
- DIt implies that Ellen is eager to seek wisdom from past experiences.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the phrase “looked straight at it” in paragraph 9 contributes to the meaning of the excerpt.
A. CORRECT. The phrase shows Ellen deciding to directly confront the memory even though she initially wanted to ignore it (“I couldn’t keep from thinking of that time Dad went back East. I tried to” [paragraph 9]). Though the memory is emotionally fraught for Ellen, the phrase “looked straight at it” shows that she is willing to face problems—such as a painful family memory—head-on.
B. Incorrect. The phrase in paragraph 9 does not show Ellen studying all parts of an issue but rather forcing herself to focus on something she would have preferred not to think about.
C. Incorrect. In looking “straight at” the memory, Ellen is not considering both sides of an argument. Instead, she is making herself think about an uncomfortable memory that she had been trying to avoid revisiting. The phrase indicates that she is finally willing to directly confront an unsettling recollection.
D. Incorrect. Given the detail in paragraph 9 that Ellen initially attempted to keep from thinking about her father’s trip to Vermont, the phrase “looked straight at it” indicates a willingness, but not an eagerness, to seek wisdom from reflecting on past experiences.
Question analysis
This word-meaning question quotes a sentence from paragraph 9 of the Winter Wheat excerpt, where Ellen sits on her bed the night before she leaves home, and asks how the phrase “looked straight at it” contributes to the excerpt’s meaning. Students must work out what “it” refers to and read the phrase figuratively, using the sentences around it.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Interpreting a figurative phrase in context is routine grade 7 work. The phrase is short and quoted with its sentence, but its meaning depends on the sentence before it, so students cannot judge it from the quotation alone.
- 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
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 4, 1179 words; question and choices: about grade 6, 87 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
Once “it” is traced to the memory of Dad’s leaving, the phrase reads naturally as facing something hard, and the sentence that follows it in paragraph 9 says as much. The wrong choices make the act more intellectual than it is, studying every part or weighing two sides, or make Ellen eager when she has just tried not to think about it. Students who read the phrase only by itself are likeliest to slip.
Figurative or literary language moderate Understanding the question
Nothing is literally looked at: “it” is a memory, so “looked straight at it” means facing the painful thought of Dad’s trip back East instead of pushing it away. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
What “it” refers to, and what “I tried to” leaves out, both sit in the sentence before, “I couldn’t keep from thinking of that time Dad went back East.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Reread the sentence before the quoted one to find what “it” is, picture what looking straight at that would mean, and test each choice against the whole of paragraph 9.
Traps
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
- 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
B Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads “looked straight at it” as close study of an issue from every angle, but Ellen is making herself face a memory she tried to avoid, not analyzing its parts.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Keeps the idea of looking at something carefully but turns it into weighing both sides of an argument, though Ellen sits alone with a memory and no one is arguing.
D Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly sees Ellen turning back to a past experience but calls her eager to learn from it, though paragraph 9 shows she first tried hard not to think of it.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks what the phrase “looked straight at it” adds to the meaning of the excerpt. First you need to know what “it” is. Then picture what looking straight at that thing would mean.
Find what “it” means
Paragraph 9 says “I couldn’t keep from thinking of that time Dad went back East. I tried to.” So “it” is a memory of the night Dad left on a trip. “I tried to” means Ellen tried not to think about it. The memory is painful, so she tried to push it away.
Picture the phrase
Ellen can’t look at a memory with her eyes. So “looked straight at it” is a figure of speech, words that mean more than they literally say. It means she stopped running from the memory and faced it. The next sentence in paragraph 9 agrees. It says facing a thought is sometimes better than working hard to avoid it.
Check each choice
- A fits. Ellen faces a hard memory instead of ignoring it.
- B does not fit. She is not studying every part of an issue. She is making herself think about one painful memory.
- C does not fit. No one is arguing, so there are no two sides to weigh.
- D does not fit. Ellen first tried hard not to think about the memory, so she isn’t eager.
Watch out: D is half right, since Ellen does turn to the past. But eager means wanting to do something, and at first she didn’t want to.
Choose the answer
The phrase shows Ellen choosing to face a painful memory head-on. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong choice, because Ellen does think about a past experience. But paragraph 9 says she first tried to keep from thinking about it. Only then did she sit still and face it. She is willing, not eager. That makes A the better fit: she deals with the problem directly.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 68 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 20Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Winter Wheat”.
Question
The words “cold” and “dark” affect the tone in paragraph 10 by
- Ahighlighting the feeling of unpredictability among the family members.
- Bshowing the feelings of anger and resentment Ellen directs toward her parents.
- Cexaggerating the feeling of regret Dad experiences when leaving his family.
- Demphasizing the feelings of separation and loss that Ellen feels.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how the words “cold” and “dark” affect the tone in paragraph 10.
A. Incorrect. The mood of paragraph 10 is primarily one of sadness as Ellen says goodbye to her father at the train station. The words “cold” and “dark” do not convey unpredictability but rather emphasize Ellen’s feeling of loss over the departure of her father.
B. Incorrect. Although the father’s departure causes tension with his wife (“ ‘I’ll manage,’ Mom snapped back” [paragraph 11]), Ellen does not display anger or resentment toward her parents.
C. Incorrect. Although Ellen’s father states that he wishes his family could come with him on the trip to Vermont (“ ‘I wish you could go, Anna,’ Dad said to Mom, ‘and we could take Ellen’ ” [paragraph 12]), the words “cold” and “dark” describe Ellen’s perspective on her father’s departure. They create a tone of sadness from Ellen at being left behind rather than a tone of regret from her father because he has to leave.
D. CORRECT. In paragraph 10, Ellen states, “I could feel how cold and dark it was.” The words “cold” and “dark” highlight her emotional response to the departure of her father, emphasizing the almost physical sense of grief she feels at being separated from someone so precious to her.
Question analysis
This tone question asks how the words “cold” and “dark” affect the tone of paragraph 10 of the Winter Wheat excerpt, where Ellen remembers waiting for the train one November night as her father set off for Vermont. Students must decide what the two words add beyond describing the night itself.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining how word choice shapes tone is regular grade 7 work. The two words are named in the question and sit in one short paragraph, so the main step is seeing that they carry feeling as well as describing a November night.
- 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
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 4, 1179 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 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 two words are named in the stem and appear together in a single sentence of paragraph 10, so the main step is seeing that they describe a feeling as well as the weather. The wrong choices shift the feeling to someone else or swap it for another, borrowing Mom’s sharp reply and Dad’s wish from the paragraphs just after. Students who keep their attention on Ellen waiting for the train in paragraph 10 have little trouble.
Figurative or literary language moderate Understanding the question
“Cold” and “dark” describe a November night, yet the grown narrator says she “could feel how cold and dark it was,” so the weather words carry her sense of loss as Dad leaves. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
Paragraph 10 never names a feeling; the sadness comes from details such as Ellen holding Mom’s hand and Dad seeming strange in his good clothes. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Reread paragraph 10 and ask what Ellen is going through at that moment, then choose the option that names the feeling the two words strengthen and the person who has it.
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)
Links darkness with not knowing what comes next, but nothing in paragraph 10 is uncertain: Dad’s trip is settled, and the words deepen Ellen’s sadness, not suspense.
B Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Carries the sharpness of Mom’s “I’ll manage” into Ellen’s feelings and calls it anger at her parents, though Ellen holds her mother’s hand and blames no one.
C Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Gives the feeling to Dad because in paragraph 12 he wishes his wife and daughter could come, though the cold and dark are what Ellen feels as she waits to see him off.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how two words, “cold” and “dark,” affect the tone of paragraph 10. Tone is the feeling the writing gives off. Ask whose feeling it is and what that feeling is.
Find the words in paragraph 10
Paragraph 10 begins Ellen’s memory of the night Dad left for Vermont. It was November, and dark when the train came. Ellen says that even now, years later, “I could feel how cold and dark it was.” She held Mom’s hand. Dad looked strange in his good clothes. They stood there without talking.
Work out the feeling
Cold and dark describe a November night. But Ellen can still feel them years later, so the words carry her feelings too. Cold and dark are lonely, sad words. Her father is leaving, and she feels cut off from him. The words stress her sense of separation and loss.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Nothing is uncertain. Dad’s trip is planned, and the words make the scene sad, not unpredictable.
- B does not fit. Ellen holds Mom’s hand. She blames no one, so there is no anger.
- C does not fit. Dad says in paragraph 12 that he wishes they could come. But the cold and dark are what Ellen feels, not Dad.
- D fits. The words deepen Ellen’s sadness at being separated from her father.
Watch out: C borrows Dad’s wish from a later paragraph and gives him the feeling.
Choose the answer
“Cold” and “dark” show how lonely and sad Ellen felt as her father left. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong choice, because Dad does wish his family could come with him. But that wish is in paragraph 12. In paragraph 10, Ellen says “I could feel how cold and dark it was.” The feeling belongs to her. The words stress her sense of being separated from her father, which is D.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 69 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 21Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Winter Wheat”.
Question
Read these sentences from the excerpt.
Mom seems to think of nothing farther away than today or perhaps yesterday or tomorrow morning. (paragraph 1)
Mom was fixing oatmeal for tomorrow morning. (paragraph 19)
The sentences help develop a central idea of the excerpt by
- Asuggesting that practical people focus on current needs rather than worrying about the future.
- Bshowing that parents tend to consider the needs of their children before thinking of themselves.
- Crevealing that it is sometimes important to plan ahead.
- Dillustrating that dreaming about the future is a waste of time.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks how the sentences from paragraph 1 and paragraph 19 help develop a central idea of the excerpt.
A. CORRECT. The sentences illustrate a practical aspect of Ellen’s mother’s personality and show that she is concerned with an immediate task that needs to be completed. The details in these sentences help develop the central idea that practical people focus on current needs—such as preparing food for the following day—rather than worrying about the future.
B. Incorrect. These sentences do not show Ellen’s mother focusing on her daughter’s needs before her own, and the idea that parents consider their own needs only after considering those of their children is not a central idea of the excerpt.
C. Incorrect. Although the sentence from paragraph 19 shows Ellen’s mother planning a few hours ahead by preparing the next morning’s breakfast, the idea that it is sometimes important to plan ahead is not a central idea of the excerpt, nor is it supported by the sentence from paragraph 1.
D. Incorrect. The details in the sentences do not show that it is a waste of time to dream about the future. The sentences highlight the tendency of Ellen’s mother to focus her attention on the practical necessities of the moment, but the idea that dreaming about the future is a waste of time is not a central idea of the excerpt.
Question analysis
This central-idea question quotes two sentences about Ellen’s mother from paragraphs 1 and 19 of the Winter Wheat excerpt, far apart in the story, and asks how they help develop a central idea. Students must see what the two sentences have in common and decide which general statement about people they actually support.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Connecting repeated details about a character to a central idea is typical grade 7 work. Both sentences are short and plain, but they sit eighteen paragraphs apart, and the choices are broad statements that must be checked for overreach.
- 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 between the lines moderate
- Evidence in several places minor
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 4, 1179 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 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
Read alone, the oatmeal sentence looks like a lesson in getting ready for tomorrow, which is why the planning choice tempts. Paired with paragraph 1’s description of Mom, though, it shows a mind fixed on the next practical task, the opposite of thinking far ahead. The other wrong choices go past the sentences, into parents’ sacrifices or a verdict on daydreaming, and students who keep both sentences in view can set them aside.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Neither sentence states an idea; students must see what they share, Mom’s attention stopping at today and tomorrow morning, and then decide what general statement that habit supports. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
The sentences come from paragraphs 1 and 19, and paragraph 1 sets Mom’s present-minded talk against Dad’s plans for next year, a contrast that frames the idea. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Three choices speak of the future, planning or dreaming, so each must be tested against both sentences, not just the oatmeal for tomorrow morning. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Say in your own words what both sentences show about how Mom thinks and acts, then choose the statement that follows from that without going further than the sentences do.
Traps
- Too broad or too strong: A choice overstates, generalizes, or uses absolute words the text does not support.
- 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.
The wrong answers, classified
B Outside knowledge (King et al., 2004; Recht & Leslie, 1988)
Brings in the common belief that parents put children first, treating breakfast-making as self-sacrifice, though neither sentence sets Mom’s needs against Ellen’s or says whom the oatmeal is for.
C Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Builds a lesson about planning on the oatmeal prepared for the next morning alone, a single detail that paragraph 1’s picture of Mom’s short horizon works against.
D Too broad or too strong (King et al., 2004)
Hardens Mom’s focus on the present into a verdict that dreaming is “a waste of time,” a judgment the excerpt never passes on Dad’s talk of travel or anyone’s.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how two sentences about Mom help build a central idea, a main idea the story develops. Find what the two sentences have in common. Then pick the idea that follows from both, without going further.
Read the first sentence
Paragraph 1 says “Mom seems to think of nothing farther away than today or perhaps yesterday or tomorrow morning.” Just before this, Ellen says Dad is always talking about going places next year. So Mom is different. Her mind stays on the here and now.
Read the second sentence
Paragraph 19 says “Mom was fixing oatmeal for tomorrow morning.” This is the night Dad left on his trip, and Ellen is sad. But Mom does the next useful job, making breakfast. Again her mind goes no farther than tomorrow morning.
Find the shared idea
Both sentences show Mom as practical. Practical means focused on real, useful tasks. She deals with what needs doing now and next, not with far-off plans or dreams. So the sentences develop the idea that practical people focus on current needs instead of worrying about the future.
Check each choice
- A fits. Both sentences show Mom focused on today’s needs.
- B does not fit. Neither sentence weighs Mom’s needs against Ellen’s.
- C does not fit. Oatmeal for the next morning is a small step, not planning ahead. Paragraph 1 says Mom doesn’t think far ahead at all.
- D does not fit. The story never says dreaming is a waste of time. It doesn’t judge Dad’s talk of travel.
Watch out: Read alone, the oatmeal sentence looks like planning ahead. Read it together with paragraph 1.
Choose the answer
Both sentences show Mom paying attention to what is needed now, not to the far future. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong choice, because making oatmeal for tomorrow does look like planning. But paragraph 1 says Mom thinks no farther ahead than tomorrow morning. The oatmeal is just the next job, not a long-range plan. Together the sentences show a practical mind fixed on present needs, which is A.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 70 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 22Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Winter Wheat”.
Question
The flashback in paragraphs 10–24 affects the plot by
- Ashowing that the departure of one member of the family makes extra work for those left on the farm.
- Bshowing that the bond within the family persists even when its members are apart.
- Cexplaining why Ellen fears that leaving her parents will be too difficult.
- Dillustrating the close connection Ellen has with both of her parents.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how the flashback in paragraphs 10–24 affects the plot of the excerpt.
A. Incorrect. The flashback does not show that Ellen and her mother faced extra work as a result of the father’s trip to Vermont. Although paragraph 19 describes Ellen’s mother making oatmeal for the next day’s breakfast, this task was not extra work.
B. Incorrect. Although the flashback highlights Ellen’s fondness for each of her parents, it describes her father’s initial departure only and does not show what happened to the familial bond while he is away.
C. Incorrect. Although Ellen describes the memory of her father’s departure as something she wanted to avoid thinking about, she does not fear that it will be too difficult to leave her parents. Instead, she is concerned about what will happen to her parents’ relationship when she is no longer there.
D. CORRECT. The flashback illustrates the close connection that Ellen has with her parents by describing her sadness over the departure of her father (“My throat ached all the way” [paragraph 15]) and presenting a moment of comfort and reassurance between Ellen and her mother (“She laid her hand against my face and it felt rough and hard but firm” [paragraph 20]).
Question analysis
This text-structure question asks how the long flashback in paragraphs 10–24 of the Winter Wheat excerpt, Ellen’s memory of the night her father left by train for Vermont, affects the plot. Students must hold fifteen paragraphs in mind, see why the narrator recalls that night just before her own departure, and choose among several believable effects.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students study how a flashback shapes a story. This one runs through most of the excerpt, so students must sum up a long stretch of narrative and then tell apart choices that are close in meaning, more than typical grade 7 work.
- 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 analyze
- What makes it hard
- Evidence in several places major
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- How, not what moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 4, 1179 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 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
The flashback is most of the excerpt, and it carries several things at once: grief at Dad’s leaving, the parents’ stiffness with each other, Mom’s comfort, the mystery of her Russian name. The two strongest wrong choices sound like plot effects, a bond lasting through absence or a fear of leaving, while the key describes a relationship, so students looking for an event to point to may pass it by. Students must sum up the whole memory and test each choice against what it actually shows.
Evidence in several places major Working it out
The support for “both of her parents” lies in two separate stretches of a fifteen-paragraph flashback: Ellen’s aching throat after Dad’s train leaves in paragraph 15, and Mom’s hand on her face in paragraph 20. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The choice about the family bond persisting while members are apart shares the right one’s subject, family closeness, and differs in one claim, that the bond lasts through a separation the flashback never follows. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
How, not what moderate Working it out
The stem asks how the flashback affects the plot, yet the keyed effect is about character, so students must accept that the memory works by showing Ellen’s ties to each parent before she leaves. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Summarize what happens in the flashback and how Ellen feels at each stage, then compare it with the present-day scenes before and after it and decide what the memory adds.
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)
Assumes a farmer’s absence must mean more chores, perhaps from Dad’s reminder about the cow and Mom’s “I’ll manage,” though the flashback never shows Ellen and Mom burdened with extra work.
B Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Sees the warmth between Ellen and her parents and stretches it into a bond that lasts through a long separation, though the memory ends the night Dad leaves.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Ties the flashback to Ellen’s unease about leaving but misplaces the worry: what troubles her is how her parents will manage without her, not whether leaving will be too hard.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how the flashback in paragraphs 10–24 affects the story. A flashback is a scene from the past that interrupts the present. Here Ellen, about to leave for college, remembers the night Dad left for Vermont years ago. Sum up what the memory shows, then test each choice.
Sum up the flashback
Ellen and Mom see Dad off at the train in the cold dark. On the drive home, Ellen says “My throat ached all the way.” At home, Mom comforts her: “She laid her hand against my face and it felt rough and hard but firm.” Later, Mom laughs warmly about her name, and the house feels right again.
See what the memory shows
An aching throat is the tight, sore feeling you get when you hold back tears. That shows how much Ellen loves her father. Mom’s firm hand and warm laugh show how close Ellen is to her mother. So the flashback shows Ellen’s strong tie to both parents.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The flashback never shows Ellen and Mom with extra farm work.
- B does not fit. The memory ends the night Dad leaves. It never shows the family while he is away.
- C does not fit. Ellen’s worry is about how her parents will get along without her, not about whether leaving will be too hard.
- D fits. It shows Ellen’s love for Dad and her closeness to Mom.
Watch out: B also talks about family closeness. But it says the bond lasts through time apart, which the flashback never shows.
Choose the answer
The flashback shows how close Ellen is to her father and to her mother. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice, because it also describes a strong family bond. But B says the bond lasts while family members are apart. The flashback stops on the night Dad leaves, so it never shows that. It does show Ellen grieving for Dad and comforted by Mom. That is D.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 71 of 120
2025 Practice Test A English, question 23Uses the passage above: “Excerpt from Winter Wheat”.
Question
Which sentence from the excerpt provides evidence that Mom wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage?
- A“Mom folded the ironing board and put it inside their bedroom that was just off the kitchen.” (paragraph 2)
- B“ ‘There’s no need to go to town; she can catch the train at Gotham just as well.’ ” (paragraph 5)
- C“We’d go in right after dinner and go around to the stores, Dad going one way and Mom and I another.” (paragraph 7)
- D“ ‘Why, Yeléna, you know that; Anna Petrovna.’ ” (paragraph 22)
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which sentence from the excerpt provides evidence that Mom wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage.
A. Incorrect. Although this sentence from paragraph 2 describes a domestic moment that takes place within the family home, it does not relate to the heritage of either parent and therefore does not provide evidence that her mother wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage.
B. Incorrect. Although this sentence from paragraph 5 provides the name of the train station closest to Ellen’s family’s farm, the train stop at Gotham is not related to the family’s heritage. Therefore, this sentence does not provide clear evidence that her mother wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage.
C. Incorrect. Although this sentence from paragraph 7 describes an aspect of the family dynamic (Ellen predicts that while browsing in stores in town, “Dad [would go] one way and Mom and I another”), their shopping habits do not provide clear evidence that her mother wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage.
D. CORRECT. In this sentence from paragraph 22, Ellen’s mother addresses her by the Russian version of her name (Yeléna) and repeats her own Russian name (Anna Petrovna). The choice to call her daughter Yeléna instead of Ellen follows immediately after Ellen asks, “Mom, was that really your name—what Dad called you?” (paragraph 21), and the mother’s surprised response provides evidence that she both wants and expects Ellen to understand the family’s Russian heritage.
Question analysis
This evidence question asks which quoted sentence from the Winter Wheat excerpt shows that Mom wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage. The four sentences, from paragraphs 2, 5, 7 and 22, all involve Mom, so students must reread each one in its paragraph to see what it really shows about her.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Finding the sentence that supports a stated idea is everyday grade 7 work. The quotations are short and plainly worded and the idea is concrete, so one careful rereading of each in context is enough, a lighter task than usual.
- Estimated difficulty
- Routine: one familiar step, little to misread.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 4, 1179 words; question and choices: about grade 8, 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
Only one of the four sentences touches the family’s origins at all, so a student who knows what heritage means can rule out the others at a glance. The small risk lies with students who match “Mom wants” to any line where Mom states a preference, or who do not recognize the Russian names, since the quotation stops before Mom mentions Russia.
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The quoted line never mentions heritage; students must see that Mom calling Ellen “Yeléna” and repeating “Anna Petrovna,” as things Ellen should already know, shows her wish to pass on their Russian roots. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
The names’ Russian origin is clearest outside the quotation, in the rest of paragraph 22, where Mom names her birthplace, and in paragraph 2’s “instead of a Russian.” (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Strategy: Define heritage in your own words, then reread each quoted sentence in its paragraph and ask whether it shows Mom handing something about the family on to Ellen.
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
A True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Picks an everyday moment of Mom putting away the ironing board, perhaps remembering that paragraph 2 also mentions her Russian roots, though this sentence shows only housework.
B Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Matches “Mom wants” to Mom’s spoken preference that Ellen catch the train at Gotham, which backs half the idea, a wish of Mom’s, but concerns travel, not heritage.
C True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Notices Mom and Ellen shopping together in Ellen’s imagined trip to town, a sign of closeness, but going around the stores says nothing about where the family comes from.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks which sentence shows that Mom wants Ellen to understand the family’s heritage. Heritage is the history and traditions a family passes down, such as where it came from. Look for a sentence where Mom shares something about the family’s roots.
Look at the conversation
At the train, Dad called Mom Anna Petrovna, a name Ellen had never heard him use. In paragraph 21, Ellen asks, “Mom, was that really your name—what Dad called you?” In paragraph 22, Mom answers, “Why, Yeléna, you know that; Anna Petrovna.” Then she reminds Ellen that she was born in Russia.
Work out what Mom’s answer shows
Mom calls her daughter Yeléna, the Russian form of Ellen. She repeats her own Russian name. She also says “you know that,” as if Ellen should already know. Mom is surprised that Ellen doesn’t. That shows Mom wants and expects Ellen to know where the family comes from.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Folding the ironing board is housework. It says nothing about the family’s past.
- B does not fit. Mom does want something here, the train at Gotham. But that is about travel, not heritage.
- C does not fit. Shopping in town shows family habits, not family roots.
- D fits. Mom uses Russian names and expects Ellen to know them.
Watch out: B tempts because it shows what Mom wants. But the question asks what she wants Ellen to understand about the family.
Choose the answer
Only one sentence has Mom passing on the family’s Russian roots. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice, because Mom states a wish in it: Ellen can catch the train at Gotham. But that wish is about the trip, not the family’s past. In D, Mom uses the Russian names Yeléna and Anna Petrovna. She is surprised that Ellen doesn’t know them. That shows she wants Ellen to understand her heritage.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 72 of 120
2025 Practice Test B English, question 35Passage Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy
Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy
Inside the 40,000-acre Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in northern Oklahoma, herds of bison roam on the scenic land that is home to hundreds of different species of plants and animals. While one of the greatest threats to the prairie is wildfire, the use of controlled fires is actually an effective way to protect this idyllic landscape.
Fires that are started by lightning or other natural circumstances are inevitable, and the results can be disastrous. However, hundreds of years ago the American Indian people who inhabited the Great Plains area between Minnesota and Texas realized that these fires could also be helpful. The bison in the area seemed to prefer grazing on tender new grass on the recently burned land rather than on grass in the unburned areas. The American Indian people began to deliberately burn areas of land for bison to graze on, which enticed the herds away from the people’s crops.
Today conservationists at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve and farmers in the Great Plains continue to use controlled burns for land management. Intentionally burning a portion of land can dramatically improve the quality of the vegetation that regrows there. The fires burn away weedy undergrowth and help limit the overcrowding of shrubs and trees in the burn area, creating less competition for water and nutrients. Additionally, the process of burning excess plant matter adds nitrogen, an essential element for plant growth, to the soil.
One common target of controlled burns at the preserve and the surrounding area is the invasive red cedar tree. A single red cedar tree can consume up to 40 gallons of water per day, taking this vital resource away from other plant life. These tall trees also cast shade that prevents sunlight from reaching the plants beneath them. The fast-growing red cedar trees tend to crowd out prairie grasses, the primary food source for wild and domestic animals that make the prairie their home. An imbalance in one component of the prairie’s ecosystem affects the entire web of life. Controlled burns help maintain this ecosystem’s delicate balance.
Of course, these controlled fires are intended to burn only a portion of an area. A total burn, which is a risk with an uncontrolled wildfire, would destroy all wildlife as well as the crops farmers plant for income. The key to using controlled fires is knowing which areas of land to burn and when. Conservation experts at the preserve employ the “patch-burn” approach, meaning they rotate which portion of land is burned each year. They study the land to find out which areas would most benefit from being burned, and then they arrange about a dozen burns over one-third of the land. This patch burning contains the fire within a specific area and allows animals in the burn area to safely relocate. The following year, conservationists will burn a different section of the preserve, while the land burned the previous year regrows healthier than before.
Researchers have tracked and studied the variety of plant species and animals that live on the preserve, and their studies show that the patch-burn approach has restored biodiversity to the area by promoting the growth of species that were at risk of being crowded out. The patch-burn system is so successful that the conservationists at the preserve provide training to prairie farmers about conducting controlled burns on their own land. Burning land to make it healthy may seem counterintuitive, but strategic controlled fires have helped the prairie sustain life for hundreds of years and, with careful management, will continue to do so.
Question
Which details from the passage best convey the central idea that using the patch-burn method is an effective way to protect and manage prairie land?
- Athe explanation that conservationists use the alternating burn pattern of the patch-burn method in order to allow the animals in the area to avoid the fire
- Bthe information that conservationists evaluate which land would most benefit from a controlled burn before applying the patch-burn method
- Cthe information that conservationists have determined that the patch-burn method has promoted the growth of species that were at risk of being crowded out
- Dthe explanation that conservationists are able to control the fire in the patch-burn method by arranging separate burns across the designated portion of land
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks which details from the passage best convey the central idea that using the patch-burn method is an effective way to protect and manage prairie land.
A. Incorrect. The author explains in paragraph 5 that “patch burning contains the fire within a specific area and allows animals in the burn area to safely relocate.” This explanation conveys two supporting ideas: the patch-burn method is controllable, and patch-burn fires do not pose a threat to animals. However, this explanation does not address the broader central idea that the patch-burn method is an effective way to protect and manage prairie land.
B. Incorrect. In paragraph 5, the author states that “the key to using controlled fires is knowing which areas of land to burn and when.” The author then provides information about how conservation experts “study the land to find out which areas would most benefit from being burned.” However, these details convey supporting ideas rather than the central idea that using the patch-burn method is an effective way to protect and manage prairie land.
C. CORRECT. In paragraph 3, the author states that “fires burn away weedy undergrowth and help limit the overcrowding of shrubs and trees in the burn area, creating less competition for water and nutrients.” Also, in paragraph 6, the author states that patch burning “has restored biodiversity to the area by promoting the growth of species that were at risk of being crowded out.” These details directly convey the central idea that using the patch-burn method is an effective way to protect and manage prairie land.
D. Incorrect. The author explains in paragraph 5 how conservationists “arrange about a dozen burns over one-third of the land,” which helps show how the patch-burn method is applied by conservationists. However, this is a supporting detail that conveys the idea that the burns are deliberately set and carefully controlled. This detail does not convey the central idea that using the patch-burn method is an effective way to manage and protect prairie land.
Question analysis
This evidence question on the article about controlled burns at an Oklahoma tallgrass prairie preserve asks which details best convey the central idea that the patch-burn method is an effective way to protect and manage prairie land. Every choice reports something the article really says about the method, so students must decide which details speak most directly to the central idea as stated.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Matching details to a stated central idea is regular grade 7 work, and the article is short and clearly written. Each choice is a long, accurate description, so the work lies in judging relevance rather than truth, which 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 evaluate
- What makes it hard
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Evidence in several places minor
- A lot to read minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 598 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 118 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 central idea joins three words, protect, manage and effective, and each wrong choice speaks to protect or manage with a step in carrying out the method: keeping animals safe, choosing the land, controlling the fire. Only a result shows that the method is effective, and the one result offered is the return of species once at risk of being crowded out. Students who ask what each detail proves, not what it is about, separate how the method works from whether it works.
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
All four choices report the patch-burn method accurately, the animals’ safe relocation, the study of the land, the dozen burns and the restored species, so truth rules none out; each must be tested for proof the method works. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Evidence in several places minor Working it out
Three choices come from paragraph 5, where the method is explained, while the result that shows it works, restored biodiversity, sits in paragraph 6, after the description ends. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
A lot to read minor Understanding the question
Each choice is a noun phrase of 19 to 26 words opening “the explanation that” or “the information that,” so four long details must be unpacked before they can be compared. (Kintsch, 1998; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Strategy: Restate the central idea in your own words, noting what “effective” requires, then ask of each choice whether that detail would persuade a doubtful reader of the whole idea.
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 Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Links “protect” in the central idea to the animals’ chance to “safely relocate” in paragraph 5, a true detail of how patch burns are run, not proof they improve the prairie.
B Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Hears effectiveness in “would most benefit,” but experts studying the land before a burn shows how they plan where to burn, not that the burns have worked.
D Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Connects “manage” and “protect” to fire kept under control by arranging “about a dozen burns over one-third of the land,” which shows how the method is applied, not what it achieves.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks which details best support a central idea. A central idea is a main point the whole passage develops. Here the idea is given: the patch-burn method is an effective way to protect and manage prairie land. Effective means it works and gets good results. So look for details that show results, not just how the method is done.
Find how the method works
Paragraph 5 explains the patch-burn method. The experts “rotate which portion of land is burned each year.” Rotate means take turns. First, “They study the land to find out which areas would most benefit from being burned.” Then “they arrange about a dozen burns over one-third of the land.” This “contains the fire within a specific area and allows animals in the burn area to safely relocate.” These details tell how the method is done.
Find what the method achieves
Paragraph 6 gives the results. Researchers studied the plants and animals on the preserve. Their studies show “that the patch-burn approach has restored biodiversity to the area by promoting the growth of species that were at risk of being crowded out.” Biodiversity means many kinds of living things. A species is one kind of plant or animal. Crowded out means pushed aside, the way red cedars crowd out prairie grasses in paragraph 4. So the method helped species that were losing ground. That shows it works.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Animals escaping safely shows the burns are done with care. It does not show the land gets healthier.
- B does not fit. Studying the land is a planning step before a burn. It shows how the experts choose, not whether the burns work.
- C fits. It reports a result: the method helped species that were at risk.
- D does not fit. Arranging a dozen burns shows how the fire is kept under control. It does not show what the burns achieve.
Watch out: D sounds like “manage,” since the experts control the fire. But controlling a fire is part of doing the method. Only a result proves the method is effective.
Choose the answer
Only one choice shows the patch-burn method getting good results. So the answer is C, “the information that conservationists have determined that the patch-burn method has promoted the growth of species that were at risk of being crowded out.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong choice. Careful control sounds like good management. But D only describes how the burns are set up. A method can be done carefully and still fail. C gives the proof that it works: studies show the burns “restored biodiversity.” Paragraph 6 even calls the system “so successful.”
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Using Fire to Keep a Prairie Healthy” as printed (page 41)
Question 73 of 120
2025 Practice Test B English, question 44Passage Letter from Brooklyn
Letter from Brooklyn
by Jacob Scheier
I can already see how this will end.
How I will grow tired of the bridge’s
steep incline, and the absent-minded tourists
wandering into the bicycle path.
The weather will turn cold.
But that all happens later.
For now it is the early edge of fall,
leaves green still while the air narrows,
is slightly crisp, almost grazing
the hair of my arm like a passing stranger,
as though the air has been forced into intimacy
by the brevity of daylight.
But when it starts darkening at 4,
this closeness, I know, will be a felt distance,
like someone drawing your attention
to their lack of intimacy.
These days I am still walking at a cathedral pace
beneath the branches bending across avenues,
brownstones like rows of lived-in chapels,
like a pop-up picture book I could have had as a child,
but didn’t. How Brooklyn makes me nostalgic
for the moment I am walking inside of.
These late afternoons filled
with a loneliness that makes me feel
distinctly myself, and an awareness
of how rare that is.
“Letter from Brooklyn” from LETTER FROM BROOKLYN: POEMS by Jacob Scheier, published by ECW Press. Copyright © 2013 by Jacob Scheier All rights reserved.
brevity: briefness
cathedral: meditative
chapels: private places of prayer or worship
nostalgic: yearning for the past
Question
The details in lines 9–12 convey a central idea of the poem by
- Ashowing that the cool weather makes the speaker reflect more deeply on life.
- Bsuggesting that the speaker feels uncomfortable with what the coming weather signifies.
- Cimplying that the sensations the speaker experiences during the fall season are fleeting.
- Dsuggesting that the thought of fall approaching increases the loneliness the speaker feels.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks how lines 9–12 convey a central idea of the poem.
A. Incorrect. Although the speaker discusses the very beginning of cool weather in these lines, the speaker does not reflect on life in these lines.
B. Incorrect. Although the description in these lines likens the movement of crisp air to “a passing stranger,” that comparison does not have a negative connotation in this context; it does not suggest that the speaker is uncomfortable. Rather, it is used to describe the subtle physical sensation of cool air on the speaker’s arm.
C. CORRECT. By using a description of the crisp air as “a passing stranger” and the daylight as being brief, these lines express the poem’s central idea that the joy of early fall is temporary or fleeting.
D. Incorrect. Although the speaker acknowledges the coming fall in these lines, there is no mention of loneliness. The speaker reveals a loneliness in lines 23–26 but gives no hint of that feeling in lines 9–12. Further, this loneliness is not a central idea of the poem.
Question analysis
This central-idea question on Jacob Scheier’s poem “Letter from Brooklyn” asks how lines 9–12, where the crisp early-fall air grazes the speaker’s arm, convey a central idea of the poem. Students must interpret a simile and a personification packed into four short lines and connect what they suggest to the poem as a whole, while each choice names a different feeling or idea.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students explain how particular lines develop a central idea. These four lines make their point only through a simile and a personification about air and daylight, and linking them to the whole poem takes more interpretation 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 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Figurative or literary language major
- Reading between the lines moderate
- The right answer is reworded minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: 217 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 8, 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
The four lines describe a sensation, cool air almost grazing an arm, and the central idea sits in two small words, “passing” and “brevity.” The strongest pull hears the stranger and the air “forced into intimacy” as unwelcome, borrowing the unease the poem saves for the darkening of lines 13–16. Other choices bring in moods from elsewhere, the meditative walk and the loneliness of the last lines, so students must judge only what lines 9–12 themselves suggest.
Figurative or literary language major Understanding the question
The lines never say the moment is short: the air almost grazes the speaker’s arm “like a passing stranger” and is “forced into intimacy / by the brevity of daylight,” so “passing” and “brevity” carry the idea. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
Students must tie the brief touch and the short days to a central idea the poem never states, that early fall is slipping away, framed by “For now” in line 7 and “But when it starts darkening” in line 13. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
The right answer is reworded minor Choosing the answer
The right choice says “fleeting” where the lines say “passing” and “brevity,” while a wrong choice borrows the poem’s own word “loneliness” from line 24, which makes it look supported. (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Paraphrase lines 9–12 in plain words, checking the glossary for unfamiliar words, then decide what the comparison suggests about the speaker’s experience and test each choice against these four lines.
Traps
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
- 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 Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Senses that the poem is meditative and credits the cool air with prompting deep thought, though lines 9–12 record a light, passing touch on the arm, not reflections on life.
B Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Hears something unwelcome in “a passing stranger” and in air “forced into intimacy,” though the touch is light and the closeness enjoyed; unease arrives only with the darkening of lines 13–16.
D Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Brings the “loneliness” of lines 23–26 into lines that never mention it, and even there it makes the speaker feel “distinctly myself,” not lonelier as fall approaches.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks how lines 9–12 help build a central idea. A central idea is a main point the poem keeps coming back to. First work out what the four lines say. Then see how they connect to the rest of the poem. Test each choice against these four lines.
Read lines 9–12
The sentence is about the air, named in line 8. Lines 9–12 say it “is slightly crisp, almost grazing / the hair of my arm like a passing stranger, / as though the air has been forced into intimacy / by the brevity of daylight.” Crisp means cool and fresh. Grazing here means lightly touching. Intimacy means closeness. The glossary says brevity means “briefness.”
Work out the comparisons
“Like a passing stranger” is a simile, a comparison that uses like or as. A stranger who passes you on the street is there for a moment, then gone. So the cool air touches the speaker lightly and briefly. The next lines treat the air like a person pushed into closeness by the short daylight. Giving human feelings to something that isn’t human is called personification. Both “passing” and “brevity” point to the same thing: this feeling won’t last.
Connect the lines to the poem
The rest of the poem agrees. Line 7 begins “For now it is the early edge of fall.” Lines 13–14 look ahead: “But when it starts darkening at 4,” this closeness “will be a felt distance.” Lines 21–22 say Brooklyn makes the speaker “nostalgic / for the moment I am walking inside of.” So a central idea is that this early-fall moment is precious and passes quickly. Fleeting means lasting only a short time.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. These lines describe a touch on the skin, not thoughts about life.
- B does not fit. The touch is light, and the speaker enjoys the closeness now. The worry comes later, in lines 13–16.
- C fits. “Passing” and “brevity” show that the feelings of early fall won’t last.
- D does not fit. Lines 9–12 never mention loneliness, which comes in line 24. And line 7 says fall has already begun.
Watch out: B is tempting because “stranger” and “forced into intimacy” can sound unpleasant. But the stranger only passes by, and the touch is light.
Choose the answer
The brief touch and the short daylight show that this early-fall moment slips away fast. Sensations are feelings you get through your senses, like touch. So the answer is C, “implying that the sensations the speaker experiences during the fall season are fleeting.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice, because “forced” and “stranger” can sound unpleasant. But line 14 calls this feeling “this closeness,” and losing it is what will feel bad. So the closeness is welcome now. What lines 9–12 stress is how brief it is, which is C.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Letter from Brooklyn” as printed (page 50)
Question 74 of 120
2025 Practice Test B English, question 48Uses the passage above: “Letter from Brooklyn”.
Question
The poet develops the speaker’s point of view by
- Aproviding details about the speaker’s longing to be in a different place.
- Bshowing the speaker’s sense of unease about the passing seasons.
- Cincluding details about the speaker’s hope that life will remain unchanged.
- Dshowing the speaker’s desire to treasure and appreciate the changes taking place.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks how the poet develops the speaker’s point of view.
A. Incorrect. The speaker concedes that at some point, Brooklyn will become tiresome (lines 2–4). However, the bulk of the poem reveals the speaker’s appreciation for experiencing Brooklyn, not a desire to be in some other place.
B. Incorrect. Cold weather is inevitable, and the speaker is well aware of this future shift as well as the change in attitude it will bring. Nevertheless, the speaker does not focus on this future but rather embraces the current season, describing it in vivid detail.
C. Incorrect. The speaker is not hopeful that life will remain unchanged. Rather, the speaker accepts and appreciates the seasonal changes that occur.
D. CORRECT. The speaker’s point of view is largely positive and appreciative of the shift in seasons. This point of view is developed by language that shows a close connection between the speaker and the setting. For example, the speaker uses words such as “intimacy” (line 11) and “closeness” (line 14) and the description of the “pop-up picture book” (line 20). Finally, the conclusion emphasizes the point of view: “These late afternoons filled / with a loneliness that makes me feel / distinctly myself, and an awareness / of how rare that is” (lines 23–26).
Question analysis
This point-of-view question asks how the poet develops the speaker’s point of view in “Letter from Brooklyn,” in which the speaker walks through the city at the start of fall knowing that colder, darker days lie ahead. The speaker’s thoughts move between the present and the future, so students must weigh the whole poem, and each choice names a different attitude.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Typical grade 7 point-of-view questions focus on one passage or stanza. This one asks for the speaker’s attitude across a whole poem of shifting moods, and several choices rest on real lines, so judging the overall view takes more 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 analyze
- What makes it hard
- Evidence in several places moderate
- Reading between the lines moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from the whole text
- Reading level
- Passage: 217 words (a poem; reading level not measured); question and choices: about grade 7, 54 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 poem opens by predicting its own end and returns to the coming dark in lines 13–16, so a reader who weighs those lines heavily finds unease, and the speaker does feel some. But the speaker turns back to the present each time, with “But that all happens later” and “These days I am still walking,” and the closing lines call the moment rare. The point of view is a wish to savor what is passing, and only a choice that fits the whole poem, not its most anxious lines, matches it.
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The point of view has to hold from line 1 to line 26 while the poem swings between the future, tiring of the bridge and darkening at 4, and the present walk under the branches. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
No line names the speaker’s attitude; it has to be drawn from “For now,” the walk “at a cathedral pace,” the nostalgia “for the moment I am walking inside of” and “how rare that is.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Three wrong choices rest on real lines, tiring of the bridge’s “steep incline,” the “felt distance” of line 14 and the nostalgia of lines 21–22, so each must be weighed against the whole poem. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Sum up in one sentence how the speaker feels about the present walk and about the season ahead, then pick the choice that holds true from the first line to the last.
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.
- 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 forecast that the speaker “will grow tired” of the bridge and the tourists into a present longing to be elsewhere, though the rest of the poem savors Brooklyn’s streets.
B Wrong tone or attitude (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Fixes on the coming cold and the “felt distance” of lines 13–16, real notes of unease, and takes them for the whole view, though “But that all happens later” sets the future aside.
C Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reads nostalgia “for the moment I am walking inside of” as a wish that nothing change, though the speaker opens by accepting “how this will end” and treasures the moment because it passes.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks about point of view: how the speaker, the voice talking in the poem, feels about what is happening. The question is about the whole poem, not a few lines. So follow the speaker’s feelings from line 1 to line 26. The right choice must fit all of it.
Follow the speaker’s thoughts
The poem moves back and forth in time. Lines 1–5 look ahead: “I can already see how this will end.” The speaker will tire of the bridge, and “The weather will turn cold.” Line 6 turns back: “But that all happens later.” Lines 7–12 describe the cool air of early fall. Lines 13–16 look ahead again, to days that get dark at 4 o’clock. Line 17 returns to now: “These days I am still walking at a cathedral pace.”
See how the speaker treats now
The glossary says cathedral means “meditative,” or calm and thoughtful. The speaker walks slowly to take everything in. Brownstones look “like a pop-up picture book.” Lines 21–22 say “How Brooklyn makes me nostalgic / for the moment I am walking inside of.” Nostalgic means “yearning for the past.” Yet the speaker longs for right now. In the last lines, even the loneliness of late afternoon is welcome. It makes the speaker feel “distinctly myself,” and aware “of how rare that is.”
Put the point of view in words
The speaker knows this season will end. That is why each moment matters. The speaker notices the first signs of fall, like the crisp air, and savors them. To treasure something is to value it highly. So the speaker wants to treasure and appreciate the changes happening now.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. Lines 2–4 say the speaker will tire of the bridge someday. But the speaker enjoys Brooklyn now and never wishes to be elsewhere.
- B does not fit. Lines 13–16 show some unease about the dark days ahead. But each time, the speaker turns back to the present.
- C does not fit. The speaker knows from line 1 that this will end, and treasures the moment because it will pass.
- D fits. The speaker savors the early-fall walk while it lasts.
Watch out: B rests on real lines: the closeness the speaker feels now “will be a felt distance” (line 14). But that is one part of the poem, not the whole view.
Choose the answer
The speaker knows the season will change and holds on to each moment of it. So the answer is D, “showing the speaker’s desire to treasure and appreciate the changes taking place.”
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong choice, because lines 13–16 do show unease. But each time the poem looks ahead, the speaker turns back to now: “But that all happens later” and “These days I am still walking.” The poem ends by calling the moment rare. The main feeling is a wish to treasure the present, which is D.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 75 of 120
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 76 of 120
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 77 of 120
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 78 of 120
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 79 of 120
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 80 of 120
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 81 of 120
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 82 of 120
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 83 of 120
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 84 of 120
2023 Test A English, question 1Question
Which edit should be made in the sentence?
On May 8, 2018, Boston University student Zach Prescott ran a mile in 4 minutes 43.2 seconds while juggling three lacrosse balls, breaking the 32-year-old world record in joggling a sport that combines jogging and juggling.
- ADelete the comma after 2018.
- BInsert a comma after student.
- CDelete the comma after lacrosse balls.
- DInsert a comma after joggling.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which edit should be made to correct the sentence.
A. Incorrect. This edit incorrectly deletes the comma that is necessary to set off the year in a date from the remainder of the sentence.
B. Incorrect. This edit introduces an unnecessary comma into the sentence by needlessly separating the adjective phrase “Boston University student” from the noun it modifies, “Zach Prescott.”
C. Incorrect. This edit would delete the comma needed to separate the participle phrase “breaking the 32-year-old world record in joggling” and its companion appositive “a sport that combines jogging and juggling” from the rest of the sentence. This complete element is nonessential, which means it requires separation from the rest of the sentence with a comma because its removal would not fundamentally change the meaning of the sentence.
D. CORRECT. The appositive “a sport that combines jogging and juggling” further describes the word “joggling.” An appositive requires separation with a comma because it is nonessential, meaning that its removal would not change the overall meaning of the sentence.
Question analysis
This punctuation question gives one long sentence about a Boston University student who ran a mile while juggling and broke a world record, and asks which comma edit it needs. Students weigh four marked spots, at a date, between a title and a name, and at two places near the end, deciding at each whether a comma belongs.
- NYS standards
- 7L2 capitalization, punctuation, and spelling
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Commas with dates and with extra information added to a sentence are grade 6 punctuation rules. This item tests them in a single 36-word sentence with one edit to choose, lighter than grade 7 work on phrases, clauses and modifiers.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- A rule that doesn't sound wrong moderate
- Hard words minor
- Complex sentences minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 7, 60 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 one missing comma sits at the end of a long sentence, right after an unfamiliar word, and the sentence still sounds acceptable without it. The strongest pull applies the appositive rule one spot too early, between a descriptive title and the name it introduces, while the other two wrong edits remove commas that the date and the added phrase about the record both need. Bracketing each piece of added information, from where it starts to where it ends, exposes the gap after the sport’s name.
A rule that doesn't sound wrong moderate Working it out
Two quiet rules decide the question: the closing appositive “a sport that combines jogging and juggling” must be set off from “joggling,” while a title placed straight before a name, as in “Boston University student Zach Prescott,” takes no comma. (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Hard words minor Understanding the question
“Joggling” is a word few students have met, and without the comma “in joggling a sport” can read like a verb and its object rather than the name of a sport followed by its definition. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
The 36-word sentence strings together a date, a title and name, a “while” phrase, the phrase “breaking the 32-year-old world record” and a closing appositive, so every comma has to be judged against where these parts begin and end. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Strategy: Find the main subject and verb, then take the four underlined spots in order and ask what the words on each side are doing and whether a comma belongs between them.
Traps
- Punctuation: A comma, semicolon, colon, dash or apostrophe used where it does not belong, or missing where it does.
The wrong answers, classified
A Punctuation (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Treats the comma after “2018” as extra, not knowing that a full date takes a comma after the year as well as between the day and the year.
B Punctuation (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Applies the appositive rule to “student Zach Prescott,” but a title placed directly before a name is not set off, and a lone comma there would cut the title off from the name.
C Punctuation (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Deletes the comma before “breaking the 32-year-old world record” as if the phrase belonged to the juggling, though without it the lacrosse balls seem to break the record instead of Prescott.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is a punctuation question. Punctuation means marks like commas and periods. The sentence has four underlined spots. Each choice adds or takes away one comma. Only one edit fixes the sentence. To find it, ask what each group of words is doing.
Learn the rule for renaming words
Sometimes a sentence names a thing and then tells you what it is. The words that rename it are called an appositive. An appositive gets a comma to set it off from the rest of the sentence.
Example: My uncle plays the tuba, a big brass horn. The words a big brass horn tell you what a tuba is, so a comma comes before them.
Find where a comma is missing
Look at the end of the sentence: “breaking the 32-year-old world record in joggling a sport that combines jogging and juggling.” Joggling is the name of a sport. The words “a sport that combines jogging and juggling” tell you what joggling is. So they are an appositive. But nothing sets them off from “joggling.” A comma belongs right after “joggling.”
Check each choice
- A is wrong. When more of the sentence follows a full date, the year needs a comma after it too. Example: On June 2, 2020, we moved.
- B is wrong. A title that comes right before a name takes no comma. You write Coach Rivera with no comma. In the same way, “Boston University student” is a title for Zach Prescott.
- C is wrong. The comma before “breaking” sets off the part about the record. Without it, the lacrosse balls seem to break the record, not Zach.
- D is right. It adds the comma that sets off the appositive.
Watch out: B is tempting, because “student” does describe Zach. But a title placed right before a name stays joined to it.
Choose the answer
With the new comma, the end reads: breaking the 32-year-old world record in joggling, a sport that combines jogging and juggling. So the answer is D: insert a comma after joggling.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer. It puts one comma between a title and a name. That comma would cut “Boston University student” off from “Zach Prescott.” D fixes a real gap. It puts a comma before “a sport that combines jogging and juggling,” the words that tell what joggling is.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 85 of 120
2023 Test A English, question 3Question
How should this sentence be revised?
To promote their club, a bake sale will be sponsored by members of the debate team on Wednesday.
- ATo promote their club, on Wednesday a bake sale will be sponsored by members of the debate team.
- BOn Wednesday, to promote their club, a bake sale will be sponsored by members of the debate team.
- CTo promote their club, members of the debate team will sponsor a bake sale on Wednesday.
- DMembers of the debate team, on Wednesday to promote their club, will sponsor a bake sale.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks for the correct revision of the sentence in the box.
A. Incorrect. The revisions do not fix the error that “to promote their club” modifies “a bake sale.”
B. Incorrect. The revisions do not fix the error that “to promote their club” modifies “a bake sale.”
C. CORRECT. The revision is correct because it includes the phrase “to promote their club” clearly modifying “members of the debate team.”
D. Incorrect. While the revision clarifies that “to promote their club” relates to the “members of the debate team,” the rest of the sentence is poorly written because the insertion of “on Wednesday to promote their club” in the middle of the sentence interrupts the main clause, “Members of the debate team will sponsor a bake sale.”
Question analysis
This sentence-structure question gives one sentence about a debate team’s bake sale, planned for Wednesday to promote their club, and asks how it should be revised. The four rewrites shuffle the same three phrases into different orders, so students must check which word each phrase modifies and whether the whole sentence still reads naturally.
- NYS standards
- 7L1 grammar and usage conventions
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Placing a phrase so that it describes the right word is part of the grade 7 language standards, and this one-sentence item is a classic case. Choosing the rewrite that is both logical and smooth is typical grade 7 editing.
- 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
- A rule that doesn't sound wrong moderate
- Complex sentences minor
- Every choice must be checked minor
- A very close wrong answer minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 7, 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 sentence makes sense on a first reading, which is exactly why its error slips past students who edit by ear. Asking who is promoting the club exposes it and removes both rewrites that keep the bake sale as the subject, however neatly they are punctuated. What is left is a judgment of style, and the smoother rewrite keeps the subject and verb together instead of interrupting them with two phrases.
A rule that doesn't sound wrong moderate Working it out
“To promote their club” has to describe whatever comes right after its comma, and that is “a bake sale”; the meaning is so plain that few students notice the sale doing the promoting. (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
The original is passive, “a bake sale will be sponsored by members of the debate team,” which places the people who act after the verb, far from the phrase that should describe them. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Each rewrite rearranges the opening phrase, the time phrase and the main clause, so each has to be read through to see what follows “To promote their club” and whether anything splits a subject from its verb. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
Two rewrites make the team members the subject of “will sponsor” with identical words; they part only on where the two phrases go, at the edges of the sentence or wedged between subject and verb. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Ask who is really doing the promoting, then read each rewrite aloud in full, checking which words follow the opening phrase and whether the sentence reads smoothly from start to finish.
Traps
- Misplaced modifier: A describing word or phrase that attaches to the wrong word, or to nothing in the sentence.
The wrong answers, classified
A Misplaced modifier (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Moves “on Wednesday” ahead of the bake sale as if the time phrase were the misplaced part, but the sentence stays passive and the sale is still what “To promote their club” describes.
B Misplaced modifier (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Is drawn by the tidy commas around both fronted phrases, yet “a bake sale” still comes straight after them, so the sale remains the thing promoting the club.
D Misplaced modifier (Connors & Lunsford, 1988)
Rightly makes “Members of the debate team” the subject but parks “on Wednesday to promote their club” between it and “will sponsor,” a clumsy break the smoother rewrite avoids.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need the best way to rewrite the sentence. This is about a modifier. A modifier is a group of words that describes something else in the sentence. Here the opening words, “To promote their club,” are the modifier. Your job is to check what they describe.
Learn the rule for opening phrases
A sentence may start with a describing phrase and a comma. Then the phrase describes whatever comes right after the comma. So the one doing the action should come next.
Wrong: To get good seats, the line was joined early by Ana. A line can’t want good seats.
Right: To get good seats, Ana joined the line early.Find the problem in the sentence
To promote a club means to get people interested in it. In the sentence, the words right after the comma are “a bake sale.” So the sentence seems to say the bake sale is promoting the club. But a bake sale doesn’t have a club. The club belongs to the “members of the debate team.” They should come right after the comma, and they should do the action: they “will sponsor a bake sale.”
Check each choice
- A is wrong. It moves “on Wednesday” forward. But the bake sale is still what the opening phrase describes.
- B is wrong. It puts “On Wednesday,” at the front. The commas look neat, but “a bake sale” still follows “to promote their club.”
- C is right. “Members of the debate team” comes right after the comma. They are the ones promoting their club.
- D is wrong. The members come first. But “on Wednesday to promote their club” is stuck between the subject (who does the action) and the verb (the action word).
Watch out: D is tempting, since the members do the promoting. But its long middle part breaks up the main idea.
Choose the answer
C fixes the modifier and reads smoothly: To promote their club, members of the debate team will sponsor a bake sale on Wednesday. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D is the closest wrong answer. Like C, it makes the members the ones who promote the club. But D pushes a long phrase between “Members of the debate team” and “will sponsor.” C keeps the subject and the verb side by side, so it is easier to read.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 86 of 120
2023 Test A English, question 6Passage The Benefits of Indoor Plants
The Benefits of Indoor Plants
(1) In an age of endless media content, it is easy to see why people might prefer to stay inside. (2) According to a study sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans spend an average of 87 percent of their time indoors. (3) Scientists say that this separation between people and nature puts people at risk for physical and psychological issues.
(4) During the process of photosynthesis, plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and remove many harmful toxins from the air. (5) Spending prolonged periods of time indoors, away from plants, deprives people of these benefits. (6) Air that is not regularly detoxified can lead to a condition known as sick building syndrome. (7) This disorder first came to light in the 1970s when many office workers in the United States began to complain of unexplained flu-like symptoms. (8) Researchers determined the cause to be volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. (9) VOCs are harmful chemicals that are emitted by everyday objects such as carpet, furniture, cleaning products, and computers. (10) The NASA Clean Air Study found a simple way to remove a significant number of VOCs within a 24-hour period: add plants to indoor spaces.
(11) Adding plants to indoor spaces has psychological benefits too. (12) Research has long linked time spent in natural environments with increased energy and feelings of contentment. (13) While being outdoors is an excellent option for improving a person’s mental health, recent research has indicated that encountering natural elements while indoors can also help. (14) To experience the maximum benefit of natural elements, experts suggest placing at least one live plant per 100 square feet of home or office space.
(15) Connecting with nature, even just by being near an indoor plant, is a significant factor in a person’s well-being. (16) Sitting in front of an electronic screen all day isn’t natural, and today’s workers need to get up and get outdoors. (17) Richard Ryan, a psychology professor at the University of Rochester, puts it this way: “Nature is something within which we flourish, so having it be more a part of our lives is critical, especially when we live and work in built environments.”
Question
Which transition word or phrase should be added to the beginning of sentence 5?
- AAs a result,
- BPrimarily,
- CIn contrast,
- DUnfortunately,
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks for the transition word or phrase that should be added to the beginning of sentence 5.
A. Incorrect. The transition phrase “As a result” conveys a cause-and-effect relationship that does not exist between the ideas in sentence 4 and sentence 5. Although the plants’ conversion of carbon dioxide into oxygen removes harmful toxins from the air, the process of photosynthesis (sentence 4) does not deprive people of the plants’ benefits (sentence 5).
B. Incorrect. Although the passage describes why people should spend time in close proximity to plants, the idea in sentence 5 shifts from the benefits described in sentence 4 to what people lose without them, rather than elaborating on sentence 4. The transition word “Primarily” incorrectly suggests that the sentences describe the same idea.
C. Incorrect. Although sentence 4 describes a positive idea (plants are beneficial) and sentence 5 describes a negative idea (deprivation), the transition phrase “In contrast” conveys an inaccurate relationship between the ideas in the sentences. Sentence 5 is not arguing against the beneficial effect of plants and should not begin with a transition that implies opposition.
D. CORRECT. The relationship between the ideas in the sentences is correctly conveyed with the transition word “Unfortunately,” which signals the shift from the positive effect described in sentence 4 (plants are helpful) to the emphasis in sentence 5 that the positive effect is dependent on proximity to plants.
Question analysis
This transitions question on “The Benefits of Indoor Plants,” a short informational passage, asks which word or phrase should be added to the start of sentence 5. Students must reread sentence 4, on how plants clean indoor air, and sentence 5, on spending long periods indoors, and name the link between them, since all four options are familiar transitions.
- 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 matches how two sentences relate is everyday grade 7 writing work. Here sentence 5 is not reprinted with the question, so students must find it in the passage first, and more than one option seems to fit.
- 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
- Reading between the lines minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 346 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 20 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- The explanation contradicted itself about how sentences 4 and 5 relate; one 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 question does not print sentence 5, so students first have to find it in the second paragraph and read it beside sentence 4. Two options then sound right: sentence 5 seems to follow from sentence 4, and it moves from good news to bad. Neither fits exactly, because photosynthesis does not cause people to stay inside and missing a benefit does not dispute it, so the point goes to students who hear a writer regretting a loss.
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
Sentence 5’s “these benefits” points back to the oxygen and cleaner air of sentence 4, and the link it needs is a drawback of that good news, people kept away from plants, rather than a cause or an opposition. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
“Unfortunately” states no logical relation; it voices the writer’s regret, so students who scan the options for a cause, contrast or emphasis word must infer that sentence 5 turns toward a loss. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Read sentences 4 and 5 back to back and say in a few words how the second relates to the first, then try each option at the start of sentence 5 and keep the one that matches.
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)
Treats sentence 5 as an effect of photosynthesis, but plants cleaning the air does not make anyone stay indoors; the loss comes from being away from the plants.
B Wrong transition (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Uses “Primarily” as if sentence 5 elaborated on sentence 4’s main point, but sentence 5 moves from what plants give to what people lose without them.
C Wrong transition (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Hears the move from the benefits of plants to people missing them as a contrast, but sentence 5 builds on sentence 4 through “these benefits” instead of arguing against it.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The DOE’s explanation of Option B (“Primarily”) says “the idea in sentence 5 is actually in opposition to the idea in sentence 4 rather than an elaboration of it.” Its explanation of Option C (“In contrast”) says the opposite: “Sentence 5 is not arguing against the beneficial effect of plants and should not begin with a transition that implies opposition,” and it explains the answer as a shift from the positive effect in sentence 4 to the point that the effect depends on being near plants. The site now says that the idea in sentence 5 shifts from the benefits described in sentence 4 to what people lose without them, rather than elaborating on sentence 4. The site made the same correction to this item as printed in the 2026 practice test (2026 Test A English, question 44). Option B is still wrong, and the answer, D (“Unfortunately”), is unchanged.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need a transition to start sentence 5. A transition is a word or phrase that shows how two ideas connect. For example, as a result shows a cause and its effect. To pick one, see how sentence 5 connects to sentence 4, the sentence just before it.
Find sentences 4 and 5
Both are in the second paragraph. Sentence 4 says: “During the process of photosynthesis, plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and remove many harmful toxins from the air.”
Sentence 5 says: “Spending prolonged periods of time indoors, away from plants, deprives people of these benefits.”
Work out how they connect
Photosynthesis is the way plants use sunlight to make their food. While they do it, they give off oxygen and clean the air. That is good news. In sentence 5, “prolonged” means long, and “deprives” means keeps from having. The words “these benefits” point back to the oxygen and clean air. So people who stay inside, far from plants, miss out. The paragraph turns from good news to bad news.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. “As a result” means sentence 4 causes sentence 5. But plants cleaning the air does not make people stay indoors.
- B is wrong. “Primarily” means mainly. It suggests sentence 5 says more about the same idea. But sentence 5 moves from what plants give to what people lose without them.
- C is wrong. “In contrast” sets up an opposite idea. But sentence 5 does not argue against sentence 4. It builds on it with “these benefits.”
- D is right. “Unfortunately” means sadly. It warns that bad news comes after good news.
Watch out: C is tempting, because the mood changes from good to bad. But a change in mood is not an opposite. Sentence 4 is still true.
Choose the answer
Sentence 5 would read: Unfortunately, spending prolonged periods of time indoors, away from plants, deprives people of these benefits. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer, since the paragraph turns from good news to bad. But “In contrast” would mean sentence 5 argues against sentence 4. It doesn’t. Plants still clean the air. Sentence 5 only says that people miss this help when they stay inside. “Unfortunately” shows that sad turn without setting up an opposite.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “The Benefits of Indoor Plants” as printed (page 60)
Question 87 of 120
2023 Test A English, question 15Passage A Memory Revolution
A Memory Revolution
A high school senior logs on to a computer at the library to double-check the application due date listed on a college admissions website. Nearby, a librarian helps a group of biology students use a database to search for recent studies about mammals. In the past few decades, the Internet has become an integral component of daily life for many people. The seemingly limitless power of search engines made the Internet search extremely common, and today people increasingly rely on the Internet’s vast accumulation of sources to access all types of information. Scientists are beginning to examine how this reliance is modifying the strategies people use to store and prioritize information in their mind.
A Dependable and Valuable Asset
Psychologist Benjamin Storm from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and researchers Sean Stone and Aaron Benjamin devised an experiment to study students’ tendency to depend on the Internet for facts. To begin, the scientists divided sixty participants into multiple groups, including an “Internet” group and a “memory” group, and placed them in front of computers. The Internet group was required to use the search engine Google to answer eight challenging trivia questions. In contrast, participants in the memory group were permitted to use only their personal knowledge to answer the questions. In the second round, the researchers administered notably easier questions. This time, they allowed each group the option of using Google as they answered. Their results showed that 83 percent of the Internet group continued to consult Google in the second round, while only 63 percent of the memory group chose to do so.
People’s growing inclination to rely on the Internet in order to retrieve information, particularly facts and figures, is called cognitive offloading. Canadian researcher Evan F. Risko and British researcher Sam Gilbert, who have written extensively about the topic, say a similar process has been taking place for centuries. In the past, people used resources like encyclopedias to assist their memories; however, today the Internet, serving as a vast extended memory, allows people to digitally access and retrieve much larger volumes of information. Consequently, people’s minds are free for other cognitive feats, such as connecting data, learning new information, or solving problems.
Filing Information Away
The use of the Internet also appears to be modifying the strategies people use to store information in their mind. Researchers Betsy Sparrow from Columbia University, Jenny Liu from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Daniel Wegner from Harvard University conducted several studies to discover how people efficiently manage their information intake.
To begin, the researchers examined how people evaluate which information deserves their effort to remember. For this experiment, participants read forty trivia facts, such as “An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain,” and typed the statements into a computer file. Half the participants had been previously told the file would be saved, while half believed it would be erased. Next, the participants wrote down every fact they could recall. Those who believed the information would be erased and no longer available could recall 40 percent more facts than those who thought the information would be saved.
In another experiment, the same researchers tested the ability of study participants to remember where to access information. For this trial, participants read and typed trivia statements, which they saved in folders with generic names such as “Facts” and “Items.” After spending ten minutes writing down all the facts they could recall from memory, participants were asked which folder contained a particular fact based on a keyword. For example, “Which folder has the fact about ostriches?” Overall, participants recalled the information’s location more often than the content itself, correctly identifying 49 percent of the folders for specific facts while remembering only 23 percent of the actual trivia. The researchers concluded that our memory is adapting to the Internet age by prioritizing where to locate information even when the specific details are forgotten. According to Sparrow, the Internet has become an important form of transactive memory, an external source of the recollections and associative networks that constitute memory.
As the Internet’s resources continue to expand our “external” memory, some question whether the process may cause people to depend too heavily on technology. However, Steven Pinker, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, says, “Knowledge is increasing exponentially; human brainpower and waking hours are not. Fortunately, the Internet and information technologies are helping us manage, search and retrieve our collective intellectual output at different scales, from Twitter and previews to e-books and online encyclopedias. Far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart.”
Question
Which sentence from the passage suggests that using Internet search engines may lead people to rely less on their own ability to recall information?
- A“In the past few decades, the Internet has become an integral component of daily life for many people.” (paragraph 1)
- B“The Internet group was required to use the search engine Google to answer eight challenging trivia questions.” (paragraph 2)
- C“Their results showed that 83 percent of the Internet group continued to consult Google in the second round, while only 63 percent of the memory group chose to do so.” (paragraph 2)
- D“For this experiment, participants read forty trivia facts, such as ‘An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain,’ and typed the statements into a computer file.” (paragraph 5)
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks which sentence from the passage suggests that using Internet search engines may lead people to rely less on their own ability to recall information.
A. Incorrect. While the sentence in paragraph 1 refers to the increase in use that has made the Internet “an integral component” of everyday life for many people, it does not address memory or explain the effect of Internet use on a person’s ability to recall information.
B. Incorrect. Although the sentence in paragraph 2 refers to research that was conducted to determine how the use of the Internet affects a person’s memory, the sentence simply explains one guideline of the study. The fact that the study required one group of participants to use Google does not indicate whether using a search engine affects the degree to which people rely on their own ability to recall information.
C. CORRECT. The sentence in paragraph 2 states that “83 percent of the Internet group continued to consult Google in the second round” and that “only 63 percent of the memory group chose to do so.” These statistics suggest that using Google in the first round resulted in participants in the Internet group relying more heavily on the Internet search engine to recall information in the second round, whereas participants who had not used Google in the first round were more likely to rely on their own ability to recall information.
D. Incorrect. The sentence in paragraph 5 describes a task presented to participants in a research study. Although the study was designed to examine “how people evaluate which information deserves their effort to remember” (paragraph 5), the sentence does not indicate that use of Internet search engines prompted people to rely less on their own ability to recall information.
Question analysis
This evidence question on “A Memory Revolution,” an article about how search engines are changing the ways people store and find information, asks which sentence suggests that searching online may lead people to depend less on their own recall. The four quotations come from paragraphs 1, 2 and 5, and each touches on the Internet, a study or memory, so students must test what each one actually shows.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Choosing the sentence that supports an idea is routine grade 7 evidence work. Here the idea appears in the question but in none of the quotations, so students must infer which one implies it from what the passage says around each.
- 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
- A very close wrong answer minor
- Much to keep track of minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 14, 763 words; question and choices: about grade 13, 117 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 four quotations states the idea in the question, so each has to be judged by what it implies. Paragraph 2’s experiment supplies both the most tempting wrong sentence and the right one, and they differ as a study’s setup differs from its findings. Students who settle for the sentence that names a search engine, or for any line about remembering trivia, overlook that only a measured result can show an effect on how people recall.
Reading between the lines moderate Working it out
The right sentence gives only two percentages and never mentions memory; students must infer that reaching for Google on “notably easier questions” shows less trust in one’s own recall, and that first-round searching set the Internet group apart. (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
Two quotations come from paragraph 2’s Google study and both name the Internet group; one states the rule for the first round, the other what the group chose once Google was optional. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Much to keep track of minor Working it out
Reading 83 and 63 percent correctly means holding two groups and two rounds in mind: which group had to search at first, and that in round two both could choose Google. (Sweller, 1988; Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990)
Strategy: Put the idea in your own words, then reread each quoted sentence in its paragraph and ask whether it shows people relying more on a search engine and less on their own memory.
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)
Takes the opening claim that the Internet is “an integral component of daily life” as a sign of dependence, but the sentence only sets the scene and says nothing about recall.
B Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Finds the right study and the words “search engine Google,” but this sentence states only what the Internet group had to do in round one, not how it behaved afterward.
D Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Recalls that the ostrich-fact experiment found people remembered less when they expected a file to be saved, but this sentence only describes the typing task, and no search engine is involved.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is an evidence question. You need the sentence that best supports an idea. The idea is that using search engines may make people lean less on their own memory. To recall means to bring back to mind. A search engine is a website, like Google, that finds information for you. Look for a sentence that shows people trusting Google more than their own memory.
Find the study in paragraph 2
Paragraph 2 tells about an experiment with two groups. “The Internet group was required to use the search engine Google to answer eight challenging trivia questions.” The memory group could use only what they already knew. Then came a second round of “notably easier questions.” This time, each group could choose whether to use Google.
Read the results
Group Round 1 Round 2: chose Google Internet group had to use Google 83 percent Memory group memory only 63 percent The round 2 questions were easier. People had a better chance of knowing the answers on their own. Yet the Internet group still turned to Google more often. That is 20 more people out of every 100. Using Google first seems to have made them lean on it instead of their own memory.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. It says the Internet is “an integral component,” or a key part, of daily life. It says nothing about memory.
- B is wrong. It gives a rule of the study: what the Internet group had to do in round 1. A rule is not a result, so it can’t show an effect.
- C is right. It gives the result. The group that had used Google kept choosing it, even when the questions got easier.
- D is wrong. It tells about the typing task in a different study. That study tested memory, but no search engine was used.
Watch out: B is tempting because it names Google and the same study. But it only tells what people were told to do, not what they chose.
Choose the answer
Only C shows what people did once they were free to choose. The Internet group leaned on Google more than the memory group did. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer, since it comes from the same study. But B only tells what the Internet group had to do at the start. C shows what happened next. Given a choice, 83 percent of that group still used Google, but only 63 percent of the memory group did. That gap is the evidence.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “A Memory Revolution” as printed (pages 3–4)
Question 88 of 120
2023 Test A English, question 48Passage Excerpt from Winter Wheat
Excerpt from Winter Wheat
by Mildred Walker
Ellen, the narrator, is preparing to leave her parents and the family farm for college the next day.
I love Dad’s way of talking that makes him seem different from other ranchers. He’s lived here twenty-three years, but he still says “back East where I come from.” He’s the one who gets excited when I do about spring coming or a serial running in the magazine we’re both reading, but it’s what Mom says that I depend on. When Mom used to say “Don’t worry” about my pet chicken or dog or new calf, it always got well. Dad is always talking of going some place, not now, but next year, maybe. Mom seems to think of nothing farther away than today or perhaps yesterday or tomorrow morning.
Mom folded the ironing board and put it inside their bedroom that was just off the kitchen. She carried in the freshly ironed clothes. Dad went back to his paper. When Mom came back she took beans from the cupboard to soak for tomorrow. Dad always said Mom could make all the dishes he’d had back in Vermont as well as though she were a New Englander herself, instead of a Russian. All of a sudden, I realized that tomorrow when those beans would be ready to eat I’d be going away. It gave me a funny feeling.
“I’ll be taking the train tomorrow night,” I said aloud, more to hear it myself.
“We can drive you into town in the afternoon,” Dad said, dropping his paper on the floor.
“There’s no need to go to town; she can catch the train at Gotham just as well. We haven’t nothing to take us into town for,” Mom said.
“Well, we don’t have to decide tonight,” Dad said, but I knew he wanted to go into Clark City. It wouldn’t be so flat as just seeing me go off on the train from Gotham. My going away was hard on both of them; they were so different—and I was part of them both. It made me uncomfortable to think of leaving them.
While I was getting ready for bed in my room that’s off the front room, I saw how it would be if I left from town. We’d go in right after dinner and go around to the stores, Dad going one way and Mom and I another. Dad would probably have his hair cut at the barbershop and stop in the bank and meet someone he knew to talk to. Then we’d meet at the big store on the corner and go to the cafeteria for supper. The train stops ten minutes or so at the station in town and there are other people and excitement and you have time to wave from the platform and then again from your window by your seat. We went to the station in Clark City to see the Goodals off when they went back to Iowa.
If I left from Gotham, we’d just drive down in the truck and wait till the train came. It only stops long enough for you to get on and you hardly have time to taste the flavor of going away.
I sat on the bed in my pyjamas with my arms around my knees. I couldn’t keep from thinking of that time Dad went back East. I tried to, and then I just sat still and looked straight at it. Sometimes that’s better than working so hard to keep from looking at what’s in your mind.
Dad went all the way back to Vermont. . . . It was in November and it was already dark when the train came through Gotham. Even now, I could feel how cold and dark it was. I held Mom’s hand. Dad was so dressed-up he seemed strange. . . . We stood there without saying anything until Dad told Mom to remember to call Mr. Bardich, our neighbor, if the cow didn’t calve tomorrow.
“I’ll manage,” Mom snapped back.
“I wish you could go, Anna,” Dad said to Mom, “and we could take Ellen.” . . .
“Good-by, Anna Petrovna,” he said, looking at Mom. I had never heard him call her by two names before.
“Good-by,” Mom said, standing still, without smiling.
Then he was gone and the crossroads were darker than ever. The train light shone on the high window in the top of the grain elevator for a moment and then that too was dark. We got into our old Ford and Mom drove back to the house. My throat ached all the way. The name Dad had called Mom kept saying itself in my ears: “Anna Petrovna, Anna Petrovna.” . . .
Our house seemed lonely when we came back to it. It seemed to be hiding under the coulee. I went with Mom to put the truck in the barn that was bigger than the house. I think Mom was prouder of our barn than the house, anyway. We walked back to look at the cow that was going to calve. She was just a big light blob in the dark, waiting. I had thought she was exciting this morning, but now she seemed sad, too.
The wind blew when we walked across the open space to the house and I couldn’t help shivering with the cold. Inside the house it was warm, but empty.
“Bring your nightgown in here and I heat you some milk,” Mom said.
I drank the milk sitting on a stool in front of the stove. It tasted good, but the lonely ache in my throat was still there. I picked up my clothes and hung them neatly behind the stove and put my cup on the sink board. Mom was fixing oatmeal for tomorrow morning.
“Good night, Mom,” I said almost timidly, standing beside her. She seemed wrapped around in a kind of strangeness. Then she turned around and drew me to her. The front of her dress was warm from the stove. I felt the comfortable heat through my gown. She laid her hand against my face and it felt rough and hard but firm. I dared ask her something I wanted to know.
“Mom, was that really your name—what Dad called you?”
Her voice sounded surprised. “Why, Yeléna, you know that; Anna Petrovna. You know I am born in Russia, in Seletskoe.”
“Yes, but I didn’t know your other name,” I said.
“Anna Petrovna Webb.” She pronounced it slowly. “Once I think what a funny name Ben Webb is!” She laughed. Her laugh was warm and low like our kitchen, and comfortable. The house seemed natural and right again. . . .
But now that I am grown, I feel the wall of strangeness between them, more than when I was a child. I wondered how they would get along without me.
From WINTER WHEAT by Mildred Walker, published by University of Nebraska Press. Copyright © 1944 by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1971 by Mildred Walker. All rights reserved.
serial: story published in short segments at regular intervals
coulee: small gulch or ravine
Question
Which sentence from the excerpt provides evidence that Ellen has a lot in common with her father?
- A“He’s the one who gets excited when I do about spring coming or a serial running in the magazine we’re both reading. . . .” (paragraph 1)
- B“ ‘We can drive you into town in the afternoon,’ Dad said, dropping his paper on the floor.” (paragraph 4)
- C“ ‘Well, we don’t have to decide tonight,’ Dad said, but I knew he wanted to go into Clark City.” (paragraph 6)
- D“I wondered how they would get along without me.” (paragraph 25)
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks which sentence from the excerpt provides evidence that Ellen has a lot in common with her father.
A. CORRECT. This sentence from paragraph 1 shows that Ellen and her father both get excited about the coming of spring and share an interest in reading magazine serials (stories published in serial installments). The sentence implies that Ellen and her father have shared likes and interests, and therefore, it provides clear evidence that they have a lot in common.
B. Incorrect. While this sentence from paragraph 4 highlights the warm relationship between Ellen and her father and shows that he would like to take her to the train station in town, it does not provide clear evidence that they share a lot in common.
C. Incorrect. Although this sentence from paragraph 6 implies that Ellen understands her father well enough to intuit his preference to go to the train station in town (“but I knew he wanted to go into Clark City”), their closeness is not clear evidence that Ellen and her father have a lot in common.
D. Incorrect. While this sentence from paragraph 25 shows Ellen’s concern about the effect that her leaving the farm will have on her parents, it does not provide clear evidence that Ellen and her father have a lot in common.
Question analysis
This evidence question on an excerpt from Mildred Walker’s novel Winter Wheat, in which Ellen gets ready to leave her parents’ farm for college, asks which sentence shows that Ellen has a lot in common with her father. The four quotations, from paragraphs 1, 4, 6 and 25, all involve Ellen and her family, so each must be checked for what it really shows.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Finding the sentence that supports an idea about a character is standard grade 7 evidence work. The novel’s language is plain and the idea concrete, but every quotation involves Ellen’s family, so each must be read in its paragraph before it is judged.
- 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
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 6, 80 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 88 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 asks for likeness, not affection, and three of the quotations show Ellen’s ties to her family in other ways: her father offers to drive her into town, she knows a wish he does not voice, and she wonders how her parents will manage once she is gone. Only one sentence shows father and daughter reacting the same way to the same things, the coming of spring and a magazine story. Students who read “a lot in common” as “close” are drawn to the line where Ellen reads his mind.
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Every quotation involves Ellen and her parents, and three show a bond of another kind, an offer of a ride, a guessed wish, a worry about leaving, so each must be tested for shared tastes rather than care. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Reading between the lines minor Working it out
The right sentence neither names Dad nor says “in common”: students must trace “He’s” back to Dad earlier in paragraph 1 and hear shared interests in “when I do” and “we’re both reading.” (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Kintsch, 1998)
Strategy: Decide what having a lot in common would mean for two people, then reread each quotation in its paragraph and ask whether it shows that or some other side of how Ellen and her father relate.
Traps
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
- 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
B Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Takes Dad’s quick offer to drive Ellen into town, made as he drops his paper, as a sign that the two are alike, but it shows his care for her, not tastes they share.
C Supports only part of the claim (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Sees Ellen reading Dad’s unspoken wish to go into Clark City, a send-off she also prefers, but one shared preference shows that she understands him, not that they have a lot in common.
D True but not the answer (King et al., 2004; Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Picks Ellen’s closing worry about how her parents will manage without her, a true picture of her concern, but it covers both parents and shows nothing she shares with Dad.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This is an evidence question. You need the sentence that shows Ellen has “a lot in common” with her father. Two people have a lot in common when they like the same things and share the same interests. Being close, or caring about each other, is not the same thing. Keep that difference in mind.
Look at the sentence in paragraph 1
In paragraph 1, Ellen is telling about her dad, so “He’s” means Dad. She says he “gets excited when I do about spring coming or a serial running in the magazine we’re both reading.” A serial is a story printed in parts, with a new part in each issue of a magazine.
Work out what it means
The words “when I do” mean Dad gets excited at the same times Ellen does. They both look forward to spring. They both read the same magazine story and enjoy it. Those are two interests they share. In the same paragraph, Ellen compares her parents. Dad is the one who shares her excitement. Mom is the one whose words she counts on.
Check each choice
- A is right. It names two things that excite both of them: spring and a magazine story.
- B is wrong. In paragraph 4, Dad quickly offers to drive Ellen into town for her train. That shows he cares, not that they like the same things.
- C is wrong. In paragraph 6, Ellen says, “but I knew he wanted to go into Clark City.” She understands him well. But knowing what someone wants is not sharing his interests.
- D is wrong. In paragraph 25, “they” means Mom and Dad. Ellen worries about both. That is not something she shares with Dad.
Watch out: C is tempting because it shows Ellen and Dad are close. But being close is not having a lot in common.
Choose the answer
Only A shows Ellen and her dad getting excited about the same things: spring and a story they both read. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong answer. It shows that Ellen can tell what her dad wants without his saying it. That proves they are close. But the question asks what they have in common. A names two shared interests: spring coming and a serial “we’re both reading.”
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Excerpt from Winter Wheat” as shown on the test
Question 89 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 1Question
Ms. Li opened a retirement account with a deposit of $2,500. This account earns 4% simple interest annually. How many years will it take her to earn $500 on her $2,500 deposit?
Grid-in question: work out the answer and enter it as a number.
Show the answer
Correct answer: 5
Simple interest (y) is calculated by multiplying the initial deposit (p), the interest rate (r), and time (t):
Question analysis
Ms. Li deposits $2,500 in a retirement account that pays 4% simple interest each year, and this grid-in asks how many years it takes to earn $500 in interest. Students find one year's interest and work out how many years are needed. It turns the usual simple interest question around, asking for the time rather than the interest.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Simple interest is a grade 7 percent application, usually asked as how much interest builds up over a given time. This one gives the interest and asks for the time, a short reverse step with friendly numbers.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 6, 28 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
Once one year's interest is known, $100, the rest is counting how many years make $500, so the arithmetic is light. The question turns the usual simple interest problem around, giving the interest and asking for the time, and that reversal is where students stall or grid a percent instead of a number of years. Writing 4% as 0.04, not 0.4, keeps the yearly interest from coming out ten times too big.
Something you must already know minor Working it out
The stem says 4% simple interest annually but never says that each year adds the same 4% of the $2,500 deposit, $100, so the yearly amount has to come from memory. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Turning words into math minor Understanding the question
The question gives the interest, $500, and asks for the time, so the familiar formula runs backward: 2,500 × 0.04 × t = 500 has to be solved for t. (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; Koedinger & Nathan, 2004)
An answer in an unexpected form minor Choosing the answer
As a grid-in it shows no choices, so 20, the interest as a percent of the deposit, can be gridded with nothing on the page to say it is not a number of years. (Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Strategy: Work out one year's interest as 4% of $2,500, then find how many of those yearly amounts add up to the $500 of interest.
Traps
- Stops one step early: A choice is a number from partway through the solution.
- A formula you must know: Needs a formula the test does not give: area, circumference, volume, probability rules.
The wrong answers, classified
20 Stops one step early (King et al., 2004; Gierl et al., 2017)
Finds that the $500 of interest is 20% of the $2,500 deposit and grids 20, stopping before dividing by the 4% earned each year.
0.5 An arithmetic slip (Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Writes 4% as 0.4 instead of 0.04, so one year's interest looks like $1,000 and the $500 seems to take only half a year.
125 Numbers taken from the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Divides the $500 of interest by the 4 in 4%, combining two numbers from the stem without first finding 4% of the deposit.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Simple interest
- I is the interest, the extra money the account pays you. P is the deposit, the money you put in. r is the yearly rate as a decimal. t is the time in years. Simple means each year’s interest is figured on the deposit only, so every year adds the same amount.
- Percent to decimal
- p is the percent. Percent means out of 100. So divide by 100 to write it as a decimal. For example, 4% is 4 ÷ 100, which is 0.04.
Sort out the question
Ms. Li puts $2,500 into an account. This first amount is called the deposit. Each year the account pays 4% simple interest. Interest is extra money the bank pays you for keeping your money there. You need the number of years it takes to earn $500 of interest. The answer is a number of years, not dollars and not a percent.
Find one year’s interest
First write 4% as a decimal. 4% means 4 out of 100.
Now use the formula for 1 year, so t = 1.
The account earns $100 each year. Watch out: 4% is 0.04, not 0.4. Using 0.4 makes one year’s interest $1,000, and you would grid 0.5 years.
Find how many years make $500
Simple interest adds the same $100 every year. So the time t must make the interest $500.
It takes 5 years. Watch out: $500 is 20% of $2,500. But 20 is a percent, not a number of years. Don’t grid 20. So you would grid 5.
Check your answer
Count up one year at a time: $100, $200, $300, $400, $500. That is 5 years. Or put t = 5 back into the formula: . That matches the $500 in the question.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 90 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 2Question
What is the value of the expression shown above?
Grid-in question: work out the answer and enter it as a number.
Show the answer
Correct answer: -9
| Calculate the exponent and convert the mixed number to an improper fraction. | |
| Next, calculate the absolute value. | |
| Perform the indicated multiplication and division. | |
| Perform the addition and subtraction. | |
Question analysis
This grid-in asks for the value of an arithmetic expression that mixes an absolute value, a negative number raised to the third power, a division and a mixed number. Students apply the order of operations with signed numbers. Cubing a negative base, and doing the division and multiplication before any adding, are where most slips happen.
- NYS standards
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 students routinely evaluate expressions with negative numbers in the right order. This one combines an absolute value, a cubed negative and a mixed number in a single line, so it takes more steps than usual, each with a sign to watch.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Error-prone arithmetic moderate
- Many steps minor
- An answer in an unexpected form minor
- Solution
- 4 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 5, 10 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 expression packs four kinds of notation into one line: a subtraction, a division by an absolute value, a negative base raised to the third power and a mixed number. None of the operations is hard alone, but each has a rule that is easy to break under time pressure, and the slips lead to very different totals. Rewriting the power and the mixed number first, then dividing and multiplying before any addition, avoids them.
Error-prone arithmetic moderate Working it out
(−2)³ must stay negative, −8, and the mixed number 1½ must become 3/2 before multiplying, so the last product is −12; a sign or fraction slip here moves the total far from −9. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Many steps minor Working it out
Six numbers and six operations, including a power and an absolute value, have to be worked in a planned order, and every addition waits until the division and multiplication are done. (Daniel & Embretson, 2010; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
An answer in an unexpected form minor Choosing the answer
The value is negative and the grid-in offers no choices, so the minus sign has to be gridded and nothing on the page confirms that the total falls below zero. (Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Strategy: Rewrite the absolute value and the power first, change the mixed number to an improper fraction, do the division and multiplication, and only then add and subtract from left to right.
Traps
- Order of operations: Working left to right, or distributing a minus sign wrongly, gives a choice.
- Negatives and direction: Arithmetic with negative numbers, the order of a subtraction, or direction on a number line. (Moving a term across the equals sign without changing its sign is a faulty procedure.)
- A faulty procedure: A systematic but wrong procedure: adding fractions straight across, applying an exponent to each term of a sum, dropping a sign when moving a term.
The wrong answers, classified
15 Negatives and direction (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Takes (−2)³ as positive 8, as if every power of a negative were positive, so the last product is +12 and 6 − 3 + 12 = 15.
-13.5 Order of operations (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Works strictly from left to right: 6 − 9 = −3, divided by 3 is −1, plus −8 is −9, and times 1½ gives −13.5.
-6 A faulty procedure (Brown & Burton, 1978; Tatsuoka, 1983)
Multiplies the base by the exponent, taking (−2)³ as −6, so the product with 3/2 is −9 and the total is 6 − 3 − 9 = −6.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Order of operations
- This is the order for working out an expression. First work inside grouping symbols, such as parentheses and absolute value bars. Next do powers. Then multiply and divide from left to right. Last, add and subtract from left to right. Using one order means everyone gets the same answer.
- A power
- a is the base, the number being multiplied. The small 3 is the exponent. It says how many times the base is used as a factor, a number being multiplied. It does not mean a times 3.
- Absolute value
- The bars around a number mean absolute value. It is how far the number is from 0 on a number line. A distance is never negative, so the absolute value of −3 is 3.
- Mixed number to fraction
- a is the whole number part, and b over c is the fraction part. Each whole is c pieces, so a wholes are a × c pieces. Add the b extra pieces. The bottom number stays c.
Sort out the expression
You need the value of . It has many operations, so the order matters. It has absolute value bars, a power of a negative number and a mixed number. The answer may be negative, so keep track of every sign.
Do the absolute value and the power
Grouping symbols and powers come first.
Two negatives multiply to a positive, 4. One more negative makes it negative again. Watch out: (−2)³ is −8, not +8. Using +8 leads to 15. It is also not −2 × 3. That mistake leads to a total of −6.
Change the mixed number to a fraction
A fraction is easier to multiply than a mixed number.
Now the expression looks like this:
Multiply and divide next
Multiplying and dividing come before adding and subtracting.
A negative times a positive is negative. Watch out: don’t just work from left to right. Doing 6 − 9 first, then dividing by 3, leads to −13.5.
Add and subtract last
Now only adding and subtracting are left. Work from left to right.
Adding −12 is the same as taking away 12. So you would grid −9, with the minus sign in its own column.
Check your answer
Look at the size of each part. The part 6 − 3 is a small positive number, 3. The last part, −8 times 1½, is a bigger negative number, −12. A big negative plus a small positive is negative. So an answer below zero, −9, makes sense.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 91 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 3Question
Solve for x:
Grid-in question: work out the answer and enter it as a number.
Show the answer
Correct answer: 4
| Apply the distributive property; multiply the −2 by and 1. | |
| Combine like terms. | |
| Apply the additive inverse property; subtract 1 from both sides of the equation. | |
| Apply the multiplicative inverse property; divide both sides of the equation by 3. | |
Question analysis
This grid-in gives the equation 7x + 3 − 2(2x + 1) = 13 and asks students to solve for x. It tests the distributive property with a negative factor, combining like terms and solving a two-step equation. The minus sign in front of the parentheses has to reach both terms inside, a step many students rush.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 students expand expressions with negative factors and solve equations such as p(x + q) = r. This equation needs both skills plus combining like terms, which is routine work with one negative sign that is easy to lose.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Error-prone arithmetic moderate
- An answer in an unexpected form minor
- Solution
- 4 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 3, 4 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 a standard multi-step linear equation, and the work is short once the parentheses are cleared. Everything rests on distributing −2 correctly; the later steps, combining 7x with −4x and 3 with −2, then undoing the + 1 and the × 3, are routine. Substituting 4 back into the left side, 28 + 3 − 18 = 13, is a fast check that catches a sign slip.
Error-prone arithmetic moderate Working it out
The −2 in front of (2x + 1) must reach both terms, giving −4x − 2; the second product, −2 × 1, is the one most often written as +2 or left as +1. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
An answer in an unexpected form minor Choosing the answer
As a grid-in with no choices, a value such as 3 or 8/3 from a distributing slip looks just as finished as the right one; only substituting back exposes it. (Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Strategy: Distribute −2 to both terms inside the parentheses, combine the x terms and the constants, then undo the addition and the multiplication in turn.
Traps
- A faulty procedure: A systematic but wrong procedure: adding fractions straight across, applying an exponent to each term of a sum, dropping a sign when moving a term.
- Order of operations: Working left to right, or distributing a minus sign wrongly, gives a choice.
The wrong answers, classified
3 A faulty procedure (Brown & Burton, 1978; Tatsuoka, 1983)
Multiplies only the 2x by −2 and leaves the + 1 untouched, so the equation becomes 3x + 4 = 13 and x = 3.
8/3 Order of operations (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Gives the minus sign to 4x but not to the 2, writing −4x + 2, so the equation becomes 3x + 5 = 13 and x = 8/3.
12 Stops one step early (King et al., 2004; Gierl et al., 2017)
Simplifies correctly to 3x + 1 = 13, subtracts 1 to reach 3x = 12, and grids 12 without dividing by 3.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Distributive property
- a is the number outside the parentheses. b and c are the terms inside. A term is a number, a letter, or a number times a letter. Multiply each term inside by a. If a is negative, every product gets its sign too.
- Keeping an equation balanced
- a and b are the two equal sides. c is any number, but not 0 when you divide. Doing the same thing to both sides keeps them equal, like a balanced scale. Use it to get the unknown by itself.
Sort out the equation
You need the value of x that makes true. x is the unknown number. The tricky part is the −2 in front of the parentheses. It multiplies everything inside them.
Multiply out the parentheses
Use the distributive property with a = −2, b = 2x and c = 1.
So the equation becomes this:
Watch out: the −2 must multiply the 1 too. Leaving + 1 gives x = 3. Writing + 2 instead of − 2 gives .
Combine like terms
Like terms are terms of the same kind. Put the x terms together. Put the plain numbers together.
Get x by itself
Undo the + 1 first. Subtract 1 from both sides, so the equation stays balanced.
3x means 3 times x. So divide both sides by 3.
Watch out: don’t stop at 3x = 12. 12 is three times the answer. So you would grid 4.
Check your answer
Put x = 4 back into the first equation: . That matches the 13 on the right side, so x = 4 is right.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 92 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 4Question
In the figure above, line l is perpendicular to line n. What is the value of x?
Grid-in question: work out the answer and enter it as a number.
Show the answer
Correct answer: 55
Since vertical angles are congruent, the right triangle in the figure has acute angles with measures of 35° and x°. The interior angles of a triangle sum to 180°, so set up an equation to solve for x:
Question analysis
Three lines cross in a figure: line l is perpendicular to line n, and a slanted line m meets them at a marked 35° angle and an unknown angle x. This geometry grid-in asks for the value of x. Students must see the right triangle the lines form and carry the marked angles into it using vertical angles.
- NYS standards
- Grade level
- Grade 8 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 angle problems use vertical, supplementary and complementary angles. This one also needs the angle sum of a triangle, which New York places in grade 8, and the triangle is not drawn as a separate shape, so students must spot 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 apply
- What makes it hard
- Reading a figure, table or graph moderate
- Something you must already know moderate
- An answer in an unexpected form minor
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 4, 17 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 figure hides a small right triangle between the three lines, and the question is easy once students see it. Its angles are the right angle, the vertical partner of the 35° angle and the vertical partner of x, so x is what the right angle and 35° leave of 180°. Students who never spot the triangle tend to guess a direct relationship between the two marked angles, which no angle fact supports.
Reading a figure, table or graph moderate Understanding the question
Neither marked angle is inside the right triangle that lines l, m and n form: the 35° opens below the point where m crosses l, and x opens above line n, so each must be carried in as a vertical angle. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Something you must already know moderate Working it out
The stem states only that l is perpendicular to n; students must supply that vertical angles are equal and that the three angles of a triangle add to 180°. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
An answer in an unexpected form minor Choosing the answer
As a grid-in it offers no choices, so 125, the right angle plus the 35° angle, can be gridded with nothing to signal the missing subtraction. (Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Strategy: Find the triangle formed by the three lines, use vertical angles to move the 35° and x° angles inside it, and apply the triangle's angle sum with the right angle.
Traps
- Stops one step early: A choice is a number from partway through the solution.
- A formula you must know: Needs a formula the test does not give: area, circumference, volume, probability rules.
The wrong answers, classified
125 Stops one step early (King et al., 2004; Gierl et al., 2017)
Adds the right angle and the 35° angle, 90 + 35 = 125, and grids that sum without subtracting it from the triangle's 180°.
35 Misunderstands the concept (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993; De Bock et al., 1998; Ni & Zhou, 2005)
Assumes line m crosses l and n at equal angles, as it would cross two parallel lines, though l and n are perpendicular.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Vertical angles
- When two lines cross, they make an X. The angles straight across from each other in the X are called vertical angles. a and b are one such pair. They are always equal, because each one plus the angle between them makes a straight line.
- Angles of a triangle
- A, B and C are the three angles inside any triangle, in degrees. They always add up to 180°. Use it when you know two of the angles and need the third.
Sort out the figure
Line l is perpendicular to line n. Perpendicular means they meet at a right angle, 90°. The small square in the figure marks it. Line m crosses both lines. The three lines make a triangle with a right angle. You need x, the angle marked x° where m crosses n.
Move the 35° angle into the triangle
The 35° angle is below the point where m crosses l. So it is outside the triangle. Lines l and m make an X there. The triangle’s angle is straight across from the 35° angle. They are vertical angles, so they are equal. The triangle’s angle at that corner is 35°.
Move the x° angle into the triangle
The x° angle is above line n, so it is outside the triangle too. Lines m and n make another X. The triangle’s angle at that crossing is straight across from x°. So the third angle of the triangle is also x°. Watch out: line m does not cross l and n at the same angle. Lines l and n are not parallel, so x is not 35.
Use the triangle’s angle sum
The triangle’s three angles are 90°, 35° and x°.
Watch out: 125 is only the two known angles added together. You still subtract it from 180. Gridding 125 is wrong. So you would grid 55.
Check your answer
In a right triangle, the two smaller angles add up to 90°. That is because the right angle uses 90° of the 180°. Check: . Also, in the figure the x° angle looks a bit bigger than the 35° angle, and 55 is.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 93 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 5Question
The mean value of 8 numbers is 17. Three of these numbers (9, 11, and 20) are discarded. What is the mean of the 5 remaining numbers?
Grid-in question: work out the answer and enter it as a number.
Show the answer
Correct answer: 19.2
First, find the sum of the original 8 numbers. Let x equal the sum of those numbers and use the mean formula to solve for x:
Next, subtract the 3 discarded numbers from the sum:
Finally, calculate the mean of the remaining 5 numbers by dividing the new sum, 96, by 5:
Question analysis
Eight numbers have a mean of 17, and three of them, 9, 11 and 20, are removed. This statistics grid-in asks for the mean of the five numbers that are left. Students have to rebuild the total from the mean before removing anything, and then divide by the new count rather than the old one.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Finding a mean is grade 6 content, but working back from a mean to a total, removing values and averaging again is a typical grade 7 multistep task. As a grid-in, it offers no choices to check a wrong total against.
- 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
- Many steps moderate
- Much to keep track of minor
- An answer in an unexpected form minor
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 3, 21 words.
- Students, last 30 days
- Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)
Why it is hard
A mean cannot be adjusted directly when numbers are removed, so the question rewards switching from the mean to the total and back. The removed numbers, 9, 11 and 20, average less than 17, so the new mean must rise above 17; that quick check rules out an answer such as 12. Points are lost by dividing by the wrong count or by stopping at the new total.
Many steps moderate Working it out
Three operations come in a fixed order: multiply the mean by 8 to get 136, subtract 9, 11 and 20 to leave 96, then divide by the numbers that remain. (Daniel & Embretson, 2010; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Much to keep track of minor Working it out
The count changes partway through, from 8 numbers to 5, and the divisor at the end must be the new count, not the 8 from the first sentence. (Sweller, 1988; Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990)
An answer in an unexpected form minor Choosing the answer
The answer, 19.2, is a decimal that must be gridded with its point, and with no choices a total of 96 or a mean over 8 numbers looks complete. (Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Strategy: Turn the mean into a total by multiplying by 8, subtract the three discarded numbers, and divide what is left by the count of numbers that remain.
Traps
- Misreads the question: Misses or misreads a condition or a word in the question: "at least", "each", "remaining", "not".
- Stops one step early: A choice is a number from partway through the solution.
The wrong answers, classified
12 Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Finds the remaining total, 136 − 40 = 96, correctly but divides it by the original 8 numbers instead of the 5 that are left.
96 Stops one step early (King et al., 2004; Gierl et al., 2017)
Subtracts the three discarded numbers from the total of 136 and grids the new sum, 96, without dividing by the 5 numbers left.
27.2 Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Turns the mean into the total, 136, and divides it by 5 without first subtracting the three discarded numbers, 9, 11 and 20.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Mean, or average
- The mean is the average. The sum is what you get when you add all the numbers. Divide it by how many numbers there are. The mean is the value each number would have if the total were shared out equally.
- Sum from a mean
- This is the mean formula turned around. If you know the mean and how many numbers there are, multiply them to get the sum. It works even when you don’t know the numbers themselves.
Sort out the question
There are 8 numbers. Their mean, or average, is 17. You don’t know what the 8 numbers are. Three of them, 9, 11 and 20, are discarded, or thrown away. That leaves 5 numbers. You need the mean of those 5 numbers.
Find the sum of all 8 numbers
You can’t add the 8 numbers, because you don’t know them. But the mean tells you their sum.
The 8 numbers add up to 136.
Take away the three discarded numbers
Subtract the three numbers that were thrown away.
The 5 numbers left add up to 96. Watch out: 96 is a sum, not a mean, so gridding 96 is wrong. Also, dividing 136 by 5 without subtracting first gives 27.2, which is wrong.
Divide by the 5 numbers left
Now use the mean formula for the numbers that are left.
Watch out: divide by 5, not by 8. Only 5 numbers are left. Dividing by 8 gives 12. So you would grid 19.2, with the decimal point in its own column.
Check your answer
The three numbers thrown away add to 40, so their mean is about 13. That is less than 17. Removing small numbers should make the mean go up, and 19.2 is more than 17. Also, , the sum of the 5 numbers left.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 94 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 6Question
- A40
- B370
- C2,482
- D10,000
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
Question analysis
This exponents question asks for the sum of 3 to the fourth power and 7 to the fourth power. Students evaluate each power separately and then add. The traps are treating an exponent as a multiplier and adding the bases before raising them to a power, and the larger power takes careful multiplication.
- NYS standards
- 6.EE.1 whole-number exponent expressions
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Evaluating whole-number powers is grade 6 work, and this question asks only for two of them and a sum. The one demand beyond routine practice is computing a fourth power of 7 accurately without a calculator.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Error-prone arithmetic moderate
- Something you must already know minor
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 16+, 1 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 sum is short, but it tests exactly what an exponent means and when to apply it. The wrong choices come from three misreadings of the notation: treating the power as a multiplier, using one factor too few, and adding the bases before raising them. A size check settles it: 7⁴ alone is 49 × 49, a little under 2,500, so 40 and 370 are far too small and 10,000 far too large.
Error-prone arithmetic moderate Working it out
7⁴ means 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 = 2,401, a four-digit product built by hand, most easily as 49 × 49; 3⁴ = 81 is quick by comparison. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Something you must already know minor Working it out
An exponent counts repeated factors rather than acting as a multiplier, so 3⁴ is 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 = 81, not 3 × 4 = 12; the item assumes that meaning. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Compute each power on its own, squaring and then squaring again, and add the two results only at the end.
Traps
- A faulty procedure: A systematic but wrong procedure: adding fractions straight across, applying an exponent to each term of a sum, dropping a sign when moving a term.
- Order of operations: Working left to right, or distributing a minus sign wrongly, gives a choice.
The wrong answers, classified
A A faulty procedure (Brown & Burton, 1978; Tatsuoka, 1983)
Multiplies each base by its exponent, 3 × 4 + 7 × 4 = 12 + 28 = 40, instead of using each base as a factor four times.
B A faulty procedure (Brown & Burton, 1978; Tatsuoka, 1983)
Uses each base as a factor three times instead of four, 27 + 343 = 370, so both powers stop one factor short.
D Order of operations (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Adds the bases before applying the exponent, treating 3⁴ + 7⁴ as (3 + 7)⁴ = 10,000, though powers come before addition.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- A power
- a is the base, the number being multiplied. The small 4 is the exponent. It tells how many times the base is used as a factor, a number being multiplied. So the exponent counts factors. It does not mean multiply by 4.
- Powers come before adding
- a and b are any two positive numbers. The sign ≠ means is not equal to. Powers come before adding. So raise each number to its power first, then add. Adding the bases first gives a much bigger number.
Sort out the question
You need the value of . Each number has a small 4 above it. This 4 is an exponent. Work out each power on its own. Then add the two results.
Find 3 to the fourth power
3⁴ means four 3s multiplied together. Pair them up to make it easier.
Watch out: 3⁴ is not 3 × 4 = 12. Doing that to both powers gives 12 + 28 = 40, choice A.
Find 7 to the fourth power
7⁴ means four 7s multiplied together. Pair them up the same way.
To find 49 × 49, do 49 × 50 = 2,450. Then take away one 49. That gives 2,401. Watch out: count four 7s, not three. Three 7s make 343. Using three factors in both powers gives 370, choice B.
Add the two powers
Watch out: don’t add 3 and 7 first. That gives , choice D. Powers come before adding. So the answer is C, 2,482.
Check your answer
Estimate. 7⁴ is 49 × 49, a little less than 50 × 50 = 2,500. Adding 81 keeps it near 2,500. Only 2,482 is close. 40 and 370 are far too small, and 10,000 is far too big.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 95 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 7Question
In one week, inches of rain fell on Monday, inches fell on Tuesday, and inch fell on Wednesday. How many inches of rain fell during those three days?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
To solve, add the three given fractions:
The common denominator is 24:
Question analysis
A rainfall word problem gives the inches of rain on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as two mixed numbers and a fraction, and asks for the total over the three days. Students add fractions with unlike denominators. Finding a common denominator for fourths, thirds and eighths, and regrouping the fractional part into wholes, is where errors come in.
- NYS standards
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Adding fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators is taught before grade 7, and this is a direct word problem. It takes more care than a typical exercise only because three different denominators must be rewritten over a common one.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Error-prone arithmetic moderate
- Many steps minor
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 5, 35 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 setup is plain addition, so the difficulty is all in the fractions. Students who know to rename over a common denominator rarely miss it, while those who add the fraction parts straight across, or put the numerators over 24 without scaling them, reach choices with a whole part of 3. Since 1 3/4 + 2 2/3 alone is more than 4, any total below 4 can be ruled out at a glance.
Error-prone arithmetic moderate Working it out
The fractional parts have denominators 4, 3 and 8, so they must be renamed as 18, 16 and 21 twenty-fourths, and their sum, 55/24, regrouped as 2 7/24 before the wholes are added. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Many steps minor Working it out
Renaming, adding the numerators, regrouping the improper fraction and adding the whole numbers are four separate moves, and losing the 2 carried from 55/24 drops the total by two inches. (Daniel & Embretson, 2010; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Strategy: Rewrite the three fractional parts over a common denominator of 24, add the whole numbers and the fractions separately, and regroup any extra twenty-fourths as a whole.
Traps
- A faulty procedure: A systematic but wrong procedure: adding fractions straight across, applying an exponent to each term of a sum, dropping a sign when moving a term.
The wrong answers, classified
B Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
No single renaming mistake gives 49 twenty-fourths; this choice sits exactly 1/4 below the right total, so it mostly catches guesses near it.
C A faulty procedure (Brown & Burton, 1978; Tatsuoka, 1983)
Adds the whole numbers to get 3, then adds the fractions straight across, (3 + 2 + 7)/(4 + 3 + 8) = 12/15 = 4/5.
D A faulty procedure (Brown & Burton, 1978; Tatsuoka, 1983)
Finds the common denominator 24 but adds the numerators without renaming them, (3 + 2 + 7)/24 = 1/2, and adds that to the wholes, 3.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Equivalent fractions
- a over b is a fraction, and k is any whole number except 0. Multiplying the top and the bottom by the same number gives an equal fraction. You cut each piece into k smaller pieces. So you have k times as many pieces, each k times smaller.
- Adding fractions with the same bottom
- d is the denominator, the bottom number. It tells the size of the pieces. a, b and c are the numerators, the top numbers. They count the pieces. When the pieces are the same size, add the counts. The bottom stays the same.
- Fraction to mixed number
- a over b is a fraction whose top is bigger than its bottom. q is the quotient, how many whole times b fits into a. r is the remainder, what is left over. The leftover stays over the same bottom number.
Sort out the question
Rain fell on three days: inches, inches and inch. You need the total rain, in inches. So add the three amounts. Add the whole numbers and the fractions separately. The whole numbers are 1 and 2, so they add to 3 inches.
Find a common denominator
The fractions have denominators, or bottom numbers, 4, 3 and 8. You can only add pieces of the same size. So find the smallest number that 4, 3 and 8 all divide into. Count by 8s: 8, 16, 24. 24 works, since 24 = 4 × 6 and 24 = 3 × 8. So use 24ths.
Rename each fraction in 24ths
Multiply the top and the bottom by the same number.
Watch out: change the tops too. Keeping 3, 2 and 7 over 24 gives and a total of , choice D.
Add the fractions
Now the pieces are the same size, so add the tops.
That is more than 1 whole. 24 goes into 55 twice, with 7 left over.
Watch out: never add the bottoms. Adding straight across gives and a total of , choice C.
Put the parts together
Add the 3 whole inches from before.
So the answer is A, inches.
Check your answer
Use decimals. is 1.75, is about 2.67, and is 0.875. They add to about 5.29. And is about 0.29. So fits, and is too small.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 96 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 8Question
Jamel works at a computer store. He is paid an hourly rate plus a 15% commission on all computer products he sells. Last week, Jamel was paid $802.50 for working 30 hours and selling $1,250.00 worth of computer products. What is Jamel’s hourly rate?
- A$20.50/hr
- B$26.75/hr
- C$33.00/hr
- D$37.65/hr
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
First, determine the amount of Jamel’s weekly pay that is from commission:
Next, subtract Jamel’s commission amount from his weekly pay:
Last, divide the result by 30 hours to find Jamel’s hourly rate:
Question analysis
Jamel earns an hourly wage plus a 15% commission on his sales, and one week he is paid $802.50 for 30 hours of work and $1,250 in sales. Students find his hourly rate. The question mixes a percent with a rate, and the commission has to be taken out of the total pay before dividing by the hours.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Commission is one of the percent applications named in the grade 7 standards, and the remaining work is a two-step equation with decimals. That matches a typical grade 7 multistep problem, with the order of the steps as the main 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
- Turning words into math moderate
- Many steps moderate
- Error-prone arithmetic minor
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 3, 44 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
Jamel's pay has two parts, and the question asks for only one of them, so the commission has to be removed before dividing by the hours. Students who divide the whole $802.50 by 30 get a believable hourly figure that still contains the commission. Checking the answer against the story, 30 × $20.50 + $187.50 = $802.50, confirms both parts.
Turning words into math moderate Understanding the question
The phrase "paid an hourly rate plus a 15% commission on all computer products he sells" makes $802.50 the sum of two parts, 30 hours of pay and 15% of $1,250. (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; Koedinger & Nathan, 2004)
Many steps moderate Working it out
Three operations in order: 15% of $1,250 is $187.50, $802.50 − $187.50 = $615.00, and $615.00 ÷ 30 = $20.50; dividing before subtracting gives a listed choice. (Daniel & Embretson, 2010; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Error-prone arithmetic minor Working it out
Every amount carries cents, and 15% of $1,250 and $615 ÷ 30 are worked by hand, so a misplaced decimal point shifts the hourly rate. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Strategy: Take 15% of the $1,250 in sales to find the commission, remove that from the week's pay, and divide what is left by the 30 hours worked.
Traps
- Answers a different question: A choice is right for another quantity: the other unknown, the rest instead of the part, the part instead of the whole.
- Follows a key word: Picks the operation from a single word rather than the situation: "removed" so subtract, "of" so multiply, "more" so add, when the situation needs something else.
- Misreads the question: Misses or misreads a condition or a word in the question: "at least", "each", "remaining", "not".
The wrong answers, classified
B Answers a different question (King et al., 2004; Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Divides the whole $802.50 by 30 hours, which gives Jamel's average pay per hour with the commission included, not his hourly rate.
C Follows a key word (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Follows the word plus and adds the $187.50 commission to the $802.50 instead of removing it, so (802.50 + 187.50) ÷ 30 = $33.00.
D Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Swaps the two dollar amounts, taking 15% of the $802.50 pay and subtracting it from the $1,250 of sales: (1,250 − 120.38) ÷ 30 ≈ $37.65.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Percent of a number
- p is the percent. The whole is the amount you take the percent of. The part is the result. Percent means out of 100. So 15% is 15 out of every 100, or 0.15.
- Pay with commission
- The rate is the money Jamel earns for each hour. Hours is how long he worked. The commission is extra money that is a percent of what he sells. His pay is these two amounts added together.
Sort out the question
Jamel’s pay has two parts. One part is an hourly rate, the money he earns for each hour. The other part is a commission. A commission is extra pay that is a percent of what he sells. He worked 30 hours and sold $1,250.00 of products. In all he got $802.50. You need his hourly rate.
Find the commission
His commission is 15% of what he sold. 15% means 15 out of 100, or 0.15.
His commission was $187.50. Watch out: take 15% of the $1,250 he sold, not of his $802.50 pay. Mixing them up leads to $37.65, choice D.
Take the commission out of his pay
The rest of his pay came from his hours.
He earned $615.00 for 30 hours of work. Watch out: the word plus does not mean add here. Adding the $187.50 to $802.50 counts the commission twice. That leads to $33.00, choice C.
Divide by the hours he worked
Share the $615.00 equally over the 30 hours.
Watch out: don’t divide all $802.50 by 30. That gives $26.75, choice B. That amount still includes the commission. So the answer is A, $20.50 per hour.
Check your answer
Work forward from the answer. 30 hours at $20.50 is dollars. Add the commission: . That is exactly Jamel’s pay for the week.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 97 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 9Question
A revolving sign makes 1 complete revolution every 90 minutes. If the sign starts moving at 2:30 p.m., at what time will the sign complete 8 revolutions?
- A1:00 a.m.
- B2:30 a.m.
- C4:00 p.m.
- D12:00 midnight
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
First, use a proportion to find out how many minutes it will take the sign to complete 8 revolutions. Let x equal the total number of minutes:
Next, convert 720 minutes into hours and minutes:
Finally, 12 hours after 2:30 p.m. is 2:30 a.m.
Question analysis
A revolving sign turns once every 90 minutes and starts at 2:30 in the afternoon. Students find the clock time when it finishes 8 full revolutions. The question combines a rate with converting minutes to hours, and then adding the elapsed time to the starting time on a 12-hour clock.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 A constant rate, a multiplication and a conversion from minutes to hours are grade 6 skills. The only step beyond routine work is adding the elapsed time to a starting clock time.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Many steps minor
- Something you must already know minor
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 4, 31 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 step is routine, so most points are lost in keeping elapsed time and clock time apart. The 12 hours is a duration, and the clock reading that ends it is 12 hours after 2:30 in the afternoon, not 12:00. A sense check helps: 12 hours after any time shows the same digits on the clock with a.m. and p.m. swapped.
Many steps minor Working it out
Three moves: 8 × 90 = 720 minutes, 720 ÷ 60 = 12 hours, then 12 hours counted on from the 2:30 start, which crosses midnight into the morning. (Daniel & Embretson, 2010; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Something you must already know minor Working it out
Counting hours past midnight means switching from p.m. to a.m. on a 12-hour clock, which the stem leaves to the student; the choices mix both halves of the day. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Multiply 90 minutes by 8 to get the total time, change it to hours, and then count that many hours forward from 2:30 p.m.
Traps
- Stops one step early: A choice is a number from partway through the solution.
- Counting the ends: Inclusive or exclusive ends, fence posts, consecutive numbers: an answer that is one too many or too few, or an endpoint drawn open where it belongs closed (or the reverse).
- Numbers taken from the question: Combines the numbers in the question without a model of the situation, or is simply a number that appears in the question.
The wrong answers, classified
A Counting the ends (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Counts only 7 revolutions, 630 minutes or 10½ hours, as if the first turn were already done at the start, and lands at 1:00 a.m.
C Numbers taken from the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Adds a single revolution's 90 minutes to the 2:30 start, giving 4:00 in the afternoon, without multiplying by the 8 revolutions.
D Stops one step early (King et al., 2004; Gierl et al., 2017)
Finds that 8 revolutions take 12 hours and picks 12:00 midnight, reading the elapsed time as a clock time instead of counting on from 2:30.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Total time
- Time for one is how long one revolution takes. How many is the number of revolutions. Each one takes the same time, so multiply to get the total time.
- Minutes to hours
- There are 60 minutes in 1 hour. So to change minutes to hours, divide by 60. Each group of 60 minutes makes 1 hour.
Sort out the question
The sign turns all the way around once every 90 minutes. One full turn is called a revolution. The sign starts at 2:30 p.m. You need the clock time when it finishes 8 revolutions.
Find the total time in minutes
Each revolution takes 90 minutes, and there are 8 of them.
The 8 revolutions take 720 minutes. Watch out: use all 8 revolutions. Counting only 7 gives 630 minutes and 1:00 a.m., choice A. Adding just one 90 minutes gives 4:00 p.m., choice C.
Change the minutes to hours
Clock times are easier to count in hours. There are 60 minutes in an hour.
The sign turns for 12 hours.
Count forward from 2:30 p.m.
Start at 2:30 p.m. and add 12 hours. When you pass midnight, p.m. changes to a.m. So 12 hours after 2:30 p.m. is 2:30 a.m. the next morning. Watch out: 12 hours is an amount of time, not a clock time. Reading it as 12:00 midnight gives choice D. So the answer is B, 2:30 a.m.
Check your answer
From 2:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. is one full trip around the clock, 12 hours. 12 hours is minutes. And , the number of revolutions in the question.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 98 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 10Question
Points Y and Z are not shown on the number line above. If X is the midpoint of , and Y is the midpoint of , where on the number line would point Z be located?
- A2
- B4
- C6
- D8
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
First, find where Y is located on the number line. Point X is the midpoint of . Since there are 2 units between W and X, there must also be 2 units between X and Y. Thus, Y is located at 4 on the number line.
Point Y is the midpoint of . Use the same reasoning as above. Since there are 4 units between W and Y, there must be 4 units between Y and Z. So, Z is located at 8 on the number line.
Question analysis
A number line shows point W at 0 and point X at 2, and two more points, Y and Z, are described but not drawn. Students use two midpoint facts, one after the other, to find where Z lies. Each midpoint fact is about a different segment, so keeping track of which point is the middle one matters.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Midpoints on a number line rest on distance, which grade 7 students find as a difference. Here every point lies at a whole number of zero or more, so the work is two short steps with no negative numbers.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Many steps minor
- Reading a figure, table or graph minor
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 7, 36 words.
- Students, last 30 days
- Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)
Why it is hard
Each midpoint statement doubles a distance from W, so the problem is two short doublings, 2 to 4 and then 4 to 8. The risk is stopping halfway, since Y's position is found first and appears among the choices, or reusing X as an endpoint in the second statement. Rereading which point the question asks about, and checking that Y is halfway between W and Z, catches both.
Many steps minor Working it out
The two midpoint statements must be used in order: the first places Y at 4, and only then can the second, about segment WZ, place Z. (Daniel & Embretson, 2010; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Reading a figure, table or graph minor Understanding the question
Only W at 0 and X at 2 are marked on the 0-to-10 line, and the overbars name WY and WZ as segments, so Y and Z have to be placed from the statements alone. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Use the first midpoint to place Y as far beyond X as X is from W, then use the second midpoint the same way to place Z beyond Y.
Traps
- Answers a different question: A choice is right for another quantity: the other unknown, the rest instead of the part, the part instead of the whole.
- Misreads the question: Misses or misreads a condition or a word in the question: "at least", "each", "remaining", "not".
The wrong answers, classified
A Numbers taken from the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Gives 2, the position of point X, the only labeled point besides W, without using either midpoint statement.
B Answers a different question (King et al., 2004; Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Uses the first statement to place Y at 4 and answers with Y's position instead of going on to locate Z, the point the question asks about.
C Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Treats Y as the midpoint of XZ instead of WZ, so Z lands 2 units past Y, at 6, continuing the even steps from W to X to Y.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Midpoint of a segment
- A and B are the ends of a segment, a straight piece of a line. M is its midpoint, the point exactly halfway. AM is the distance from A to M, and MB is the distance from M to B. A midpoint splits a segment into two equal parts, so these are equal.
Sort out the question
The number line shows W at 0 and X at 2. Points Y and Z are not shown. X is the midpoint of segment WY. Y is the midpoint of segment WZ. A midpoint is the point exactly halfway along a segment. You need the number where Z sits.
Place point Y
X is halfway from W to Y. So X to Y is as long as W to X.
So Y is 2 units past X.
Point Y is at 4. Watch out: this is Y, not Z. Stopping here gives 4, choice B.
Place point Z
Now Y is halfway from W to Z. W to Y is 4 units, so Y to Z is also 4 units.
Watch out: the second midpoint is for segment WZ, not XZ. Taking just 2 more units from Y puts Z at 6, choice C. So the answer is D, 8.
Check your answer
Check both midpoints. Halfway from 0 to 4 is , which is X. Halfway from 0 to 8 is , which is Y. Both facts in the question are true.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 99 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 11Question
What value of n makes the equation above true?
- A1
- B
- C5
- D
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
| Cross multiply. | |
| Apply the multiplicative inverse property; divide both sides of the equation by 81. | |
| Then simplify the fraction. |
Question analysis
This question gives the proportion 81/10 = 9/n and asks for the value of n that makes it true. Students solve a proportion by cross-multiplying and dividing, then simplify the result. Reducing the resulting fraction and matching its form to the choices is where students slip.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Solving a proportion is familiar from grades 6 and 7, and this one needs only cross-multiplying and one division. Its one extra demand is simplifying the result and writing it in the form the choices use.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- An answer in an unexpected form moderate
- A very close wrong answer minor
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 7, 12 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 proportion solves in one cross-multiplication, but the result is an improper fraction that must be simplified and rewritten to match. Students who notice that 81 is 9 × 9 can shortcut it: the numerator shrinks by a factor of 9 from left to right, so the denominator must shrink too, giving 10 ÷ 9. The mixed-number form is where answers drift, by dropping the leftover ninth or by writing 10 × 1/9 as 10 1/9.
An answer in an unexpected form moderate Choosing the answer
Cross-multiplying gives n = 90/81, which has to be reduced to 10/9 and rewritten as the mixed number 1 1/9 before it matches any choice. (Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
The choices 1 and 1 1/9 differ by one ninth, and estimating 90 ÷ 81 as about 1 cannot separate them; only keeping the remainder does. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Cross-multiply to get 81n = 90, divide both sides by 81, and simplify the fraction before comparing it with the choices.
Traps
- A faulty procedure: A systematic but wrong procedure: adding fractions straight across, applying an exponent to each term of a sum, dropping a sign when moving a term.
- Answer in another form: The right answer is written differently from the way you worked it out.
The wrong answers, classified
A Rounds too early (King et al., 2004)
Finds n by dividing 10 by 9 but keeps only the whole-number part of the quotient, 1, dropping the remainder that the exact answer needs.
C Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
No cross-multiplication or scaling of 81/10 gives 5, which would make 9/n equal 1.8 instead of 8.1, so it mostly catches guesses.
D A faulty procedure (Brown & Burton, 1978; Tatsuoka, 1983)
Reaches n = 10 × 9/81 = 10 × 1/9 but writes the product as the mixed number 10 1/9, as if a whole number beside a fraction meant multiplication.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Cross-multiplying
- a over b and c over d are two equal fractions, and b and d are not 0. Multiply each top by the other bottom. The two products are equal. It works because it is the same as multiplying both sides by b and by d.
- Simplifying a fraction
- a over b is a fraction, and k is a number that divides both the top and the bottom. Dividing the top and the bottom by the same number gives an equal fraction with smaller numbers.
- Fraction to mixed number
- a over b is a fraction whose top is bigger than its bottom. q is the quotient, how many whole times b fits into a. r is the remainder, what is left over. The leftover stays over the same bottom number.
Sort out the question
The equation says two fractions are equal: and . n is an unknown bottom number. You need the value of n that makes them equal. Some choices are mixed numbers, so n may not be a whole number.
Cross-multiply the two fractions
Multiply each top by the other fraction’s bottom. This gets n out of the bottom of the fraction.
Divide both sides by 81
81n means 81 times n. To undo multiplying by 81, divide both sides by 81.
Now simplify. 90 and 81 are both in the 9 times table, so divide the top and bottom by 9.
Write it as a mixed number
10 ÷ 9 is 1 with 1 left over. The leftover stays over 9.
Watch out: keep the leftover. Dropping it gives 1, choice A. Also, ten ninths is not 10 and one ninth. That mixed number, , is choice D, which is far too big. So the answer is B, .
Check your answer
Estimate. is about 8. For to be about 8, n must be a little more than 1. Check exactly: . It matches.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 100 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 12Question
If n is an integer and is an even number, which expression must also represent an even number?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The expression is equal to , and it is given that this is an even number. The expression must also represent an even number, because 3 is an odd number: if were odd, would be the product of two odd numbers, which is an odd number. If is an even number, then n must be an odd number. Choose an odd number to substitute for n in the answer options to find which expression represents an even number:
Let .
Option A:
Option B:
Option C:
Option D:
Since 16 is the only even number, the correct answer is option A.
Question analysis
This number properties question says that 3n + 3 is even for an integer n and asks which of four expressions must also be even. Students reason about odd and even numbers written with a variable. The hidden step is deciding what the given fact says about n itself before testing the expressions.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students rewrite and evaluate expressions, but rarely reason about whether an expression is odd or even for every value of a variable. Here that reasoning comes in two layers: first about n, then about each choice.
- 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
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 9, 23 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- The explanation gave the wrong reason why n + 1 must be even; the reason 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 question hides its key step: 3n + 3 = 3(n + 1), and since 3 is odd, n + 1 must be even, so n is odd. A student who skips that step and tests a convenient even value never checks the condition and lands on a wrong expression. Once n is known to be odd, any odd test value, such as 1, picks out 5n + 1 at once.
Variables instead of numbers moderate Understanding the question
No value of n is given; the only fact is that 3n + 3 is even, and it has to be turned into a fact about n itself, that n is odd, before any choice is judged. (Koedinger & Nathan, 2004; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Something you must already know minor Working it out
The parity rules are assumed, not stated: an odd number times an odd number is odd, and an even number plus an odd number is odd. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Each expression has to be tested with an odd n or by parity rules; three of the four come out odd whenever n is odd, so none can be dismissed on sight. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: First work out what 3n + 3 being even says about n, by factoring out 3 or testing small integers, then check each expression with a value of n that fits.
Traps
- Misreads the question: Misses or misreads a condition or a word in the question: "at least", "each", "remaining", "not".
- Misunderstands the concept: A wrong belief about a concept: that percents can be added, that area grows like length, that averages can be averaged, that a bigger denominator means a bigger fraction.
The wrong answers, classified
B Misunderstands the concept (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993; De Bock et al., 1998; Ni & Zhou, 2005)
Sees the even term 4n and treats the whole expression as even, overlooking that adding the odd 5 makes 4n + 5 odd for every integer n.
C Misunderstands the concept (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993; De Bock et al., 1998; Ni & Zhou, 2005)
Assumes an expression that starts with 2n must be even, though 2n + 3 is an even number plus 3 and so is always odd.
D Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Tests n = 2 without checking the condition, though 3(2) + 3 = 9 is odd; with n = 2, only n + 2 = 4 comes out even.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The DOE’s explanation said that n + 1 must be even “because 3 is an odd number and the product of an odd number and an even number is an even number.” That fact does not show that n + 1 is even; the reason is that if n + 1 were odd, 3(n + 1) would be the product of two odd numbers, which is odd, and it is given as even. The site now gives that reason. The answer, A, is unchanged.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Pulling out a common factor
- a is a factor, a number being multiplied, that both terms share. b and c are what is left. This is the distributive property run backward. It turns a sum into a product, which is easier to reason about.
- Multiplying odd numbers
- An even number splits into pairs, like 2, 4 or 6. An odd number has one left over, like 1, 3 or 5. An odd number of odd groups always leaves one extra. So the product is odd.
- Adding odd and even numbers
- Two odd numbers each have one left over. Together the two extras make a pair, so the sum is even. An even number plus an odd number still has one left over, so the sum is odd.
Sort out the question
n is an integer, a whole number that can be positive, negative or 0. You are told that is even. You need the expression that must be even too. Must means it is even every time. First find out what the fact tells you about n.
Pull out the 3
Both terms in have a factor of 3. Pull it out.
So 3 times is an even number.
Decide whether n is odd or even
3 is odd. If were odd, would be odd times odd. That is always odd. But we are told it is even. So must be even. One less than an even number is odd. So n is odd. Watch out: don’t test n = 2. Then , which is odd. With n = 2, only comes out even, choice D.
Test each choice with an odd n
Pick an odd number, n = 3. It fits, since is even.
- A: , even
- B: , odd
- C: , odd
- D: , odd
Only A is even.
Make sure A always works
Must means every odd n, not just 3. If n is odd, 5n is odd times odd, so it is odd. Odd plus 1 is even. So is always even. Watch out: 4n is even, but adding the odd 5 makes odd, choice B. In the same way, is always odd, choice C. So the answer is A, .
Check your answer
Try another odd number, n = 1. Then , which is even, so n = 1 fits. And is even too. The other three choices give 9, 5 and 3, all odd. Choice A wins again.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 101 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 13Question
The product of two positive integers is 65. Which number could be the sum of the two integers?
- A5
- B18
- C24
- D52
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
First, find the pairs of positive integers that multiply to 65: and .
The sums of the pairs are 66 and 18. 18 is the option that is provided in the answer choices.
Question analysis
Two positive integers multiply to 65, and this question asks which number in the choices could be their sum. Students list the factor pairs of 65 and add each pair. The words could be signal that more than one pair exists, and only one of the sums appears among the choices.
- NYS standards
- 6.NS.4 common factors and multiples
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Finding factor pairs of a two-digit number is review by grade 7. The question takes two quick steps, listing the pairs and adding each, with nothing to compute beyond small products and sums.
- Estimated difficulty
- Routine: one familiar step, little to misread.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 5, 17 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
With only two factor pairs, 1 × 65 and 5 × 13, the work is a short list and two additions. The word could matters: the sum depends on which pair is chosen, and only one of the two sums appears among the choices. The main slip is answering with a factor rather than with the sum the question asks for.
Something you must already know minor Working it out
The pairs come from factoring 65 as 5 × 13, a fact the stem leaves to the student; the pair 1 and 65 also counts, but its sum, 66, is not offered. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: List every pair of positive integers whose product is 65, starting from 1, and add the two numbers in each pair.
Traps
- Answers a different question: A choice is right for another quantity: the other unknown, the rest instead of the part, the part instead of the whole.
The wrong answers, classified
A Answers a different question (King et al., 2004; Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Finds the factor pair 5 and 13 and answers with the factor 5, one of the two integers, instead of their sum.
C Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
No pair of positive integers with product 65 adds to 24; reaching it needs a wrong pair such as 3 and 21, whose product is 63, so it mostly catches guesses.
D Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
No factor pair of 65 adds to 52, which is 65 − 13 or 4 × 13, and no common working combines them that way, so it mostly draws guesses.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Factor pair
- a and b are positive whole numbers that multiply to make 65. Such a pair is called a factor pair of 65. To find them all, try 1, 2, 3 and so on. Stop when the factors start to repeat.
- Dividing by 5
- A whole number splits into groups of 5, with none left over, when its last digit is 0 or 5. So 65 divides by 5, but 64 does not.
Sort out the question
Two positive integers multiply to make 65. Positive integers are the counting numbers 1, 2, 3 and so on. The product is the answer to a multiplication. You need a number that could be their sum, the answer when you add them.
List the factor pairs of 65
Try each small number. See if it divides 65 with nothing left over.
- 1 works: .
- 2 and 4 don’t work, because 65 is odd. 3 doesn’t work either: , with 2 left over.
- 5 works, since 65 ends in 5: .
- 6 and 8 are even, so they don’t work. 7 doesn’t either: .
Since , any factor bigger than 8 pairs with one smaller than 8. You already tried those. So the pairs are 1 and 65, and 5 and 13.
Add each pair
The possible sums are 66 and 18. Only 18 is a choice. Watch out: the question asks for the sum, not one of the numbers. Picking the factor 5 is choice A. So the answer is B, 18.
Check your answer
Work back from 18. Look for two numbers that add to 18 and multiply to 65. and . Both match. For 24 or 52, no pair of whole numbers that multiplies to 65 adds up to them.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 102 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 14Question
If n is an odd integer that is less than −3.25, what is the greatest possible value of n?
- A−1
- B−2
- C−3
- D−5
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The two greatest integers less than −3.25 are −4 and −5. Since −4 is even, the answer is −5.
Question analysis
This question asks for the greatest odd integer that is less than −3.25. Students compare negative numbers on a number line and apply two conditions at once, odd and less than. With negatives, the greater number is the one closer to zero, which makes the two conditions easy to misapply.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Ordering negative numbers is grade 6 content, and the question adds only the condition that the integer be odd. It is lighter than typical grade 7 work, though the order of negatives still trips up students who compare their sizes.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Error-prone arithmetic minor
- Much to keep track of minor
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 7, 18 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 short, but it asks students to reason on the negative side of 0, where greater means closer to 0 and the size of the digits misleads. The integers just below −3.25 are −4 and then −5, and the first of those is even. Sketching a number line, or reading less than as to the left of, keeps the direction straight.
Error-prone arithmetic minor Working it out
On the negative side, less means farther from 0, so the integers below −3.25 run −4, −5, −6; −3, though its digit is closer to 3.25, lies to the right. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Much to keep track of minor Working it out
Three conditions apply at once, odd, less than −3.25 and the greatest such value, and checking only two of them leads to a listed choice. (Sweller, 1988; Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990)
Strategy: Picture −3.25 on a number line, list the integers to its left starting with the closest, and take the first one that is odd.
Traps
- Negatives and direction: Arithmetic with negative numbers, the order of a subtraction, or direction on a number line. (Moving a term across the equals sign without changing its sign is a faulty procedure.)
- Misreads the question: Misses or misreads a condition or a word in the question: "at least", "each", "remaining", "not".
The wrong answers, classified
A Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Picks the greatest odd number offered, −1, without checking the condition that n be less than −3.25; −1 lies to its right on the number line.
B Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
The choice −2 is even, so it breaks the condition that n be odd, and it is also greater than −3.25; it mostly catches guesses.
C Negatives and direction (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Looks for the odd integer just past −3.25 but steps toward 0, taking −3, though −3 is greater than −3.25, not less.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Comparing negative numbers
- a and b are positive numbers, and a is bigger. On a number line, numbers get smaller as you move left. A negative number farther from 0 is farther left. So it is smaller, even though its digits look bigger.
Sort out the question
n has to pass three tests. It is an integer, a whole number with no decimal part. It is odd, so it is not a multiple of 2. And it is less than −3.25. Of all the numbers that pass, you need the greatest one. That is the one farthest to the right on a number line.
Picture −3.25 on a number line
−3.25 sits between −4 and −3. Less than −3.25 means to the left of it.
So −4 is less than −3.25, but −3 is greater. Watch out: −3 is not less than −3.25. It is to the right, closer to 0. For negative numbers, the one closer to 0 is greater. Picking −3 is choice C.
Find the odd integers to the left
The integers less than −3.25, starting with the closest, are −4, −5, −6 and so on. The greatest one is −4. But −4 is even, since 4 = 2 × 2. So skip it. The next one, −5, is odd. Watch out: −1 is odd, but it is greater than −3.25, so choice A breaks the rule. So the answer is D, −5.
Check your answer
Check all three tests for −5. It is an integer. It is odd. It is to the left of −3.25, so it is less. The only integer between −5 and −3.25 is −4, and it is even. So no greater number works.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 103 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 15Question
A swim instructor used the box plot below to display the distribution of the ages of students who signed up for swim lessons.
Which statement about the distribution of ages is true?
- AThe data contain an outlier.
- BApproximately half the students are exactly 9 years old.
- CApproximately one-fourth of the students are at least 10 years old.
- DThe interquartile range is 3 greater than the range of the data.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The data points in the box plot are as follows:
- minimum: 7
- first quartile: 8
- median: 9
- third quartile: 10
- maximum: 12
Since the value of the third quartile is 10, approximately one-fourth of the students are 10–12 years old.
Question analysis
A swim instructor's box plot shows the ages of students who signed up for lessons. Students decide which of four statements about the distribution is true, using the minimum, quartiles, median and maximum. The statements test different box plot ideas, including outliers, the median, the quartiles and the range, so each needs its own check.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 New York places box plots, the interquartile range and outliers in grade 7. Here four statements test those ideas one at a time; each check is short, so the item matches typical grade 7 work.
- 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
- Something you must already know moderate
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Reading a figure, table or graph minor
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 8, 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
Reading the five values off the plot is quick; the work is knowing what a box plot can and cannot say. It shows where quarters of the data begin and end, not how many students share any one age, and a long whisker is not an outlier unless it passes the 1.5 × IQR cutoff, here 13. The true statement uses the third quartile: about a quarter of the students are 10 or older.
Something you must already know moderate Working it out
The statements rely on box plot facts the question does not give: each section holds about a quarter of the data, the middle line is the median, and outliers lie beyond 1.5 IQRs. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
Four statements test four separate ideas, an outlier, the share at one age, a quarter of the data and two spreads, so ruling one out says nothing about the rest. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Reading a figure, table or graph minor Understanding the question
The five values, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12, are read off a 5-to-13 scale, where the longer right whisker draws the eye more than the box does. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Read the five key values off the plot, then test each statement: compute the range, the interquartile range and the outlier cutoffs, and recall what share of the data each part holds.
Traps
- Misunderstands the concept: A wrong belief about a concept: that percents can be added, that area grows like length, that averages can be averaged, that a bigger denominator means a bigger fraction.
- Wrong formula: Uses a related but wrong formula: perimeter for area, diameter for radius, area for volume, or a misremembered one.
The wrong answers, classified
A Misunderstands the concept (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993; De Bock et al., 1998; Ni & Zhou, 2005)
Takes the long right whisker, reaching 12, as a sign of an outlier, but 12 is below the cutoff 10 + 1.5 × 2 = 13.
B Misunderstands the concept (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993; De Bock et al., 1998; Ni & Zhou, 2005)
Reads the median line at 9 as the age of half the students, though a median only splits the ages into a lower and an upper half.
D Wrong formula (King et al., 2004)
Swaps the two measures, taking the box's 2 years as the range and the whiskers' 5 years as the interquartile range, so the IQR seems 3 greater.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Range
- The maximum is the largest value, the right end of a box plot. The minimum is the smallest, the left end. The range is how far apart they are. It shows how spread out all the data are.
- Interquartile range
- IQR is short for interquartile range. Q1, the first quartile, is the left edge of the box. Q3, the third quartile, is the right edge. The IQR is the width of the box. It is the spread of the middle half of the data. The four parts of a box plot each hold about one-fourth of the data.
- Outlier test
- An outlier is a value far from the rest of the data. A common rule says a value is an outlier if it lies more than 1.5 IQRs below Q1 or above Q3.
Read the five values off the plot
A box plot shows five numbers. The median is the middle value when the ages are in order.
Part Age Minimum, the left whisker’s end 7 First quartile, Q1, the box’s left edge 8 Median, the line in the box 9 Third quartile, Q3, the box’s right edge 10 Maximum, the right whisker’s end 12 Check choice A, an outlier
An outlier would be above 13 or below 5. The ages only run from 7 to 12. So there is no outlier. Watch out: a long whisker is not an outlier. It just means the top ages are spread out. Choice A is false.
Check choice B, the median
The median, 9, is the middle age. About half the students are 9 or younger. About half are 9 or older. It does not tell how many are exactly 9. Watch out: the median line does not mean half the students are 9. Choice B is false.
Check choice C, the top fourth
The box plot splits the students into four groups of about the same size. Each group holds about one-fourth of them. The last group runs from Q3, 10, to the maximum, 12. At least 10 means 10 or more. So about one-fourth of the students are at least 10 years old. Choice C is true.
Check choice D, the two spreads
The IQR is 3 less than the range, not 3 greater. The box always fits inside the whiskers, so the IQR can never be bigger. Watch out: swapping the two measures gives choice D. So the answer is C: about one-fourth of the students are at least 10 years old.
Check your answer
Picture 20 students. About 5 would be in each fourth of the plot. The top 5 would be ages 10 to 12. That is about one-fourth, just as choice C says. Each other choice fails a fact you can read straight off the plot.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 104 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 16Question
Between which two consecutive integers is the fraction ?
- A2 and 3
- B3 and 4
- C4 and 5
- D5 and 6
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
First, convert to a mixed number: . The two consecutive integers on either side of are 4 and 5.
Question analysis
This question asks between which two consecutive whole numbers the fraction 29/7 lies. Students divide to turn the improper fraction into a mixed number, or compare it with nearby multiples of 7. It is a quick check of number sense with fractions, where a remainder must be read correctly.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Changing an improper fraction to a mixed number and placing it between whole numbers is review well before grade 7. This takes one division with a small divisor and nothing more.
- Estimated difficulty
- Routine: one familiar step, little to misread.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 5, 13 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
Dividing 29 by 7 gives 4 with a remainder of 1, so the fraction is 4 1/7 and lies just past 4. The one decision is which side of 4 the remainder puts it on, and a positive remainder always moves the value up. Writing the mixed number before looking at the choices makes the pair obvious.
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
The pairs 3 and 4 and 4 and 5 both contain 4, so knowing that 29/7 is about 4 is not enough; only the remainder, 29 − 28 = 1, puts it above 4. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Find the largest multiple of 7 that is not more than 29, write the fraction as a mixed number, and read off the whole numbers on each side.
Traps
- Counting the ends: Inclusive or exclusive ends, fence posts, consecutive numbers: an answer that is one too many or too few, or an endpoint drawn open where it belongs closed (or the reverse).
The wrong answers, classified
A Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
No division of 29 by 7 lands below 3, since 7 × 3 = 21 is far short of 29; only misreading 29/7 as 2.9 gets there, so it mostly catches guesses.
B Counting the ends (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Finds the whole-number part, 4, but takes it as the upper end of the pair, as if 29/7 fell just short of 4 instead of just past it.
D Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
Nothing puts 29/7 above 5, since 7 × 5 = 35 is more than 29; even rounding 4 1/7 up gives 5 as the upper end, so it mostly catches guesses.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Fraction to mixed number
- a over b is a fraction whose top is bigger than its bottom. q is the quotient, how many whole times b fits into a. r is the remainder, what is left over. The leftover stays over the same bottom number.
Sort out the question
Consecutive integers are whole numbers that come one right after the other, like 4 and 5. You need the two that falls between. So find the whole number just below it and the one just above it.
Divide 29 by 7
A fraction bar means divide. How many 7s fit in 29?
28 is the biggest multiple of 7 that is not more than 29. A multiple of 7 is 7 times a whole number. Then . So 29 ÷ 7 is 4 with 1 left over.
Write it as a mixed number
is a little more than 4 and less than 5. Watch out: it is just past 4, not just short of it. So 4 is the lower number of the pair. Picking 3 and 4 is choice B. So the answer is C, 4 and 5.
Check your answer
Multiply each end by 7. and . The top of the fraction, 29, is between 28 and 35. So is between 4 and 5. As a decimal it is about 4.14.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 105 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 17Question
A customer wants to buy a pair of hiking boots.
- The original price of the boots is $85.75.
- The store is offering a 15% discount on all boot purchases.
- The customer has a coupon for an additional 25% off the sale price.
- The tax rate is 8.5%.
What is the final cost of the boots, including the tax, to the nearest cent?
- A$55.82
- B$59.08
- C$59.32
- D$63.17
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
First, determine the sale price after the 15% discount is applied.
Since the customer is saving 15%, this means they are paying 85% , so multiply the original price by 85% (0.85) to find the discounted price:
Next, find the price after the 25% coupon has been applied:
Since the customer is saving 25% off the sale price, this means they are paying 75% , so multiply the price found in the first step by 75% (0.75) to find the second discounted price:
Last, find the final cost after an 8.5% tax is added to the second discounted price.
Since the customer is paying 8.5% tax, this means they are paying 108.5% , so multiply the second discounted price by 108.5% (1.085) to find the final cost:
Question analysis
A pair of hiking boots costs $85.75, goes on sale at 15% off, gets an extra 25% off with a coupon, and is then taxed at 8.5%. Students find the final cost to the nearest cent. Each percent applies to the price left after the step before, so the discounts cannot simply be added, and the decimals call for careful multiplication.
- NYS standards
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 A discount followed by sales tax is standard grade 7 percent work. This item stacks two discounts and a tax, with cents to keep at every stage, so it takes about twice the steps and decimal multiplication of a typical problem.
- 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 apply
- What makes it hard
- Error-prone arithmetic major
- Turning words into math moderate
- Slow to do carefully moderate
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 4, 58 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 tests whether students treat successive percents as successive multipliers, and then holds them to three long multiplications. Adding the 15% and 25% into one discount is the tempting shortcut, and a tax read as a dollar amount is the other. The key rounds to the cent at each stage, as a register would; carried exactly, the result is $59.31, so the nearest choice, $59.32, still stands.
Error-prone arithmetic major Working it out
Three products of cents and decimals are worked by hand: 85.75 × 0.85 = 72.8875, then 72.89 × 0.75 = 54.6675, then 54.67 × 1.085 ≈ 59.32, each rounded to the cent. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Turning words into math moderate Understanding the question
The phrase "an additional 25% off the sale price" means 25% of the already discounted $72.89, not of the $85.75 original, so the two discounts multiply rather than add. (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; Koedinger & Nathan, 2004)
Slow to do carefully moderate Choosing the answer
A reliable method needs three long decimal multiplications without a calculator, well past the minute and a half a question allows, which tempts students to combine the percents. (Lu & Sireci, 2007)
Strategy: Multiply by 0.85 for the sale, by 0.75 for the coupon on the sale price, and by 1.085 for the tax, rounding to the cent at each stage as a register would.
Traps
- Percent of the wrong amount: Finding the whole from a part, or a percent change measured from the wrong starting amount.
- Misunderstands the concept: A wrong belief about a concept: that percents can be added, that area grows like length, that averages can be averaged, that a bigger denominator means a bigger fraction.
The wrong answers, classified
A Percent of the wrong amount (Parker & Leinhardt, 1995)
Takes the 25% coupon off the original $85.75 instead of the sale price, so the discounts add to 40%: 85.75 × 0.60 × 1.085 ≈ $55.82.
B Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
No common working gives $59.08; it sits 24 cents below the right total and matches no discount or tax mistake, so it mostly catches guesses.
D Misunderstands the concept (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993; De Bock et al., 1998; Ni & Zhou, 2005)
Applies both discounts correctly, reaching $54.67, but adds $8.50 as the tax, reading 8.5% as a dollar amount instead of a percent of the price.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Price after a discount
- p is the percent off. A discount is money taken off the price. If you save p percent, you pay the rest, 100 − p percent. For 15% off you pay 85%, so multiply by 0.85.
- Price with tax
- The price is the cost before tax. t is the tax rate, a percent. Tax is extra money added on top. You pay the whole price, 100%, plus t percent more. So for 8.5% tax you multiply by 1.085.
Sort out the question
The boots cost $85.75 at first. The store takes 15% off. Then a coupon takes 25% off the sale price. The sale price is the price after the first discount. Then 8.5% tax is added. You need the final cost to the nearest cent. A cent is $0.01, the second place after the decimal point.
Take off the 15% discount
You save 15%, so you pay 85%. That is 0.85 of the price.
A price can’t have part of a cent, so round to two decimal places. The third digit is 7, which is 5 or more, so round up.
The sign ≈ means about. The sale price is $72.89.
Take 25% off the sale price
The coupon takes 25% off $72.89, so you pay 75% of it.
The price is now $54.67. Watch out: take the coupon off the sale price, not the first price. Adding 15% and 25% to get 40% off $85.75 leads to $55.82, choice A.
Add the 8.5% tax
You pay the price plus 8.5% more, which is 108.5% of it.
Watch out: 8.5% is a percent of the price, not $8.50. Adding $8.50 gives $63.17, choice D.
See why rounding each time matters
A store rounds to the cent after each step, as you just did. The test’s answer is worked the same way. Keep every digit and round only at the end, and you get this:
That is $59.31, which is not a choice. The first two roundings each went up by a tiny part of a cent. That was just enough to push the total from $59.31 to $59.32. So here, round at each step, as a store would. So the answer is C, $59.32.
Check your answer
Check the tax a second way. 8.5% of $54.67 is , about $4.65. Then . Also estimate: two discounts leave a bit less than two-thirds of $86, near $55. Tax adds under $5, so about $59 or $60 makes sense.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 106 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 18Question
Sheila is saving money for her summer vacation. She starts the summer with a balance of $90.00 and plans to save 15% of her earnings each week. She earns the same amount each week. After 12 weeks, Sheila has saved a total of $472.59. How much money does Sheila earn each week?
- A$212.55
- B$262.55
- C$302.55
- D$312.55
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
Let x be the amount that Sheila needs to earn each week.
First, subtract 90 from both sides:
Last, divide both sides by 1.8:
Question analysis
Sheila starts the summer with $90 and saves 15% of what she earns each week, earning the same amount every week, and after 12 weeks she has $472.59. Students find her weekly earnings. They must write an equation that separates the starting balance from the savings and then work with a percent and long decimals.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Writing and solving an equation of the form px + q = r from a word problem is core grade 7 work. Here the coefficient combines a percent with 12 weeks, and the decimals are long, which adds steps but no new idea.
- 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
- Turning words into math moderate
- Error-prone arithmetic moderate
- Many steps minor
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 4, 48 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 story has three layers, a starting balance, a weekly saving rate and a 12-week total, and the unknown sits under the percent. Students lose the point by forgetting the $90 was already there, or by moving it the wrong way. Testing a choice is a dependable alternative: 15% of $212.55 is about $31.88, and 12 of those plus $90 gives $472.59.
Turning words into math moderate Understanding the question
The total of $472.59 includes the $90.00 she started with, and only 15% of each week's pay is saved, so the equation is 90 + 12 × 0.15x = 472.59. (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; Koedinger & Nathan, 2004)
Error-prone arithmetic moderate Working it out
Dividing $382.59 by 1.8 by hand means shifting the decimal point to get 3,825.9 ÷ 18, which comes out to exactly $212.55 only if every digit is placed correctly. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Many steps minor Working it out
Subtract the $90, then divide by 12 weeks and by 0.15, or by their product 1.8; doing the division before the subtraction gives a listed choice. (Daniel & Embretson, 2010; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Strategy: Subtract the starting $90 from the final total, then divide by 12 weeks and by 0.15, or test each choice by taking 15% of it, multiplying by 12 and adding $90.
Traps
- Misreads the question: Misses or misreads a condition or a word in the question: "at least", "each", "remaining", "not".
- Wrong operation: Adds instead of multiplying, divides the wrong way round, turns a ratio or rate upside down, or undoes a step in the wrong direction (subtracts what should be added back).
The wrong answers, classified
B Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Overlooks the $90 she started with, treating the whole $472.59 as savings from earnings, and divides it by 1.8 to get $262.55.
C Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
No setup of the savings gives $302.55, the right weekly pay plus the $90 starting balance, a sum with no meaning here, so it mostly catches guesses.
D Wrong operation (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; King et al., 2004)
Adds the $90 to $472.59 instead of subtracting it, so the savings from earnings look like $562.59, and dividing by 1.8 gives $312.55.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Percent of a number
- p is the percent. The whole is the amount you take the percent of. The part is the result. Percent means out of 100. So 15% is 15 out of every 100, or 0.15.
- Savings over time
- The start is the money she had at the beginning. Weekly savings is what she adds each week. Weeks is how many weeks pass. Each week adds the same amount, so multiply. Then add what she started with.
Sort out the question
Sheila starts with $90.00. Each week she earns the same amount and saves 15% of it. After 12 weeks she has $472.59 in all. That total includes the $90 she started with. You need how much she earns each week, not how much she saves.
Write an equation
Call her weekly earnings x. She saves 15% of x each week. That is .
Take away the starting $90
Only the money added during the 12 weeks came from her pay. Subtract 90 from both sides.
She saved $382.59 from her pay. Watch out: subtract the $90, don’t add it. Adding leads to $312.55, choice D. Forgetting the $90 leads to $262.55, choice B.
Combine the numbers next to x
Each week she saves 0.15 of one week’s pay. Over 12 weeks, that adds up to 1.8 times one week’s pay.
Divide by 1.8
Divide both sides by 1.8. First move the decimal point one place right in both numbers. Then you divide by the whole number 18.
Sheila earns $212.55 each week. So the answer is A, $212.55.
Check your answer
Work forward. 12 weeks of saving 15% is 1.8 weeks of pay: . Add the $90 she started with: . That is the total in the question.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 107 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 19Question
For what value of x is the proportion shown above true?
- A27
- B25
- C16
- D13
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
Write the ratios in fraction form and solve for x:
| Cross multiply. | |
| Apply the multiplicative inverse property; divide both sides by 28. | |
Question analysis
This question gives the proportion x:35 = 20:28 and asks for the value of x that makes it true. Students use equivalent ratios or cross-multiplication. The trap is reasoning by adding or subtracting the difference between terms rather than multiplying, which gives numbers that look reasonable but break the ratio.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Finding a missing term in a proportion is grade 6 ratio reasoning, and here the given ratio simplifies to small numbers. It is easier than typical grade 7 proportional reasoning, which usually involves fractions or a real context.
- Estimated difficulty
- Routine: one familiar step, little to misread.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Error-prone arithmetic minor
- A very close wrong answer minor
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 5, 12 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 a single proportion with whole numbers, and the only real trap is reasoning by differences instead of by a common factor. Since 35 is 7 more than 28, adding or subtracting 7 to 20 is tempting, but equal ratios scale; they do not shift. Reducing 20:28 to 5:7 shows at once that the scale factor to 35 is 5.
Error-prone arithmetic minor Working it out
Cross-multiplying gives 28x = 700, and 700 ÷ 28 is not a table fact; simplifying 20:28 to 5:7 first turns it into 5 × 5. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
A very close wrong answer minor Choosing the answer
27 is only 2 more than 25, so a rough sense that x is a little more than 20 fits both; only the exact scale factor, 35/28 = 5/4, separates them. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Strategy: Simplify 20:28 to lowest terms first, then scale it up so its second term becomes 35, or cross-multiply and divide by 28.
Traps
- Misunderstands the concept: A wrong belief about a concept: that percents can be added, that area grows like length, that averages can be averaged, that a bigger denominator means a bigger fraction.
- Wrong operation: Adds instead of multiplying, divides the wrong way round, turns a ratio or rate upside down, or undoes a step in the wrong direction (subtracts what should be added back).
The wrong answers, classified
A Misunderstands the concept (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993; De Bock et al., 1998; Ni & Zhou, 2005)
Reasons with differences: since 35 is 7 more than 28, adds 7 to 20, keeping the gap between the terms instead of their ratio.
C Wrong operation (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; King et al., 2004)
Scales 20 by 28/35 instead of 35/28, so 20 × 28 ÷ 35 = 16, which turns the ratio of the second terms upside down.
D Misunderstands the concept (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993; De Bock et al., 1998; Ni & Zhou, 2005)
Reasons with differences and also goes the wrong way, subtracting 7 from 20, though x must exceed 20 because 35 exceeds 28.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Ratio as a fraction
- a:b is a ratio, read a to b. It compares two amounts by division. You can write it as the fraction a over b. Two equal ratios make a proportion.
- Equivalent fractions
- a over b is a fraction, and k is any number except 0. Multiplying or dividing the top and the bottom by the same number gives an equal fraction.
Sort out the question
is a proportion. A proportion says two ratios are equal. A ratio compares two numbers, like 20 to 28. You need the value of x that makes the two ratios equal.
Write the ratios as fractions
Write each ratio as a fraction. The first number of the ratio goes on top. The second goes on the bottom.
Simplify the known fraction
20 and 28 both divide by 4. Smaller numbers are easier to work with.
So now .
Scale up so the bottom is 35
7 times 5 is 35. To keep the fraction equal, multiply the top by 5 too.
So x = 25. Watch out: a ratio is about multiplying, not adding. 35 is 7 more than 28, but adding 7 to 20 gives 27, choice A. Also, x must be more than 20, because 35 is more than 28. So 16 and 13 are too small. So the answer is B, 25.
Check your answer
Cross-multiply, as the test’s own explanation does. and . The two products are equal, so the ratios 25:35 and 20:28 are equal.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 108 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 20Question
- A−60
- B
- C
- D68
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
Question analysis
This arithmetic question asks for the value of a fraction whose numerator is the sum of the squares of 3, −8 and 2, and whose denominator is the square of 3 − 8 + 2. Students apply the order of operations with negative numbers. Squaring a negative number and adding inside parentheses before squaring are the points to watch.
- NYS standards
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Squaring negative numbers and simplifying with the order of operations is standard grade 7 practice. Here the fraction bar groups a numerator and a denominator that each involve a negative sign, but the work stays short.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 1, recall and reproduction · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Error-prone arithmetic moderate
- Many steps minor
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 16+, 3 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 expression is built so that signs decide everything: the top's 3², (−8)² and 2² are all positive, and so is the square of the bottom's −3. Students who keep a negative after squaring, or who cancel the 9 on top against the 9 below, reach the other choices. The result, 77/9, does not reduce, which can make careful students doubt a correct answer.
Error-prone arithmetic moderate Working it out
Two negatives sit inside squares: (−8)² must be +64, and the denominator's 3 − 8 + 2 = −3 must be squared to +9, so every term ends up positive. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Many steps minor Working it out
The numerator needs three squares and a sum, the denominator a sum and then a square, and the fraction bar groups each side, so neither part can be split or cancelled. (Daniel & Embretson, 2010; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Strategy: Simplify the top and the bottom separately: square each number in the numerator, add inside the parentheses before squaring in the denominator, then write the fraction in lowest terms.
Traps
- Order of operations: Working left to right, or distributing a minus sign wrongly, gives a choice.
- A faulty procedure: A systematic but wrong procedure: adding fractions straight across, applying an exponent to each term of a sum, dropping a sign when moving a term.
The wrong answers, classified
A Order of operations (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Squares as if the minus sat outside the parentheses, (−8)² as −64, and also cancels the 9 on top against the 9 below, leaving −64 + 4 = −60.
B Order of operations (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Squares as if the minus sat outside the parentheses, taking (−8)² as −64, so the top is 9 − 64 + 4 = −51 and −51/9 = −17/3.
D A faulty procedure (Brown & Burton, 1978; Tatsuoka, 1983)
Cancels the 9 in the numerator, 9 + 64 + 4, against the denominator's 9, leaving 64 + 4 = 68, though only a factor of the whole top can cancel.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Square of a negative
- a is any number. To square means to multiply a number by itself. A negative times a negative is positive. So the square of a negative number is always positive.
- The fraction bar groups
- A fraction bar means divide. It also groups: work out the whole top and the whole bottom first, then divide. You can only cancel a number that multiplies the whole top, not one part of a sum.
Sort out the expression
The top, the numerator, is three squares added together. The bottom, the denominator, is a sum in parentheses that is then squared. To square means to multiply a number by itself. Work out the top and the bottom on their own. Then divide.
Work out the top
Square each number first. Then add.
Watch out: (−8)² is +64, not −64. The minus sign is inside the parentheses, so it is squared too. Using −64 makes the top −51 and gives , choice B.
Work out the bottom
Work inside the parentheses first. Add and subtract before you square.
The bottom is 9.
Divide and simplify
77 is 7 × 11 and 9 is 3 × 3. They share no factor, so the fraction is in lowest terms. Watch out: don’t cancel the 9 on top with the 9 below. That 9 is only one part of a sum. Canceling it leaves 64 + 4 = 68, choice D. So the answer is C, .
Check your answer
Every square is positive or zero. So the top and the bottom are both positive, and the answer must be positive. That rules out −60 and . Also, is about 8.6, which is far from 68.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 109 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 21Question
A soccer coach purchased 15 pairs of cleats for team members and spent a total of $805.95, including tax. If the tax rate is 8%, what is the price of each pair of cleats before tax?
- A$49.43
- B$49.75
- C$53.73
- D$58.03
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
Since the total cost of $805.95 includes an 8% tax, this means that the cost of 15 pairs of cleats before tax was multiplied by 1.08 to find the total cost of the cleats including the tax. So, first, use division to find the cost of the 15 pairs of cleats before tax:
Then, divide that quotient by 15 to find the price of 1 pair of cleats:
Question analysis
A soccer coach pays $805.95, tax included, for 15 pairs of cleats, and the tax rate is 8%. Students find the price of one pair before tax. The total already includes the tax, so students must work backward from a percent increase, and a common shortcut lands very close to the right price.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Typical grade 7 tax problems add tax to a price. This one works backward from a total that already includes the tax, a reverse percent step many students find unfamiliar, and then shares the cost among 15 pairs.
- 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 apply
- What makes it hard
- Turning words into math moderate
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Error-prone arithmetic moderate
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 5, 33 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A repeated word in the question 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
Removing a tax is harder than adding one, because the 8% was taken of an amount the problem never states. Taking 8% off the $805.95 total feels natural and lands within 32 cents of the answer, which is why this question is hard. A quick check exposes it: 15 pairs at $49.75 cost $746.25, and adding 8% of that gives exactly $805.95.
Turning words into math moderate Understanding the question
The phrase "spent a total of $805.95, including tax" makes $805.95 equal to 108% of the pre-tax cost, so the tax is removed by dividing by 1.08, not by taking 8% off. (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; Koedinger & Nathan, 2004)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
$49.43 and $49.75 are 32 cents apart, and taking 8% off the total lands on the lower one; no estimate separates them, only dividing by 1.08. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Error-prone arithmetic moderate Working it out
805.95 ÷ 1.08 = 746.25 and 746.25 ÷ 15 = 49.75 are long decimal divisions by hand; dividing by 15 first, to 53.73, and then by 1.08 is no easier. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Strategy: Treat the total as 108% of the pre-tax cost: divide $805.95 by 1.08, then divide by 15 pairs, and check by adding 8% back.
Traps
- Percent of the wrong amount: Finding the whole from a part, or a percent change measured from the wrong starting amount.
- Answers a different question: A choice is right for another quantity: the other unknown, the rest instead of the part, the part instead of the whole.
- Wrong operation: Adds instead of multiplying, divides the wrong way round, turns a ratio or rate upside down, or undoes a step in the wrong direction (subtracts what should be added back).
The wrong answers, classified
A Percent of the wrong amount (Parker & Leinhardt, 1995)
Takes 8% of the $805.95 total and subtracts it, 805.95 × 0.92 ÷ 15 ≈ $49.43, though the tax was 8% of the smaller pre-tax cost.
C Answers a different question (King et al., 2004; Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Divides the $805.95 total by 15 pairs without removing the tax, which gives the price of a pair with tax rather than before it.
D Wrong operation (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; King et al., 2004)
Divides the total by 15 and then multiplies by 1.08 instead of dividing, adding the tax a second time: 53.73 × 1.08 ≈ $58.03.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Stem: The handbook’s question reads “what is the the price of each pair of cleats before tax?”, with “the” printed twice (p. 80, question 78). The site now reads “what is the price of each pair of cleats before tax?”
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Price with tax
- The price is the cost before tax. t is the tax rate, a percent. Tax is extra money added on top. You pay the whole price, 100%, plus t percent more. So for 8% tax you multiply by 1.08.
- Undoing a multiplication
- a is the unknown, b is the number it was multiplied by, and c is the result. Dividing by b undoes multiplying by b. Use it to work backward to the amount before tax.
Sort out the question
The coach bought 15 pairs of cleats, which are sports shoes. He paid $805.95 in all, and that includes 8% tax. Tax is extra money added to the price. You need the price of one pair before tax.
Write the total with tax
The tax is 8% of the cost before tax. So the coach paid 100% + 8% = 108% of that cost. 108% is 1.08. Call the pre-tax cost of all 15 pairs c.
Divide to remove the tax
To undo multiplying by 1.08, divide by 1.08. Move both decimal points two places right first.
All 15 pairs cost $746.25 before tax. Watch out: don’t take 8% of $805.95 and subtract it. The tax was 8% of the smaller pre-tax cost. That way leads to $49.43, choice A.
Find the price of one pair
All 15 pairs cost the same, so share the cost equally.
Watch out: dividing $805.95 by 15 without removing the tax gives $53.73, choice C. That price still includes the tax. So the answer is B, $49.75.
Check your answer
Work forward. 15 pairs at $49.75 cost dollars. The tax is dollars. Then , the total in the question.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 110 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 22Question
The numbers m, n, p, and q are different, and each is equal to one of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, or 12. If , what is the value of p?
- A2
- B3
- C6
- D12
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
Substitute each answer option for p to see which value will work:
Option A:
If , then , so . This cannot be the answer, because n cannot equal 4.
Option B:
If , then , so . This cannot be the answer, because q cannot equal 0.5.
Option C:
If , then , so ; , so ; and , so . This is the correct answer.
Option D:
If , then , so . This cannot be the answer, because n cannot equal 24.
Question analysis
Four letters, m, n, p and q, stand for different numbers from the list 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12, and the expressions 2m, 6q, half of n, and p are all equal. Students find the value of p. The puzzle-like setup has no single equation to solve, so testing values against every condition is the reliable route.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 The equations involve only doubling, halving and multiplying by 6, all grade 6 skills. What goes beyond grade 7 practice is the chain of four equal expressions, with every letter limited to a short list of different numbers.
- 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
- Variables instead of numbers moderate
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Solution
- 3 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 5, 27 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 chain looks forbidding, but it gives each letter as a simple multiple of p: m is half of p, q a sixth of it, and n twice it. Seen that way, q = p/6 forces p to be 6 or 12, and n = 2p rules out 12, so only one value fits. Students who check one or two of the letters, but not all three, can accept 2 or 12.
Variables instead of numbers moderate Understanding the question
Four letters are tied by one chain of equalities, 2m = 6q = ½n = p, and the only numbers are the five allowed values, so each letter has to be written in terms of p. (Koedinger & Nathan, 2004; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
Each choice for p must be tested against three letters, m = p/2, q = p/6 and n = 2p, and all of them must land on different numbers from 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Test each choice as p: find m, q and n from it, and keep the value for which all three are different numbers from the list 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12.
Traps
- Answers a different question: A choice is right for another quantity: the other unknown, the rest instead of the part, the part instead of the whole.
- Misreads the question: Misses or misreads a condition or a word in the question: "at least", "each", "remaining", "not".
The wrong answers, classified
A Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Checks only m, finding that p = 2 gives m = 1 on the list, and misses that q would be 1/3 and n would be 4.
B Answers a different question (King et al., 2004; Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Finds the solution, m = 3, q = 1, n = 12 and p = 6, then answers with m's value, 3, instead of the value of p.
D Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Tests p = 12 against 2m and 6q, getting m = 6 and q = 2, both on the list, and stops before seeing that ½n = 12 needs n = 24.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Undoing a multiplication
- a is a number that multiplies m, and p is the result. Dividing by a undoes multiplying by a. Use it to write each letter using p.
Sort out the question
m, n, p and q are four different numbers. Each one is 1, 2, 3, 6 or 12. The chain says that four amounts are all equal to p. You need the value of p.
Write each letter using p
Each part of the chain equals p. Undo each multiplication.
Half of n is p, so n is twice p.
Test each choice for p
p m q n All on the list? 2 1 4 No 3 1.5 0.5 6 No 6 3 1 12 Yes 12 6 2 24 No Only p = 6 puts every letter on the list.
Check that the letters are different
With p = 6, you get m = 3, q = 1 and n = 12. All four numbers are on the list, and no two are the same. Watch out: p = 12 makes m = 6 and q = 2, which look fine. But n = 24 is not on the list, so choice D fails. Also, the question asks for p, not m. Picking 3 is choice B. So the answer is C, 6.
Check your answer
Put the values into the chain: , , , and p = 6. All four parts equal 6. The numbers 3, 1, 12 and 6 are all different and all on the list.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 111 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 23Question
If a person chooses a number at random from the set above, what is the probability that the number is less than 0.005?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
Three of the five numbers listed (0.001, 0.0001, and 0.00001) are less than 0.005. So, the probability of a person selecting a number less than 0.005 is .
Question analysis
A set holds five decimals, from one tenth down to one hundred-thousandth, and one number is chosen at random. Students find the probability that the number is less than 0.005. Comparing decimals with many zeros is the real task here, along with putting the count over the right total.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Probability with equally likely outcomes is grade 6 content in New York, and this needs one comparison per number and one fraction. The only real demand is comparing decimals with many zeros correctly.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Error-prone arithmetic moderate
- Something you must already know minor
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 6, 27 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 number in the set is a tenth of the one before, so only the three smallest fall below 0.005, which lies between 0.01 and 0.001. Students lose the point either by counting the numbers above 0.005 instead of below it or by writing the count over the wrong total. Lining the decimals up with the same number of places makes every comparison easy.
Error-prone arithmetic moderate Working it out
0.005 has to be compared with decimals from 0.1 down to 0.00001; written to five places, 0.00500 against 0.01000 and 0.00100, the order becomes a comparison of whole numbers. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Something you must already know minor Working it out
The probability is the count of numbers below 0.005 over all 5 numbers in the set; the stem leaves that part-to-whole rule to the student. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Write each number with five decimal places, compare it with 0.00500, count those that are smaller, and divide by the five numbers in the set.
Traps
- Answers a different question: A choice is right for another quantity: the other unknown, the rest instead of the part, the part instead of the whole.
- Misunderstands the concept: A wrong belief about a concept: that percents can be added, that area grows like length, that averages can be averaged, that a bigger denominator means a bigger fraction.
The wrong answers, classified
A Answers a different question (King et al., 2004; Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Gives 1/5, the chance of picking any one particular number from the set, without counting how many of the five are below 0.005.
B Answers a different question (King et al., 2004; Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Counts the 2 numbers greater than 0.005, 0.1 and 0.01, instead of those less than it, finding the chance of the opposite event.
D Misunderstands the concept (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993; De Bock et al., 1998; Ni & Zhou, 2005)
Writes a part-to-part ratio, the 2 numbers above 0.005 over the 3 below it, instead of dividing by all 5 numbers in the set.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Probability
- P is the probability, the chance that something happens. Possible results are all the results that are equally likely. Wanted results are the ones you are looking for. The chance is the fraction of all the results that you want.
- Adding zeros to a decimal
- Zeros added to the right end of a decimal don’t change its value. One tenth is the same as ten hundredths. Giving every number the same number of decimal places lets you compare them like whole numbers.
Sort out the question
The set has five numbers. A person picks one at random, so each number has the same chance. You need the probability, or chance, that the number picked is less than 0.005.
Give every number five decimal places
Decimals are easier to compare with the same number of places. Add zeros to the end of each.
Number With five places 0.1 0.10000 0.01 0.01000 0.001 0.00100 0.0001 0.00010 0.00001 0.00001 0.005 0.00500 Count the numbers below 0.005
Compare each number with 0.00500 like whole numbers: 10000, 1000, 100, 10 and 1 against 500. Two numbers are bigger: 0.1 and 0.01. Three are smaller: 0.001, 0.0001 and 0.00001. Watch out: 0.01 has fewer digits than 0.005, but it is bigger. Counting the 2 bigger numbers gives , choice B.
Write the probability
Watch out: divide by all 5 numbers in the set. Comparing the 2 bigger numbers with the 3 smaller ones gives , choice D. So the answer is C, .
Check your answer
The numbers below 0.005 and the numbers above it make up the whole set: 3 + 2 = 5. So the two chances, and , add up to 1, as they should.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 112 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 24Question
A student uses Spinner R and Spinner T to generate a list of two-digit numbers.
Spinner R determines the digit in the tens place, and Spinner T determines the digit in the ones place. What is the probability that the two-digit number determined by spinning each spinner one time is a prime number?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
Spinner R has 4 equal sections and Spinner T has 6 equal sections, so the number of possible two-digit numbers that can be created is found by multiplying 4 and 6, which is 24. List the possible outcomes:
| 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| 21 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 24 |
| 31 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 34 |
| 41 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 44 |
There are 9 prime numbers out of 24 possible outcomes: 11, 11, 13, 23, 31, 31, 41, 41, and 43.
So the probability that the two-digit number created is a prime number is , which is equivalent to .
Question analysis
Spinner R, with four equal sections, gives the tens digit and Spinner T, with six equal sections and some labels repeated, gives the ones digit of a two-digit number. Students find the probability that the number is prime. Building the full table of outcomes, counting repeated sections separately, and checking whether each number is prime all take care.
- NYS standards
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Listing a sample space for two spinners is grade 7 work, usually with distinct labels and a simple event. Here one spinner repeats two numbers, the space has 24 outcomes, and each two-digit result must be tested for being prime.
- 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 apply
- What makes it hard
- Reading a figure, table or graph moderate
- Much to keep track of moderate
- Something you must already know minor
- Solution
- 4 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 7, 57 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 combines a compound sample space with a test for primes, and its figure adds a twist: two labels repeat on Spinner T. Counting the 24 section pairs rather than the 16 different numbers is the careful route, though here both happen to give the same fraction. The points are lost in the prime test, where 33 is easy to count as prime, and in writing the count as a share of all 24 outcomes.
Reading a figure, table or graph moderate Understanding the question
Spinner T has six equal sections but only four labels, with 1 and 4 each appearing twice, so the 24 equally likely outcomes include repeats such as 11 and 11. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Much to keep track of moderate Working it out
Twenty-four two-digit numbers have to be built and each tested for primality while the repeated sections are kept track of; a 4-by-6 table is the reliable way to hold them. (Sweller, 1988; Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990)
Something you must already know minor Working it out
Which two-digit numbers are prime is not given; students must test 21, 33, 43 and the rest themselves, and 21 = 3 × 7 and 33 = 3 × 11 look prime at a glance. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Make a 4-by-6 table with Spinner R's digits as tens and Spinner T's six sections as ones, mark each prime, and count every section, including repeated labels.
Traps
- An arithmetic slip: The right method with a plausible arithmetic error: a digit, a place value or a times-table fact.
- Misunderstands the concept: A wrong belief about a concept: that percents can be added, that area grows like length, that averages can be averaged, that a bigger denominator means a bigger fraction.
- Answers a different question: A choice is right for another quantity: the other unknown, the rest instead of the part, the part instead of the whole.
The wrong answers, classified
B An arithmetic slip (Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Counts 33 as prime, missing that 33 = 3 × 11, so 10 of the 24 outcomes look prime and 10/24 reduces to 5/12.
C Misunderstands the concept (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993; De Bock et al., 1998; Ni & Zhou, 2005)
Finds the 9 prime outcomes but compares them with the 15 that are not prime, a part-to-part ratio, 9/15 = 3/5, instead of dividing by all 24.
D Answers a different question (King et al., 2004; Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Counts the 15 outcomes that are not prime and gives 15/24 = 5/8, the probability of the opposite event.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Counting outcomes
- a is the number of equal sections on the first spinner, and b is the number on the second. Each section of the first can go with each section of the second. So the number of pairs is a times b.
- Probability
- P is the probability, the chance that something happens. Possible results are all the results that are equally likely. Wanted results are the ones you are looking for. The chance is the fraction of all the results that you want.
Sort out the question
Spinner R gives the tens digit. Spinner T gives the ones digit. Together they make a two-digit number, like 23. You need the chance that the number is prime. A prime number has exactly two factors, 1 and itself. For example, 13 is prime, but 21 = 3 × 7 is not.
Count all the outcomes
Spinner R has 4 equal sections. Spinner T has 6 equal sections. Look closely: T has two 1s and two 4s. Each section counts as its own outcome.
There are 24 outcomes, all equally likely.
Make a table of the numbers
Each row is a tens digit from R. Each column is a section of T. Prime numbers are in bold.
R 1 1 2 3 4 4 1 11 11 12 13 14 14 2 21 21 22 23 24 24 3 31 31 32 33 34 34 4 41 41 42 43 44 44 Count the prime numbers
Numbers ending in 2 or 4 are even, so 2 divides them. They are not prime. Check the rest. 11, 13, 23, 31, 41 and 43 are prime. But 21 = 3 × 7 and 33 = 3 × 11 are not. Count every section, so 11, 31 and 41 each count twice. That makes 3 + 1 + 2 + 3 = 9 primes. Watch out: counting 33 as prime gives , choice B.
Find the probability
Watch out: divide by all 24 outcomes. Comparing the 9 primes with the 15 others gives , choice C. So the answer is A, .
Check your answer
There are numbers that are not prime. Their chance is . And , as it should be. Notice that , choice D, is the chance of not prime.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 113 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 25Question
Lines j and k intersect at point Q, and h is a straight line. What is the value of x?
- A55
- B45
- C35
- D30
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
First, find the measures of the three angles inside the triangle. The lower left angle is supplementary to the one marked 135°, so the measure of that angle is . The angle on top is a vertical angle with the one marked x°, so the measure of that angle is also x°. The angle on the lower right is a vertical angle with the one marked 100°, so the measure of that angle is also 100°. Since the measures of the three interior angles of a triangle sum to 180°, set up an equation and solve for x:
Question analysis
Lines j and k cross at point Q above a straight line h, forming a triangle, with a 135° angle marked where j meets h and a 100° angle where k meets h. Students find the angle x at Q. Each marked angle lies outside the triangle, so it has to be turned into an inside angle before the triangle's angle sum can be used.
- NYS standards
- Grade level
- Grade 8 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Grade 7 students use supplementary and vertical angles to find unknown angles. This figure needs both, applied at three different vertices, plus the angle sum of a triangle, which New York teaches in grade 8.
- 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 apply
- What makes it hard
- Reading a figure, table or graph major
- Combines ideas moderate
- Something you must already know minor
- Solution
- 4 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 2, 20 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 angle the solution needs has to be carried into the triangle from outside, and the two marked angles need different treatment. The 135° is supplementary to the triangle's angle, but the 100° is vertical to it, so subtracting both from 180° out of habit builds the wrong triangle. Checking which side of each line a marked angle sits on, not just how near the triangle it is, separates the two cases.
Reading a figure, table or graph major Understanding the question
None of the three marked angles is inside the triangle formed by h, j and k: the 135° is outside on the left, the 100° is below line h, and x is above Q. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Combines ideas moderate Working it out
Two different angle facts are needed: the 135° gives a supplementary interior angle of 45°, while the 100° and x carry into the triangle unchanged as vertical angles. (Embretson, 1998; Daniel & Embretson, 2010)
Something you must already know minor Working it out
Supplementary angles, vertical angles and the triangle's 180° sum are all assumed, and the question names none of them. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Strategy: Mark the three angles of the triangle formed by lines h, j and k: one is supplementary to 135°, one is vertical to 100°, and the one at Q is vertical to x°.
Traps
- Misreads the figure: Reads a value, label or tick spacing in a figure, table or graph wrongly.
- Stops one step early: A choice is a number from partway through the solution.
The wrong answers, classified
A Misreads the figure (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Takes the triangle's angle at line k as 180 − 100 = 80, the supplement of the marked angle instead of its vertical angle, so x = 180 − 45 − 80 = 55.
B Stops one step early (King et al., 2004; Gierl et al., 2017)
Finds the triangle's angle where line j meets h, 180 − 135 = 45, and gives it instead of going on to the angle at Q.
D Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
No angle fact in the figure gives 30, and the angle at Q is drawn close to its true size, so this choice mostly catches guesses.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Angles on a straight line
- a and b are two angles side by side on a straight line. Together they make a half turn, a straight angle. So they add up to 180°. Angles like this are called supplementary.
- Vertical angles
- When two lines cross, they make an X. The angles straight across from each other in the X are called vertical angles. a and b are one such pair. They are always equal, because each one plus the angle between them makes a straight line.
- Angles of a triangle
- A, B and C are the three angles inside any triangle, in degrees. They always add up to 180°. Use it when you know two of the angles and need the third.
Sort out the figure
Lines h, j and k make a triangle. Its corners are where j crosses h, where k crosses h, and point Q. The figure marks two angles outside the triangle, 135° and 100°. You need x, the angle marked above Q.
Find the angle where j crosses h
The 135° angle is above h and to the left of j. The triangle’s angle is right next to it, on the other side of j. Together they make the straight line h. Call the triangle’s angle a.
So that corner of the triangle is 45°. Watch out: this is only one corner, not x. Stopping here gives 45, choice B.
Find the angle where k crosses h
The 100° angle is below h and to the right of k. The triangle’s angle is above h and to the left of k. Lines h and k make an X there, and these two angles are straight across from each other. They are vertical angles, so the triangle’s angle is 100°. Watch out: it is not 180 − 100 = 80. That angle is beside the 100°, not across from it. Using 80 gives 55, choice A.
Find the angle at Q
The x° angle is above Q, between the top parts of lines j and k. The triangle’s angle at Q is between the parts of j and k below Q. These two angles are straight across from each other. So they are vertical angles, and the triangle’s angle at Q is also x°.
Use the triangle’s angle sum
The three angles of the triangle must add up to 180°. Only x is unknown. So the answer is C, 35.
Check your answer
Add the triangle’s three angles: . Also, the angle at Q looks narrow in the figure, much less than a right angle of 90°. 35° fits that.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 114 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 26Question
Which statement must be true if x is a whole number greater than or equal to 1?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
Let , and substitute that value for x in each inequality to determine which one is correct:
Option A:
. This is true.
Option B:
. This is false.
Option C:
, or . This is false.
Option D:
, or . This is false.
Option A is the only true inequality.
Question analysis
This question asks which of four inequalities must be true when x is a whole number of at least 1. The inequalities compare fractions with denominators x + 1 and x + 2, or their difference. Students reason about how the size of a fraction changes as its denominator grows, and must be sure a statement holds for every allowed value.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Comparing fractions is familiar, but these fractions have variable denominators and the question asks what must be true for every whole number from 1 up. That abstraction makes it as demanding as typical grade 7 work, though the arithmetic is light.
- 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
- Variables instead of numbers moderate
- Every choice must be checked moderate
- Error-prone arithmetic minor
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 6, 20 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
Choosing a small value, such as x = 1 or 2, and testing every statement settles this quickly, because three of the four fail for any value tried. The trap is the belief that a bigger denominator makes a bigger fraction, which turns the true comparison around. Students unsure of fraction subtraction lose time on the two difference statements, though both differences are tiny, never more than 1/6.
Variables instead of numbers moderate Understanding the question
All four statements are about the unknown x, and the bold must means each has to hold for every whole number from 1 up, not just for a single test value. (Koedinger & Nathan, 2004; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Every choice must be checked moderate Choosing the answer
The statements are four separate inequalities, two comparisons and two differences, so each has to be tested; one counterexample is enough to rule a statement out. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Error-prone arithmetic minor Working it out
Testing the differences means subtracting unlike fractions, such as 1/3 − 1/4 = 1/12 when x = 2, and comparing the result with 1 and with 1/x. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Strategy: Substitute a small whole number such as 1 or 2 for x in all four statements, rule out any that fail, and confirm the survivor by thinking about larger denominators.
Traps
- Misunderstands the concept: A wrong belief about a concept: that percents can be added, that area grows like length, that averages can be averaged, that a bigger denominator means a bigger fraction.
- A faulty procedure: A systematic but wrong procedure: adding fractions straight across, applying an exponent to each term of a sum, dropping a sign when moving a term.
The wrong answers, classified
B Misunderstands the concept (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993; De Bock et al., 1998; Ni & Zhou, 2005)
Believes a bigger denominator makes a bigger fraction, so 1/(x + 2) seems larger than 1/(x + 1), the comparison turned around.
C Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
Both fractions are at most 1/2, so their difference can never exceed 1, and no common working makes it do so; this choice mostly draws guesses.
D A faulty procedure (Brown & Burton, 1978; Tatsuoka, 1983)
Subtracts over a common denominator but keeps only the numerator, (x + 2) − (x + 1) = 1, so the difference looks like 1, larger than 1/x once x is 2.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Comparing unit fractions
- a and b are positive numbers, and b is bigger. One over a means one whole cut into a equal pieces. Cutting the same whole into more pieces makes each piece smaller. So the fraction with the bigger bottom is smaller.
- Subtracting fractions
- a and b are the bottoms of the two fractions. Rewrite both fractions over the common bottom a × b. Then subtract the tops. The bottom stays a × b.
Sort out the question
x is a whole number that is 1 or more, so x can be 1, 2, 3 and so on. You need the statement that must be true. That means it is true for every such x. One x that makes a statement false rules it out.
Test x = 1 in each statement
With x = 1, x + 1 is 2 and x + 2 is 3.
- A: . True.
- B: . False.
- C: , which is not more than 1. False.
- D: is not more than . False.
Only A is true when x = 1. So B, C and D are out.
Make sure A is always true
Must means A has to work for every x, not just 1. In and , both tops are 1. The bottom x + 2 is always 1 more than x + 1. Cutting a whole into more pieces makes each piece smaller. So A is always true. Watch out: a bigger bottom makes a smaller fraction, not a bigger one. Thinking the other way gives choice B.
See why C and D always fail
Use the subtracting rule with a = x + 1 and b = x + 2.
The bottom is at least 2 × 3 = 6, so the difference is at most . That is less than 1. Its bottom is also bigger than x, so it is less than . Watch out: keep the bottom when you subtract. Keeping only the top, 1, leads to choice D. So the answer is A.
Check your answer
Try a bigger number, x = 9. A tenth of a pizza is more than an eleventh, so . The difference, , is tiny. It is less than 1 and less than . A still holds, and C and D still fail.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 115 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 27Question
A basket contains red balls, green balls, and white balls. There are 12 red balls in the basket. The probability of randomly choosing a red ball is 1 in 3. If the probability of randomly choosing a green ball is 1 in 4, how many green balls are in the basket?
- A3
- B8
- C9
- D16
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
First, use the information about the red balls to calculate the total number of balls in the basket:
| Cross multiply. | |
There are a total of 36 balls in the basket. The probability of selecting a green ball is 1 in 4. Use that information to calculate how many green balls are in the basket:
| Cross multiply. | |
| Apply the multiplicative inverse property; divide both sides of the equation by 4. | |
There are 9 green balls in the basket.
Question analysis
A basket holds red, green and white balls, including 12 red ones, and the chances of drawing red and green are 1 in 3 and 1 in 4. Students find how many green balls are in the basket. Getting the total from the red count is the step students skip when they apply a probability to the wrong number.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Simple probability is grade 6 content, but here it runs backward: a count and a probability give the total, which then gives another count. Two linked steps like this are typical of grade 7 work.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Turning words into math minor
- Many steps minor
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 6, 46 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 basket's total is never stated, and that missing number is the whole problem: it has to be recovered from the red balls before the green probability means anything. Applying the green chance straight to the 12 red balls is the quick wrong move. Checking that 12 red and 9 green fit in 36 balls with 15 white left over confirms the setup.
Turning words into math minor Understanding the question
The sentence "The probability of randomly choosing a red ball is 1 in 3" has to become 12 = one third of the total, which makes the basket hold 36 balls. (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; Koedinger & Nathan, 2004)
Many steps minor Working it out
Two linked steps: the red balls give the total, 12 × 3 = 36, and only then does the green probability give a count, 36 ÷ 4 = 9. (Daniel & Embretson, 2010; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Strategy: Use the red balls to find the total, since 12 is one third of it, then take one fourth of that total for the green balls.
Traps
- Numbers taken from the question: Combines the numbers in the question without a model of the situation, or is simply a number that appears in the question.
- Wrong operation: Adds instead of multiplying, divides the wrong way round, turns a ratio or rate upside down, or undoes a step in the wrong direction (subtracts what should be added back).
The wrong answers, classified
A Numbers taken from the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Takes one fourth of the 12 red balls, 12 ÷ 4 = 3, applying the green probability to the only count the stem gives instead of to the total.
B Little reason to choose it (Haladyna & Downing, 1993; Rodriguez, 2005)
No use of the two probabilities gives 8, which is one third of the 24 balls that are not red, so it mostly catches guesses.
D Wrong operation (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; King et al., 2004)
Scales the 12 red balls by 4/3 instead of 3/4, taking the 1-in-4 chance to mean more balls than the 1-in-3 chance: 12 × 4/3 = 16.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Probability
- P is the probability, the chance of picking that color. Each ball is equally likely to be picked. So the chance is the fraction of all the balls that have that color. A chance of 1 in 3 means one third of the balls.
Sort out the question
The basket has red, green and white balls. There are 12 red balls. The chance of picking red is 1 in 3. The chance of picking green is 1 in 4. You need the number of green balls. You don’t know the total number of balls yet, so find it first.
Find the total number of balls
1 in 3 means one third of all the balls are red. So 12 is one third of the total. Call the total number of balls b.
There are 36 balls in all.
Find the number of green balls
1 in 4 means one fourth of all 36 balls are green. Call the number of green balls g.
Watch out: take one fourth of all 36 balls, not of the 12 red ones. gives choice A. Multiplying 12 by gives 16, choice D. So the answer is C, 9.
Check your answer
A 1 in 4 chance is smaller than a 1 in 3 chance. So there should be fewer green balls than red ones, and 9 is less than 12. Check: . The rest, , are white.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 116 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 28Question
It took Lars 2 hours to ride his bicycle 48 kilometers. What was his average speed in miles per hour? (Use the approximation 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers.)
- A1.5
- B15.0
- C30.0
- D38.4
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
First, calculate Lars’s average speed in kilometers per hour:
Then, convert kilometers to miles:
| Cross multiply. | |
| Apply the multiplicative inverse property; divide both sides of the equation by 1.6. | |
Question analysis
Lars rides 48 kilometers in 2 hours, and this rate question asks for his average speed in miles per hour, using 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers. Students find a unit rate and convert it to other units. Deciding whether to multiply or divide by 1.6, and remembering the 2 hours, are where students go wrong.
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Finding a speed and converting units with a given rate are grade 6 ratio skills. The question takes two short steps with friendly numbers, lighter than typical grade 7 rate problems with fractional quantities.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Combines ideas minor
- Error-prone arithmetic minor
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 7, 23 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 tests the direction of a conversion more than the arithmetic. A mile is longer than a kilometer, so a distance has fewer miles than kilometers, and multiplying by 1.6 runs the conversion backward. The other trap is converting the 48 kilometers to 30 miles and forgetting that the ride took 2 hours, which gives a distance instead of a speed.
Combines ideas minor Working it out
A rate and a unit conversion are combined: 48 ÷ 2 = 24 kilometers per hour, then 24 ÷ 1.6 = 15 miles per hour, and the two steps can come in either order. (Embretson, 1998; Daniel & Embretson, 2010)
Error-prone arithmetic minor Working it out
Dividing by 1.6 means dividing 240 by 16; a decimal point in the wrong place makes the speed ten times too small, and that value is offered. (Brown & Burton, 1978; Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Strategy: Find the speed in kilometers per hour first, then divide by 1.6, since a mile is longer than a kilometer and the number of miles must be smaller.
Traps
- Wrong operation: Adds instead of multiplying, divides the wrong way round, turns a ratio or rate upside down, or undoes a step in the wrong direction (subtracts what should be added back).
- Stops one step early: A choice is a number from partway through the solution.
- An arithmetic slip: The right method with a plausible arithmetic error: a digit, a place value or a times-table fact.
The wrong answers, classified
A An arithmetic slip (Junker & Sijtsma, 2001)
Divides 24 by 16 instead of 1.6, a decimal point in the wrong place that makes the speed ten times too small, 1.5.
C Stops one step early (King et al., 2004; Gierl et al., 2017)
Converts the 48 kilometers to 30 miles correctly and stops, forgetting to divide by the 2 hours, so it gives a distance rather than a speed.
D Wrong operation (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; King et al., 2004)
Multiplies 24 kilometers per hour by 1.6 instead of dividing, converting in the wrong direction and getting more miles than kilometers.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Average speed
- Distance is how far you go. Time is how long it takes. Speed is how far you go in each unit of time, such as each hour. Average speed shares the whole trip out evenly over the time.
- Kilometers to miles
- A kilometer is a unit of length used in most countries. 1 mile is about 1.6 kilometers, so a mile is longer. To find how many miles, find how many groups of 1.6 kilometers fit. So divide by 1.6.
Sort out the question
Lars rode 48 kilometers in 2 hours. You need his average speed in miles per hour. That means miles, not kilometers. Use the fact that 1 mile is about 1.6 kilometers.
Find the speed in kilometers per hour
Divide the distance by the time.
Lars went 24 kilometers each hour. This speed is still in kilometers, so you are not done yet.
Change kilometers to miles
Divide by 1.6. To make it easier, multiply both numbers by 10 first. Then you divide by the whole number 16.
Watch out: divide by 1.6, don’t multiply. A mile is longer, so there are fewer miles than kilometers. is choice D. Dividing 24 by 16 gives 1.5, choice A, with the decimal point in the wrong place.
Name the answer
Lars rode 15 miles each hour. Watch out: changing 48 kilometers to 30 miles is only part of the work. 30 is a distance, choice C. You still have to divide by the 2 hours. So the answer is B, 15.0 miles per hour.
Check your answer
Work backward. At 15 miles per hour for 2 hours, Lars rides 30 miles. And kilometers, the distance in the question. Also, 15 is smaller than 24, as it should be, since miles are longer than kilometers.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 117 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 29Question
Integer x is evenly divisible by 3. Which expression below is also evenly divisible by 3?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
Since integer x is evenly divisible by 3, substitute 3 for x in the answer options to determine which expression is also divisible by 3:
Let .
Option A:
Option B:
Option C:
Option D:
Option D is the only value that is divisible by 3.
Question analysis
This number properties question says an integer x is divisible by 3 and asks which of four linear expressions in x is also divisible by 3, whatever multiple of 3 the integer is. Students can test a multiple of 3 in each expression or think about remainders. Testing a value that is not a multiple of 3 can make a wrong expression look right.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 students rewrite and evaluate linear expressions, but they seldom ask whether one is divisible by 3 for every allowed value. One well-chosen substitution settles it, so the demand is about typical for grade 7.
- 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
- Variables instead of numbers moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 13, 18 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 algebra is light; the question turns on choosing a test value that obeys the condition. The habit of trying x = 1 backfires here, because 1 is not a multiple of 3 and it makes two wrong expressions come out divisible. Students who substitute 3, or who see that 4x and 6 are both multiples of 3 whenever x is, settle it quickly, and a second multiple such as 6 confirms it.
Variables instead of numbers moderate Understanding the question
Nothing pins x down except that it is a multiple of 3, so each expression must be judged for every such x, and any test value has to be a multiple of 3 itself, such as 3 or 6. (Koedinger & Nathan, 2004; Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
The four expressions differ only in their coefficients and constants, from 2x + 1 to 4x + 6, so none can be dismissed at a glance; each needs a test or a look at its terms. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Substitute a multiple of 3, such as 3 or 6, for x in every expression and keep the one whose value divides evenly by 3; a second multiple confirms it.
Traps
- Misreads the question: Misses or misreads a condition or a word in the question: "at least", "each", "remaining", "not".
- Numbers taken from the question: Combines the numbers in the question without a model of the situation, or is simply a number that appears in the question.
The wrong answers, classified
A Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Tests x = 1, which is not a multiple of 3, finds that 2(1) + 1 = 3 divides evenly, and stops at the first choice; with x = 3 it gives 7.
B Numbers taken from the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Sees the 3 in 3x and takes the whole expression to be a multiple of 3, overlooking that subtracting 5 spoils it: with x = 3 it gives 4.
C Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Tries a value that is not a multiple of 3, such as x = 4, where 4x − 1 = 15 divides evenly, though x = 3 gives 11.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Adding multiples of 3
- a and b are whole numbers, so 3a and 3b are multiples of 3. A multiple of 3 is a number that 3 divides evenly, with nothing left over. Adding two multiples of 3 always gives another multiple of 3, because you can pull the 3 out of both parts.
Sort out the question
“Evenly divisible by 3” means 3 goes into the number with nothing left over. Such a number is called a multiple of 3, like 3, 6, 9 or 12.
You know that x is a multiple of 3. You need the expression that is a multiple of 3 every time, whatever multiple of 3 x is.
Test x = 3 in every choice
Pick a number for x that follows the rule. The easiest one is 3. Put it into each expression.
Choice Work Divisible by 3? A No B No C No D Yes Watch out: your test number must be a multiple of 3. With x = 1, choice A gives 3 and looks right. That leads to the wrong choice, A.
See why D always works
One test could be lucky, so see why D works for every x. Since x is a multiple of 3, 4x is one too. For example, 4 × 3 = 12 and 4 × 6 = 24. The number 6 is also a multiple of 3, since 6 = 3 × 2.
So 4x + 6 is a multiple of 3 plus a multiple of 3. That is always a multiple of 3.
Rule out the other choices
Watch out: choice B starts with 3x, but then it subtracts 5. The 5 is not a multiple of 3, so it spoils the result, and 3(3) − 5 = 4. Choices A and C also add or take away a number that is not a multiple of 3.
So the answer is D, .
Check your answer
Try two more multiples of 3. With x = 6, choice D gives , and 30 ÷ 3 = 10. With x = 9, it gives , and 42 ÷ 3 = 14. Both divide evenly, so D keeps working.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 118 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 30Question
Lamel has a jar containing 6 red chips, 10 blue chips, and 4 yellow chips. If he removes one chip at random, what is the probability that it will not be red?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
There are currently 20 chips in the jar (). Of those chips, 14 are not red. So the probability of choosing a chip that is not red is .
Question analysis
In this probability word problem, Lamel's jar holds red, blue and yellow chips, and students find the chance that one chip drawn at random is not red. It tests counting the favorable outcomes against the total and writing the probability as a fraction. Missing the bold word not, or counting the wrong colors, leads to tempting wrong fractions.
- NYS standards
- 6.SP.8a uniform probability models
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 Probability of a single event with equally likely outcomes is grade 6 content in New York. Students add three counts and form one fraction, and the only extra care is the bold word not, so it sits below grade 7.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 5, 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
This is a one-event probability with small whole numbers, so the bold not carries the question. A student who skims past it computes the chance of red, a tidy fraction that is waiting among the choices. The other wrong fractions come from removing the wrong color or keeping only one of the two colors that are not red. Adding blue and yellow first, then dividing by all 20 chips, avoids each of them.
Turning words into math minor Understanding the question
The bold not turns the question around: the chips that count are the 10 blue and 4 yellow ones, 14 in all, or equivalently 1 minus the red share of 6/20. (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; Koedinger & Nathan, 2004)
An answer in an unexpected form minor Choosing the answer
The count of 14 out of 20 matches no choice until it is reduced to 7/10, so a correct fraction left unsimplified can look missing from the list. (Enright, Morley & Sheehan, 2002)
Strategy: Add all the chips for the total, then count the chips that are blue or yellow, or subtract the chance of red from 1, and simplify the fraction.
Traps
- Misreads the question: Misses or misreads a condition or a word in the question: "at least", "each", "remaining", "not".
- Answers a different question: A choice is right for another quantity: the other unknown, the rest instead of the part, the part instead of the whole.
The wrong answers, classified
A Answers a different question (King et al., 2004; Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Leaves out the 4 yellow chips instead of the 6 red ones, finding the chance of not yellow, 16/20 = 4/5.
C Misreads the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Overlooks the bold not and gives the chance that the chip is red, 6 out of 20, which reduces to 3/10.
D Answers a different question (King et al., 2004; Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Counts only the 4 yellow chips as not red and forgets the 10 blue ones, so it finds 4/20 = 1/5, the chance of yellow alone.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Probability
- P is the probability, the chance that something happens. The top counts the outcomes you want. The bottom counts every outcome that could happen. It works when each outcome is equally likely, like pulling one chip without looking.
Sort out the question
Lamel’s jar holds 6 red chips, 10 blue chips and 4 yellow chips. He takes one chip without looking. You need the probability that it is not red. That means the chip is blue or yellow.
Count all the chips
There are 20 chips in all. That is the bottom of the fraction, because any of the 20 could come out.
Count the chips that are not red
The blue and yellow chips are the ones that are not red.
So 14 chips are not red. Watch out: the question asks for not red. Counting the 6 red chips gives , choice C. Counting only the 4 yellow chips gives , choice D.
Find and simplify the probability
Dividing the top and bottom by 2 puts the fraction in lowest terms. So the answer is B, .
Check your answer
A chip is either red or not red, so the two chances must add up to 1. The chance of red is . Then . It works.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 119 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 31Question
The arrow starts on Space P and moves clockwise around the circle. It moves through one space each minute. What space will the arrow point to in 100 minutes?
- AR
- BS
- CT
- DU
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
There are 6 spaces, so first divide 100 by 6: , remainder 4. So, the arrow goes around 16 full times and then 4 more spaces. Four spaces from Space P is Space T.
Question analysis
This patterns question shows a circle split into six lettered spaces, with an arrow that starts on P and moves one space clockwise each minute, and asks where it points after 100 minutes. Students use division with a remainder to skip the full trips around. Counting the leftover moves without including the starting space, and in the right direction, is the tricky part.
- NYS standards
- 6.NS.2 multi-digit division
- Grade level
- Grade 6 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Division with a remainder is grade 6 arithmetic, but using that remainder to step around a six-part circle is a pattern task that grade 7 classes seldom practice. It needs careful counting rather than new content.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 1, 32 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 division is short; the points are lost in turning the remainder into a space. The arrow starts on P, so the 4 leftover moves land on Q, R, S and T, and counting P itself as a move stops one space short. Going around the wrong way, or one move too far, gives the other two choices. Checking a small case first, such as 7 minutes landing on Q, fixes the rule before it is used.
No obvious method minor Working it out
The stem never mentions division; the step that unlocks it is seeing that every 6 minutes brings the arrow back to P, so only the remainder of 100 ÷ 6 matters. (Schoenfeld, 1985)
Reading a figure, table or graph minor Understanding the question
The six spaces and their clockwise order, P, Q, R, S, T, U, appear only in the circle diagram, so the cycle length and the direction of counting both come from the figure. (Lesh, Post & Behr, 1987; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Divide 100 by 6: every full trip around the circle brings the arrow back to P, so only the remainder matters; count that many moves clockwise, starting with the space after P.
Traps
- Counting the ends: Inclusive or exclusive ends, fence posts, consecutive numbers: an answer that is one too many or too few, or an endpoint drawn open where it belongs closed (or the reverse).
- Negatives and direction: Arithmetic with negative numbers, the order of a subtraction, or direction on a number line. (Moving a term across the equals sign without changing its sign is a faulty procedure.)
The wrong answers, classified
A Negatives and direction (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Counts the 4 leftover moves counterclockwise from P, through U, T and S to R, instead of clockwise as the stem says the arrow moves.
B Counting the ends (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Counts Space P itself as the first of the 4 leftover moves, P, Q, R, S, so the arrow stops one space short of where it really points.
D Counting the ends (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Makes 5 moves past P instead of the 4 left after 16 full turns, overshooting by one space, the fence-post slip in the other direction.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Division with a remainder
- a is the number you divide, here the minutes. b is the number you divide by, here the spaces in one trip around. q is how many whole groups of b fit into a. r is the remainder, the amount left over. The remainder is always less than b.
Sort out the question
The circle has 6 spaces. Going clockwise, the way a clock’s hands turn, they are P, Q, R, S, T and U. The arrow starts on P and moves one space each minute. You need the space it points to after 100 minutes.
Notice that the pattern repeats
After 6 minutes, the arrow has gone all the way around and points to P again. After 12 minutes it is back on P again, and so on. So full trips of 6 minutes don’t change where it points. Only the leftover minutes matter.
Divide 100 by 6
The arrow makes 16 full trips. That takes minutes, and it is back on P. There are 4 minutes left over.
Count the last 4 moves
From P, move one space each minute: Q (minute 97), R (minute 98), S (minute 99), T (minute 100).
Watch out: don’t count P itself as the first move. That stops on S, choice B. Also count clockwise. Counting the other way lands on R, choice A.
So the answer is C, T.
Check your answer
Use a smaller number with the same remainder. 100 − 96 = 4, and 96 minutes is a whole number of trips. So after 100 minutes the arrow points where it does after 4 minutes. Four moves from P are Q, R, S, T. That is T again.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
Question 120 of 120
2023 Test A Math, question 32Question
Mei-Ling is one of 6 members of a committee. If 2 members of that committee are selected to go to a conference, how many of the possible pairs of members would include Mei-Ling?
- A5
- B6
- C10
- D12
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
Call the 6 members A, B, C, D, E, and M (for Mei-Ling). The possible combinations are AB, AC, AD, AE, AM, BC, BD, BE, BM, CD, CE, CM, DE, DM, and EM. Of those pairs, 5 include Mei-Ling.
Question analysis
This counting question describes a six-member committee sending two members to a conference and asks how many of the possible pairs include Mei-Ling. Students count combinations in which order does not matter. The traps are counting a pair twice, pairing Mei-Ling with herself, or multiplying the numbers in the question instead of listing the pairs.
- NYS standards
- 7.SP.8b sample spaces for compound events
- Grade level
- Grade 7 content, by NYS standard
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Grade 7 students count outcomes with organized lists and tree diagrams. Here the list of pairs is short and a single condition, that one named person belongs to the pair, filters it, which matches routine grade 7 counting work.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly apply
- What makes it hard
- Turning words into math minor
- Much to keep track of minor
- Solution
- 2 steps
- Reading level
- Question and choices: about grade 8, 31 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 count is small enough to list, so the question rewards a clear picture of what a pair is: two different people, in no particular order. The tempting errors count Mei-Ling as her own partner, count each pair twice, or multiply the two numbers in the stem. Writing the five pairs out, M with each of A through E, takes seconds and rules out all three.
Turning words into math minor Understanding the question
Pairs that include Mei-Ling are simply Mei-Ling with each of the other 5 members, a count of her possible partners, though the phrase “possible pairs” invites counting all 15 pairs. (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995; Koedinger & Nathan, 2004)
Much to keep track of minor Working it out
Listing pairs by letter, as the explanation does with A to E and M, means tracking which pairs are already written, so that AM and MA are not both counted. (Sweller, 1988; Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990)
Strategy: Label the members with letters and list every pair that contains Mei-Ling, remembering that a pair is two different people and that order does not matter.
Traps
- Counting the ends: Inclusive or exclusive ends, fence posts, consecutive numbers: an answer that is one too many or too few, or an endpoint drawn open where it belongs closed (or the reverse).
- Overlapping groups: Things in two groups at once are counted twice, or not subtracted.
- Numbers taken from the question: Combines the numbers in the question without a model of the situation, or is simply a number that appears in the question.
The wrong answers, classified
B Counting the ends (Brown & Burton, 1978)
Counts all 6 committee members as possible partners, forgetting that Mei-Ling cannot be paired with herself, one more than the real count.
C Overlapping groups (King et al., 2004)
Counts ordered pairs, Mei-Ling with a partner and that partner with Mei-Ling, as different, so each of the 5 pairs is counted twice.
D Numbers taken from the question (Hegarty, Mayer & Monk, 1995)
Multiplies the 6 members by the 2 people chosen, 6 × 2 = 12, a product of the stem's numbers that counts no actual pairs.
Worked solution, step by step
Formulas used
- Number of pairs in a group
- n is the number of people in the group. Each person can pair up with the n − 1 others. Multiplying counts every pair twice, once from each partner’s side. So you divide by 2.
Sort out the question
The committee has 6 members, and Mei-Ling is one of them. Two members go to the conference together. That makes a pair. You don’t need every possible pair. You only need the pairs that include Mei-Ling.
Find Mei-Ling’s possible partners
A pair with Mei-Ling is Mei-Ling plus one other member. Call Mei-Ling M, and call the other members A, B, C, D and E. Her pairs are M with A, M with B, M with C, M with D and M with E. That is 5 pairs.
Watch out: she can’t be paired with herself. Counting all 6 members as partners gives 6, choice B.
Don’t count a pair twice
Mei-Ling with A is the same pair as A with Mei-Ling. The same two people go either way. Watch out: counting both orders doubles the count to 10, choice C. Multiplying 6 × 2 = 12 gives choice D, but that does not count any pairs.
Check against all the pairs
Count every pair in the committee.
Each pair has 2 people, so the 15 pairs have 30 name spots. All 6 members get the same share: . So the answer is A, 5.
Check your answer
List all 15 pairs: AB, AC, AD, AE, AM, BC, BD, BE, BM, CD, CE, CM, DE, DM, EM. Now circle the ones with M in them: AM, BM, CM, DM, EM. There are exactly 5.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
