ACT/SAT Questions Of The Day Test 9

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1. PROSE FICTION: This passage is adapted from Elizabeth Bishop’s
short story "The Housekeeper" (1984 by Alice Methfessel).
  Outside, the rain continued to run down the
screened windows of Mrs. Sennett's little Cape Cod
cottage. The long weeds and grass that composed the
front yard dripped against the blurred background of
5   the bay, where the water was almost the color of the
grass. Mrs. Sennett's five charges were vigorously
playing house in the dining room. (In the wintertime,
Mrs. Sennett was housekeeper for a Mr. Curley, in
Boston, and during the summers the Curley children
10   boarded with her on the Cape.)

My expression must have changed. "Are those
children making too much noise?" Mrs. Sennett
demanded, a sort of wave going over her that might
mark the beginning of her getting up out of her chair. I
15   shook my head no, and gave her a little push on the
shoulder to keep her seated. Mrs. Sennett was almost
stone-deaf and had been for a long time, but she could
read lips. You could talk to her without making any
sound yourself, if you wanted to, and she more than
20   kept up her side of the conversation in a loud, rusty
voice that dropped weirdly every now and then into a
whisper. She adored talking.

To look at Mrs. Sennett made me think of eigh-
teenth-century England and its literary figures. Her hair
25   must have been sadly thin, because she always wore,
indoors and out, either a hat or a sort of turban, and
sometimes she wore both. The rims of her eyes were
dark; she looked very ill.

Mrs. Sennett and I continued talking. She said she
30   really didn't think she'd stay with the children another
winter. Their father wanted her to, but it was too much
for her. She wanted to stay right here in the cottage.

The afternoon was getting along, and I finally left
because I knew that at four o'clock Mrs. Sennett's "sit
35   down" was over and she started to get supper. At six
o'clock, from my nearby cottage, I saw Theresa coming
through the rain with a shawl over her head. She was
bringing me a six-inch-square piece of spicecake, still
hot from the oven and kept warm between two soup
40   plates.

A few days later I learned from the twins, who
brought over gifts of firewood and blackberries, that
their father was coming the next morning, bringing
their aunt and her husband and their cousin. Mrs.
45   Sennett had promised to take them all on a picnic at the
pond some pleasant day.

On the fourth day of their visit, Xavier arrived
with a note. It was from Mrs. Sennett, written in blue
ink, in a large, serene, ornamented hand, on linen-finish
50   paper:

. . . Tomorrow is the last day Mr. Curley has and
the Children all wanted the Picnic so much. The Men
can walk to the Pond but it is too far for the Children. I
see your Friend has a car and I hate to ask this but
55   could you possibly drive us to the Pond tomorrow
morning? . . .

Very sincerely yours,

Carmen Sennett


After the picnic, Mrs. Sennett's presents to me
60   were numberless. It was almost time for the children to
go back to school in South Boston. Mrs. Sennett
insisted that she was not going; their father was coming
down again to get them and she was just going to stay.
He would have to get another housekeeper. She said
65   this over and over to me, loudly, and her turbans and
kerchiefs grew more and more distrait.

One evening, Mary came to call on me and we sat
on an old table in the back yard to watch the sunset.

"Papa came today," she said, "and we've got to go
70   back day after tomorrow."

"Is Mrs. Sennett going to stay here?"

"She said at supper she was. She said this time she
really was, because she'd said that last year and came
back, but now she means it."
75   I said, "Oh dear," scarcely knowing which side I
was on.

"It was awful at supper. I cried and cried."

"Did Theresa cry?"

"Oh, we all cried. Papa cried, too. We always do."
80   "But don't you think Mrs. Sennett needs a rest?"

"Yes, but I think she'll come, though. Papa told
her he'd cry every single night at supper if she didn't,
and then we all did."

The next day I heard that Mrs. Sennett was going
85   back with them just to "help settle." She came over the
following morning to say goodbye, supported by all
five children. She was wearing her traveling hat of
black satin and black straw, with sequins. High and
somber, above her ravaged face, it had quite a Spanish-
90   grandee air.

"This isn't really goodbye," she said. "I'll be back
as soon as I get these bad, noisy children off my
hands."

But the children hung on to her skirt and tugged at
95   her sleeves, shaking their heads frantically, silently
saying, "No! No! No!" to her with their puckered-up
mouths.
Considering how Mrs. Sennett is portrayed in the passage, it is most reasonable to infer that the word ravaged, as it is used in line 89, most nearly means that her face reveals:

Explanation

The word "ravaged" suggests that Mrs. Sennett's face shows signs of wear and deterioration, indicating that she is older and tired. This is supported by the description of her hair being thin, her dark eye rims, and her looking very ill. The word "ravaged" implies a sense of aging and exhaustion, which aligns with the portrayal of Mrs. Sennett in the passage.

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ACT/SAT Questions Of The Day Test 9 - Quiz

ACT\/SAT Questions of the Day Test 9 assesses comprehension and problem-solving skills with a mix of English and Math questions. It evaluates vocabulary, reading comprehension, algebraic understanding, and analytical skills, preparing learners for standardized testing scenarios.

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2.
Bessie Coleman: In Flight
[1]
    After the final performance of one last
practice landing, the French instructor nodded to the
young African-American woman at the controls and
jumped down to the ground. Bessie Coleman was on
her own now. She lined up the nose of the open
cockpit biplane on the runway's center mark, she gave
the engine full throttle, and took off into history. [2]     It was a long journey from the American
Southwest she'd been born in 1893, to these French skies.
The year in which she was born was about a century ago.
There hadn't been much of a future for her in Oklahoma
then. After both semesters of the two-semester year
at Langston Industrial College, Coleman headed for
Chicago to see what could be done to realize a dream.
Ever since she saw her first airplane when she was
a little girl, Coleman had known that someday, somehow,
she would fly. [3]     Try as she might, however, Coleman could
not obtain flying lessons anywhere in the city. Then
she sought aid from Robert S. Abbott of the Chicago
Weekly Defender.
The newspaperman got in touch
with a flight school in France that was willing to
teach this determined young woman to fly. [4]
    [1] While they're, she had as one of her
instructors Anthony Fokker, the famous aircraft
designer. [2] Bessie Coleman took a quick course in
French, should she settle her affairs, and sailed for
Europe. [3] Coping with a daily foreign language
and flying in capricious, unstable machines held
together with baling wire was daunting, but Coleman
persevered. [5]     On June 15, 1921, Bessie
Coleman, earned an international pilot's license,
issued by the International Aeronautical Federation.
Not only was she the first black woman to win her
pilot's wings, she was the first American woman to
hold this coveted license. [6]     She was ready for a triumphant return to the
United States to barnstorm and lecture proof that if
the will is strong enough for one's dream can be
attained.
  Choose the best alternative for the underlined part.

Explanation

The underlined part in the given passage is "on". The sentence is describing how Bessie Coleman took off into history. The word "on" is appropriate in this context as it indicates that she lined up the nose of the plane on the runway's center mark before taking off. Therefore, the correct answer is NO CHANGE.

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3. How many solutions are there to the equation x2 – 15 = 0 ?

Explanation

The equation x^2 - 15 = 0 is a quadratic equation. To solve it, we can set the equation equal to zero and factorize it as (x - √15)(x + √15) = 0. This equation has two solutions, x = √15 and x = -√15. Therefore, there are 2 solutions to the equation x^2 - 15 = 0.

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4. Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.  With the 1969 film The Learning Tree, Gordon Parks proved what a truly ------- artist he was: he not only directed the film and composed its musical score, but also adapted its screenplay from his own novel.

Explanation

Gordon Parks proved what a truly protean artist he was: he not only directed the film and composed its musical score, but also adapted its screenplay from his own novel. This means that Parks was a versatile and multi-talented artist, able to excel in various artistic roles such as directing, composing, and writing. The word "protean" accurately captures this idea of being adaptable and having many different talents.

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5. Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. 

Explanation

The word "harmless" best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. The sentence suggests that the word or set of words being chosen should have a meaning that aligns with being non-threatening or not causing harm. Out of the options given, "harmless" is the only word that conveys this meaning.

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6. Passage II     The Sun's path from sunrise to sunset varies with the time of year. A student performed the following experiments on three clear, sunny days at three- or four-month intervals throughout the course of a year to study the path of the Sun through the sky. Experiment 1     At a chosen Northern Hemisphere location, the student placed a stick vertically into the ground so that 1 meter of its length was left above ground. The student knew that the length of the shadow was related to the height of the Sun above the horizon and that the shadow would point away from the direction of the Sun. The length in meters (m) and direction of the shadow cast by the stick were measured one hour after sunrise (Shadow A), at mid-morning (B), at noon (C), at mid-afternoon (D), and one hour before sunset (E) on each of the three days. The direction of each shadow was determined by placing a magnetic compass at the base of the stick and aligning the north arrow with the north mark on the compass. The direction of each shadow was then determined by a comparison with the compass face markings. The results are recorded in Table 1.  
Table 1
Shadow Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
Length
(m)
Shadow
direction
Length
(m)
Shadow
direction
Length
(m)
Shadow
direction
A 5.0 SW 8.6 NW 6.8 W
B 1.2 W 2.9 NNW 1.7 NW
C 0.3 N 2.3 N 0.9 N
D 1.2 E 3.0 NNE 1.8 NE
E 5.0 SE 8.6 NE 6.9 E
 
Experiment 2     The following year, the student repeated Experiment 1 at a chosen location in the Southern Hemisphere. The results are in Table 2.
 
Table 2
Shadow Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
Length
(m)
Shadow
direction
Length
(m)
Shadow
direction
Length
(m)
Shadow
direction
A 9.0 SW 5.0 NW 6.9 W
B 3.2 SSW 1.1 W 1.8 SW
C 2.5 S 0.3 S 1.0 S
D 3.2 SSE 1.1 E 1.8 SE
E 9.1 SE 5.0 NE 6.9 E
    Which of the following statements is best supported by the direction of Shadow A on each of the three days in Experiment 1 ?

Explanation

The direction of Shadow A on each of the three days in Experiment 1 shows that the shadow points in different directions (SW, NW, and W) at one hour after sunrise. This indicates that the direction of sunrise along the horizon varies throughout the year.

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7. Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A.  The well-preserved, 121-million-year-old fossilized bird embryo on display at the museum has several features that suggest that its young could move about and feed themselves very soon after they hatched.

Explanation

The correct answer is "the species'". This option is the most appropriate because it refers to the young of the species in a general sense, rather than specifying a particular gender or individual. It is also grammatically correct and maintains clarity in the sentence.

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8. Read the following SAT test question and then click on a button to select your answer.  If x/y = 3 and x = 12, then x - y =

Explanation

Given that x/y = 3 and x = 12, we can substitute the value of x into the equation. This gives us 12/y = 3, which can be rearranged to y = 12/3 = 4. Therefore, x - y = 12 - 4 = 8.

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PROSE FICTION: This passage is adapted from ...
Bessie ...
How many solutions are there to the equation x2 – 15 = 0 ?
Choose the word or set of words ...
Choose the word or set of ...
Passage ...
Part of the following sentence ...
Read the following SAT test ...
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