Digital SAT Practice Test 5 — Module 1: Full Walkthrough of All 33 Reading & Writing Questions with Answers & Explanations

Correct answer: A) Evidence

✓ A) Evidence
“Trace” here means evidence or sign. Fox-Foot refuses to build a fire or make a landing precisely because he doesn’t want to leave behind any evidence of the group’s movements — he’s trying to avoid detection by whoever might be following them.

✗ B) Blemish
“Blemish” means a flaw or mark that spoils something’s appearance. Fox-Foot isn’t worried about disfiguring the landscape; he’s worried about being tracked, which is about leaving evidence, not causing damage.

✗ C) Amount
“Amount” doesn’t fit — it’s unclear what an “amount” of the group’s passing would even mean. The passage is about avoiding any sign of the group at all, not limiting a quantity of something left behind.

✗ D) Sketch
“Sketch” means a rough drawing. Nothing in the text suggests the travelers are leaving behind actual drawings; the concern is about physical evidence of their route, like a fire or a canoe landing.

Correct answer: B) fragile

✗ A) recognizable
“Recognizable” means identifiable. If noses keep breaking off, they can’t be the most identifiable part of a sculpture’s head — this contradicts the point of the sentence.

✓ B) fragile
“Fragile” means delicate or easily broken. The text says the nose is “delicate” and “especially easy to break” because it sticks out — that's a direct restatement of fragility, which explains why noses are so often missing from ancient sculptures.

✗ C) common
“Common” means frequent or widespread. Since noses are so often missing, they are actually the least common surviving feature, not the most common one.

✗ D) sophisticated
“Sophisticated” means refined or complex. Nothing about sticking out and breaking easily relates to refinement or complexity.

Correct answer: B) impending

✗ A) antecedent
“Antecedent” means coming before. That would flip the logic: the flare would have to precede the brightness, but the text says the brightness is the advance signal that comes before the flare.

✓ B) impending
“Impending” means approaching or about to happen. The corona’s increased brightness is described as an “advance indication” that comes before the flare — so the flare itself is impending, or on its way, when the brightness appears.

✗ C) innocuous
“Innocuous” means harmless. Solar flares are described as interfering with telecommunications, so calling them harmless contradicts the passage.

✗ D) perpetual
“Perpetual” means never-ending or constantly present. If the corona gives advance warning of a flare, the flare must not yet exist at that moment — so it can’t be described as perpetual, or always present.

Correct answer: D) exploited

✗ A) hypothesized
“Hypothesized” would mean they merely proposed the tendency as an untested idea. But the text treats the magnetic-field behavior as a known fact the team used as a tool, not a guess they were testing.

✗ B) discounted
“Discounted” means downplayed or dismissed. The team didn’t ignore this tendency — they built their entire measurement method around it.

✗ C) redefined
“Redefined” means reformulated or given new meaning. Nothing in the text suggests the team changed the definition of how metals behave under stress; they simply used that known behavior.

✓ D) exploited
“Exploited” means made productive use of. Saleem’s team took the known tendency of certain metals’ magnetic fields to change under stress and put it to work, using it to measure pipe stress from a distance without digging up the pipe.

Correct answer: B) ameliorate

✗ A) sanction
“Sanction” means to officially approve or to penalize. Neither meaning fits: the text isn’t about giving approval to the problem or punishing it, but about fixing it.

✓ B) ameliorate
“Ameliorate” means to improve or remedy. The text identifies a problem — unrepresentative subject pools — and then proposes a fix (recruiting diverse subjects), which is exactly what it means to ameliorate a bad situation.

✗ C) rationalize
“Rationalize” means to explain away or justify. The text isn’t trying to justify unrepresentative subject pools; it’s proposing a solution to the problem.

✗ D) postulate
“Postulate” means to put forward a claim or theory. The sentence is about remedying a known issue, not proposing a new theoretical claim.

Correct answer: D) To explain why the narrator thinks she might make the basketball team

✗ A) To compare basketball with other sports
The text never mentions any sport besides basketball, so there’s no comparison being made.

✗ B) To provide details of how to play basketball
The text isn’t a how-to guide; it’s the narrator’s personal reasoning about her own chances, not general basketball instruction.

✗ C) To state how players will be chosen for the basketball team
The passage doesn’t describe the tryout process or selection criteria in general — it’s specifically about the narrator’s own qualities and her personal odds.

✓ D) To explain why the narrator thinks she might make the basketball team
The narrator opens by saying there’s “just a chance” she’ll make the team, then backs that up with reasons: she’s “quick and wiry and tough” and can “dodge under” other players. The whole passage is her case for why she has a shot at the team.

Correct answer: B) To explain that Spanish-language newspapers thrived in Texas and especially in El Paso during the late 1800s

✗ A) To compare Spanish-language newspapers published in Texas today with ones published there during the late 1800s
The text is entirely about the late 1800s; it makes no comparison to newspapers published today.

✓ B) To explain that Spanish-language newspapers thrived in Texas and especially in El Paso during the late 1800s
The text opens with the general claim that Spanish-language newspapers flourished across Texas, gives San Antonio’s count as one example, then shows El Paso surpassed everyone else, and closes by explaining why El Paso in particular was such fertile ground. That’s a clear build toward explaining Texas-wide (and especially El Paso’s) success.

✗ C) To argue that Spanish-language newspapers published in El Paso influenced the ones published in San Antonio during the late 1800s
The text never claims one city’s newspapers influenced another’s — it simply compares raw numbers of newspapers published in each city.

✗ D) To explain why Spanish-language newspapers published in Texas were so popular in Mexico during the late 1800s
The text discusses popularity within Texas, not whether these newspapers were read or popular in Mexico.

Correct answer: C) To indicate why astrobiologists choose to conduct research in the Atacama Desert

✗ A) To contrast the conditions in the Atacama Desert with those on Mars
“Mirrors” signals similarity, not contrast — the sentence emphasizes how alike Atacama and Mars are, which is exactly why the desert is useful for this research.

✗ B) To explain why many life-forms cannot survive in the Atacama Desert
The sentence isn’t about organisms failing to survive; algae and bacteria are said to survive Atacama’s extreme conditions, which is the whole point of studying them.

✓ C) To indicate why astrobiologists choose to conduct research in the Atacama Desert
The underlined sentence gives the reason astrobiologists study Atacama at all: it “closely mirrors” the harsh Martian environment. The rest of the passage builds on this by explaining what they hope to learn from that similarity, confirming that the sentence justifies the choice of research site.

✗ D) To describe certain limitations to conducting scientific study in the Atacama Desert
Nothing in the sentence suggests any obstacle or limitation to research; it explains a reason researchers are drawn to the location, not a constraint on their work there.

Correct answer: B) It explains why it is challenging to influence transit ridership solely by altering characteristics of a transit system.

✗ A) It presents an objection to the argument of Guerra et al. about transportation mode choice in urban areas of Mexico.
The underlined portion agrees with and restates Guerra et al.’s finding rather than objecting to it — it reinforces that context matters, echoing their research.

✓ B) It explains why it is challenging to influence transit ridership solely by altering characteristics of a transit system.
The underlined clause caps off the passage’s argument: even though system features (like fares) matter somewhat, ridership is shaped by an “irreducibly contextual” set of local factors. That directly explains why copying one feature elsewhere won’t reliably move ridership numbers.

✗ C) It illustrates the claim that a characteristic associated with high transit ridership in Mexico City is not associated with high transit ridership elsewhere.
The passage isn’t built around one specific characteristic (like low fares) being present in one city but absent elsewhere; it’s making a broader point about a mix of contextual factors.

✗ D) It substantiates the assertion that population density, the spatial distribution of jobs, and demographic characteristics are important factors in transportation mode choice.
This choice describes the middle sentence about Guerra et al.’s findings, not the function of the underlined portion, which instead draws the practical conclusion from those findings.

Correct answer: B) It introduces an unresolved scientific question, presents a research team’s hypothesis pertaining to that question, and then describes an observation made by the team that conflicts with that hypothesis.

✗ A) It describes a phenomenon that scientists do not fully understand, explains a research team’s hypothesis about that phenomenon, and then describes a finding that led the team to refine the hypothesis.
The text never describes the team refining or revising their hypothesis; it simply reports a finding that contradicts it and stops there.

✓ B) It introduces an unresolved scientific question, presents a research team’s hypothesis pertaining to that question, and then describes an observation made by the team that conflicts with that hypothesis.
The text opens with an unresolved question (how deep do land-use effects on soil go), states Okolo’s hypothesis (differences should extend below the topsoil), and then reports a finding — comparably low carbon and nitrogen at all depths below 30 cm across land uses — that conflicts with that hypothesis rather than confirming it.

✗ C) It discusses a process that scientists are somewhat unclear about, introduces competing hypotheses about that process, and then explains how a research team concluded that one of those hypotheses is likely correct.
The text presents only one hypothesis, not competing ones, and it does not conclude that a hypothesis was correct — the finding actually goes against it.

✗ D) It explains a hypothesis that has been the subject of scientific debate, discusses how a research team tested that hypothesis, and then presents data the team collected that validate the hypothesis.
The finding described does not validate the hypothesis; it conflicts with it, since the team expected different carbon/nitrogen levels by land use below the topsoil but instead found similarly low levels across the board.

Correct answer: D) All the marsquakes started from the same location on the planet.

✗ A) The surface temperature of Mars has been rising.
The text mentions cooling of the surface (implying falling, not rising, temperature) only as a reason scientists expected widespread quake origins — it says nothing about surprising temperature data.

✗ B) There were different types of seismic waves causing marsquakes.
The passage never discusses different types of seismic waves; it discusses where the marsquakes originated.

✗ C) NASA’s InSight lander collected less data than scientists had expected.
There is no mention of the amount of data collected being more or less than expected; the surprise was about the quakes’ shared location, not data volume.

✓ D) All the marsquakes started from the same location on the planet.
The text says directly that the marsquakes “all started from the same location,” and that “this discovery was surprising to scientists” because they had expected quakes scattered across the planet due to surface cooling.

Correct answer: A) Maya civilization acquired the use of zero from the Olmec civilization.

✓ A) Maya civilization acquired the use of zero from the Olmec civilization.
The text says outright that “some historians suggest that Maya mathematicians inherited it [zero] from the Olmec civilization,” which flourished earlier in the same region — a direct match for this choice.

✗ B) Maya civilization respected its historians more than it respected its mathematicians.
The text never compares how much respect Maya civilization gave its historians versus its mathematicians; that comparison isn’t part of the passage at all.

✗ C) Maya civilization was highly secretive about its intellectual achievements.
Nothing suggests the Maya were secretive; the text discusses when and how the zero symbol may have originated, not concealment of knowledge.

✗ D) Maya civilization tried to introduce its writing system to other civilizations.
There is no mention of the Maya attempting to spread their writing system to other civilizations — the passage is about where the Maya themselves may have gotten the zero symbol from.

Correct answer: D) “When [the banker] got home he lay on his bed, but his tears and emotion kept him for hours from sleeping.”

✗ A) “Then the banker cautiously broke the seals off the door and put the key in the keyhole.”
This line just describes the physical action of unlocking a door; it gives no indication of the banker’s emotional state.

✗ B) “It struck three o’clock, the banker listened; everyone was asleep in the house and nothing could be heard outside but the rustling of the chilled trees.”
This describes a quiet, still setting at three o’clock, not any feeling the banker has — it’s about atmosphere, not emotion.

✗ C) “The banker, spoilt and frivolous, with millions beyond his reckoning, was delighted at the bet.”
This says the banker was “delighted,” which is the opposite of upset, so it can’t illustrate the claim.

✓ D) “When [the banker] got home he lay on his bed, but his tears and emotion kept him for hours from sleeping.”
This quotation shows the banker in tears and too emotionally overwhelmed to sleep for hours — direct, unmistakable evidence that he was very upset about something.

Correct answer: B) saber-toothed cat (Smilodon), which became extinct 11,000 years ago.

✗ A) passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), which became extinct only a few years after the huia (Heteralocha acutirostris).
This compares the passenger pigeon’s extinction date to the huia’s rather than identifying the species extinct the longest overall; neither of these is the longest-extinct species in the table.

✓ B) saber-toothed cat (Smilodon), which became extinct 11,000 years ago.
The passage says the habitat problem is worst for whichever species has been extinct the longest. The table shows the saber-toothed cat became extinct 11,000 years before present — by far the longest span of any species listed — making it the correct completion.

✗ C) woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), which became extinct several thousand years before the saber-toothed cat (Smilodon).
This gets the comparison backward: the saber-toothed cat (11,000 years) actually became extinct several thousand years before the woolly mammoth (6,400 years), not the other way around, so this choice misreads the table.

✗ D) Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis), which became extinct in 1952.
The Caribbean monk seal became extinct in 1952 — the most recent extinction in the table — making it the least concerning case for habitat loss, not the most.

Correct answer: C) “I’m really getting quite fond of the big room, all but that horrid [wall]paper.”

✗ A) “This wallpaper has a kind of sub-pattern in a different shade, a particularly irritating one, for you can only see it in certain lights, and not clearly then.”
This only expresses one negative feeling (the pattern is “irritating”); there’s no positive counterpart, so it doesn’t show mixed feelings.

✗ B) “By moonlight—the moon shines in all night when there is a moon—I wouldn’t know it was the same paper.”
This describes how the wallpaper looks different by moonlight, but it doesn’t reveal any feeling — positive or negative — toward the surroundings.

✓ C) “I’m really getting quite fond of the big room, all but that horrid [wall]paper.”
This line contains both a positive feeling (“getting quite fond of the big room”) and a negative one (“that horrid [wall]paper”) in the same sentence — that combination is exactly what “mixed feelings” means.

✗ D) “The color is repellant, almost revolting; a smouldering, unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight.”
This only expresses a negative reaction (“repellant, almost revolting”) with no positive sentiment to balance it, so it isn’t evidence of mixed feelings.

Correct answer: B) L. pertusa declined in the Alboran Sea during a period of substantial local decline in oxygenation, but L. pertusa declined near the Mauritanian coast during a period of little local change in oxygenation.

✗ A) a substantial increase in oxygenation in the Alboran Sea corresponded with the local decline in L. pertusa, but the opposite relationship between oxygenation and L. pertusa was found near the Mauritanian coast.
This asserts oxygenation rose (not fell) in the Alboran Sea around the decline, and claims an opposite pattern at the Mauritanian coast; the graph instead shows a sharp oxygenation drop at the Alboran Sea and comparatively little change at the Mauritanian coast.

✓ B) L. pertusa declined in the Alboran Sea during a period of substantial local decline in oxygenation, but L. pertusa declined near the Mauritanian coast during a period of little local change in oxygenation.
Because manganese-to-calcium ratio moves inversely with oxygenation, a rising ratio means falling oxygenation. Around the Alboran Sea’s coral decline (about 9,000 years ago) the graph shows the ratio climbing sharply — a substantial oxygenation drop — while around the Mauritanian coast’s decline (about 11,000 years ago) the ratio is nearly flat, meaning little change in oxygenation there. That contrast is exactly why oxygenation looks important in one location but not the other.

✗ C) oxygenation in the Alboran Sea was higher before the decline in L. pertusa than after the decline, whereas oxygenation near the Mauritanian coast was relatively low both before and after the decline in L. pertusa.
This describes a general before/after comparison rather than the sharp, localized change in oxygenation right around each coral decline that the graph actually shows and that supports the researchers’ conclusion.

✗ D) oxygenation in the Alboran Sea tended to be substantially higher than oxygenation near the Mauritanian coast during the period studied.
This describes an overall level difference between the two locations across the whole period, not the specific pattern of change around each population decline, which is what the researchers were testing.

Correct answer: A) it can’t be concluded that the impact that made the crater was connected to the beginning of the Younger Dryas.

✓ A) it can’t be concluded that the impact that made the crater was connected to the beginning of the Younger Dryas.
Since the crater’s age is unknown, there’s no way to confirm it dates to the start of the Younger Dryas — so the impact-Younger Dryas connection remains unproven, which is exactly the cautious conclusion the team would logically reach.

✗ B) it can’t be determined whether a comet fragment could make a crater as large as 19 miles wide.
The passage never discusses whether a comet fragment is physically capable of making a 19-mile-wide crater; the open question is the crater’s age, not its size relative to comet fragments.

✗ C) scientists have ignored the possibility that something other than a comet fragment could have made the crater.
The debate in the text is about the crater’s age and its link to the Younger Dryas, not about alternative causes of the crater itself; that possibility is never raised.

✗ D) the scientists who believe an impact caused the Younger Dryas have made incorrect assumptions about when the period began.
The text gives a specific, undisputed date range for the Younger Dryas (11,700 to 12,900 years ago); the uncertainty is about the crater’s age, not about when the cooling period itself began.

Correct answer: B) has been preserved in certain mammal species because it benefits their immune systems.

✗ A) was once present in many nonmammal species but has since disappeared from those lineages.
The study is about mammal species only; it says nothing about nonmammal species ever having an appendix.

✓ B) has been preserved in certain mammal species because it benefits their immune systems.
The team found the appendix keeps reappearing and persisting across mammal lineages, and that species with an appendix have more immune-supporting lymphoid tissue. Together this supports the idea that the appendix sticks around because it helps the immune system — a functional benefit, not a useless leftover.

✗ C) will emerge in a greater number of mammal species because it may serve a necessary function in the immune system.
The text describes what the team found about existing species, not a prediction about the appendix appearing in more species in the future.

✗ D) produced higher concentrations of lymphoid tissue in mammals in the past than it does currently.
The text doesn’t compare lymphoid tissue levels across different time periods; it compares species that have the appendix to those that don’t, at the same point in time.

Correct answer: A) the Aztecs would have disputed the idea that the morality of an individual’s actions can be assessed by appealing to standards of behavior that are independent of the individual’s social circumstances.

✓ A) the Aztecs would have disputed the idea that the morality of an individual’s actions can be assessed by appealing to standards of behavior that are independent of the individual’s social circumstances.
Aztec ethics, as Purcell describes it, judges actions by social role and community impact — the direct opposite of judging actions by context-independent standards. So the Aztecs would logically reject the idea that morality can be assessed without regard to someone’s social circumstances.

✗ B) the Aztecs would not have accepted the notion that the morality of an individual’s actions can be fairly evaluated by people who do not live in the same society as that individual.
The text is about whether context (role, community effect) matters to moral judgment, not about who is qualified to make that judgment or whether outsiders can evaluate it fairly.

✗ C) actions by members of Aztec society who contributed a great deal to their community could be judged as morally good even if those actions were inconsistent with behaviors the Aztecs regarded as good in all contexts.
This implies the Aztecs believed in universal, context-independent “good in all contexts” behaviors that could be overridden by community contribution — but the text says Aztec ethics rejects that context-independent standard altogether.

✗ D) similar actions performed by people in different social roles in Aztec society would have been regarded as morally equivalent unless those actions led to different outcomes for the community.
The text indicates social role is one of the two factors that matters (along with community impact), so actions by people in different roles would not automatically be treated as equivalent even with the same outcome.

Correct answer: C) this

✗ A) these
“These” is plural, but it needs to refer to one single event (the appointment), so it doesn’t agree in number.

✗ B) those
“Those” is also plural and has the same number-agreement problem as “these” — it doesn’t match the single event being referred to.

✓ C) this
The singular pronoun “this” correctly refers back to the single event described earlier in the sentence — Lê Lúo’ng Minh becoming secretary-general.

✗ D) some
“Some” is vague here; it doesn’t clearly identify what is being called the “first time,” leaving the sentence’s meaning unclear.

Correct answer: A) used

✓ A) used
The main clause needs a finite, tensed verb to show what Land actually did. “Used” is a simple past-tense verb that correctly completes the sentence’s main clause.

✗ B) to have used
“To have used” is a nonfinite infinitive form; it can’t serve as the main verb of the sentence, leaving the clause without a proper verb.

✗ C) to use
“To use” is also a nonfinite infinitive and can’t function as the sentence’s main verb.

✗ D) using
“Using” is a nonfinite participle form; like the infinitives, it cannot stand alone as the main verb of the clause.

Correct answer: D) ensures

✗ A) are ensuring
“Are ensuring” is plural and doesn’t agree with the singular subject “using...songs.”

✗ B) have ensured
“Have ensured” is also a plural verb form, which mismatches the singular subject.

✗ C) ensure
“Ensure” (without the -s) is the plural/base form and doesn’t agree with the singular subject.

✓ D) ensures
The subject of the verb is the singular gerund phrase “using one of these noncopyrighted songs,” which takes the singular verb “ensures.”

Correct answer: B) hands between the two antennas,

✗ A) hand’s between the two antenna’s,
“Hand’s” and “antenna’s” are singular possessives, but the sentence needs plain plural nouns describing two hands and two antennas, not a possessive relationship.

✓ B) hands between the two antennas,
The sentence needs plain plural nouns — two hands placed between two antennas — not possessives. “Hands” and “antennas” are the correct plural forms, with no apostrophe needed since nothing is being shown to belong to the hands or antennas.

✗ C) hands’ between the two antennas’,
“Hands’” and “antennas’” are plural possessives, which incorrectly suggest something belongs to the hands and antennas rather than simply naming them.

✗ D) hands’ between the two antennas,
“Hands’” is a plural possessive, which is unnecessary and incorrect here since the sentence just needs the plain plural noun “hands.”

Correct answer: D) represent

✗ A) represents
“Represents” is singular and doesn’t agree with the plural subject “references.”

✗ B) has represented
“Has represented” is also a singular verb form, mismatching the plural subject.

✗ C) was representing
“Was representing” is likewise singular, and again doesn’t agree in number with “references.”

✓ D) represent
The subject of the verb is the plural noun “references” (everything between “such iconic references” and the verb is a modifying phrase). The plural verb “represent” correctly agrees with “references.”

Correct answer: B) artist

✗ A) artist—
A dash isn’t needed here; the phrase “little-known French portrait artist Marie-Denise Villers” is a single, unified noun phrase that flows directly into the name.

✓ B) artist
“Little-known French portrait artist” is a noun phrase directly identifying “Marie-Denise Villers” with no punctuation needed between the description and the name it's naming.

✗ C) artist:
A colon isn’t appropriate between a descriptive title and the name it identifies in this kind of appositive construction.

✗ D) artist,
A comma isn’t needed either; inserting one would incorrectly break up the tightly connected title-plus-name phrase.

Correct answer: B) described, from hair to grass to sculptures—

✗ A) described, from hair to grass to sculptures
Without the closing dash, the sentence never closes the supplementary element that began with the dash after “photographs,” leaving the punctuation unbalanced.

✓ B) described, from hair to grass to sculptures—
The sentence has two supplementary elements: “both of interviewees and the items they described” and “from hair to grass to sculptures.” A comma separates these two nested supplements, and a closing dash pairs with the opening dash after “photographs” to set the whole bundle off from the rest of the sentence.

✗ C) described—from hair to grass to sculptures,
A dash after “described” here would incorrectly suggest “from hair to grass to sculptures” is a separate, independently removable element rather than a detail nested within the first supplement.

✗ D) described: from hair to grass to sculptures
A colon isn’t the right tool to link a modifying phrase like “from hair to grass to sculptures” back to “the items they described” within this dash-set-off structure.

Correct answer: D) As a result,

✗ A) On the contrary,
“On the contrary” would signal an opposing idea, but the black color isn’t a contrast to the firing technique — it’s the direct result of it.

✗ B) For example,
“For example” would frame the black color as an illustration of the firing technique, but it’s actually the outcome the technique produces, not an example of it.

✗ C) Previously,
“Previously” would suggest the black color happened before the firing technique chronologically, which reverses the actual cause-and-effect order.

✓ D) As a result,
“As a result” correctly signals that the vessel turning black is the consequence of smothering the flame during reduction firing — a cause-and-effect relationship.

Correct answer: D) though,

✗ A) therefore,
“Therefore” would suggest Morton’s influence on jazz is a logical result of his exaggerated claim, but the sentence is actually conceding a separate, true point despite the exaggeration.

✗ B) in the second place,
“In the second place” would frame this as an additional, listed point, but the sentence is making a concession about Morton’s real contribution despite his exaggeration, not adding a new item to a list.

✗ C) in other words,
“In other words” would suggest a restatement of the exaggeration claim, but the sentence instead shifts to a different, true point about Morton’s actual influence.

✓ D) though,
“Though” correctly signals a concession: even though Morton exaggerated his claim to have invented jazz, it’s still true that he helped shape the genre. That's a contrast, not a restatement or consequence.

Correct answer: B) Conversely,

✗ A) Subsequently,
“Subsequently” implies a time sequence (this happens after that), but the sentence isn’t about chronological order — it's contrasting two different types of electoral systems.

✓ B) Conversely,
“Conversely” correctly signals a contrast between two opposite electoral outcomes: majoritarian systems tend toward two parties, while proportional-representation systems tend toward many parties.

✗ C) For instance,
“For instance” would frame proportional-representation systems as an example of majoritarian two-party systems, but they’re actually the opposite case, not an example of the first idea.

✗ D) In other words,
“In other words” would signal a restatement of the same idea, but the second sentence describes a contrasting outcome, not a paraphrase of the first.

Correct answer: D) Hence,

✗ A) That being said,
“That being said” would signal a contrast or qualification of the previous idea, but the mistaken assumption is actually a direct consequence of the shell looking external, not a contrasting point.

✗ B) However,
“However” would also incorrectly signal contrast; the misconception follows logically from the shell’s external appearance rather than opposing it.

✗ C) For instance,
“For instance” would frame the misconception as an example of the shell looking external, but it’s actually a result of that appearance, not an illustration of it.

✓ D) Hence,
“Hence” correctly signals that the shell’s external appearance is the cause of people mistakenly assuming it’s an exoskeleton — a logical consequence, not a contrast.

Correct answer: A) The real author of Adam Bede was Mary Ann Evans, who published the novel using the pseudonym George Eliot.

✓ A) The real author of Adam Bede was Mary Ann Evans, who published the novel using the pseudonym George Eliot.
This directly names Mary Ann Evans as the real author and explains that “George Eliot” was her pseudonym — exactly accomplishing the stated goal of identifying the real author.

✗ B) George Eliot, which Adam Bede’s title page indicated was the name of the novel’s author, was widely assumed to be a pseudonym.
This only says George Eliot was assumed to be a pseudonym; it never reveals who the real author actually was.

✗ C) The title page of the novel Adam Bede indicated that the author’s name was George Eliot.
This just repeats that the title page said “George Eliot”; it doesn’t reveal that this was a pseudonym or name the real author.

✗ D) A woman who had used a pseudonym to conceal her identity later revealed herself as the real author of Adam Bede.
This mentions a woman who used a pseudonym without ever naming her as Mary Ann Evans, so it fails to actually identify the real author.

Correct answer: C) When the molten salt in a freeze-thaw battery solidifies at room temperature, energy stops flowing and can be stored in the battery.

✗ A) Scientists have developed a freeze-thaw battery that contains molten salt, which liquifies when heated and solidifies at room temperature.
This describes general properties of molten salt (when it liquifies or solidifies) but never connects that behavior to how energy actually gets stored.

✗ B) The stored energy in a freeze-thaw battery, which contains molten salt, can be used by reheating the battery.
This explains how stored energy can be released (by reheating), which is about retrieval, not about how the salt enables storage in the first place.

✓ C) When the molten salt in a freeze-thaw battery solidifies at room temperature, energy stops flowing and can be stored in the battery.
This sentence directly explains the mechanism: when the salt solidifies, energy stops flowing and gets stored — exactly specifying how the salt enables energy storage.

✗ D) Molten salt allows a freeze-thaw battery to retain 92% of its charge after twelve weeks.
This gives a performance statistic (92% retention) without explaining the mechanism by which the salt enables storage.

Correct answer: D) Likely to soon become endangered, the California red-legged frog is classified as threatened by the FWS.

✗ A) Species on the FWS list, which includes the California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), are classified as either endangered or threatened.
This states the two possible categories on the FWS list but never says which one applies to the California red-legged frog specifically.

✗ B) The California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii) appears on the FWS list of at-risk species.
This only says the frog is on the at-risk list; it doesn’t specify which of the two categories (endangered or threatened) it falls into.

✗ C) According to the FWS, the California red-legged frog is in the endangered category, in danger of extinction throughout most or all of its range.
This is factually wrong given the notes: a species “likely to soon become endangered” is classified as threatened, not endangered, so this choice misapplies the definitions.

✓ D) Likely to soon become endangered, the California red-legged frog is classified as threatened by the FWS.
This correctly applies the notes’ definition — a species “likely to soon become endangered” is classified as “threatened” — directly to the California red-legged frog, giving its specific FWS classification.