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NY Regents ELA study materials
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NY Regents ELA practice questions

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Question 1Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. In the 1890s, bicycle clubs across the Northeast lobbied state legislatures for smooth, paved roads. Members wanted better surfaces for riding, but the routes they won also carried farmers' wagons, mail coaches, and, soon enough, automobiles. Historians now credit those clubs with helping to lay the groundwork for the modern highway system. Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage?

  1. A pastime's campaign produced roads that served many others. Correct answer.
  2. Historians disagree about who deserves credit for modern highways.
  3. Farmers and mail carriers built most of the Northeast's early paved roads.
  4. Bicycles were the most popular form of transportation in the 1890s.

Explanation

The main idea must capture the whole passage, not one detail. Here the passage traces a chain from cyclists' lobbying to roads that benefited wagon drivers, mail carriers, and drivers. Only the first option accounts for both the cyclists' motive and the wider result.

Question 2Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the sentence, then answer the question. Despite the committee's reputation for gridlock, the chair's quiet, methodical approach proved surprisingly ____; within a month the group had approved three proposals. Which word best completes the sentence?

  1. effective Correct answer.
  2. erratic
  3. repetitive
  4. decorative

Explanation

The context clue is the result: the committee approved three proposals within a month, a productive outcome. The word must therefore mean something like 'successful in producing results.' The contrast word 'despite' signals that the chair's approach overcame the committee's bad reputation.

Question 3Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. To keep a cast-iron skillet in good condition, rinse it while it is still warm, then dry it completely on the stove. Rub a thin layer of oil over the cooking surface before storing it. Never soak the pan overnight, and avoid scouring it with steel wool. What is the author's main purpose in this passage?

  1. to entertain readers with a story about a family kitchen
  2. to describe the history of cast-iron manufacturing
  3. to explain how readers can care for a cast-iron skillet Correct answer.
  4. to persuade readers to buy a particular brand of skillet

Explanation

Purpose is identified by what the text asks the reader to do or understand. This passage gives a series of commands and warnings about maintenance, which is the structure of instructions. Its aim is therefore practical explanation, not persuasion, storytelling, or history.

Question 4Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Grandfather's workshop smelled of cedar shavings and machine oil. He hummed as he worked, and the plane's long curls fell to the floor like ribbons of gold. Which words best describe the mood of the passage?

  1. cold and clinical
  2. bitter and resentful
  3. tense and anxious
  4. warm and nostalgic Correct answer.

Explanation

Mood is created by sensory details and word choice. Cedar shavings, humming, and curls 'like ribbons of gold' all carry pleasant, affectionate associations. Together they produce a fond, remembered atmosphere rather than tension, detachment, or resentment.

Question 5Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Because solar panels lose efficiency as they heat up, engineers mount them on raised racks that let air circulate beneath. In some deserts, they also run water pipes along the back of each panel to draw heat away. How is the passage organized?

  1. two energy sources are compared
  2. an advantage is followed by an unrelated list
  3. a problem is described, then solutions are given Correct answer.
  4. a process is explained step by step

Explanation

The first sentence names a difficulty: heat reduces efficiency. The remaining sentences describe measures that address it: raised racks and cooling pipes. That is the classic problem-and-solution pattern.

Question 6Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. The city's new bus terminal opened in March. It has twelve loading bays and a glass roof. The waiting area is far too small for a station of this size. Ridership rose by nine percent in the first month. Which sentence from the passage states an opinion rather than a fact?

  1. It has twelve loading bays and a glass roof.
  2. Ridership rose by nine percent in the first month.
  3. The waiting area is far too small for a station of this size. Correct answer.
  4. The city's new bus terminal opened in March.

Explanation

A factual statement can be checked and verified by measurement or record. An opinion expresses a judgment that reasonable people could dispute. Words like 'far too small' evaluate the waiting area and cannot be confirmed by counting or looking up a record.

Question 7Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Each autumn, monarch butterflies east of the Rockies fly up to 3,000 miles to fir forests in central Mexico, where they cluster thickly on the branches. No single butterfly makes the round trip; the return journey is completed by descendants several generations later. Which sentence best summarizes the passage?

  1. Fir forests in Mexico are protected by law.
  2. Monarch butterflies live in many parts of North America.
  3. Monarchs fly thousands of miles, and later generations return. Correct answer.
  4. Scientists attach tiny tags to monarchs to track their routes.

Explanation

A summary states the central point of the whole passage in condensed form. This passage is about the long migration south and the fact that later generations make the trip back. Only that option covers both parts of the passage.

Question 8Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the sentence, then answer the question. Dawn arrived like a slow tide, filling the alley first, then the rooftops, then the whole street. What does the comparison 'like a slow tide' emphasize about the dawn?

  1. It caused flooding in the alley.
  2. It spread gradually, filling the space bit by bit. Correct answer.
  3. It happened near the ocean.
  4. It came suddenly and without warning.

Explanation

A simile compares two things to highlight a shared quality. The words 'slow' and the sequence alley, rooftops, street show a gradual advance. The tide image works because a rising tide also moves steadily across a space.

Question 9Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. When the museum announced free admission on Sundays, the director predicted a modest rise in visitors. By the third week, the line stretched around the block, and the café ran out of sandwiches before noon. Staff began arriving an hour early. Which inference is best supported by the passage?

  1. The museum raised its prices for weekday visitors.
  2. Most visitors came only to eat at the café.
  3. The café's food was unpopular with visitors.
  4. Free admission drew far more visitors than expected. Correct answer.

Explanation

An inference must follow from details in the text rather than from outside assumptions. The prediction of a 'modest rise' is followed by a line around the block and food running out, which shows a much larger crowd. The staff's earlier arrival confirms the unexpected volume.

Question 10Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. A forager that finds a rich patch of flowers returns to the hive and performs a looping figure-eight dance. The angle of the dance relative to vertical tells other bees the direction of the food, and the length of the waggle tells other bees how far to fly. Researchers who moved a food source watched the dance change accordingly. Which detail best supports the claim that honeybees share information about where food is located?

  1. A forager returns to the hive after finding flowers.
  2. Researchers study honeybees in many countries.
  3. Honeybees live in colonies with a single queen.
  4. The waggle's length tells other bees how far to fly. Correct answer.

Explanation

Evidence must bear directly on the claim being made. The claim is that bees convey location; the waggle's length encoding distance is exactly that kind of communication. The other details describe bees or researchers but say nothing about transmitting location.

Question 11Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. I told my brother the map was wrong. He kept walking, jaw set, and I followed because turning back alone seemed worse than being lost together. What does the first-person point of view reveal that a third-person narrator could not easily show?

  1. the brother's private reasons for trusting the old map
  2. the exact route the brothers took
  3. the hour at which the brothers set out
  4. the narrator's private struggle to decide Correct answer.

Explanation

First-person narration gives direct access to the speaker's inner thoughts and hesitations. Here the narrator weighs two bad choices and reveals the fear of being alone. A third-person narrator could report the brother's jaw and the walking, but not this unspoken calculation.

Question 12Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Mrs. Okafor thanked the neighbors for the flowers, then straightened the vase and moved it to the hall table where, she said, 'guests will see it first.' When they left, she carried it back to the kitchen and set it by the window above the sink. What do her actions most suggest about Mrs. Okafor?

  1. She dislikes receiving gifts from her neighbors.
  2. She cares more about appearances than about her home.
  3. She intends to give the flowers to a guest.
  4. She values the flowers privately, not as a display. Correct answer.

Explanation

Character is revealed through what people do when no one is watching. She performs the public gesture of placing the vase where guests will see it, then quietly moves it to a private spot she prefers. The second action shows where the flowers genuinely matter to her.

Question 13Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the sentence, then answer the question. The hotel offers cheap rooms near the beach. Which replacement for 'cheap' would make the sentence sound more favorable to readers of a travel brochure without changing its basic meaning?

  1. cut-rate
  2. affordable Correct answer.
  3. stingy
  4. shabby

Explanation

Words with similar denotations can carry very different connotations. 'Affordable' keeps the idea of low cost while suggesting good value. The other choices carry suggestions of poor quality or meanness that a brochure would avoid.

Question 14Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Our town should ban plastic bags at grocery stores. After the ban in nearby Fairview, volunteers counted 40 percent fewer bags in the river during cleanup. Opponents say paper bags cost more, but a clean river benefits everyone. Which sentence states the writer's main claim?

  1. The town should ban plastic bags at stores. Correct answer.
  2. Fairview held a river cleanup.
  3. Volunteers counted bags in the river.
  4. Paper bags cost more than plastic bags.

Explanation

The main claim is the position the writer wants the reader to accept; the rest of the passage supports or answers objections to it. The ban proposal is the statement everything else is designed to defend. The other sentences are evidence or a counterargument the writer concedes.

Question 15Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. A young potter spent months perfecting a single bowl, firing it again and again. When it finally cracked in the kiln, she swept up the pieces and began again, with a steadier hand. 'The bowl taught me more broken than whole,' she said. Which statement best expresses a theme of the passage?

  1. People rarely appreciate handmade objects.
  2. Patience is wasted on unworthy goals.
  3. Pottery requires expensive equipment and time.
  4. Failure can be more instructive than success. Correct answer.

Explanation

A theme is an insight about life that the whole story supports, not a detail about the subject matter. The potter's remark that the broken bowl taught her more states the insight directly, and her improved hand on the second attempt confirms it.

Question 16Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Before 1850, most American ice was cut from ponds in winter and stored in sawdust-insulated houses. In the 1860s, steam-powered machines in Louisiana began making ice by compressing refrigerant gas. Within twenty years, factory ice had largely replaced the harvested kind. How is the passage organized?

  1. a list of steps in a manufacturing process
  2. a description of a change over time Correct answer.
  3. a comparison of two modern methods
  4. a problem followed by several solutions

Explanation

The passage is held together by time markers: before 1850, in the 1860s, and within twenty years. It shows one practice giving way to another in sequence. That chronological structure signals a description of change over time.

Question 17Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the sentence, then answer the question. Her argument had a spine. What does the sentence most likely mean?

  1. The argument was copied from someone else.
  2. The argument was long and complicated.
  3. The argument was difficult to understand.
  4. The argument was strong and well supported. Correct answer.

Explanation

A spine provides structural support and suggests firmness in a person's character. Applied figuratively to an argument, it means the argument holds together and does not collapse under challenge. The image is about strength, not length or difficulty.

Question 18Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Desert flowers face a timing problem. (A) Midday heat would quickly drain the moisture from a blossom. (B) Cacti store water in thick, pleated stems. (C) Many desert species therefore open only after sunset, when the air cools. (D) By morning, the petals have closed again. Which labeled sentence interrupts the paragraph's focus?

  1. Sentence D
  2. Sentence B Correct answer.
  3. Sentence C
  4. Sentence A

Explanation

A well-focused paragraph keeps every sentence on one controlling idea. This paragraph explains why desert flowers bloom at night: heat drains moisture, so flowers open after sunset and close by morning. Sentence B shifts to how cacti store water, which is a different topic, even though it is also about desert plants.

Question 19Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. In the play, the audience learns early that the bridge the general plans to cross has been washed out. When the general boasts of his plan at dinner, his officers applaud. Why is this scene an example of dramatic irony?

  1. The audience knows more than the general does. Correct answer.
  2. The play ends with an unexpected wedding.
  3. The general does not know how to swim.
  4. The officers secretly plan to betray him.

Explanation

Dramatic irony depends on a gap between what the audience knows and what a character knows. Here the audience has seen that the bridge is gone, while the general still speaks confidently about crossing it. The officers' applause sharpens the gap by treating the plan as sound.

Question 20Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Every week after the funeral, Luis pruned his father's rosebush, though the roses had stopped blooming. He kept the shears sharpened and the soil turned long after the neighbors stopped watching. What does the rosebush most likely symbolize?

  1. the neighbors' disapproval
  2. the changing seasons
  3. Luis's devotion to his father Correct answer.
  4. Luis's skill at gardening

Explanation

A symbol is a concrete object that stands for a larger idea or feeling. Luis tends the bush weekly even though it no longer blooms and no one is watching, which ties the object to steady loyalty rather than to results. That pattern points to his continuing attachment to his father.

Question 21Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. The factory stood at the edge of town, and at dusk its windows flared orange so that the whole building seemed to smolder without ever burning. No one in the valley said the word 'volcano,' but everyone thought it. What does the image of the factory smoldering 'without ever burning' mainly accomplish?

  1. It links the factory's output to a volcanic eruption.
  2. It shows that the building is old and poorly maintained.
  3. It describes the actual flames of a factory fire.
  4. It suggests a quiet, hidden danger beneath ordinary life. Correct answer.

Explanation

Figurative language invites readers to feel a significance beyond the literal details. The glow is only window light, yet 'smolder' and the unspoken thought of a volcano introduce threat and pressure. The phrase 'without ever burning' keeps the menace unspoken, which gives it its quiet power.

Question 22Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. 'I have never once lost my temper with a student,' Mr. Petrov told the new principal, smiling. His hand was still red from slamming the desk drawer shut upstairs. What does the contrast between his words and the detail about his hand accomplish?

  1. It invites the reader to doubt his account of himself. Correct answer.
  2. It proves that the principal dislikes Mr. Petrov.
  3. It suggests that the desk drawer was broken.
  4. It shows that Mr. Petrov is new to the school.

Explanation

When a character's statement is undercut by an immediately following detail, the author is signaling unreliability or hypocrisy. The red hand implies a recent outburst even as he denies ever losing his temper. Readers are meant to weigh the physical evidence against the spoken claim.

Question 23Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. You have asked me to speak about the library. I will not recite statistics. I will only tell you that I learned to read at that table by the window, and that a child who learns to read there will never again be told what to think. What is the speaker's main rhetorical strategy?

  1. describing the architecture of the library in careful detail
  2. presenting a series of statistics about library use
  3. trading statistics for a personal story that stirs feeling Correct answer.
  4. listing the library's budget needs in detail

Explanation

The speaker explicitly refuses data and chooses a personal memory instead. A childhood memory and a claim about a future child appeal to the audience's values and emotions. Naming the refusal of statistics makes the substitution the central strategy.

Question 24Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the two passages, then answer the question. Text A: After wolves returned to the park, elk began avoiding the open streambanks, willow thickets rebounded, and beavers moved back in. Predators, in other words, can rebuild a landscape. Text B: Wolves killed livestock on ranches outside the park boundary, and some ranchers lost several animals in a season. Restoring predators shifts costs onto the people who live beside them. How do the two texts mainly differ?

  1. Text A denies that wolves are predators.
  2. Text A stresses ecological gains; Text B stresses costs to residents. Correct answer.
  3. Text B gives more detail about willows and beavers.
  4. Text A reports the views of ranchers near the park.

Explanation

Comparing texts means locating their differing emphases, even when both concern the same subject. Text A traces benefits to vegetation and wildlife, while Text B counts losses borne by ranchers. The final sentences of each passage state those contrasting conclusions directly.

Question 25Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. For three pages the memo describes falling test scores, crowded classrooms, and a shrinking budget. The fourth page begins: 'Now let me tell you about Room 12, where a retired teacher volunteers every morning.' Why is the shift on the fourth page effective?

  1. It introduces a second set of test scores.
  2. It restates the budget figures in more detail.
  3. It turns abstract problems into a concrete human face. Correct answer.
  4. It abandons the memo's original purpose entirely.

Explanation

Writers often move from generalization to example in order to make an issue felt. The first three pages supply broad conditions; Room 12 supplies a single, specific scene. That shift gives readers a person and a place to attach the earlier data to.

Question 26Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. For decades the Harborside Library lent out not only books but also seeds, tools, and cake pans. When budget cuts threatened the library, residents packed a hearing to defend these odd holdings. The director admitted that the pans were borrowed only a few times a month, yet she kept them on the shelves. Which sentence best states the main idea of the passage?

  1. Cake pans are popular items in small libraries.
  2. Library budgets are often cut in hard times.
  3. The library should stop lending tools and seeds.
  4. An unusual collection proved worth defending. Correct answer.

Explanation

A main idea must cover the whole passage rather than one detail. The passage moves from the odd items to the public defense of them to the director's decision to keep them, so the unifying point is that the collection mattered enough to protect.

Question 27Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the sentence, then answer the question. The intern's report was thorough but labored; every sentence seemed to have been dragged uphill. As used in the sentence, "labored" most nearly means

  1. written with visible effort Correct answer.
  2. carefully researched
  3. concerned with physical work
  4. revised many times

Explanation

Context clues decide the meaning of a word: the phrase "dragged uphill" describes how hard the writing feels to read. "Labored" therefore describes a style that shows strain rather than one that shows care or revision.

Question 28Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. The old ferry groaned against the pilings, and the fog swallowed the dock whole. The phrase "the fog swallowed the dock whole" mainly suggests that

  1. the dock had been built poorly
  2. the ferry had lost its way in the dark
  3. fog hid the dock from view Correct answer.
  4. a storm was approaching from the sea

Explanation

Figurative language should be read for the impression it creates rather than literally. Something "swallowed whole" disappears inside something else, so the figure means the fog completely concealed the dock.

Question 29Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Wash your hands for at least twenty seconds. Dry them with a clean towel, and turn off the tap with the towel rather than your bare hand. The author's main purpose is to

  1. instruct readers in a hygiene routine Correct answer.
  2. narrate a personal experience
  3. persuade readers to install new faucets
  4. explain how plumbing systems work

Explanation

Purpose is identified from the verbs and sentence type: the passage consists of commands telling the reader what to do in sequence. Directions for performing a task indicate an instructional purpose.

Question 30Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. The Sargasso Sea has no coastline. Its boundaries are drawn not by land but by ocean currents, which gather floating seaweed into a loose, shifting mat. According to the passage, what defines the boundaries of the Sargasso Sea?

  1. a line of buoys
  2. the edge of the continental shelf
  3. a ring of volcanic islands
  4. ocean currents Correct answer.

Explanation

A question beginning "According to the passage" is answered only with stated information. The passage explicitly says the boundaries are drawn "by ocean currents" rather than by land.

Question 31Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. "Oh, splendid, another committee meeting," she said, dropping her bag on the table with a thud. The speaker's tone is best described as

  1. genuinely delighted
  2. anxious and uncertain
  3. dryly sarcastic Correct answer.
  4. formal and ceremonial

Explanation

Tone comes from the gap between words and actions. The word "splendid" praises the meeting, but the bag dropped "with a thud" signals irritation, so the praise is ironic rather than sincere.

Question 32Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Theo checked the clock, then the window, then the clock again. He had already put on his coat twice. What do Theo's actions most strongly suggest?

  1. He is preparing to cook dinner.
  2. He is waiting for a late arrival. Correct answer.
  3. He has forgotten what time it is.
  4. He is about to leave for work early.

Explanation

Characterization through action requires linking repeated behaviors to a plausible cause. Looking back and forth between clock and window, and repeatedly putting on a coat, shows someone watching for a person who has not yet come.

Question 33Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Because beavers build dams, ponds form behind them. Those ponds slow floodwaters downstream and give young fish a place to grow. The relationship between beavers and ponds in the passage is best described as

  1. comparison
  2. problem and solution
  3. contrast
  4. cause and effect Correct answer.

Explanation

Text structure is signaled by connecting words. The word "because" introduces a cause (dam building) followed by its result (ponds form), and the next sentence lists further results.

Question 34Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. My grandfather insists the corner store closed because the owner was too generous with credit. My aunt, who kept the store's books, says it closed because the roof leaked for three years and nobody would pay to fix it. How do the two speakers' accounts differ?

  1. They explain the same event differently. Correct answer.
  2. They disagree about whether the store existed.
  3. They blame the same person for different reasons.
  4. They describe events from different decades.

Explanation

Comparing accounts means identifying what each speaker claims. Both speakers address one event, the store's closing, but assign it different causes.

Question 35Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Nina accepted the trophy, thanked the coach, and left it in the car for a week. What does Nina's treatment of the trophy most suggest?

  1. She plans to give the trophy to her coach.
  2. She is careless with household objects.
  3. The award means little to her. Correct answer.
  4. She is proud but embarrassed to show it.

Explanation

An inference about attitude should be the smallest claim that explains all the details. Polite thanks followed by a week of neglect show that the trophy does not matter much to her, even though the coach expects it to.

Question 36Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. For years the family kept the broken clock on the mantel, though it had not ticked since the flood. In the passage, the clock most likely symbolizes

  1. a loss the family keeps alive Correct answer.
  2. the family's fear of the river
  3. the family's skill at repair
  4. the family's hope for the future

Explanation

A symbol is an object that carries meaning beyond itself, and the meaning should be supported by the details given. A clock stopped by a flood and kept in place for years stands for a loss the family preserves rather than forgets.

Question 37Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. In 1900, most ice in American cities came from northern ponds, cut in winter and stored in sawdust until summer. Mechanical refrigeration, cheap electricity, and reliable delivery made the ice harvest obsolete within a generation. Which sentence best summarizes the passage?

  1. Electricity made cities dependent on northern farms.
  2. Sawdust was the most effective insulator available.
  3. A natural industry was replaced by new technology. Correct answer.
  4. Northern ponds froze more solidly than southern ones.

Explanation

A summary states the passage's central development in general terms, leaving out supporting details. The passage describes a whole industry based on pond ice disappearing because of refrigeration and electricity.

Question 38Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. You don't need a study to tell you that the intersection at Fifth and Main is dangerous. Just stand on that corner for ten minutes, as I did last Tuesday, and count the near misses yourself. The speaker mainly supports the argument by

  1. quoting an expert engineer
  2. citing statistics from a research study
  3. comparing two intersections in detail
  4. appealing to firsthand observation Correct answer.

Explanation

Persuasive techniques are identified by the kind of support offered. The speaker invites the audience to rely on personal experience ("as I did last Tuesday") and explicitly dismisses studies, which is an appeal to direct observation.

Question 39Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. The fire station's smoke alarm chirped for a month. The crew, busy with inspections elsewhere, never replaced its battery. The situation is ironic because

  1. the crew was too busy to work
  2. the fire crew ignored their own alarm Correct answer.
  3. the station had been inspected recently
  4. smoke alarms often fail in old buildings

Explanation

Irony depends on a contrast between what is expected and what happens. The crew whose job is fire safety spends its time inspecting other buildings while its own warning device goes unattended.

Question 40Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. A blog post claims that students who eat breakfast earn higher grades. It cites one survey of twenty students at a single school. The evidence in the blog post is weak mainly because

  1. grades are impossible to measure
  2. the topic has never been studied
  3. the sample is small and narrow Correct answer.
  4. breakfast has no effect on learning

Explanation

Evidence is evaluated by its scope and representativeness. Twenty students at one school cannot support a broad claim about students in general.

Question 41Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. "Take the long road," the old woman said, and would say no more. Later, when the bridge collapsed, the driver remembered her words. The old woman's warning serves mainly to

  1. create suspense that the ending resolves Correct answer.
  2. describe the driver's daily route
  3. explain how the bridge was built
  4. reveal the woman's distrust of engineers

Explanation

A narrative detail can function structurally as well as informationally. The unexplained warning plants a question that the collapsed bridge later answers, which builds suspense.

Question 42Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. The committee "requested" the report; the chair "demanded" it; the mayor "insisted" on it. The three verbs are arranged to

  1. show rising forcefulness Correct answer.
  2. describe three unrelated documents
  3. suggest that all three people agreed
  4. indicate that the report was unimportant

Explanation

Word choice carries degree of intensity. Moving from "requested" to "demanded" to "insisted" escalates the pressure being applied to produce the same report.

Question 43Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Our school should start an hour later. Teenagers' body clocks shift later during adolescence, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends later start times for middle and high schools. Which sentence states the writer's claim rather than supporting evidence?

  1. Teenagers' body clocks shift later during adolescence.
  2. Later start times are more common in other countries.
  3. Our school should start an hour later. Correct answer.
  4. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends later start times.

Explanation

A claim is the position the writer wants accepted; evidence is the material offered to support it. The recommendation about start times is the position, while the other sentences supply reasons or authorities.

Question 44Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Before the race, Marco oiled the chain twice and checked the tires three times, though he had never done either before. The detail about Marco's preparations suggests that

  1. his bicycle is brand new
  2. this race matters more than usual Correct answer.
  3. he has raced many times before
  4. he does not know how to ride well

Explanation

Foreshadowing is read by noticing breaks from a character's normal habits. The passage stresses that Marco had never done these checks before, so the unusual care signals an unusually important race.

Question 45Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. The classroom windows faced the parking lot. All winter the students watched snow pile on the same three cars no one drove. The description of the setting mainly creates a mood of

  1. confusion
  2. celebration
  3. quiet monotony Correct answer.
  4. danger

Explanation

Setting contributes to mood through repeated, unchanging details. The same three unused cars and the snow that piles on them all winter suggest dull repetition rather than excitement or threat.

Question 46Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. In a pamphlet paid for by the railroad, a historian writes that the new line "brought prosperity to every valley it touched" and that "no reasonable person could object." Which feature of the passage most weakens its reliability as an account of the railroad's effects?

  1. The writer's knowledge of valleys
  2. The mention of a historian rather than an engineer
  3. The writer's funding source and sweeping claims Correct answer.
  4. The use of the word "prosperity"

Explanation

Reliability is judged by who produced a text and how it argues. A source paid by the railroad has an interest in favorable conclusions, and absolute phrases such as "every valley" and "no reasonable person" show bias rather than careful qualification.

Question 47Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the two passages, then answer the question. Text A: After the city removed parking minimums, builders added apartments on lots that had sat empty for years. Text B: Removing parking minimums did little. The apartments built afterward were luxury units most residents could not afford. How does Text B respond to Text A?

  1. It accepts the fact but disputes its significance. Correct answer.
  2. It denies that any apartments were built.
  3. It argues that parking minimums caused vacancies.
  4. It questions whether the lots were ever empty.

Explanation

When comparing two texts, identify what the second one grants and what it challenges. Text B does not dispute that apartments were built; it argues that the kind of housing built makes the change unimportant.

Question 48Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. For twenty years Sal painted the same bridge. When the city rebuilt it with steel, he set up his easel again, painted the new bridge, and hung the canvas beside the old one. Which statement best expresses a theme of the passage?

  1. Steel bridges are less beautiful than older ones.
  2. Cities rarely value the work of artists.
  3. Steady attention turns change into continuity. Correct answer.
  4. Painting requires expensive materials over time.

Explanation

A theme is a general insight drawn from the whole story, not a statement about one detail. Sal's decades of painting and his choice to hang the new picture beside the old one show devotion making change feel continuous.

Question 49Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. The letter argues that the town should buy the failing theater because "everyone wants it restored." A later paragraph admits that no survey has been conducted and that attendance at the theater's last season was low. The main weakness in the letter's argument is that it

  1. refuses to say whether the theater is failing
  2. describes the theater's condition in too much detail
  3. asserts support its own evidence undercuts Correct answer.
  4. relies on the theater's popularity to oppose restoration

Explanation

An argument is weak when its own support contradicts its claim. The letter asserts widespread public demand but then concedes that no survey exists and that audiences stayed away.

Question 50Reading (informational and literary texts)

Read the passage, then answer the question. Two histories describe the same explorer's first voyage. One calls him "bold"; the other calls the very same decisions "reckless." Both accounts agree on the dates, the route, and the crew's losses. The difference between the two histories is best explained by

  1. the crew's conflicting reports of losses
  2. differing judgments about the same facts Correct answer.
  3. one historian's access to a different route
  4. disagreement about when the voyage occurred

Explanation

When accounts share the same facts and still differ, the difference lies in interpretation. "Bold" and "reckless" evaluate identical decisions in opposite ways, which shows a difference in judgment rather than in fact.