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(01.03 LC)A thesaurus can assist a writer or speaker in finding a word with the connotation to best match their purpose.

(03.01 MC)Rohan is writing an argumentative essay about standardized test scores and college admission. He claims that colleges should no longer rely on the SAT for admission. Which of the following statements avoids a logical fallacy to support his claim?

(01.02 MC)Read the excerpt from The Death of Ivan Ilyitch by Leo Tolstoy. Answer the question that follows.Ivan Ilych’s life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible. He had been a member of the Court of Justice, and died at the age of forty-five. His father had been an official who after serving in various ministries and departments in Petersburg had made the sort of career which brings men to positions from which by reason of their long service they cannot be dismissed, though they are obviously unfit to hold any responsible position, and for whom therefore posts are specially created, which though fictitious carry salaries of from six to ten thousand rubles that are not fictitious, and in receipt of which they live on to a great age.Which point of view is used in this passage?

(02.01 MC)Read the passage. Answer the question that follows.Homing pigeons have a long and storied history. Dating back to 3,000 BCE, these bright birds were used by Egyptians to send messages and find routes for travel. Their use continued through the centuries, and homing pigeons are credited with the first air mail service delivering messages between New Zealand and the barrier islands of Australia.In World Wars I and II, homing pigeons were considered heroic for their delivery of important messages between battlefields. Flying up to 200 miles one way, the pigeons were the preferred form of communication, as radio messages could be easily intercepted by enemies.Which sentence states the central idea of this passage?

(01.02 MC)Read the fable. Answer the question that follows.A very wealthy old man, imagining that he was on the point of death, sent for his sons and divided his property among them. However, he did not die for several years afterward, and miserable years many of them were. Besides the weariness of old age, the old fellow had to bear with much abuse and cruelty from his sons. Wretched, selfish ingrates! Previously they vied with one another in trying to please their father, hoping thus to receive more money, but now they had received their patrimony, they cared not how soon he left them—nay, the sooner the better, because he was only a needless trouble and expense. And they let the poor old man know what they felt.One day he met a friend and related to him all his troubles. The friend sympathized very much with him, and promised to think over the matter, and call in a little while and tell him what to do. He did so; in a few days he visited the old man and put down four bags full of stones and gravel before him.”Look here, friend,” said he. “Your sons will get to know of my coming here to-day, and will inquire about it. You must pretend that I came to discharge a long-standing debt with you, and that you are several thousands of rupees richer than you thought you were. Keep these bags in your own hands, and on no account let your sons get to them as long as you are alive. You will soon find them change their conduct toward you. Salaam, I will come again soon to see how you are getting on.”When the young men got to hear of this further increase of wealth they began to be more attentive and pleasing to their father than ever before. And thus they continued to the day of the old man’s demise, when the bags were greedily opened, and found to contain only stones and gravel!What universal theme is revealed in the text?

(01.03 MC)Read the passage and answer the question that follows.As she went down the dark and desolate path, fear took a hold of her and held her captive. It was again her master and it had her locked in place. She had been here before and fear had won then, too. She was determined not to let fear beat her this time, so she summoned all the courage she could and continued walking. By looking at the bolded sections of the passage, what can the reader take away from the personification used?

(01.06 MC)Read the sentence and answer the question that follows.Jam is made by mashing fruit, jelly is made by adding fruit juice, and preserves using whole fruit.Which part of the sentence contains faulty parallel structure?

(01.06 LC)A phrase is a group of words without a subject and a verb pair.

(03.01 MC)Read the excerpt from a speech by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s inaugural address and answer the question that follows.This is a day of national consecration. And I am certain that on this day my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency, I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impels.This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure, as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.What is Roosevelt’s claim?

(01.03 MC)Read the excerpt from The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery and answer the question that follows.Sometimes they slunk off into the mystery of the chill night outside. The stars smoldered in the horizon mists through the old oriel. The haunting, persistent croon of the pine-trees filled the air. The little waves began to make soft, sobbing splashes on the rocks below them in the rising winds.How does the use of the personification in bold enhance the meaning of the passage?