Free SAT Practice Questions

Question 1

In the mid-twentieth century, choreographer Merce Cunningham and composer John Cage famously rejected the idea that dance must visually reflect its musical accompaniment. Instead, they argued that movement and sound should exist independently of one another, coexisting in the same space without directly influencing each other. When preparing for a new performance, Cunningham would choreograph the dancers' movements in silence while Cage composed the musical score elsewhere. Because of this unusual method, the visual and auditory components of their work remained entirely ______ until the final dress rehearsal or the premiere itself. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Accepted Answer

separate

Answer

predictable

Answer

permanent

Answer

identical

Question 2

Marine biologist Kakani Katija and her team at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute study giant larvaceans, tadpole-like tunicates that live in the ocean. These animals secrete large, balloon-like mucus structures greater than a meter across to filter tiny food particles from the water. When these mucus houses become clogged with debris, the larvaceans abandon them and build new ones. Katija's research demonstrates that the discarded houses sink rapidly to the seafloor. Because they carry massive amounts of trapped organic matter, these abandoned mucus structures act as a major mechanism for transporting carbon from the upper ocean to the deep sea, effectively removing it from the atmosphere. Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Accepted Answer

The discarded mucus filters of giant larvaceans function as a significant mechanism for moving carbon to the deep ocean.

Answer

Giant larvaceans secrete expansive mucus structures up to a meter across to trap microscopic food particles.

Answer

The research team found that giant larvaceans are the only deep-sea organisms capable of filtering carbon from the water.

Answer

Giant larvaceans regularly consume the large amounts of carbon that become trapped within their abandoned mucus filters.

Question 3

In 2014, plant ecologist Monica Gagliano and her colleagues conducted a study on Mimosa pudica, a species known for rapidly folding up when touched or disturbed. The team constructed an apparatus to safely drop the plants repeatedly from a short height. Initially, the plants reacted defensively to the sudden fall. However, after experiencing several harmless drops, the plants stopped folding ______ leaves. Gagliano concluded that the plants had demonstrated habituation, remembering that the specific stimulus posed no actual threat. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Accepted Answer

their

Answer

they're

Answer

there

Answer

its

Question 4

Published in 1919, Belgian artist Frans Masereel's Passionate Journey (Mon Livre d'Heures) consists of 167 woodcut prints arranged sequentially without any accompanying text. The prints follow an idealistic protagonist navigating a modern metropolis. Through stark, high-contrast images characteristic of the Expressionist movement, Masereel conveys a sharp critique of urban capitalism and the resulting alienation felt by ordinary workers. By successfully sustaining a complex political narrative entirely through visual art, Masereel effectively originated the modern wordless novel, establishing a storytelling format that directly influenced the development of the contemporary graphic novel. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

Accepted Answer

To introduce a pioneering visual narrative and explain its artistic features and historical legacy.

Answer

To explain how the Expressionist movement altered the economic conditions of early twentieth-century cities.

Answer

To describe the printmaking techniques an early twentieth-century artist used to critique urban capitalism.

Answer

To argue that early wordless novels offered a sharper social critique than contemporary graphic novels.

Question 5

In a 1990 study of vervet monkeys, researchers Dorothy Cheney and Robert Seyfarth investigated whether the animals understand the social relationships of their peers. The researchers hid a speaker in the brush and played an audio recording of a juvenile vervet monkey screaming. The juvenile's mother and several other adult females were present, but the juvenile itself was elsewhere. Cheney and Seyfarth claimed that the non-mother females not only recognized which specific juvenile was screaming but also understood who that juvenile's mother was. Which finding, if true, would most directly support Cheney and Seyfarth's claim?

Accepted Answer

Immediately after the recorded scream was played, the non-mother females consistently directed their gaze toward the mother of the screaming juvenile.

Answer

Immediately after the recorded scream was played, the non-mother females produced distinct vocalizations that matched the pitch of the juvenile's scream.

Answer

Immediately after the recorded scream was played, the non-mother females gathered their own offspring and moved away from the hidden speaker.

Answer

Immediately after the recorded scream was played, the mother of the screaming juvenile directed her gaze toward the location of the hidden speaker.

Question 6

In January 1938, thousands of Mexican American pecan shellers in San Antonio, Texas, walked off the job to protest a severe wage cut by the Southern Pecan Shelling Company. The workers faced aggressive police crackdowns and mass ______ nevertheless, they maintained picket lines for thirty-seven days under the leadership of twenty-one-year-old labor organizer Emma Tenayuca. The strike ultimately forced factory owners to agree to arbitration, establishing a precedent for collective bargaining in the region. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Accepted Answer

arrests; nevertheless,

Answer

arrests nevertheless,

Answer

arrests, nevertheless

Answer

arrests, nevertheless,

Question 7

When Chinese architect Wang Shu designed the Ningbo History Museum in 2004, he sought to memorialize the region's traditional residential architecture, much of which had recently been demolished to accommodate rapid urban expansion. ______, he instructed his builders to construct the museum’s towering exterior walls using wapan, a regional masonry technique that incorporates millions of salvaged terracotta tiles and clay bricks gathered directly from the demolished sites. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

Accepted Answer

To this end

Answer

Previously

Answer

By contrast

Answer

Similarly

Question 8

Highly weathered tropical soils often exhibit a low cation exchange capacity (CEC), meaning they lack the negative charges required to retain positively charged nutrient ions. Consequently, conventional fertilizers applied to these soils are highly susceptible to leaching, washing away before crops can absorb them. In a 2006 study, soil scientist Johannes Lehmann and colleagues investigated the effects of amending such soils with biochar, a porous carbon-rich material. They found that as biochar ages in the soil, it undergoes organo-mineral complexation, interacting with soil minerals to significantly increase the overall CEC of the soil profile. Because this elevated CEC allows the soil to better capture and hold onto nutrient cations, Lehmann's findings suggest that ______ Which choice most logically completes the text?

Accepted Answer

incorporating biochar into weathered tropical soils can mitigate the rapid leaching of subsequently applied conventional fertilizers.

Answer

the organo-mineral complexation induced by biochar physically restricts water flow through the soil profile, thereby trapping nutrients.

Answer

conventional fertilizers must be applied prior to biochar to ensure that the soil possesses enough cations to initiate complexation.

Answer

biochar amendments can entirely substitute for conventional fertilizers by independently supplying the necessary positive charges to crop roots.

Question 9

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes: (1) In 2017, a team led by paleontologist Sterling Nesbitt described Teleocrater rhadinus, a reptile from the Triassic period. (2) Fossils of the species were discovered in the Manda Beds of Tanzania. (3) Teleocrater is classified as an early member of the avemetatarsalians, the archosaur lineage that eventually produced dinosaurs and birds. (4) Paleontologists previously hypothesized that the earliest avemetatarsalians were small, bipedal sprinters. (5) However, Teleocrater possessed a quadrupedal posture and crocodilian-like ankle joints. (6) This morphology demonstrates that early bird-line archosaurs retained ancestral traits rather than immediately developing dinosaur-like adaptations. The student wants to contrast the anatomy of Teleocrater rhadinus with earlier scientific expectations for early avemetatarsalians. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

Accepted Answer

While paleontologists previously hypothesized that the earliest avemetatarsalians were small, bipedal sprinters, the discovery of Teleocrater rhadinus revealed an early member of this lineage with a quadrupedal posture and crocodilian-like ankles.

Answer

Described by Sterling Nesbitt’s team in 2017, the early avemetatarsalian Teleocrater rhadinus challenged models of dinosaur evolution by exhibiting a quadrupedal posture and crocodilian-like ankle joints instead of immediate dinosaur-like adaptations.

Answer

Contrary to early scientific expectations characterizing the earliest avemetatarsalians as bipedal sprinters, Teleocrater rhadinus demonstrates that bird-line archosaurs retained numerous ancestral traits rather than immediately developing dinosaur-like adaptations.

Answer

The quadrupedal posture and crocodilian-like ankle joints of Teleocrater rhadinus led paleontologists to mistakenly hypothesize that the earliest avemetatarsalians were small, bipedal sprinters.

Question 10

For decades, ornithologists distinguished golden-winged and blue-winged warblers primarily by their striking plumage: the golden-winged possesses a black throat and gray body, whereas the blue-winged features a yellow face and body. However, a 2016 study by evolutionary biologist David Toews and colleagues revealed that the two birds share roughly 99.97 percent of their DNA. The researchers found that the birds' physical differences are dictated by just a handful of genes. Thus, the warblers' distinct visual characteristics ______ their extensive genetic similarity. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Accepted Answer

belie

Answer

mirror

Answer

dictate

Answer

affirm

Question 11

Kou bought 6 identical packages of markers. He removed 13 markers from each package to donate to an art club and kept the remaining markers. If Kou kept a total of 30 markers, how many markers were originally in each package?

Accepted Answer

18 markers

Answer

8 markers

Answer

5 markers

Answer

108 markers

Question 12

The value of p is 48. The value of p is 20% greater than the value of q. What is the value of q?

Accepted Answer

40

Answer

38.4

Answer

57.6

Answer

60

Question 13

Events A and B are mutually exclusive. The probability that event A occurs is 30/48, and the probability that event B occurs is 3/48. What is the probability that neither event A nor event B occurs?

Accepted Answer

5/16

Answer

3/8

Answer

11/16

Answer

15/16

Question 14

Ravi purchased a total of 14 bags of soil for a community garden. He bought only 5-pound bags and 8-pound bags. The total weight of the soil he purchased was 88 pounds. What was the total weight, in pounds, of the 5-pound bags of soil Ravi purchased?

Accepted Answer

40

Answer

30

Answer

35

Answer

48

Question 15

The function f is defined by f(x) = -(x - 18)² + c, where c is a constant. In the xy-plane, the graph of y = f(x) passes through the point (24, 13). What is the maximum value of f(x)?

Accepted Answer

49

Answer

18

Answer

23

Answer

25

Question 16

Kalena is designing a rectangular banner with an area of 72 square feet. The width of the banner is 45 feet less than twice its length. What is the length, in feet, of the banner?

Accepted Answer

24

Answer

1.5

Answer

3

Answer

48

Question 17

Amit drove a total distance of 20 miles in two segments. On the second segment, he drove 14 miles in 24 minutes. If Amit's average speed for the entire 20-mile trip was 40 miles per hour, what was his average speed, in miles per hour, for the first segment?

Accepted Answer

60

Answer

35

Answer

45

Answer

50

Question 18

Pavel is packing books to donate to a community library. He has at most 11 boxes available in total. Each small box holds 3 books, and each large box holds 11 books. If Pavel must pack at least 45 books, what is the maximum number of small boxes he can use?

Accepted Answer

9

Answer

2

Answer

5

Answer

7

Question 19

Which of the following expressions is equivalent to (x² + 30x + 40) / (x + 11), where x ≠ -11?

Accepted Answer

x + 19 - 169 / (x + 11)

Answer

x + 19 + 40 / (x + 11)

Answer

x + 19 + 169 / (x + 11)

Answer

x + 41 - 411 / (x + 11)

Question 20

Points A, B, and C lie on a circle with center O, such that point O lies in the interior of angle ABC. Central angle AOC has a measure of 90°. If the measure of angle OAB is 36°, what is the measure, in degrees, of angle OCB?

Accepted Answer

9

Answer

18

Answer

54

Answer

81

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