Digital PSAT Reading and Writing Practie Test 23

1

A German patent clerk, Albert Einstein, turned Newtonian mechanics on its head and developed the theory of relativity and the notion of space-time. In the 1920s, scientists studying photographic plates of various star systems took measurements that Edwin Hubble used to demonstrate that the universe is not static at all, but is expanding in all directions, no matter where you might be; this became known as Hubble's law. Hubble's constant-the rate at which the universe is expanding-is currently estimated to be 21 km/s per one million light-years from Earth. This ushered in the notion of the Big Bang as the singular beginning of an expanding space-time and everything in it.

As used in the text, what does the word singular most nearly mean?

2

As the use of antibiotics continues to increase, there is growing concern within the health care community about the development of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. Microorganisms that cause infections can gain resistance when their DNA spontaneously mutates, or when they receive DNA from another microorganism via conjugation. Once the microorganism has secured the needed DNA sequence, many common antibiotics become ineffective in fighting the infection.

Which choice best states the major concern expressed in the text?

3

The following text is from a 1981 speech to Congress by President Ronald Reagan.

Can we, who man the ship of state, deny it is somewhat out of control? Our national debt is approaching $1 trillion. A few weeks ago I called such a figure, a trillion dollars, incomprehensible, and I've been trying ever since to think of a way to illustrate how big a trillion really is. And the best I could come up with is that if you had a stack of thousand-dollar bills in your hand only four inches high, you'd be a millionaire. A trillion dollars would be a stack of thousand-dollar bills sixty-seven miles high. The interest on the public debt this year we know will be over $90 billion, and unless we change the proposed spending for the fiscal year beginning October 1st, we'll add another almost $80 billion to the debt.

The primary function of the text is to

4

The following text is from Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1852 novel, The Blithedale Romance. Mr. Coverdale, an idealistic young man of the nineteenth century who has recently moved onto a utopian farm, is recovering from a fever.

All other members of the Community showed me kindness according to the full measure of their capacity. Zenobia brought me my gruel, every day, made by her own hands; and whenever I seemed inclined to converse, would sit by my bed-side, and talk with so much vivacity as to add several gratuitous throbs to my pulse.

What is the most likely reason that the author has capitalized the word Community?

5

Text 1

Football and basketball players are barred from playing in the NFL and NBA until they are three and one years removed from high school, respectively. They are forced to play college ball before being allowed to earn a real living. Though the athletes are generating billions of dollars in revenue for college athletic departments, they do not receive fair compensation directly from the universities.

Text 2

What happens when a world-class athlete suffers a debilitating injury while biding their time and playing for the NCAA? Consider the case of former South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore. Marcus was physically ready to be a star NFL player during his junior season, but he was prohibited from doing so. During this time, Marcus suffered a gruesome knee injury; despite rehabilitation, he has never really been the same, and his earning potential is mere decimal points of what it once was.

Which of the following best describes the relationship between the two texts?

6

Text 1

It is through inspiration that a teacher teaches a student to think. Educating is not the business of memorization but the business of inquiry. The student-teacher dichotomy is one of reciprocated wonderment with each party undergoing continuous improvement. And an effective instructor is merely the one responsible for that curiosity in the minds of his or her students. It was Robert Frost who said, "I am not a teacher, but an awakener."

Text 2

I became a teacher because it was the noblest profession I could think of. Get this: I impart knowledge. I am responsible for instilling the foundation in the next generation of professionals and leaders. It all sounds very romantic, but the job comes down to an ability to simplify and explain those concepts that make up the core curriculum. If I cannot communicate clearly with my students, if I cannot come to their level and make the instruction relevant and accessible, then I fail.

Which of the following best describes the relationship between the passages?

7

The following text is from John Muir's 1897 work The American Forests.

So far, our government has done nothing effective with its forests, though the best in the world, but is like a rich and foolish spendthrift who has inherited a magnificent estate in perfect order, and then has left his rich fields and meadows, forests and parks, to be sold and plundered and wasted at will, depending on their inexhaustible abundance. Now it is plain that the forests are not inexhaustible, and that quick measures must be taken if ruin is to be avoided.

Muir's tone in the passage is best described as

8

In 1950, Enrico Fermi posited the question Where is everybody? when considering the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the likelihood of the existence of extraterrestrial life and humankind's lack of contact with, or evidence for, such civilizations. Later referred to as the Fermi Paradox, his provocative query was founded on the assumption that since the sun is quite typical, other Earth-like planets surely exist and have intelligent life, and by now, should have visited or contacted Earth. Extraterrestrial intelligence, or ETI, refers to hypothetical intelligent civilizations that are assumed to exist based on the existence of human intelligence and the vast size of the universe. While popular and scientific opinion on ETI varies greatly-from certainty to skepticism to downright incredulity-the search for alien intelligence is extensive and substantive.

According to the passage, the general scientific attitude toward the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence is best described as

9

Electromagnetic Waves and Their Wavelengths

The brain's integration of photons allows humans to perceive colored light with wavelengths between roughly 400 and 700 nanometers (a billionth of a meter), which comprises the entire visible spectrum.

Based on the information in the above text and in the table, light visible to humans would have wavelengths between which two types of waves?

10

A historical passage presents an overview of the history of the War of 1812.

Which quotation from the passage best illustrates the claim that the War of 1812 gradually shifted from being fought in the wilderness to being fought in urban areas?