The unique subak water management system used to irrigate the rice paddy fields of the Indonesian island of Bali has a rich cultural, philosophical, and historical significance dating back to the ninth century. The many elements of subak—terraces, canals, and water temples—are ____: they are joined together into a single cohesive unit.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

The discoveries of natural satellites by Scott S. Sheppard’s team of astronomers have been ____: Carpo, which the group of researchers found orbiting Jupiter in 2003, is just one of over one hundred that they have spotted, while many astronomers have been happy to discover only one or two.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Certain features are almost always included in the designs of mosques, like the ablution (ritual cleansing) area, which is considered to be a ____ of mosque architecture. Even mosques that exhibit elements of multiple architectural styles, such as the Al-Fattah Al-Aleem Mosque, which incorporates elements from the Islamic and Fatimid styles, will also include several of these standard features.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

____ traditional descriptions of pollination syndromes (suites of floral traits, such as nectar composition and scent bouquet, hypothesized to have independently evolved as a result of selection pressure exerted by pollinators) and recent empirical observations of floral-trait combinations have led some ecologists to express reservations about the utility of those descriptions.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Vertical gene transfer involves the transmission of genetic material from a parent to offspring; horizontal gene transfer, on the other hand, involves the exchange of genetic material between organisms not in a parent-offspring relationship. While horizontal gene transfer is common among prokaryotes—single-celled organisms, such as the bacteria Brevundimonas diminuta and Lactobacillus curvatus—it has rarely been observed among eukaryotes (multicellular organisms). However, new studies suggest that horizontal gene transfer is more common in eukaryotes than originally thought.

Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

In a study by Mika R. Moran, Daniel A. Rodriguez, and colleagues, residents of Bogotá, Colombia, and Fortaleza, Brazil, were surveyed about parks in their cities. Of the 1,121 respondents from Bogotá, 71.9% indicated that they use the city’s parks, and of the 938 respondents from Fortaleza, 35.7% indicated using city parks. Given that the percentage of Bogotá respondents who reported having access to desired nonpark amenities near parks was much lower than that reported by Fortaleza respondents, the difference in park use can’t be explained by Bogotá residents having more access to desired nonpark amenities near parks.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

Tracks is a 1988 novel by Ojibwe writer Louise Erdrich. It explores how historical events affect families on a reservation in rural North Dakota. Tracks is typical of Erdrich’s work. Her writing usually focuses on portrayals of everyday life in Ojibwe communities. Yet some of her novels have fantastical plots and take place outside Ojibwe communities. For example, her 1991 novel The Crown of Columbus is essentially adventure fiction, and the thrilling events in its plot are set largely on a Caribbean island.

According to the text, what is one way that The Crown of Columbus differs from most of Erdrich’s work?

The following text is adapted from Rupa Bajwa’s 2004 novel The Sari Shop. Ramchand works as an assistant in a shop in Amritsar, India.

Even at ten in the morning, the bazaar was throbbing with activity. The halwai [baker] was already installed in front of the Misthaan Sweet Shop, pressing jalebi batter into squiggly shapes that floated and simmered in the oil in a big iron cauldron. All the shops had opened for the day and, Ramchand noted guiltily, all the shop assistants were already in place, trying to sell things with fixed, attentive smiles on their shiny, bathed faces.

Based on the text, what can most reasonably be inferred about Ramchand?

Lin-Tai Ho and colleagues tracked fish populations in three tide pool–monitoring stations in Taiwan from 1999 to 2018. Although a total of only 36 cheekscaled frillgobies were observed at station 3, that was not the lowest count at any station: ___

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the assertion?

Psychologists Gregory Bryant, Dorsa Amir, and colleagues investigated cross-cultural perceptions of spontaneous (real) laughter and volitional (fake or forced) laughter. Study participants from 21 societies, including those in Austria and Samoa, listened to randomized recordings of 18 spontaneous laughs taken from natural conversations between pairs of women and 18 volitional laughs produced separately by 18 different women in response to an instruction to laugh. Analysis of the participants’ evaluations of the laughs prompted the team to conclude that the ability to distinguish between spontaneous and volitional laughter appears to be universal across cultures.

Which potential finding from the team’s study, if true, would most directly support the team’s conclusion?