Module I: Reading and Writing

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To assist with the development of new water-repellant materials for aviation and other applications, a team including both engineers and entomologists conducted a study of the water-repellant properties of cicada wings. The team explained that the ______ experts in these two disciplines resulted in a more comprehensive approach than independent efforts by experts in either discipline could have achieved.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
1
Mark for Review
skepticism toward
exaggeration of
distrust among
collaboration between
The following text is adapted from John Matheus’s 1926 short story, “Mr. Bradford Teaches Sunday School.” Mr. Bradford is driving through the countryside in Florida.
The moss in the towering water oaks had become enlivened with a verdant sheen of silver and hung like festoons of carnival or like funeral decorations for the mourning of the dead. The pine green was resplendent. The bald cypresses spread themselves along the water courses while the willows wept as they always did.
Mr. Bradford was conscious of this gorgeous display of nature.
As used in the text, what does the word “display” most nearly mean?
2
Mark for Review
Reproduction
Concealment
Pretentiousness
Exhibition
Both sharks and crayfish can detect electrical fields around them, but the ______ of their sensitivities differs substantially. Whereas crayfish can detect fields emitted by household electronics, those are many times stronger than the fields created by water moving through Earth’s magnetic field, which sharks are sensitive enough to detect.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
3
Mark for Review
magnitude
firmness
gathering
orientation
New and interesting research conducted by Suleiman A. Al-Sweedan and Moath Alhaj is inspired by their observation that though studies of the effect of high altitude on blood chemistry are _____, the effect on blood chemistry of living in locations below sea level, such as the California towns of Niland and Heber, has received comparatively little notice.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
4
Mark for Review
abundant
equivocal
sporadic
preliminary

The following text is adapted from Adib Khorram’s 2018 novel _Darius the Great Is Not Okay._ The narrator, Darius, is a teenager visiting family in Iran. He and his friend Sohrab are at the entrance of the ruins of the ancient city of Persepolis.
“The Gate of All Nations,” Sohrab said. He gestured to the lamassus [sculptures] and pillars surrounding us. “That’s the name in English.”
It wasn’t much of a gate anymore, since anyone of any nation could have easily stepped around it instead of walking through. But it was still amazing.
Behind the lamassu, more columns sprouted from the ground like ancient trees in a petrified forest, forty feet tall, spindly but still miraculously upright. Giant stone slabs formed the remains of what must once have been a breathtaking structure.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion of the text?
 

5
Mark for Review
It presents an image to illustrate what one part of the ruins looks like.
It emphasizes that the narrator already knows a lot about the city.
It suggests that the narrator had expected to visit a forest.
It indicates the specific time in the past when the buildings became ruins.
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