The Apollo Moon landings (1969–1972) brought radiation detectors and equipment too heavy for liftoff to the Moon and produced large amounts of data. Researcher Philip Metzger, who is investigating the long-term effects of being on the Moon, continues to use Apollo’s data, demonstrating that the missions’ value to science is ____.

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

The following text is from Amy Tan’s 1989 novel The Joy Luck Club. The narrator describes practicing the piano when she was a child.

For the talent show, I was to play a piece called “Pleading Child” from Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood. It was a simple, moody piece that sounded more difficult than it was. I was supposed to memorize the whole thing, playing the repeat parts twice to make the piece sound longer. But I dawdled over it, playing a few bars and then cheating, looking up to see what notes followed. I never really listened to what I was playing. I daydreamed about being somewhere else, about being someone else.

Based on the text, when the narrator describes herself as “cheating,” what does she most likely mean?

The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction is a crowdsourced project started in 2001 by lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower to record terms that originated in science fiction. Volunteers share digitized excerpts from personal collections of sci-fi magazines not typically preserved in libraries— ____ that allow the earliest uses of phrases such as “warp speed” (1952) to be identified and added to the dictionary.

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

Today’s theater stages are frequently filled with props and scenery to immerse the audience in a play’s world. Because theatergoers have grown used to carefully designed sets, plays with few visual elements can surprise audiences. But simple, unadorned stages were likely ____ audiences in the very distant past: highly decorated and detailed sets were not common until the 1600s.

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

Having trouble getting rid of weeds? One surprising solution may be to start eating them. Curly dock and broadleaf plantain are two edible plants that are usually considered weeds in North America. These and other plants like them are sometimes more flavorful than are some plants that people grow as food.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

Ceremony, the 1977 novel by Laguna Pueblo author Leslie Marmon Silko, is typical of Native fiction written during the 1960s and 1970s. During that period, Silko and her peers wrote realistic and deeply serious portrayals of the life of tribal communities. Recently, however, younger Native writers have embraced popular genres known for being entertaining and suspenseful, such as fantasy and horror: Anishinaabe author Nathan Adler is a figure in this movement. The 2016 novel Wrist is a work of horror fiction.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

In 2013 Bridie J.M. Allan and colleagues published a study concluding that ocean acidification has a strong effect on the behavior of Pomacentrus amboinensis, a species of fish. However, Allan and colleagues’ study relied on a mean sample size of only 18 fish. In a 2022 review of various scientists’ conclusions about the impacts of ocean acidification on fish behavior, Timothy D. Clark and colleagues caution that relying on such a relatively small sample size can increase the potential for biased analysis. Such analysis, in turn, can contribute to exaggerated effects.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text?

The soil on Mars can make missions to explore the planet challenging, as the sand and dust are known to clog filters and lock moving parts on robotic rovers and other exploration devices. Using simulants, which are materials designed to simulate different planetary surfaces, scientists are able to study the characteristics of Mars’ surface. Simulants like the Mars Mojave Simulant—which was developed using lava deposits from California’s Mojave Desert—help scientists evaluate how well their devices will handle the surface when operated on Mars.

Based on the text, what is one reason why simulants are valuable for scientists?)?

Millions of Metric Tons of Copper Mined in 1995 and 2020

While doing research for a paper about metal exports, a student finds information about copper mining in different countries in 1995 and 2020. The student notes that Chile produced 2.49 million metric tons of copper in 1995 and ____ million metric tons of copper in 2020.

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

For years, Christopher Clavius's 1593 work Astrolabium had the earliest known evidence of a decimal point, which was in a sine table's interpolation column. However, math historian Glen Van Brummelen posited that Venetian merchant Giovanni Bianchini, who worked as an astrological consultant, used the mathematical symbol approximately 150 years before Clavius did. Van Brummelen asserts that in his role as a consultant, Bianchini used trigonometry to calculate the coordinates of the planets, and these calculations contain the earliest example of the decimal point.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the underlined claim?