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Scent is tightly interwoven with our daily lives, often evoking significant memories and important social events. This connection is of growing interest to archaeologists who hope to use it to better understand ancient rituals, trade, social hierarchies, and medicine. Although the speed at which odor molecules dissipate makes identifying ancient scents challenging, advancements in biomolecular technologies show promise in unlocking ancient aromas from preserved artifacts. Archaeological studies making use of these advancements may provide new insights into past societies

According to the text, what is one reason some archaeologists are interested in recovering scents from ancient artifacts? A. They are investigating whether people's sense of smell has declined in recent centuries. B. They believe the scents could illuminate important aspects of ancient life. C. They think that ancient scents would be enjoyable to people today. D. They hope to develop new medicines using ancient scent molecules.

Paleontologists searching for signs of ancient life have found many fossilized specimens of prehistoric human ancestors, including several from the Pleistocene era discovered in a geological formation in the Minatogawa quarry in Japan. However, to study the emergence of the earliest multicellular organisms to appear on Earth, researchers must turn elsewhere, such as to the Ediacaran geological formation at Mistaken Point in Canada. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the 146-hectare reserve contains more than 10,000 fossils that together document a critical moment in evolutionary history.

What does the text indicate about the geological formation at Mistaken Point? A. It holds a greater number of fossils but from a smaller variety of species than the formation in the Minatogawa quarry does. B. It has provided evidence that the earliest human species may have emerged before the Pleistocene era. C. It is widely considered by paleontologists to be the most valuable source of information about prehistoric life forms. D. It contains specimens from an older time period than those found in the formation in the Minatogawa quarry

Considering a large sample of companies, economics experts Maria Guadalupe, Julie Wulf, and Raghuram Rajan assessed the number of managers and leaders from different departments who reported directly to a chief executive officer (CEO). According to the researchers, the findings suggest that across the years analyzed, there was a growing interest among CEOs in connecting with more departments in their companies.

Which choice best describes data from the graph that support the researchers' conclusion? A. The average numbers of managers and department leaders reporting directly to their CEO didn't fluctuate from the 1991-1995 period to the 2001-2008 period. B. The average number of managers reporting directly to their CEO was highest in the 1996-2001 period. C. The average number of department leaders reporting directly to their CEO was greater than the average number of managers reporting directly to their CEO in each of the three periods studied. D. The average number of department leaders reporting directly to their CEO rose over the three periods studied.

Urbanization, industrialization, and the warming climate create thermal pollution (excess heat) in the shallow subsurface soil. Susanne A. Benz and colleagues analyzed thousands of sites on three continents under one scenario in which surface temperature remains at the current level and under another in which the surface reaches the maximum plausible temperature. They then categorized each site according to the percentage of local home heating needs that could be met using this excess subsurface heat. The team concluded that if surface temperature approaches the maximum plausible level, the percentage of sites where thermal pollution could feasibly contribute to meeting home heating needs will increase

Which choice best describes data in the graph that support Benz and colleagues' conclusion? A. Under both temperature conditions, less than 10% of sites were in the up-to-25% group, but at the maximum plausible surface temperature, almost 80% of sites could have all their local heating needs met by thermal pollution. B. At current surface temperatures, more than 80% of the sites have no need for supplemental local home heating from subsurface thermal pollution, but at the maximum plausible surface temperature, more than 70% of sites exhibit significantly greater home heating needs. Assessment SAT Test Reading and Writing Domain Information and Ideas Skill Command of Evidence Difficulty C. At current surface temperatures, more than 80% of sites can meet, at most, 25% of local home heating needs with subsurface thermal pollution, but at the maximum plausible surface temperature, more than 80% of sites can meet greater than 25% of local home heating needs. D. At current surface temperatures, more than 80% of the sites cannot use subsurface thermal pollution to meet any portion of local home heating needs, but at the maximum plausible surface temperature, that percentage drops below 20%.

In 1934 physicist Eugene Wigner posited the existence of a crystal consisting entirely of electrons in a honeycomb-like structure. The so-called Wigner crystal remained largely conjecture, however, until Feng Wang and colleagues announced in 2021 that they had captured an image of one. The researchers trapped electrons between two semiconductors and then cooled the apparatus, causing the electrons to settle into a crystalline structure. By inserting an ultrathin sheet of graphene above the crystal, the researchers obtained an impression—the first visual confirmation of the Wigner crystal.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text? A. Researchers have obtained the most definitive evidence to date of the existence of the Wigner crystal. B . Researchers have identified an innovative new method for working with unusual crystalline structures. C. Graphene is the most important of the components required to capture an image of a Wigner crystal. D. It's difficult to acquire an image of a Wigner crystal because of the crystal's honeycomb structure

Research suggests that REM sleep in animals is homeostatically regulated: animals compensate for periods of REM sleep deprivation by increasing subsequent REM sleep. When on land, fur seals get enough REM sleep, but during the weeks they're in the water, they get almost none. In a study of fur seals' sleep habits, researchers recorded the REM sleep (as a percentage of baseline) of fur seals once they had returned to land. They concluded that REM sleep may not be homeostatically regulated in fur seals, citing as evidence the fact that the seals in the study ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the text? A. didn't show significantly less REM sleep during the second day after returning to land than they did during the first day. B. showed no significant differences from one another in baseline levels of REM sleep. C. didn't consistently demonstrate a significant increase in REM sleep after their period of deprivation in the water. D. showed no significant difference between REM sleep after returning to land and REM sleep while in the water

Studying tools unearthed at a cave site on the western coast of Italy, archaeologist Paola Villa and colleagues have determined that prehistoric Neanderthal groups fashioned them from shells of clams that they harvested from the seafloor while wading or diving or that washed up on the beach. Clamshells become thin and eroded as they wash up on the beach, while those on the seafloor are smooth and sturdy, so the research team suspects that Neanderthals prized the tools made with seafloor shells. However, the team also concluded that those tools were likely more challenging to obtain, noting that ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to support the research team's conclusion? A. at each depth below the surface in the cave, the difference in the numbers of tools of each type suggests that shells were easier to collect from the beach than to harvest from the seafloor. B. the highest number of tools were at a depth of 3-4 meters below the surface, which suggests that the Neanderthal population at the site was highest during the related period of time. C. at each depth below the surface in the cave, the difference in the numbers of tools of each type suggests that Neanderthals preferred to use clamshells from the beach because of their durability. D. the higher number of tools at depths of 5-6 meters below the surface in the cave than at depths of 4-5 meters below the surface suggests that the size of clam populations changed over time.

Marta Coll and colleagues' 2010 Mediterranean Sea biodiversity census reported approximately 17,000 species, nearly double the number reported in Carlo Bianchi and Carla Morri's 2000 census—a difference only partly attributable to the description of new invertebrate species in the interim. Another factor is that the morphological variability of microorganisms is poorly understood compared to that of vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, and algae, creating uncertainty about how to evaluate microorganisms as species. Researchers' decisions on such matters therefore can be highly consequential. Indeed, the two censuses reported similar counts of vertebrate, plant, and algal species, suggesting that _

Which choice most logically completes the text? A. Coll and colleagues reported a much higher number of species than Bianchi and Morri did largely due to the inclusion of invertebrate species that had not been described at the time of Bianchi and Morri's census. B. some differences observed in microorganisms may have been treated as variations within species by Bianchi and Morri but treated as indicative of distinct species by Coll and colleagues. C. Bianchi and Morri may have been less sensitive to the degree of morphological variation displayed within a typical species of microorganism than Coll and colleagues were. D. the absence of clarity regarding how to differentiate among species of microorganisms may have resulted in Coll and colleagues underestimating the number of microorganism species.

Researchers recently found that disruptions to an enjoyable experience, like a short series of advertisements during a television show, often increase viewers' reported enjoyment. Suspecting that disruptions to an unpleasant experience would have the opposite effect, the researchers had participants listen to construction noise for 30 minutes and anticipated that those whose listening experience was frequently interrupted with short breaks of silence would thus ______

Which choice most logically completes the text? A. find the disruptions more irritating as time went on. B. rate the listening experience as more negative than those whose listening experience was uninterrupted. C. rate the experience of listening to construction noise as lasting for less time than it actually lasted. D. perceive the volume of the construction noise as growing softer over time.

Microbes that live in shallow lakes and ponds produce methane, a harmful greenhouse gas. Ecologist Ralf Aben and his team wanted to see how different types of shallow-water plants might affect the amount of methane that escapes into the atmosphere. Aben's team set up some water tanks with soil and microbes from local ponds. Some tanks had a type of underwater plant that grows in the soil called watermilfoil. Other tanks had either duckweed, a type of plant that floats on the water's surface, or algae. Aben and his team found that tanks with duckweed and algae released higher levels of methane than tanks with watermilfoil did. This finding suggests that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text? A. the presence of some kinds of underwater plants like watermilfoil helps prevent methane from escaping shallow lakes and ponds. B. shallow lakes and ponds release more methane than deeper bodies of water because shallow bodies of water usually have more plants than deep bodies of water do. C. shallow lakes and ponds are more likely to contain algae than to contain either watermilfoil or duckweed. D. having a mix of algae, underwater plants, and floating plants is the best way to reduce the amount of methane in shallow lakes and ponds.

Linguist Deborah Tannen has cautioned against framing contentious issues in terms of two highly competitive perspectives, such as pro versus con. According to Tannen, this debate-driven approach can strip issues of their complexity and, when used in front of an audience, can be less informative than the presentation of multiple perspectives in a noncompetitive format. To test Tannen's hypothesis, students conducted a study in which they showed participants one of three different versions of local news commentary about the same issue. Each version featured a debate between two commentators with opposing views, a panel of three commentators with various views, or a single commentator.

Which finding from the students' study, if true, would most strongly support Tannen's hypothesis? A. On average, participants perceived commentators in the debate as more knowledgeable about the issue than commentators in the panel. B. On average, participants perceived commentators in the panel as more knowledgeable about the issue than the single commentator. C. On average, participants who watched the panel correctly answered more questions about the issue than those who watched the debate or the single commentator did. D. On average, participants who watched the single commentator correctly answered more questions about the issue than those who watched the debate did.

Mosasaurs were large marine reptiles that lived in the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 100 million to 66 million years ago. Celina Suarez, Alberto Pérez-Huerta, and T. Lynn Harrell Jr. examined oxygen-18 isotopes in mosasaur tooth enamel in order to calculate likely mosasaur body temperatures and determined that mosasaurs were endothermic—that is, they used internal metabolic processes to maintain a stable body temperature in a variety of ambient temperatures. Suarez, Pérez-Huerta, and Harrell claim that endothermy would have enabled mosasaurs to include relatively cold polar waters in their range.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Suarez, Pérez-Huerta, and Harrell's claim? A. Mosasaurs' likely body temperatures are easier to determine from tooth enamel oxygen-18 isotope data than the body temperatures of nonendothermic Late Cretaceous marine reptiles are. B. Fossils of both mosasaurs and nonendothermic marine reptiles have been found in roughly equal numbers in regions known to be near the poles during the Late Cretaceous, though in lower concentrations than elsewhere. C. Several mosasaur fossils have been found in regions known to be near the poles during the Late Cretaceous, while relatively few fossils of nonendothermic marine reptiles have been found in those locations. D. During the Late Cretaceous, seawater temperatures were likely higher throughout mosasaurs' range, including near the poles, than seawater temperatures at those same latitudes are today.

O Pioneers! is a 1913 novel by Willa Cather. In the novel, Cather depicts Alexandra Bergson as a person who takes comfort in understanding the world around her: ______

Which quotation from O Pioneers! most effectively illustrates the claim? A. "She looked fixedly up the bleak street as if she were gathering her strength to face something, as if she were trying with all her might to grasp a situation which, no matter how painful, must be met and dealt with somehow." B. "She had never known before how much the country meant to her. The chirping of the insects down in the long grass had been like the sweetest music. She had felt as if her heart were hiding down there, somewhere, with the quail and the plover and all the little wild things that crooned or buzzed in the sun. Under the long shaggy ridges, she felt the future stirring." C. "Alexandra drove off alone. The rattle of her wagon was lost in the howling of the wind, but her lantern, held firmly between her feet, made a moving point of light along the highway, going deeper and deeper into the dark country." D. "Alexandra drew her shawl closer about her and stood leaning against the frame of the mill, looking at the stars which glittered so keenly through the frosty autumn air. She always loved to watch them, to think of their vastness and distance, and of their ordered march. It fortified her to reflect upon the great operations of nature, and when she thought of the law that lay behind them, she felt a sense of personal security."

In 1534 CE, King Henry VIII of England split with the Catholic Church and declared himself head of the Church of England, in part because Pope Clement VII refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Two years later, Henry VIII introduced a policy titled the Dissolution of the Monasteries that by 1540 had resulted in the closure of all Catholic monasteries in England and the confiscation of their estates. Some historians assert that the enactment of the policy was primarily motivated by perceived financial opportunities.

Which quotation from a scholarly article best supports the assertion of the historians mentioned in the text? A. "At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, about 2 percent of the adult male population of England were monks; by 1690, the proportion of the adult male population who were monks was less than 1 percent." B. "A contemporary description of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Michael Sherbrook's Falle of the Religious Howses, recounts witness testimony that monks were allowed to keep the contents of their cells and that the monastery timber was purchased by local yeomen." C. "In 1535, the year before enacting the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry commissioned a survey of the value of church holdings in England—the work, performed by sheriffs, bishops, and magistrates, began that January and was swiftly completed by the summer." D. "The October 1536 revolt known as the Pilgrimage of Grace had several economic motives: high food prices due to a poor harvest the prior year; the Dissolution of the Monasteries, which closed reliable sources of food and shelter for many; and rents and taxes throughout Northern England that were not merely high but predatory."

Sandra Cisneros's 1984 novella The House on Mango Street made a lasting impact on US literature. Its depiction of Mexican American culture inspired later authors to examine their own heritage within their fictional works. Also influential was the book's portrayal of the main character, Esperanza, during a pivotal year of her youth. This insightful depiction of a preteen girl encouraged authors who, like Cisneros herself, are Latina to use fictional works to examine experiences from their own youth.

Which statement, if true, would most strongly support the claim in the underlined sentence? A. In interviews, a number of Latina authors say that The House on Mango Street inspired them to write about their own adolescence in their novels. B. In published writings, several prominent authors who are not Latina say that reading The House on Mango Street influenced their approach to writing fiction. C. The House on Mango Street has sold over six million copies and is one of the most commonly read books among high school and university students in the US. D. Since 1984, new novels about young Latina characters by Latina authors have often been compared to The House on Mango Street.