Practice Test 10 - PSAT Reading & Writing

20 questions. Answer them in any order, then submit to see your score and every explanation.

Start practice test

1. Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
2. As used here, "steadfast" most nearly means
3. How does Text 2 relate to the argument presented in Text 1?
4. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
5. Which sentence most effectively supports Reyes's position that bilingualism confers long-term cognitive benefits?
6. A literary scholar observes that an unreliable narrator can force readers to question what counts as evidence within a story. _______ the technique may also create emotional distance, since readers spend more effort evaluating claims than empathizing with the narrator's experiences.
7. Which choice best identifies the central claim the author makes about Olmsted's thinking?
8. Which inference is most strongly supported by the outcome?
9. Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?
10. Which choice most logically completes the text?
11. Text 1
    Streaming services claim their recommendation algorithms help users discover diverse content, but the design of "personalization" often narrows exposure. Because the system optimizes for watch time, it learns to deliver familiar genres that keep a viewer from leaving. A user who watches one crime documentary can quickly receive an endless row of similar titles, while foreign films and independent releases are pushed out of sight. Recommendation engines may feel expansive, yet they can quietly reduce cultural variety.
    Text 2
    Watch-time optimization can narrow choices, but it does not follow that algorithms inevitably shrink cultural variety. Some platforms now incorporate "serendipity" metrics, deliberately inserting unfamiliar titles and measuring whether viewers sample them. When users do, the system can widen rather than narrow its suggestions. The real issue is the business goal the algorithm serves: maximize short-term engagement or cultivate long-term satisfaction. Algorithms are tools, and their effects depend on the incentives set by the platform.
    
    Based on Text 2, which idea most directly addresses Text 1's concern that recommendation engines can reduce cultural variety?
12. The student wants to present the timeline from discovery to mass production of penicillin. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
13. In the context of the sentence, the phrase "in other words" primarily serves to
14. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
15. In this context, the phrase "for that reason" serves to
16. Ponce's primary assertion is that
17. Which choice most logically completes the text?
18. Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?
19. The central idea of the passage is that
20. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Practice tests