SAT Reading and Writing Practice Test: Practice Test 31

The campus sustainability committee, along with its student representatives,   drafting a plan to reduce energy use in residence halls. In interviews last week, several members explained that the plan focuses on small, measurable changes, such as switching to LED bulbs and posting reminders near thermostats, because those changes are easier to implement quickly than major renovations.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Crash data indicate that distracted driving incidents spike near interchanges with heavy signage and abrupt lane shifts, especially during peak hours when lane choices must be made quickly. One of the drivers who   at these exits often cites the sudden appearance of unfamiliar symbols as a reason to glance away from the roadway, even if only for a second.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A linguist contends that a newly unearthed Bronze Age inscription functions as a lunar calendar rather than a legal code. The tablet consists of repeated clusters of tally marks interrupted by crescent-like symbols, arranged in columns. The scholar argues that the alternation and periodic reseting of marks better fits the pattern of lunar months—with occasional intercalation—than the structure of statutes or penalties. If the tablet is a calendar, its symbols should map onto the length of lunar cycles during the period it was made, rather than to civic categories or legal topics.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the scholar's claim?

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• In 2023, the city bought 35 electric buses to replace older diesel vehicles.
• A riverfront charging depot with a solar canopy supplies part of the buses' electricity.
• Drivers reported quieter rides and smoother acceleration during initial months.
• Maintenance costs projected 20 percent lower than diesel after the first year.
• Cold weather reduced winter range; schedules were adjusted on the coldest days.
• A state grant covered 40 percent of the purchase price.

The student wants to emphasize the financial rationale for the city's shift to electric buses. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

A recent meta-analysis links sleep to better memory, yet individual studies vary in effect size, prompting debate about causality. Some experiments compare well-rested to sleep-deprived groups but cannot rule out stress or circadian confounds. To isolate sleep's role, the researchers randomly assigned participants to nap or wake conditions after learning. They then measured delayed recall and recognition using the same materials across groups, and preregistered exclusion criteria to limit analytic flexibility. Results showed that even short naps improved retention relative to equal periods of quiet wakefulness, narrowing the plausible role of non-sleep factors. The design, while labor-intensive, allows stronger inferences about the specific contribution of sleep-based consolidation.

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

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

• Pavement and dark roofs absorb heat, raising neighborhood temperatures by several degrees during summer.
• Street trees provide shade and transpiration, cooling nearby air and lowering surface temperatures significantly.
• Planting one mature canopy tree costs less than installing small mechanical shade structures on a block.
• Residents report reduced afternoon air conditioning use on treed streets compared with similar unshaded streets.
• Maintenance includes pruning, watering in early years, and replacing occasional losses from pests or storms.
• A city pilot program achieved measurable cooling within two summers after planting clusters along south-facing sidewalks.

The student wants to emphasize cost-effectiveness. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

As astronomers used new algorithms to interpret faint starlight filtered through exoplanet atmospheres, they reconsidered earlier claims about water vapor and methane, reclassifying several Earth-like worlds as far less hospitable than headlines had suggested, and reducing false positives linked to stellar flares and instrument drift.   At observatories thousands of miles away, engineering teams were recalibrating spectrographs, swapping aging detectors for more sensitive arrays, and testing software to cut noise from city lights and drifting clouds as part of a months-long upgrade campaign.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

Planting more street trees, some say, is a luxury in a city with urgent needs. But shade is not ornamental; on our hottest blocks, afternoon temperatures can be several degrees higher than in leafier neighborhoods, and emergency room visits track that heat. Trees also slow stormwater, sparing our aging drains, and they filter the air on routes where children walk to school. Yes, saplings require watering and pruning, and not every planting survives. Yet maintenance costs are predictable, while the benefits compound every year a canopy grows. Choosing hardy species and partnering with neighborhood stewards boosts survival rates. If we want healthier streets, equitable comfort, and less flood damage, we should treat trees as infrastructure, not decoration. I urge the council to fund the expansion this season. (Maya Torres, 2021)

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

Text 1
Some cities now offer free public transit, expecting fewer cars and cleaner air. Yet ridership often rises most among people who previously walked or biked, not among habitual drivers. Because buses and trains still require energy and staffing, a policy that simply removes fares can increase emissions per passenger when it adds low-impact trips without reducing high-impact ones. If a city wants environmental gains, it should prioritize faster routes and dedicated lanes over universal free fares.
Text 2
Fare-free transit is not a climate cure, but treating it as an emissions mistake ignores how people actually choose travel. When fares disappear, low-income riders take trips they previously skipped—job interviews, medical visits, night classes—because each ride no longer competes with groceries. Those new trips may raise total ridership without immediately shrinking car traffic, yet the policy can still be justified: it expands access while stabilizing funding through taxes rather than volatile fare revenue. Which choice best describes how Text 2 would most likely respond to Text 1’s suggestion that free fares can worsen emissions per passenger?

Urban heat islands arise when dark, heat-absorbing surfaces raise temperatures relative to surrounding rural areas. An environmental scientist hypothesizes that widespread adoption of reflective 'cool roofs' can lower not only building cooling costs but also the ambient air temperature at the neighborhood scale during summer afternoons. The scientist notes that reflective roofs increase solar albedo and reduce sensible heat flux, potentially diminishing the pool of hot air above streets. Critics counter that any benefits would be confined to interiors. The scientist responds that if enough roofs are converted, the cumulative effect should register in weather-station data, even after accounting for wind patterns and shade from trees. The claim, then, is that cool roofs produce a measurable reduction in local peak air temperature beyond individual buildings.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the scientist's claim?

Last spring, the chain-link fence around the vacant lot at the end of our block rattled in the wind, a soundtrack to years of neglect. A few of us borrowed shovels, hauled out broken bottles and tires, and turned the compacted earth. We planted tomatoes, marigolds, and a tiny fig tree. At first, passersby peered through the slats and shook their heads. Then someone donated benches; someone else organized a Saturday potluck. Children watered seedlings with plastic pitchers; an older neighbor taught us how to trellis beans. By August, we were sharing baskets of produce and stories. The lot still catches the wind, but now the fence rattles around laughter. (Maya R., 2019, "Turning Soil")

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

Dr. Naila Khan, 'Rethinking Coffeehouses' (2022): Popular lore casts eighteenth-century coffeehouses as hatcheries of revolution, humming with radical speech. That image is not wrong, but it is incomplete. Ledgers and advertisements from London and Paris show proprietors cultivating reliable trade as much as debate: posted prices, posted hours, and rules against solicitation coexisted with pamphlets and polemic. Merchants met couriers there to check bills of lading; insurance rates were whispered over saucers. In such settings, spirited talk depended on the room being predictable and commercially useful. The coffeehouse could host political argument precisely because it also kept order for buyers and sellers. Romantic portraits of nonstop dissent obscure this balance, replacing a mixed institution with a stage set. To understand what coffeehouses enabled, we should see their commerce alongside their talk.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

A historian of medieval commerce argues that regional exchange was orchestrated less by coins than by itinerant brokers who extended kinship-based credit. In this view, scarce coinage was not the main obstacle; rather, trust flowed through named relationships, and obligations were balanced at fairs by reconciling ledgers instead of passing cash. If the claim is correct, the archival trail should feature IOUs, kin terms, and guarantors binding distant partners, with settlement at periodic gatherings. By contrast, evidence limited to coin finds or local market fees would not capture the networked mechanisms of long-distance trade.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the historian's claim?

Over the course of a wet spring, a hydrologist installed sensors along a mountain stream to track how snowmelt affected daily flow, hiking back each week to download data and check whether debris had damaged the equipment.  , the river kept rising with each warm spell, threatening to dislodge the anchors and forcing the team to reinforce the mounts repeatedly.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

The nonprofit tested a low-cost tweak to its meal delivery program: volunteers added pamphlets explaining nutrition basics. Requests for follow-up classes doubled, and participants reported cooking at home more often. Far from being a superficial flourish, the labeling change proved   to shifting daily habits, demonstrating that small, well-timed guidance can steer decisions without expensive incentives. The effect persisted across neighborhoods and income levels.

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

A transit agency compared on-time performance (percent of trips on time) for four bus routes in 2023. The agency stated that Route 4 performed best and that the difference between the best and worst routes was 13 percentage points. Which choice most accurately represents information from the table?

After months of review, the magazine overhauled its style guide to reflect feedback from copy editors across departments. The   were posted internally, and the changes, such as dropping unnecessary hyphens and standardizing headline capitalization, took effect immediately because editors wanted to evaluate the impact before the next issue went to press.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Walking along the shoreline at dawn,   noticed the telltale tracks that indicated sea turtles had nested overnight. They marked the fragile areas with bright flags and recorded the location so that visitors would keep a safe distance throughout the day as the park opened to morning walkers and runners.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

During the community garden meeting, the coordinator outlined the plan for spring planting: volunteers would prepare the beds on Saturday, and on Sunday they would distribute seedlings to neighbors. Everyone agreed to bring tools and gloves, but the list of supplies still needed included compost, twine, and labels  the coordinator asked members to sign up for what they could donate before leaving.

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

In sociology, “social capital” is sometimes treated as a personal asset, like charisma or confidence. However, the term originally emphasized networks—relationships that can provide information, referrals, and mutual aid. This distinction matters because policies aimed at “building social capital” may fail if they focus only on individual training rather than strengthening community ties. Critics note that dense networks can also exclude outsiders, so social capital is not automatically beneficial. A useful analysis therefore asks who gains access to networks and who is left out.

After a local benefactor funded a new wing with interactive exhibits and a rooftop terrace, the city museum drew record-setting lines during the opening week, with families queueuing around the block, docents struggling to keep galleries from becoming overcrowded, and bus tours arriving earlier than scheduled.   the museum extended its hours into the evening and added timed-entry tickets to accommodate demand and reduce bottlenecks, spreading visits across weekdays rather than concentrating them on Saturdays.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

At the community fundraiser, several volunteers coordinated registration, set up tables, and greeted guests as they arrived under steady rain and directed parking. The   organization kept everything on schedule and made attendees feel welcome, and their attention to detail helped the event raise more money than expected despite the weather.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

In a six-week pilot, the Maple Street Branch extended its weekday hours by two hours, remaining open until 10 p.m. No other changes were made: staffing levels, program schedules, and publicity remained identical to the prior six weeks. Electronic door counters recorded a 14 percent increase in total weekly visits during the pilot. Hourly logs show that visits between opening and 8 p.m. matched the earlier baseline, while the entire increase occurred from 8 to 10 p.m., the newly added period. Checkout duration and average visit length remained unchanged as measured by self-check timestamps. Given that the timing and magnitude of the increase align exactly with the added hours, the most reasonable conclusion is that  .

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

To reduce glare on the microscope slides, the lab assistant adjusted the overhead lamp and then changed the angle of the mirror.   the lens with a soft cloth, the assistant avoided scratching the glass and kept the image sharp. The procedure is posted near the workstation for new interns to follow.

In a controlled study, 60 undergraduates were randomly assigned to two groups to study the same chapter in a campus lab. Sessions were scheduled at the same hours in the same room, and ambient noise was held to a steady level. All participants wore the same brand of over-ear headsets, but only one group had the unit's noise-cancellation feature switched on; the other group's feature was disabled. No music or spoken audio was played for either group. After 40 minutes, the noise-cancellation group reported fewer distractions and earned higher scores on an immediate recall quiz. Given that equipment, content, schedule, and room conditions were identical across groups, the study setup implies that the only systematic difference between the groups was  .

Which choice most logically completes the text?