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Text 1
Africa’s Sahara region—once a lush ecosystem—began to dry out about 8,000 years ago. A change in Earth’s orbit that
affected climate has been posited as a cause of desertification, but archaeologist David Wright also attributes the shift
to Neolithic peoples. He cites their adoption of pastoralism as a factor in the region drying out: the pastoralists’ livestock
depleted vegetation, prompting the events that created the Sahara Desert.
Text 2
Research by Chris Brierley et al. challenges the idea that Neolithic peoples contributed to the Sahara’s desertification.
Using a climate-vegetation model, the team concluded that the end of the region’s humid period occurred 500 years
earlier than previously assumed. The timing suggests that Neolithic peoples didn’t exacerbate aridity in the region but, in
fact, may have helped delay environmental changes with practices (e.g., selective grazing) that preserved vegetation.

Based on the texts, how would Chris Brierley (Text 2) most likely respond to the discussion in Text 1?

By pointing out that given the revised timeline for the end of the Sahara’s humid period, the Neolithic peoples’ mode
A. of subsistence likely didn’t cause the region’s desertification

By claiming that pastoralism was only one of many behaviors the Neolithic peoples took part in that may have
B. contributed to the Sahara’s changing climate

C. By insisting that pastoralism can have both beneficial and deleterious effects on a region’s vegetation and climate

By asserting that more research needs to be conducted into factors that likely contributed to the desertification of the
D. Sahara region
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Text 1
Soy sauce, made from fermented soybeans, is noted for its umami flavor. Umami—one of the five basic tastes along with
sweet, bitter, salty, and sour—was formally classified when its taste receptors were discovered in the 2000s. In 2007, to
define the pure umami flavor scientists Rie Ishii and Michael O’Mahony used broths made from shiitake mushrooms and
kombu seaweed, and two panels of Japanese and US judges closely agreed on a description of the taste.
Text 2
A 2022 experiment by Manon Jünger et al. led to a greater understanding of soy sauce’s flavor profile. The team initially
presented a mixture of compounds with low molecular weights to taste testers who found it was not as salty or bitter as
real soy sauce. Further analysis of soy sauce identified proteins, including dipeptides, that enhanced umami flavor and
also contributed to saltiness. The team then made a mix of 50 chemical compounds that re-created soy sauce’s flavor.

Based on the texts, if Ishii and O’Mahony (Text 1) and Jünger et al. (Text 2) were aware of the findings of both
experiments, they would most likely agree with which statement?

On average, the diets of people in the United States tend to have fewer foods that contain certain dipeptides than the
A. diets of people in Japan have.

Chemical compounds that activate both the umami and salty taste receptors tend to have a higher molecular weight
B. than those that only activate umami taste receptors.

Fermentation introduces proteins responsible for the increase of umami flavor in soy sauce, and those proteins also
C. increase the perception of saltiness.

The broths in the 2007 experiment most likely did not have a substantial amount of the dipeptides that played a key
D. part in the 2022 experiment.
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Text 1
Microbes are tiny organisms in the soil, water, and air all around us. They thrive even in very harsh conditions. That’s why
Noah Fierer and colleagues were surprised when soil samples they collected from an extremely cold, dry area in
Antarctica didn’t seem to contain any life. The finding doesn’t prove that there are no microbes in that area, but the team
says it does suggest that the environment severely restricts microbes’ survival.
Text 2
Microbes are found in virtually every environment on Earth. So it’s unlikely they would be completely absent from Fierer’s
team’s study site, no matter how extreme the environment is. There were probably so few organisms in the samples that
current technology couldn’t detect them. But since a spoonful of typical soil elsewhere might contain billions of
microbes, the presence of so few in the Antarctic soil samples would show how challenging the conditions are.

Based on the texts, Fierer’s team and the author of Text 2 would most likely agree with which statement about microbes?

Most microbes are better able to survive in environments with extremely dry conditions than in environments with
A. harsh temperatures.

A much higher number of microbes would probably be found if another sample of soil were taken from the Antarctic
B. study site.

Microbes are likely difficult to detect in the soil at the Antarctic study site because they tend to be smaller than
C. microbes found in typical soil elsewhere.

D. Most microbes are probably unable to withstand the soil conditions at the Antarctic study site.
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Text 1
Astronomer Mark Holland and colleagues examined four white dwarfs—small, dense remnants of past stars—in order to
determine the composition of exoplanets that used to orbit those stars. Studying wavelengths of light in the white dwarf
atmospheres, the team reported that traces of elements such as lithium and sodium support the presence of exoplanets
with continental crusts similar to Earth’s.
Text 2
Past studies of white dwarf atmospheres have concluded that certain exoplanets had continental crusts. Geologist Keith
Putirka and astronomer Siyi Xu argue that those studies unduly emphasize atmospheric traces of lithium and other
individual elements as signifiers of the types of rock found on Earth. The studies don’t adequately account for different
minerals made up of various ratios of those elements, and the possibility of rock types not found on Earth that contain
those minerals.

Based on the texts, how would Putirka and Xu (Text 2) most likely characterize the conclusion presented in Text 1?

A. As unexpected, because it was widely believed at the time that white dwarf exoplanets lack continental crusts

As premature, because researchers have only just begun trying to determine what kinds of crusts white dwarf
B. exoplanets had

As questionable, because it rests on an incomplete consideration of potential sources of the elements detected in
C. white dwarf atmospheres

As puzzling, because it’s unusual to successfully detect lithium and sodium when analyzing wavelengths of light in
D. white dwarf atmospheres
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Text 1
The idea that time moves in only one direction is instinctively understood, yet it puzzles physicists. According to the
second law of thermodynamics, at a macroscopic level some processes of heat transfer are irreversible due to the
production of entropy—after a transfer we cannot rewind time and place molecules back exactly where they were before,
just as we cannot unbreak dropped eggs. But laws of physics at a microscopic or quantum level hold that those
processes should be reversible.
Text 2
In 2015, physicists Tiago Batalhão et al. performed an experiment in which they confirmed the irreversibility of
thermodynamic processes at a quantum level, producing entropy by applying a rapidly oscillating magnetic field to a
system of carbon-13 atoms in liquid chloroform. But the experiment “does not pinpoint ... what causes [irreversibility] at
the microscopic level,” coauthor Mauro Paternostro said.

Based on the texts, what would the author of Text 1 most likely say about the experiment described in Text 2?

It would suggest an interesting direction for future research were it not the case that two of the physicists who
A. conducted the experiment disagree on the significance of its findings.

It provides empirical evidence that the current understanding of an aspect of physics at a microscopic level must be
B. incomplete.

C. It is consistent with the current understanding of physics at a microscopic level but not at a macroscopic level.

It supports a claim about an isolated system of atoms in a laboratory, but that claim should not be extrapolated to a
D. general claim about the universe.
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Text 1
Philosopher G.E. Moore’s most influential work entails the concept of common sense. He asserts that there are certain
beliefs that all people, including philosophers, know instinctively to be true, whether or not they profess otherwise: among
them, that they have bodies, or that they exist in a world with other objects that have three dimensions. Moore’s careful
work on common sense may seem obvious but was in fact groundbreaking.
Text 2
External world skepticism is a philosophical stance supposing that we cannot be sure of the existence of anything
outside our own minds. During a lecture, G.E. Moore once offered a proof refuting this stance by holding out his hands
and saying, “Here is one hand, and here is another.” Many philosophers reflexively reject this proof (Annalisa Coliva called
it “an obviously annoying failure”) but have found it a challenge to articulate exactly why the proof fails.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 1 most likely respond to proponents of the philosophical stance
outlined in Text 2?

By agreeing with those proponents that Moore’s treatment of positions that contradict his own is fundamentally
A. unserious

By suggesting that an instinctive distaste for Moore’s position is preventing external world skeptics from constructing
B. a sufficiently rigorous refutation of Moore

By arguing that if it is valid to assert that some facts are true based on instinct, it is also valid to assert that some
C. proofs are inadequate based on instinct

By pointing out that Moore would assert that external world skepticism is at odds with other beliefs those proponents
D. must unavoidably hold
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Text 1
Most animals can regenerate some parts of their bodies, such as skin. But when a three-banded panther worm is cut into
three pieces, each piece grows into a new worm. Researchers are investigating this feat partly to learn more about
humans’ comparatively limited abilities to regenerate, and they’re making exciting progress. An especially promising
discovery is that both humans and panther worms have a gene for early growth response (EGR) linked to regeneration.
Text 2
When Mansi Srivastava and her team reported that panther worms, like humans, possess a gene for EGR, it caused
excitement. However, as the team pointed out, the gene likely functions very differently in humans than it does in panther
worms. Srivastava has likened EGR to a switch that activates other genes involved in regeneration in panther worms, but
how this switch operates in humans remains unclear.

Based on the texts, what would the author of Text 2 most likely say about Text 1’s characterization of the discovery
involving EGR?

It is reasonable given that Srivastava and her team have identified how EGR functions in both humans and panther
A. worms.

B. It is overly optimistic given additional observations from Srivastava and her team.

C. It is unexpected given that Srivastava and her team’s findings were generally met with enthusiasm.

D. It is unfairly dismissive given the progress that Srivastava and her team have reported.
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Text 1
Despite its beautiful prose, The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman’s 1962 analysis of the start of World War I, has certain
weaknesses as a work of history. It fails to address events in Eastern Europe just before the outbreak of hostilities,
thereby giving the impression that Germany was the war’s principal instigator. Had Tuchman consulted secondary works
available to her by scholars such as Luigi Albertini, she would not have neglected the influence of events in Eastern
Europe on Germany’s actions.
Text 2
Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August is an engrossing if dated introduction to World War I. Tuchman’s analysis of
primary documents is laudable, but her main thesis that European powers committed themselves to a catastrophic
outcome by refusing to deviate from military plans developed prior to the conflict is implausibly reductive.

Which choice best describes a difference in how the authors of Text 1 and Text 2 view Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of
August?

The author of Text 1 argues that Tuchman should have relied more on the work of other historians, while the author of
A. Text 2 implies that Tuchman’s most interesting claims result from her original research.

The author of Text 1 believes that the scope of Tuchman’s research led her to an incorrect interpretation, while the
B. author of Text 2 believes that Tuchman’s central argument is overly simplistic.

The author of Text 1 asserts that the writing style of The Guns of August makes it worthwhile to read despite any
perceived deficiency in Tuchman’s research, while the author of Text 2 focuses exclusively on the weakness of
C. Tuchman’s interpretation of events.

The author of Text 1 claims that Tuchman would agree that World War I was largely due to events in Eastern Europe,
while the author of Text 2 maintains that Tuchman would say that Eastern European leaders were not committed to
D. military plans in the same way that other leaders were.
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Text 1
In 2007, a team led by Alice Storey analyzed a chicken bone found in El Arenal, Chile, dating it to 1321–1407 CE—over a
century before Europeans invaded the region, bringing their own chickens. Storey also found that the El Arenal chicken
shared a unique genetic mutation with the ancient chicken breeds of the Polynesian Islands in the Pacific. Thus,
Polynesian peoples, not later Europeans, probably first introduced chickens to South America.
Text 2
An Australian research team weakened the case for a Polynesian origin for the El Arenal chicken by confirming that the
mutation identified by Storey has occurred in breeds from around the world. More recently, though, a team led by Agusto
Luzuriaga-Neira found that South American chicken breeds and Polynesian breeds share other genetic markers that
European breeds lack. Thus, the preponderance of evidence now favors a Polynesian origin.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the underlined claim in Text 1?

By broadly agreeing with the claim but objecting that the timeline it presupposes conflicts with the findings of the
A. genetic analysis conducted by Storey’s team

By faulting the claim for implying that domestic animals couldn’t have been transferred from South America to the
B. Polynesian Islands as well

By critiquing the claim for being based on an assumption that before the European invasion of South America, the
C. chickens of Europe were genetically uniform

By noting that while the claim is persuasive, the findings of Luzuriaga-Neira’s team provide stronger evidence for it
D. than the findings of the genetic analysis conducted by Storey do
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Text 1
Digital art, the use of digital technology to create or display images, isn’t really art at all. It doesn’t require as much skill as
creating physical art. “Painting” with a tablet and stylus is much easier than using paint and a brush: the technology is
doing most of the work.
Text 2
The painting programs used to create digital art involve more than just pressing a few buttons. In addition to knowing the
fundamentals of art, digital artists need to be familiar with sophisticated software. Many artists will start by drawing an
image on paper before transforming the piece to a digital format, where they can apply a variety of colors and techniques
that would otherwise require many different traditional tools.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the claims of the author of Text 1?

A. By arguing that a piece of art created digitally can still be displayed traditionally

B. By explaining that it’s actually much harder to use a tablet and stylus to create art than to use paint and a brush

C. By insisting that digital art requires artistic abilities and skill even if it employs less traditional tools

D. By admitting that most digital artists don’t think fundamental drawing skills are important
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Text 1
A tiny, unusual fossil in a piece of 99-million-year-old amber is of the extinct species Oculudentavis khaungraae. The O.
khaungraae fossil consists of a rounded skull with a thin snout and a large eye socket. Because these features look like
they are avian, or related to birds, researchers initially thought that the fossil might be the smallest avian dinosaur ever
found.
Text 2
Paleontologists were excited to discover a second small fossil that is similar to the strange O. khaungraae fossil but has
part of the lower body along with a birdlike skull. Detailed studies of both fossils revealed several traits that are found in
lizards but not in dinosaurs or birds. Therefore, paleontologists think the two creatures were probably unusual lizards,
even though the skulls looked avian at first.

Based on the texts, what would the paleontologists in Text 2 most likely say about the researchers’ initial thought in Text
1?

It is understandable because the fossil does look like it could be related to birds, even though O. khaungraae is
A. probably a lizard.

It is confusing because it isn’t clear what caused the researchers to think that O. khaungraae might be related to
B. birds.

C. It is flawed because the researchers mistakenly assumed that O. khaungraae must be a lizard.

It is reasonable because the O. khaungraae skull is about the same size as the skull of the second fossil but is
D. shaped differently.
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Text 1
Conventional wisdom long held that human social systems evolved in stages, beginning with hunter-gatherers forming
small bands of members with roughly equal status. The shift to agriculture about 12,000 years ago sparked population
growth that led to the emergence of groups with hierarchical structures: associations of clans first, then chiefdoms, and
finally, bureaucratic states.
Text 2
In a 2021 book, anthropologist David Graeber and archaeologist David Wengrow maintain that humans have always been
socially flexible, alternately forming systems based on hierarchy and collective ones with decentralized leadership. The
authors point to evidence that as far back as 50,000 years ago some hunter-gatherers adjusted their social structures
seasonally, at times dispersing in small groups but also assembling into communities that included esteemed
individuals.

Based on the texts, how would Graeber and Wengrow (Text 2) most likely respond to the “conventional wisdom”
presented in Text 1?

By conceding the importance of hierarchical systems but asserting the greater significance of decentralized
A. collective societies

By disputing the idea that developments in social structures have followed a linear progression through distinct
B. stages

C. By acknowledging that hierarchical roles likely weren’t a part of social systems before the rise of agriculture

D. By challenging the assumption that groupings of hunter-gatherers were among the earliest forms of social structure
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Text 1
The fossil record suggests that mammoths went extinct around 11 thousand years (kyr) ago. In a 2021 study of
environmental DNA (eDNA)—genetic material shed into the environment by organisms—in the Arctic, Yucheng Wang and
colleagues found mammoth eDNA in sedimentary layers formed millennia later, around 4 kyr ago. To account for this
discrepancy, Joshua H. Miller and Carl Simpson proposed that arctic temperatures could preserve a mammoth carcass
on the surface, allowing it to leach DNA into the environment, for several thousand years.
Text 2
Wang and colleagues concede that eDNA contains DNA from both living organisms and carcasses, but for DNA to leach
from remains over several millennia requires that the remains be perpetually on the surface. Scavengers and weathering
in the Arctic, however, are likely to break down surface remains well before a thousand years have passed.

Which choice best describes how Text 1 and Text 2 relate to each other?

Text 1 discusses two approaches to studying mammoth extinction without advocating for either, whereas Text 2
A. advocates for one approach over the other.

Text 1 presents findings by Wang and colleagues and gives another research team’s attempt to explain those
B. findings, whereas Text 2 provides additional detail that calls that explanation into question.

Text 1 describes Wang and colleagues’ study and a critique of their methodology, whereas Text 2 offers additional
C. details showing that methodology to be sound.

Text 1 argues that new research has undermined the standard view of when mammoths went extinct, whereas Text 2
D. suggests a way to reconcile the standard view with that new research.
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Text 1
Although food writing is one of the most widely read genres in the United States, literary scholars have long neglected it.
And within this genre, cookbooks attract the least scholarly attention of all, regardless of how well written they may be.
This is especially true of works dedicated to regional US cuisines, whose complexity and historical significance are often
overlooked.
Text 2
With her 1976 cookbook The Taste of Country Cooking, Edna Lewis popularized the refined Southern cooking she had
grown up with in Freetown, an all-Black community in Virginia. She also set a new standard for cookbook writing: the
recipes and memoir passages interspersing them are written in prose more elegant than that of most novels. Yet despite
its inarguable value as a piece of writing, Lewis’s masterpiece has received almost no attention from literary scholars.

Based on the two texts, how would the author of Text 1 most likely regard the situation presented in the underlined
sentence in Text 2?

A. As typical, because scholars are dismissive of literary works that achieve popularity with the general public

As unsurprising, because scholars tend to overlook the literary value of food writing in general and of regional
B. cookbooks in particular

As justifiable, because Lewis incorporated memoir into The Taste of Country Cooking, thus undermining its status as
C. a cookbook

As inevitable, because The Taste of Country Cooking was marketed to readers of food writing and not to readers of
D. other genres
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Text 1
Some animal species, like the leopard, can be found in many kinds of areas. On the other hand, tropical mountain bird
species tend to be limited in the types of spaces they can call home. This is because many mountain bird species are
only able to survive at very specific elevations. Over time, these species have likely become used to living at a specific
temperature. Therefore, these species struggle to survive at elevations that are warmer or colder than they are used to.
Text 2
A new study reviewed observations of nearly 3,000 bird species to understand why tropical mountain bird species live at
specific elevations. They noted that when a mountain bird species was found in an area with many other bird species, it
tended to inhabit much smaller geographic areas. It is thus likely that competition for resources with other species, not
temperature, limits where these birds can live.

Based on the texts, both authors would most likely agree with which statement?

A. Tropical mountain bird species are restricted in where they can live.

B. Scientists have better tools to observe tropical mountain birds than they did in the past.

C. Little is known about how tropical mountain birds build their nests.

D. Tropical mountain bird species that live at high elevations tend to be genetically similar.
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Text 1
American sculptor Edmonia Lewis is best known for her sculptures that represent figures from history and mythology,
such as The Death of Cleopatra and Hagar. Although Lewis sculpted other subjects, her career as a sculptor is best
represented by the works in which she depicted these historical and mythical themes.
Text 2
Art historians have typically ignored the many portrait busts Edmonia Lewis created. Lewis likely carved these busts
(sculptures of a person’s head) frequently throughout her long career. She is known for her sculptures that represent
historical figures, but Lewis likely supported herself financially by carving portrait busts for acquaintances who paid her
to represent their features. Thus, Lewis’s portrait busts are a central aspect of her career as a sculptor.

Based on the texts, both authors would most likely agree with which statement?

A. Lewis’s portrait busts have overshadowed her other work.

B. The Death of Cleopatra is Lewis’s most famous piece.

C. Sculpting representations of historical figures was a short-lived trend.

D. Lewis’s works are varied in the subjects they depict.

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Text 1
Ecologists have long wondered how thousands of microscopic phytoplankton species can live together near ocean
surfaces competing for the same resources. According to conventional wisdom, one species should emerge after
outcompeting the rest. So why do so many species remain? Ecologists’ many efforts to explain this phenomenon still
haven’t uncovered a satisfactory explanation.
Text 2
Ecologist Michael Behrenfeld and colleagues have connected phytoplankton’s diversity to their microscopic size.
Because these organisms are so tiny, they are spaced relatively far apart from each other in ocean water and, moreover,
experience that water as a relatively dense substance. This in turn makes it hard for them to move around and interact
with one another. Therefore, says Behrenfeld’s team, direct competition among phytoplankton probably happens much
less than previously thought.

Based on the texts, how would Behrenfeld and colleagues (Text 2) most likely respond to the “conventional wisdom”
discussed in Text 1?

A. By arguing that it is based on a misconception about phytoplankton species competing with one another

By asserting that it fails to recognize that routine replenishment of ocean nutrients prevents competition between
B. phytoplankton species

By suggesting that their own findings help clarify how phytoplankton species are able to compete with larger
C. organisms

By recommending that more ecologists focus their research on how competition among phytoplankton species is
D. increased with water density
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Text 1
A team led by Bernardo Strassburg has found that rewilding farmland (returning the land to its natural state) could help
preserve biodiversity and offset carbon emissions. The amount of farmland that would need to be restored, they found, is
remarkably low. Rewilding a mere 15% of the world’s current farmland would prevent 60% of expected species
extinctions and help absorb nearly 299 gigatons of carbon dioxide—a clear win in the fight against the biodiversity and
climate crises.
Text 2
While Strassburg’s team’s findings certainly offer encouraging insight into the potential benefits of rewilding, it’s
important to consider potential effects on global food supplies. The researchers suggest that to compensate for the loss
of food-producing land, remaining farmland would need to produce even more food. Thus, policies focused on rewilding
farmland must also address strategies for higher-yield farming.

Which choice best describes a difference in how the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 view Strassburg’s team’s
study?

The author of Text 2 approaches the study’s findings with some caution, whereas the author of Text 1 is optimistic
A. about the reported potential environmental benefits.

The author of Text 2 claims that the percentage of farmland identified by Strassburg’s team is too low for rewilding to
B. achieve meaningful results, whereas the author of Text 1 thinks the percentage is sufficient.

The author of Text 2 believes that the results described by Strassburg’s team are achievable in the near future,
C. whereas the author of Text 1 argues that they likely aren’t.

The author of Text 2 focuses on rewilding’s effect on carbon emissions, whereas the author of Text 1 focuses on its
D. effect on biodiversity.
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Text 1
Dominique Potvin and colleagues captured five Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) to test a new design for
attaching tracking devices to birds. As the researchers fitted each magpie with a tracker attached by a small harness,
they noticed some magpies without trackers pecking at another magpie’s tracker until it broke off. The researchers
suggest that this behavior could be evidence of magpies attempting to help another magpie without benefiting
themselves.
Text 2
It can be tempting to think that animals are deliberately providing help when we see them removing trackers and other
equipment from one another, especially when a species is known to exhibit other cooperative behaviors. At the same
time, it can be difficult to exclude the possibility that individuals are simply interested in the equipment because of its
novelty, curiously pawing or pecking at it until it detaches.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the researchers’ perspective in Text 1 on the
behavior of the magpies without trackers?

That behavior might have been due to the novelty of the magpies’ captive setting rather than to the novelty of the
A. tracker.

That behavior likely indicates that the magpies were deliberately attempting to benefit themselves by obtaining the
B. tracker.

That behavior may not be evidence of selflessness in Gymnorhina tibicen because not all the captured magpies
C. demonstrated it.

That behavior might be adequately explained without suggesting that the magpies were attempting to assist the
D. other magpie.