Answer Explanations to Previously Released ACT 2020 English Test

Below are answer explanations to the full-length English test of the previously released ACT from the current 2020-2021 “Preparing for the ACT Test” (form 1874FPRE) free study guide available here from ACT for free.

The ACT English test explained below begins on page 13 of the guide. Please note that the 2020-2021 guide features the same practice test as the 2019-2020 guide. Other answer explanations in this series of articles:

• English Answer Explanations from 2020 ACT Practice Test (this article)
• Math Answer Explanations from 2020 ACT Practice Test
• Reading Answer Explanations from 2020 ACT Practice Test
• Science Answer Explanations from 2020 ACT Practice Test
• Writing Test Sample Essays from 2020 ACT Practice Test

When you’re finished reviewing this official practice ACT test, start practicing with our own 10 full-length practice ACT tests—absolutely free during the pandemic.

ACT English Test Answer Explanations

Passage 1: Mystery Paper Sculptor

Question 1, “intricately.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing.” More specifically, this question tests your understanding of the purpose and emphasis of word choice.

1. This question asks for which word best emphasizes the complexity of the sculptures. The options are “impressively,” “terrifically,” “superbly,” and “no change” from intricately.
2. The words “impressively” and “superbly” would indicate that the sculptures are well made and admired. However, they do not indicate anything about the complexity of the sculptures.
3. The word “terrifically” would indicate that the sculptures are crafted with great intensity, but it doesn’t describe how complex the sculptures are.
4. The word “intricately” describes the complicated and detailed manner of the sculptures, which emphasizes the complexity of the structures. The correct answer is “NO CHANGE.”

Question 2, “Delighted, each sculpture was left secretly..” The answer is “Each sculpture was left secretly and later discovered by delighted staff.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English.” More specifically, this question tests your understanding of clauses and phrases.

1. The word “delighted” cannot describe “each sculpture” because sculptures are inanimate objects that cannot feel emotions. Thus, the word “delighted” must describe the staff that discover the sculptures. Currently, the word “delighted” is acting as a dangling modifier because it is not attached to a noun to modify.
2. In the answer choice “Left secretly and later discovered by staff, each sculpture was delighted,” the word “delighted” describes the wrong noun and the sentence contains a large dangling modifier. 
3. The answer choice “Secretly delighted, each sculpture was discovered by staff” also contains a dangling modifier.
4. The answer choice “Each sculpture was left secretly and later discovered by delighted staff” is the only answer choice that places the modifier in the correct place so that it doesn’t dangle and so that it describes the correct noun. 

Question 3, “dubbed.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language.” More specifically, it tests your understanding of word choice and tone/style.

1. This sentence describes how the staff gave the tree a nickname. The answer choices “specified,” “adorned,” and “honored” do not make sense in this context because they do not have the same meaning.
2. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is correct because “dubbed” is a synonym for giving something a nickname.

Question 4, “Cinema, a three-dimensional sculpted scene.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English.” More specifically, it tests your understanding of punctuation using commas. 

1. The answer choice “Cinema, a three-dimensional sculpted, scene” places the comma between the words “sculpted” and “scene.” This means that the phrase “a three-dimensional sculpted” is describing the noun “Cinema,” which does not make sense.
2. The answer choice “Cinema a three-dimension sculpted scene,” places the comma after the word “scene.” There is no comma separating the two nouns “Cinema” and “three-dimensional sculpted scene” which does not make grammatical sense.
3. The answer choice “Cinema a three-dimensional, sculpted, scene” places a comma before and after the word “sculpted.” This answer choice is incorrect because it indicates that “Cinema a three-dimensional” is one phrase/noun, which does not make any sense.
4. The correct answer is “NO CHANGE.” The phrase “At…Cinema, a three-dimensional sculpted scene” correctly indicates that a 3D sculpture can be found at the cinema.

Question 5, “a movie theater as horse leaps.” The correct answer is “a movie theater as horses leap.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English.” More specifically, it tests your understanding of subject/verb agreement.

1. The first answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because the phrase “as horse leaps” is incorrect. Plural horses leap, while a singular horse leaps; however, this option does not include the article “a” to indicate a singular noun.
2. The answer choice “movie theaters as horse’s leaps” is incorrect because the phrase “horse’s leaps” is a collective noun that cannot perform an action “out of the screen.”
3. The answer choice “movie theater’s as horse leap” is incorrect because the apostrophe in front of the “s” in theaters indicates possession of something, but the sentence does not describe the movie theater possessing anything.
4. The answer choice “a movie theater as horses leap” is correct because the plural noun of “horses” agrees with the verb tense of “leap.”

Question 6, “dragon crafted from the pages of a mystery novel.” The correct answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English.” More specifically, it tests your understanding of punctuation and clauses/phrases. 

1. The answer choice “dragon – crafted from the pages” is incorrect because the sentence does not contain another “–” to close the phrase. 
2. The answer choice “dragon, crafted from the pages,” is incorrect because the comma after the word “pages” separates the word from the phrase “of a mystery novel.” It is clear that the pages come from the mystery novel, therefore they should be described in one phrase that does not contain a comma.
3. The answer choice “dragon crafted from the pages,” is incorrect for the same reason as the previous answer choice.
4. The correct answer choice is “NO CHANGE.” The dragon was crafted from the pages of a mystery novel, and this description does not need to be separated from the noun by commas.

Question 7, “more than a few additional places where literature and artifacts are related to.” The correct answer is “several libraries and museums devoted to.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language.” More specifically, it tests your understanding of word choice and redundancy.

1. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because the phrase “more than a few additional places where literature and artifacts are related to” is unnecessarily long and not very descriptive.
2. The answer choices “a number of additional cultural institutions supporting intellectual endeavors dedicated to promoting” and “quite a lot of other cultural institutions characterized by loyalty and dedication to” are also very wordy and confusing. 
3. The correct answer is “several libraries and museums devoted to,” which means essentially the same thing as the other three answer choices, but phrases it in a much more concise way.

Question 8, “Therefore.” The correct answer is “Eventually.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing.” It tests your understanding of transition words and phrases.

1. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because the word “therefore” indicates that the total of sculptures appeared because of a certain reason. However, the previous sentence does not detail a specific reason why the total number of sculptures reached ten. 
2. The answer choice “Of course” is incorrect because it indicates that the number of total sculptures was obvious or expected, while the rest of the sentence contradicts this sentiment by describing how the staff were “thrilled by their luck.”
3. The answer choice “However” is incorrect because it indicates that this sentence contradicts with the previous sentence in some way. However, the previous sentence and current sentence are tied together because they are both describing the sculptures that have appeared in libraries and museums.
4. The answer choice “Eventually” is correct because it indicates that over time, the number of sculptures reached a total of ten. In the previous sentence, the sculptures were described to be “appearing,” so it makes sense that after some time, ten sculptures appeared. 

Question 9, “creator of these sculptures are.” The answer is “creator of these sculptures is.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of subject/verb agreement.

1. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because it states that “the creator of these sculptures are not known.” “Creator” is a singular noun, but “are” is a verb that describes the state of a plural noun.
2. The answer choice “creators of this sculptures are” is incorrect for two reasons. First, it does not contain subject/verb agreement between the subject “creators” and the verb “are.” Also, the word “this” is used to describe singular nouns, but the noun “sculptures” is plural.
3. The correct answer choice is “creator of these sculptures is” because this answer choice contains subject/verb agreement, and the word “these” correctly describes a plural noun.
4. The answer choice “creators of this sculptures is” does not make sense because the word “this” is used to describe singular nouns, not a plural noun such as “sculptures.” So, even though this answer choice contains correct subject/verb agreement, the other phrase is incorrect.

Question 10, “Whatever:whoever.” The answer is “Regardless of who.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language” and tests your understanding of redundancy and word choice.

1. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because the phrase “whatever: whoever” does not make sense for two reasons. First, the word “whatever” should not be used in this context because we know that the creator of the sculptures is a person, and they should be referred to as a “who,” not a “what.” Additionally, the use of a colon here is incorrect because a colon is used to introduce an example or a list of items, but the word “whoever” is not an example of “whatever.”
2. The answer choices “Disregarding the unknown identity of the person who” and “Without consideration of or concern about whoever” are both unnecessarily long and wordy.
3. The correct answer choice is “Regardless of who,” which is concise and states the same thing as the previous answer choices.

Question 11, “your.” The answer is “her.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of pronouns.

1. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because the use of the word “your” makes it seem as if the author is now addressing the artist directly. However, this entire passage has not used second person pronouns, and it would not make sense to start in the middle of the passage.
2. The answer choice “whose” is incorrect because the possessive pronoun “whose” is typically used to ask who owns something, but it simply makes no sense in this context because the intention clearly belongs to the creator of the art.
3. The answer choice “our” is incorrect because it indicates that the author of the passage shares the intention of the creator of the art. However, the author of the passage has made it clear that they are simply describing a story and they personally did not collaborate or participate in the creation of the sculptures.
4. The answer choice “her” is correct because the creator of the art was previously described as revealing “her gender.” Therefore, we know that her pronouns are she/her/hers, so the use of “her” makes sense to describe the intentions of the creator.

Question 12, “note expressing special gratitude.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language” and tests your understanding of redundancy.

1. The answer choice “note of gratitude expressing special gratefulness and thanks” is extremely redundant because a note of gratitude already implies that the note will be expressing thanks. In addition, a note that expresses both gratefulness and thanks is redundant because these two things mean virtually the same thing.
2. The answer choices “thank-you note on each one expressing special thanks” and “thankful note expressing special thanks” are both redundant because they both contain the word or a variation of the word “thanks” twice. 
3. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is correct because the phrase “note expressing special gratitude” is sufficient to describe a thank-you note.

Question 13, “If the writer were to delete…” The answer is “explains why the artist created the sculptures.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of additions and subtractions.

1. If the writer were to delete the sentence about the notes that the creator of the sculptures attached to thank libraries and museums, then the passage would end by stating that the creator’s intention was clear. 
2. However, it would not specify what this “clear” intention was. Therefore, the paragraph would primarily lose a statement that “explains why the artist created the sculptures,” which is the correct answer.
3. The other answer choices can be examined to make sure that we have the correct answer. 
4. The first choice, “suggests the essay writer knows the identity of the artist,” is incorrect because the thank-you notes have nothing to do with the artist’s identity.
5. The answer choices “proves the artist is a woman” and “indicates the artist is a librarian” are incorrect because they claim to know aspects of the artist’s identity. However, the artist has already been proven to be a woman, and the fact that she left thank-you notes for libraries does not mean that she is a librarian.

Question 14, “who destroyed books–.” The answer is “destroyed books–”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of clauses/phrases and punctuation using dashes.

1. The correct answer is “destroyed books–” because this is the only answer choice that correctly states the main action of the sentence. The sentence is trying to say that the creator destroyed books in order to express her appreciation of books. 
2. The other choices were “for whom books were destroyed–”, “as she destroyed books–”, and “who destroyed books.” These are incorrect because they render the sentence incomplete, as the creator is no longer described by a verb to indicate that she acted in a certain way.

Question 15, “with.” The answer is “and.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of conjunctions.

1. The correct answer is “and” because this is the only answer choice that correctly combines the two phrases of “cutting them up” and “refashioning them.”
2. The other choices are clearly wrong. “Cutting them up with refashioning them,” “cutting them up nor refashioning them,” and “cutting them up so refashioning them” are phrases that do not make sense.

Passage II: Building a Cork Boat

Question 16, “began as Pollack is likely to point out,”. The answer is “began, as Pollack is likely to point out,” aka choice G.

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of clauses/phrases and punctuation using commas.

1. The main phrase in this sentence is “It all began with a single cork.” The phrase” as Pollack is likely to point out” is simply describing the nature of this main phrase.
2. The answer choice “began, as Pollack is likely to point out,” is correct because it appropriately sections off “as Pollack is likely to point out” using commas before and after the phrase. 
3. The other answer choices do not make this distinction. Without the comma after the word “out”, this phrase could be interpreted as Pollack pointing something out using a cork. Without the comma before the word “as”, the sentence might be interpreted as Pollack’s dream beginning while he is pointing something out with a cork.

Question 17, “165,231 in all, Pollack convinced the staff, of several restaurants.” The answer is “boat–165,231 in all–Pollack convinced the staff of several restaurants.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of punctuation using commas and dashes.

1. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because the comma between the words “staff” and “of” separates the staff from the restaurants that they work at.
2. The answer choice “boat (165,231) in all, Pollack convinced the staff of several restaurants,” is incorrect because the entire phrase “165,231 in all” should be in parenthesis. Also, the comma after the word “restaurants” separates the descriptor of “in Washington” from the noun.
3. The answer choice “boat, 165,231, in all, Pollack convinced the staff of several restaurants” is incorrect because of the comma between the number “165,231” and the phrase “in all.” This comma indicates that the phrase “in all” is describing how Pollack convinced the staff, not the number of corks that was used to make the boat.
4. The answer choice “boat–165,231 in all–Pollack convinced the staff of several restaurants” is correct because the dashes are used to appropriately section off and  describe the number of corks that were used to construct the boat. 

Question 18, “donations from a cork-importing company.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of punctuation using commas.

1. The answer “NO CHANGE” is correct because the phrases “from a cork-importing company” and “based in Portugal” don’t need to be separated from the main sentence using commas. These phrases are not independent clauses or appositives that need to be separated.
2. The other answer choices all have commas that are unnecessary to the sentence.

Question 19, “finally.” The answer is “first.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of transition words and phrases.

1. The answer choice “first” is correct because the sentence is introducing the strategies and challenges that were encountered when constructing the boat. It is the first method that is described in the paragraph, and it indicates that other (second, third, etc) strategies would be used after this “first” strategy was too time-consuming.
2. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because the sentence indicates that “this strategy was too time-consuming.” If the strategy was deemed to be ineffective, then it would not have been his “final” step or method in constructing the boat.
3. The answer choice “next” is incorrect because it indicates that he had tried a different strategy before this one, but there is no previous strategy described in the paragraph.
4. The answer choice “also” is incorrect because it implies that Pollack tried a different strategy along with the current one, but the sentence only describes one strategy.

Question 20, “then a year’s.” The answer is “than a year’s.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of conjunctions.

1. The answer choice “than a year’s” is correct. “Than” is used when talking about comparisons or something that has a greater amount, while “then” is used when talking about something relating to time. 
2. While the phrase does relate to time because it says “year’s,” the full phrase is “more than,” which is a comparison. “More than” indicates that it would’ve taken Pollack and a friend over a year to construct the boat, which is correct.
3. Since we know that the correct word is “than”, we can rule out answer choices “NO CHANGE” and “then a years.”
4. This leaves “than a year’s” and “than a years’.” The difference is in the possession of the word “year’s/years’”. Year’s indicates a singular year, while years’ indicates multiple years were put into the effort. Since the phrase is “more than a ____,” the article “a” makes it clear that the year is a singular value, so the correct answer is “more than a year’s.”

Question 21, “Piles of corks threatened to take over Pollack’s apartment.” The answer is “After a series of trials, Pollack devised a workable strategy.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Language” and tests your understanding of organization, unity, and cohesion of the passage.

1. The questions asks which sentence best introduces the paragraph. The paragraph is talking about Pollack’s strategy for constructing the cork boat. From this, we know that the introduction sentence must describe how he developed this successful strategy.
2. The answer choice “After a series of trials, Pollack devised a workable strategy” is the only sentence that adequately describes how he came up with a method to construct the boat, therefore it is the correct answer.
3. The answer choice “Piles of corks threatened to take over Pollack’s apartment” has nothing to do with the strategy of constructing the boat; it only describes his supplies.
4. The answer choice “Over the course of many months, Pollack convinced people to help” is incorrect because the next couple of sentences don’t describe the help that Pollack received from people. It isn’t until the final sentence of the paragraph that his friends/helpers are described.
5. The answer choice “Pollack was afraid that he would have to put his cork boat dream on hold” is incorrect because the next few sentences describe how he executed his cork boat dream, which is the opposite of what this introductory sentence is implying.

Question 22, “pretty interesting.” The answer is “hexagonal.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language” and tests your understanding of word choice.

1. The questions asks which answer choice provides the most specific description of the assembled corks. The answer doesn’t have to be true or previously described in the paragraph, it just has to be the most specific answer choice.
2. The answer choice “pretty interesting” is not very specific because the adjective “interesting” could describe any number of shapes. The same can be said about the answer choice “certain.”
3. Meanwhile, deleting the underlined portion results in the following phrase: “assemble a group of corks into a shape.” “A shape” is not specific at all, because it could be any shape.
4. The correct answer is “hexagonal,” which describes the shape as having six sides. Using this adjective is the most specific option, as it is the only one that could be pictured in one’s imagination.

Question 23, “To bind clusters together and shaping.” The answer is “binding clusters together and shaping.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of verb tenses.

1. The correct answer is “Binding clusters together and shaping” because this is the only answer choice where the verb tenses match each other (they are both gerunds that end in -ing).
2. The other answer choices contain verbs whose tenses are not parallel. “To bind clusters together and shaping” and “Binding clusters together and to shape” both combine a gerund with an infinitive verb. Meanwhile, the answer choice “Binding clusters together and shape” combines a gerund with a present tense verb.

Question 24, “proper.” The answer is “rigorous.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of word choice.

1. The question asks which word indicates that the boat construction was challenging.
2. The correct answer is “rigorous” which is an adjective that describes a difficult or demanding process, aka something that is challenging.
3. The other answer choices do not really have the same meaning as “challenging.” “Proper” means that the construction was appropriate or suitable. “Authentic” means that the construction was real. “Grim” means that the construction was depressing or bleak. None of these options properly describe a challenging process.

Question 25, “had saw himself.” The answer is “had seen himself.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of verb tenses.

1. The sentence describes something that had happened in the past in Pollack’s imagination. The previous sentence contained the phrase “Pollack had ever imagined.” Thus, we can assume that the correct answer choice must be a verb in past perfect tense.
2. The correct answer is “had seen himself” because this is the only option that contains past perfect tense, which is used to describe something that happened before something else. 
3. In this case, Pollack saw/imagined himself with the boat before he completed the construction. Therefore, the correct tense is past perfect.
4. None of the other answer choices contain past perfect tense.

Question 26, “length of twenty-two feet.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of clauses/phrases and punctuation with commas.

1. The correct answer is “NO CHANGE.” The phrase “length of twenty-two feet” describes “Pollack’s masterpiece.” Because this phrase comes before the noun that it is describing, there must be a comma to separate the two.
2. The answer choice “length, of twenty-two feet,” incorrectly contains a comma that splits up the phrase “length of twenty two feet.”
3. The answer choice “length of twenty-two feet;” incorrectly contains a semicolon, which is used to separate two independent clauses. This sentence does not contain two independent clauses.
4. The answer choice “length of twenty-two feet” does not separate the phrase” length of twenty-two feet” from “Pollack’s masterpiece,” turning this sentence into one that does not make sense.

Question 27, “best suited with.” The answer is “better suited for.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of adjectives and word choice.

1. The correct answer is “better suited for.” The sentence starts with the conjunction “but,” which implies that the sentence is being compared to the one before it. The small boat in Pollack’s imagination is being contrasted with the real cork boat. Therefore, we know that a qualitative adjective such as “best” or “better” is correct.
2. Additionally, the verb “suited” is typically used in phrases such as “suited for” or “suited to.” “Suited with” does not make sense because the boat is not appropriate with a voyage, it is appropriate for a voyage.
3. Thus, we can deduce that “better suited for” is the correct phrase, because it uses the verb “suited” correctly.

Question 28, “company that.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of pronouns.

1. To answer this question, we must understand the difference between a defining clause and a non-defining clause. A defining clause gives essential information to a sentence; if removed, the sentence no longer makes sense. Meanwhile, non-defining clauses do not change the meaning of a sentence. 
2. Defining clauses use “that” while non-defining clauses use “which.” So, which type of clause does this sentence contain? If you took out “that/which/who/whom had donated thousands of corks to Pollack’s project” from the sentence, then the reader would not know which company the writer is talking about. Thus, this must be a defining clause.
3. Because it is a defining clause, we use the pronoun “that” instead of “which.” The answer choices “who” and “whom” can be ruled out because the company is not a person. Thus, “company that” is the correct answer.

Question 29, “River, in the country of Portugal,.” The answer is “River,.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language” and tests your understanding of redundancy.

1. The correct answer is “River,” because all of the other answer choices specify that the river is in Portugal. However, we already know that the river is in Portugal because the previous sentence stated that the vessel launched in Portugal, and the word “there” was used to describe the boat’s journey along the river. 
2. Therefore, the word “there” must reference the launch in Portugal, so we know that the Duoro River is located in Portugal. It is redundant to reiterate this later on in the sentence, so “River,” is the correct answer.

Question 30, “The writer wants to add…” The answer is “Point B in Paragraph 2.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of additions and subtractions.

1. The sentence that is being added talks about the process of Pollack collecting corks for his boat. We must find the place in the passage where this context makes sense.
2. Point A in Paragraph 1 doesn’t make sense because the preceding sentence merely talks about Pollack’s desire to build a boat out of corks. However, it does not mention Pollack gathering the corks for the boat.
3. Point B in Paragraph 2 is the correct answer. The preceding sentence talks about the lengths that Pollack went to in order to collect all of the corks for his boat. Thus, it makes sense to add in a sentence about how “every cork counts” during “daily pickups” right after this point.
4. Point C and Point D can be ruled out because Point C talks about the construction process of the boat, not the cork collection process, while Point D talks about the cork boat after it has been completed.

Passage III: Lightning in the Sand

Question 31, “as the southeastern New Mexico sands around us.” The answer is “as these sands.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language” and tests your understanding of redundancy.

1. Because the sentence previously stated that the writer was in the sand dunes of southeastern New Mexico, it is redundant to restate this fact. Saying “as translucent white as the southeastern New Mexico sands around us” has the same meaning as “as these sands,” but the former is more efficient than the latter.
2. The phrase cannot be deleted because then the reader will not know what the fulgurite is being compared to. Therefore, the correct answer is “as these sands.”

Question 32, “sand heated by a lightning blast melts,.” The answer is “sand heated by a lightning blast melts.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of punctuation using commas.

1. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because the use of a comma after the word “and” suggests the beginning of a new independent clause. However, the following phrase does not contain both a subject and a verb, so it is not an independent clause. Therefore, the comma should be removed.
2. The answer choice “sand heated (by a lightning blast) melts” is incorrect. Parentheses are used to indicate information that is not entirely pertinent to the sentence, typically as an explanation or an afterthought. However, the way in which the sand is heated is important to the sentence, and if you remove the parenthetical phrase “(by a lightning blast)” from the sentence, the sentence no longer makes sense.
3. The answer choice “sand, heated by a lightning blast melts,” is incorrect. Using commas to set a phrase aside indicates that the phrase is not essential to the sentence. However, if you remove “heated by a lightning blast melts,” then the sentence becomes “as sand and becomes glass.” This makes no sense, so the phrase “heated by a lightning blast melts” should not be partitioned off using commas.
4. The answer choice “sand heated by a lightning blast melts” is correct. By omitting any commas, this answer choice correctly connects the two verbs that “sand” is being subjected to.

Question 33, “places.” The answer is “burns.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of the purpose and emphasis of words.

1. The question asks which word choice would most emphasize the dramatic nature of the fulgurite’s mark. 
2. The answer choice “places” is a pretty passive word choice and does not convey the intensity of the “lightning bolt” that is left on the earth. The answer choices “sketches” and “sends” are incorrect for the same reason.
3. The answer choice “burns” is the only word choice that expresses the sudden, striking nature of the “petrified lightning.” The word “burns” has dangerous connotations, which supports the dramatic nature of the mark of the fulgurite. Therefore, “burns” is the correct answer.

Question 34, “explained though that even experts.” The answer is “explained, though, that even experts.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of punctuation and phrases.

1. This question can be answered by determining which phrases or words are essential to the sentence. If the phrase that is contained by commas can be removed from the sentence, then it is non-essential, and the use of commas in this case is correct.
2. The answer choice “explained, though, that even experts” is correct. The word “though” can be removed from the sentence without changing its meaning. Therefore, the placement of commas is correct.
3. The answer choice “explained though that, even experts,” is incorrect because the phrase “even experts” cannot be removed from the sentence. Otherwise, the sentence makes no sense.
4. The answer choice “explained, though that even experts” is incorrect because the purpose of one comma would be to separate two independent clauses. However, “that even experts…” is not an independent clause because it is only describing what Anna is explaining. 
5. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because the sentence contains a contrasting word, “though,” that requires commas to make sense.

Question 35, “The thin, brittle glass tubes break easily.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of organization unity and cohesion.

1. This question asks which statement is most relevant to this specific point in the essay. The preceding sentence talks about the rarity of “fully intact fulgurites,” while the following sentence talks about how unbroken fulgurite tubes can be found. 
2. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is correct. The sentence “The thin, brittle glass tubes break easily” serves as the perfect tie between the two sentences. It explains why a “fully intact fulgurite” is so rare and how an intact fulgurite can be found as a “tube” in the ground.
3. The sentence “Human-made fulgurites are not any easier to excavate than naturally occurring fulgurites” is incorrect because this paragraph of the essay does not talk about human-made fulgurites.
4. The sentence “a fulgurite is not a geode […]” is not correct because this paragraph is not about comparing fulgurites to geodes; geodes are not mentioned anywhere else in this paragraph.
5. The sentence about how  “pieces of fulgurite can be worked into jewelry” is incorrect because this paragraph does not mention making jewelry from fulgurites.

Question 36, “while.” The answer is “DELETE the underlined portion.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of word choice.

1. The correct answer is “DELETE the underlined portion.” The use of a transition word such as “however,” “so,” or “while” does not make sense because the sentence has already previously mentioned that fulgurites are revealed “after” strong winds in the desert.
2. Therefore, the answer that makes the most sense is to delete the word “while.” The sentence then becomes “after strong, sustained winds have shifted desert sands, an unbroken […] fulgurite will be revealed.” This makes sense.

Question 37, “Which of the following sentences, if added here, best connects…” The answer is “Swift winds were moving the white sands that day.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of organization unity and cohesion.

1. This question asks which statement would best connect the preceding sentence with the information that follows. The preceding sentence talks about how strong winds can reveal unbroken fulgurite tubes in the ground. The following sentence talks about how the writer was hopeful as they looked for tubes that were newly uncovered. 
2. Why would the writer be hopeful to see newly uncovered tubes? There must have been winds to shift the sand that day. Therefore, a sentence that talks about the wind conditions of the dunes during the writer’s visit would make sense.
3. The answer choice “swift winds were moving the white sands that day” is correct. It talks about how the winds were moving the sands, which relates to the preceding sentence while explaining why the writer was hopeful to find fulgurites that had been revealed by the moving sands.

Question 38, “uncovered.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of word choice and redundancy.

1. When you first read this sentence, it makes sense with the current word that is underlined. Upon looking at the other answer choices, they all appear to have the meaning, but they all contain extraneous words and phrases.
2. The answer choice “uncovered, I focused my gaze on the sands in the distance” is incorrect because it creates a run-on sentence. Additionally, the writer had already previously mentioned that they had scanned the area, which implies that they looked at sands in the distance. Therefore, this answer choice is redundant.
3. The answer choice “uncovered, I looked closely” is also incorrect because it is redundant. The writer had scanned the area, implying that they had looked closely.
4. The answer choice “had it been uncovered” does not make sense because it is the wrong verb tense. The phrase “a tube newly had it been uncovered” does not make sense.
5. Therefore, the correct answer is “NO CHANGE” from simply saying that the writer hoped to see a tube newly “uncovered.”

Question 39, “no one had ever told me what to look for.” The answer is “on their surface, they look like pieces of tree branches.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of organization unity and cohesion.

1. This question asks which phrase best concludes the sentence and provides a smooth transition into the following paragraph. The sentence talks about how the writer was not surprised that they hadn’t recognized fulgurites before, while the following paragraph talks about the interior appearance of fulgurites. It contains a contrasting word, “though,” which implies that the conclusion of the last paragraph had talked about a different aspect of the fulgurites’ appearances.
2. The answer choice “on their surface, they look like pieces of tree branches” is correct because it most effectively ties in the sentence with its following paragraph. The writer didn’t recognize the fulgurites because of their nondescript exterior that looked like tree branches. However, the following paragraph contrasts their unique interior with this tree-like exterior. 
3. The other answer choices do not detail the appearance of the fulgurites, so they cannot be correct. 

Question 40, “stained.” The answer is “speckled.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of purpose and emphasis in word choices.

1. This question asks which word choice conveys the “light, sporadic” pattern of bubbles in the glass. 
2. The answer choice “speckled” is correct because it has the closest meaning to “light and sporadic.” “Speckled” means that something is covered in spots, which implies a light and random coverage of spots.
3. The answer choices “stained” and “covered” are incorrect because both imply a heavier distribution of bubbles than the word “speckled” does. Meanwhile, the answer choice “pointed” is not correct because the phrase “pointed with bubbles” does not make sense in the context of describing a fulgurite’s appearance.

Question 41, “formed by air and moisture.” The answer is “after the word bubbles.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of clauses and phrases.

1. The answer choice “where it is now” is incorrect because the current placement results in two verbs right next to each other, which does not make sense.
2. The answer choice “after the word bubbles” is correct. The bubbles are formed by air and moisture, so this phrase should be immediately after the word bubbles. It still makes sense that these bubbles were then trapped as the melted sand cooled.
3. The answer choices “after the word during” and “after the word cooling” are not correct because neither of those words are nouns/subjects that could be followed by a verb phrase.

Question 42, “to unearth.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of verb tenses.

1. The correct answer is “NO CHANGE.” The implied meaning of the sentence is “we needed to stop at the local gift shop [in order to …].” The phrase “to unearth” fits the purpose of the previous phrase and uses the correct infinitive verb tense. 
2. The other answer choices are incorrect because they don’t convey why the writer would be stopping at the local gift shop and they do not use the correct verb tense.

Question 43, “If the writer deleted the preceding sentence…” The answer is “light moment in the form of a good-natured joke by Anna about how easy it could be to find a white fulgurite.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of purpose and emphasis.

1. This question is asking you to interpret the meaning of the preceding sentence. The sentence states “Anna laughed and said we need only to stop at the local gift shop to unearth our treasure.”
2. The first answer choice is incorrect because the sentence is not blunt or critical and it does not talk about Anna’s frustration. The sentence actually talks about Anna’s laughter, which suggests the opposite of frustration.
3. The second answer choice is incorrect because Anna’s laughter does not convey a “scolding” tone, and the sentence does not mention the narrator being impatient.
4. The third answer choice is correct. The sentence states that Anna laughed and told a joke about how to easily find fulgurites. This matches the sentiment that the sentence is a “light moment in the form of a good-natured joke by Anna […]” 
5. The fourth answer choice is incorrect because the sentence is less about Anna’s excitement and more about her playful, laid back attitude.

Question 44, “our.” The answer is “her.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of pronouns.

1. The sentence states that “she” wanted to keep searching for fulgurites because “she” had previous luck with finding them. This implies that the corresponding pronoun should be her/hers.
2. The correct answer is “her” because Anna is the only person in the story with previous luck/experience with finding fulgurites. Therefore, the luck is hers, not the narrator’s or Anna and the narrator’s combined. 

Question 45, “beaches.” The answer is “beaches in Florida, Utah, California and Nevada,.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language” and tests your understanding of redundancy.

1. This question asks which answer choice would provide new information for the reader. 
2. The correct answer is “beaches in Florida, Utah, California, and Nevada.” It is the only answer choice that contains new information.
3. The other answer choices are incorrect because “New Mexico sands,” “sandy locales,” and “green fulgurites” have all been mentioned previously in the passage.

Passage IV: Planet Earth’s Windiest Observatory

Question 46, “its.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of pronouns.

1. The correct answer is “NO CHANGE.” The “namesake’s peak” is referring to “this facility,” which is a singular noun. Therefore, the pronoun should also be singular, so we can rule out the answer choices “these” and “theirs.”
2. The answer choice “it’s” can be ruled out because “it’s” is a subject-verb clause, not a pronoun. It doesn’t make sense to say that the facility sits atop “it is” namesake’s peak. Therefore, the correct pronoun is “its.”

Question 47, “Hampshire, has earned.” The answer is “Hampshire, have earned.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of verb tenses.

1. This question is asking which verb tense is correct. The subject is “weather conditions.” This can be isolated as the subject because “at this facility” is merely a prepositional clause, not the subject of the sentence.
2. “Weather conditions” is plural, so the verb tense must be plural. Thus, we can rule out “Hampshire, has earned,” “Hampshire has earned,” and “Hampshire, earns.” 
3. “Hampshire, have earned” is the correct answer because it is the only answer choice that contains a plural verb tense. Additionally, it contains a comma after the word “Hampshire,” which is needed to close the clause that was previously started by a comma.

Question 48, “mountains, (Colorado’s Pikes Peak),”. The answer is “mountains (Colorado’s Pikes Peak,”.

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of punctuation using commas.

1. In this sentence, parentheses are being used to contain this additional information about Colorado’s mountain that is taller than Mount Washington. Because the parentheses already function to separate this information from the rest of the sentence, there is no need for a comma right in front of the open parenthesis symbol. 
2. Therefore, answer choices “NO CHANGE” and “mountains, (Colorado’s Pikes Peak” are incorrect.
3. The phrase inside of the parentheses is “Colorado’s Pikes Peak, for example, is more than twice its height.” The two options left either do or do not contain a comma in front of the phrase “for example.” 
4. We know that a comma is needed in front of “for example” because this phrase is non-essential to the sentence, so there must be commas to separate this information from the rest of the sentence.
5. Therefore, the correct answer is “mountains (Colorado’s Pikes Peak,”.

Question 49, “is the tallest peak in the Presidential Range.” The answer is “has weather that rivals that of Antarctica.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of purpose and emphasis.

1. This question asks which comparison highlights the intensity of Mount Washington’s extreme weather.
2. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because the statement that Mount Washington has the “tallest peak in the Presidential Range” has nothing to do with Mount Washington’s weather.
3. The answer choice “is much colder at the summit than at the base of the mountain” is incorrect because this statement is true of all mountains. Therefore, it does not specifically emphasize Mount Washington’s extreme weather.
4. The answer choice “has an average midwinter temperature of 5 Fahrenheit” is incorrect because this statement does not convey the intensity of Mount Washington’s weather. 5 degrees may be extreme, but we have no way of knowing when the statement is worded as a simple fact that isn’t comparing temperatures of different mountains.
5. The answer choice “has weather that rivals that of Antarctica” is correct. It emphasizes Mount Washington’s extreme weather because everybody knows how extreme and dangerous Antarctica’s weather can be. By comparing Mount Washington to Antarctica, this sentence effectively portrays how severe the weather is.

Question 50, “its steep slopes force.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of clauses, phrases, and conjunctions.

1. This sentence contains an independent clause, followed by a comma, followed by the conjunction “and.” This implies that another independent clause will follow the conjunction. 
2. The answer choice “its steep slopes force” is the only answer that contains an independent clause. Therefore, “its steep slopes force” or “NO CHANGE” is the correct answer.
3. The answer choice “its steep slopes that force” contains a dependent clause, the answer choice “if its steep slopes force” contains an “if” conditional clause, and the answer choice “its steep slopes rising” contains a participial phrase. None of these phrases could exist on their own, but “its steep slopes force” could.

Question 51, “speed (of 231 mph):.” The answer is “speed of 231 mph–.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of punctuation using dashes and parentheses.

1. This sentence refers to the fastest wind speed ever recorded, which was 231 mph. Because the phrase “one of the fastest ever recorded” refers to the specific speed of 231 mph, the specification “of 231 mph” is essential to the sentence and should not be contained in parentheses or commas. 
2. Therefore, we can rule out “NO CHANGE” and “speed, of 231 mph,”. Next, we must decide whether to use a dash or a semicolon after the word “mph.” A semicolon is used to separate two independent clauses. The phrase “one of the fastest ever recorded” cannot be its own sentence, so it is not an independent clause.
3. Therefore, we cannot use a semicolon after the word “mph.” The correct answer is “speed of 231 mph–”.

Question 52, “The.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language” and tests your understanding of redundancy.

1. This sentence already contains the word “also.” Therefore, it would be redundant to include the word “also” or any other similar variation of the word at the beginning of the sentence.
2. The correct answer is “NO CHANGE” because all of the other answer choices contain those unnecessary words such as “also,” “in addition,” and “additionally.”

Question 53, “of ice physics,”. The answer is “ice physics,”.

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of parallelism.

1. This sentence contains a list which should contain parallel structure. The phrase “understanding of” applies to each item in the list, so these words do not need to be repeated. 
2. The phrase “the atmosphere” does not contain the word “of” in front of it. Therefore, the answer choice “of ice physics” can be ruled out because the “of” is unnecessary.
3. The correct answer is “ice physics,” because this answer choice maintains the parallel structure that has been established by the preceding and following term in the list.
4. The other answer choices also contain unnecessary words that interrupt the parallel structure of the list.

Question 54, “Observers, who work.” The answer is “Observers work.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of verb tenses.

1. This sentence should contain one independent clause. Right now, there is only a subject without a corresponding verb.
2. The answer choice “Observers, who work” is incorrect because the usage of the comma separates the rest of the sentence from the subject, which means that the sentence is basically “Observers.” This does not make any sense.
3. “Observers who work” is also incorrect because the “who” creates a dependent clause. This means that there is still no verb in the sentence to create an independent clause.
4. “Observers, working” introduces a participial phrase into the sentence, but there is still no independent clause because there is no verb.
5. The correct answer is “Observers work,” which expresses a complete thought and contains a subject and a verb.

Question 55, “winter, though,”. The answer is “winter,”.

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of transition words and phrases.

1. The use of a transition word or phrase between “To change personnel in winter” and “crews ascend […]” is not necessary. 
2. The sentence makes sense without the words “though,” “however,” and “of course.” Additionally, all of these words imply a contrast with something that was stated previously. However, nothing in the preceding sentence talks about changing personnel.
3. Therefore, the answer choice “winter,” is correct.

Question 56, “vehicle, gripping.” The answer is “vehicle that grips.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of clauses, phrases, and verb tenses.

1. The answer choice “vehicle, gripping” is incorrect because the use of the comma and the verb tense make it seem as if the “crews” are “gripping the snow using revolving tracks. The answer choices “vehicle while gripping” and “vehicle and grip” are incorrect for the same reason — they make it seem as if the crew is doing the gripping, not the vehicle.
2. The correct answer is “vehicle that grips” because the word “that” specifies that the vehicle is doing the gripping.

Question 57, “research. The.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of conjunctions, clauses and phrases.

1. The correct answer is “NO CHANGE.” The sentences contain two different independent clauses that do not need to be joined together. 
2. The answer choice “research and the” is incorrect because a comma would be needed after the word “research” in order to separate the two independent clauses.
3. The answer choice “research but the” is incorrect for the same reason. Also, there is no need to contrast the bold interns in this sentence because the preceding sentence does not mention the opposite.
4. The answer choice “research, the” is incorrect because it creates a run-on sentence.

Question 58, “are planning to make a trip to Mount Washington.” The answer is “prefer a warm recliner to an icy peak,”.

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of purpose and emphasis.

1. The question asks which phrase contrasts the most with the paragraph. The paragraph talks about people who want to visit Mount Washington, love weather, or enjoy being outside and taking trips to the summit and how they can be involved at the observatory.
2. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is incorrect because people who are planning to visit Mount Washington are previously referenced to in the paragraph, as people who are taking trips to the summit would be visiting Mount Washington.
3. The answer choices “conduct weather research” and “love the outdoors” are also implied in the paragraph, which mentions “weather enthusiasts” and “educational trips to the summit” for “the bold.” Therefore, these answer choices do not really contrast with the paragraph.
4. The correct answer is “prefer a warm recliner to an icy peak,” because this shows the most contrast between the people who were previously mentioned and the ways that they can get involved at the observatory. 

Question 59, “The writer is considering adding…” The answer is “Point C in Paragraph 4.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of organization unity and cohesion.

1. The addition of the sentence “This information is used to help create regional weather forecasts” should be placed after a point where the writer talks about weather information or data.
2. Point A in Paragraph 1 does not make sense because the preceding sentence does not mention weather information at all and instead serves to introduce the observatory to the reader.
3. Point B in Paragraph 2 is not correct because the following sentence does not relate to weather information at all and the preceding sentence does not provide much information about the weather except that the weather is bad.
4. Point C in Paragraph 4 is correct because the preceding sentence talks about how weather data is collected and sent to the National Weather Service. It makes sense for this to be the information that is used to create weather forecasts.
5. Point D in Paragraph 5 is not correct because this paragraph is only talking about ways that people can interact with the observatory, and the preceding sentence does not mention weather data collection.

Question 60, “Suppose the writer’s main purpose…” The answer is “No, because it provides an overview of the Mount Washington Observatory and its research.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of purpose and emphasis.

1. This question asks if the passage accomplishes the writer’s intention of describing how mountain ranges affect weather patterns.
2. Looking back at the passage, it does not give much information about how mountains can affect weather patterns. Rather, it describes the Mount Washington Observatory and how scientists and the general public can research weather. 
3. Thus, the answer must be “no,” the passage does not accomplish the desired purpose. Next, we must determine why the passage fails to accomplish this purpose.
4. The correct answer is “No, because it provides an overview of the Mount Washington Observatory and its research.” This is exactly what we had previously stated about the passage.
5. “No, because it outlines the history of the Mount Washington Observatory” is not the correct answer because the passage does not provide many details about the observatory’s history. Although the passage does mention a couple of historical facts about the observatory, this is not the primary content of the passage.

Passage V: The Real McCoy

Question 61, “its’.” The answer is “that something is.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of pronouns.

1. This sentence is describing how the saying “it’s the real McCoy” is used. The saying is used “to declare ____ the genuine article.”
2. What is the saying being declared about? The saying cannot declare itself as a genuine article, so the answer choice “its something that’s” cannot be correct. 
3. The answer choice “its’” is not correct. The word its’ is used to describe something that belongs to a plural noun. However, there is no plural noun that is being referred to.
4. The word “its” is used to describe possession, meaning that something belongs to it. However, this would mean that the genuine article belongs to “it,” and in this case, “it” is the saying. This makes no sense, so any answer choice containing the word “its” can be ruled out.
5. The correct answer is “that something is.” Put together, “the saying has been used for generations to declare that something is the genuine article.” This makes sense because it specifies that the saying is being declared about “something.”

Question 62, “American engineer named,”. The answer is “American engineer named.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of punctuation using commas.

1. Commas are used to separate non-essential information from essential information in a sentence. In this sentence, Elijah McCoy’s inventions are claimed to be the origin of the saying “it’s the real McCoy.” 
2. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is not correct because it contains a comma that separates “Elijah McCoy” from the rest of the sentence. However, if we took out “Elijah McCoy,” the sentence would no longer make sense because we wouldn’t know the name of the Canadian American engineer.
3. Thus, because “Elijah McCoy” is essential information to this sentence, the answer choice “American, engineer named,” can also be ruled out.
4. The same logic applies to the answer choice “American, engineer named” because this option would omit the entire phrase “engineer named Elijah McCoy.” We still wouldn’t know the name of the inventor that this sentence is talking about, therefore this answer choice is wrong.
5. The correct answer is “American engineer named” because this answer choice does not contain any commas that would omit essential information.

Question 63, “operations, affecting both incredibly.” The answer is “operations.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language” and tests your understanding of redundancy.

1. This sentence claims that McCoy “revolutionized railroad and factory operations.” This implies that he changed and affected these operations in a very radical way.
2. The correct answer is “operations” because this is the only answer choice that is not redundant. All of the other answer choices reiterate how McCoy’s actions “changed these industries fundamentally,” “affected both incredibly” or made it “so that they would never be the same.” All of these are redundant because they restate what is implied by the use of the verb “revolutionized.”

Question 64, “then.” The answer is “DELETE the underlined portion.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of redundancy and transition words.

1. The sentence states that “while” working for a railroad company, McCoy was assigned to different projects. The use of the word “while” already gives the reader a sense of time.
2. The answer choice “then” is not correct because it implies that McCoy was assigned to work on trains after working for the Michigan Central Railroad, not at the same time.
3. The answer choices “with that company” and “during this time” are incorrect because they are redundant; both include information that has already been previously mentioned.
4. The answer choice “DELETE the underlined portion” is correct because the word “then” is unnecessary. There is no need for a replacement word in this sentence.

Question 65, “In the preceding sentence, the writer…” The answer is “Yes, because the revision provides a clearer connection between McCoy’s main task as a railroad worker and his first patented device.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of cohesion and purpose.

1. This question asks whether the proposed revision should be made. If the phrase “assigned to work on” is changed to “responsible for oiling,” then the rest of the paragraph would actually make more sense. This is because the rest of the paragraph talks about oiling trains by hand, and how this tedious process inspired McCoy’s first invention that oiled trains. 
2. Thus, the answer is “yes,” the writer should make this revision. Now, we must answer why this revision should be made.
3. The first answer choice claims that the revision “specifically describes the procedures McCoy had to follow as he maintained the wheel bearings and axles of trains.” While this answer choice is technically accurate — the revision does describe McCoy’s role more specifically, it does not fully explain the purpose of the revision. 
4. The purpose of the revision is not to describe McCoy’s responsibilities and procedures when he was working on trains. The purpose of the revision is to introduce his responsibility so that this connects to why he created his first invention that made his job more efficient. 
5. Thus, the correct answer is “Yes, because the revision provides a clearer connection between McCoy’s main task as a railroad worker and his first patented device.”

Question 66, “reducing the number.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of redundancy.

1. All of the answer choices mean very similar things. The word “number” is used to describe quantities that can be counted, while the word “amount” is used to describe quantities that cannot be counted.
2. Since maintenance stops can be counted, the word “number” should be used instead of “amount.” Therefore, the answer choices “subtracting the amount” and “lowering the amount” are both incorrect.
3. The remaining answer choices are “reducing the number” and “lessening the frequency of number.” “Lessening the frequency of number” makes no sense because frequency cannot measure numbers. The frequency of maintenance stops can be lessened, but the frequency of number of maintenance stops does not exist. 
4. Therefore, the correct answer is “reducing the number” or “NO CHANGE.”

Question 67, “had the effect of making.” The answer is “and making.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of parallelism and verb tenses.

1. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is not correct because this option creates a run-on sentence. “Reducing the number” is turned into a gerund/noun that is the subject of this clause, while “had the effect of making” is the verb of this clause. Therefore, this entire phrase becomes an independent clause, but there is no conjunction to connect the two independent clauses.
2. The correct answer is “and making” because this answer choice follows the parallel structure that is previously introduced in the sentence. The answer choice should have the same structure as “reducing the number.” “And making” is the only answer choice that fits this requirement.
3. The other answer choices “helping to make” and “made” are incorrect for the same reasons that “NO CHANGE” is incorrect — they all create run on sentences.

Question 68, “for example,”. The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of transition words and phrases.

1. The correct answer is “for example” or “NO CHANGE” because this sentence is introducing examples of other engineering challenges that McCoy faced.
2. The answer choice “subsequently” is incorrect because it implies that factories relied on steam engines because “McCoy applied the principles of this invention to other engineering challenges.” However, McCoy is NOT the reason why factories relied on steam engines.
3. The answer choice “regardless” is incorrect because it implies that this sentence is ignoring something about the previous sentence. This is not the case.
4. The answer choice “however” is incorrect because it implies that factories did not apply McCoy’s inventions to engineering challenges with steam engines. However, the paragraph later describes how factories used McCoy’s innovations to increase their efficiency.

Question 69, “therefore.” The answer is “DELETE the underlined portion.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of redundancy and transition words.

1. The correct answer is “DELETE the underlined portion” because the sentence makes sense without any of the other answer choices. The sentence is saying that the machines’ parts had to be oiled manually in the same way that trains used to have to be oiled manually.
2. The answer choice “therefore” is incorrect because it implies that the first half of the sentence explains why the machines had to be oiled manually. However, this is not the case.
3. The answer choices “the problem being” and “in that” are both incorrect because they do not make sense and introduce grammatical errors into the sentence.

Question 70, “McCoy, recognizing.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Conventions of Standard English” and tests your understanding of verb tenses.

1. The correct answer is “NO CHANGE” because the current answer choice correctly separates the two phrases using a comma. The essential information in this sentence is “McCoy designed automated oilers for steam engines.” The phrase “recognizing the similarities between train wheels and factory machines” is not essential because the sentence makes sense without it. This extra information should be enclosed with commas to adequately separate the phrase from the main sentence.
2. The answer choices “McCoy would recognize” and “McCoy recognized” are incorrect because they do not contain a comma to separate the nonessential phrase from the essential information in this sentence.
3. The answer choice “McCoy, a recognition of” does not make sense because McCoy is not the recognition, but he is capable of recognizing something. The noun form of “recognize” is not appropriate in this context.

Question 71, “.” The answer is “run machines continuously,.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language” and tests your understanding of word choice, tone, and style.

1. This question asks which answer choice offers the most precise information about how the factory changed their operation of machines due to McCoy’s innovations.
2. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is not correct because the knowledge that McCoy’s innovations gave the machines a sense of timelessness does not inform us about the actual operation of the machines.
3. The answer choice “rethink operations” claims that the factory operation of machines did change, but it does not provide any specific information about how this was done. Therefore, this answer choice can be ruled out because it is not the most clear answer choice.
4. The answer choice “use machines differently” does not provide us with any new information. Obviously, McCoy’s inventions are going to allow the factory to use the machines differently. Because this answer choice is redundant and not very clear, we can rule it out.
5. The correct answer is “run machines continuously.” This is the only answer that gives specific details about how the factory changed their operation of machines. Before, the machines could not be used continuously, but after McCoy’s innovations, they can be used nonstop. 

Question 72, “The writer is considering deleting…” The answer is “No, because the phrase is relevant to the paragraph’s discussion of the positive effects that the use of McCoy’s inventions had in factories.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of additions and subtractions.

1. This question asks whether the writer should delete the phrase that claims factory profits rose as a result of McCoy’s inventions. This phrase serves to provide more information about the benefits of McCoy’s inventions. 
2. This phrase does not distract from the main purpose of this paragraph, nor does it imply anything about the interests or intentions of factory owners. Thus, answer choices F and G are incorrect, and the answer is “no,” the writer should not make this deletion.
3. Next, we must figure out why the writer shouldn’t make this deletion. The answer choice “No, because the phrase makes clear that the successful use of McCoy’s inventions in factories led to higher wages for factory workers” is incorrect. This is because the phrase does not mention workers’ wages at all.
4. Therefore, the correct answer is “No, because the phrase is relevant to the paragraph’s discussion of the positive effects that the use of McCoy’s inventions had in factories.”

Question 73, “do it.” The answer is “work well.”

This question falls under the category of “Knowledge of Language” and tests your understanding of word choice and redundancy.

1. The answer choice “NO CHANGE” is not correct because “a product proven to do it” does not make sense. We don’t know what the product is proving to do.
2. The sentence is trying to explain how factory owners would ensure that a product was not an “inferior” device that didn’t work. 
3. The correct answer is “work well,” because this adequately describes the type of product that factory owners desired. 
4. The other answer choices “lend itself to superiority” and “give off the best result” are not correct because they are unnecessarily wordy.

Question 74, “as his name became synonymous with quality and authenticity.” The answer is “NO CHANGE.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of purpose and emphasis.

1. This question asks which answer choice best states the main idea of the passage. The passage is about the origin, quality, and success of McCoy’s inventions.
2. The correct answer is “NO CHANGE” because it adequately expresses the main idea of the passage. By claiming that his name was tied to quality and authenticity, this phrase reiterates how McCoy’s inventions were authentic and of good quality.
3. The answer choice “so, not surprisingly, in 2001 McCoy was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, located in Alexandria, Virginia” is incorrect because this phrase had nothing to do with McCoy’s inventions. While it does explain McCoy’s posterity, it does not reiterate the passage’s main focus about the quality of McCoy’s inventions.
4. The answer choice “even having applications in the booming aluminum manufacturing industry of the 1940s” is incorrect because it merely restates what the first half of the sentence claims. It does not relate to the overall passage at all.
5. The answer choice “making this story, for so many reasons, ‘the genuine article’” is incorrect because this phrase takes the focus off of McCoy’s high-quality inventions and redirects focus towards the essay itself. 

Question 75, “The writer is considering adding…” The answer is “Point D in Paragraph 4.”

This question falls under the category of “Production of Writing” and tests your understanding of organization unity and cohesion.

1. This question asks where to add the sentence “The imitators expected that the price of their products–often significantly lower than the price of McCoy’s devices–would attract buyers, but price didn’t seem to matter most.” 
2. Before looking at the answer choices, we can assume that this would be inserted after a sentence that introduces the concept of imitators of McCoy’s inventions. Also, it would make sense if the sentence that followed talked about what actually mattered to buyers, since “price didn’t seem to matter” as much.
3. The correct answer is “Point D in Paragraph 4” because the preceding sentence talks about similar and inferior devices that other inventors would introduce, while the following sentence talks about how factory owners would ask about quality and authenticity. 
4. The answer choice “Point A in Paragraph 1” is not correct because the preceding sentence talks about the origin of the saying “It’s the real McCoy.” This paragraph has nothing to do with imitators of McCoy’s inventions.
5. The answer choice “Point B in Paragraph 2” is not correct because this paragraph talks about one of McCoy’s specific inventions and does not mention imitators at all.
6. The answer choice “Point C in Paragraph 4” is not correct because the preceding sentence does not mention imitators of McCoy’s inventions at all. The transition between these two sentences would be quite abrupt, because the preceding sentence talks about the success of McCoy’s inventions.