ACCUPLACER Next Generation Reading Version 9 Questions

Explanation

The sentence in question reads: 'Most New Yorkers have gotten used to the idea: a recent poll of New York City residents show that two-thirds of them support the bike lanes.' The subject of the second clause is 'a recent poll,' which is singular. The verb paired with a singular subject must also be singular. However, the sentence currently uses 'show,' which is the plural form of the verb. The correct singular form is 'shows.' Therefore, the sentence should read: 'A recent poll of New York City residents shows that two-thirds of them support the bike lanes.' The option 'Change gotten to got' is incorrect because 'have gotten' is the proper present perfect form, while 'got' would be grammatically inconsistent in this context. 'Change support to supported' is also incorrect because the statement describes an ongoing fact, not a past event. Similarly, changing 'lanes' to 'lane' is unnecessary, as the plural is appropriate for multiple bike lanes. Thus, the only necessary and correct change is option B: 'show' to 'shows,' which maintains subject-verb agreement and ensures the sentence is grammatically correct.

Explanation

The sentence under review begins with 'In a study conducted...' and the question asks which version of the underlined portion is best. When evaluating sentence revisions, the goal is usually clarity, conciseness, and grammatical correctness. Option A, 'In a study conducted by researchers,' is the most precise and formal construction. It maintains proper subject-verb agreement, specifies who conducted the study, and avoids unnecessary vagueness. Option B, 'A study conducted,' is grammatically correct but incomplete in meaning because it leaves ambiguity about who carried out the study, making the sentence weaker. Option C, 'Study conducted by the researchers,' drops the article 'A' and is grammatically flawed because English requires an article ('a' or 'the') before a singular countable noun. Option D, 'The study which was conducted by researchers,' is grammatically correct but wordy. The phrase 'which was conducted' introduces unnecessary complexity compared to the simpler 'conducted by researchers.' Conciseness is a hallmark of strong academic writing, and therefore the best answer is A. It is precise, grammatically correct, and avoids unnecessary wording, which aligns with the test’s emphasis on clear and direct communication.

Explanation

The sentence under review reads: 'Rather than view waking in the middle of the night as a nuisance, people appear to have welcomed it as natural, useful, and even enjoyable.' The grammatical issue lies in the verb tense of the introductory clause. 'Rather than view' uses the base form of the verb, which creates a mismatch with the past action being described ('people appear to have welcomed it'). Since the sentence is describing how people historically responded to segmented sleep, the correct verb form should be 'viewed,' which maintains consistency in tense. Option A, therefore, is the best choice because it corrects the tense without altering the intended meaning. Option B, removing 'as' in 'as natural, useful, and even enjoyable,' would make the sentence less idiomatic and awkward, as 'as' is necessary to introduce the description of how waking was perceived. Option C, changing 'have welcomed' to 'had welcomed,' incorrectly shifts the sentence into the past perfect, which is unnecessary here because the simple past is sufficient to describe the historical reality. Option D, changing 'appear' to 'appeared,' would make the sentence fully past tense but loses the sense of present commentary on historical attitudes, which the author likely intends. Thus, the most precise correction is Option A, ensuring the sentence flows naturally and grammatically while preserving its historical focus.

Explanation

The passage explains that while people in the past accepted segmented sleep as natural, modern culture pushes a consolidated pattern. Researchers argue in sentence 13 that some sleep disorders, like insomnia, may be the result of enforcing an unnatural sleep rhythm. This points directly to Option B. Option A, blaming technology, is a tempting distractor but is not mentioned in this section of the text. Option C, stress from city life, is also unsupported because although earlier sentences mention city lighting, the author explicitly connects sleep disorders to rhythm, not urbanization stress. Option D is wrong because the researchers clearly link modern disorders to older, more natural patterns being disrupted. Thus, Option B best reflects the main idea, consistent with the theme that human biology may be aligned more with segmented sleep cycles than consolidated ones.

Explanation

In the excerpt from 'The Tenth Muse,' the narrator asks several questions that probe the nature of her relationships with family, especially with people beyond her father. The test question asks for the main purpose of those questions. Option A is correct because the rhetorical questioning highlights isolation: the narrator recognizes gaps between herself and other family members. Option B, about cultural heritage, may be a reasonable interpretation but is not the direct focus of those specific questions. Option C, curiosity about her father’s past, is partially true but again too narrow because the narrator’s father is not the only person referenced. Option D, uncertainty about her identity, might be a larger theme of the novel but is not the immediate purpose of sentences 10–12. The function of those questions is best summarized as showing a sense of distance or isolation from her broader family, which makes Option A correct.