Cross-Text Text Structure and Purpose

Question ID b2bd1f67
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Words in Context
PSAT 10
ID: b2bd1f67
Close analysis of the painting Girl with a Flute, long attributed to the seventeenth-century Dutch painter Johannes
Vermeer, has revealed subtle deviations from the artist’s signature techniques. These variations suggest that the work
may be that of a student under Vermeer’s tutelage—potentially ______ our understanding of Vermeer as a solitary artist.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
A. negating
B. prefiguring
C. entrenching
D. substantiating
Question ID ea31636b
PSAT 10
ID: ea31636b
The güiro, a musical instrument traditionally made from a dried and hollowed gourd, is thought to have originated with
the Taíno people of Puerto Rico. Players use a wooden stick to scrape along ridges cut into the side of the gourd,
creating sounds that are highly ______: the sounds produced by güiros can differ based on the distance between the
ridges, the types of strokes the player uses, and the thickness of the gourd.
A. overlooked
B. powerful
C. routine
D. variable
Question ID 0094f813
PSAT 10
ID: 0094f813
The following text is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston’s 1921 short story “John Redding Goes to Sea.” John wants to
travel far beyond the village where he lives near his mother, Matty.
[John] had on several occasions attempted to reconcile his mother to the notion, but found it a difficult task. Matty
always took refuge in self-pity and tears. Her son’s desires were incomprehensible to her, that was all.
As used in the text, what does the phrase “reconcile his mother to” most nearly mean?
A. Get his mother to accept
B. Get his mother to apologize for
C. Get his mother to match
D. Get his mother to reunite with

Question ID 833eacb3
PSAT 10
ID: 833eacb3
Cucurbits, a group of plants that includes squash and melons, relied on mastodons to spread their seeds in the Ice Age.
When these animals died out, cucurbits faced extinction in turn, having lost their means of seed dispersal. Around this
time, however, the ancestors of Indigenous peoples in North America began raising cucurbits as crops, thus ______ the
plants’ survival.
A. verifying
B. multiplying
C. comforting
D. ensuring
Question ID f5a636db
PSAT 10
ID: f5a636db
Diego Velázquez was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain during the seventeenth century, but his
influence was hardly ______ Spain: realist and impressionist painters around the world employed his techniques and
echoed elements of his style.
A. derived from
B. recognized in
C. confined to
D. repressed by
Question ID b171ea8d
PSAT 10
ID: b171ea8d
It is by no means ______ to recognize the influence of Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch on Ali Banisadr’s paintings;
indeed, Banisadr himself cites Bosch as an inspiration. However, some scholars have suggested that the ancient
Mesopotamian poem Epic of Gilgamesh may have had a far greater impact on Banisadr’s work.
A. substantial
B. satisfying
C. unimportant
D. appropriate
Question ID 5aedafd4
PSAT 10
ID: 5aedafd4
According to botanists, a viburnum plant experiencing insect damage may develop erineum—a discolored, felty growth—
on its leaf blades. A ______ viburnum plant, on the other hand, will have leaves with smooth surfaces and uniformly green
coloration.
A. struggling
B. beneficial
C. simple
D. healthy
Question ID 6cc3f514
PSAT 10
ID: 6cc3f514
The parasitic dodder plant increases its reproductive success by flowering at the same time as the host plant it has
latched onto. In 2020, Jianqiang Wu and his colleagues determined that the tiny dodder achieves this ______ with its host
by absorbing and utilizing a protein the host produces when it is about to flower.
A. synchronization
B. hibernation
C. prediction
D. moderation
Question ID fd7720f1
PSAT 10
ID: fd7720f1
Beginning in the 1950s, Navajo Nation legislator Annie Dodge Wauneka continuously worked to promote public health;
this ______ effort involved traveling throughout the vast Navajo homeland and writing a medical dictionary for speakers of
Diné bizaad, the Navajo language.
A. impartial
B. offhand
C. persistent
D. mandatory
Question ID 16e2ce52
PSAT 10
ID: 16e2ce52
Some scientists have suggested that mammals in the Mesozoic era were not a very ______ group, but paleontologist Zhe-
Xi Luo’s research suggests that early mammals living in the shadow of dinosaurs weren’t all ground-dwelling
insectivores. Fossils of various plant-eating mammals have been found in China, including species like Vilevolodon
diplomylos, which Luo says could glide like a flying squirrel.
A. predatory
B. obscure
C. diverse
D. localized
Question ID b9d43164
PSAT 10
ID: b9d43164
Some researchers believe that the genes that enable groundhogs and certain other mammals to hibernate through the
winter by slowing their breathing and heart rates and lowering their body temperature may be ______ in humans: present
yet having essentially no effect on our bodily processes.
A. decisive
B. lacking
C. variable
D. dormant
Question ID d56cb9fe
PSAT 10
ID: d56cb9fe
The following text is adapted from Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
“The second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden. I think that will be the best plan.” It sounded like an
excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly and simply arranged; the only difficulty was, that Alice had not the smallest
idea how to set about it.
As used in the text, what does the word “simply” most nearly mean?
A. Faintly
B. Hastily
C. Easily
D. Foolishly
Question ID a6d3df8d
PSAT 10
ID: a6d3df8d
Within baleen whale species, some individuals develop an accessory spleen—a seemingly functionless formation of
splenetic tissue outside the normal spleen. Given the formation’s greater prevalence among whales known to make
deeper dives, some researchers hypothesize that its role isn’t ______; rather, the accessory spleen may actively support
diving mechanisms.
A. replicable
B. predetermined
C. operative
D. latent
Question ID 2b265404
PSAT 10
ID: 2b265404
Sueño de Familia is an exhibition of drawings, paintings, and ceramics that explores the artistic heritage of US-based
artist Yolanda González. The exhibition ______ five generations, featuring works by González’s great-grandfather,
grandmother, mother, and niece as well as González herself.
A. borrows
B. spans
C. judges
D. neglects
Question ID 1c0b2972
PSAT 10
ID: 1c0b2972
Handedness, a preferential use of either the right or left hand, typically is easy to observe in humans. Because this trait is
present but less ______ in many other animals, animal-behavior researchers often employ tasks specially designed to
reveal individual animals’ preferences for a certain hand or paw.
A. recognizable
B. intriguing
C. significant
D. useful
Question ID a7e97043
PSAT 10
ID: a7e97043
Visual artist Gabriela Alemán states that the bold colors of comics, pop art, and Latinx culture have always fascinated
her. This passion for the rich history and colors of her Latinx community translates into the ______ artworks she
produces.
A. vivid
B. unknown
C. definite
D. reserved
Question ID f83a61c5
PSAT 10
ID: f83a61c5
The recent discovery of a carved wooden figure dating to around 2,000 years ago in a ditch in England was truly
surprising. Wooden objects ______ survive for so long due to their high susceptibility to rot, but archaeologists suspect
layers of sediment in the ditch preserved the figure by creating an oxygen-free environment.
A. sturdily
B. carelessly
C. rarely
D. simply
Question ID d326f965
PSAT 10
ID: d326f965
Charles “Teenie” Harris was a photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier from 1936 to 1975. During his career he took over
70,000 photographs documenting everyday life in Pittsburgh’s Black communities. The Carnegie Museum of Art
maintains thousands of his photographs, carefully ______ them so that audiences can continue to view them well into the
future.
A. replacing
B. inventing
C. preserving
D. counting
Question ID 352f954d
PSAT 10
ID: 352f954d
The process of mechanically recycling plastics is often considered ______ because of the environmental impact and the
loss of material quality that often occurs. But chemist Takunda Chazovachii has helped develop a cleaner process of
chemical recycling that converts superabsorbent polymers from diapers into a desirable reusable adhesive.
A. resilient
B. inadequate
C. dynamic
D. satisfactory
Question ID cc29a943
PSAT 10
ID: cc29a943
Artist Marilyn Dingle’s intricate, coiled baskets are ______ sweetgrass and palmetto palm. Following a Gullah technique
that originated in West Africa, Dingle skillfully winds a thin palm frond around a bunch of sweetgrass with the help of a
“sewing bone” to create the basket’s signature look that no factory can reproduce.
A. indicated by
B. handmade from
C. represented by
D. collected with
Question ID fc385cd1
PSAT 10
ID: fc385cd1
Studying how workload affects productivity, Maryam Kouchaki and colleagues found that people who chose to do
relatively easy tasks first were less ______ compared to those who did hard tasks first. Finishing easy tasks gave
participants a sense of accomplishment, but those who tackled hard tasks first actually became more skilled and
productive workers over time.
A. secretive
B. efficient
C. outgoing
D. unsympathetic
Question ID 7f6b148e
PSAT 10
ID: 7f6b148e
Like the 1945 play it reimagines—Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba—Marcus Gardley’s 2014 play The
House That Will Not Stand prominently features women. In both plays, the all-female cast ______ an array of female
characters, including a strong mother and several daughters dealing with individual struggles.
A. engulfs
B. encourages
C. comprises
D. provokes
Question ID bb0a59ae
PSAT 10
ID: bb0a59ae
Bicycle sharing systems allow users to rent a bicycle at one location within a city and return it to any other designated
location in that city, which can cause serious problems of bicycle supply and user demand within the city’s system. Tohru
Ikeguchi uses open-source data and statistical modeling to identify when a high number of users making one-way trips is
likely to leave some locations within the system ______ bicycles and other areas with insufficient supply.
A. susceptible to
B. contingent on
C. saturated with
D. depleted of
Question ID de055f54
PSAT 10
ID: de055f54
The following text is adapted from Sui Sin Far’s 1912 short story “Mrs. Spring Fragrance.” Mr. and Mrs. Spring Fragrance
immigrated to the United States from China.
Mrs. Spring Fragrance was unaware that Mr. Spring Fragrance, tired with the day’s business, had thrown himself
down on the bamboo settee on the veranda, and that although his eyes were engaged in scanning the pages of
the Chinese World, his ears could not help receiving the words which were borne to him through the open window.
As used in the text, what does the word “receiving” most nearly mean?
A. Denying
B. Entering
C. Carrying
D. Hearing
Question ID eb59336c
PSAT 10
ID: eb59336c
Novelist N. K. Jemisin declines to ______ the conventions of the science fiction genre in which she writes, and she has
suggested that her readers appreciate her work precisely because of this willingness to thwart expectations and avoid
formulaic plots and themes.
A. question
B. react to
C. perceive
D. conform to
Question ID 82e61f51
PSAT 10
ID: 82e61f51
A journalist and well-respected art critic of nineteenth-century Britain, Lady Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake did not hesitate to
publish reviews that went against popular opinion. One of her most divisive works was an essay questioning the idea of
photography as an emerging medium for fine art: in the essay, Eastlake ______ that the value of photographs was
informational rather than creative.
A. exposed
B. asserted
C. discovered
D. doubted
Question ID e088793d
PSAT 10
ID: e088793d
Particle physicists like Ayana Holloway Arce and Aida El-Khadra spend much of their time ______ what is invisible to the
naked eye: using sophisticated technology, they closely examine the behavior of subatomic particles, the smallest
detectable parts of matter.
A. selecting
B. inspecting
C. creating
D. deciding
Question ID aa055d7d
PSAT 10
ID: aa055d7d
The Mule Bone, a 1930 play written by Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, is perhaps the best-known of the few
examples of ______ in literature. Most writers prefer working alone, and given that working together cost Hurston and
Hughes their friendship, it is not hard to see why.
A. characterization
B. interpretation
C. collaboration
D. commercialization
Question ID e65f9b81
PSAT 10
ID: e65f9b81
As an undergraduate researcher in anthropology, Jennifer C. Chen contributed to a groundbreaking study challenging the
accepted view that among prehistoric peoples, female participation in hunting was ______. The research team’s review of
data from late Pleistocene and early Holocene burials in the Americas revealed that, in fact, as many as half of the
hunters in those populations were female.
A. inevitable
B. satisfactory
C. negligible
D. commonplace
Question ID ca26c9a1
PSAT 10
ID: ca26c9a1
Some people have speculated that two helmets with attached horns discovered in Denmark in 1942 belonged to Vikings,
but scholars have long been skeptical. Archaeologist Helle Vandkilde and colleagues recently provided radiocarbon dates
for the helmets, and their findings ______ scholars’ skepticism: the helmets date to the Nordic Bronze Age, centuries
before the Vikings existed.
A. anticipate
B. inspect
C. reveal
D. justify
Question ID ce2586b8
PSAT 10
ID: ce2586b8
Mônica Lopes-Ferreira and others at Brazil’s Butantan Institute are studying the freshwater stingray species
Potamotrygon rex to determine whether biological characteristics such as the rays’ age and sex have ______ effect on the
toxicity of their venom—that is, to see if differences in these traits are associated with considerable variations in venom
potency.
A. a disconcerting
B. an acceptable
C. an imperceptible
D. a substantial
Question ID 9c0c8da4
PSAT 10
ID: 9c0c8da4
Investigating whether shared false visual memories—specific but inaccurate and widely held recollections of images
such as product logos—are caused by people’s previous ______ incorrect renditions of the images, researchers Deepasri
Prasad and Wilma Bainbridge found that, in fact, such memories are often not explained by familiarity with erroneous
versions of the images.
A. compliance with
B. exposure to
C. criteria for
D. forfeiture of
Question ID b60d402e
PSAT 10
ID: b60d402e
The following text is from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. The narrator is being driven in a carriage through a remote
region at night.
The baying of the wolves sounded nearer and nearer, as though they were closing round on us from every side. I
grew dreadfully afraid, and the horses shared my fear. The driver, however, was not in the least disturbed; he kept
turning his head to left and right, but I could not see anything through the darkness.
As used in the text, what does the word “disturbed” most nearly mean?
A. Disorganized
B. Alarmed
C. Offended
D. Interrupted
Question ID 384fe4cf
PSAT 10
ID: 384fe4cf
The following text is adapted from Amy Lowell’s 1912 poem “Summer.”
It is summer, glorious, deep-toned summer,

The very crown of nature’s changing year
When all her surging life is at its full.
To me alone it is a time of pause,
A void and silent space between two worlds,
When inspiration lags, and feeling sleeps,
Gathering strength for efforts yet to come.
As used in the text, what does the phrase “a void” most nearly mean?
A. A useless
B. An empty
C. A forgotten
D. An incomplete
Question ID 2357589e
PSAT 10
ID: 2357589e
Researcher Haesung Jung led a 2020 study showing that individual acts of kindness can ______ prosocial behavior
across a larger group. Jung and her team found that bystanders who witness a helpful act become more likely to offer
help to someone else, and in doing so, can inspire still others to act.
A. require
B. remember
C. foster
D. discourage
Question ID d60941bc
PSAT 10
ID: d60941bc
The Cambrian explosion gets its name from the sudden appearance and rapid diversification of animal remains in the
fossil record about 541 million years ago, during the Cambrian period. Some scientists argue that this ______ change in
the fossil record might be because of a shift in many organisms to body types that were more likely to be preserved.
A. catastrophic
B. elusive
C. abrupt
D. imminent
Question ID 5873ade0
PSAT 10
ID: 5873ade0
Biologist Jane Edgeloe and colleagues have located what is believed to be the largest individual plant in the world in the
Shark Bay area of Australia. The plant is a type of seagrass called Posidonia australis, and it ______ approximately 200
square kilometers.
A. acknowledges
B. produces
C. spans
D. advances
Question ID e28d8e2b
PSAT 10
ID: e28d8e2b
According to a US tax policy expert, state taxes are ______ other factors when considering an interstate move. Even
significant differences in state taxation have almost no effect on most people’s decisions, while differences in
employment opportunities, housing availability, and climate are strong influences.
A. consistent with
B. representative of
C. overshadowed by
D. irrelevant to
Question ID f88c3808
PSAT 10
ID: f88c3808
The following text is adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1844 short story “Drowne’s Wooden Image.” Drowne, a young
man, is carving a wooden figure to decorate the front of a ship.
Day by day, the work assumed greater precision, and settled its irregular and misty outline into distincter grace and
beauty. The general design was now obvious to the common eye.
As used in the text, what does the word “assumed” most nearly mean?
A. Acquired
B. Acknowledged
C. Imitated
D. Speculated
Question ID eeff1923
PSAT 10
ID: eeff1923
New and interesting research conducted by Suleiman A. Al-Sweedan and Moath Alhaj is inspired by their observation that
though there have been many studies of the effect of high altitude on blood chemistry, there is a ______ studies of the
effect on blood chemistry of living in locations below sea level, such as the California towns of Salton City and Seeley.
A. quarrel about
B. paucity of
C. profusion of
D. verisimilitude in
Question ID 23767ca5
PSAT 10
ID: 23767ca5
Scientists previously thought that all electric eels belong to a single species, but a team of researchers led by zoologist
C. David de Santana proved this idea wrong by ______ that there are in fact three distinct species of electric eels.
A. pretending
B. complaining
C. requiring
D. demonstrating
Question ID 0a0d346f
PSAT 10
ID: 0a0d346f
Researchers and conservationists stress that biodiversity loss due to invasive species is ______. For example, people can
take simple steps such as washing their footwear after travel to avoid introducing potentially invasive organisms into
new environments.
A. preventable
B. undeniable
C. common
D. concerning
Question ID 7d8390b1
PSAT 10
ID: 7d8390b1
Ofelia Zepeda’s contributions to the field of linguistics are ______: her many accomplishments include working as a
linguistics professor and bilingual poet, authoring the first Tohono O’odham grammar book, and co-founding the
American Indian Language Development Institute.
A. pragmatic
B. controversial
C. extensive
D. universal
Question ID d5a16632
PSAT 10
ID: d5a16632
Although the playwrights hoped that their play would be ______ when performed live, critics generally agreed that the
production and performances had the opposite effect, wearying audiences instead of energizing them.
A. multifaceted
B. realistic
C. rousing
D. subtle
Question ID 906fc0a0
PSAT 10
ID: 906fc0a0
In the 1960s, Sam Gilliam, a Black painter from the southern United States, became the first artist to drape painted
canvases into flowing shapes. He later explored a different style, ______ quilt-like paintings inspired by the patchwork
quilting tradition of Black communities in the South.
A. predicting
B. refusing
C. hiding
D. creating
Question ID b9ffe90f
PSAT 10
ID: b9ffe90f
Archaeologists studying an ancient amphitheater in Switzerland believe that it dates back to the fourth century CE. Their
discoveries of a coin made between 337 and 341 CE and era-appropriate building materials ______ evidence for this
theory.
A. dismiss
B. provide
C. regulate
D. refuse
Question ID fe4fc413
PSAT 10
ID: fe4fc413
Whether the reign of a French monarch such as Hugh Capet or Henry I was historically consequential or relatively
uneventful, its trajectory was shaped by questions of legitimacy and therefore cannot be understood without a corollary
understanding of the factors that allowed the monarch to ______ his right to hold the throne.
A. disengage
B. annotate
C. buttress
D. reciprocate
Question ID abe4123c
PSAT 10
ID: abe4123c
Artificially delivering biomolecules to plant cells is an important component of protecting plants from pathogens, but it is
difficult to transmit biomolecules through the layers of the plant cell wall. Markita del Carpio Landry and her colleagues
have shown that it may be possible to ______ this problem by transmitting molecules through carbon nanotubes, which
can cross cell walls.
A. conceptualize
B. neglect
C. illustrate
D. overcome
Question ID 6f82b732
PSAT 10
ID: 6f82b732
In 2008 a complete set of ancient pessoi (glass game pieces) was uncovered from beneath a paving stone in modern-
day Israel. Due to their small size, pessoi were easily misplaced, making a whole set a rare find. This has led some
experts to suggest that the set may have been buried intentionally; however, without clear evidence, archaeologists are
left to ______ what happened.
A. speculate about
B. dismiss
C. expand on
D. catalog
Question ID 32816015
PSAT 10
ID: 32816015
The following text is from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel The Secret Garden. Mary, a young girl, is outside trying
her new jump rope.
The sun was shining and a little wind was blowing—not a rough wind, but one which came in delightful little gusts
and brought a fresh scent of newly turned earth with it. She skipped round the fountain garden, and up one walk and
down another.
As used in the text, what does the word “rough” most nearly mean?
A. Harsh
B. Scratchy
C. Basic
D. Vague
Question ID e4bcc684
PSAT 10
ID: e4bcc684
Bioluminescent beetles called fireflies may seem to create flashes of light randomly, but each species of firefly actually
has its own special series of repeated flashes and pauses. These unique ______ allow fireflies of the same species to find
each other.
A. quantities
B. decorations
C. patterns
D. agreements
Question ID 7b434da9
PSAT 10
ID: 7b434da9
While scholars believe many Mesoamerican cities influenced each other, direct evidence of such influence is difficult to
ascertain. However, recent excavations in a sector of Tikal (Guatemala) unearthed a citadel that shows ______
Teotihuacán (Mexico) architecture—including a near replica of a famed Teotihuacán temple—providing tangible evidence
of outside influence in portions of Tikal.
A. refinements of
B. precursors of
C. commonalities with
D. animosities toward
Question ID f75063a1
PSAT 10
ID: f75063a1
Nigerian American author Teju Cole’s ______ his two passions—photography and the written word—culminates in his 2017
book, Blind Spot, which evocatively combines his original photographs from his travels with his poetic prose.
A. indifference to
B. enthusiasm for
C. concern about
D. surprise at
Question ID da80d2c1
PSAT 10
ID: da80d2c1
While most animals are incapable of passing somatic mutations—genetic alterations that arise in an organism’s
nonreproductive cells—on to their offspring, elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) presents an intriguing ______: in a 2022
study, researchers found that elkhorn coral produced offspring that inherited somatic mutations from a parent.
A. hypothesis
B. affinity
C. anomaly
D. corroboration
PSAT 10
ID: 3067b065
Interruptions in the supply chain for microchips used in personal electronics have challenged an economist’s assertion
that retailers can expect robust growth in sales of those devices in the coming months. The delays are unlikely to ______
her projection entirely but will almost certainly extend its time frame.
A. dispute
B. withdraw
C. underscore
D. invalidate
Question ID c287dfe2
PSAT 10
ID: c287dfe2
Logically, a damaged fossil should provide less information than an intact one, but for paleontologist Brigitte
Schoenemann, a broken area on a fossilized trilobite (a crustacean-like creature) ______ fresh insight, allowing her to view
the inner structure of the organism’s eye.
A. resolved
B. adjusted
C. offered
D. directed
Question ID 45c7093e
PSAT 10
ID: 45c7093e
Although critics believed that customers would never agree to pay to pick their own produce on farms, such concerns
didn’t ______ Booker T. Whatley’s efforts to promote the practice. Thanks in part to Whatley’s determined advocacy, farms
that allow visitors to pick their own apples, pumpkins, and other produce can be found throughout the United States.
A. enhance
B. hinder
C. misrepresent
D. aggravate
Question ID 1807b2b6
PSAT 10
ID: 1807b2b6
As Mexico’s first president from an Indigenous community, Benito Juarez became one of the most ______ figures in his
country’s history: among the many significant accomplishments of his long tenure in office (1858–1872), Juarez
consolidated the authority of the national government and advanced the rights of Indigenous peoples.
A. unpredictable
B. important
C. secretive
D. ordinary
Question ID f439d7d6
PSAT 10
ID: f439d7d6
In addition to being an accomplished psychologist himself, Francis Cecil Sumner was a ______ increasing the opportunity
for Black students to study psychology, helping to found the psychology department at Howard University, a historically
Black university, in 1930.
A. proponent of
B. supplement to
C. beneficiary of
D. distraction for
Question ID a13b5906
PSAT 10
ID: a13b5906
In the early 1800s, the Cherokee scholar Sequoyah created the first script, or writing system, for an Indigenous language
in the United States. Because it represented the sounds of spoken Cherokee so accurately, his script was easy to learn
and thus quickly achieved ______ use: by 1830, over 90 percent of the Cherokee people could read and write it.
A. widespread
B. careful
C. unintended
D. infrequent
Question ID 85c176d5
PSAT 10
ID: 85c176d5
The Appalachian Trail is a hiking path in the eastern United States. Much of the 2,000 mile trail passes through
wilderness areas. In order to ______ those areas, the United States Congress passed the National Trails System Act in
1968, ensuring that the trail would not be sold or commercially developed.
A. borrow
B. postpone
C. protect
D. decorate
Question ID 0534fba8
PSAT 10
ID: 0534fba8
Following the principles of community-based participatory research, tribal nations and research institutions are equal
partners in health studies conducted on reservations. A collaboration between the Crow Tribe and Montana State
University ______ this model: tribal citizens worked alongside scientists to design the methodology and continue to assist
in data collection.
A. circumvents
B. eclipses
C. fabricates
D. exemplifies
Question ID 39ca5776
PSAT 10
ID: 39ca5776
While we can infer information about climate activity in Earth’s distant past from physical evidence, we of course cannot
observe past climates directly. To study early Earth’s climate in action, we must ______ that climate using computer
models that represent various climate conditions consistent with the physical evidence.
A. invent
B. simulate
C. exaggerate
D. preserve
Question ID 699c6598
PSAT 10
ID: 699c6598
In the 1970s, video cameras became increasingly affordable for ordinary consumers and gave Ulysses Jenkins and other
artists capabilities that were previously unavailable except to television broadcasters. Jenkins recognized and took full
advantage of this ______ access to powerful technology to create groundbreaking works of video art, such as Mass of
Images (1978).
A. newfound
B. delicate
C. inevitable
D. habitual
Question ID 340b33cd
PSAT 10
ID: 340b33cd
Stephen Hannock’s luminous landscape paintings are appealing to viewers but have elicited little commentary from
contemporary critics, a phenomenon that may be due to the very fact that the paintings seem so ______. Many critics
focus their attention on art that is cryptic or overtly challenging.
A. innovative
B. subversive
C. profound
D. accessible
Question ID ff4c2448
PSAT 10
ID: ff4c2448
Like other tribal nations, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation is self-governing; its National Council generates laws regulating
aspects of community life such as land use and healthcare, while the principal chief and cabinet officials ______ those
laws by devising policies and administering services in accordance with them.
A. implement
B. presume
C. improvise
D. mimic
PSAT 10
ID: 79285709
The author’s claim about the relationship between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens is ______, as it fails to account for
several recent archaeological discoveries. To be convincing, his argument would need to address recent finds of
additional hominid fossils, such as the latest Denisovan specimens and Homo longi.
A. disorienting
B. tenuous
C. nuanced
D. unoriginal
Question ID 00bfdbd7
PSAT 10
ID: 00bfdbd7
The fashion resale market, in which consumers purchase secondhand clothing from stores and online sellers, generated
nearly $30 billion globally in 2019. Expecting to see continued growth, some analysts ______ that revenues will more than
double by 2028.
A. produced
B. denied
C. worried
D. predicted
Question ID 973c10f3
PSAT 10
ID: 973c10f3
Arturo A. Schomburg was dedicated to preserving books, art, and other materials from peoples of African descent
around the world. To get these items, Schomburg ______ friends and colleagues, whom he asked to bring back rare and
valuable objects from their international travels. Now, Schomburg’s collection is a valuable resource for scholars of Black
history and culture.
A. admired
B. disagreed with
C. warned
D. depended on
Question ID a15579ac
PSAT 10
ID: a15579ac
Rydra Wong, the protagonist of Samuel R. Delany’s 1966 novel Babel-17, is a poet, an occupation which, in Delany’s work,
is not ______: nearly a dozen of the characters that populate his novels are poets or writers.
A. infallible
B. atypical
C. lucrative
D. tedious
Question ID fdb7021d
PSAT 10
ID: fdb7021d
In habitats with limited nutrients, certain fungus species grow on the roots of trees, engaging in mutually beneficial
relationships known as ectomycorrhizae: in this symbiotic exchange, the tree provides the fungus with carbon, a nutrient
necessary for both species, and the fungus ______ by enhancing the tree’s ability to absorb nitrogen, another key nutrient,
from the soil.
A. overreacts
B. reciprocates
C. retaliates
D. deviates
Question ID 6721a0e1
PSAT 10
ID: 6721a0e1
The printing of Virginia Woolf’s novels featured a creative ______ between Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell: a talented
painter, Bell worked closely with Woolf to create original cover art for most of the novels.
A. rebellion
B. partnership
C. discovery
D. disagreement
Question ID 37b92f8f
PSAT 10
ID: 37b92f8f
For a 2020 exhibition, photographer and neurobiologist Okunola Jeyifous ______ a series of new images based on a
series of alphabet posters from the 1970s known as the “Black ABCs,” which featured Black children from Chicago.
Jeyifous photographed the now-adult models and layered the photos over magnified images of the models’ cells,
resulting in what he called “micro and macro portraiture.”
A. validated
B. created
C. challenged
D. restored
Question ID 1ccdb293
PSAT 10
ID: 1ccdb293
Research conducted by planetary scientist Katarina Miljkovic suggests that the Moon’s surface may not accurately ______
early impact events. When the Moon was still forming, its surface was softer, and asteroid or meteoroid impacts would
have left less of an impression; thus, evidence of early impacts may no longer be present.
A. reflect
B. receive
C. evaluate
D. mimic
Question ID a05e2f16
PSAT 10
ID: a05e2f16
The following text is from Claude McKay’s 1922 poem “Morning Joy.” The speaker is looking out a window and observing
a wold, or large area of land.
At night the wide and level stretch of wold,

Which at high noon had basked in quiet gold,
Far as the eye could see was ghostly white;
Dark was the night save for the snow’s weird light.
I drew the shades far down, crept into bed;

Hearing the cold wind moaning overhead
Through the sad pines, my soul, catching its pain,
Went sorrowing with it across the plain.
As used in the text, what does the word “drew” most nearly mean?
A. Pulled
B. Drained
C. Inspired
D. Sketched
Question ID a5831311
PSAT 10
ID: a5831311
Osage Nation citizen Randy Tinker-Smith produced and directed the ballet Wahzhazhe, which vividly chronicles Osage
history and culture. Telling Osage stories through ballet is ______ choice because two of the foremost ballet dancers of
the twentieth century were Osage: sisters Maria and Marjorie Tallchief.
A. a suitable
B. a determined
C. an arbitrary
D. an unpredictable
Question ID 5f6c6854
PSAT 10
ID: 5f6c6854
Physicist Joseph Weber performed ______ work in gravitational wave research in the 1960s and 1970s, conducting key
experiments that scientists later used as the basis for their own investigations that led to the first verified detection of a
gravitational wave in 2015.
A. foundational
B. supplementary
C. repetitive
D. ineffective
Question ID 3f9c1be4
PSAT 10
ID: 3f9c1be4
The following text is adapted from George Eliot’s 1871–72 novel Middlemarch.
[Mr. Brooke] had travelled in his younger years, and was held in this part of the country to have contracted a too
rambling habit of mind. Mr. Brooke’s conclusions were as difficult to predict as the weather.
As used in the text, what does the word “contracted” most nearly mean?
A. Restricted
B. Described
C. Developed
D. Settled
Question ID 71db08c3
PSAT 10
ID: 71db08c3
According to statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the best way to predict the amount of time a nonperishable entity (such
as a building or a technology) will continue to exist is to examine how long it has survived so far. In this view, an item’s
age is the strongest ______ how much longer it will last.
A. uncertainty about
B. indicator of
C. motivation for
D. criticism of
Question ID 572c32e8
PSAT 10
ID: 572c32e8
The province of Xoconochco was situated on the Pacific coast, hundreds of kilometers southeast of Tenochtitlan, the
capital of the Aztec Empire. Because Xoconochco’s location within the empire was so ______, cacao and other trade
goods produced there could reach the capital only after a long overland journey.
A. unobtrusive
B. concealed
C. approximate
D. peripheral
Question ID 4792a12d
PSAT 10
ID: 4792a12d
The work of Kiowa painter T.C. Cannon derives its power in part from the tension among his ______ influences: classic
European portraiture, with its realistic treatment of faces; the American pop art movement, with its vivid colors; and
flatstyle, the intertribal painting style that rejects the effect of depth typically achieved through shading and perspective.
A. complementary
B. unknown
C. disparate
D. interchangeable
Question ID 60cfe96c
PSAT 10
ID: 60cfe96c
According to Potawatomi ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer, the Indigenous method of harvesting Hierochloe odorata, or
sweetgrass, by snapping the plant off at the root actually ______ wild populations: it may seem counterintuitive, she says,
but this method of removal allows new sweetgrass plants to repopulate the space, with an overall increase in number
and vigor.
A. selects
B. originates
C. conditions
D. replenishes
Question ID 95092fa0
PSAT 10
ID: 95092fa0
The following text is adapted from Sadakichi Hartmann’s 1894 short story “Magnolia Blossoms.” The narrator is standing
on the deck of a boat.
What a night it was! My soul had left its body to lose itself in the wild unrestrained beauty around me—from where it
came—and only left a trembling suggestion of its existence within me. The other passengers moved around me like
shadows, and again and again my eyes drank in all the glory and wealth of that night.
As used in the text, what does the word “suggestion” most nearly mean?
A. Trace
B. Opinion
C. Dispute
D. Command
Question ID 8ee4627c
PSAT 10
ID: 8ee4627c
In recommending Bao Phi’s collection Sông I Sing, a librarian noted that pieces by the spoken-word poet don’t lose their
______ nature when printed: the language has the same pleasant musical quality on the page as it does when performed
by Phi.
A. scholarly
B. melodic
C. jarring
D. personal
Question ID bed303b9
PSAT 10
ID: bed303b9
Dance choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar aims to give people the opportunity to be ______ her creative process. For
example, live performances of her dance HairStories, which debuted in 2001, featured videos of people across the United
States talking about their hair and audience members sharing pictures of their interesting hairstyles.
A. nervous about
B. completed by
C. delayed by
D. involved in
Question ID c031c0fe
PSAT 10
ID: c031c0fe
The artisans of the Igun Eronmwon guild in Benin City, Nigeria, typically ______ the bronze- and brass-casting techniques
that have been passed down through their families since the thirteenth century, but they don’t strictly observe every
tradition; for example, guild members now use air-conditioning motors instead of handheld bellows to help heat their
forges.
A. experiment with
B. adhere to
C. improve on
D. grapple with
Question ID 697dcd7e
PSAT 10
ID: 697dcd7e
The following text is adapted from Oscar Wilde’s 1895 play The Importance of Being Earnest.
CECILY: Have we got to part?
ALGERNON: I am afraid so. It’s a very painful parting.
CECILY: It is always painful to part from people whom one has known for a very brief space of time. The absence of old
friends one can endure with equanimity. But even a momentary separation from anyone to whom one has just been
introduced is almost unbearable.
As used in the text, what does the word “endure” most nearly mean?
A. Regret
B. Persist
C. Tolerate
D. Encourage
Question ID c4b1ca8b
PSAT 10
ID: c4b1ca8b
For painter Jacob Lawrence, being ______ was an important part of the artistic process. Because he paid close attention
to all the details of his Harlem neighborhood, Lawrence’s artwork captured nuances in the beauty and vitality of the Black
experience during the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Migration.
A. skeptical
B. observant
C. critical
D. confident
Question ID 5888a6f4
PSAT 10
ID: 5888a6f4
During a 2014 archaeological dig in Spain, Vicente Lull and his team uncovered the skeleton of a woman from El Algar, an
Early Bronze Age society, buried with valuable objects signaling a high position of power. This finding may persuade
researchers who have argued that Bronze Age societies were ruled by men to ______ that women may have also held
leadership roles.
A. waive
B. concede
C. refute
D. require
Question ID 2c46da8b
PSAT 10
ID: 2c46da8b
The following text is adapted from Mohsin Hamid’s 2017 novel Exit West. Saeed lives with his mother and father.
On cloudless nights after a daytime rain, Saeed’s father would sometimes bring out the telescope, and the family would
sip green tea on their balcony, enjoying a breeze, and take turns to look up at objects whose light, often, had been emitted
before any of these three viewers had been born—light from other centuries, only now reaching Earth.
©2017 by Mohsin Hamid
As used in the text, what does the word “reaching” most nearly mean?
A. Arriving at
B. Consulting with
C. Running to
D. Clinging to
Question ID 4a13cac8
PSAT 10
ID: 4a13cac8
When Mexican-American archaeologist Zelia Maria Magdalena Nuttall published her 1886 research paper on sculptures
found at the ancient Indigenous city of Teotihuacan in present-day Mexico, other researchers readily ______ her work as
groundbreaking; this recognition stemmed from her convincing demonstration that the sculptures were much older than
had previously been thought.
A. acknowledged
B. ensured
C. denied
D. underestimated
Question ID ec88fda1
PSAT 10
ID: ec88fda1
Set in a world where science fiction tropes exist as everyday realities, Charles Yu’s 2010 novel How to Live Safely in a
Science Fictional Universe traces a time traveler’s quest to find his father. Because the journey at the novel’s center is so
______, with the protagonist ricocheting chaotically across time, the reader often wonders whether the pair will ever be
reunited.
A. haphazard
B. premeditated
C. inspirational
D. fruitless
Question ID 3da95a40
PSAT 10
ID: 3da95a40
Although science fiction was dominated mostly by white male authors when Octavia Butler, a Black woman, began
writing, she did not view the genre as ______: Butler broke into the field with the publication of several short stories and
her 1976 novel Patternmaster, and she later became the first science fiction writer to win a prestigious MacArthur
Fellowship.
A. legitimate
B. impenetrable
C. compelling
D. indecipherable
Question ID 084e8a77
PSAT 10
ID: 084e8a77
To develop a method for measuring snow depth with laser beams, NASA physicist Yongxiang Hu relied on ______;
identifying broad similarities between two seemingly different phenomena, Hu used information about how ants move
inside colonies to calculate how the particles of light that make up laser beams travel through snow.
A. a collaboration
B. an accessory
C. a contradiction
D. an analogy
Question ID afc3d0d1
PSAT 10
ID: afc3d0d1
The spacecraft OSIRIS-REx briefly made contact with the asteroid 101955 Bennu in 2020. NASA scientist Daniella
DellaGiustina reports that despite facing the unexpected obstacle of a surface mostly covered in boulders, OSIRIS-REx
successfully ______ a sample of the surface, gathering pieces of it to bring back to Earth.
A. attached
B. collected
C. followed
D. replaced
Question ID 55e53150
PSAT 10
ID: 55e53150
The following text is from Booth Tarkington’s 1921 novel Alice Adams.
Mrs. Adams had always been fond of vases, she said, and every year her husband’s Christmas present to her was a
vase of one sort or another—whatever the clerk showed him, marked at about twelve or fourteen dollars.
As used in the text, what does the word “marked” most nearly mean?
A. Staged
B. Priced
C. Stained
D. Watched
Question ID d10ee7a0
PSAT 10
ID: d10ee7a0
Given that the conditions in binary star systems should make planetary formation nearly impossible, it’s not surprising
that the existence of planets in such systems has lacked ______ explanation. Roman Rafikov and Kedron Silsbee shed
light on the subject when they used modeling to determine a complex set of factors that could support planets’
development.
A. a discernible
B. a straightforward
C. an inconclusive
D. an unbiased
Question ID a5efa231
PSAT 10
ID: a5efa231
In the Indigenous intercropping system known as the Three Sisters, maize, squash, and beans form an ______ web of
relations: maize provides the structure on which the bean vines grow; the squash vines cover the soil, discouraging
competition from weeds; and the beans aid their two “sisters” by enriching the soil with essential nitrogen.
A. indecipherable
B. ornamental
C. obscure
D. intricate
Question ID 133abbda
PSAT 10
ID: 133abbda
The following text is from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby.
[Jay Gatsby] was balancing himself on the dashboard of his car with that resourcefulness of movement that is so
peculiarly American—that comes, I suppose, with the absence of lifting work in youth and, even more, with the
formless grace of our nervous, sporadic games. This quality was continually breaking through his punctilious
manner in the shape of restlessness.
As used in the text, what does the word “quality” most nearly mean?
A. Standard
B. Prestige
C. Characteristic
D. Accomplishment
Question ID 4531fbbf
PSAT 10
ID: 4531fbbf
Economist Marco Castillo and colleagues showed that nuisance costs—the time and effort people must spend to make
donations—reduce charitable giving. Charities can mitigate this effect by compensating donors for nuisance costs, but
those costs, though variable, are largely ______ donation size, so charities that compensate donors will likely favor
attracting a few large donors over many small donors.
A. supplemental to
B. predictive of
C. independent of
D. subsumed in
Question ID ce436d52
PSAT 10
ID: ce436d52
Due to their often strange images, highly experimental syntax, and opaque subject matter, many of John Ashbery’s
poems can be quite difficult to ______ and thus are the object of heated debate among scholars.
A. delegate
B. compose
C. interpret
D. renounce
Question ID e07e635c
PSAT 10
ID: e07e635c
In 1877, 85% of California’s railways were already controlled by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The company further
solidified its ______ in rail access to the state’s Pacific coast when it completed the Sunset Route in 1883: running from
Louisiana to Southern California, the route established the first transcontinental rail line across the southern United
States.
A. dominance
B. creativity
C. insignificance
D. neutrality
Question ID 9493b46b
PSAT 10
ID: 9493b46b
Former astronaut Ellen Ochoa says that although she doesn’t have a definite idea of when it might happen, she ______
that humans will someday need to be able to live in other environments than those found on Earth. This conjecture
informs her interest in future research missions to the moon.
A. demands
B. speculates
C. doubts
D. establishes
Question ID ecbd6424
PSAT 10
ID: ecbd6424
Rejecting the premise that the literary magazine Ebony and Topaz (1927) should present a unified vision of Black
American identity, editor Charles S. Johnson fostered his contributors’ diverse perspectives by promoting their authorial
autonomy. Johnson’s self-effacement diverged from the editorial stances of W.E.B. Du Bois and Alain Locke, whose
decisions for their publications were more ______.
A. proficient
B. dogmatic
C. ambiguous
D. unpretentious
Question ID 0e385e33
PSAT 10
ID: 0e385e33
Seminole/Muscogee director Sterlin Harjo ______ television’s tendency to situate Native characters in the distant past:
this rejection is evident in his series Reservation Dogs, which revolves around teenagers who dress in contemporary
styles and whose dialogue is laced with current slang.
A. repudiates
B. proclaims
C. foretells
D. recants
Question ID c6fb83ae
PSAT 10
ID: c6fb83ae
The following text is from Yann Martel’s 2001 novel Life of Pi. The narrator’s family owned a zoo when he was a child.
It was a huge zoo, spread over numberless acres, big enough to require a train to explore it, though it seemed to get
smaller as I grew older, train included.
©2001 by Yann Martel
As used in the text, what does the word “spread” most nearly mean?
A. Hidden
B. Discussed
C. Extended
D. Coated
Question ID 4fd9ca5d
PSAT 10
ID: 4fd9ca5d
As an architect in Los Angeles in the 1950s, Helen Liu Fong became known for avoiding ______ designs in her buildings.
Instead of using standard shapes and colors, she typically explored innovative forms and daring hues.
A. creative
B. bold
C. traditional
D. understandable
Question ID 5b03feaf
PSAT 10
ID: 5b03feaf
Critics have asserted that fine art and fashion rarely ______ in a world where artists create timeless works for exhibition
and designers periodically produce new styles for the public to buy. Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock beadwork artist and
designer Jamie Okuma challenges this view: her work can be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and purchased
through her online boutique.
A. prevail
B. succumb
C. diverge
D. intersect
Question ID 8f9ba3f1
PSAT 10
ID: 8f9ba3f1
A brief book review cannot fully convey the ______ of Olga Tokarczuk’s novel The Books of Jacob, with its enormous cast
of characters, its complicated, wandering plot, and its page numbers that count backward (beginning at 965 and ending
at 1).
A. accuracy
B. inactivity
C. complexity
D. restraint
PSAT 10
ID: 32897050
Sumerian civilization (which lasted from around 3300 to 2000 BCE) ______ many concepts that persist into present-day
civilizations: for example, the first description of the seven-day week appears in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh.
A. transformed
B. introduced
C. inherited
D. overlooked
Question ID 13c5c4c2
PSAT 10
ID: 13c5c4c2
Some foraging models predict that the distance bees travel when foraging will decline as floral density increases, but
biologists Shalene Jha and Claire Kremen showed that bees’ behavior is inconsistent with this prediction if flowers in
dense patches are ______: bees will forage beyond patches of low species richness to acquire multiple resource types.
A. depleted
B. homogeneous
C. immature
D. dispersed
PSAT 10
ID: 121f7427
For her 2021 art installation Anthem, Wu Tsang joined forces with singer and composer Beverly Glenn-Copeland to
produce a piece that critics found truly ______: they praised Tsang for creatively transforming a museum rotunda into a
dynamic exhibit by projecting filmed images of Glenn-Copeland onto a massive 84-foot curtain and filling the space with
the sounds of his and other voices singing.
A. restrained
B. inventive
C. inexplicable
D. mystifying
PSAT 10
ID: 92852f09
Scholarly discussions of gender in Shakespeare’s comedies often celebrate the rebellion of the playwright’s characters
against the rigid expectations ______ by Elizabethan society. Most of the comedies end in marriage, with characters
returning to their socially dictated gender roles after previously defying them, but there are some notable exceptions.
A. interjected
B. committed
C. illustrated
D. prescribed
Question ID e5c826be
PSAT 10
ID: e5c826be
As a young photographer in the 1950s, William Klein ______ the conventions of photography by creating images that were
high contrast and included blurred and distorted elements—features generally seen as flaws. So unorthodox was Klein’s
work that he had difficulty finding a publisher for his now-iconic 1956 photo book Life is Good & Good for You in New
York.
A. reviewed
B. defied
C. respected
D. prevented
Question ID 49c3a5db
PSAT 10
ID: 49c3a5db
Some economic historians ______ that late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century households in the United States
experienced an economy of scale when it came to food purchases—they assumed that large households spent less on
food per person than did small households. Economist Trevon Logan showed, however, that a close look at the available
data disproves this supposition.
A. surmised
B. contrived
C. questioned
D. regretted
Question ID 50e2cbb3
PSAT 10
ID: 50e2cbb3
US traffic signals didn’t always contain the familiar three lights (red, yellow, and green). Traffic lights only ______ red and
green lights until the three-light traffic signal was developed in the 1920s.
A. avoided
B. featured
C. appreciated
D. disregarded
Question ID a3913947
PSAT 10
ID: a3913947
In 1929 the Atlantic Monthly published several articles based on newly discovered letters allegedly exchanged between
President Abraham Lincoln and a woman named Ann Rutledge. Historians were unable to ______ the authenticity of the
letters, however, and quickly dismissed them as a hoax.
A. validate
B. interpret
C. relate
D. accommodate
PSAT 10
ID: 166021c8
Anthropologist Kristian J. Carlson and colleagues examined the fossilized clavicle and shoulder bones of a 3.6-million-
year-old early hominin known as “Little Foot.” They found that these bones were ______ the clavicle and shoulder bones of
modern apes that are frequent climbers, such as gorillas and chimpanzees, suggesting that Little Foot had adapted to
life in the trees.
A. surpassed by
B. comparable to
C. independent of
D. obtained from
Question ID c0ea30ed
PSAT 10
ID: c0ea30ed
The following text is adapted from Karel Čapek’s 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), translated by Paul
Selver and Nigel Playfair in 1923. Fabry and Busman are telling Miss Glory why their company manufactures robots.
FABRY: One Robot can replace two and a half workmen. The human machine, Miss Glory, was terribly imperfect. It had
to be removed sooner or later.
BUSMAN: It was too expensive.
FABRY: It was not effective. It no longer answers the requirements of modern engineering. Nature has no idea of
keeping pace with modern labor.
As used in the text, what does the word “answers” most nearly mean?
A. Explains
B. Rebuts
C. Defends
D. Fulfills
Question ID 51d1f812
PSAT 10
ID: 51d1f812
In studying the use of external stimuli to reduce the itching sensation caused by an allergic histamine response, Louise
Ward and colleagues found that while harmless applications of vibration or warming can provide a temporary distraction,
such ______ stimuli actually offer less relief than a stimulus that seems less benign, like a mild electric shock.
A. deceptive
B. innocuous
C. novel
D. impractical
Question ID 67aeed94
PSAT 10
ID: 67aeed94
In Nature Poem (2017), Kumeyaay poet Tommy Pico portrays his ______ the natural world by honoring the centrality of
nature within his tribe’s traditional beliefs while simultaneously expressing his distaste for being in wilderness settings
himself.
A. responsiveness to
B. ambivalence toward
C. renunciation of
D. mastery over
Question ID 2c0fce04
PSAT 10
ID: 2c0fce04
The following text is adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1837 story “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment.” The main character, a
physician, is experimenting with rehydrating a dried flower.
At first [the rose] lay lightly on the surface of the fluid, appearing to imbibe none of its moisture. Soon, however, a
singular change began to be visible. The crushed and dried petals stirred and assumed a deepening tinge of
crimson, as if the flower were reviving from a deathlike slumber.
As used in the text, what does the phrase “a singular” most nearly mean?
A. A lonely
B. A disagreeable
C. An acceptable
D. An extraordinary
Question ID 1abf42c6
PSAT 10
ID: 1abf42c6
The following text is from Nella Larsen’s 1928 novel Quicksand.
The trees in their spring beauty sent through her restive mind a sharp thrill of pleasure. Seductive, charming, and
beckoning as cities were, they had not this easy unhuman loveliness.
As used in the text, what does the word “beckoning” most nearly mean?
A. Demanding
B. Signaling
C. Inviting
D. Shifting
Question ID 8f0cc7a7
PSAT 10
ID: 8f0cc7a7
Business researcher Melanie Brucks and colleagues found that remote video conference meetings may be less
conducive to brainstorming than in-person meetings are. The researchers suspect that video meeting participants are
focused on staring at the speaker on the screen and don’t allow their eyes or mind to wander as much, which may
ultimately ______ creativity.
A. recommend
B. criticize
C. impede
D. construct
Question ID f1be2bd1
PSAT 10
ID: f1be2bd1
Mineralogical differences are detectable in samples collected from two locations on the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, but
such differences may not indicate substantial compositional variations in the asteroid. Cosmochemist Kazuhide
Nagashima and colleagues note that at the small scale of the samples, the distribution of minerals is unlikely to be ______
.
A. neglected
B. redundant
C. ongoing
D. uniform
Question ID 601b8d64
PSAT 10
ID: 601b8d64
In the mid-nineteenth century, some abolitionist newspapers ______ westward migration in the United States; by printing a
letter that described the easy fortunes and high salaries miners could make in California during the Gold Rush, Frederick
Douglass’s newspaper North Star was one such publication that inspired readers to relocate.
A. stimulated
B. assigned
C. opposed
D. disregarded
Question ID 5ead5de0
PSAT 10
ID: 5ead5de0
Researchers have struggled to pinpoint specific causes for hiccups, which happen when a person’s diaphragm contracts
______. However, neuroscientist Kimberley Whitehead has found that these uncontrollable contractions may play an
important role in helping infants regulate their breathing.
A. involuntarily
B. beneficially
C. strenuously
D. smoothly
Question ID a47f5b24
PSAT 10
ID: a47f5b24
A musician and member of the Quechua of Peru, Renata Flores Rivera was eager to promote the Quechua language in
her music, but she was ______ speaking it. She met this challenge by asking her grandmother, a native speaker of
Quechua, to help her pronounce words in her song lyrics and also by taking classes in the language.
A. prepared for
B. inexperienced with
C. skilled in
D. excited about
Question ID 3f54168c
PSAT 10
ID: 3f54168c
In a 2019 study, Jeremy Gunawardena and colleagues found that the single-celled protozoan Stentor roeseli not only
uses strategies to escape irritating stimuli but also switches strategies when one fails. This evidence of protozoans
sophisticatedly “changing their minds” demonstrates that single-celled organisms may not be limited to ______ behaviors.
A. aggressive
B. rudimentary
C. evolving
D. advantageous
Question ID 608d9ef2
PSAT 10
ID: 608d9ef2
The work of molecular biophysicist Enrique M. De La Cruz is known for ______ traditional boundaries between academic
disciplines. The university laboratory that De La Cruz runs includes engineers, biologists, chemists, and physicists, and
the research the lab produces makes use of insights and techniques from all those fields.
A. epitomizing
B. transcending
C. anticipating
D. reinforcing
Question ID 3dcdd94f
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 3dcdd94f
Text 1
Because literacy in Nahuatl script, the writing system of the Aztec Empire, was lost after Spain invaded central Mexico in
the 1500s, it is unclear exactly how meaning was encoded in the script’s symbols. Although many scholars had assumed
that the symbols signified entire words, linguist Alfonso Lacadena theorized in 2008 that they signified units of language
smaller than words: individual syllables.
Text 2
The growing consensus among scholars of Nahuatl script is that many of its symbols could signify either words or
syllables, depending on syntax and content at any given site within a text. For example, the symbol signifying the word
huipil (blouse) in some contexts could signify the syllable “pil” in others, as in the place name “Chipiltepec.” Thus, for the
Aztecs, reading required a determination of how such symbols functioned each time they appeared in a text.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely characterize Lacadena’s theory, as described in Text 1?
A. By praising the theory for recognizing that the script’s symbols could represent entire words
B. By arguing that the theory is overly influenced by the work of earlier scholars
C. By approving of the theory’s emphasis on how the script changed over time
D. By cautioning that the theory overlooks certain important aspects of how the script functioned
Question ID bba06da2

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: bba06da2
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?
A. Most microbes are better able to survive in environments with extremely dry conditions than in environments with
harsh temperatures.
B. A much higher number of microbes would probably be found if another sample of soil were taken from the Antarctic
study site.
C. Microbes are likely difficult to detect in the soil at the Antarctic study site because they tend to be smaller than
microbes found in typical soil elsewhere.
D. Most microbes are probably unable to withstand the soil conditions at the Antarctic study site.
Question ID 3cd6524f
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Text Structure and
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 3cd6524f
According to Indian economist and sociologist Radhakamal Mukerjee (1889–1968), the Eurocentric concepts that
informed early twentieth-century social scientific methods—for example, the idea that all social relations are reducible to
struggles between individuals—had little relevance for India. Making the social sciences more responsive to Indians’
needs, Mukerjee argued, required constructing analytical categories informed by India’s cultural and ecological
circumstances. Mukerjee thus proposed the communalist “Indian village” as the ideal model on which to base Indian
economic and social policy.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
A. The text recounts Mukerjee’s early training in the social scientific disciplines and then lists social policies whose
implementation Mukerjee oversaw.
B. The text mentions some of Mukerjee’s economic theories and then traces their impact on other Indian social
scientists of the twentieth century.
C. The text presents Mukerjee’s critique of the social sciences and then provides an example of his attempts to address
issues he identified in his critique.
D. The text explains an influential economic theory and then demonstrates how that theory was more important to
Mukerjee’s work than other social scientists have acknowledged.
Question ID 9f5895d3
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 9f5895d3
The following text is from Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre. Jane, the narrator, works as a governess at Thornfield
Hall.
I went on with my day’s business tranquilly; but ever and anon vague suggestions kept wandering across my brain of
reasons why I should quit Thornfield; and I kept involuntarily framing advertisements and pondering conjectures about
new situations: these thoughts I did not think to check; they might germinate and bear fruit if they could.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A. To convey a contrast between Jane’s outward calmness and internal restlessness
B. To emphasize Jane’s loyalty to the people she works for at Thornfield Hall
C. To demonstrate that Jane finds her situation both challenging and deeply fulfilling
D. To describe Jane’s determination to secure employment outside of Thornfield Hall

Question ID 68f5dab1

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 68f5dab1
Text 1
Historians studying pre-Inca Peru have looked to ceramic vessels to understand daily life among the Moche people.
These mold-made sculptures present plants, animals, and human faces in precise ways—vessels representing human
faces are so detailed that scholars have interpreted facial markings to represent scars and other skin irregularities. Some
historians have even used these objects to identify potential skin diseases that may have afflicted people at the time.
Text 2
Art historian and archaeologist Lisa Trever has argued that the interpretation of Moche “portrait” vessels as hyper-
realistic portrayals of identifiable people may inadvertently disregard the creativity of the objects’ creators. Moche
ceramic vessels, Trever argues, are artworks in which sculptors could free their imagination, using realistic objects and
people around them as inspiration to explore more abstract concepts.
Based on the texts, what would Lisa Trever (Text 2) most likely say about the interpretation presented in the underlined
portion of Text 1?
A. Depictions of human faces are significantly more realistic than depictions of plants and other animals are.
B. It is likely that some depictions of human faces with extensive markings are intended to portray the same historical
individual.
C. Some vessels may have been damaged during their excavation and thus provide little insight into Moche culture.
D. Markings on depictions of human faces are not necessarily intended to portray particular details about the physical
appearance of individuals.
Question ID 128b7cff
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 128b7cff
Composer Florence Price won first place for her score Symphony in E Minor at the 1932 Wanamaker Foundation Awards.
The piece was performed the following year by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a significant recognition of its quality.
Price continued to compose many musical pieces throughout her career, blending traditional Black spirituals with
classical European Romantic musical traditions. In recent years, Price’s concertos and symphonies have been performed
and recorded by several major orchestras, further preserving her work for others to enjoy.
A. To provide examples of Price’s importance as a composer
B. To argue that more major orchestras should perform Price’s compositions
C. To describe the musical styles that inspired many of Price’s symphonies
D. To compare Price’s scores with those of classical European composers

Question ID 5d2fe389

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 5d2fe389
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?
A. By broadly agreeing with the claim but objecting that the timeline it presupposes conflicts with the findings of the
genetic analysis conducted by Storey’s team
B. By faulting the claim for implying that domestic animals couldn’t have been transferred from South America to the
Polynesian Islands as well
C. By critiquing the claim for being based on an assumption that before the European invasion of South America, the
chickens of Europe were genetically uniform
D. By noting that while the claim is persuasive, the findings of Luzuriaga-Neira’s team provide stronger evidence for it
than the findings of the genetic analysis conducted by Storey do
Question ID 1eb7e794

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 1eb7e794
Text 1
In a study of insect behavior, Samadi Galpayage and colleagues presented bumblebees with small wooden balls and
observed many of the bees clinging to, rolling, and dragging the objects. The researchers provided no external rewards
(such as food) to encourage these interactions. The bees simply appeared to be playing—and for no other reason than
because they were having fun.
Text 2
Insects do not have cortexes or other brain areas associated with emotions in humans. Still, Galpayage and her team
have shown that bumblebees may engage in play, possibly experiencing some kind of positive emotional state. Other
studies have suggested that bees experience negative emotional states (for example, stress), but as Galpayage and her
team have acknowledged, emotions in insects, if they do indeed exist, are likely very rudimentary.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the underlined portion of Text 1?
A. By objecting that the bees were actually experiencing a negative feeling akin to stress rather than a positive feeling
B. By arguing that some insects other than bumblebees may be capable of experiencing complex emotional states
C. By pointing out that even humans sometimes struggle to have fun while engaging in play
D. By noting that if the bees were truly playing, any positive feelings they may have experienced were probably quite
basic
Question ID 05fc9eec
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 05fc9eec
The following text is adapted from Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 1902 novel The Sport of the Gods. Joe and some of his family
members have recently moved to New York City.
[Joe] was wild with enthusiasm and with a desire to be a part of all that the metropolis meant. In the evening he saw
the young fellows passing by dressed in their spruce clothes, and he wondered with a sort of envy where they could
be going. Back home there had been no place much worth going to, except church and one or two people’s houses.
A. It illustrates a character’s reaction to a new environment.
B. It explains why a character has traveled to a city.
C. It compares a character’s thoughts about an event at two different times of day.
D. It presents a character feeling regret over leaving home.


PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 4c603792
Text 1
Most scientists agree that the moon was likely formed after a collision between Earth and a large planet named Theia.
This collision likely created a huge debris field, made up of material from both Earth and Theia. Based on models of this
event, scientists believe that the moon was formed from this debris over the course of thousands of years.
Text 2
Researchers from NASA’s Ames Research Center used a computer to model how the moon could have formed. Although
simulations of the moon’s formation have been done in the past, the team from NASA ran simulations that were much
more detailed. They found that the formation of the moon was likely not a slow process that took many years. Instead,
it’s probable that the moon’s formation happened immediately after impact, taking just a few hours.
Which choice best describes a difference in how the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 view the evidence for the
formation of the moon?
A. The author of Text 1 argues that the formation of the moon occurred much earlier than the author of Text 2 argues.
B. The author of Text 1 suggests there is more evidence confirming the existence of Theia than the author of Text 2
suggests.
C. The author of Text 1 claims that the moon’s surface is more similar to Earth’s surface than the author of Text 2
claims.
D. The author of Text 1 believes that the moon formed more slowly than the author of Text 2 believes.
Question ID 09d1bf78
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 09d1bf78
The following text is from Holly Goldberg Sloan’s 2017 novel Short.
More than two years ago my parents bought a piano from some people who were moving to Utah. Mom and Dad
gave it to my brothers and me for Christmas. I had to act really happy because it was such a big present, but I pretty
much hated the thing from the second it was carried into the hallway upstairs, which is right next to my bedroom.
The piano glared at me. It was like a songbird in a cage. It wanted to be set free.
©2017 by Holly Goldberg Sloan
A. It explains why the narrator always wanted a piano close to her bedroom.
B. It establishes how the narrator feels about the piano.
C. It suggests that the narrator’s brothers are talented piano players.
D. It describes the event that led the narrator’s parents to buy a piano.
Question ID 12852fd3
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 12852fd3
In most building demolitions, the building materials are destroyed and sent to landfills. City officials in Portland, Oregon,
wanted to reduce this waste. The officials passed a law requiring demolition companies to deconstruct some buildings
instead. Deconstruction involves carefully taking buildings apart piece by piece. Damage to the materials is avoided so
that they can be reused in new constructions. A 2019 study found that 27 percent of materials from deconstructions in
Portland were able to be reused. The remaining materials were processed for recycling instead of going to a landfill.
A. To explain an effort made by the city of Portland to reduce demolition waste and some results of that effort
B. To show that popular support for measures that reduce demolition waste has increased since 2019
C. To argue that building deconstruction is not as effective as other measures at reducing demolition waste
D. To discuss laws aimed to reduce demolition waste in Portland and compare them to similar laws in other cities
Question ID 5f78e1f9
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 5f78e1f9
The following text is adapted from Charles Chesnutt’s 1899 short story “Mars Jeems’s Nightmare.” The narrator and his
wife have recently moved to the southern United States, and Julius is their carriage driver.
Julius [was] very useful when we moved to our new residence. He had a thorough knowledge of the neighborhood,
was familiar with the roads and the watercourses, knew the qualities of the various soils and what they would
produce, and where the best hunting and fishing were to be had. He was a marvelous hand in the management of
horses and dogs.
A. To compare the narrator’s reaction to a new home with his wife’s reaction
B. To give an example of Julius’s knowledge about soil
C. To show that the narrator and Julius often hunt and fish together
D. To explain different ways in which Julius was helpful

Question ID 767a370d
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 767a370d
In many agricultural environments, the banks of streams are kept forested to protect water quality, but it’s been unclear
what effects these forests may have on stream biodiversity. To investigate the issue, biologist Xingli Giam and
colleagues studied an Indonesian oil palm plantation, comparing the species richness of forested streams with that of
nonforested streams. Giam and colleagues found that species richness was significantly higher in forested streams, a
finding the researchers attribute to the role leaf litter plays in sheltering fish from predators and providing food resources.
A. It discusses research intended to settle a debate about how agricultural yields can be increased without negative
effects on water quality.
B. It explains the differences between stream-protection strategies used in oil palm plantations and stream-protection
strategies used in other kinds of agricultural environments.
C. It describes findings that challenge a previously held view about how fish that inhabit streams in agricultural
environments attempt to avoid predators.
D. It presents a study that addresses an unresolved question about the presence of forests along streams in agricultural
environments.
Question ID c9a2edec

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: c9a2edec
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.
Question ID 62bb43f6
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 62bb43f6
Part of the Atacama Desert in Peru has surprisingly rich plant life despite receiving almost no rainfall. Moisture from
winter fog sustains plants once they’re growing, but the soil’s tough crust makes it hard for seeds to germinate in the first
place. Local birds that dig nests in the ground seem to be of help: they churn the soil, exposing buried seeds to moisture
and nutrients. Indeed, in 2016 Cristina Rengifo Faiffer found that mounds of soil dug up by birds were far more fertile and
supported more seedlings than soil in undisturbed areas.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It elaborates on the idea that the top layer of Atacama Desert soil forms a tough crust.
B. It describes the process by which seeds are deposited into Atacama Desert soil.
C. It identifies the reason particular bird species dig nests in Atacama Desert soil.
D. It explains how certain birds promote seed germination in Atacama Desert soil.
Question ID 77ac529e
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 77ac529e
Historians Tiya Miles and Roy E. Finkenbine have both documented the assistance Indigenous peoples gave to Black
freedom seekers leaving the South before the US Civil War. Much of the historical evidence of this help comes from
Indigenous oral traditions and from autobiographies written by the freedom seekers. One such narrative is Jermain
Loguen’s autobiography, which tells about how Neshnabé (Potawatomi) villagers offered him food, lodging, and
directions during his 1835 journey from Tennessee to Canada.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?
A. It provides an example of an autobiography that describes help given by an Indigenous people to a Black freedom
seeker.
B. It shows why Loguen decided to write in great detail about his experiences traveling from Tennessee to Canada in his
autobiography.
C. It argues that autobiographies are particularly important sources of information about geography in the United States
before the Civil War.
D. It suggests that most historians believe that Neshnabé villagers were more successful in assisting freedom seekers
than other people were.
Question ID f5d735e4
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: f5d735e4
The following text is adapted from Oscar Wilde’s 1897 nonfiction work De Profundis.
People whose desire is solely for self-realisation never know where they are going. They can’t know. In one sense of
the word it is of course necessary to know oneself: that is the first achievement of knowledge. But to recognise that
the soul of a man is unknowable, is the ultimate achievement of wisdom. The final mystery is oneself. When one
has weighed the sun in the balance, and measured the steps of the moon, and mapped out the seven heavens star
by star, there still remains oneself. Who can calculate the orbit of his own soul?
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a whole?
A. It reinforces the text’s skepticism about the possibility of truly achieving self-knowledge.
B. It speculates that some readers will share the doubts expressed in the text about the value of self-knowledge.
C. It cautions readers that the text’s directions for how to achieve self-knowledge are hard to follow.
D. It concedes that the definition of self-knowledge advanced in the text is unpopular.

PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 03c10074
The mimosa tree evolved in East Asia, where the beetle Bruchidius terrenus preys on its seeds. In 1785, mimosa trees
were introduced to North America, far from any B. terrenus. But evolutionary links between predators and their prey can
persist across centuries and continents. Around 2001, B. terrenus was introduced in southeastern North America near
where botanist Shu-Mei Chang and colleagues had been monitoring mimosa trees. Within a year, 93 percent of the trees
had been attacked by the beetles.
Which choice best describes the function of the third sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It states the hypothesis that Chang and colleagues had set out to investigate using mimosa trees and B. terrenus.
B. It presents a generalization that is exemplified by the discussion of the mimosa trees and B. terrenus.
C. It provides context that clarifies why the species mentioned spread to new locations.
D. It offers an alternative explanation for the findings of Chang and colleagues.

Question ID 82d80616

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 82d80616
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?
A. On average, the diets of people in the United States tend to have fewer foods that contain certain dipeptides than the
diets of people in Japan have.
B. Chemical compounds that activate both the umami and salty taste receptors tend to have a higher molecular weight
than those that only activate umami taste receptors.
C. Fermentation introduces proteins responsible for the increase of umami flavor in soy sauce, and those proteins also
increase the perception of saltiness.
D. The broths in the 2007 experiment most likely did not have a substantial amount of the dipeptides that played a key
part in the 2022 experiment.
Question ID d87106d7

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: d87106d7
Text 1
The live music festival business is growing in event size and genre variety. With so many consumer options, organizers
are finding ways to cement festival attendance as a special experience worth sharing. This phenomenon is linked to the
growing “experiential economy,” where many find it gratifying to purchase lived experiences. To ensure a profitable event,
venues need to consider the overall consumer experience, not just the band lineup.
Text 2
Music festival appearances are becoming a more important part of musicians’ careers. One factor in this shift is the
rising use of streaming services that allow access to huge numbers of songs for a monthly fee, subsequently reducing
sales of full-length albums. With this shift in consumer behavior, musicians are increasingly dependent on revenue from
live performances.
A. Consumers are more interested in paying subscription fees to stream music than in attending music festivals in
person.
B. Consumers’ growing interest in purchasing experiences is mostly confined to the music industry.
C. Changing consumer behaviors are leading to changes in music-related businesses.
D. The rising consumer demand for live music festivals also generates higher demand for music streaming platforms.
Question ID 81283e3c

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 81283e3c
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
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 673e0f85
The following text is from Srimati Svarna Kumari Devi’s 1894 novel The Fatal Garland (translated by A. Christina Albers in
1910). Shakti is walking near a riverbank that she visited frequently during her childhood.
She crossed the woods she knew so well. The trees seemed to extend their branches like welcoming arms. They
greeted her as an old friend. Soon she reached the river-side.
A. It suggests that Shakti feels uncomfortable near the river.
B. It indicates that Shakti has lost her sense of direction in the woods.
C. It emphasizes Shakti’s sense of belonging in the landscape.
D. It conveys Shakti’s appreciation for her long-term friendships.

PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 76717567
The following text is adapted from Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto’s 1925 memoir A Daughter of the Samurai. As a young woman,
Sugimoto moved from feudal Japan to the United States.
The standards of my own and my adopted country differed so widely in some ways, and my love for both lands was
so sincere, that sometimes I had an odd feeling of standing upon a cloud in space, and gazing with measuring eyes
upon two separate worlds. At first I was continually trying to explain, by Japanese standards, all the queer things
that came every day before my surprised eyes; for no one seemed to know the origin or significance of even the
most familiar customs, nor why they existed and were followed.
Which choice best describes the main purpose of the text?
A. To convey the narrator’s experience of observing and making sense of differences between two cultures she
embraces
B. To establish the narrator’s hope of forming connections with new companions by sharing customs she learned as a
child
C. To reveal the narrator’s recognition that she is hesitant to ask questions about certain aspects of a culture she is
newly encountering
D. To emphasize the narrator’s wonder at discovering that the physical distance between two countries is greater than
she had expected
Question ID ab1ea900
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: ab1ea900
In 2007, computer scientist Luis von Ahn was working on converting printed books into a digital format. He found that
some words were distorted enough that digital scanners couldn’t recognize them, but most humans could easily read
them. Based on that finding, von Ahn invented a simple security test to keep automated “bots” out of websites. The first
version of the reCAPTCHA test asked users to type one known word and one of the many words scanners couldn’t
recognize. Correct answers proved the users were humans and added data to the book-digitizing project.
A. To discuss von Ahn’s invention of reCAPTCHA
B. To explain how digital scanners work
C. To call attention to von Ahn’s book-digitizing project
D. To indicate how popular reCAPTCHA is

PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 19217740
Studying late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artifacts from an agricultural and domestic site in Texas,
archaeologist Ayana O. Flewellen found that Black women employed as farm workers utilized hook-and-eye closures to
fasten their clothes at the waist, giving themselves a silhouette similar to the one that was popular in contemporary
fashion and typically achieved through more restrictive garments such as corsets. Flewellen argues that this sartorial
practice shows that these women balanced hegemonic ideals of femininity with the requirements of their physically
demanding occupation.
A. To describe an unexpected discovery that altered a researcher’s view of how rapidly fashions among Black female
farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas changed during the period
B. To discuss research that investigated the ways in which Black female farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century Texas used fashion practices to resist traditional gender ideals
C. To evaluate a scholarly work that offers explanations for the impact of urban fashion ideals on Black female
farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas
D. To summarize the findings of a study that explored factors influencing a fashion practice among Black female
farmworkers in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Texas
Question ID b72d0320

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: b72d0320
Text 1
Growth in the use of novel nanohybrids—materials created from the conjugation of multiple distinct nanomaterials, such
as iron oxide and gold nanomaterials conjugated for use in magnetic imaging—has outpaced studies of nanohybrids’
environmental risks. Unfortunately, risk evaluations based on nanohybrids’ constituents are not reliable: conjugation may
alter constituents’ physiochemical properties such that innocuous nanomaterials form a nanohybrid that is anything but.
Text 2
The potential for enhanced toxicity of nanohybrids relative to the toxicity of constituent nanomaterials has drawn
deserved attention, but the effects of nanomaterial conjugation vary by case. For instance, it was recently shown that a
nanohybrid of silicon dioxide and zinc oxide preserved the desired optical transparency of zinc oxide nanoparticles while
mitigating the nanoparticles’ potential to damage DNA.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the assertion in the underlined portion of Text
1?
A. By concurring that the risk described in Text 1 should be evaluated but emphasizing that the risk is more than offset
by the potential benefits of nanomaterial conjugation
B. By arguing that the situation described in Text 1 may not be representative but conceding that the effects of
nanomaterial conjugation are harder to predict than researchers had expected
C. By denying that the circumstance described in Text 1 is likely to occur but acknowledging that many aspects of
nanomaterial conjugation are still poorly understood
D. By agreeing that the possibility described in Text 1 is a cause for concern but pointing out that nanomaterial
conjugation does not inevitably produce that result
Question ID 696f758d
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 696f758d
The following text is from the 1923 poem “Black Finger” by Angelina Weld Grimké, a Black American writer. A cypress is a
type of evergreen tree.
I have just seen a most beautiful thing,
Slim and still,
Against a gold, gold sky,
A straight black cypress,
Sensitive,
Exquisite,
A black finger
Pointing upwards.
Why, beautiful still finger, are you black?
And why are you pointing upwards?
A. The speaker assesses a natural phenomenon, then questions the accuracy of her assessment.
B. The speaker describes a distinctive sight in nature, then ponders what meaning to attribute to that sight.
C. The speaker presents an outdoor scene, then considers a human behavior occurring within that scene.
D. The speaker examines her surroundings, then speculates about their influence on her emotional state.
Question ID d27d7984

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: d27d7984
Text 1
Dance choreographer Alvin Ailey’s deep admiration for jazz music can most clearly be felt in the rhythms and beats his
works were set to. Ailey collaborated with some of the greatest jazz legends, like Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker, and
perhaps his favorite, Duke Ellington. With his choice of music, Ailey helped bring jazz to life for his audiences.
Text 2
Jazz is present throughout Ailey’s work, but it’s most visible in Ailey’s approach to choreography. Ailey often incorporated
improvisation, a signature characteristic of jazz music, in his work. When managing his dance company, Ailey rarely
forced his dancers to an exact set of specific moves. Instead, he encouraged his dancers to let their own skills and
experiences shape their performances, as jazz musicians do.
A. Dancers who worked with Ailey greatly appreciated his supportive approach as a choreographer.
B. Ailey’s work was strongly influenced by jazz.
C. Audiences were mostly unfamiliar with the jazz music in Ailey’s works.
D. Ailey blended multiple genres of music together when choreographing dance pieces.
Question ID 85fb2851
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 85fb2851
The following text is adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s 1869 novel An Old-Fashioned Girl. Polly, a teenager, is visiting her
friend Fanny.
Fanny’s friends did not interest Polly much; she was rather afraid of them [because] they seemed so much older and
wiser than herself, even those younger in years. They talked about things of which she knew nothing and when
Fanny tried to explain, she didn’t find them interesting; indeed, some of them rather shocked and puzzled her.
A. To portray Polly’s reaction to Fanny’s friends
B. To identify the topics Polly talks about with Fanny’s friends
C. To explain how Fanny met some of her friends
D. To illustrate how Fanny’s friends feel about Polly

Question ID d7aa47e1

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: d7aa47e1
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
B. By asserting that it fails to recognize that routine replenishment of ocean nutrients prevents competition between
phytoplankton species
C. By suggesting that their own findings help clarify how phytoplankton species are able to compete with larger
organisms
D. By recommending that more ecologists focus their research on how competition among phytoplankton species is
increased with water density
Question ID 3ca2f8d7

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 3ca2f8d7
Text 1
Films and television shows commonly include a long list of credits naming the people involved in a production. Credit
sequences may not be exciting, but they generally ensure that everyone’s contributions are duly acknowledged. Because
they are highly standardized, film and television credits are also valuable to anyone researching the careers of pioneering
cast and crew members who have worked in the mediums.
Text 2
Video game scholars face a major challenge in the industry’s failure to consistently credit the artists, designers, and
other contributors involved in making video games. Without a reliable record of which people worked on which games,
questions about the medium’s development can be difficult to answer, and the accomplishments of all but its best-known
innovators can be difficult to trace.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 1 most likely respond to the discussion in Text 2?
A. By recommending that the scholars mentioned in Text 2 consider employing the methods regularly used by film and
television researchers
B. By pointing out that credits have a different intended purpose in film and television than in the medium addressed by
the scholars mentioned in Text 2
C. By suggesting that the scholars mentioned in Text 2 rely more heavily on credits as a source of information than film
and television researchers do
D. By observing that a widespread practice in film and television largely prevents the kind of problem faced by the
scholars mentioned in Text 2
Question ID 9aadb463
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 9aadb463
The following text is from Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1899 short story “Martha’s Lady.” Martha is employed by Miss Pyne as a
maid.
Miss Pyne sat by the window watching, in her best dress, looking stately and calm; she seldom went out now, and it
was almost time for the carriage. Martha was just coming in from the garden with the strawberries, and with more
flowers in her apron. It was a bright cool evening in June, the golden robins sang in the elms, and the sun was going
down behind the apple-trees at the foot of the garden. The beautiful old house stood wide open to the long-expected
guest.
A. To convey the worries brought about by a new guest
B. To describe how the characters have changed over time
C. To contrast the activity indoors with the stillness outside
D. To depict the setting as the characters await a visitor’s arrival

PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 9445f211
A number of Indigenous politicians have been elected to the United States Congress since 2000 as members of the
country’s two established political parties. In Canada and several Latin American countries, on the other hand,
Indigenous people have formed their own political parties to advance candidates who will advocate for the interests of
their communities. This movement has been particularly successful in Ecuador, where Guadalupe Llori, a member of the
Indigenous party known as Pachakutik, was elected president of the National Assembly in 2021.
A. To trace the history of an Indigenous political movement and speculate about its future development
B. To argue that Indigenous politicians in the United States should form their own political party
C. To highlight two approaches to achieving political representation for Indigenous people
D. To consider how Indigenous politicians in the United States have influenced Indigenous politicians in Canada and
Latin America
Question ID cdbc0f69
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: cdbc0f69
Raymond Antrobus, an accomplished poet and writer of prose, recently released his debut spoken word poetry album,
The First Time I Wore Hearing Aids, in collaboration with producer Ian Brennan. The album contains both
autobiographical and reflective pieces combining Antrobus’s spoken words with Brennan’s fragmented audio elements
and pieces of music to convey how people who are deaf may experience sound, both its presence and absence. Some
critics suggest that the album questions the function of sound in the world, highlighting that the experience of sound is
multifaceted.
A. It introduces a collaborative spoken word poetry project, details the approach taken to produce the work, and then
provides an example of critique the album received upon release.
B. It mentions a collection of spoken word poems, distinguishes one poem as being an exemplar on the album, and then
offers a summary of the subject matter of the whole collection.
C. It summarizes the efforts to produce a collection of spoken word poems, presents biographies of two people who
worked on the album, and speculates about the meaning behind the poetry.
D. It connects two artists to the same spoken word poetry project, explains the extent of their collaboration on each
poem, and then provides an overview of the technique used to produce the work.
Question ID 6fae7757

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 6fae7757
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?
A. By pointing out that given the revised timeline for the end of the Sahara’s humid period, the Neolithic peoples’ mode
of subsistence likely didn’t cause the region’s desertification
B. By claiming that pastoralism was only one of many behaviors the Neolithic peoples took part in that may have
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
D. By asserting that more research needs to be conducted into factors that likely contributed to the desertification of the
Sahara region
Question ID 0edc0ea9

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 0edc0ea9
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?
A. It is reasonable given that Srivastava and her team have identified how EGR functions in both humans and panther
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.
Question ID 7017000f
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 7017000f
The field of study called affective neuroscience seeks instinctive, physiological causes for feelings such as pleasure or
displeasure. Because these sensations are linked to a chemical component (for example, the release of the
neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain when one receives or expects a reward), they can be said to have a partly
physiological basis. These processes have been described in mammals, but Jingnan Huang and his colleagues have
recently observed that some behaviors of honeybees (such as foraging) are also motivated by a dopamine-based
signaling process.
What choice best describes the main purpose of the text?
A. It describes an experimental method of measuring the strength of physiological responses in humans.
B. It illustrates processes by which certain insects can express how they are feeling.
C. It summarizes a finding suggesting that some mechanisms in the brains of certain insects resemble mechanisms in
mammalian brains.
D. It presents research showing that certain insects and mammals behave similarly when there is a possibility of a
reward for their actions.
Question ID d377baf4
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: d377baf4
The following text is adapted from Charles Dickens’s 1854 novel Hard Times. Coketown is a fictional town in England.
[Coketown] contained several large streets all very like one another, and many small streets still more like one another,
inhabited by people equally like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same sound upon the
same pavements, to do the same work, and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and tomorrow, and every year
the counterpart of the last and the next.
A. To emphasize the uniformity of both the town and the people who live there
B. To explain the limited work opportunities available to the town’s residents
C. To reveal how the predictability of the town makes it easy for people lose track of time
D. To argue that the simplicity of life in the town makes it a pleasant place to live
Question ID 561f41db
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 561f41db
Jackie Ormes’s Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem (1937–38) was the first comic strip by a Black woman to appear in a
widely read newspaper. The strip tells the story of Torchy, a young woman who leaves Mississippi to become a performer
in New York City. Torchy’s story reflects the experience of the Great Migration (1910–1970), when millions of Black
Americans left the South in search of opportunities in other parts of the United States. Torchy Brown thus shows how
Ormes used comics to comment humorously on issues affecting Black Americans, which she continued to do
throughout her career.
A. To show how Ormes’s Torchy Brown inspired other Black women to write comic strips in the 1930s
B. To illustrate how the subjects Ormes addressed in her comic strips changed over the course of her career
C. To give an example of how Ormes presented the experiences of Black Americans in her comic strips
D. To claim that several characters in Torchy Brown were based on people that Ormes knew personally
Question ID 17ecac52

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 17ecac52
Text 1
Italian painters in the 1500s rarely depicted themselves in their work. Even more rare were self-portrait paintings that
portrayed the artist as a painter. At the time, painting was not yet respected as a profession, so painters mostly chose to
emphasize other qualities in their self-portraits, like their intellect or social status. In the city of Bologna, the first artist to
depict themself painting was a man named Annibale Carracci. A painting of his from around 1585 shows Carracci in
front of an easel holding a palette.
Text 2
In their self-portraits, Bolognese artists typically avoided referring to the act of painting until the mid-1600s. However,
Lavinia Fontana’s 1577 painting, Self-Portrait at the Keyboard, stands out as the earliest example of such a work by an
artist from Bologna. Although the artist is depicted playing music, in the background, one can spot a painting easel by a
window.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the underlined claim in Text 1?
A. Carracci and Fontana were among the most well-respected painters in Bologna at the time.
B. The depiction of Fontana in Self-Portrait at the Keyboard was intended to underscore the artist’s creativity.
C. Fontana likely inspired the reference to an easel and palette in Carracci’s painting.
D. Self-Portrait at the Keyboard was painted earlier than Carracci’s painting and also refers to the artist’s craft.
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 17146498
Works of moral philosophy, such as Plato’s Republic or Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, are partly concerned with how to
live a morally good life. But philosopher Jonathan Barnes argues that works that present a method of living such a life
without also supplying a motive are inherently useful only to those already wishing to be morally good—those with no
desire for moral goodness will not choose to follow their rules. However, some works of moral philosophy attempt to
describe what constitutes a morally good life while also proposing reasons for living one.
A. It provides a characterization about a field of thought by noting two works in it and then details a way in which some
works in that field are more comprehensive than others.
B. It mentions two renowned works and then claims that despite their popularity it is impossible for these works to
serve the purpose their authors intended.
C. It summarizes the history of a field of thought by discussing two works and then proposes a topic of further research
for specialists in that field.
D. It describes two influential works and then explains why one is more widely read than the other.
Question ID e2d13873

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: e2d13873
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?
A. By agreeing with those proponents that Moore’s treatment of positions that contradict his own is fundamentally
unserious
B. By suggesting that an instinctive distaste for Moore’s position is preventing external world skeptics from constructing
a sufficiently rigorous refutation of Moore
C. 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
proofs are inadequate based on instinct
D. By pointing out that Moore would assert that external world skepticism is at odds with other beliefs those proponents
must unavoidably hold
Question ID fca04045
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: fca04045
In the Here and Now Storybook (1921), educator Lucy Sprague Mitchell advanced the then controversial idea that books
for very young children should imitate how they use language, since toddlers, who cannot yet grasp narrative or abstract
ideas, seek reassurance in verbal repetition and naming. The most enduring example of this idea is Margaret Wise
Brown’s 1947 picture book Goodnight Moon, in which a young rabbit names the objects in his room as he drifts off to
sleep. Scholars note that the book’s emphasis on repetition, rhythm, and nonsense rhyme speaks directly to Mitchell’s
influence.
A. The text outlines a debate between two authors of children’s literature and then traces how that debate shaped
theories on early childhood education.
B. The text summarizes an argument about how children’s literature should be evaluated and then discusses a
contrasting view on that subject.
C. The text lists the literary characteristics that are common to many classics of children’s literature and then indicates
the narrative subjects that are most appropriate for young children.
D. The text presents a philosophy about what material is most suitable for children’s literature and then describes a
book influenced by that philosophy.

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 03e53728
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?
A. It is understandable because the fossil does look like it could be related to birds, even though O. khaungraae is
probably a lizard.
B. It is confusing because it isn’t clear what caused the researchers to think that O. khaungraae might be related to
birds.
C. It is flawed because the researchers mistakenly assumed that O. khaungraae must be a lizard.
D. It is reasonable because the O. khaungraae skull is about the same size as the skull of the second fossil but is
shaped differently.
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 9e994887
Astronomers are confident that the star Betelgeuse will eventually consume all the helium in its core and explode in a
supernova. They are much less confident, however, about when this will happen, since that depends on internal
characteristics of Betelgeuse that are largely unknown. Astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance and colleagues recently
investigated whether acoustic waves in the star could be used to determine internal stellar states but concluded that this
method could not sufficiently reveal Betelgeuse’s internal characteristics to allow its evolutionary state to be firmly fixed.
Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It describes a serious limitation of the method used by Nance and colleagues.
B. It presents the central finding reported by Nance and colleagues.
C. It identifies the problem that Nance and colleagues attempted to solve but did not.
D. It explains how the work of Nance and colleagues was received by others in the field.
Question ID 6e30747e
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 6e30747e
The following text is from Herman Melville’s 1854 novel The Lightning-rod Man.
The stranger still stood in the exact middle of the cottage, where he had first planted himself. His singularity impelled a
closer scrutiny. A lean, gloomy figure. Hair dark and lank, mattedly streaked over his brow. His sunken pitfalls of eyes
were ringed by indigo halos, and played with an innocuous sort of lightning: the gleam without the bolt. The whole man
was dripping. He stood in a puddle on the bare oak floor: his strange walking-stick vertically resting at his side.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. It elaborates on the previous sentence’s description of the character.
B. It introduces the setting that is described in the sentences that follow.
C. It establishes a contrast with the description in the previous sentence.
D. It sets up the character description presented in the sentences that follow.

Question ID 445907fc
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 445907fc
The following text is adapted from Susan Glaspell’s 1912 short story “‘Out There.’” An elderly shop owner is looking at a
picture that he recently acquired and hopes to sell.
It did seem that the picture failed to fit in with the rest of the shop. A persuasive young fellow who claimed he was
closing out his stock let the old man have it for what he called a song. It was only a little out-of-the-way store which
subsisted chiefly on the framing of pictures. The old man looked around at his views of the city, his pictures of cats
and dogs, his flaming bits of landscape. “Don’t belong in here,” he fumed.
And yet the old man was secretly proud of his acquisition. There was a hidden dignity in his scowling as he shuffled
about pondering the least ridiculous place for the picture.
A. To reveal the shop owner’s conflicted feelings about the new picture
B. To convey the shop owner’s resentment of the person he got the new picture from
C. To describe the items that the shop owner most highly prizes
D. To explain differences between the new picture and other pictures in the shop
Question ID 0cfd13eb
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 0cfd13eb
San Francisco is known for the colorful murals painted on many of its buildings. The densest collection of murals is
found on Balmy Alley in the Mission District neighborhood. In the 1970s, Latina artists painted vivid scenes of community
life on walls along this block. As the original murals have faded, later generations of artists have painted new ones over
them. As a result, Balmy Alley has become a living showcase of San Francisco’s artistic spirit, with its murals reflecting
changes in the cultural life of the city.
A. To compare the Balmy Alley murals to other murals in San Francisco
B. To offer an overview of the history and importance of the Balmy Alley murals
C. To urge people to protect the murals of San Francisco from decay
D. To describe the rise of mural painting in San Francisco beginning in the 1970s
Question ID a9e8c48c

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: a9e8c48c
Text 1
Polar bears sustain themselves primarily by hunting seals on the Arctic sea ice, but rising ocean temperatures are
causing the ice to diminish, raising concerns about polar bear population declines as these large predators’ seal-hunting
habitats continue to shrink. A 2020 study examining polar bear populations across the Arctic concluded that populations
affected by sea-ice loss are at great risk of extinction by the end of the twenty-first century.
Text 2
Monitoring carried out by researchers from the Norwegian Polar Institute shows that the polar bear population on the
Arctic archipelago of Svalbard remains stable and well nourished despite rapidly declining sea ice in recent years. The
researchers attribute this population’s resilience in part to a shift in feeding strategies: in addition to hunting seals, the
Svalbard polar bears have begun relying on a diet of reindeer meat and birds’ eggs.
Based on the texts, how would the researchers in Text 2 most likely respond to the conclusion presented in the
underlined portion of Text 1?
A. By noting that it neglects the possibility of some polar bear populations adapting to changes in their environment
B. By suggesting that it is likely incorrect about the rates at which warming ocean temperatures have caused sea ice to
melt in the Arctic
C. By asserting that it overlooks polar bear populations that have not yet been affected by loss of seal-hunting habitats
D. By arguing that it fails to account for polar bears’ reliance on a single seal-hunting strategy
Question ID 30673ac1
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 30673ac1
The following text is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston’s 1921 short story “John Redding Goes to Sea.” John is a child
who lives in a town in the woods.
Perhaps ten-year-old John was puzzling to the folk there in the Florida woods for he was an imaginative child and fond
of day-dreams. The St. John River flowed a scarce three hundred feet from his back door. On its banks at this point
grow numerous palms, luxuriant magnolias and bay trees. On the bosom of the stream float millions of delicately
colored hyacinths. [John Redding] loved to wander down to the water’s edge, and, casting in dry twigs, watch them sail
away down stream to Jacksonville, the sea, the wide world and [he] wanted to follow them.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It provides an extended description of a location that John likes to visit.
B. It reveals that some residents of John’s town are confused by his behavior.
C. It illustrates the uniqueness of John’s imagination compared to the imaginations of other children.
D. It suggests that John longs to experience a larger life outside the Florida woods.
Question ID f01cb598

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: f01cb598
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?
A. Text 1 discusses two approaches to studying mammoth extinction without advocating for either, whereas Text 2
advocates for one approach over the other.
B. Text 1 presents findings by Wang and colleagues and gives another research team’s attempt to explain those
findings, whereas Text 2 provides additional detail that calls that explanation into question.
C. Text 1 describes Wang and colleagues’ study and a critique of their methodology, whereas Text 2 offers additional
details showing that methodology to be sound.
D. Text 1 argues that new research has undermined the standard view of when mammoths went extinct, whereas Text 2
suggests a way to reconcile the standard view with that new research.
Question ID 493479db
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 493479db
The 1967 release of Harold Cruse’s book The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual isolated him from almost all other scholars
and activists of the American Civil Rights Movement—though many of those thinkers disagreed with each other, he
nonetheless found ways to disagree with them all. He thought that activists who believed that Black people such as
himself should culturally assimilate were naïve. But he also sharply criticized Black nationalists such as Marcus Garvey
who wanted to establish independent, self-contained Black economies and societies, even though Cruse himself
identified as a Black nationalist.
A. It describes a direction that Cruse felt the Civil Rights Movement ought to take.
B. It indicates that Cruse’s reputation as a persistent antagonist of other scholars is undeserved.
C. It describes a controversy that Cruse’s work caused within the Black nationalist movement.
D. It helps explain Cruse’s position with respect to the community of civil rights thinkers.
Question ID 4c8c8da2
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 4c8c8da2
The following text is adapted from Indian Boyhood, a 1902 memoir by Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman), a Santee Dakota
writer. In the text, Ohiyesa recalls how the women in his tribe harvested maple syrup during his childhood.
Now the women began to test the trees—moving leisurely among them, axe in hand, and striking a single quick blow, to
see if the sap would appear. The trees, like people, have their individual characters; some were ready to yield up their
life-blood, while others were more reluctant. Now one of the birchen basins was set under each tree, and a hardwood
chip driven deep into the cut which the axe had made. From the corners of this chip—at first drop by drop, then more
freely—the sap trickled into the little dishes.
A. It portrays the range of personality traits displayed by the women as they work.
B. It foregrounds the beneficial relationship between humans and maple trees.
C. It demonstrates how human behavior can be influenced by the natural environment.
D. It elaborates on an aspect of the maple trees that the women evaluate.

Question ID b098f631
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: b098f631
Early in the Great Migration of 1910–1970, which involved the mass migration of Black people from the southern to the
northern United States, political activist and Chicago Defender writer Fannie Barrier Williams was instrumental in helping
other Black women establish themselves in the North. Many women hoped for better employment opportunities in the
North because, in the South, they faced much competition for domestic employment and men tended to get agricultural
work. To aid with this transition, Barrier Williams helped secure job placement in the North for many women before they
even began their journey.
A. To introduce and illustrate Barrier Williams’s integral role in supporting other Black women as their circumstances
changed during part of the Great Migration
B. To establish that Barrier Williams used her professional connections to arrange employment for other Black women,
including jobs with the Chicago Defender
C. To demonstrate that the factors that motivated the start of the Great Migration were different for Black women than
they were for Black men
D. To provide an overview of the employment challenges faced by Black women in the agricultural and domestic
spheres in the southern United States
Question ID d32c89df
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: d32c89df
The following text is from the 1924 poem “Cycle” by D’Arcy McNickle, who was a citizen of the Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes.
There shall be new roads wending,
A new beating of the drum—
Men’s eyes shall have fresh seeing,
Grey lives reprise their span—
But under the new sun’s being,
Completing what night began,
There’ll be the same backs bending,
The same sad feet shall drum—
When this night finds its ending
And day shall have come.....
A. To consider how the repetitiveness inherent in human life can be both rewarding and challenging
B. To question whether activities completed at one time of day are more memorable than those completed at another
time of day
C. To refute the idea that joy is a more commonly experienced emotion than sadness is
D. To demonstrate how the experiences of individuals relate to the experiences of their communities
Question ID cc76d23a
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: cc76d23a
The following text is adapted from Herman Melville’s 1857 novel The Confidence-Man. Humphry Davy was a prominent
British chemist and inventor.
Years ago, a grave American savant, being in London, observed at an evening party there, a certain coxcombical
fellow, as he thought, an absurd ribbon in his lapel, and full of smart [banter], whisking about to the admiration of as
many as were disposed to admire. Great was the savant’s disdain; but, chancing ere long to find himself in a corner
with the jackanapes, got into conversation with him, when he was somewhat ill-prepared for the good sense of the
jackanapes, but was altogether thrown aback, upon subsequently being [informed that he was] no less a personage
than Sir Humphry Davy.
A. It portrays the thoughts of a character who is embarrassed about his own behavior.
B. It presents an account of a misunderstanding.
C. It offers a short history of how a person came to be famous.
D. It explains why one character dislikes another.

Question ID cf57c1d5
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: cf57c1d5
In 1973, poet Miguel Algarín started inviting other writers who, like him, were Nuyorican—a term for New Yorkers of
Puerto Rican heritage—to gather in his apartment to present their work. The gatherings were so well attended that
Algarín soon had to rent space in a cafe to accommodate them. Thus, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe was born. Moving to a
permanent location in 1981, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its original scope beyond the written word, hosting art
exhibitions and musical performances as well. Half a century since its inception, it continues to foster emerging
Nuyorican talent.
Which choice best describes the overall purpose of the text?
A. To explain what motivated Algarín to found the Nuyorican Poets Cafe
B. To situate the Nuyorican Poets Cafe within the cultural life of New York as a whole
C. To discuss why the Nuyorican Poets Cafe expanded its scope to include art and music
D. To provide an overview of the founding and mission of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe
Question ID 4259636f
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 4259636f
In Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park, an almost imperceptible smile from potential suitor Henry Crawford causes the
protagonist Fanny Price to blush; her embarrassment grows when she suspects that he is aware of it. This moment—in
which Fanny not only infers Henry’s mental state through his gestures, but also infers that he is drawing inferences about
her mental state—illustrates what literary scholar George Butte calls “deep intersubjectivity,” a technique for representing
interactions between consciousnesses through which Austen’s novels derive much of their social and psychological
drama.
A. It states a claim about Austen’s skill at representing psychological complexity that is reinforced by an example
presented in the following sentence.
B. It advances an interpretation of an Austen protagonist who is contrasted with protagonists from other Austen novels
cited in the following sentence.
C. It describes a recurring theme in Austen’s novels that is the focus of a literary scholar’s analysis summarized in the
following sentence.
D. It provides a synopsis of an interaction in an Austen novel that illustrates a literary concept discussed in the following
sentence.
Question ID e19a5d1f

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: e19a5d1f
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?
A. It would suggest an interesting direction for future research were it not the case that two of the physicists who
conducted the experiment disagree on the significance of its findings.
B. It provides empirical evidence that the current understanding of an aspect of physics at a microscopic level must be
incomplete.
C. It is consistent with the current understanding of physics at a microscopic level but not at a macroscopic level.
D. It supports a claim about an isolated system of atoms in a laboratory, but that claim should not be extrapolated to a
general claim about the universe.
Question ID 1e7c4c03

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 1e7c4c03
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?
A. The author of Text 1 argues that Tuchman should have relied more on the work of other historians, while the author of
Text 2 implies that Tuchman’s most interesting claims result from her original research.
B. The author of Text 1 believes that the scope of Tuchman’s research led her to an incorrect interpretation, while the
author of Text 2 believes that Tuchman’s central argument is overly simplistic.
C. 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
Tuchman’s interpretation of events.
D. 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
military plans in the same way that other leaders were.
Question ID 0c61d9c0
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 0c61d9c0
Mathematician Claude Shannon is widely regarded as a foundational figure in information theory. His most important
paper, “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” published in 1948 when he was employed at Bell Labs, utilized a
concept called a “binary digit” (shortened to “bit”) to measure the amount of information in any signal and determine the
fastest rate at which information could be transmitted while still being reliably decipherable. Robert Gallagher, one of
Shannon’s colleagues, said that the bit was “[Shannon’s] discovery, and from it the whole communications revolution has
sprung.”
A. It presents a theoretical concept, illustrates how the name of the concept has changed, and shows how the name has
entered common usage.
B. It introduces a respected researcher, describes an aspect of his work, and suggests why the work is historically
significant.
C. It names the company where an important mathematician worked, details the mathematician’s career at the
company, and provides an example of the recognition he received there.
D. It mentions a paper, offers a summary of the paper’s findings, and presents a researcher’s commentary on the paper.
Question ID 7eff2e55
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 7eff2e55
For his 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies, Beverly Glenn-Copeland wrote songs grounded in traditional soul and folk
music, then accompanied them with futuristic synthesizer arrangements featuring ambient sounds and complex
rhythms. The result was so strange, so unprecedented, that the album attracted little attention when first released. In
recent years, however, a younger generation of musicians has embraced the stylistic experimentation of Keyboard
Fantasies. Alternative R&B musicians Blood Orange and Moses Sumney, among other contemporary recording artists,
cite the album as an influence.
A. It urges contemporary musicians to adopt the unique sound of Keyboard Fantasies.
B. It responds to criticism of Keyboard Fantasies by some younger musicians.
C. It offers examples of younger musicians whose work has been impacted by Keyboard Fantasies.
D. It contrasts Keyboard Fantasies with the recordings of two younger musicians.

Question ID b2e31abc

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: b2e31abc
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.
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.

Question ID 829f55e4
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 829f55e4
In 1801, a Blackfoot chief named Ac Ko Mok Ki drew a finely detailed map of the Upper Missouri region. This work
demonstrates a vast amount of topographic knowledge, as the map features specific names of mountains and rivers, as
well as the first-known sketch of the drainage network of the Missouri River. The map is especially notable because Ac
Ko Mok Ki also included details about the numerous tribes that lived in the area.
A. It emphasizes Ac Ko Mok Ki’s desire to represent other tribes on the map.
B. It explains how Ac Ko Mok Ki developed an interest in mapmaking.
C. It identifies some reasons why the map is impressive.
D. It details how the map was used for hunting and trading purposes.
Question ID c8e4aa15
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: c8e4aa15
Musician Joni Mitchell, who is also a painter, uses images she creates for her album covers to emphasize ideas
expressed in her music. For the cover of her album Turbulent Indigo (1994), Mitchell painted a striking self-portrait that
closely resembles Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889). The image calls attention to the album’s
title song, in which Mitchell sings about the legacy of the postimpressionist painter. In that song, Mitchell also hints that
she feels a strong artistic connection to Van Gogh—an idea that is reinforced by her imagery on the cover.
A. It presents a claim about Mitchell, then gives an example supporting that claim.
B. It discusses Van Gogh’s influence on Mitchell, then considers Mitchell’s influence on other artists.
C. It describes a similarity between two artists, then notes a difference between them.
D. It describes the songs on Turbulent Indigo, then explains how they relate to the album’s cover.
Question ID 8c5a6863

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 8c5a6863
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
B. As unsurprising, because scholars tend to overlook the literary value of food writing in general and of regional
cookbooks in particular
C. As justifiable, because Lewis incorporated memoir into The Taste of Country Cooking, thus undermining its status as
a cookbook
D. As inevitable, because The Taste of Country Cooking was marketed to readers of food writing and not to readers of
other genres
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 7403c225
The following text is from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables. Anne, an eleven-year-old girl, has
come to live on a farm with a woman named Marilla in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Anne reveled in the world of color about her.

“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m
so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to
November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to
decorate my room with them.”
“Messy things,” said Marilla, whose aesthetic sense was not noticeably developed. “You clutter up your room
entirely too much with out-of-doors stuff, Anne. Bedrooms were made to sleep in.”
A. To demonstrate that Anne has a newly developed appreciation of nature
B. To describe an argument that Anne and Marilla often have
C. To emphasize Marilla’s disapproval of how Anne has decorated her room
D. To show that Anne and Marilla have very different personalities

Question ID 748ab121

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 748ab121
Text 1
In a study of the benefits of having free time, Marissa Sharif found that the reported sense of life satisfaction tended to
plateau when participants had two hours of free time per day and actually began to fall when they had five hours of free
time per day. After further research, Sharif concluded that this dip in life satisfaction mainly occurred when individuals
spent all their free time unproductively, such as by watching TV or playing games.
Text 2
Psychologist James Maddux cautions against suggesting an ideal amount of free time. The human desire for both free
time and productivity is universal, but Maddux asserts that individuals have unique needs for life satisfaction.
Furthermore, he points out that there is no objective definition for what constitutes productivity; reading a book might be
considered a productive activity by some, but idleness by others.
Based on the texts, how would Maddux (Text 2) most likely respond to the conclusion Sharif (Text 1) reached after her
further research?
A. By acknowledging that free time is more likely to enhance life satisfaction when it is spent productively than when it
is spent unproductively
B. By challenging the reasoning in Text 1, as it has not been proved that productivity commonly contributes to
individuals’ life satisfaction
C. By warning against making an overly broad assumption, as there is no clear consensus in distinguishing between
productive and unproductive activities
D. By claiming that the specific activities named in Text 1 are actually examples of productive activities rather than
unproductive ones
Question ID 51737eb4
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 51737eb4
The following text is from Edith Wharton’s 1905 novel The House of Mirth. Lily Bart and a companion are walking through
a park.
Lily had no real intimacy with nature, but she had a passion for the appropriate and could be keenly sensitive to a
scene which was the fitting background of her own sensations. The landscape outspread below her seemed an
enlargement of her present mood, and she found something of herself in its calmness, its breadth, its long free
reaches. On the nearer slopes the sugar-maples wavered like pyres of light; lower down was a massing of grey
orchards, and here and there the lingering green of an oak-grove.
A. It creates a detailed image of the physical setting of the scene.
B. It establishes that a character is experiencing an internal conflict.
C. It makes an assertion that the next sentence then expands on.
D. It illustrates an idea that is introduced in the previous sentence.

Question ID c5292c3e
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: c5292c3e
Yawn contagion occurs when one individual yawns in response to another’s yawn. Studies of this behavior in primates
have focused on populations in captivity, but biologist Elisabetta Palagi and her colleagues have shown that it can occur
in wild primate populations as well. In their study, which focused on a wild population of gelada monkeys (Theropithecus
gelada) in Ethiopia, the researchers further reported that yawn contagion most commonly occurred in males and across
different social groups instead of within a single social group.
Which choice best describes the function of the first sentence in the text as a whole?
A. It defines a phenomenon that is discussed in the text.
B. It introduces a problem that is examined in the text.
C. It makes a claim that is challenged in the text.
D. It presents a hypothesis that is evaluated in the text.

Question ID c93c43dc
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: c93c43dc
Space scientists Anna-Lisa Paul, Stephen M. Elardo, and Robert Ferl planted seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana in samples of
lunar regolith—the surface material of the Moon—and, serving as a control group, in terrestrial soil. They found that while
all the seeds germinated, the roots of the regolith-grown plants were stunted compared with those in the control group.
Moreover, unlike the plants in the control group, the regolith-grown plants exhibited red pigmentation, reduced leaf size,
and inhibited growth rates—indicators of stress that were corroborated by postharvest molecular analysis.
A. It describes an experiment that addressed an unresolved question about the extent to which lunar regolith resembles
terrestrial soils.
B. It compares two distinct methods of assessing indicators of stress in plants grown in a simulated lunar environment.
C. It presents evidence in support of the hypothesis that seed germination in lunar habitats is an unattainable goal.
D. It discusses the findings of a study that evaluated the effects of exposing a plant species to lunar soil conditions.
Question ID 8a991dc8
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 8a991dc8
Michelene Pesantubbee, a historian and citizen of the Choctaw Nation, has identified a dilemma inherent to research on
the status of women in her tribe during the 1600s and 1700s: the primary sources from that era, travel narratives and
other accounts by male European colonizers, underestimate the degree of power conferred on Choctaw women by their
traditional roles in political, civic, and ceremonial life. Pesantubbee argues that the Choctaw oral tradition and findings
from archaeological sites in the tribe’s homeland supplement the written record by providing crucial insights into those
roles.
A. It details the shortcomings of certain historical sources, then argues that research should avoid those sources
altogether.
B. It describes a problem that arises in research on a particular topic, then sketches a historian’s approach to addressing
that problem.
C. It lists the advantages of a particular research method, then acknowledges a historian’s criticism of that method.
D. It characterizes a particular topic as especially challenging to research, then suggests a related topic for historians to
pursue instead.
Question ID 4871dabb

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 4871dabb
Text 1
Public policy researcher Anthony Fowler studied the history of elections in Australia, a country that requires citizens to
vote. Fowler argues that requiring citizens to vote leads to a significant increase in voters who would otherwise not have
the time or motivation to vote. Thus, election results in countries that require citizens to vote better reflect the
preferences of the country as a whole.
Text 2
Governments in democratic countries function better when more people vote. However, forcing people to vote may have
negative consequences. Shane P. Singh and Jason Roy studied what happens when a country requires its citizens to
vote. They found that when people feel forced to vote, they tend to spend less time looking for information about their
choices when voting. As a result, votes from these voters may not reflect their actual preferences.
Based on the texts, how would Singh and Roy (Text 2) most likely respond to the research discussed in Text 1?
A. Only countries of a certain population size should implement mandatory voting.
B. People who are forced to vote are likely to become politically engaged in other ways, such as volunteering or running
for office.
C. Requiring people to vote does not necessarily lead to election outcomes that better represent the preferences of the
country as a whole.
D. Countries that require voting must also make the process of voting easier for their citizens.
Question ID 0ebcf433
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 0ebcf433
When ancient oak planks were unearthed during subway construction in Rome, Mauro Bernabei and his team examined
the growth rings in the wood to determine where these planks came from. By comparing the growth rings on the planks
to records of similar rings in oaks from Europe, the team could trace the wood to the Jura region of France, hundreds of
kilometers from Rome. Because timber could only have been transported from distant Jura to Rome by boat, the team’s
findings suggest the complexity of Roman trade routes.
A. It presents a conclusion about Roman trade routes based on the team’s findings.
B. It questions how the team was able to conclude that the planks were used to build a boat.
C. It explains why the planks were made from oak rather than a different kind of wood.
D. It describes common methods used in Roman subway construction.

Question ID 8ece0047
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 8ece0047
Horizontal gene transfer occurs when an organism of one species acquires genetic material from an organism of another
species through nonreproductive means. The genetic material can then be transferred “vertically” in the second species—
that is, through reproductive inheritance. Scientist Atma Ivancevic and her team have hypothesized infection by
invertebrate parasites as a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer between vertebrate species: while feeding, a parasite
could acquire a gene from one host, then relocate to a host from a different vertebrate species and transfer the gene to it
in turn.
A. It explains why parasites are less susceptible to horizontal gene transfer than their hosts are.
B. It clarifies why some genes are more likely to be transferred horizontally than others are.
C. It contrasts how horizontal gene transfer occurs among vertebrates with how it occurs among invertebrates.
D. It describes a means by which horizontal gene transfer might occur among vertebrates.

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 50894857
Text 1
Literary scholars have struggled with the vastness of Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka’s collective works of drama (spanning
over 20 plays in total). It is best, however, to understand Soyinka’s body of work as a dramatist chronologically. Soyinka’s
progression as a playwright can be considered to fall into three periods, with each one representing a particular thematic
and stylistic cohesion: the 1960s, the two decades between 1970 and 1990, and lastly, from roughly 1990 onwards.
Text 2
It is tempting to impose a linear sense of order on the expanse of Wole Soyinka’s body of work as a dramatist. However,
critics who have considered Soyinka’s plays to fit neatly into three phases overlook potential commonalities in Soyinka’s
work that span across these phases. Additionally, this view may discount significant differences in the styles and content
of plays written around the same time.
Which choice best describes a difference in how the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 view the study of Soyinka’s
works of drama?
A. While the author of Text 1 believes that thinking about Soyinka’s works of theater in phases is useful, the author of
Text 2 views such an approach as limiting.
B. Although the author of Text 1 claims that Soyinka’s style as a dramatist has evolved over time, the author of Text 2
argues that Soyinka’s style has remained consistent throughout his career.
C. The author of Text 1 considers Soyinka’s plays to showcase his strongest writing, whereas the author of Text 2
believes that Soyinka’s poetry is where he is most skilled.
D. The author of Text 1 argues that Soyinka’s early plays were his most politically charged, whereas the author of Text 2
claims that Soyinka’s most recent plays are the most politicized.
Question ID 23718fee

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 23718fee
Text 1
For decades, bluegrass musicians have debated whether their genre should exclude influences from mainstream genres
such as rock. Many insist that bluegrass is defined by its adherence to the folk music of the US South, out of which
bluegrass emerged. Such “purists,” as they are known, regard the recordings of Bill Monroe, which established the
bluegrass sound in the 1940s, as a standard against which the genre should still be measured.
Text 2
Bluegrass isn’t simply an extension of folk traditions into the era of recorded music. In reality, Bill Monroe created the
bluegrass sound in the 1940s by combining Southern folk music with commercial genres that had arisen only a few
decades before, such as jazz and the blues. Since bluegrass has always been a mixed genre, contemporary bluegrass
musicians should not be forbidden from incorporating into it influences from rock and other mainstream genres.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely regard the perspective of bluegrass purists, as described
in Text 1?
A. As inconsistent, since bluegrass purists themselves enjoy other musical genres
B. As unrealistic, since bluegrass purists have no way of enforcing their musical preferences
C. As shortsighted, because bluegrass could enlarge its audience by including influences from mainstream genres
D. As illogical, because the purists overlook crucial aspects of how the bluegrass sound first originated.
Question ID d9a6817c

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: d9a6817c
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?
A. The author of Text 2 approaches the study’s findings with some caution, whereas the author of Text 1 is optimistic
about the reported potential environmental benefits.
B. The author of Text 2 claims that the percentage of farmland identified by Strassburg’s team is too low for rewilding to
achieve meaningful results, whereas the author of Text 1 thinks the percentage is sufficient.
C. The author of Text 2 believes that the results described by Strassburg’s team are achievable in the near future,
whereas the author of Text 1 argues that they likely aren’t.
D. The author of Text 2 focuses on rewilding’s effect on carbon emissions, whereas the author of Text 1 focuses on its
effect on biodiversity.

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 912389e9
Text 1
Stage lighting theorist Adolphe Appia was perhaps the first to argue that light must be considered alongside all the
various elements of a stage to create a single, unified performance. Researcher Kelly Bremner, however, has noted that
Appia lacked technical expertise in the use of light in the theater. As a result of Appia’s inexperience, Bremner argues,
Appia’s theory of light called for lighting practices that weren’t possible until after the advent of electricity around 1881.
Text 2
Adolphe Appia was not an amateur in the practice of lighting. Instead, it is precisely his exposure to lighting techniques
at the time that contributed to his theory on the importance of light. When working as an apprentice for a lighting
specialist in his youth, Appia observed the use of portable lighting devices that could be operated by hand. This
experience developed his understanding of what was possible in the coordination of elements on the stage.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the claim about Appia’s level of technical
expertise made by Bremner in Text 1?
A. Many lighting technicians dismissed Appia’s ideas about light on the stage.
B. Appia likely gained a level of technical expertise during his time as an apprentice.
C. Theater practitioners who worked with Appia greatly admired his work.
D. Appia was unfamiliar with the use of music and sound in theater.
Question ID f987e871
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: f987e871
“How lifelike are they?” Many computer animators prioritize this question as they strive to create ever more realistic
environments and lighting. Generally, while characters in computer-animated films appear highly exaggerated,
environments and lighting are carefully engineered to mimic reality. But some animators, such as Pixar’s Sanjay Patel, are
focused on a different question. Rather than asking first whether the environments and lighting they’re creating are
convincingly lifelike, Patel and others are asking whether these elements reflect their films’ unique stories.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined question in the text as a whole?
A. It reflects a primary goal that many computer animators have for certain components of the animations they
produce.
B. It represents a concern of computer animators who are more interested in creating unique backgrounds and lighting
effects than realistic ones.
C. It conveys the uncertainty among many computer animators about how to create realistic animations using current
technology.
D. It illustrates a reaction that audiences typically have to the appearance of characters created by computer animators.
Question ID ac2a3e8e

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: ac2a3e8e
Text 1
On April 26th, 1777, Sybil Ludington rode 40 miles by horse through Putnam County, New York, to gather up local militia.
British forces were burning nearby Danbury, Connecticut, and Ludington wanted to rally rebel troops to meet them.
Although she was only 16 years old at the time, her brave feat made Ludington one of the heroes of the American
Revolution. Since then, Ludington has been widely celebrated, inspiring postage stamps, statues, and even children’s TV
series.
Text 2
Historian Paula D. Hunt researched the life and legacy of Sybil Ludington but found no evidence for her famous ride.
Although many articles and books have been written about Ludington, Hunt believes writers may have been inventing
details about Ludington as they retold her story. Ludington is revered by Americans today, but there simply isn’t a strong
historical record of her heroic ride.
A. Sybil Ludington was crucial to the outcome of the Revolutionary War.
B. Historians have confirmed which route Sybil Ludington took.
C. Sybil Ludington was likely not a real person.
D. Many people have come to admire the story of Sybil Ludington’s ride.
Question ID e70d7578

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: e70d7578
Text 1
Fossils of the hominin Australopithecus africanus have been found in the Sterkfontein Caves of South Africa, but
assigning an age to the fossils is challenging because of the unreliability of dating methods in this context. The geology
of Sterkfontein has caused soil layers from different periods to mix, impeding stratigraphic dating, and dates cannot be
reliably imputed from those of nearby animal bones since the bones may have been relocated by flooding.
Text 2
Archaeologists used new cosmogenic nuclide dating techniques to reevaluate the ages of A. africanus fossils found in
the Sterkfontein Caves. This technique involves analyzing the cosmogenic nucleotides in the breccia—the matrix of rock
fragments immediately surrounding the fossils. The researchers assert that this approach avoids the potential for
misdating associated with assigning ages based on Sterkfontein’s soil layers or animal bones.
Based on the texts, how would the researchers in Text 2 most likely respond to the underlined portion in Text 1?
A. They would emphasize the fact that the A. africanus fossils found in the Sterkfontein Caves may have been corrupted
in some way over the years.
B. They would contend that if analyses of surrounding layers and bones in the Sterkfontein Caves were combined, then
the dating of the fossils there would be more accurate.
C. They would argue that their techniques are better suited than other methods to the unique challenges posed by the
Sterkfontein Caves.
D. They would claim that cosmogenic nuclide dating is reliable in the context of the Sterkfontein Caves because it is
applied to the fossils directly.
Question ID 0d9d50d7
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 0d9d50d7
According to historian Vicki L. Ruiz, Mexican American women made crucial contributions to the labor movement during
World War II. At the time, food processing companies entered into contracts to supply United States armed forces with
canned goods. Increased production quotas conferred greater bargaining power on the companies’ employees, many of
whom were Mexican American women: employees insisted on more favorable benefits, and employers, who were
anxious to fulfill the contracts, complied. Thus, labor activism became a platform for Mexican American women to assert
their agency.
A. It elaborates on a claim about labor relations in a particular industry made earlier in the text.
B. It offers an example of a trend in the World War II–era economy discussed earlier in the text.
C. It notes a possible exception to the historical narrative of labor activism sketched earlier in the text.
D. It provides further details about the identities of the workers discussed earlier in the text.
Question ID 05d9b07b

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 05d9b07b
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?
A. By conceding the importance of hierarchical systems but asserting the greater significance of decentralized
collective societies
B. By disputing the idea that developments in social structures have followed a linear progression through distinct
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
Question ID 83e391e6

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 83e391e6
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?
A. That behavior might have been due to the novelty of the magpies’ captive setting rather than to the novelty of the
tracker.
B. That behavior likely indicates that the magpies were deliberately attempting to benefit themselves by obtaining the
tracker.
C. That behavior may not be evidence of selflessness in Gymnorhina tibicen because not all the captured magpies
demonstrated it.
D. That behavior might be adequately explained without suggesting that the magpies were attempting to assist the
other magpie.
Question ID d60bc86d
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: d60bc86d
Some studies have suggested that posture can influence cognition, but we should not overstate this phenomenon. A
case in point: In a 2014 study, Megan O’Brien and Alaa Ahmed had subjects stand or sit while making risky simulated
economic decisions. Standing is more physically unstable and cognitively demanding than sitting; accordingly, O’Brien
and Ahmed hypothesized that standing subjects would display more risk aversion during the decision-making tasks than
sitting subjects did, since they would want to avoid further feelings of discomfort and complicated risk evaluations. But
O’Brien and Ahmed actually found no difference in the groups’ performance.
A. It argues that research findings about the effects of posture on cognition are often misunderstood, as in the case of
O’Brien and Ahmed’s study.
B. It presents the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to critique the methods and results reported in previous studies of the
effects of posture on cognition.
C. It explains a significant problem in the emerging understanding of posture’s effects on cognition and how O’Brien and
Ahmed tried to solve that problem.
D. It discusses the study by O’Brien and Ahmed to illustrate why caution is needed when making claims about the
effects of posture on cognition.
Question ID 89790d73
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 89790d73
The following text is from Charlotte Forten Grimké’s 1888 poem “At Newport.”
Oh, deep delight to watch the gladsome waves
Exultant leap upon the rugged rocks;
Ever repulsed, yet ever rushing on—
Filled with a life that will not know defeat;
To see the glorious hues of sky and sea.
The distant snowy sails, glide spirit like,
Into an unknown world, to feel the sweet
Enchantment of the sea thrill all the soul,
Clearing the clouded brain, making the heart
Leap joyous as it own bright, singing waves!
A. It portrays the surroundings as an imposing and intimidating scene.
B. It characterizes the sea’s waves as a relentless and enduring force.
C. It conveys the speaker’s ambivalence about the natural world.
D. It draws a contrast between the sea’s waves and the speaker’s thoughts.
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 9492c926
The following text is from Joseph Conrad’s 1907 novel The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale. Mr. Verloc is navigating the
London streets on his way to a meeting.
Before reaching Knightsbridge, Mr. Verloc took a turn to the left out of the busy main thoroughfare, uproarious with the
traffic of swaying omnibuses and trotting vans, in the almost silent, swift flow of hansoms [horse-drawn carriages]. Under
his hat, worn with a slight backward tilt, his hair had been carefully brushed into respectful sleekness; for his business
was with an Embassy. And Mr. Verloc, steady like a rock—a soft kind of rock—marched now along a street which could
with every propriety be described as private.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined phrase in the text as a whole?
A. It qualifies an earlier description of Mr. Verloc.
B. It emphasizes an internal struggle Mr. Verloc experiences.
C. It contrasts Mr. Verloc with his surroundings.
D. It reveals a private opinion Mr. Verloc holds.

Question ID 032fd227
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 032fd227
Many archaeologists assume that large-scale engineering projects in ancient societies required an elite class to plan and
direct the necessary labor. However, recent discoveries, such as the excavation of an ancient canal near the Gulf Coast of
Alabama, have complicated this picture. Using radiocarbon dating, a team of researchers concluded that the 1.39-
kilometer-long canal was most likely constructed between 576 and 650 CE by an Indigenous society that was relatively
free of social classes.
A. It describes a common view among archaeologists, then discusses a recent finding that challenges that view.
B. It outlines a method used in some archaeological fieldwork, then explains why an alternative method is superior to it.
C. It presents contradictory conclusions drawn by archaeologists, then evaluates a study that has apparently resolved
that contradiction.
D. It identifies a gap in scientific research, then presents a strategy used by some archaeologists to remedy that gap.
Question ID fb54c4a0

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: fb54c4a0
Text 1
Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel Orlando is an oddity within her body of work. Her other major novels consist mainly of
scenes of everyday life and describe their characters’ interior states in great detail, whereas Orlando propels itself
through a series of fantastical events and considers its characters’ psychology more superficially. Woolf herself
sometimes regarded the novel as a minor work, even admitting once that she “began it as a joke.”
Text 2
Like Woolf’s other great novels, Orlando portrays how people’s memories inform their experience of the present. Like
those works, it examines how people navigate social interactions shaped by gender and social class. Though it is lighter
in tone—more entertaining, even—this literary “joke” nonetheless engages seriously with the themes that motivated the
four or five other novels by Woolf that have achieved the status of literary classics.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the assessment of Orlando presented in Text
1?
A. By conceding that Woolf’s talents were best suited to serious novels but asserting that the humor in Orlando is often
effective
B. By agreeing that Orlando is less impressive than certain other novels by Woolf but arguing that it should still be
regarded as a classic
C. By acknowledging that Orlando clearly differs from Woolf’s other major novels but insisting on its centrality to her
body of work nonetheless
D. By concurring that the reputation of Orlando as a minor work has led readers to overlook this novel but maintaining
that the reputation is unearned
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 97643f46
Some bird species don’t raise their own chicks. Instead, adult females lay their eggs in other nests, next to another bird
species’ own eggs. Female cuckoos have been seen quickly laying eggs in the nests of other bird species when those
birds are out looking for food. After the eggs hatch, the noncuckoo parents will typically raise the cuckoo chicks as if they
were their own offspring, even if the cuckoos look very different from the other chicks.
A. It introduces a physical feature of female cuckoos that is described later in the text.
B. It describes the appearance of the cuckoo nests mentioned earlier in the text.
C. It offers a detail about how female cuckoos carry out the behavior discussed in the text.
D. It explains how other birds react to the female cuckoo behavior discussed in the text.
Question ID 74e7cada

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 74e7cada
Text 1
In 2021, a team led by Amir Siraj hypothesized that the Chicxulub impactor—the object that struck the Yucatán Peninsula
sixty-six million years ago, precipitating the mass extinction of the dinosaurs—was likely a member of the class of long-
period comets. As evidence, Siraj cited the carbonaceous chondritic composition of samples from the Chicxulub impact
crater as well as of samples obtained from long-period comet Wild 2 in 2006.
Text 2
Although long-period comets contain carbonaceous chondrites, asteroids are similarly rich in these materials.
Furthermore, some asteroids are rich in iridium, as Natalia Artemieva points out, whereas long-period comets are not.
Given the prevalence of iridium at the crater and, more broadly, in geological layers deposited worldwide following the
impact, Artemieva argues that an asteroid is a more plausible candidate for the Chicxulub impactor.
Based on the texts, how would Artemieva likely respond to Siraj’s hypothesis, as presented in Text 1?
A. By insisting that it overestimates how representative Wild 2 is of long-period comets as a class
B. By arguing that it does not account for the amount of iridium found in geological layers dating to the Chicxulub
impact
C. By praising it for connecting the composition of Chicxulub crater samples to the composition of certain asteroids
D. By concurring that carbonaceous chondrites are prevalent in soil samples from sites distant from the Chicxulub
crater
Question ID 428d801f
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 428d801f
Many films from the early 1900s have been lost. These losses include several films by the first wave of Black women
filmmakers. We know about these lost movies only from small pieces of evidence. For example, an advertisement for
Jennie Louise Touissant Welcome’s documentary Doing Their Bit still exists. There’s a reference in a magazine to Tressie
Souders’s film A Woman’s Error. And Maria P. Williams’s The Flames of Wrath is mentioned in a letter and a newspaper
article, and one image from the movie was discovered in the 1990s.
A. The text identifies a complex problem, then presents examples of unsuccessful attempts to solve that problem.
B. The text summarizes a debate among researchers, then gives reasons for supporting one side in that debate.
C. The text describes a general situation, then illustrates that situation with specific examples.
D. The text discusses several notable individuals, then explains commonly overlooked differences between those
individuals.
Question ID a68eb278
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: a68eb278
The following text is from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1910 poem “The Earth’s Entail.”
No matter how we cultivate the land,
Taming the forest and the prairie free;
No matter how we irrigate the sand,
Making the desert blossom at command,
We must always leave the borders of the sea;
The immeasureable reaches
Of the windy wave-wet beaches,
The million-mile-long margin of the sea.
A. The speaker argues against interfering with nature and then gives evidence supporting this interference.
B. The speaker presents an account of efforts to dominate nature and then cautions that such efforts are only
temporary.
C. The speaker provides examples of an admirable way of approaching nature and then challenges that approach.
D. The speaker describes attempts to control nature and then offers a reminder that not all nature is controllable.
Question ID 236404af

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 236404af
Text 1
Many studies in psychology have shown that people seek out information even when they know in advance that they
have no immediate use for it and that they won’t directly benefit from it. Such findings support the consensus view
among researchers of curiosity: namely, that curiosity is not instrumental but instead represents a drive to acquire
information for its own sake.
Text 2
While acknowledging that acquiring information is a powerful motivator, Rachit Dubey and colleagues ran an experiment
to test whether emphasizing the usefulness of scientific information could increase curiosity about it. They found that
when research involving rats and fruit flies was presented as having medical applications for humans, participants
expressed greater interest in learning about it than when the research was not presented as useful.
Based on the texts, how would Dubey and colleagues (Text 2) most likely respond to the consensus view discussed in
Text 1?
A. By suggesting that curiosity may not be exclusively motivated by the desire to merely acquire information
B. By conceding that people may seek out information that serves no immediate purpose only because they think they
can use it later
C. By pointing out that it is challenging to determine when information-seeking serves no goal beyond acquiring
information
D. By disputing the idea that curiosity can help explain apparently purposeless information-seeking behaviors
Question ID 29b5b9c2

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 29b5b9c2
Text 1
Today the starchy root cassava is found in many dishes across West Africa, but its rise to popularity was slow.
Portuguese traders brought cassava from Brazil to the West African coast in the 1500s. But at this time, people living in
the capitals further inland had little contact with coastal communities. Thus, cassava remained relatively unknown to
most of the region’s inhabitants until the 1800s.
Text 2
Cassava’s slow adoption into the diet of West Africans is mainly due to the nature of the crop itself. If not cooked
properly, cassava can be toxic. Knowledge of how to properly prepare cassava needed to spread before the food could
grow in popularity. The arrival of formerly enslaved people from Brazil in the 1800s, who brought their knowledge of
cassava and its preparation with them, thus directly fueled the spread of this crop.
Based on the texts, the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 would most likely agree with which statement?
A. Cassava did not become a significant crop in West Africa until long after it was first introduced.
B. Several of the most commonly grown crops in West Africa are originally from Brazil.
C. The climate of the West African coast in the 1500s prevented cassava’s spread in the region.
D. The most commonly used methods to cook cassava today date to the 1500s.
Question ID 9027e78b
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 9027e78b
By combining Indigenous and classical music, Cree composer and cellist Cris Derksen creates works that reflect the
diverse cultural landscape of Canada. For her album Orchestral Powwow, Derksen composed new songs in the style of
traditional powwow music that were accompanied by classical arrangements played by an orchestra. But where an
orchestra would normally follow the directions of a conductor, the musicians on Orchestral Powwow are led by the beat
of a powwow drum.
A. To examine how Derksen’s musical compositions blend cultures
B. To argue that Derksen should be recognized for creating a new style of music
C. To describe the difficulties Derksen encountered when producing her album
D. To establish a contrast between Derksen’s classical training and her Cree heritage
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 0b016420
Using NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Mercedes López-Morales and colleagues measured the
wavelengths of light traveling through the atmosphere of WASP-39b, an exoplanet, or planet outside our solar system.
Different molecules absorb different wavelengths of light, and the wavelength measurements showed the presence of
carbon dioxide (CO₂) in WASP-39b’s atmosphere. This finding not only offers the first decisive evidence of CO₂ in the
atmosphere of an exoplanet but also illustrates the potential for future scientific breakthroughs held by the JWST.
A. It discusses a method used by some researchers, then states why an alternative method is superior to it.
B. It describes how researchers made a scientific discovery, then explains the importance of that discovery.
C. It outlines the steps taken in a scientific study, then presents a hypothesis based on that study.
D. It examines how a group of scientists reached a conclusion, then shows how other scientists have challenged that
conclusion.
Question ID b428c117
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: b428c117
Industrial activity is often assumed to be a threat to wildlife, but that isn’t always so. Consider the silver-studded blue
butterfly (Plebejus argus): as forest growth has reduced grasslands in northern Germany, many of these butterflies have
left meadow habitats and are now thriving in active limestone quarries. In a survey of multiple active quarries and
patches of maintained grassland, an ecologist found silver-studded blue butterflies in 100% of the quarries but only 57%
of the grassland patches. Moreover, butterfly populations in the quarries were four times larger than those in the
meadows.
A. It challenges a common assumption about the species under investigation in the research referred to in the text.
B. It introduces discussion of a specific example that supports the general claim made in the previous sentence.
C. It suggests that a certain species should be included in additional studies like the one mentioned later in the text.
D. It provides a definition for an unfamiliar term that is central to the main argument in the text.
Question ID 9c0074c0

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 9c0074c0
Text 1
In 1916, H. Dugdale Sykes disputed claims that The Two Noble Kinsmen was coauthored by William Shakespeare and
John Fletcher. Sykes felt Fletcher’s contributions to the play were obvious—Fletcher had a distinct style in his other plays,
so much so that lines with that style were considered sufficient evidence of Fletcher’s authorship. But for the lines not
deemed to be by Fletcher, Sykes felt that their depiction of women indicated that their author was not Shakespeare but
Philip Massinger.
Text 2
Scholars have accepted The Two Noble Kinsmen as coauthored by Shakespeare since the 1970s: it appears in all major
one-volume editions of Shakespeare’s complete works. Though scholars disagree about who wrote what exactly, it is
generally held that on the basis of style, Shakespeare wrote all of the first act and most of the last, while John Fletcher
authored most of the three middle acts.
Based on the texts, both Sykes in Text 1 and the scholars in Text 2 would most likely agree with which statement?
A. John Fletcher’s writing has a unique, readily identifiable style.
B. The women characters in John Fletcher’s plays are similar to the women characters in Philip Massinger’s plays.
C. The Two Noble Kinsmen belongs in one-volume compilations of Shakespeare’s complete plays.
D. Philip Massinger’s style in the first and last acts of The Two Noble Kinsmen is an homage to Shakespeare’s style.
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 35e921f5
Hiroshi Senju is known worldwide for his paintings of waterfalls. These paintings are large and tend not to show the
entire waterfall. Instead, Senju focuses on just the point where the falling water reaches the pool below, keeping the top
of the waterfall out of view. While Senju’s paintings are rooted in art movements originating in the United States, the artist
uses traditional Japanese techniques and materials that make his work instantly recognizable.
A. It introduces an artist and then explains some common characteristics of well-known paintings by that artist.
B. It explains a specific painting technique and then provides examples of artists who use the technique.
C. It describes a famous painting and then compares it to a lesser-known painting from the same time period.
D. It gives an opinion on an artist and then suggests multiple reasons why the artist’s work has been largely overlooked.
Question ID 6f104dd1
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 6f104dd1
Genetic studies have led researchers to suggest that turtles are most closely related to the group that includes modern
crocodiles. But studies of fossils have suggested instead that turtles are most closely related to other groups, such as
the one that contains modern snakes. However, many of the fossil studies have relied on incomplete data sets. For a
2022 investigation, biologist Tiago R. Simões and colleagues examined more than 1,000 reptile fossils collected
worldwide. From this large data set, they found clear agreement with the results of the genetic studies.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?
A. It offers an overview of the tools scientists use to examine fossils.
B. It describes a limitation of some studies about the origin of turtles.
C. It summarizes previous research on the evolution of crocodiles.
D. It criticizes a widely held belief about genetic studies of reptiles.

Question ID 16e22b5e
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 16e22b5e
The following text is adapted from Jane Austen’s 1814 novel Mansfield Park. The speaker, Tom, is considering staging a
play at home with a group of his friends and family.
We mean nothing but a little amusement among ourselves, just to vary the scene, and exercise our powers in
something new. We want no audience, no publicity. We may be trusted, I think, in choosing some play most perfectly
unexceptionable; and I can conceive no greater harm or danger to any of us in conversing in the elegant written
language of some respectable author than in chattering in words of our own.
A. To offer Tom’s assurance that the play will be inoffensive and involve only a small number of people
B. To clarify that the play will not be performed in the manner Tom had originally intended
C. To elaborate on the idea that the people around Tom lack the skills to successfully stage a play
D. To assert that Tom believes the group performing the play will be able to successfully promote it
Question ID b4159cd8
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: b4159cd8
Archeological excavation of Market Street Chinatown, a nineteenth-century Chinese American community in San Jose,
California, provided the first evidence that Asian food products were imported to the United States in the 1800s: bones
from a freshwater fish species native to Southeast Asia. Jinshanzhuang—Hong Kong–based import/export firms—likely
coordinated the fish’s transport from Chinese-operated fisheries in Vietnam and Malaysia to North American markets.
This route reveals the (often overlooked) multinational dimensions of the trade networks linking Chinese diaspora
communities.
A. It explains why efforts to determine the country of origin of the items mentioned in the previous sentence remain
inconclusive.
B. It provides information that helps support a claim about a discovery’s significance that is presented in the following
sentence.
C. It traces the steps that were taken to locate and recover the objects that are described in the previous sentence.
D. It outlines a hypothesis that additional evidence discussed in the following sentence casts some doubt on.
Question ID 857d1bff
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 857d1bff
A study by a team including finance professor Madhu Veeraraghavan suggests that exposure to sunshine during the
workday can lead to overly optimistic behavior. Using data spanning from 1994 to 2010 for a set of US companies, the
team compared over 29,000 annual earnings forecasts to the actual earnings later reported by those companies. The
team found that the greater the exposure to sunshine at work in the two weeks before a manager submitted an earnings
forecast, the more the manager’s forecast exceeded what the company actually earned that year.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?
A. To summarize the results of the team’s analysis
B. To present a specific example that illustrates the study’s findings
C. To explain part of the methodology used in the team’s study
D. To call out a challenge the team faced in conducting its analysis

Question ID 1a092efe
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 1a092efe
The following text is adapted from Aphra Behn’s 1689 novel The Lucky Mistake. Atlante and Rinaldo are neighbors who
have been secretly exchanging letters through Charlot, Atlante’s sister.
[Atlante] gave this letter to Charlot; who immediately ran into the balcony with it, where she still found Rinaldo in a
melancholy posture, leaning his head on his hand: She showed him the letter, but was afraid to toss it to him, for fear it
might fall to the ground; so he ran and fetched a long cane, which he cleft at one end, and held it while she put the
letter into the cleft, and stayed not to hear what he said to it. But never was man so transported with joy, as he was at
the reading of this letter; it gives him new wounds; for to the generous, nothing obliges love so much as love.
A. It describes the delivery of a letter, and then portrays a character’s happiness at reading that letter.
B. It establishes that a character is desperate to receive a letter, and then explains why another character has not yet
written that letter.
C. It presents a character’s concerns about delivering a letter, and then details the contents of that letter.
D. It reveals the inspiration behind a character’s letter, and then emphasizes the excitement that another character feels
upon receiving that letter.
Question ID cc919e5f
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: cc919e5f
The following text is adapted from Gwendolyn Bennett’s 1926 poem “Street Lamps in Early Spring.”
Night wears a garment
All velvet soft, all violet blue...
And over her face she draws a veil
As shimmering fine as floating dew...
And here and there
In the black of her hair
The subtle hands of Night
Move slowly with their gem-starred light.
A. It presents alternating descriptions of night in a rural area and in a city.
B. It sketches an image of nightfall, then an image of sunrise.
C. It makes an extended comparison of night to a human being.
D. It portrays how night changes from one season of the year to the next.
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 34135282
Researchers have found a nearly 164,000-year-old molar from a member of the archaic human species known as
Denisovans in a cave in Laos, suggesting that Denisovans lived in a wider range of environments than indicated by earlier
evidence. Before the discovery, Denisovans were thought to have lived only at high altitudes in relatively cold climates in
what are now Russia and China, but the discovery of the tooth in Laos suggests that they may have lived at low altitudes
in relatively warm climates in Southeast Asia as well.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A. It dismisses as untrue the research presented in the previous sentence.
B. It defines a term used in the description that follows in the rest of the sentence.
C. It emphasizes the main goal of the research introduced in the previous sentence.
D. It provides context that clarifies the significance of the information that follows in the rest of the sentence.
Question ID cfbdb79f
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: cfbdb79f
The following text is from Walt Whitman’s 1860 poem “Calamus 24.”
I HEAR it is charged against me that I seek to destroy institutions;
But really I am neither for nor against institutions
(What indeed have I in common with them?—Or what with the destruction of them?),
Only I will establish in the Mannahatta [Manhattan] and in every city of These States, inland and seaboard,
And in the fields and woods, and above every keel [ship] little or large, that dents the water,
Without edifices, or rules, or trustees, or any argument,
The institution of the dear love of comrades.
A. The speaker questions an increasingly prevalent attitude, then summarizes his worldview.
B. The speaker regrets his isolation from others, then predicts a profound change in society.
C. The speaker concedes his personal shortcomings, then boasts of his many achievements.
D. The speaker addresses a criticism leveled against him, then announces a grand ambition of his.
Question ID 784fef59
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 784fef59
Streams and rivers carry soil and rocks from one location to another. But there is another way for these geological
materials to move. Scientists call this process “aeolian transport.” In aeolian transport, winds move small particles of soil
or rock over potentially great distances. Geologist Melisa Diaz and her team studied dust in Antarctica to find out if it was
moved by aeolian transport. They discovered that the dust matched geological material in Australia. Aeolian transport
had carried it from one continent to another, across thousands of miles of open ocean.
A. It presents Melisa Diaz’s remarks about difficulties that her team encountered.
B. It introduces a scientific term that is used in the discussion that follows.
C. It emphasizes the surprising nature of the findings that are presented.
D. It explains the difference between two kinds of geological material.

Question ID 1f38cdb9

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 1f38cdb9
Text 1
Like the work of Ralph Ellison before her, Toni Morrison’s novels feature scenes in which characters deliver sermons of
such length and verbal dexterity that for a time, the text exchanges the formal parameters of fiction for those of oral
literature. Given the many other echoes of Ellison in Morrison’s novels, both in structure and prose style, these scenes
suggest Ellison’s direct influence on Morrison.
Text 2
In their destabilizing effect on literary form, the sermons in Morrison’s works recall those in Ellison’s. Yet literature by
Black Americans abounds in moments where interpolated speech erodes the division between oral and written forms
that literature in English has traditionally observed. Morrison’s use of the sermon is attributable not only to the influence
of Ellison but also to a community-wide strategy of resistance to externally imposed literary conventions.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely characterize the underlined claim in Text 1?
A. As failing to consider Ellison’s and Morrison’s equivalent uses of the sermon within the wider cultural context in which
they wrote
B. As misunderstanding the function of sermons in novels by Black American writers other than Ellison and Morrison
C. As disregarding points of structural and stylistic divergence between the works of Ellison and those of Morrison
D. As being indebted to the tradition of resisting literary conventions that privilege written forms, such as novels, over
sermons and other oral forms
Question ID 60451ae9

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 60451ae9
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
B. As premature, because researchers have only just begun trying to determine what kinds of crusts white dwarf
exoplanets had
C. As questionable, because it rests on an incomplete consideration of potential sources of the elements detected in
white dwarf atmospheres
D. As puzzling, because it’s unusual to successfully detect lithium and sodium when analyzing wavelengths of light in
white dwarf atmospheres
Question ID 7dd29895

PSAT 10 Connections
ID: 7dd29895
Text 1
The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event is usually attributed solely to an asteroid impact near Chicxulub,
Mexico. Some scientists argue that volcanic activity was the true cause, as the K-Pg event occurred relatively early in a
long period of eruption of the Deccan Traps range that initially produced huge amounts of climate-altering gases. These
dissenters note that other mass extinctions have coincided with large volcanic eruptions, while only the K-Pg event lines
up with an asteroid strike.
Text 2
In a 2020 study, Pincelli Hull and her colleagues analyzed ocean core samples and modeled climate changes around the
K-Pg event. The team concluded that Deccan Traps gases did affect global conditions prior to the event, but that the
climate returned to normal well before the extinctions began—extinctions that instead closely align with the Chicxulub
impact.
Based on the texts, how would Hull’s team (Text 2) most likely respond to the argument in the underlined portion of Text
1?
A. By agreeing that the Chicxulub impact changed the climate and that the Deccan Traps eruption caused the K-Pg event
B. By declaring that the changes in climate caused by the Deccan Traps eruption weren’t the main cause of the K-Pg
event
C. By questioning why those scientists assume that the Chicxulub impact caused the Deccan Traps eruption
D. By asserting that the Deccan Traps eruption had a more significant effect on global conditions than those scientists
claim
Question ID 053bf2c3
PSAT 10 Purpose
ID: 053bf2c3
The following text is from Georgia Douglas Johnson’s 1922 poem “Benediction.”
Go forth, my son,
Winged by my heart’s desire!
Great reaches, yet unknown,
Await
For your possession.
I may not, if I would,
Retrace the way with you,
My pilgrimage is through,
But life is calling you!
A. To express hope that a child will have the same accomplishments as his parent did
B. To suggest that raising a child involves many struggles
C. To warn a child that he will face many challenges throughout his life
D. To encourage a child to embrace the experiences life will offer

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Question ID b2bd1f67

Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

A. Get his mother to accept

B. Get his mother to apologize for

C. Get his mother to match

D. Get his mother to reunite with

It is summer, glorious, deep-toned summer,

At night the wide and level stretch of wold,

I drew the shades far down, crept into bed;

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To convey a contrast between Jane’s outward calmness and internal restlessness

D. To describe Jane’s determination to secure employment outside of Thornfield Hall

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To provide examples of Price’s importance as a composer

B. To argue that more major orchestras should perform Price’s compositions

C. To describe the musical styles that inspired many of Price’s symphonies

D. To compare Price’s scores with those of classical European composers

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It illustrates a character’s reaction to a new environment.

B. It explains why a character has traveled to a city.

C. It compares a character’s thoughts about an event at two different times of day.

D. It presents a character feeling regret over leaving home.

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

B. It establishes how the narrator feels about the piano.

C. It suggests that the narrator’s brothers are talented piano players.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

B. To give an example of Julius’s knowledge about soil

D. To explain different ways in which Julius was helpful

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence?

D. It concedes that the definition of self-knowledge advanced in the text is unpopular.

D. It offers an alternative explanation for the findings of Chang and colleagues.

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

C. Changing consumer behaviors are leading to changes in music-related businesses.

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

A. It suggests that Shakti feels uncomfortable near the river.

C. It emphasizes Shakti’s sense of belonging in the landscape.

D. It conveys Shakti’s appreciation for her long-term friendships.

Which choice best describes the main purpose of the text?

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To discuss von Ahn’s invention of reCAPTCHA

B. To explain how digital scanners work

C. To call attention to von Ahn’s book-digitizing project

D. To indicate how popular reCAPTCHA is

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Craft and Structure Cross-Text

B. Ailey’s work was strongly influenced by jazz.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?