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These 10 free SHSAT questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
Exhausted after three hours of rehearsal, the piano bench felt like the most comfortable seat in the world to Nadia. Which revision BEST corrects the error in the sentence?
Correct answer: C - Exhausted after three hours of rehearsal, Nadia found the piano bench the most comfortable seat in the world.
For most of the twentieth century, marine biologists studied coral reefs almost entirely by sight, sending divers down with cameras and clipboards. The method had an obvious limit: a diver can survey only a small patch of reef, only in daylight, and only in water clear enough to see through. In the early 2000s, a few researchers began lowering underwater microphones instead. What they heard startled them. A healthy reef is astonishingly loud - a dense crackle of snapping shrimp, punctuated by the grunts and pops of feeding fish. A degraded reef, by contrast, is nearly silent. Because that difference is audible even to an untrained ear, acoustic monitoring spread quickly. A single recorder left on the seafloor can log months of data for a fraction of the cost of a dive team, though it still cannot identify which species are present. As used in the passage, the word 'dense' MOST nearly means:
Correct answer: D - closely packed
For most of the twentieth century, marine biologists studied coral reefs almost entirely by sight, sending divers down with cameras and clipboards. The method had an obvious limit: a diver can survey only a small patch of reef, only in daylight, and only in water clear enough to see through. In the early 2000s, a few researchers began lowering underwater microphones instead. What they heard startled them. A healthy reef is astonishingly loud - a dense crackle of snapping shrimp, punctuated by the grunts and pops of feeding fish. A degraded reef, by contrast, is nearly silent. Because that difference is audible even to an untrained ear, acoustic monitoring spread quickly. A single recorder left on the seafloor can log months of data for a fraction of the cost of a dive team, though it still cannot identify which species are present. The passage suggests that acoustic monitoring spread quickly primarily because it:
Correct answer: A - produces results that are easy to interpret and inexpensive to collect
For most of the twentieth century, marine biologists studied coral reefs almost entirely by sight, sending divers down with cameras and clipboards. The method had an obvious limit: a diver can survey only a small patch of reef, only in daylight, and only in water clear enough to see through. In the early 2000s, a few researchers began lowering underwater microphones instead. What they heard startled them. A healthy reef is astonishingly loud - a dense crackle of snapping shrimp, punctuated by the grunts and pops of feeding fish. A degraded reef, by contrast, is nearly silent. Because that difference is audible even to an untrained ear, acoustic monitoring spread quickly. A single recorder left on the seafloor can log months of data for a fraction of the cost of a dive team, though it still cannot identify which species are present. The author includes the second sentence of the passage primarily to:
Correct answer: C - explain why researchers sought an alternative approach
The museum closes at five, however, the gift shop remains open until six. Which revision BEST corrects the punctuation error in the sentence?
Correct answer: D - The museum closes at five; however, the gift shop remains open until six.
Every autumn, town councils across the region debate whether to keep their streetlights burning all night. Supporters of overnight lighting point to public safety; opponents point to cost and to mounting evidence that artificial light disrupts the behavior of nocturnal insects. Last year the village of Marlow ran an experiment: it dimmed its streetlights by half between midnight and five o'clock for six months. Reported crime in the village did not change. Electricity costs fell by nineteen percent. Moth counts at three monitoring stations rose sharply. The council voted in March to make the dimming permanent. Which sentence from the passage provides the STRONGEST support for the conclusion that dimming the streetlights did not make Marlow less safe?
Correct answer: B - Reported crime in the village did not change.
A store increases the price of a jacket by 20 percent. One month later, the store takes 20 percent off the increased price. Which statement about the final price is true?
Correct answer: B - The final price is 4 percent lower than the original price.
Two sides of a triangle have lengths of 7 and 11. Which of the following could be the length of the third side?
Correct answer: B - 17
A theater sells adult tickets for 9 dollars and student tickets for 5 dollars. On Friday night, 120 tickets were sold for a total of 860 dollars. How many student tickets were sold?
Correct answer: B - 55
A car travels 60 miles from home to a campsite at an average speed of 30 miles per hour. It returns along the same 60-mile route at an average speed of 60 miles per hour. What is the car's average speed for the entire round trip, in miles per hour?
Correct answer: A - 40
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