Test Prep ACT Test Exam
American College Testing: English, Math, Reading, Science, Writing (Page 7 )

DIRECTIONS: In the passage below, certain phrases are underlined and numbered <x>. The question will present alternatives for the underlined part. In most cases, you are to choose the one that best expresses the idea, makes the statement appropriate for standard written English, or is worded most consistently with the style and tone of the passage as a whole. If you think the original version is the best, choose "NO CHANGE".

Lightning in the Sand

[§1] As my friend Anna and I walked the sand dunes of southeastern New Mexico, she told me that she hoped we'd find a fulgurite, one as translucent white as the southeastern New Mexico sands around us. <1> A fulgurite ­ whose name stems from the Latin word fulgur, which means "thunderbolt" ­ is a hollow silica glass tube formed when lightning strikes sand. A fulgurite is created in one explosive second by fusion and pressure as sand heated by a lightning blast melts, <2> and becomes glass. Commonly called "petrified lightning," a fulgurite places <3> the shape of a miniature lightning bolt into the earth, often branching deep into the ground.

[§2] Anna told me that I had possibly seen a small fragment of a fulgurite before, without realizing I had, on a beach. She explained though that even experts <4> are rarely able to locate a fully intact fulgurite. The thin, brittle glass tubes break easily. <5> Occasionally, after strong, sustained winds have shifted desert sands, while <6> an unbroken, previously buried fulgurite will be revealed, showing as a tube protruding from the ground.

<7> I scanned the area, hopeful that I'd see a tube newly uncovered. <8> Anna made clear that we'd be lucky to come upon a small piece of fulgurite, just a few inches long.

[§3] Anna had shown me fulgurites she had found on other trips. Their colors ranged from black to brown to green, corresponding to the color of the sand in which she had discovered them. I wasn't surprised that I'd never recognized fulgurites on any beach: no one had ever told me what to look for <9> Their interiors, though, are smooth, clear glass stained <10> with tiny bubbles trapped formed by air and moisture <11> during the rapid cooling of the melted sand after the
lightning strike.

[§4] We continued exploring the dunes. Anna laughed and said we needed only to stop at the local gift shop to unearth <12> our treasure. <13> But given our <14> luck finding fulgurites in deserts and on beaches, <15> she wanted to keep searching to find our own piece of bright, white lightning in the sand.

<8>:

DIRECTIONS: In the passage below, certain phrases are underlined and numbered <x>. The question will present alternatives for the underlined part. In most cases, you are to choose the one that best expresses the idea, makes the statement appropriate for standard written English, or is worded most consistently with the style and tone of the passage as a whole. If you think the original version is the best, choose "NO CHANGE".

Lightning in the Sand

[§1] As my friend Anna and I walked the sand dunes of southeastern New Mexico, she told me that she hoped we'd find a fulgurite, one as translucent white as the southeastern New Mexico sands around us. <1> A fulgurite ­ whose name stems from the Latin word fulgur, which means "thunderbolt" ­ is a hollow silica glass tube formed when lightning strikes sand. A fulgurite is created in one explosive second by fusion and pressure as sand heated by a lightning blast melts, <2> and becomes glass. Commonly called "petrified lightning," a fulgurite places <3> the shape of a miniature lightning bolt into the earth, often branching deep into the ground.

[§2] Anna told me that I had possibly seen a small fragment of a fulgurite before, without realizing I had, on a beach. She explained though that even experts <4> are rarely able to locate a fully intact fulgurite. The thin, brittle glass tubes break easily. <5> Occasionally, after strong, sustained winds have shifted desert sands, while <6> an unbroken, previously buried fulgurite will be revealed, showing as a tube protruding from the ground. <7> I scanned the area, hopeful that I'd see a tube newly uncovered. <8> Anna made clear that we'd be lucky to come upon a small piece of fulgurite, just a few inches long.

[§3] Anna had shown me fulgurites she had found on other trips. Their colors ranged from black to brown to green, corresponding to the color of the sand in which she had discovered them. I wasn't surprised that I'd never recognized fulgurites on any beach: no one had ever told me what to look for <9> Their interiors, though, are smooth, clear glass stained <10> with tiny bubbles trapped formed by air and moisture <11> during the rapid cooling of the melted sand after the
lightning strike.

[§4] We continued exploring the dunes. Anna laughed and said we needed only to stop at the local gift shop to unearth <12> our treasure. <13> But given our <14> luck finding fulgurites in deserts and on beaches, <15> she wanted to keep searching to find our own piece of bright, white lightning in the sand.

Which choice most effectively concludes this sentence <9> and leads into the information that follows in the paragraph?

DIRECTIONS: In the passage below, certain phrases are underlined and numbered <x>. The question will present alternatives for the underlined part. In most cases, you are to choose the one that best expresses the idea, makes the statement appropriate for standard written English, or is worded most consistently with the style and tone of the passage as a whole. If you think the original version is the best, choose "NO CHANGE".

Lightning in the Sand

[§1] As my friend Anna and I walked the sand dunes of southeastern New Mexico, she told me that she hoped we'd find a fulgurite, one as translucent white as the southeastern New Mexico sands around us. <1> A fulgurite ­ whose name stems from the Latin word fulgur, which means "thunderbolt" ­ is a hollow silica glass tube formed when lightning strikes sand. A fulgurite is created in one explosive second by fusion and pressure as sand heated by a lightning blast melts, <2> and becomes glass. Commonly called "petrified lightning," a fulgurite places <3> the shape of a miniature lightning bolt into the earth, often branching deep into the ground.

[§2] Anna told me that I had possibly seen a small fragment of a fulgurite before, without realizing I had, on a beach. She explained though that even experts <4> are rarely able to locate a fully intact fulgurite. The thin, brittle glass tubes break easily. <5> Occasionally, after strong, sustained winds have shifted desert sands, while <6> an unbroken, previously buried fulgurite will be revealed, showing as a tube protruding from the ground. <7> I scanned the area, hopeful that I'd see a tube newly uncovered. <8> Anna made clear that we'd be lucky to come upon a small piece of fulgurite, just a few inches long.

[§3] Anna had shown me fulgurites she had found on other trips. Their colors ranged from black to brown to green, corresponding to the color of the sand in which she had discovered them. I wasn't surprised that I'd never recognized fulgurites on any beach: no one had ever told me what to look for <9> Their interiors, though, are smooth, clear glass stained <10> with tiny bubbles trapped formed by air and moisture <11> during the rapid cooling of the melted sand after the
lightning strike.

[§4] We continued exploring the dunes. Anna laughed and said we needed only to stop at the local gift shop to unearth <12> our treasure. <13> But given our <14> luck finding fulgurites in deserts and on beaches, <15> she wanted to keep searching to find our own piece of bright, white lightning in the sand.

Which choice makes clearest the light, sporadic arrangement of the bubbles in the glass? <10>

DIRECTIONS: In the passage below, certain phrases are underlined and numbered <x>. The question will present alternatives for the underlined part. In most cases, you are to choose the one that best expresses the idea, makes the statement appropriate for standard written English, or is worded most consistently with the style and tone of the passage as a whole. If you think the original version is the best, choose "NO CHANGE".

Lightning in the Sand

[§1] As my friend Anna and I walked the sand dunes of southeastern New Mexico, she told me that she hoped we'd find a fulgurite, one as translucent white as the southeastern New Mexico sands around us. <1> A fulgurite ­ whose name stems from the Latin word fulgur, which means "thunderbolt" ­ is a hollow silica glass tube formed when lightning strikes sand. A fulgurite is created in one explosive second by fusion and pressure as sand heated by a lightning blast melts, <2> and becomes glass. Commonly called "petrified lightning," a fulgurite places <3> the shape of a miniature lightning bolt into the earth, often branching deep into the ground.

[§2] Anna told me that I had possibly seen a small fragment of a fulgurite before, without realizing I had, on a beach. She explained though that even experts <4> are rarely able to locate a fully intact fulgurite. The thin, brittle glass tubes break easily. <5> Occasionally, after strong, sustained winds have shifted desert sands, while <6> an unbroken, previously buried fulgurite will be revealed, showing as a tube protruding from the ground. <7> I scanned the area, hopeful that I'd see a tube newly uncovered. <8> Anna made clear that we'd be lucky to come upon a small piece of fulgurite, just a few inches long.

[§3] Anna had shown me fulgurites she had found on other trips. Their colors ranged from black to brown to green, corresponding to the color of the sand in which she had discovered them. I wasn't surprised that I'd never recognized fulgurites on any beach: no one had ever told me what to look for <9> Their interiors, though, are smooth, clear glass stained <10> with tiny bubbles trapped formed by air and moisture <11> during the rapid cooling of the melted sand after the
lightning strike.

[§4] We continued exploring the dunes. Anna laughed and said we needed only to stop at the local gift shop to unearth <12> our treasure. <13> But given our <14> luck finding fulgurites in deserts and on beaches, <15> she wanted to keep searching to find our own piece of bright, white lightning in the sand.

The best placement for the underlined portion <11> would be:

DIRECTIONS: In the passage below, certain phrases are underlined and numbered <x>. The question will present alternatives for the underlined part. In most cases, you are to choose the one that best expresses the idea, makes the statement appropriate for standard written English, or is worded most consistently with the style and tone of the passage as a whole. If you think the original version is the best, choose "NO CHANGE".

Building a Cork Boat

[§1] As a young boy, John Pollack dreamed of building a full-size boat made entirely of bottle corks. [A] At the age of thirty-four, Pollack sailed his dream down the Douro River in Portugal. It all began as Pollack is likely to point out <1>, with a single cork.

[§2] To amass the staggering number of corks needed to construct the boat, 165,231 in all, Pollack convinced the staff, of several restaurants <2> in Washington, DC, to donate discarded corks for his cause. [B] Pollack eventually received cork donations from a cork-importing company <3> based in Portugal.

[§3] Constructing the boat introduced a challenge of another variety. Pollack finally tried <4> gluing the corks together to create stackable logs, but he soon realized that this strategy was too time-consuming. [C] He calculated that it would have taken him and one other person more then a year's <5> worth of eight-hour days to glue all the corks needed for the boat.

[§4] Piles of corks threatened to take over Pollack's apartment. <6> He used a foam template to assemble a group of corks into a pretty interesting <7> shape. He then fastened each cluster of corks with multiple rubber bands and encased each cluster in fishnet. To bind clusters together and shaping <8> them into flexible columns proved to be both efficient and architecturally sound. Dozens of friends expedited this proper <9> process by volunteering to help with the construction of the boat.

[§5] The completed cork boat, which resembled a Viking ship, was more impressive than Pollack had ever imagined. [D] In his childhood imagination, he had saw himself <10> floating the boat in his neighbor's swimming pool. But at a length of twenty-two feet, <11> Pollack's masterpiece was best suited with <12> a grand voyage. In 2002, the company that <13> had donated thousands of corks to Pollack's project sponsored the vessel's launch in Portugal. There, during the boat's successful journey on the Douro River, in the country of Portugal, <14> Pollack's dream was fully realized.

<13>: