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Mar 23, 2024
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Tadpole Body Mass and Toxin Production after Three Weeks in Ponds
Population density Average tadpole body mass (milligrams) Average number of distinct bufadienolide toxins per tadpole Average amount of bufadienolide per tadpole (nanograms) Average bufadienolide concentration (nanograms per milligram of tadpole body mass)
High 193.87 22.69 5,815.51 374.22
Medium 254.56 21.65 5,525.72 230.10
Low 258.97 22.08 4,664.99 171.43
 
Ecologist Veronika Bokony and colleagues investigated within-species competition among common toads (Bufo bufo), a species that secretes various unpleasant-tasting toxins called bufadienolides in response to threats. The researchers tested B. bufo tadpoles' responses to different levels of competition by creating ponds with different tadpole population densities but a fixed amount of food. Based on analysis of the tadpoles after three weeks, the researchers concluded that increased competition drove bufadienolide production at the expense of growth.

Which choice uses data from the table to most effectively support the researchers' conclusion?
Difficulty: Hard
A:

The difference in average tadpole body mass was small between the low and medium population density conditions and substantially larger between the low and high population density conditions.

B:

Tadpoles in the low and medium population density conditions had substantially lower average bufadienolide concentrations but had greater average body masses than those in the high population density condition.

C:

Tadpoles in the high population density condition displayed a relatively modest increase in the average amount of bufadienolide but roughly double the average bufadienolide concentration compared to those in the low population density condition.

D:

Tadpoles produced approximately the same number of different bufadienolide toxins per individual across the population density conditions, but average tadpole body mass decreased as population density increased.

Hip-hop pedagogy is a form of teaching that's gaining popularity across school subjects. It involves incorporating hip-hop and rap music into lessons as well as using hip-hop elements when teaching other subject matters. For example, Quan Nelems's students look for college-level vocabulary and historical events in rap songs. Researchers claim that in addition to developing students' social justice awareness, hip-hop pedagogy encourages student success by raising students' interest and engagement.

Which finding, if true, would most strongly support the underlined claim?
Difficulty: Easy
A:

Students tend to be more enthusiastic about rap music than they are about hip-hop music.

B:

Students who are highly interested in social justice issues typically don't sign up for courses that incorporate hip-hop and rap music.

C:

Educators report that they enjoy teaching courses that involve hip-hop and rap music more than teaching courses that don't.

D:

Courses that incorporate hip-hop and rap music are among the courses with the highest enrollment and attendance rates.

Among social animals that care for their young, such as chickens, macaque monkeys, and humans, newborns appear to show an innate attraction to faces and face-like stimuli. Elisabetta Versace and her colleagues used an image of three black dots arranged in the shape of eyes and a nose or mouth to test whether this trait also occurs in Testudo tortoises, which live alone and do not engage in parental care. They found that tortoise hatchlings showed a significant preference for the image, suggesting that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?
Difficulty: Hard
A:

face-like stimuli are likely perceived as harmless by newborns of social species that practice parental care but as threatening by newborns of solitary species without parental care.

B:

researchers should not assume that an innate attraction to face-like stimuli is necessarily an adaptation related to social interaction or parental care.

C:

researchers can assume that the attraction to face-like stimuli that is seen in social species that practice parental care is learned rather than innate.

D:

newly hatched Testudo tortoises show a stronger preference for face-like stimuli than adult Testudo tortoises do.

Maximum Height of Maple Trees When Fully Grown
Tree Type Maximum Height (feet) Native to North America
Sugar Maple 75 yes
Silver Maple 70 yes
Red Maple 60 yes
Japanese Maple 25 no
Norway Maple 50 no
 
For a school project, a forestry student needs to recommend a maple tree that is native to North America and won’t grow more than 60 feet in height. Based on the characteristics of five common maple trees, she has decided to select a ______ 

 

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?
Difficulty: Easy
A:

silver maple.

B:

sugar maple.

C:

red maple.

D:

Norway maple.

Aerogels are highly porous foams consisting mainly of tiny air pockets within a solidified gel. These lightweight materials are often applied to spacecraft and other equipment required to withstand extreme conditions, as they provide excellent insulation despite typically being brittle and eventually fracturing due to degradation from repeated exposure to high heat. Now, Xiangfeng Duan of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues have developed an aerogel with uniquely flexible properties. Unlike earlier aerogels, Duan's team's material contracts rather than expands when heated and fully recovers after compressing to just 5% of its original volume, suggesting that _______

Which choice most logically completes the text?
Difficulty: Hard
A:

the aerogel's remarkable flexibility results from its higher proportion of air pockets to solidified gel as compared to other aerogels.

B:

the aerogel's overall strength is greater than that of other insulators but its ability to withstand exposure to intense heat is lower.

C:

the aerogel will be more effective as an insulator for uses that involve gradual temperature shifts than for those that involve rapid heat increases.

D:

the aerogel will be less prone to the structural weakness that ultimately causes most other aerogels to break down with use.

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