GED Reasoning Through Language Arts Practice Tests

Informational Text — Working Against the Clock (questions 1–7)

Working Against the Clock
by Rachel Dunmore

¹ At 3:00 a.m., most of the world is asleep, but millions of people are not. Nurses check on patients, bakers shape the day’s bread, truck drivers cross empty highways, and warehouse workers load packages for morning delivery. In many industrialized countries, roughly one worker in five works outside the traditional daytime schedule. These workers keep hospitals, factories, and transportation systems running around the clock. Their bodies, however, are built for a different schedule.

² Deep inside the brain, a tiny cluster of about 20,000 nerve cells called the suprachiasmatic nucleus acts as a master clock. Located in the hypothalamus, just above the point where the optic nerves cross, this clock keeps a rhythm that lasts roughly 24 hours. Scientists call this cycle the circadian rhythm, from the Latin words circa, meaning “about,” and dies, meaning “day.” The master clock sends signals that raise and lower body temperature, adjust blood pressure, and control the release of hormones. It also coordinates smaller clocks found in nearly every organ, from the liver to the skin.

³ The master clock needs outside information to stay accurate, and its most important source is light. Special cells in the retina detect light, especially the blue light that is plentiful in daylight, and report it directly to the clock. When evening darkness arrives, the clock signals the pineal gland to release melatonin, a hormone that helps prepare the body for sleep. Morning light shuts melatonin production down and helps the body become alert. Through this daily exchange, the internal clock stays synchronized with sunrise and sunset.

⁴ Problems begin when a person’s schedule and internal clock disagree. A night-shift worker who arrives home at 8:00 a.m. is trying to sleep at the very time the body is preparing to wake up. Body temperature is rising, melatonin levels are low, and daylight leaks around the curtains. Traffic, deliveries, and ringing phones add to the difficulty. As a result, daytime sleep tends to be lighter and more easily interrupted than nighttime sleep. Many workers wake up after only a few hours and cannot fall back asleep.

⁵ Figure 1 shows the results of a 2021 survey of about 3,200 adult workers who kept sleep diaries for two weeks. Workers on the night shift reported the least sleep on workdays, averaging 5.8 hours, compared with 7.0 hours for day workers. Workers whose shifts rotated between days and nights did only slightly better, at 6.2 hours. Across a five-day workweek, the difference between a day worker and a night worker adds up to about six hours—nearly a full night of lost sleep.

⁶ The effects of this shortfall reach well beyond feeling tired. In the short term, sleepiness slows reaction time and weakens attention. Researchers have found that staying awake for about 24 hours impairs performance about as much as a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent, which is above the legal driving limit in every U.S. state. Night workers commuting home after a long shift therefore face a higher risk of drowsy-driving crashes. Over the long term, studies have linked years of shift work to higher rates of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and weight gain. Scientists believe part of the reason is that the body’s many clocks fall out of step with one another: the liver may be preparing to process a meal at a time when the rest of the body expects to be fasting.

⁷ Because shift work is not going away, researchers have focused on ways to reduce its harm. Bright light during the first half of a night shift can help push the internal clock later, while dark sunglasses on the commute home limit the morning light that would tell the brain it is daytime. At home, blackout curtains, a cool room, and a phone set to silent can protect daytime sleep. Some employers have also redesigned their schedules. Research suggests that when rotating shifts move “forward”—from days to evenings to nights—workers adjust more easily than when shifts rotate backward. The internal clock naturally runs slightly longer than 24 hours, so it finds staying up later easier than going to sleep earlier.

⁸ None of these strategies can completely erase the conflict between a night schedule and a body designed for daylight. Still, understanding how the internal clock works gives workers and employers practical tools. As one sleep researcher put it, “You can’t fire your body clock, but you can learn to negotiate with it.”

Figure 1. Average sleep on workdays, by work schedule (2021 survey of about 3,200 workers who kept two-week sleep diaries)

Figure 1 — Average hours of sleep on workdays, by work schedule. Day shift: 7.0 hours. Evening shift: 7.1 hours. Night shift: 5.8 hours. Rotating shifts (days and nights): 6.2 hours. Source: 2021 survey of about 3,200 adult workers who kept sleep diaries for two weeks.

1. Which statement best expresses the main idea of the article? (A) Night-shift work should be banned because it causes diabetes, heart disease, and other serious illnesses. (B) The body’s master clock depends mainly on light, so night workers should avoid bright light at all times of day. (C) Night and rotating schedules conflict with the body’s internal clock, but some strategies can reduce the harm. (D) About one worker in five in industrialized countries works outside the traditional daytime schedule.
2. Read this sentence from paragraph 3. As it is used in the sentence, what does the word “synchronized” mean? Through this daily exchange, the internal clock stays synchronized with sunrise and sunset. (A) kept in step (B) placed in competition (C) made brighter (D) slowly weakened
3. In paragraph 6, the author states that night workers commuting home after a long shift face a higher risk of drowsy-driving crashes. Click the sentence from the article that best supports this statement. (A) Morning light shuts melatonin production down and helps the body become alert. (B) Traffic, deliveries, and ringing phones add to the difficulty. (C) Researchers have found that staying awake for about 24 hours impairs performance about as much as a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent, which is above the legal driving limit in every U.S. state. (D) Over the long term, studies have linked years of shift work to higher rates of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and weight gain.
4. How does the information in Figure 1 add to the information in paragraph 5? (A) It shows that workers on rotating shifts get even less sleep on workdays than workers on the night shift do. (B) It shows that evening-shift workers sleep about as long as day workers, which points to daytime sleep as the main problem. (C) It shows that all three groups of shift workers sleep noticeably less on their workdays than the day-shift workers in the survey do. (D) It shows that night-shift workers make up for the sleep they lose by sleeping longer on their days off.
5. According to the article, why do workers adjust more easily when rotating shifts move “forward”? (A) Forward rotation gives workers more days off between changes in their work schedules. (B) Bright light at the start of each new shift resets the master clock more quickly. (C) Forward rotation keeps the smaller clocks in organs such as the liver from falling out of step with one another. (D) The body clock runs a bit longer than 24 hours, so later bedtimes are easier than earlier ones.
6. In paragraph 6, the phrases “In the short term” and “Over the long term” signal a shift from _____. (A) the causes of sleep loss to ways of preventing it (B) the immediate effects of sleep loss to its long-term health risks (C) evidence from surveys to evidence from laboratory tests (D) problems faced by individual workers to problems faced by their employers
7. How does paragraph 7 contribute to the article as a whole? (A) It introduces a new problem that shift workers face when they try to sleep at home during the day. (B) It moves the article from describing the harms of shift work to describing ways to reduce them. (C) It provides the main evidence that shift work leads directly to type 2 diabetes and heart disease. (D) It argues that employers should stop scheduling their workers for night shifts altogether.

Literary Text — The Breakfast Shift (questions 8–13)

The Breakfast Shift
Original fiction written for 7ESL

¹ The sign on Route 9 said the Blue Kettle Diner opened at five, which meant, I learned on Monday, that I had to be there at four-thirty. The parking lot was still dark when I pulled in, and the only other vehicle was a pickup truck with a dented tailgate. It belonged to Dot Pruitt, who had been waiting tables at the Blue Kettle for twenty-two years and who, according to the owner, would “show me the ropes.”

² Dot did not show me the ropes so much as throw them at me. “Coffee first, then water, then take the order,” she said, tying her apron in one quick motion. “Never walk anywhere empty-handed. Going to the kitchen, carry dirty plates. Coming back, carry the pot.” She handed me an order pad and a pen with a chewed cap and walked away before I could ask a single question.

³ By six o’clock the diner was full of truck drivers, road-crew workers, and a table of nurses coming off the night shift. I wrote down orders as fast as people said them, but my handwriting slid across the page like it was trying to escape. At the pass-through window, Manny the cook squinted at one of my tickets. “Two eggs what?” he asked. “Two eggs Tuesday?” I had written “over easy,” but it did look a little like Tuesday.

⁴ The worst moment came at seven-fifteen. I was carrying four plates—two balanced on my left arm the way Dot had shown me and two in my right hand—when a man pushed back his chair without looking. The top plate slid. Hash browns scattered across the floor like confetti after a parade nobody had enjoyed. The whole room went quiet for exactly one second, then went back to its eggs.

⁵ Dot appeared beside me with a broom before I had even bent down. “Tell Manny to refire table six,” she said. She did not ask if I was all right. I decided that she didn’t like me, and I spent the drive home rehearsing the speech I would give when I quit.

⁶ I didn’t quit. On Tuesday I brought a small spiral notebook, and between orders I wrote down what I noticed. The man in the green cap at the counter took his coffee black and his toast dry. The nurses shared one order of pancakes and asked for extra plates. A tall trucker named Mr. Haskins always sat in the corner booth, always ordered the ham-and-cheese omelet, and always left exactly three dollars under his saucer, no matter what his bill was.

⁷ By Wednesday I could greet a few people by their orders. “Black coffee, dry toast?” I asked the man in the green cap, and he looked up at me as if I had performed a magic trick. Mr. Haskins nodded when I set down his omelet before he had finished taking off his jacket. Even Manny stopped asking what my tickets said, though he did once hold one up to the light and announce, “Improving.”

⁸ Dot noticed the notebook on Thursday. She picked it up from the counter, flipped through a few pages, and put it back without a word. My face turned hot, the way it does when a teacher catches you passing notes in class. Later, while I was refilling ketchup bottles, she said, without looking at me, “Haskins’s wife used to ride along with him, before her knees gave out. That was their booth. She always left the tip.” Then she went back to wiping the counter as if she had said nothing at all.

⁹ Friday was the test, though nobody called it that. At eight-thirty a tour bus pulled into the lot, and forty-one retired schoolteachers from Ohio poured through the door, all of them hungry and most of them wanting separate checks. Dot took one side of the room and pointed me to the other.

¹⁰ For the next hour I did not think; I moved. Coffee first, then water, then the order. I carried dirty plates on the way to the kitchen and full pots on the way back. When a woman asked whether the pancakes came with real maple syrup, I told her the truth—that they didn’t, but that Manny made a blueberry sauce worth the drive. She ordered two stacks.

¹¹ By ten o’clock the bus was gone, the tables were a disaster, and my feet felt as though they belonged to someone else. I was stacking cups when Dot set something down beside me. It was a new order pad, and clipped to it was a pen—a real one, with a clean cap.

¹² “The chewed one was a test too,” she said. “Everybody gets the chewed one their first week.”

¹³ “Did I pass?” I asked.

¹⁴ She shrugged and headed toward the corner booth, where Mr. Haskins was waiting for a refill he hadn’t asked for. “You’re here Saturday at four-thirty,” she said over her shoulder. “Don’t be late. Nobody likes the new girl when she’s late.”

¹⁵ It was the nicest thing anyone had said to me all week.

8. Based on the story, which statement best describes Dot? (A) She is impatient with new employees and hopes the narrator will quit before Friday. (B) She is jealous of the narrator’s quick talent for remembering exactly what each customer orders. (C) She cares more about following the diner’s rules than about the people she serves. (D) She seems gruff at first but pays close attention to the narrator and the customers.
9. Read this sentence from paragraph 3. What does the comparison suggest about the narrator’s writing? I wrote down orders as fast as people said them, but my handwriting slid across the page like it was trying to escape. (A) It was too slow to keep up with the customers’ orders. (B) It was so rushed that it was messy and hard to read. (C) It was done with a pen that did not work properly. (D) It showed that she wanted to leave the diner at once.
10. Drag the events from the story into the order in which they happen. Cards: Dot hands the narrator a new pen with a clean cap. / The narrator drops a plate of hash browns during the morning rush. / Dot flips through the narrator’s notebook without saying a word. / The narrator begins keeping a notebook about the regular customers. / A tour bus of retired schoolteachers arrives at the diner..
11. How does the conversation in paragraph 8 contribute to the development of the story? (A) It shows Dot beginning to accept the narrator by sharing something the notebook could not record. (B) It reveals that the narrator has written incorrect information about Mr. Haskins in her notebook. (C) It explains why Dot has chosen to keep working at the Blue Kettle for twenty-two years. (D) It creates a conflict between Dot and the narrator that is not settled until the final scene.
12. How does the story’s first-person point of view shape the reader’s understanding of Dot? (A) Readers learn Dot’s private thoughts about the narrator from the very first scene. (B) Readers understand Dot mainly through what Manny and the customers say about her. (C) Readers see Dot through the narrator’s early misjudgment, so her kindness appears gradually. (D) Readers are told directly by an outside narrator that Dot is secretly a kind and generous person.
13. Which statement best expresses a theme of the story? (A) Respect in a new job is earned gradually through attention and persistence. (B) Experienced workers seldom share what they know with people who are new. (C) Making a strong first impression matters more than steady effort over time. (D) Customers care more about a restaurant’s food than about the people who serve it.

Language — Email: Welcome to Oakridge Hardware (questions 14–20)

Welcome to Oakridge Hardware — Your First Week

To: New Team Members

From: Karen Whitfield, Store Manager

Subject: Welcome to Oakridge Hardware — Your First Week

Dear New Team Members,

Welcome to Oakridge Hardware! We are excited to have you join our team. This email explains what to expect during your first week, so please read it carefully before your first shift.

On Monday, please report to the customer service desk at 7:30 a.m. [menu 14: _____] will meet you there and give you a tour of the store. After the tour, you will fill out tax and payroll forms and watch two short safety videos. Please bring a photo ID and your bank account information so that we can set up direct deposit.

Your training schedule, along with a store map and a copy of the employee handbook, [menu 15: _____] to this email. Please review the handbook before Monday, paying special attention to the sections on safety and customer service.

From Monday through Wednesday, you will work alongside an experienced mentor in three departments: paint, lumber, and plumbing. Your mentor will show you how to operate the register, look up items in our inventory system, and answer [menu 16: _____] about our products. Shoppers will often ask where to find an item, and [menu 17: _____] a quick, friendly answer. Don’t worry if you can’t find something [menu 18: _____] was new once, too. Simply ask a coworker for help or call the front desk from any store phone.

Please [menu 19: _____] ten minutes before each shift. This extra time gives you a chance to clock in, put on your red Oakridge vest, and store your belongings in a break-room locker. For your safety, wear closed-toe shoes with nonslip soles; sandals are not allowed on the sales floor. If you are sick or running late, call the store at 555-0147 at least one hour before your shift begins.

[menu 20: _____] to review your progress and answer any remaining questions. By then, you should feel comfortable working on your own in at least one department, and together you will choose your regular department and weekly schedule.

We are glad you chose to build your career with us. See you on Monday!

Karen Whitfield

Store Manager, Oakridge Hardware

14. Menu 14 in the passage: (A) Our assistant manager, Dale Moreno, (B) Our assistant manager, Dale Moreno (C) Our assistant manager Dale Moreno, (D) Our assistant manager; Dale Moreno,
15. Menu 15 in the passage: (A) are attached (B) have been attached (C) is attached (D) were attached
16. Menu 16 in the passage: (A) customer’s questions (B) customers’ questions (C) customers questions (D) customers’s questions
17. Menu 17 in the passage: (A) their expecting (B) there expecting (C) they expecting (D) they’re expecting
18. Menu 18 in the passage: (A) right away, every member of our team (B) right away. Every member of our team (C) right away every member of our team (D) right away. Because every member of our team
19. Menu 19 in the passage: (A) try to arrive (B) try and arrive (C) trying to arrive (D) try to arriving
20. Menu 20 in the passage: (A) After completing your first week, your mentor will meet with you (B) Your mentor, after completing your first week, will meet with you (C) After you complete your first week, your mentor will meet with you (D) After completing your first week your mentor will meet with you

Extended Response — A Four-Day Workweek for City Employees

Passage A: Mayor Announces Plan to Move City Offices to a Four-Day Workweek
Office of the Mayor, City of Harmon Bay

HARMON BAY — Mayor Elena Brooks today announced a plan to move most city employees to a four-day, 40-hour workweek beginning in January. Under the plan, city offices such as the permit center, the tax office, and the parks department would be open Monday through Thursday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and closed on Fridays. Police, fire, emergency dispatch, and trash collection would keep their current schedules.

The proposal follows a six-month pilot program in the Parks and Planning departments involving 140 employees. Compared with the same six months of the previous year, unplanned absences in the two departments fell by 21 percent, and overtime costs dropped by $64,000. The average time needed to approve a building permit fell from 12 business days to 9.

“The longer daily hours have made a real difference for residents,” said Planning Director Samuel Ortiz. “Before, anyone with a typical nine-to-five job had to take time off to see us. Now they can come in at 7:00 before work or at 5:30 after.” During the pilot, visits to the permit counter before 8:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. made up nearly one-third of all visits.

The plan is also expected to save money. The city’s facilities manager estimates that closing four office buildings on Fridays would reduce electricity and heating costs by about $180,000 a year. The city also expects the schedule to help with hiring. Last year, 38 city positions stayed vacant for more than 90 days; during the pilot, the number of applicants for open Parks and Planning jobs nearly doubled.

The mayor acknowledged that some residents worry about Friday access. For that reason, the plan keeps online payment and permit services available seven days a week and adds a Friday phone line for urgent building and water problems. The city will also review the results after one year. “If the numbers show that residents are losing out, we will change course,” Brooks said.

Passage B: Four-Day Week Would Shortchange Taxpayers
by Walter Kincaid, Harmon Bay

The mayor wants us to believe that closing City Hall every Friday is progress. As someone who has owned a small plumbing business in Harmon Bay for twenty-six years, I can tell you it is nothing of the kind. It is a three-day weekend for city workers, paid for by the rest of us.

Friday is one of the busiest days in my trade. Last spring, a customer’s pipe burst on a Friday afternoon, and I needed an emergency permit to open her wall. I got it within an hour. Under the mayor’s plan, that customer would have waited until Monday with water pouring into her basement.

Working ten hours a day is also exhausting. Everyone knows that people get tired and make mistakes near the end of a long shift, and studies have shown that long workdays hurt productivity. Do we really want a worn-out clerk processing our tax records at 5:45 in the evening?

The mayor’s pilot program lasted only six months in two departments. That is hardly enough time to know whether the plan will work for an entire city. Other governments have learned this lesson the hard way. The state of Utah moved most of its state offices to a four-day week in 2008 and abandoned the experiment a few years later.

Finally, consider the message this plan sends. Hardworking residents who put in five days a week, or six, are being told to fit their lives around City Hall’s schedule. If city employees get Fridays off today, what will they ask for next? A three-day week? The people who pay the bills deserve a government that is open when they need it. I urge the City Council to reject this plan.

The press release argues that Harmon Bay should move most city offices to a four-day, 40-hour workweek, while the letter to the editor argues that the plan would hurt the residents who depend on city services.

In your response, analyze both passages to determine which position is better supported. Use relevant and specific evidence from both passages to support your response.

• Read: Read both passages carefully. Each writer believes his or her position is correct. Notice the claims each writer makes and the evidence each one uses to support them.
• Plan: Decide which writer makes the stronger, better-supported case. Your job is to judge the quality of each writer’s evidence and reasoning, not to give your own opinion about a four-day workweek.
• Write: Type an argument that explains why one position is better supported than the other. Use specific, relevant evidence from BOTH passages. Aim for about 4 to 7 paragraphs of 3 to 7 sentences each.
• Review: You have up to 45 minutes in total, so save a few minutes at the end to reread and correct your response.

Informational Text — Peaceably to Assemble (questions 21–27)

Peaceably to Assemble: The First Amendment’s Forgotten Freedoms
by Thomas Everly

¹ Most Americans can name the freedoms of speech, religion, and the press when asked about the First Amendment. Fewer remember that the amendment’s final clause protects two more rights. Ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, the amendment ends by forbidding Congress to make any law abridging “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” These two freedoms—to gather together and to ask the government to correct a wrong—receive less attention than the others, but they are among the oldest and most practical tools of self-government.

² The right to petition was already old in 1791. English subjects had petitioned their monarchs for centuries, and the English Bill of Rights of 1689 declared that subjects had the right to petition the king without being punished for doing so. American colonists considered this right part of their inheritance. When Parliament passed taxes and laws the colonists opposed in the 1760s and 1770s, colonial assemblies sent petition after petition to London. Their frustration is recorded in the Declaration of Independence, which complains: “In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.” To the founders, a government that ignored petitions had failed in one of its most basic duties.

³ When James Madison proposed a list of amendments to the House of Representatives in June 1789, he included both rights. His draft stated that the people should not be prevented from peacefully assembling and consulting for their common good, or from applying to the legislature by petition to correct their grievances. During the House debate that August, Representative Theodore Sedgwick of Massachusetts moved to strike out the right to assemble. The right was so obvious, he argued, that listing it was beneath the dignity of the Constitution; Congress might as well declare that a man had the right to wear his hat or go to bed when he pleased. John Page of Virginia disagreed. Such rights had in fact been attacked, he reminded the House: people had been prevented from assembling, and a man had been forced to take off his hat before those in authority. Page’s listeners would have recognized the case of William Penn, the Quaker leader who had been put on trial in England in 1670 for preaching to a crowd in the street and who had refused to remove his hat in court. Sedgwick’s motion was defeated, and the right to assemble stayed in the amendment.

⁴ The debate reveals how closely the founders connected the two freedoms. Assembling was not merely a social activity; it was how citizens discussed shared problems and agreed on what to ask of their government. A petition signed by hundreds of people carried more weight than a single complaint, and gathering those signatures required people to meet, talk, and organize. The word “peaceably” mattered as well. The amendment did not protect riots or violence. It protected citizens who came together calmly to be heard.

⁵ The promise of the petition clause was tested in the 1830s, when abolitionists flooded Congress with petitions calling for an end to slavery in the District of Columbia. In 1836, the House of Representatives adopted a “gag rule” that automatically set such petitions aside without discussion. Former president John Quincy Adams, then serving as a congressman from Massachusetts, argued year after year that the rule violated the First Amendment. The rule was finally repealed in 1844. The episode showed that a right written on paper still depends on people willing to defend it.

⁶ Since then, Americans have used these freedoms in ways the founders could hardly have imagined. In 1894, an Ohio businessman named Jacob Coxey led a march of unemployed workers to Washington to ask Congress to create jobs building public roads. In 1913, thousands of women paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue to demand the right to vote. In 1963, about 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Each of these events combined assembly and petition: people gathered in public to press their government for change.

⁷ Today, the right to petition may be the most underused freedom Americans have. Every citizen can write to a representative, speak at a city council meeting, or sign a petition, yet many people never take any of these steps. That is a loss, because these two quiet clauses remain the surest way for ordinary citizens to be heard between elections. As Madison’s generation understood, a government that listens to its people must first allow them to gather and to ask.

Quotations from the First Amendment (Bill of Rights, 1791) and the Declaration of Independence (1776) are in the public domain.

21. Which statement best expresses the central idea of the article? (A) The rights of assembly and petition in the First Amendment were copied word for word from the English Bill of Rights. (B) Congress has repeatedly tried to take away the rights of assembly and petition since the amendment was ratified in 1791. (C) James Madison believed that the right to assemble was more important than the freedoms of speech and the press. (D) The often overlooked rights to assemble and petition have deep roots and have long helped citizens seek change.
22. According to paragraph 3, how did John Page respond to Sedgwick’s motion? (A) He agreed that the right was obvious but argued that listing it would do no harm. (B) He argued that the right was needed because people had in fact been prevented from assembling. (C) He claimed that the right to wear a hat was just as important as the right to assemble. (D) He proposed that the right to assemble be combined with the right to petition in a single clause.
23. In paragraph 3, why did Sedgwick say that Congress might as well declare that a man had the right “to wear his hat or go to bed when he pleased”? (A) to suggest that the right to assemble was too obvious and minor to belong in the Constitution (B) to argue that everyday personal freedoms matter more to ordinary citizens than political freedoms do (C) to warn that Congress would soon try to control the daily habits of ordinary citizens (D) to show that the right to assemble had often been violated by the English government
24. Drag each claim from the article into the correct box. Decide whether the author supports the claim with evidence or leaves it unsupported. Cards: Colonists petitioned the British government many times before 1776. / The right to petition may be the most underused freedom Americans have. / People had been put on trial in the past for assembling. / Assembly and petition are the surest way for citizens to be heard between elections. / Americans have gathered in public to press the government for change. / Fewer Americans remember the amendment’s rights of assembly and petition.. Boxes: Supported with evidence / Not supported with evidence.
25. What is the author’s main purpose in paragraph 7? (A) to summarize the court cases that have defined the right to assemble (B) to argue that elections are no longer an effective way to influence government (C) to encourage readers to value and use rights that many people overlook (D) to explain why the House of Representatives finally repealed the gag rule
26. In paragraph 5, the author concludes that “a right written on paper still depends on people willing to defend it.” Click the sentence from paragraph 5 that best supports this conclusion. (A) The promise of the petition clause was tested in the 1830s, when abolitionists flooded Congress with petitions calling for an end to slavery in the District of Columbia. (B) Former president John Quincy Adams, then serving as a congressman from Massachusetts, argued year after year that the rule violated the First Amendment. (C) In 1836, the House of Representatives adopted a “gag rule” that automatically set such petitions aside without discussion. (D) The rule was finally repealed in 1844.
27. Read this phrase from paragraph 1. As it is used in the amendment, what does the word “abridging” mean? forbidding Congress to make any law abridging “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (A) summarizing (B) announcing (C) limiting (D) defending

Community Document — The Workshop: Makerspace Rules and Booking Policy (questions 28–33)

The Workshop at Brookfield Public Library: Rules and Booking Policy
Brookfield Public Library

¹ Welcome to The Workshop, the makerspace on the lower level of Brookfield Public Library’s Main Library. The Workshop gives library cardholders free access to tools that many people could not afford to buy on their own, including two 3D printers, a laser cutter, a vinyl cutter, four sewing machines, and a digital media station with audio and video editing software. This policy explains who may use the space, how to reserve equipment, and the rules that keep everyone safe.

² Who May Use The Workshop — Any Brookfield Public Library cardholder in good standing may use The Workshop. “In good standing” means that your account has less than $10 in unpaid fines. Patrons ages 13 to 17 may use the space on their own after a parent or guardian signs a permission form, which is available at the Workshop desk and on the library’s website. Children 12 and under are welcome during Family Maker Hours (Saturdays, 10 a.m. to noon) when accompanied by an adult who stays with them at all times.

³ Safety Orientation and Equipment Badges — Before using any equipment, all patrons must complete the free 30-minute General Safety Orientation, offered every Tuesday at 6 p.m. and every Saturday at 1 p.m. No registration is required. After the orientation, patrons may use the sewing machines, the vinyl cutter, and the digital media station. The 3D printers and the laser cutter each require an additional one-hour Equipment Badge class for that machine, which patrons may take only after completing the orientation. Badge classes are limited to six people and must be booked in advance. Badges do not expire, but staff may ask a patron to retake a class if the patron uses a machine unsafely.

⁴ How to Reserve Equipment — Reservations are recommended for all equipment and required for the laser cutter. To make a reservation, first log in to your library account on the library’s website and select “Workshop Booking.” Next, choose a machine and a time slot; the system shows only the machines for which you hold a badge. Then enter a short description of your project so that staff can prepare any materials you need. Finally, check your email for a confirmation message, which you must show at the Workshop desk when you arrive. Reservations may be made up to 14 days in advance. Each patron may book up to two hours per machine per day.

⁵ Arrivals and Cancellations — Please check in at the Workshop desk at least five minutes before your reservation begins. If you are more than 15 minutes late, your reservation may be given to a walk-in patron. If you cannot keep a reservation, cancel it through your account at least 24 hours in advance. Patrons who miss three reservations without canceling within a 60-day period will lose booking privileges for 30 days, although they may still use machines on a walk-in basis when machines are free.

⁶ Materials and Costs — Use of all equipment is free. Patrons may bring their own materials, but staff must approve them before use. Some plastics, including PVC (vinyl), release harmful gases when cut with a laser and are never permitted in the laser cutter. The library sells 3D-printing filament at 5 cents per gram and sells plywood and acrylic sheets at cost. Payment is accepted by card only.

⁷ Workshop Rules — Keep food and drinks, except water in a closed bottle, in the lobby. Tie back long hair and remove dangling jewelry before operating any machine. Never leave the laser cutter unattended while it is running, even for a moment. Clean your work area and return tools to their marked places when you finish. Report any damaged or malfunctioning equipment to staff immediately; do not attempt repairs yourself.

⁸ Questions? Stop by the Workshop desk during open hours (Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.) or call 555-0182. We can’t wait to see what you make!

28. What is the main purpose of the document? (A) to persuade residents to donate tools and materials to the library’s makerspace (B) to train library staff members to maintain and repair makerspace equipment (C) to announce that the library will begin charging fees to use its makerspace (D) to explain to library users how to use and reserve the makerspace safely
29. Martin, age 34, completed the General Safety Orientation last month. Next Thursday, he wants to use the laser cutter to cut a design into a sheet of plywood that he will buy at the Workshop. Based on the policy, what must Martin do first? (A) go to the Workshop desk on Thursday and use the laser cutter if it is free (B) complete the laser cutter Equipment Badge class and then reserve a time (C) attend the General Safety Orientation again on a Tuesday evening (D) have staff approve the plywood and pay a fee to use the laser cutter
30. According to the policy, a patron who misses three reservations without canceling within 60 days may still _____. (A) reserve machines up to 14 days in advance (B) book the laser cutter for up to two hours a day (C) use machines on a walk-in basis when they are free
31. A new cardholder wants to reserve one of the 3D printers for the first time. Drag the steps into the order the policy requires. Cards: Log in to your library account and select “Workshop Booking.” / Show your confirmation email at the Workshop desk. / Complete the General Safety Orientation. / Choose the 3D printer and a time slot, and describe your project. / Take the Equipment Badge class for the 3D printer..
32. Based on paragraph 5, what is the most likely reason for the rule about missed reservations? (A) The library wants to keep patrons from holding machine time that others could use. (B) The library wants to punish patrons who arrive a few minutes late for a reservation. (C) The library wants patrons to stop using the equipment on a walk-in basis. (D) The library wants to reduce the total number of reservations made each week.
33. The document ends with the sentence “We can’t wait to see what you make!” How does this sentence affect the tone of the document? (A) It suggests that the rules in the document are not really meant to be taken very seriously by patrons. (B) It creates a sense of urgency by hinting that reservations fill up quickly. (C) It shows that the library is unsure whether patrons will use the space. (D) It adds a warm, encouraging note to a document that is mostly direct and rule-based.

Paired Passages — Community Gardens in Millbrook (questions 34–40)

Passage A: Where the Vacant Lots Bloom
by Hannah Greer

¹ Five years ago, the corner of Alder Street and Fifth Avenue was a fenced-off lot full of broken glass and weeds taller than a child. Today it is the Alder Street Community Garden: thirty-two raised beds, a tool shed painted sky blue, and a waiting list of forty-seven families hoping for a plot of their own. On a Saturday morning in July, the garden hums with activity: children fill watering cans, and an older man shows a teenager how to tie tomato vines to a stake.

² “I grew up in this neighborhood, and I didn’t know half my neighbors until I got a bed here,” says Denise Carter, a retired bus driver who grows tomatoes, collard greens, and peppers. “Now I know everybody’s kids by name. We trade recipes over the fence.”

³ Millbrook currently has six community gardens, all started by volunteers on city-owned vacant lots. Gardeners pay $25 a season for a bed, and the city provides a water connection. A proposal now before the City Council would create twelve more gardens over the next three years. Two local elementary schools already use the Alder Street garden for science lessons each spring.

⁴ Supporters point to benefits that go beyond vegetables. A study of vacant lots in a large East Coast city found that when lots were cleaned up and planted, nearby residents reported feeling safer, and police reports of some crimes in the surrounding blocks declined. Other research has found that people who garden tend to eat more fruits and vegetables than people who do not.

⁵ For families like the Moraleses, the gardens are also about money. Luis Morales estimates that his family’s single bed produced about $400 worth of vegetables last summer. “Groceries keep getting more expensive,” he says. “This bed pays for itself sixteen times over.”

⁶ Gardeners admit that the gardens take work. Beds must be weeded and watered all summer, and each garden depends on a few dedicated volunteers to organize schedules and settle disputes. Still, Carter believes the city would be foolish to pass up the chance. “A vacant lot costs the city money to mow and clean,” she says. “A garden gives something back. Every neighborhood deserves one of these.”

Passage B: Memo: Proposal to Create Twelve New Community Gardens
To: Members of the Millbrook City Council | From: Gregory Hale, Director, Office of Budget and Finance | Date: February 12

⁷ You asked our office to review the cost of the proposal to create twelve new community gardens on city-owned vacant lots over the next three years. This memo summarizes our findings and offers a recommendation.

⁸ Estimated costs. Based on the costs of the city’s six existing gardens, we estimate that building each new garden, including soil testing, fencing, raised beds, and a water connection, would cost about $18,000, for a total of $216,000. Costs could rise if soil testing finds contamination, which is common on lots where buildings once stood. Once a garden is running, the city pays for its water, insurance, and occasional repairs, which currently average $2,100 per garden each year. Plot fees currently cover less than 40 percent of these costs.

⁹ Current savings. Maintaining an unused vacant lot is not free. The Parks Department mows and cleans each lot about ten times a year, at an average cost of $900 per lot annually. Converting a lot to a garden eliminates most of this expense.

¹⁰ Risks. The success of a garden depends heavily on volunteers. Of the six existing gardens, one was abandoned in 2022 after its volunteer coordinator moved away, and the city spent $3,500 to remove the beds and restore the lot. Two other gardens had fewer than half of their beds in use last season. In addition, the Planning Department has identified three of the twelve lots named in the proposal as possible sites for future affordable housing. Building gardens on those lots could make them harder to use for housing later.

¹¹ Recommendation. Our office does not oppose community gardens. However, we recommend that the Council fund a two-year pilot of four new gardens rather than twelve, at a building cost of $72,000. Each pilot garden should have a signed agreement with a neighborhood group that commits to at least three years of care. We also recommend raising plot fees from $25 to $40 per season, with reduced fees for low-income households. These steps would limit the city’s risk while still allowing the program to grow. If the pilot gardens remain active and well used, the Council can expand the program with better information about its true costs.

34. Which statement best expresses the central idea of Passage A? (A) Community gardens offer neighborhoods and families benefits that go well beyond growing food. (B) Millbrook’s community gardens cost the city too much money and depend far too heavily on a few volunteers. (C) Community gardens reduce crime more effectively than any other use of vacant city lots. (D) The families on the Alder Street waiting list should be given garden plots of their own.
35. Why does the author of Passage A include the information about Luis Morales in paragraph 5? (A) to show that gardeners disagree about whether the gardens are worth the effort (B) to explain how the city decided to charge $25 a season for each garden bed (C) to give a specific example of the money a garden bed can save a family (D) to prove that grocery prices in Millbrook are higher than in other cities
36. Click the sentence from Passage B that best supports the claim that turning a vacant lot into a garden can save the city some money. (A) Once a garden is running, the city pays for its water, insurance, and occasional repairs, which currently average $2,100 per garden each year. (B) Plot fees currently cover less than 40 percent of these costs. (C) Of the six existing gardens, one was abandoned in 2022 after its volunteer coordinator moved away, and the city spent $3,500 to remove the beds and restore the lot. (D) The Parks Department mows and cleans each lot about ten times a year, at an average cost of $900 per lot annually.
37. In Passage A, Denise Carter says, “A vacant lot costs the city money to mow and clean.” How does the information in Passage B relate to her statement? (A) Passage B contradicts her statement by showing that empty vacant lots cost the city almost nothing at all to maintain each year. (B) Passage B supports her statement and shows that plot fees allow the city to earn a profit on each garden. (C) Passage B does not discuss the cost of maintaining empty lots, so it neither supports nor contradicts her. (D) Passage B confirms her statement with a specific cost but shows that a garden still costs the city more each year.
38. Complete the chart comparing the two passages. Drag one detail into each box. Not every detail will be used. Cards: personal stories and quotations from gardeners / cost estimates based on the city’s existing gardens / Gardens depend on a few dedicated volunteers. / Some lots may be needed for future housing. / Gardens reduce crime in nearby blocks. / Plot fees fully cover the city’s costs.. Boxes: Main type of evidence in Passage A / Main type of evidence in Passage B / Point made in both passages / Concern raised only in Passage B.
39. How does the author of Passage B address the view that community gardens are valuable? (A) by rejecting that view and recommending that the city build no new gardens (B) by acknowledging that view while recommending a smaller, lower-risk plan (C) by quoting gardeners who describe the benefits of having their own plots (D) by arguing that the existing gardens should be turned into housing sites
40. Based on both passages, which new information would most likely persuade the author of Passage B to support building all twelve gardens? (A) a report that the waiting list for beds at the Alder Street garden has now grown from forty-seven to sixty families (B) a new study showing that people who garden eat more fruits and vegetables than people who do not (C) records showing that the four pilot gardens stayed active and well cared for, with actual costs tracked (D) an estimate that a single garden bed can produce as much as $500 worth of vegetables in one summer

Language — Letter: Water Bill Dispute (questions 41–47)

Letter to Riverbend Water Utility

Margaret Ellison

418 Birchwood Lane

Linden Falls, OR

May 14, 2026

Customer Accounts Department

Riverbend Water Utility

200 Commerce Street

Linden Falls, OR

Re: Account No. 20-44817

Dear Customer Accounts Department:

I am writing to dispute the charges on my water bill for April, which I received on May 3. The bill states that my household used 41,000 gallons of water during the month and charges me $425.46. My usual monthly bill is between $45 and $60, so I believe this amount is the result of an error.

Two adults live in my home, and our water use has not changed in years. Each of the twelve bills I received last year [menu 41: _____] between 3,000 and 4,500 gallons. We did not fill a pool, water a large garden, or have houseguests in April. [menu 42: _____] I checked every faucet and toilet in the house for leaks and found none.

I also examined the water meter outside my house. The meter currently reads 184,630 [menu 43: _____] lists an ending reading of 218,300 gallons, a number far higher than the meter shows today. Because a meter cannot run backward, it seems likely that the April reading was recorded or entered incorrectly.

On May 5, I called your customer service line to report the problem. The representative told my husband and [menu 44: _____] that a technician would reread the meter within five business days and that a corrected bill would follow. As of today, no technician has visited, and I have not received a corrected bill.

[menu 45: _____] take the following three actions: send a technician to read my meter, [menu 46: _____], and remove any late fees added while this charge is under dispute. I have paid my usual amount of $52 to keep my account current, and I will promptly pay any remaining balance once I receive the corrected bill.

I have been a [menu 47: _____] for eleven years, and your records will show that I have always paid my bills on time. Please contact me at 555-0139 if you need any additional information. Copies of my April bill and a photograph of the meter taken on May 12 are enclosed.

Sincerely,

Margaret Ellison

Enclosures (2)

41. Menu 41 in the passage: (A) show usage (B) have shown usage (C) are showing usage (D) shows usage
42. Menu 42 in the passage: (A) In addition, (B) However, (C) For example, (D) Instead,
43. Menu 43 in the passage: (A) gallons, however, my April bill (B) gallons however my April bill (C) gallons. However, my April bill (D) gallons, however my April bill
44. Menu 44 in the passage: (A) I (B) me (C) myself (D) mine
45. Menu 45 in the passage: (A) I respectfully ask and request that you (B) At this point in time, I respectfully ask that you (C) I am respectfully asking and requesting at this time that you (D) I respectfully ask that you
46. Menu 46 in the passage: (A) issue a corrected bill for April (B) issuing a corrected bill for April (C) a corrected bill for April should be issued (D) to issue a corrected bill for April
47. Menu 47 in the passage: (A) Riverbend water utility customer (B) Riverbend Water Utility customer (C) Riverbend Water Utility Customer (D) riverbend Water Utility customer