Simulado CBEST (Califórnia)

• A. Schools should end after-school sports to save money.
• B. Bus routes are the main reason districts avoid change.
• C. Teenagers need less sleep than younger children.
• D. Later start times fit teenagers' sleep patterns and brought benefits, though they require schedule changes.

Resposta: D. Later start times fit teenagers' sleep patterns and brought benefits, though they require schedule changes.

A main idea has to cover the whole passage: why teenagers struggle with early bells, what districts saw after the change, and the cost in schedules. The first choice and the third are never claimed, and the second takes one side detail and treats it as the whole point. When you check a main idea, ask whether it leaves out a big part of the passage or adds something the writer never says.

• A. Sand the surface again
• B. Wipe the surface with a damp cloth
• C. Wait two hours for the primer to dry
• D. Apply a second coat of paint

Resposta: C. Wait two hours for the primer to dry

The directions put the steps in order: sand, wipe, prime, wait, paint, then a second coat the next day. Right after the primer comes the two-hour wait. Sanding and wiping come before the primer, and the second coat is the last step, a day later. For sequence questions, number the steps in the margin as you read and look for time words like then, after and the next day.

Marque todas as opções corretas.

• A. A survey found that most households earning under $30,000 reach the beach on foot because they have no car.
• B. In a nearby town, beach visits by families in the free-lunch program fell by a third after a parking fee began.
• C. The proposed fee is about the price of a movie ticket.
• D. Several lower-income residents told the council they would stop visiting if the fee were charged.
• E. In some towns, lifeguards are paid partly from parking fees.

Resposta: B. In a nearby town, beach visits by families in the free-lunch program fell by a third after a parking fee began., D. Several lower-income residents told the council they would stop visiting if the fee were charged.

A statement strengthens the claim only if it makes it more likely that the fee would keep lower-income families away. A similar town losing visits and residents saying they would stay home both do that. The first statement actually weakens the claim, since people who walk would not pay a parking fee at all. The movie ticket comparison is an argument for the fee, and the lifeguard funding fact says nothing about who would visit.

• A. Robotics has more members than any other club.
• B. The club with the most members meets the fewest times a month.
• C. Chess and Garden together have as many members as Drama.
• D. Garden meets more often than Chess.

Resposta: B. The club with the most members meets the fewest times a month.

Drama has the most members at 31 and the fewest meetings at 2. Robotics has 25 members, fewer than Drama. Chess and Garden add up to 18 + 12 = 30, which is one short of 31, and both clubs meet 4 times a month, so neither meets more often. On table questions, test every number a choice mentions before you pick it.

• A. optimistic
• B. doubtful
• C. indifferent
• D. embarrassed

Resposta: A. optimistic

The clues are although and pointing to the improved test results. The sentence sets two failures against hope, and the engineer cites good evidence, so the word has to mean confident or hopeful. Doubtful would repeat the failures instead of contrasting with them, and nothing suggests indifference or embarrassment. Use the clues in the sentence rather than what you already think the word means.

• A. 3
• B. 4
• C. 5
• D. 6

Resposta: B. 4

Write the setup first: 12h + 15 = 63. Subtract the fee, 63 - 15 = 48, then divide by 12 to get 4 hours. You can check it by working forward: 4 hours at $12 is $48, and $48 plus $15 is $63. Checking by working forward takes ten seconds and catches most slips.

• A. 3 1/2 cups
• B. 4 cups
• C. 4 1/2 cups
• D. 6 3/4 cups

Resposta: C. 4 1/2 cups

Multiply the amount per batch by the number of batches: 6 x 3/4 = 18/4, which is 4 1/2. A quick check by estimation: 3/4 is a little less than 1, so 6 batches should need a little less than 6 cups, and 4 1/2 fits. The choice 6 3/4 comes from adding 6 and 3/4 instead of multiplying.

Marque todas as opções corretas.

• A. 0.375
• B. 37.5%
• C. 6/16
• D. 3/5
• E. 0.38

Resposta: A. 0.375, B. 37.5%, C. 6/16

Divide 3 by 8 and you get 0.375, and moving the decimal two places gives 37.5 percent. Doubling the top and bottom of 3/8 gives 6/16. The fraction 3/5 equals 0.6, and 0.38 is close to 0.375 but not equal to it. Without a calculator, remember that 1/8 is 0.125, so 3/8 is 3 times that.

Five students scored 70, 85, 90, 75 and 95 on a quiz. The mean score is _____ and the median score is _____.

Opções para a lacuna 1: 80, 83, 85, 90

Opções para a lacuna 2: 80, 83, 85, 90

Resposta: 83, 85

The scores add up to 70 + 85 + 90 + 75 + 95 = 415, and 415 divided by 5 is 83, the mean. For the median, put the scores in order, 70, 75, 85, 90, 95, and take the middle one, which is 85. The mean uses every value, so one low score pulls it below the median here, while the median only cares about position.

• A. 2/5
• B. 1/2
• C. 7/10
• D. 3/5

Resposta: D. 3/5

There are 3 + 4 + 3 = 10 marbles in all, and 4 of them are blue, so 6 are not blue. The probability is 6/10, which simplifies to 3/5. A shortcut: the chance of not blue is 1 minus the chance of blue, 1 - 4/10 = 6/10. The choice 7/10 comes from subtracting only the 3 red marbles.

• A. The new hire learns to file records, to answer phones and to greet visitors.
• B. The new hire learns to file records, answering phones, and to greet visitors.
• C. The new hire learns filing records, answers phones, and greeting visitors.
• D. The new hire learns to file records, answer phones and greeting visitors.

Resposta: A. The new hire learns to file records, to answer phones and to greet visitors.

Items in a list should have the same grammatical form. The first choice repeats to plus a verb three times, so it is parallel. The other three mix forms, such as to file, answering and to greet, or filing, answers and greeting. When you check a list, say each item with the same lead-in words and see whether every item still fits.

Neither the principal nor the teachers _____ aware of the change, and the stack of graded essays _____ still on my desk.

Opções para a lacuna 1: was, were, is, has been

Opções para a lacuna 2: were, was, are, have been

Resposta: were, was

With neither and nor, the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Teachers is plural, so the first blank takes were. In the second part, the subject is stack, not essays, and stack is singular, so it takes was. Ignore the words between the subject and the verb: of graded essays is only a description of the stack.

Our first draft listed every fact we found. _____, the final version includes only the three facts that support the thesis.

Opções para a lacuna 1: For example, In contrast, Similarly, Therefore

Resposta: In contrast

The second sentence describes the opposite approach to the first: all of the facts against just three. In contrast signals that turn. For example would need the second sentence to illustrate the first, similarly would need it to match, and therefore would need the first to be the reason for the second, which it is not. Read the two sentences and name the relationship before you look at the choices.

Marque todas as opções corretas.

• A. Because the bus was late.
• B. The students waited outside until the bell rang.
• C. Running to catch the train before it left.
• D. After the assembly, the principal thanked the volunteers.
• E. Stay behind after class.

Resposta: B. The students waited outside until the bell rang., D. After the assembly, the principal thanked the volunteers., E. Stay behind after class.

A complete sentence has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. The second and fourth have both, and the last is a command whose subject, you, is understood. Because the bus was late leaves the reader waiting for what happened, and Running to catch the train has no subject or main verb. A word like because at the start of a clause is a warning sign that the thought may be unfinished.

• A. Recess is something that schools have.
• B. Many people have different opinions about recess.
• C. Daily recess helps students concentrate, stay active and get along better, so every school should schedule it.
• D. I am going to write about recess.

Resposta: C. Daily recess helps students concentrate, stay active and get along better, so every school should schedule it.

A thesis states a position and previews the reasons, so a reader knows what the essay will argue. The third choice does both: it says what schools should do and gives three reasons to support it. The first and second say nothing a reader could agree or disagree with, and the fourth announces a topic instead of making a claim. Essay graders look for exactly this kind of focus.