PSAT Practice Test
This is a free 15-question sampler in the style of the digital PSAT/NMSQT. It mixes Reading and Writing questions on words in context, text structure, command of evidence, transitions and grammar with Math questions on algebra, advanced math, data analysis and geometry, using multiple choice, select all that apply and fill in the blank. Answer all 15 questions, then check your score and read the explanation for every question.
A team of ecologists expected the restored wetland to fill with familiar species within a single season. Instead, the pace of recovery proved ______: five years in, only a third of the plant species catalogued before the site was drained had come back. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?
All High School & Admission quizzes
- Practice test · 15 questions
ACT Practice Questions
- Practice test · 15 questions
AP Psychology Practice Test
- Practice test · 15 questions
GED Practice Test
Now make your own
Upload your prep book, slides or notes, or just tell Bo what you want to learn. You do not need a document to start.
All 15 questions at a glance
Prefer to read before you play? Every question in the sampler is listed below. Answers and explanations stay collapsed until you open them.
1. A team of ecologists expected the restored wetland to fill with familiar species within a single season. Instead, the pace of recovery proved ______: five years in, only a third of the plant species catalogued before the site was drained had come back. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?
- A. immediate
- B. gradual
- C. erratic
- D. predictable
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. gradual
The second sentence contrasts a fast expectation with a slow result, so the blank needs a word meaning slow. Erratic would mean irregular rather than slow, and the text describes steady partial progress, not an unstable pattern.
2. In the 1930s a small group of highway engineers argued that concrete roads should be poured in short slabs separated by regular joints. Most of the profession, which preferred long continuous pours, ignored the idea. Nearly every concrete highway built today uses short slabs and joints. Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
- A. It presents a proposal, notes that the proposal was dismissed, and then reports that it later became standard practice.
- B. It describes a problem and then lists several competing solutions that engineers have proposed for it.
- C. It compares the careers of two groups of engineers and explains why one group earned more recognition.
- D. It defines a technical term and then gives several examples of the term being used incorrectly.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. It presents a proposal, notes that the proposal was dismissed, and then reports that it later became standard practice.
Text structure questions ask what the sentences do, not what they are about, and here the three sentences move from proposal to rejection to acceptance. No competing solutions are listed and no term is defined, so those options describe a text that was never written.
3. A student club claimed that a new protected bike lane on Third Street had made cycling there safer. A researcher counted reported collisions involving cyclists on Third Street for the two years before the lane opened and the two years after. Which finding, if true, would most directly support the club's claim?
- A. Reported collisions involving cyclists on Third Street fell by half after the lane opened.
- B. The number of cyclists riding on Third Street rose sharply after the lane opened.
- C. Drivers surveyed said they felt more confident driving on Third Street after the lane opened.
- D. Collisions fell by half on a nearby street that never received a bike lane.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Reported collisions involving cyclists on Third Street fell by half after the lane opened.
The claim is about safety, so the supporting evidence has to be about harm, and fewer collisions on that street is the only option that measures it. More riders measures popularity, driver confidence is an opinion, and a matching drop on a street with no bike lane would actually weaken the claim by pointing to some other cause.
4. A city measured air quality at four sites for one year. The two sites beside the highway recorded higher average particulate levels than the two sites in residential neighborhoods, and particulate levels at all four sites were highest during the winter months. Which statements are supported by the data as described?
Select all that apply.
- A. Average particulate levels were higher at the highway sites than at the residential sites.
- B. Particulate levels changed with the season at every site that was measured.
- C. Highway traffic was the only source of particulates anywhere in the city.
- D. Winter readings were the highest of the year at all four sites.
- E. Residential neighborhoods in other cities would show the same yearly pattern.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Average particulate levels were higher at the highway sites than at the residential sites., B. Particulate levels changed with the season at every site that was measured., D. Winter readings were the highest of the year at all four sites.
A supported statement only restates what the data actually shows, and here that is a highway versus residential difference plus a winter peak at every site. The other two options go past the data: one names a single cause the measurements cannot establish, and the other generalizes to cities that were never studied.
5. Which of the following sentences are punctuated correctly?
Select all that apply.
- A. Because the storm knocked out power, the museum closed early.
- B. The museum closed early, the storm had knocked out power.
- C. The storm knocked out power; the museum closed early.
- D. The museum, which closed early on Friday, reopened on Saturday.
- E. The museum closed early on Friday and, reopened on Saturday.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Because the storm knocked out power, the museum closed early., C. The storm knocked out power; the museum closed early., D. The museum, which closed early on Friday, reopened on Saturday.
A comma alone cannot join two complete sentences, which is why the second option is a comma splice and the semicolon version is fine. The fourth option is correct because a nonessential clause takes a comma on both sides, and the last option puts a comma between a conjunction and the verb it introduces, which splits the sentence for no reason.
6. Choose the transition that fits.
Sea otters eat large numbers of sea urchins, and sea urchins graze on kelp. _____, kelp forests have grown back along stretches of coast where otters have returned.
Options for blank 1: However, Therefore, Nevertheless, In contrast
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Therefore
The first sentence sets up a chain of cause and effect, and the second sentence states its result, so the blank needs a transition that signals a consequence. However, nevertheless and in contrast all signal a reversal, and nothing in the second sentence contradicts the first.
7. If 3(x - 4) = 2x + 5, what is the value of x?
- A. 7
- B. 11
- C. 17
- D. 21
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. 17
Distribute first to get 3x - 12 = 2x + 5, subtract 2x from both sides to get x - 12 = 5, then add 12 to get x = 17. Checking is quick and worth the seconds: 3(17 - 4) = 39 and 2(17) + 5 = 39.
8. A tank holds 120 gallons of water and drains at a constant rate of 8 gallons per minute. Which equation gives the number of gallons g remaining after m minutes?
- A. g = 120 + 8m
- B. g = 120 - 8m
- C. g = 8m - 120
- D. g = 8(120 - m)
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. g = 120 - 8m
In a linear model the starting amount is the constant and the constant rate is the coefficient of the variable, and draining makes that rate negative. A quick sanity check confirms it: at m = 0 the tank holds 120 gallons, and at m = 15 it holds 120 - 120 = 0 gallons.
9. A researcher randomly selected 200 students from a high school of 1,400 students and found that 60 percent of the students surveyed take the bus to school. Which conclusions are appropriate?
Select all that apply.
- A. About 840 students at this high school take the bus.
- B. The result can reasonably be generalized to all students at this high school.
- C. The result can reasonably be generalized to all high school students in the country.
- D. Exactly 120 of the students surveyed take the bus.
- E. Taking the bus causes students to arrive at school on time more often.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. About 840 students at this high school take the bus., B. The result can reasonably be generalized to all students at this high school., D. Exactly 120 of the students surveyed take the bus.
A random sample supports estimates about the population it was drawn from, so 60 percent of 1,400 gives roughly 840 bus riders at this school, and 60 percent of the 200 surveyed is exactly 120 students. The sample says nothing about other schools, and a survey with no comparison and no experiment cannot show that one thing causes another.
10. Complete the sentence.
A jacket originally priced at 80 dollars is on sale for 25 percent off. The sale price is _____ dollars.
Options for blank 1: 20, 55, 60, 75
Show answer and explanation
Answer: 60
Taking 25 percent off leaves 75 percent of the price, so multiply once: 0.75 times 80 equals 60. The trap answer is 20, which is the discount itself rather than what you pay.
11. What are the solutions to x squared minus 5x minus 14 = 0?
- A. x = -7 and x = 2
- B. x = -2 and x = 7
- C. x = -14 and x = 1
- D. x = 2 and x = 7
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. x = -2 and x = 7
Look for two numbers that multiply to -14 and add to -5, which are -7 and 2, so the equation factors as (x - 7)(x + 2) = 0. Setting each factor to zero gives x = 7 and x = -2, and both check out: 49 - 35 - 14 = 0 and 4 + 10 - 14 = 0.
12. A colony of 400 bacteria doubles in size every 3 hours. Which function gives the population P after t hours?
- A. P(t) = 400 times 2 to the power of 3t
- B. P(t) = 400 times 2 to the power of t/3
- C. P(t) = 400 times 3 to the power of t/2
- D. P(t) = 400 + 2t/3
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. P(t) = 400 times 2 to the power of t/3
In an exponential model the base is the growth factor and the exponent counts how many growth periods have passed, so t hours contain t/3 doubling periods. Test it at t = 3: the exponent is 1 and the population is 800, which is one doubling. The first option multiplies the exponent by 3 instead of dividing by it, so at t = 3 it would give 400 times 2 to the ninth, or 204,800.
13. Complete the sentence.
In a right triangle, one of the two acute angles measures 35 degrees. The other acute angle measures _____ degrees.
Options for blank 1: 45, 55, 65, 145
Show answer and explanation
Answer: 55
The three angles of any triangle add to 180 degrees, and the right angle already uses 90 of them, so the two acute angles must add to 90. That makes the missing angle 90 minus 35, or 55 degrees.
14. A circle has a circumference of 12 pi. What is the area of the circle?
- A. 6 pi
- B. 12 pi
- C. 36 pi
- D. 144 pi
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. 36 pi
Circumference is 2 pi r, so 2 pi r = 12 pi gives a radius of 6. Area is pi r squared, which is pi times 36, or 36 pi, and the reference sheet inside the testing app lists both formulas if you blank on them.
15. In right triangle ABC, the right angle is at C, the hypotenuse AB has length 13, and side BC has length 5. What is the value of sin A?
- A. 5/13
- B. 12/13
- C. 5/12
- D. 13/5
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. 5/13
Sine is the side opposite the angle divided by the hypotenuse, and the side opposite angle A is BC, which gives 5/13. Note that 12/13 is cos A and 5/12 is tan A, since the third side works out to 12 by the Pythagorean theorem.
What's actually on the digital PSAT/NMSQT
The PSAT/NMSQT is taken on a computer or tablet in the College Board's Bluebook app, not on paper. It has two sections. Reading and Writing gives you 54 questions in 64 minutes, and Math gives you 44 questions in 70 minutes, which is about 2 hours 14 minutes of testing plus a break between the two sections. Total scores run from 320 to 1520.
Each section is split into two modules, and the test is section-adaptive. How you do on the first module decides whether the second module of that section is made up of harder or easier questions, so a second module that feels easy is not automatically bad news and one that feels brutal is often a sign the first module went well. Reading and Writing questions each come with their own short passage, usually somewhere between 25 and 150 words, and they are grouped by domain: words in context and text structure, command of evidence and inferences, transitions and rhetorical revision, and standard English conventions. Math covers algebra, advanced math, problem solving and data analysis, and geometry and trigonometry. About a quarter of the math questions ask you to type your own answer instead of picking one, a calculator is allowed on the whole math section, a formula reference sheet is built into the app, and there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so never leave one blank.
Some things vary and are worth checking with your school. There are three tests in this family: the PSAT 8/9, the PSAT 10 and the PSAT/NMSQT. Only the PSAT/NMSQT taken in eleventh grade can qualify a student for National Merit, so the same test taken in tenth grade is practice only. Schools choose their own test date inside the windows the College Board offers, and the Selection Index cutoffs used for National Merit are set separately by state and move from year to year, so a number you read on a forum may be the wrong state or the wrong year.
How to use this sampler
These 15 questions mirror the content mix of the real test, not its length or its behavior. Five questions cover the Reading and Writing domains and ten cover the four math domains. This sampler does not adapt, so every question you see is the same one everybody else sees, and a short quiz cannot give you a score out of 1520.
Take it in one sitting with no notes. On the real test the pacing works out to a little over a minute per Reading and Writing question and a little over a minute and a half per math question, so try holding yourself to something close to that here. Then read the explanation for every question, including the ones you got right, because a lucky guess and a solid answer look identical on a score screen.
Review by domain rather than by question. If you missed the transition question and the punctuation question, the useful next step is a session on sentence boundaries and connecting words, not memorizing those two items. For math, rework any problem you missed on blank paper before you read the solution again. Reading a worked answer feels like learning and rarely is.
How StudyPDF builds full practice tests from your own materials
Fifteen questions can tell you which areas are shaky. They cannot get you ready on their own, and a generic question bank has no idea which chapters your class actually covered or which formulas you keep forgetting.
StudyPDF works from your material instead. You upload your prep book, your class notes or the slides from your teacher, and Bo, the study agent, builds full-length practice tests from those exact pages. Every question is grounded in your material and every explanation points back to where the answer comes from, so you can check the source when something looks off. You can regenerate fresh tests as often as you want, narrow them to a single area like quadratics or transitions, and track which topics you keep missing.
You do not need a document to start. You can also just name a topic, for example PSAT math word problems or comma rules, and Bo will build a practice test on it from scratch. Starting is free.
Written by the StudyPDF team. Last updated 2026-08-19.