ISEE practice, Grade 10

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Scholar Tests · Set 3

ISEE practice test, Grade 10

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Verbal Reasoning

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 5 minutes.

  1. 1.

    MAGNANIMOUS

    Which word means most nearly the same as the word in capital letters?

    1. Amagnetic
    2. Bclumsy
    3. Cgenerous
    4. Dpetty
  2. 2.

    RECALCITRANT

    Which word means most nearly the same as the word in capital letters?

    1. Aobedient
    2. Bdefiant
    3. Cforgetful
    4. Dfragile
  3. 3.

    The professor's ______ lectures, full of jokes and stories, were always crowded.

    Which word best completes the sentence?

    1. Abrief
    2. Bdreary
    3. Cengaging
    4. Dtedious
  4. 4.

    The witness's account was ______ with the security video in every detail, so the jury believed her.

    Which word best completes the sentence?

    1. Aunrelated
    2. Bcompeting
    3. Cinconsistent
    4. Dconsistent
  5. 5.

    INUNDATE

    Which word means most nearly the same as the word in capital letters?

    1. Adecorate
    2. Bimitate
    3. Cinvite
    4. Dflood
  6. 6.

    His tone was ______, but his words were ______, so listeners could not tell whether he was joking.

    Which pair of words best completes the sentence?

    1. Agrave . . . solemn
    2. Bplayful . . . serious
    3. Cplayful . . . silly
    4. Dloud . . . quiet
  7. 7.

    Rather than ______ the mistake, the company publicly explained what had gone wrong.

    Which word best completes the sentence?

    1. Acorrect
    2. Bannounce
    3. Cexplain
    4. Dconceal
  8. 8.

    QUIXOTIC

    Which word means most nearly the same as the word in capital letters?

    1. Aidealistic
    2. Brealistic
    3. Cquick
    4. Dwealthy
  9. 9.

    The ______ of fresh water on the ship forced the crew to ______ every drop.

    Which pair of words best completes the sentence?

    1. Ashortage . . . waste
    2. Btaste . . . boil
    3. Csurplus . . . ration
    4. Dshortage . . . ration
  10. 10.

    ICONOCLAST

    Which word means most nearly the same as the word in capital letters?

    1. Aconformist
    2. Bartist
    3. Crebel
    4. Dmerchant

Quantitative Reasoning

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 9 minutes.

  1. 1.

    2x − 12 = 4
    Column A: x
    Column B: 8

    Compare the quantity in Column A with the quantity in Column B.

    1. AColumn A is greater.
    2. BColumn B is greater.
    3. CThe two quantities are equal.
    4. DIt cannot be decided from the information given.
  2. 2.

    A backpack costs $120. Its price is raised by 25% and the new price is then reduced by 40%. What is the final price?

    1. A$72
    2. B$30
    3. C$90
    4. D$102
  3. 3.

    A taxi ride costs a starting fee plus the same amount for each mile. A 5-mile ride costs $22, and a 7-mile ride costs $30. How much does a 10-mile ride cost?

    1. A$44
    2. B$70
    3. C$42
    4. D$40
  4. 4.

    The sum of the numbers 4, 22, and x is equal to the sum of the numbers 10, 8, and y. What is the value of x − y?

    1. A6
    2. B−8
    3. C−14
    4. D8
  5. 5.

    A circle has radius 5. A square has sides of length 4.
    Column A: The area of the circle
    Column B: The area of the square

    Compare the quantity in Column A with the quantity in Column B.

    1. AColumn A is greater.
    2. BColumn B is greater.
    3. CThe two quantities are equal.
    4. DIt cannot be decided from the information given.
  6. 6.

    In 24 spins of a spinner, Omar got blue 20 times. Suppose he spins it 36 more times and gets blue at the same rate. How many times in all, the first 24 spins included, would you expect he to get blue?

    1. A10
    2. B30
    3. C26
    4. D50
  7. 7.

    3 markers and 5 pens cost $84. 1 marker and 5 pens cost $68. What does one marker cost?

    1. A$16
    2. B$12
    3. C$4
    4. D$8
  8. 8.

    x + y = 21 and x − y = −1
    Column A: x
    Column B: y

    Compare the quantity in Column A with the quantity in Column B.

    1. AColumn A is greater.
    2. BColumn B is greater.
    3. CThe two quantities are equal.
    4. DIt cannot be decided from the information given.
  9. 9.

    Chloe is now 3 times as old as James. In 3 years Chloe will be 2 times as old as James. How old is Chloe now?

    1. A6
    2. B3
    3. C9
    4. D12
  10. 10.

    A right triangle has legs of length 5 and 12.
    Column A: The length of the hypotenuse
    Column B: 12

    Compare the quantity in Column A with the quantity in Column B.

    1. AColumn A is greater.
    2. BColumn B is greater.
    3. CThe two quantities are equal.
    4. DIt cannot be decided from the information given.

Reading Comprehension

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 10 minutes.

  1. Snowfall in the Dark

    Far below the reach of sunlight, in water only a few degrees above freezing, it is always snowing. The flakes are not ice. They are clumps of dead and dying matter: the remains of microscopic algae, the shed shells of tiny animals, waste pellets and grains of dust blown off distant deserts, all bound together by a sticky film of mucus that many sea creatures produce. Ocean scientists call this steady drift "marine snow," and although a single flake is hardly worth noticing, the snowfall as a whole is one of the planet's most important means of moving carbon.

    The process begins at the sunlit surface. Phytoplankton, single-celled organisms that float near the top of the sea, absorb carbon dioxide and use sunlight to turn it into living tissue, much as land plants do. Phytoplankton multiply quickly and die quickly, and they are eaten by small grazing animals that in turn release compact waste pellets. Each of these fragments contains carbon that was, not long before, dissolved in the water and in contact with the air above it.

    Most of that material never travels far. Bacteria break much of it down long before it leaves the upper ocean, releasing the carbon back into the water, where it can return to the atmosphere. But some particles collide, stick together and grow heavy enough to sink faster than they can be consumed. A clump may spend weeks falling, and along the way it serves as a moving meal. Animals of the deep, from small crustaceans to the vampire squid, which gathers drifting particles with long, sticky filaments, depend on this rain from above in a place where almost nothing grows.

    Only a small fraction of the original carbon reaches the deep ocean or the seafloor. That fraction matters enormously, however. Carbon carried into the deep can remain isolated from the atmosphere for centuries, and some of it is buried in sediment for far longer. Scientists refer to this whole chain, from surface growth to deep storage, as the "biological pump." Without it, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air would be considerably higher than it is.

    Researchers study marine snow with sediment traps, which are containers anchored at various depths to catch what falls, and increasingly with cameras and robotic floats that can count particles as they pass. Their measurements remain uncertain, partly because the ocean is vast and the snowfall varies with season and place. A spring bloom of phytoplankton can send down a heavy burst; a nutrient-poor stretch of open ocean may produce only a thin drizzle.

    What the research makes clear is that the deep sea, often imagined as remote and unchanging, is closely tied to the surface world. The carbon in a flake drifting past a vampire squid may have been in the air above the waves only a season earlier.

    1.

    Which choice best states the central idea of the passage?

    1. AScientists have now measured exactly how much carbon the ocean removes from the air each year.
    2. BSinking particles called marine snow carry carbon from the ocean's surface into the deep, where some of it is stored for a long time.
    3. CThe vampire squid is the most important link in the ocean's carbon cycle.
    4. DPhytoplankton are the only organisms able to survive in the deep, dark parts of the ocean.
  2. 2.

    According to the passage, what happens to most of the material that forms near the surface?

    1. AIt is broken down by bacteria before it can sink very far.
    2. BIt is eaten by vampire squid in the deep ocean.
    3. CIt sinks to the seafloor and is buried in sediment.
    4. DIt forms flakes that fall to the bottom within hours.
  3. 3.

    Based on the passage, a sediment trap placed beneath a spring phytoplankton bloom would most likely

    1. Acollect mainly ice crystals rather than organic matter
    2. Bshow that the biological pump stops working in spring
    3. Ccollect the same amount as any other trap at that depth
    4. Dcollect more falling material than a trap beneath a nutrient-poor area
  4. 4.

    As it is used in the passage, the word "bound" most nearly means

    1. Alimited
    2. Bheld
    3. Cheaded
    4. Dleaped
  5. 5.

    The author mentions the vampire squid mainly in order to

    1. Aargue that the vampire squid controls the ocean's supply of carbon
    2. Bshow that most marine snow is eaten near the surface
    3. Cexplain how sediment traps are anchored at different depths
    4. Dillustrate that deep-sea animals rely on marine snow for food
  6. 6.

    Which choice best describes how the passage is organized?

    1. AIt describes a single research voyage in the order that its events occurred.
    2. BIt compares marine snow with ordinary snow in a series of point-by-point contrasts.
    3. CIt traces the path of carbon from the surface to the deep, then describes how scientists study the process.
    4. DIt presents two competing theories about marine snow and argues for one of them.

  7. The Honey Table

    Every Saturday from June to September, Teo's grandfather set up a folding table at the end of the market row, between a man who sharpened knives and a woman whose goat cheese drew a line by eight o'clock. The table held thirty jars of honey arranged by color, from a pale gold that was almost white to a brown so dark it looked like coffee held up to a window.

    Teo was fifteen, and he had agreed to help for one reason: his grandfather paid in cash. He had not counted on how visible the end of the row would be. Anyone walking from the parking lot to the bakery passed within six feet of him, and by the second week he had developed a habit of studying his phone whenever a group of teenagers drifted by.

    His grandfather noticed, of course. He noticed everything about bees, and Teo suspected he had long ago stopped distinguishing between bees and grandsons. But he said nothing. He only talked, in his slow and steady way, to whoever stopped. He explained that the pale honey came from clover in early summer and the dark from buckwheat in August. He let children hold a jar up to the light. He told one woman that honey almost never spoils, and when she looked doubtful, he did not argue; he simply handed her a spoon.

    Teo heard all of it whether he wanted to or not.

    In late July, Dani Ortiz from his chemistry class stopped at the table with her older sister. Teo felt his face grow warm. He considered pretending to be a stranger who happened to be standing there.

    "Why are they all different colors?" Dani's sister asked, pointing. "Is the dark one burnt or something?"

    Teo's grandfather was bent over the cash box, counting change. He did not look up.

    Teo heard himself answer. "It depends on the flowers," he said. "The bees go wherever things are blooming. Clover in June is light. Buckwheat later is dark, and it tastes almost like molasses." He paused, then picked up a spoon. "You can try it. People either love it or think it tastes like a barn."

    The sister tried it and made a face, and Dani laughed and tried it and bought a jar. When they had gone, Teo realized he had not once reached for his phone.

    His grandfather closed the cash box. "Barn," he said thoughtfully, as if testing the word. "That is not how I would describe it."

    "It's how she would," Teo said.

    The old man considered this, then nodded once, the way he nodded when a hive turned out to be healthier than he had feared. The next Saturday, without being asked, Teo arrived early and arranged the jars himself, from lightest to darkest.

    7.

    Which choice best describes what happens in the passage?

    1. AA grandfather scolds his grandson for ignoring customers and teaches him how to sell honey.
    2. BA teenager learns to keep bees so that he can one day take over his grandfather's business.
    3. CA teenager tries to impress a classmate by pretending to know more about honey than he does.
    4. DA teenager who is embarrassed to work at a market stall begins to take quiet ownership of the job.
  8. 8.

    According to the passage, why does the honey on the table vary in color?

    1. AThe hives are kept in places with different amounts of sun.
    2. BThe bees gather nectar from different flowers at different times of the year.
    3. CThe grandfather heats some of the jars for longer than others.
    4. DOlder honey slowly darkens as it sits on the shelf.
  9. 9.

    Teo's habit of studying his phone whenever teenagers pass most likely suggests that he

    1. Ais checking the time so he knows when his shift will end
    2. Bwants to avoid being recognized as the one working the stall
    3. Cis bored because very few people walk past the table
    4. Dis looking up facts about honey to answer customers
  10. 10.

    As it is used in the passage, the word "drew" most nearly means

    1. Abreathed in
    2. Bpulled out
    3. Ctied
    4. Dattracted

Mathematics Achievement

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 9 minutes.

  1. 1.

    What is the solution of the system y = −2x − 17 and y = 4x + 13?

    1. A(−5, −17)
    2. B(−5, −7)
    3. C(5, −7)
    4. D(−7, −5)
  2. 2.

    When 4/39 is written as a decimal, what is the 44th digit after the decimal point?

    1. A5
    2. B1
    3. C2
    4. D0
  3. 3.

    Which set of side lengths makes a right triangle?

    1. A9 ft, 12 ft, 20 ft
    2. B9 ft, 12 ft, 16 ft
    3. C9 ft, 12 ft, 15 ft
    4. D10 ft, 12 ft, 15 ft
  4. 4.

    A sprinkler waters a quarter circle of lawn with a radius of 4 feet. What is the area of the watered lawn, in square feet?

    1. A8π
    2. B2π
    3. C16π
    4. D4π
  5. 5.

    Which equation does NOT show a linear function?

    1. Ay = 3x − 1
    2. By = (1/2)x + 4
    3. Cy = 9 − 2x
    4. Dy = x² − x
  6. 6.

    Two parallel lines are cut by a transversal. One angle measures 40°. What is the measure of the angle marked with a question mark?

    1. A320°
    2. B50°
    3. C40°
    4. D140°
  7. 7.

    The price of a pair of skates went up 10%. Then the new price went down 10%. How did the final price compare with the starting price?

    1. AIt went up 1%.
    2. BIt did not change.
    3. CIt went down 1%.
    4. DIt went down 10%.
  8. 8.

    The box plots show the heights, in inches, of the players on two teams. Which statement is true?

    1. ATeam Red has the greater range.
    2. BTeam Blue has the greater interquartile range.
    3. CTeam Red has the greater interquartile range.
    4. DTeam Red has the greater maximum.
  9. 9.

    What is the value of 30² − 22²?

    1. A1,384
    2. B52
    3. C64
    4. D416
  10. 10.

    300 students said how they get to school. The circle graph shows the results. How many more students come by car than ride a bike?

    1. A15
    2. B135
    3. C75
    4. D5

Written by Scholar Tests in the style of the published ISEE question types. Not a real ISEE test, and a practice score is not a real score.