Free printable PSAT practice test for Grade 10

Reading and Writing

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 12 minutes.

1. Borrowed words

   Over many centuries of contact with traders, scholars, and neighbors, English has ______ words from many other languages: 'kindergarten' comes from German, 'algebra' from Arabic, and 'canyon' from Spanish.

   1.

   Which choice gives the most logical and precise word or phrase for the blank?

   1. Aforgotten
   2. Bborrowed
   3. Cbanned
   4. Dinvented

2. Continental drift

   When the idea that continents move was first proposed in the early 1900s, many geologists were ______. They accepted that the coastlines of Africa and South America seemed to fit together, but they could not imagine a force strong enough to push entire continents across the globe.

   2.

   Which choice gives the most logical and precise word or phrase for the blank?

   1. Aenthusiastic
   2. Brelieved
   3. Cindifferent
   4. Dskeptical

3. Sea otter fur

   Sea otters spend most of their lives in cold ocean water, yet they have almost no body fat. Instead, they rely on the thickest fur of any animal, with up to a million hairs in a single square inch. Air trapped between the hairs keeps the otter's skin dry and warm.

   3.

   What is the main purpose of the text?

   1. ATo compare sea otters with other ocean mammals
   2. BTo describe the diet that keeps sea otters healthy in the ocean
   3. CTo explain how sea otters stay warm without much body fat
   4. DTo argue that sea otters need protection from cold water

4. Phases of the Moon

   The Moon makes no light of its own. Instead, it reflects light from the Sun, and at any moment half of the Moon is lit. As the Moon travels around Earth over about a month, we see different amounts of that sunlit half. When the lit side faces us, we see a full moon. When it faces away, we see almost nothing, and we call it a new moon.

   4.

   Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

   1. AA full moon happens when the Moon is closest to the Sun.
   2. BEarth's shadow covers a different part of the Moon on most nights of each month.
   3. CThe Moon produces less light during some parts of the month.
   4. DThe Moon's phases depend on how much of its sunlit side faces Earth.

5. Museum guides

   An art museum offered visitors two ways to learn about its paintings: a phone app with recorded commentary and traditional printed labels on the walls. In a survey of 300 visitors, each person named the option they preferred. The museum's researchers concluded that preference for the app declined with age, since ______

   5.

   Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?

   1. Avisitors aged 25 to 54 preferred labels more often than visitors 55 and over did.
   2. B68% of visitors under 25 preferred the app, compared with 27% of those 55 and over.
   3. C51% of visitors aged 25 to 54 said that they preferred the app to the labels.
   4. Dmost visitors in every age group said that they preferred the app to the printed labels.

6. Library windows

   In our text, an architect designing a new public library placed most of its windows high on the walls, just below the ceiling. She explained that direct sunlight slowly fades book covers and creates harsh glare on pages, while light entering near the ceiling bounces off the pale ceiling and spreads softly through the room. The architect most likely chose high windows because they ______

   6.

   Which choice most logically completes the text?

   1. Akeep the library darker than most buildings.
   2. Bgive light without shining straight onto books.
   3. Ccost less to build than ordinary windows do.
   4. Dlet readers look out at the street more easily.

7. A river survey

   In 1803, a small survey team followed the river all the way to its source in the hills. The ______ notebooks, now kept in a state archive, include careful sketches of every bend, rapid, and sandbar.

   7.

   Which choice completes the text so that it follows the conventions of Standard English?

   1. Ateams'
   2. Bteams's
   3. Cteam's
   4. Dteams

8. Tracking asteroids

   Small asteroids that pass close to Earth are hard to spot. Since 2015, astronomers at a mountaintop observatory ______ more than two hundred of these objects, adding each one to a public catalog.

   8.

   Which choice completes the text so that it follows the conventions of Standard English?

   1. Awill track
   2. Btrack
   3. Chave tracked
   4. Dhad tracked

9. Composer's notebooks

   The composer Ruth Adeyemi kept notebooks full of melodies she never used in her finished works. For decades, scholars assumed these fragments were simply abandoned ideas. ______, a recent study of the notebooks found that several fragments reappear, in altered form, in her later symphonies.

   9.

   Which choice gives the most logical transition for the blank?

   1. AHowever
   2. BFor instance
   3. CTherefore
   4. DLikewise

10. Stepwells

    While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
    • Stepwells are wells reached by long flights of steps.
    • They were built in western India for centuries.
    • The steps let people reach the water as its level rose and fell with the seasons.
    • Rani ki Vav, a stepwell in Gujarat, was built in the 11th century.
    • It is decorated with hundreds of carved sculptures.

    10.

    The student wants to explain why stepwells were built with steps. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

    1. AFor centuries, people in western India built wells that were reached by long flights of steps.
    2. BRani ki Vav, a stepwell, is decorated with hundreds of carved sculptures.
    3. CRani ki Vav, a stepwell in the state of Gujarat, was built in the 11th century.
    4. DStepwells had steps so that people could reach the water as its level changed with the seasons.