Free printable SAT practice test for Grade 10

Reading and Writing

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

1. Tomato plants

   Grandpa Ellis was ______ about his tomato plants. Every morning he checked each leaf for insects, measured the stems, and wrote notes in a small green notebook he kept by the back door.

   1.

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

   1. Acareful
   2. Bforgetful
   3. Cdoubtful
   4. Dcareless

2. The Basque language

   Basque, spoken in parts of Spain and France, is a language isolate: despite more than a century of research, linguists have found no language to which it is demonstrably related. Its origins therefore remain ______.

   2.

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

   1. Airrelevant
   2. Bobscure
   3. Cstraightforward
   4. Ddocumented

3. Octopus camouflage

   Octopuses can change the color and texture of their skin in a fraction of a second, blending into rocks, sand, or coral. They do this using thousands of special cells that expand or shrink to show different pigments. Strangely, most octopuses appear to be color-blind. Scientists are still investigating how an animal that cannot see color manages to match its surroundings so precisely.

   3.

   What is the function of the underlined sentence in the text?

   1. AIt presents a puzzle that scientists are still trying to solve.
   2. BIt explains how the special skin cells produce different colors.
   3. CIt suggests that octopus camouflage is less effective than it appears.
   4. DIt describes one of the surfaces octopuses most often imitate.

4. Letters from the mills

   A historian studying textile mill towns of the 1840s observes that company ledgers record wages, hours, and output in meticulous detail but reveal almost nothing about how workers experienced their labor. Letters that young mill workers sent home, she argues, help fill this gap, describing crowded boardinghouses, the din of the looms, and friendships formed on the factory floor. She cautions, though, that many writers wished to reassure anxious families and may therefore have understated their hardships.

   4.

   Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

   1. AWorkers' letters exaggerated their hardships in order to worry their families.
   2. BMill workers in the 1840s rarely wrote letters to their families at home.
   3. CCompany ledgers are more trustworthy than letters for any historical question.
   4. DWorkers' letters add insight that ledgers lack, though they must be read with care.

5. Meteor watch

   Meteors tend to be more common in the hours before dawn than in the evening. After midnight, an observer's side of Earth faces the direction in which the planet is moving through space, so it sweeps up more bits of dust. Members of an astronomy club counted meteors for one hour at a time through a single clear night, and their counts fit this pattern: ______

   5.

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

   1. Athe club counted 23 meteors at 4 a.m. but only 6 at 10 p.m.
   2. Bthe club counted the same number of meteors every hour.
   3. Cthe club counted 6 meteors at 10 p.m., its lowest hourly total.
   4. Dthe club counted more meteors at 10 p.m. than at midnight.

6. Owl pellets

   Owls often swallow small prey whole. Their bodies digest the soft parts, but bones, fur, and feathers cannot be digested, so the owl later coughs them up in a compact bundle called a pellet. Pellets pile up beneath places where owls roost. By pulling these pellets apart and identifying the bones inside, researchers can ______

   6.

   Which choice most logically completes the text?

   1. Alearn what an owl has been eating.
   2. Bmeasure how fast an owl can fly.
   3. Cfind out how old an owl is.
   4. Dtell where an owl was hatched.

7. Saturn's bright rings

   Saturn's rings, which are made mostly of chunks of water ______ so much sunlight that they can be seen through a small backyard telescope. The rings are wide but remarkably thin.

   7.

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

   1. Aice reflect
   2. Bice, reflect
   3. Cice; reflect
   4. Dice: reflect

8. Fueling hurricanes

   Hurricanes form over tropical oceans in late summer and early fall. Warm ocean water and moist air ______ the energy that allows a hurricane to grow stronger as it moves across the sea.

   8.

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

   1. Aprovide
   2. Bis providing
   3. Chas provided
   4. Dprovides

9. Unseen matter

   Astronomers measuring how fast stars orbit the centers of galaxies found something puzzling. Stars far from the center moved about as fast as stars closer in, even though the visible matter in each galaxy should not have produced enough gravity to hold such fast stars in orbit. ______, many astronomers concluded that galaxies must contain large amounts of unseen "dark matter."

   9.

   Which choice gives the most logical transition for the blank?

   1. ALikewise
   2. BConsequently
   3. CFor instance
   4. DNevertheless

10. Tardigrades

    While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
    • Tardigrades are tiny animals about 0.5 millimeter long.
    • They live in moss, soil, and the ocean.
    • They can survive drying out by entering a state called a tun.
    • In this state, they can survive extreme cold and even the vacuum of space.
    • They were first described in 1773.

    10.

    The student wants to emphasize how hardy tardigrades are. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

    1. AIn a dried-out state called a tun, tardigrades can survive extreme cold and even the vacuum of space.
    2. BA single tardigrade measures only about half a millimeter from end to end.
    3. CTardigrades live in many different places, including moss, soil, and the ocean.
    4. DTardigrades, first described in 1773, are tiny animals about 0.5 millimeter long.