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At a bakery, a croissant costs $3 and a baguette costs $7. If you make a purchase with a $20 bill and get $4 change, what did you buy?
six croissants
two baguettes
one baguette and three croissants
Three croissants is three times three, or nine. Add seven for the baguette, and you have sixteen. $16 out of $20 is $4 change.
two baguettes and one croissant
What is the best definition of "moderate"?
fearful
loud
mild or medium
As a verb, "moderate" (pronounced with a long A) means "to come between or negotiate." You can probably see the relation to the adjective form meaning "medium."
reckless
Which of these geometry terms refers to an angle of less than 90 degrees?
acute
Acute is a narrow angle. In vocabulary, "acute" means "mentally sharp," perhaps a reference to the sharpness of the angle.
oblique
obtuse
equidistant
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The sum of the degrees of internal angles in a triangle always adds up to what number?
90
120
180
This is one of many basic laws of mathematics. In an equilateral triangle, each internal angle must be 60 degrees.
270
"Friday night was cool and cloudy; with the kind of wind that preceded rain." How should this sentence be rewritten to be correct?
"Friday Night was cool and cloudy; with the kind of wind that preceded rain."
"Friday night was cool and cloudy, with the kind of wind that preceded rain."
This sentence does not require -- in fact, will not support -- a semicolon. If the latter part of the sentence was a full clause, with both subject and verb, then it would. Example: "Friday night was cool and cloudy; the wind that was blowing was the kind that preceded rain."
"Friday night was cool and cloudy; with the sort of wind that preceded rain."
the sentence is correct as written
Which of these is a synonym of "adage"?
page
pick-up line
proverb
We all know someone who is painfully fond of adages. They can believe both in "haste makes waste" and "he who hesitates is lost."
sermon
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Which of these is a synonym of "cataclysm"?
disaster
friendlessness
flood
both #1 and #3
Merriam Webster's primary definition for "cataclysm" is "flood or deluge." But most people think of its second meaning, "disaster."
Your employer has fallen on hard times. To stay on, you have to take one of the following: a one-fifth pay cut, a 20 percent pay cut, or a .17 percent pay cut. Which should you take?
one-fifth
20 percent
.17
Don't be fooled! One-fifth and 20 percent are the same thing, but .17 is 17 percent -- a slightly lower pay cut. If your boss offers you these three options, you'll know you're working with someone with a poor grasp of math!
these are all the same thing
"It almost can't be overstated how important Mary Shelley is to women writers. She's a patron saint, who excites interest and admiration not just through her work, but her life story." In this extract, what is the best meaning of "patron saint"?
rich woman
matryr
queen
role model
In Catholicism, a patron saint is a protector to be prayed to. However, more loosely, "patron saint" can mean someone who exemplifies the best qualities of a particular thing, an exemplar. That's the meaning here.
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What is the best definition of "insidious"?
everywhere
loving
overgrown
subtly evil
"Insidious" refers to something evil, but isn't quite the same as "wicked," "horrible" or "depraved." Those words put the quality out in the open. "Insidious" implies the threat is sneaky and not obvious.
A new book on Amazon has a 3.8 star rating from its first seven reviewers. If the next two readers give it one star and five stars, respectively, what will its cumulative rating be?
3.6 stars
Technically, it'll be 3.622222-ad infinitum, so we round up to 3.7 stars. You get this answer by multiplying the 3.8 by the seven readers for a total of 26.6, then add the new ratings, 5 and 1, for a new total of 32.6. Divide this by the new number of nine readers for 3.6.
3.2 stars
3.9 stars
4 stars
"The idea of leaving early was an anathema to him." How should this sentence be rewritten to be correct?
"The idea of him leaving early was an anathema to him."
"The idea of leaving early was anathema to him."
"Anathema" is a noun that takes no article. For this reason, some people mistake it for an adjective.
"To him, the idea of leaving early was an anathema."
the sentence is fine as written
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A farmer has x number of apple slices for the horses in his barn. If he gives each horse three slices, he'll use up the entire bag. If he wanted to give each four, he'd need 6 more slices. How many horses are in his barns?
four
five
six
Two-variable equations are tricky (this one doesn't tell you the number of slices or the number of horses), but this one really passes as a logic question. If giving each horse just one more slice requires six more slices, there can only be six horses.
eight
Which of these terms refers to an angle of more than 90 degrees?
broad
Hippocratic
obtuse
Just as "acute," means mentally sharp, "obtuse" in non-mathematical conversation usually means "mentally dull." If someone just isn't getting the point, they're being obtuse.
essential
Which of these is an example of a prime number?
4
9
14
17
A prime number can only be divided by itself and one. Some prime numbers are rare and exotic, like the "Mersenne prime," which is a prime number one less than a power of two.
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Can a prime number be cubed?
yes
To be cubed simply means to be multiplied by itself, twice. Any number can be cubed: 11 x 11 x 11 = 1331.
no
Professor A's class has 100 students in its first year. The second year sees a 10 percent drop in enrollment from the previous year. The third year also sees another 10 percent drop from the previous year. How many students are in the class in the third year?
90
80
72
81
If you said 80, don't feel bad -- this is a common error. Ten is ten percent of 100, so many people subtract ten for the first year and ten again for the second. But the second year's class had 90 students, and a ten percent drop from 90 is nine -- leaving 81 students.
What is the best definition of "solicit"?
break the law
carry on resolutely
enrage
request
To "solicit" something, like help, is to ask for it. To be "solicitous," on the other hand, is to be concerned and caring. This almost makes "solicit" what's called a "Janus word," or a word that can mean its opposite.
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"Everyone from the local police chief to the governor denounced the terrorisms." How should this sentence be rewritten to be correct?
"Everyone from the local Police Chief to the Governor denounced the terrorisms."
"Every agency from the governor down to the local police chief denounced the terrorisms."
"Everyone from the local police chief to the governor denounced the incidents of terrorism."
"Terrorisms" is not a count noun (a noun which can be singular or plural, thus "counted.") The incidents are plural, but terrorism is a concept.
the sentence is correct as written
"Tomorrow, we will shop for Halloween costumes." In this sentence, what part of speech is "Tomorrow"?
an adjective
an adverb
This was a tricky one, but it's clear that "tomorrow" modifies the verb "shop" -- it's when we'll shop. "Tomorrow" is often a noun, but not in this case.
a preposition
a noun
Which of these words means "nonchalant" or "unconcerned"?
dismal
insouciant
"Insouciant" comes to us from the French language. This might be why we use it particularly when describing fashion statements, like the angle of a porkpie hat.
keen
meager
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"English wasn't my best class, but watching the BBC version of 'Pride and Prejudice' helped."
" 'English' wasn't my best class, but watching the BBC version of 'Pride and Prejudice' helped."
"English wasn't my best class, but watching the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice helped."
"English wasn't my best class, but watching the BBC version of 'Pride and Prejudice' was helpful."
the sentence is correct as written
This is a perfectly serviceable sentence. (Speaking of English, we confess to having been better at it than math in school, in case you're noticing this quiz leans a little heavily on the former and light on the latter).
What is the best definition of "prevalent"?
commonplace
For example, "A love of the Red Sox is prevalent throughout New England." Now, if it was a love of the Yankees, that would be unhealthy in New England!
worthy
preferred
unhealthy
Which of these is a synonym of delirium?
hunger
control
madness
Delirium is a temporary madness, frequently caused by high fever. Delirium is marked by diminished awareness of surroundings and by speech that doesn't make sense.
thirst
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A winery sold 500 bottles of merlot in a year for $16 a bottle. Next year, they are planning a 15 percent production increase, but a 5 percent price cut. How much money will they make if they sell the entire inventory?
$6250
$7100
$8740
You don't even have to do the math on what they earned last year. 500 times 1.15 is 575 bottles. Sixteen times .95 is 15.2. Multiply these two answers to get $8740. (This is $740 more than they made last year, despite the price cut).
$8890
Which of these is a synonym for "proximity"?
rigidity
faultlessness
nearness
If you really want to impress a reader or listener, try "propinquity." It means the same thing, though in earlier days "propinquity" was often used to refer to closeness in family relations or bloodline.
sharpness
"Sadly, more than a dozen people suffered second and third-degree burns." How should this sentence be rewritten to be correct?
"Sadly, more than a dozen people suffered second- and third-degree burns."
The first option, which is correct, uses what is called "suspensive hyphenation." This cues readers "second-" has a parallelism with "third-" even though it's isolated in its spot earlier in the sentence.
"Sadly, more than twelve people suffered second and third-degree burns."
"Sadly, more than twelve persons suffered second and third-degree burns."
the sentence is correct as written
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What is the best definition of "subterranean"?
chilly
in the past
paranormal
underground
A little Latin goes a long way, as UK quiz master Mark Labbett likes to say. "Terra" is the Latin word for "earth," and "sub," its prefix, meaning "below." (If you haven't seen the UK quiz show "The Chase," with Labbett as "the Beast," check it out on YouTube. It's highly recommended).
"He was able to watch my dog at the last minute, for which I paid him handsomely." In the preceding sentence, what is the best definition of "handsomely."
flirtatiously
generously
"Handsome" has gradually come to refer almost exclusively to a man's looks. But in its adverb form, it retains the meaning of "generous" or "liberal."
grudingly
readily
Which of these means "to suggest or threaten vaguely"?
adumbrate
"Adumbrate" is a $10 word meaning "suggest or hint at, sometimes in a threatening way." Its core is the Italian word "umbra," for "shadow."
concatenate
elucidate
attenuate
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"GMOs have been labeled 'Frankenfoods' by people who seem to believe that wellness bloggers have foreseen outcomes that geneticists could not." In the preceding sentence, which word is a neologism?
"Frankenfoods"
A neologism is an invented word, often for a very specific purpose. Until recently, "bloggers" would also have counted as a neologism, but now it's recognized by most English dictionaries.
"geneticists"
"GMOs"
"seem"
What is the best definition of "terminate"?
believe
end
Generally speaking, "terminate" is not a verb you'd apply to a gradual or well-planned end. "Terminate" implies abruptness: "The program was terminated due to lack of funding."
extend
decorate
The numeral 3.14 is also known as what?
the hypontenuse
the golden mean
pi
Pi is the constant used for finding the area of a circle. Area = 3.14 multiplied by the radius squared. This numerical constant gave its name to 314 Action, a group dedicated to getting people with STEM backgrounds into political office.
zeta
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The longest side of a right triangle is known as the _______.
azimuth
declension
hypotenuse
A right triangle is one in which one internal angle is 90 degrees. The hypotenuse is the long side directly opposite this angle.
pythian
Which of these words is correctly spelled?
contamunate
contamminate
kontaminate
hey, the SAT doesn't test spelling!
The SAT was developed as a predictor of future academic success. Spelling is a famously poor predictor of that, and of intelligence in general. F. Scott Fitzgerald was a notoriously bad speller, and went on to be one of the greatest American novelists of the 20th century.
You Got:
/35
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