Question ID 70c992f5
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 70c992f5
Amount of Additional Electricity Wind
Turbines Could Generate When
Winds Were Stronger Than Forecast
Electricity (in thousands of MWh)
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
West Midwest
Electric companies that use wind turbines rely on weather forecasts to predict the maximum amount of power, in megawatt-
hours (MWh), they can generate using wind so that they can determine how much they’ll need to generate from other
sources. When winds are stronger than they were forecast to be, however, the predicted maximum amount of electricity wind
turbines could generate will be too low. For example, the graph shows that for the West region, the winds were ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the example?
A. strong enough to generate about 150 thousand more MWh of electricity from wind turbines.
B. so weak that the electricity from wind turbines was about 175 thousand MWh less than predicted.
C. so weak that the electricity from wind turbines was about 150 thousand MWh less than predicted.
D. strong enough to generate about 175 thousand more MWh of electricity from wind turbines.
Question ID 55a0521c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 55a0521c
Attendance and Cost of Hosting for Past Four US World’s Fairs
World’s fairs held in the US Cost (in US dollars) Number of visitors
Century 21 Exposition (1962) $47 million 9.60 million
HemisFair ’68 $156 million 6.40 million
1984 World’s Fair $350 million 7.35 million
Expo ’74 $78 million 5.60 million
Huge international exhibitions known as world’s fairs have been held since 1851, but the United States hasn’t hosted one
since 1984. Architecture expert Mina Chow argues that this is because some people think the events are too expensive and
not popular enough. For example, the 1984 World’s Fair cost $350 million and had only ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the example?
A. 7.35 million visitors.
B. 9.60 million visitors.
C. 6.40 million visitors.
D. 5.60 million visitors.
Question ID 7a8e9e42
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 7a8e9e42
A researcher conducted an experiment inspired by studies suggesting that people may benefit from feeling frightened in
certain circumstances, such as when watching scary movies or visiting haunted attractions. The researcher recruited several
participants and had them walk through a local haunted house attraction. Immediately after exiting the attraction, each
participant completed a survey about their experience. Based on the survey responses, the researcher claims that feeling
frightened in controlled situations can boost a person’s mood and confidence.
Which quotation from a participant would best illustrate the researcher’s claim?
A. “After I came out of the haunted house, I felt very accomplished and less stressed.”
B. “My friends kept laughing as we were walking through the haunted house.”
C. “The haunted house was scary at first, but I knew everyone was just acting, so I felt less scared after a few minutes.”
D. “The sense of relief I felt at the end of the haunted house was similar to the feelings I have when I finish a scary movie.”
Question ID da352ae3
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: da352ae3
“The Rock and the Sea” is an 1893 poem by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In the poem, a rock is portrayed as intending to
confront and restrain the sea: ______
Which quotation from “The Rock and the Sea” most effectively illustrates the claim?
“I am the Rock. Black midnight falls; / The terrible breakers rise like walls; / With curling lips and gleaming teeth / They
A. plunge and tear at my bones beneath.”
“I am the Sea. I hold the land / As one holds an apple in his hand, / Hold it fast with sleepless eyes, / Watching the
B. continents sink and rise.”
“I am the Rock, presumptuous Sea! / I am set to encounter thee. / Angry and loud or gentle and still, / I am set here to
C. limit thy power, and I will!”
“I am the Sea. The earth I sway; / Granite to me is potter’s clay; / Under the touch of my careless waves / It rises in turrets
D. and sinks in caves.”
Question ID ae97fe96
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: ae97fe96
Daily Distance Traveled by Adult Mountain Lions in Three Seasons
Season Kilometers per day traveled by adult females Kilometers per day traveled by adult males
cold-dry 9.28 15.81
monsoon 12.64 18.93
hot-dry 12.48 18.87
Wildlife researcher Dana L. Karelus and her colleagues tracked the movements of female and male adult mountain lions over
three seasons: the cold-dry season, the hot-dry season, and the monsoon season. They found that the least amount of travel
per day occurred in ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
A. the cold-dry season for both females and males.
B. the cold-dry season for females and the hot-dry season for males.
C. the hot-dry season for females and the monsoon season for males.
D. the monsoon season for both females and males.
Question ID b89ac4d6
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: b89ac4d6
O Pioneers! is a 1913 novel by Willa Cather. In the novel, Cather portrays Alexandra Bergson as having a deep emotional
connection to her natural surroundings: ______
Which quotation from O Pioneers! most effectively illustrates the claim?
“She had never known before how much the country meant to her. The chirping of the insects down in the long grass had
been like the sweetest music. She had felt as if her heart were hiding down there, somewhere, with the quail and the
plover and all the little wild things that crooned or buzzed in the sun. Under the long shaggy ridges, she felt the future
A. stirring.”
“Alexandra talked to the men about their crops and to the women about their poultry. She spent a whole day with one
young farmer who had been away at school, and who was experimenting with a new kind of clover hay. She learned a
B. great deal.”
“Alexandra drove off alone. The rattle of her wagon was lost in the howling of the wind, but her lantern, held firmly
C. between her feet, made a moving point of light along the highway, going deeper and deeper into the dark country.”
“It was Alexandra who read the papers and followed the markets, and who learned by the mistakes of their neighbors. It
was Alexandra who could always tell about what it had cost to fatten each steer, and who could guess the weight of a
D. hog before it went on the scales closer than John Bergson [her father] himself.”
Question ID 082499f7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 082499f7
Hip-hop pedagogy is a form of teaching that’s gaining popularity across school subjects. It involves incorporating hip-hop
and rap music into lessons as well as using hip-hop elements when teaching other subject matters. For example, Quan
Neloms’s students look for college-level vocabulary and historical events in rap songs. Researchers claim that in addition to
developing students’ social justice awareness, hip-hop pedagogy encourages student success by raising students’ interest
and engagement.
Which finding, if true, would most strongly support the underlined claim?
A. Students tend to be more enthusiastic about rap music than they are about hip-hop music.
Students who are highly interested in social justice issues typically don’t sign up for courses that incorporate hip-hop and
B. rap music.
Educators report that they enjoy teaching courses that involve hip-hop and rap music more than teaching courses that
C. don’t.
Courses that incorporate hip-hop and rap music are among the courses with the highest enrollment and attendance
D. rates.
Question ID 02cf994d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 02cf994d
Copper Production for
Three States, 1889-1909
400
Yearly copper production
(in millions of pounds)
300
200
100
0
1889 1902 1909
Year
Montana
Arizona
Michigan
Copper had been mined in the US for thousands of years, but large-scale commercial mining of copper took off starting in
the late 1800s. This was due to several factors. Technological advancements in the mining industry led to improvements in
the production of copper. This helped the country keep up with the growing number of people wanting to buy copper starting
in the 1890s. At the same time, the growth of the railroad system made the transportation of copper in large batches much
easier. Several states saw rapid growth in the production of this resource, for example: ______
Which choice most effectively uses the data in the graph to complete the example?
A. The rise in copper production in Michigan slowed from 1902 to 1909.
B. Montana and Arizona produced more copper than Michigan did in 1909.
C. Fewer than 100 million pounds of copper were produced in Arizona in 1889.
D. Copper production rose significantly from 1889 to 1909 for Arizona, Michigan, and Montana.
Question ID 06474146
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 06474146
As a monthly newsletter formed in 1969 by a group of Asian American students at the University of California, Los Angeles,
Gidra helped raise awareness about social and political issues concerning the Asian American community on campus and at
large. The newsletter had an expansive reach for a publication of its kind: around 4,000 copies were published each month. A
student writing a history paper, however, hypothesizes that Gidra’s influence cannot be measured by the number of
newsletters published monthly alone.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support the student’s hypothesis?
A. The students who initially formed Gidra each contributed financially to its creation.
B. In addition to covering current events, Gidra also featured works of art and literature.
C. Gidra was initially based out of the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA.
D. People would often give their copies of Gidra to others once they had finished reading an issue.
Question ID 3ff0e066
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 3ff0e066
Sample of Food Items from Gemini Mission
Menus
Food item Day Meal
Sugar cookie cubes 1 B
Chicken and vegetables 2 B
Shrimp cocktail 4 C
Hot cocoa 3 A
To make sure they got the nutrition they needed while in space, the astronauts of NASA’s Gemini missions were given menus
for three meals a day (meals A, B, and C) on a four-day rotating schedule. Looking at the sample of food items from these
menus, a student notes that on day 1, the menu included ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
A. shrimp cocktail for meal B.
B. hot cocoa for meal C.
C. sugar cookie cubes for meal B.
D. chicken and vegetables for meal A.
Question ID 30f008d6
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 30f008d6
Some residents in a neighborhood in Atlanta recently founded a community garden inside a local park. The residents agreed
to volunteer to take care of the garden together. Students at a local high school surveyed some of the volunteers as part of a
project to understand the impact of the new garden. The students concluded that the new garden benefited the community
overall by fostering connections and relationships between the volunteers and other residents of the neighborhood who
weren’t volunteering at the garden.
Which quotation from a survey respondent would best illustrate the students’ conclusion?
“Our first challenge was deciding what plants would be most suitable to the climate and soil here in Atlanta. We needed
A. plants that could survive the hot and humid summers.”
“We’re lucky to have a few expert gardeners living in the neighborhood. Some volunteers and I have gone to them a few
B. times with questions, and they’ve been eager to help us and to learn more about the project.”
C. “I love getting the opportunity to be outside and around nature, especially on days when the weather is nice.”
“My favorite thing about the garden is the feeling of pride I get when I walk by each day. As I see the plants growing, I feel
D. good knowing I had a small part in creating this beautiful space in the neighborhood.”
Question ID a3e5b6f4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: a3e5b6f4
American fashion designer Patrick Kelly was known for his love of colorful buttons. Many of his signature dresses feature
bold assortments of buttons throughout the garment. In a paper, a fashion design student claims that Kelly’s use of buttons
as decoration was inspired by his childhood observations of the styles and actions of the women in his family.
Which quotation from a work by a historian would be the most effective evidence for the student to include in support of this
claim?
“Although some of the assortments of buttons appear to be mismatched pieces scattered randomly throughout Kelly’s
A. dresses, his most famous designs feature carefully crafted patterns of matching buttons.”
“Many of Kelly’s contemporaries were inspired by his designs to incorporate buttons, as well as zippers and snaps, as
B. decorative items in their work.”
“Kelly’s grandmother, who would repair clothing when he was a child, frequently added mismatched buttons to the
C. clothes to draw attention away from any flaws in the garments.”
“Kelly was destined to be a designer from a young age: he learned how to sew clothing from his aunt Bertha, and his love
D. of drawing was developed by his mother.”
Question ID 27ac4b9e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 27ac4b9e
Moons of Dwarf Planets
Dwarf planet name Number of moons Name of moons
Haumea 2 Hi‘iaka, Namaka
Ceres 0 N/A
Makemake 1 MK 2
Eris 1 Dysnomia
Pluto 5 Charon, Nix, Kerberos, Styx, Hydra
Like Earth, some dwarf planets in the solar system have exactly one moon. Two examples of such dwarf planets are ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
A. Eris and Makemake.
B. Haumea and Eris.
C. Pluto and Haumea.
D. Makemake and Ceres.
Question ID 2b35020e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 2b35020e
Percent of Residents of City Areas in Favor of Adding More Bike Paths
City Area Percent of area’s residents in favor of adding more bike paths
North East 12%
North Central 26%
North West 46%
South West 88%
South Central 33%
A city’s Parks and Recreation department is interested in providing residents with more opportunities for bicycling in their
neighborhoods. They’re considering adding more bike paths and conducted a survey to understand where demand for more
bike paths is highest. The survey indicated the highest level of demand, with 88 percent of the residents interested in adding
more bike paths, is in the city’s ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
A. South West area.
B. South Central area.
C. North East area.
D. North Central area.
Question ID d290f258
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: d290f258
Time Participants Spent Reading about Five London Museums
Percentage of total time spent reading Percentage of total time spent reading
about museum by participants about museum by participants not
Museum Name Ranking provided with ranking provided with ranking
British
1 36 18
Museum
National
2 21 20
Gallery
Tate Modern 4 16 17
Victoria and
Albert 5 14 23
Museum
Natural History
3 13 22
Museum
Researchers recently conducted an experiment to understand how we use rankings to make decisions. They created a
fictitious travel website describing five museums in London. Then, they invited two groups of participants, who had never
visited the museums, to review the site and select the museum they would be most likely to visit. Meanwhile, the researchers
tracked the amount of time each participant spent reading about each museum. For one group, the website ranked each
museum, titling the page “The Top 5 Museums in London.” For the other group, the museums and their descriptions were not
ranked. The researchers concluded that when reviewing ranked lists, we tend to focus on the top-ranked option.
Which choice best describes data in the table that support the researchers’ conclusion?
Participants who were not provided with a ranking of the museums spent roughly equal amounts of time reading about
A. each museum.
Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent disproportionately more time reading about the
B. British museum.
Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent the least amount of time reading about the Natural
C. History Museum.
Participants who were not provided with a ranking of the museums spent the most time reading about the Victoria and
D. Albert Museum.
Question ID c2b2d9d5
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: c2b2d9d5
Many scientists have believed that giraffes are solitary creatures, preferring to spend their time alone instead of with others.
But observations of giraffes and their behavior in recent years has suggested that these animals may be more social than we
once thought. For example, scientists Zoe Muller and Stephen Harris claim that giraffes may even help each other care for
one another’s newborns.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support Muller and Harris’s conclusion?
A. Female giraffes have been observed feeding young giraffes that aren’t their direct offspring.
B. Confrontations between a younger and an older male giraffe are frequently observed.
C. Some female giraffes have been observed sniffing and licking their newborn offspring.
D. Giraffes are able to make sounds but are rarely observed communicating with others.
Question ID 0314d374
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 0314d374
“Valia” is a 1907 short story by Leonid Andreyev. In the story, the author emphasizes that the setting where the character
Valia is reading is nearly silent: ______
Which quotation from “Valia” most effectively illustrates the claim?
“The hand in which he carried his book was getting stiff with cold, but he would not ask his mother to take the book from
A. him.”
B. “Valia was reading a huge, very huge book, almost half as large as himself.”
C. “Valia approached the window and examined the toys.”
D. “Everything in the room was quiet, so quiet that the only thing to be heard was the rustling of the pages he turned.”
Question ID 14335416
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 14335416
Number of Young Fish Collected at
Mangrove Sites in the Egyptian Red Sea
During Three Seasons of 2010
Number of individual young fish
40
30
20
10
0
er ing ll
int r Fa
W Sp
Season
Common silver-biddy
Red Sea goatfish
Milkfish
Mangroves are trees or bushes that grow on the coastlines of seas and rivers. Areas with mangroves are great places for
young fish since they help keep these fish fed and protected while they grow. To study the importance of mangroves to
young fish, researchers Mohamed A.Abu El-Regal and Nesreen K. Ibrahim collected and identified young fish from three
different mangrove sites in the Egyptian Red Sea. They collected fish in the winter, spring, and autumn of 2010, collecting a
total of 269 fish from 21 different species. For some species, more fish were collected in the winter than the other two
seasons, for instance: ______
Which choice most effectively uses the data in the graph to complete the example?
A. more common silver-biddy and milkfish were collected in the winter than in either of the other two seasons.
B. the common silver-biddy was collected more frequently than the other two species in all three seasons.
C. in the spring, researchers collected more Red Sea goldfish than they collected from the other two species.
D. in the fall, researchers collected 10 common silver-biddy but collected no milkfish or Red Sea goatfish.
Question ID 3deee75e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 3deee75e
Deformation Rate of Five Volcanoes
3.5
(centimeters per month)
3.0
Deformation rate
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0
edo aule dina aya egra
Al
c M nan Pac N
r ra
Fe er
Si
volcano
When magma moves underneath a volcano, it causes the surface of the volcano to change. This is known as deformation.
Researchers recently calculated the amount of deformation occurring each month for five volcanoes in Latin America.
Although Sierra Negra experienced a lot of deformation, its deformation rate was still lower than that of ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the statement?
A. Alcedo.
B. Pacaya.
C. Fernandina.
D. Maule.
Question ID 0e1418a8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
PSAT/NMSQT & Reading and Writing Information and Command of
PSAT 10 Ideas Evidence
ID: 0e1418a8
Investigative Articles
Published in the Albuquerque Journal
from 2010 to 2019
1,750
1,500
Number of articles
1,250
1,000
750
500
250
0
010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Total
Investigative journalists research and report about fraud, corruption, public hazards, and more. The graph shows the number
of investigative articles published in the Albuquerque Journal newspaper from 2010 to 2019. According to an analyst,
although the number of investigative articles published in this newspaper has varied significantly over the period shown, the
number overall has fallen since 2010.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to justify the underlined claim?
A. The newspaper published approximately 1,000 investigative articles in 2010 and approximately 500 in 2019.
The smallest annual number of investigative articles published in the newspaper during the period shown is
B. approximately 1,600 in 2013.
The greatest annual number of investigative articles published in the newspaper during the period shown is
C. approximately 1,000 in 2017.
D. The newspaper published approximately 1,000 investigative articles in 2010 and approximately 1,600 in 2013.
