SAT Writing DIAG

Laetitia Ky's hair is her art. Inspired by hairstyles from various African tribes, the Ivorian artist uses wire and thread to sculpt her hair into all kinds of shapes. ______ she once made her hair into the shape of the continent of Africa—including the island of Madagascar! Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

• A. Soon

• B. Elsewhere

• C. For example

• D. However

Dr. Rocío Paola Caballero-Gill is a paleoceanographer. This means that Dr. Caballero-Gill doesn’t just study oceans as they are today. She uses chemistry and fossil evidence ______ oceans as they were in the past. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. has studied

• B. to study

• C. studied

• D. studies

The Alvarez theory, developed in 1980 by physicist Luis Walter Alvarez and his geologist son Walter Alvarez, maintained that the secondary effects of an asteroid impact caused many dinosaurs and other animals to die ________ it left unexplored the question of whether unrelated volcanic activity might have also contributed to the mass extinctions. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. out but

• B. out, but

• C. out

• D. out,

To discover which fruit varieties were grown in Italy's Umbria region before the introduction of industrial farming, botanist Isabella Dalla Ragione often turns to centuries-old lists of cooking ingredients. ______ she analyzes Renaissance paintings of Umbria, as they can provide accurate representations of fruits that were grown there long ago. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

• A. In sum,

• B. Instead,

• C. Thus,

• D. Additionally,

After winning the 1860 presidential election, Abraham Lincoln appointed Edward Bates, Salmon P. Chase, and William H. Seward to his cabinet. Lincoln’s decision was surprising, since each of these men had run against him, but historians have praised it, noting that Lincoln _____ his rivals' diverse talents to strengthen his administration. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. has leveraged

• B. is leveraging

• C. will leverage

• D. leveraged

In her analysis of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth (1905), scholar Candace Waid observes that the novel depicts the upper classes of New York society as "consumed by the appetite of a soulless ____," an apt assessment given that The House of Mirth is set during the Gilded Age, a period marked by rapid industrialization, economic greed, and widening wealth disparities. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. materialism"

• B. materialism" and

• C. materialism,"

• D. materialism"

The Sun and other stars are powered by nuclear fusion reactions, in which two atoms collide to form a single heavier atom, releasing energy. Scientists have long believed that fusion has the potential to meet humanity's clean energy needs. ______ prior to December 2022, no fusion reaction in a laboratory setting had ever generated a net energy gain. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

• For this reason

• Moreover

• Specifically

• That said

Joshua Hinson, director of the language revitalization program of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, helped produce the world's first Indigenous-language instructional app, Chickasaw _____ Chickasaw TV, in 2010; and a Rosetta Stone language course in Chickasaw, in 2015. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• Basic; in 2009, an online television network

• Basic; in 2009, an online television network,

• Basic, in 2009; an online television network,

• Basic, in 2009, an online television network,

A model created by biologist Luis Valente predicts that the rate of speciation—the rate at which new species form—on an isolated island located approximately 5,000 kilometers from the nearest mainland ____ triple the rate of speciation on an island only 500 kilometers from the mainland. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. being

• B. to be

• C. to have been

• D. will be