SAT Bellwork #4

The haiku-like poems of Tomas Tranströmer, which present nature- and dream-influenced images in crisp, spare language, have earned the Swedish poet praise from leading contemporary _____ them Nigerian American essayist and novelist Teju Cole, who has written that Tranströmer’s works “contain a luminous simplicity.” Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• writers. Among

• writers among

• writers; among

• writers, among

Mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz used the metaphor of the “butterfly effect” to explain how seemingly minor events can have major impacts on future weather. According to Lorenz’s metaphor, the wind from a butterfly flapping _____ in Brazil might eventually grow into a storm elsewhere across the globe. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• its wings

• its wings’

• it’s wing’s

• it’s wings’

Bonnie Buratti of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory _____ data about Saturn’s rings collected by the Cassini spacecraft when she made an interesting discovery: the tiny moons embedded between and within Saturn’s rings are shaped by the buildup of ring material on the moons’ surfaces. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• studies

• has been studying

• will study

• was studying

Roughly 300 nights a year, when the cold air descending from the Andes Mountains meets the warm air rising from Venezuela’s coastal Lake Maracaibo, the result is a spectacular lightning storm, its strikes so bright, so localized, and so _____ that it has become known as “Maracaibo’s Lighthouse.” Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• dependable:

• dependable;

• dependable

• dependable,

Jamaican British artist Willard Wigan is known for his remarkable _____ so small that they are best viewed through a microscope, Wigan’s sculptures are made from tiny natural materials, such as spiderweb strands. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• microsculptures creations

• microsculptures, creations

• microsculptures. Creations

• microsculptures and creations