Which choice best describes what happens in the passage?

A young man weighs a promise made to a friend against a duty to an innocent man and reaches a decision.

A young man discovers that a trusted friend has deceived him and resolves to end their friendship.

A young man tries to hide an error in his employer's accounts and is tempted to blame an older servant.

A young man investigates a theft from his employer and gradually uncovers the identity of the thief.

Which choice best states the central claim of the passage?

Liberty is best secured by keeping representatives dependent on the people and by dividing the powers of government.

A government should be kept as weak as possible so that it can never threaten the liberties of the people.

Rulers of good character make constitutional limits on their power largely unnecessary.

Citizens should decide public questions in person rather than through elected deputies.

Which choice best replaces the underlined portion?

Working without power tools, masons cut the stones by hand

Working without power tools, by hand the stones were cut by masons

Working without power tools, the cutting of the stones was done by hand

The central conflict of the scene is best described as

a son torn between his estate's debts and a duty his father laid on his conscience

a family's attempt to recover rents that the tenants have deliberately refused to pay

a quarrel between a brother and sister over how their father's estate ought to be divided between them

a lawyer's effort to persuade two heirs that their father's will should be challenged in court

The passage as a whole is primarily concerned with

how measurement and observation overturned an accepted theory, and what that teaches

showing that the ancient physicians reasoned carelessly about the body

how the heart warms the blood and mixes it with a vital spirit

proving that the microscope alone was enough to establish the circulation of the blood

Which choice most effectively combines the sentences at the underlined portion?

mercury, and this mercury was what allowed

Which choice best replaces the underlined portion?

estimated the circumference of the earth

estimated the circumference, of the earth

estimated, the circumference, of the earth

Classic Learning Test

Free Classic Learning Practice Questions

10 sample questions for the Classic Learning Test, with the correct answer and an explanation for each. No account needed. Try each one before you open the answer.

Sections covered on the exam: Verbal Reasoning, Grammar/Writing, Quantitative Reasoning.

Question 1 · Verbal Reasoning
Which choice best describes what happens in the passage?
- A.A young man discovers that a trusted friend has deceived him and resolves to end their friendship.
- B.A young man tries to hide an error in his employer's accounts and is tempted to blame an older servant.
- C.A young man weighs a promise made to a friend against a duty to an innocent man and reaches a decision.
- D.A young man investigates a theft from his employer and gradually uncovers the identity of the thief.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. A young man weighs a promise made to a friend against a duty to an innocent man and reaches a decision.
Edmund already knows the thief when the passage opens; the whole passage traces his struggle between his promise to Will and the injustice to Simms, ending with his resolve in paragraph 7. The choice about investigating a theft is tempting but wrong, because Edmund saw Will at the cash-box before the passage begins and uncovers nothing new.
Question 2 · Quantitative Reasoning
Which choice best states the central claim of the passage?
- A.A government should be kept as weak as possible so that it can never threaten the liberties of the people.
- B.Rulers of good character make constitutional limits on their power largely unnecessary.
- C.Citizens should decide public questions in person rather than through elected deputies.
- D.Liberty is best secured by keeping representatives dependent on the people and by dividing the powers of government.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Liberty is best secured by keeping representatives dependent on the people and by dividing the powers of government.
The author names representation as "the first security" (paragraph 3) and the division of powers as "the remedy" (paragraph 5). The choice about keeping government as weak as possible ignores paragraph 6, which insists government must be strong enough to protect the people.
Question 3 · Grammar/Writing
Which choice best replaces the underlined portion?
- A.NO CHANGE
- B.Working without power tools, by hand the stones were cut by masons
- C.Working without power tools, the cutting of the stones was done by hand
- D.Working without power tools, masons cut the stones by hand
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Working without power tools, masons cut the stones by hand
The opening phrase "Working without power tools" must be followed by the people who were working, so "masons" must be the subject. The original and the other choices make "the stones" or "the cutting" the subject, as if the stones themselves were working.
Question 4 · Grammar/Writing
Which choice best replaces the underlined portion?
- A.NO CHANGE
- B.guests's
- C.guests
- D.guest's
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. NO CHANGE
The remains belong to many guests (the roof crushed "the guests," and Simonides recalled where "each person" sat), so the plural possessive "guests'" is correct. "Guests" lacks the needed possessive, "guest's" refers to only one guest, and "guests's" is not a standard form.
Question 5 · Quantitative Reasoning
Figure
In the figure, line ℓ is parallel to line m. Point A is on line ℓ, and points B and C are on line m. What is the value of x ? Note: Figure not drawn to scale.
- A.62
- B.110
- C.22
- D.48
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. 62
Angle ABC and the 48° angle are alternate interior angles between the parallel lines, so angle ABC = 48°. The angles of triangle ABC add to 180°, so x = 180 − 48 − 70 = 62. Choosing 48 confuses x with the angle outside the triangle.
Question 6 · Verbal Reasoning
The central conflict of the scene is best described as
- A.a family's attempt to recover rents that the tenants have deliberately refused to pay
- B.a quarrel between a brother and sister over how their father's estate ought to be divided between them
- C.a son torn between his estate's debts and a duty his father laid on his conscience
- D.a lawyer's effort to persuade two heirs that their father's will should be challenged in court
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. a son torn between his estate's debts and a duty his father laid on his conscience
Robert must weigh the debts and mortgage of the estate against his father's unbinding request to forgive the tenants' arrears. The division-of-the-estate choice is tempting because the siblings argue, but Pell states that Helen is already provided for, so the estate itself is not in dispute.
Question 7 · Verbal Reasoning
The passage as a whole is primarily concerned with
- A.showing that the ancient physicians reasoned carelessly about the body
- B.how the heart warms the blood and mixes it with a vital spirit
- C.how measurement and observation overturned an accepted theory, and what that teaches
- D.proving that the microscope alone was enough to establish the circulation of the blood
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. how measurement and observation overturned an accepted theory, and what that teaches
The author traces the old doctrine, the calculation that refuted it, the supporting experiments, and the microscope's confirmation, then draws a lesson about method. The microscope confirmed only the last link, and the author says the ancients "reasoned well from what they could see."
Question 8 · Verbal Reasoning
Which choice most effectively combines the sentences at the underlined portion?
- A.mercury, which allowed
- B.mercury, being that it allowed
- C.mercury, it allowed
- D.mercury, and this mercury was what allowed
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. mercury, which allowed
A relative clause beginning with “which” lets “mercury” serve as the subject of the second idea without repeating the word, producing one smooth sentence. “Mercury, it allowed” joins two independent clauses with only a comma, the version with “this mercury was what” is wordy, and “being that” is an awkward, nonstandard connector.
Question 9 · Grammar/Writing
Which choice best replaces the underlined portion?
- A.NO CHANGE
- B.estimated the circumference of the earth
- C.estimated the circumference, of the earth
- D.estimated, the circumference, of the earth
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. estimated the circumference of the earth
No comma belongs between a verb and its object (“estimated the circumference”) or between a noun and the prepositional phrase that completes it (“circumference of the earth”). Each of the other choices places a comma at one or both of those points, breaking up a phrase that should be read as a unit.
Question 10 · Quantitative Reasoning
In triangle ABC, point D lies on side AB and point E lies on side AC so that segment DE is parallel to side BC. If AD = 6, DB = 4, and DE = 9, what is the length of BC?
- A.6
- B.13
- C.15
- D.13.5
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. 15
Because DE ∥ BC, triangle ADE is similar to triangle ABC with AB/AD = (6 + 4)/6 = 5/3. So BC = 9 × 5/3 = 15. Using DB instead of AB (9 × 6/4 = 13.5 or 9 × 4/6 = 6) compares the wrong segments; 13 just adds 4 to 9.

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