Refer to Passage 1. The final sentence of the passage mainly serves to

correct a mistaken conclusion readers might draw about what soreness indicates.

warn readers that unfamiliar exercise can cause lasting muscle damage.

summarize the evidence against the lactic acid theory.

argue that an effective workout should never produce soreness.

Read the excerpt. The city's new light-rail line runs fourteen miles from the airport to the downtown convention center. Trains stop at each station every twelve minutes during peak hours. The line is a far better use of public money than the highway expansion that was proposed alongside it. Ridership during the first month exceeded the transit authority's projections. Which sentence expresses an opinion rather than a fact?

"The line is a far better use of public money than the highway expansion that was proposed alongside it."

"The city's new light-rail line runs fourteen miles from the airport to the downtown convention center."

"Trains stop at each station every twelve minutes during peak hours."

"Ridership during the first month exceeded the transit authority's projections."

Refer to Essay 2. Which revision of sentence 9 best maintains the formal tone of the essay?

This imbalance is especially harmful because residents who can least afford air conditioning often live on the hottest streets.

This is super unfair, since the folks who can least afford air conditioning get stuck with the hottest streets.

This is way unfair because people who can't swing air conditioning end up with the hottest streets.

This is pretty messed up because residents who can least afford air conditioning are stuck with the hottest streets.

Refer to Passage 1. The planetarium experiments described in paragraph 2 are mentioned primarily to

provide evidence that night-migrating birds use the stars to orient themselves.

show that birds raised in captivity cannot migrate successfully.

suggest that birds rely on an internal clock rather than on the sky.

demonstrate that birds detect true north by sensing magnetism.

Read the two sentences. The city installed protected bike lanes along several of its busiest avenues. Within a year, bicycle traffic on those avenues had more than doubled, while the number of cycling injuries there had fallen. What does the second sentence do in relation to the first?

It describes an outcome that followed the action described in the first.

It contradicts the claim made in the first.

It gives an example of the idea stated in the first.

It proposes a solution to a problem described in the first.

Choose the best replacement for the underlined portion of the sentence.Because the museum's climate-control system failed, curators moved the oldest manuscripts to a temporary vault.

Because the museum's climate-control system failed, curators

Because the museum's climate-control system failed. Curators

The museum's climate-control system failed, curators

Because the museum's climate-control system failed, and curators

PERT

Free PERT Practice Questions

10 sample questions for the PERT, 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: Mathematics, Rationalnumbersandpercents, Ratiosandproportions, Linearequationsandinequalities, Systemsofequations, Polynomials, Quadratics, Reading, Informationaltext, Socialsciencepassage, Literarytext, Persuasivetext, Sentencerelationships, Wordsincontext, Writing, Verbtenseandpronouncase, Sentencestructure, Modifiers, Punctuation, Usageandwordchoice, Transitions.

Question 1 · Mathematics
What is the value of −3² + 4(5 − 8)² ÷ 6 − (−2)³ ?
- A.−11
- B.5
- C.23
- D.3
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. 5
The exponent applies before the negation, so −3² = −9. Next, (5 − 8)² = 9, and 4 · 9 ÷ 6 = 6. Finally, −(−2)³ = −(−8) = 8. The total is −9 + 6 + 8 = 5. Treating −3² as (−3)² = 9 gives the trap answer 23.
Question 2 · Mathematics
The graph of 4x − 5y = 20 has x-intercept (a, 0) and y- intercept (0, b). What is the value of a + b?
- A.9
- B.−1
- C.−9
- D.1
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. 1
For the x-intercept, set y = 0: 4x = 20, so a = 5. For the y-intercept, set x = 0: −5y = 20, so b = −4. Then a + b = 5 + (−4) = 1. Dropping the negative sign on the y-intercept gives the trap answer 9.
Question 3 · Informationaltext
Refer to Passage 1. The final sentence of the passage mainly serves to
- A.warn readers that unfamiliar exercise can cause lasting muscle damage.
- B.correct a mistaken conclusion readers might draw about what soreness indicates.
- C.summarize the evidence against the lactic acid theory.
- D.argue that an effective workout should never produce soreness.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. correct a mistaken conclusion readers might draw about what soreness indicates.
The final sentence tells readers that soreness reflects unfamiliarity rather than effectiveness, correcting the common assumption that a sore workout was a productive one. It does not argue that effective workouts never cause soreness; that extreme wording goes beyond the sentence. The sentence says nothing about lasting damage, and the evidence against lactic acid was presented earlier, not summarized here.
Question 4 · Reading
Read the excerpt. The city's new light-rail line runs fourteen miles from the airport to the downtown convention center. Trains stop at each station every twelve minutes during peak hours. The line is a far better use of public money than the highway expansion that was proposed alongside it. Ridership during the first month exceeded the transit authority's projections. Which sentence expresses an opinion rather than a fact?
- A."The city's new light-rail line runs fourteen miles from the airport to the downtown convention center."
- B."Trains stop at each station every twelve minutes during peak hours."
- C."The line is a far better use of public money than the highway expansion that was proposed alongside it."
- D."Ridership during the first month exceeded the transit authority's projections."
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. "The line is a far better use of public money than the highway expansion that was proposed alongside it."
Calling the rail line "a far better use of public money" is a value judgment that people could reasonably dispute, so it is an opinion. The ridership sentence sounds evaluative, but whether ridership exceeded projections can be checked against records, which makes it a fact. The route length and train frequency are likewise verifiable.
Question 5 · Sentencestructure
Choose the best replacement for the underlined portion of the sentence. The training program teaches new employees how to greet customers, process returns, and the handling of complaints.
- A.the handling of complaints
- B.handling complaints
- C.complaints being handled
- D.handle complaints
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. handle complaints
Items in a series must share the same grammatical form. The first two items are base verbs following "how to" ("greet," "process"), so the third must be "handle complaints." The noun phrase, the gerund "handling," and "complaints being handled" all break the parallel structure.
Question 6 · Writing
Refer to Essay 2. Which revision of sentence 9 best maintains the formal tone of the essay?
- A.This is super unfair, since the folks who can least afford air conditioning get stuck with the hottest streets.
- B.This is way unfair because people who can't swing air conditioning end up with the hottest streets.
- C.This is pretty messed up because residents who can least afford air conditioning are stuck with the hottest streets.
- D.This imbalance is especially harmful because residents who can least afford air conditioning often live on the hottest streets.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. This imbalance is especially harmful because residents who can least afford air conditioning often live on the hottest streets.
This revision replaces slang with precise, objective language ("imbalance," "especially harmful," "residents") and states the point clearly. The other versions keep informal wording such as "super unfair," "folks," "way unfair," "can't swing," and "pretty messed up," which clashes with the essay's academic tone.
Question 7 · Linearequationsandinequalities
What is the solution set of 7 − (3/4)x ≤ (1/2)x + 12?
- A.x ≤ −4
- B.x ≥ −4
- C.x ≥ 4
- D.x ≤ −8
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. x ≥ −4
Multiply every term by 4: 28 − 3x ≤ 2x + 48. Subtract 2x and 28: −5x ≤ 20. Dividing by −5 reverses the inequality: x ≥ −4. Keeping the original direction after dividing by a negative gives x ≤ −4.
Question 8 · Informationaltext
Refer to Passage 1. The planetarium experiments described in paragraph 2 are mentioned primarily to
- A.provide evidence that night-migrating birds use the stars to orient themselves.
- B.show that birds raised in captivity cannot migrate successfully.
- C.suggest that birds rely on an internal clock rather than on the sky.
- D.demonstrate that birds detect true north by sensing magnetism.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. provide evidence that night-migrating birds use the stars to orient themselves.
The experiments follow the statement that night migrants "appear to read the stars," and the birds' orienting by the rotation point of an artificial sky supports that claim. The internal clock is mentioned in connection with day migrants and the sun, not the planetarium. The birds followed the artificial sky even when it pointed away from true north, which argues against the magnetism reading, and nothing is said about captive birds failing to migrate.
Question 9 · Sentencerelationships
Read the two sentences. The city installed protected bike lanes along several of its busiest avenues. Within a year, bicycle traffic on those avenues had more than doubled, while the number of cycling injuries there had fallen. What does the second sentence do in relation to the first?
- A.It contradicts the claim made in the first.
- B.It gives an example of the idea stated in the first.
- C.It proposes a solution to a problem described in the first.
- D.It describes an outcome that followed the action described in the first.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. It describes an outcome that followed the action described in the first.
The first sentence reports an action—installing bike lanes—and the second reports what happened afterward on those same avenues. The second sentence is not an example of installing bike lanes but a consequence of it. The first sentence states no problem, so the second cannot be a solution, and nothing is contradicted.
Question 10 · Sentencestructure
Choose the best replacement for the underlined portion of the sentence.Because the museum's climate-control system failed, curators moved the oldest manuscripts to a temporary vault.
- A.Because the museum's climate-control system failed, curators
- B.Because the museum's climate-control system failed. Curators
- C.The museum's climate-control system failed, curators
- D.Because the museum's climate-control system failed, and curators
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Because the museum's climate-control system failed, curators
As written, the dependent clause beginning with "Because" is correctly joined to the main clause with a comma. Placing a period after "failed" leaves the "Because" clause as a fragment, removing "Because" creates a comma splice, and adding "and" leaves the sentence with no independent clause that the "Because" clause can attach to.

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