Exam Code: PSAT
Exam Questions: 1265
Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test: Math, Reading
Updated: 04 Sep, 2026
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Question 1

"The Cell Cycle" by Joseph Ritchie (2014) The process by which cells divide and multiply is known as the cell cycle. This cycle consists of two main phases: interphase and mitosis. Each phase consists of a series of clearly defined and observable steps. At the conclusion of the cycle, each parent cell produces two genetically identical daughter cells that may also replicate by proceeding through the cell cycle. Roughly ninety percent of the cell cycle is spent in interphase. Interphase is comprised of three main steps: the first gap phase, the synthesis phase (also called "S phase"), and the second gap phase. The initial gap phase is a period of cellular preparation in which the cell increases in size and readies itself for DNA synthesis. In the synthesis phase, or S phase, DNA replication occurs, so that when the cell divides, each daughter cell will have the DNA necessary to function properly. In the second gap phase, the cell grows in size and prepares for cellular division in the mitotic phase. At the end of each gap phase, the cell has to pass a regulatory checkpoint to ensure that nothing is going wrong. If anything has gone wrong, the checkpoints stop the cell from proceeding through the cell cycle any further. The next part of the cell cycle is mitosis. Mitosis is a form of cell division and is broken down into five distinct phases. During prophase, the genetic material contained in the cell’s chromatin condenses into distinct chromosomes. Prometaphase is marked by the breakdown of the cell’s nuclear envelope and the formation of centrosomes at the poles of the cell. During metaphase, the cell’s chromosomes are moved to the center of the cell. A checkpoint ensures that the chromosomes are properly aligned on the center and halts the cell cycle if any errors have occurred. In anaphase, chromosomes break apart at their center, or centromere, and sister chromatids move to opposite ends of the cell. Lastly, telophase and cytokinesis occur as nuclear membranes form to physically divide the cell into two new daughter cells. Chromosomes also unwind into loose chromatin during this part of mitosis. Cytokinesis is defined as the division of the each cell’s cytoplasm and organelles. At the conclusion of the cell cycle, two genetically identical daughter cells have formed. The cell cycle operates by a series of checkpoints and external cues. This system of checks enables the cell to enter a state of dormancy known as the gap zero phase when conditions or other factors inhibit the cell cycle. Conversely, unregulated and uncontrolled cellular division can occur under certain circumstances. A cell in a state of uncontrolled division is known to be cancerous. Lastly, cells have the ability to mediate their own death by way of apoptosis if certain genetic or physical abnormalities exist. The cell cycle is a complex process that enables cells to replicate and proliferate under a stringent set of checks and balances that produce healthy and viable daughter cells that are each able to perform the process in the future. When will a cell enter the gap zero phase?

Options :
Answer: A

Question 2

Adapted from An Account of the Remarkable Occurrences in the Life and Travels of Col. James Smith, (Late a Citizen of Bourbon County, Kentucky,) during his Captivity with the Indians, in the Years 1755, '56, '57, '58, & '59 by James Smith (1799; ed. Glugg & Eliott, 1834) After the departure of these warriors we had hard times; and though we were not altogether out of provisions, we were brought to short allowance. At length Tontileaugo had considerable success, and we had meat brought into camp sufficient to last ten days. Tontileaugo then took me with him in order to encamp some distance from this winter-cabin, to try his luck there. We carried no provisions with us; he said he would leave what was there for the women and children, and that we could shift for ourselves. We steered about a south course up the waters of this creek, and encamped about ten or twelve miles from the winter-cabin. As it was still cold weather, and a crust upon the snow, which made a noise as we walked, and alarmed the deer, we could kill nothing, and consequently went to sleep without supper. The only chance we had, under these circumstances, was to hunt bear-holes; as the bears, about Christmas, search out a winter lodging-place, where they lie about three or four months without eating or drinking. This may appear to some incredible, but it is well known to be the case by those who live in the remote western parts of North America. The next morning early we proceeded on, and when we found a tree scratched by the bears climbing up, and the hole in the tree sufficiently large for the reception of the bear, we then felled a sapling or small tree against or near the hole, and it was my business to climb up and drive out the bear, while Tontileaugo stood ready with his gun and bow. We went on in this manner until evening without success. At length we found a large elm scratched, and a hole in it about forty feet up, but no tree nigh suitable to lodge against the hole. Tontileaugo got a long pole and some dry rotten wood, which he tied in bunches with bark; and as there was a tree that grew near the elm, and extended up near the hole, but leaned the wrong way, so that we could not lodge it to advantage, to remedy this inconvenience he climbed up this tree and carried with him his rotten wood, fire, and pole. The rotten wood he tied to his belt, and to one end of the pole he tied a hook and a piece of rotten wood, which he set fire to, as it would retain fire almost like punk, and reached this hook from limb to limb as he went up. When he got up with his pole he put dry wood on fire into the hole; after he put in the fire he heard the bear snuff, and he came speedily down, took his gun in his hand, and waited until the bear would come out; when it did appear he attempted taking sight with his rifle; but it being then too dark to see the sights, he set it down by a tree, and instantly bent his bow, took hold of an arrow, and shot the bear a little behind the shoulder. I was preparing also to shoot an arrow, but he called to me to stop, there was no occasion; and with that the bear fell to the ground. Being very hungry, we kindled a fire, opened the bear, took out the liver, and wrapped some of the caul-fat round, and put it on a wooden spit, which we stuck in the ground by the fire to roast; then we skinned the bear, got on our kettle, and had both roast and boiled, and also sauce to our meat, which appeared to me to be delicate fare. After I was fully satisfied I went to sleep; Tontileaugo awoke me, saying, "Come, eat hearty, we have got meat plenty now." The next morning we cut down a lynn-tree, peeled bark and made a snug little shelter, facing the southeast, with a large log betwixt us and the northwest; we made a good fire before us, and scaffolded up our meat at one side. When we had finished our camp we went out to hunt; searched two trees for bears, but to no purpose. As the snow thawed a little in the afternoon, Tontileaugo killed a deer, which we carried with us to camp. Sometime in February the four warriors returned, who had taken two scalps and six horses from the frontiers of Pennsylvania. The hunters could then scatter out a considerable distance from the winter-cabin and encamp, kill meat, and bring it in upon horses; so that we commonly, after this, had plenty of provision. Which of the following statements about “punk” is supported by the passage's second paragraph?

Options :
Answer: A

Question 3

A hockey team won 6 games and lost 8. What is the ratio of wins to number of games? 

Options :
Answer: C

Question 4

A rectangle is x inches long and 3x inches wide. If the area of the rectangle is 108, what is the value of x? 

Options :
Answer: C

Question 5

The following two passages deal with the political movements working for the woman’s vote in America. Passage 1 The first organized assertion of woman’s rights in the United States was made at the Seneca Falls convention in 1848. The convention, though, had little immediate impact because of the national issues that would soon embroil the country. The contentious debates involving slavery and state’s rights that preceded the Civil War soon took center stage in national debates. Thus woman’s rights issues would have to wait until the war and its antecedent problems had been addressed before they would be addressed. In 1869, two organizations were formed that would play important roles in securing the woman’s right to vote. The first was the American Woman’s Suffrage Association (AWSA). Leaving federal and constitutional issues aside, the AWSA focused their attention on state-level politics. They also restricted their ambitions to securing the woman’s vote and downplayed discussion of women’s full equality. Taking a different track, the National Woman’s Suffrage Association (NWSA), led by Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, believed that the only way to assure the long-term security of the woman’s vote was to ground it in the constitution. The NWSA challenged the exclusion of woman from the Fifteenth Amendment, the amendment that extended the vote to African-American men. Furthermore, the NWSA linked the fight for suffrage with other inequalities faced by woman, such as marriage laws, which greatly disadvantaged women. By the late 1880s the differences that separated the two organizations had receded in importance as the women’s movement had become a substantial and broad-based political force in the country. In 1890, the two organizations joined forces under the title of the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The NAWSA would go on to play a vital role in the further fight to achieve the woman’s vote. Passage 2 In 1920, when Tennessee became the thirty-eighth state to approve the constitutional amendment securing the woman’s right to vote, woman’s suffrage became enshrined in the constitution. But woman’s suffrage did not happen in one fell swoop. The success of the woman’s suffrage movement was the story of a number of partial victories that led to the explicit endorsement of the woman’s right to vote in the constitution. As early as the 1870s and 1880s, women had begun to win the right to vote in local affairs such as municipal elections, school board elections, or prohibition measures. These “partial suffrages” demonstrated that women could in fact responsibly and reasonably participate in a representative democracy (at least as voters). Once such successes were achieved and maintained over a period of time, restricting the full voting rights of woman became more and more suspect. If women were helping decide who was on the local school board, why should they not also have a voice in deciding who was president of the country? Such questions became more difficult for non-suffragists to answer, and thus the logic of restricting the woman’s vote began to crumble Which of the following does the first passage say was the first organized push for woman’s suffrage?

Options :
Answer: C

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