ACT-TEST Sample Questions & Answers

A scientist is studying a species of arctic fox. Based on field observations, the scientist develops two competing hypotheses regarding the primary factor that triggers the fox's coat to change from brown in the summer to white in the winter.

Hypothesis 1: The change in coat color is primarily triggered by photoperiod (the length of daylight). As the days get shorter in autumn, the decrease in light exposure causes hormonal changes that lead to the growth of a white coat.

Hypothesis 2: The change in coat color is primarily triggered by ambient temperature. As the average daily temperature drops below a certain threshold, the cold stimulates the hormonal changes that lead to the growth of a white coat.

Which of the following experimental designs would be most effective at testing these two hypotheses?

Based on the passage, which TWO of the following statements about early maps are accurate? (Select TWO)

Passage: Early mapmaking was as much an art as it was a science. Ancient cartographers, lacking the satellite technology we have today, had to rely on traveler's tales, astronomical observations, and a significant amount of guesswork. Consequently, their maps were often beautifully illustrated with sea monsters and stylized continents, these additions filled the vast, unknown regions of the world. While inaccurate by modern standards, these maps represented the pinnacle of geographic knowledge for their time and were invaluable tools for trade and exploration.

The use of semicolons to join two independent clauses is a feature of formal academic writing.

Sentence: The experiment yielded promising results; however, more research is needed to confirm the findings.

A small business owner is analyzing her company's finances. In the first year, the company had a revenue of $80,000. For the next five years, the revenue increased by exactly 10% each year over the previous year. In the seventh year, a market downturn caused revenue to decrease by 20% from the sixth year's revenue. To the nearest dollar, what was the company's revenue in the seventh year?

A solution's acidity is measured by its pH on a scale of 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral. A pH less than 7 is acidic, and a pH greater than 7 is basic (alkaline). A student tests four unknown colorless liquids and records the data in the table below.

┌────────┬────────────────┬───────────────────┐
│ Liquid │ pH Measurement │ Reaction with Mg │
├────────┼────────────────┼───────────────────┤
│ 1 │ 2.5 │ Bubbles vigorously│
│ 2 │ 7.0 │ No reaction │
│ 3 │ 11.0 │ No reaction │
│ 4 │ 5.5 │ Bubbles slowly │
└────────┴────────────────┴───────────────────┘

Based on the table, which liquid is a strong base?

What is the slope of the line that passes through the points (-2, 5) and (4, -7) in the standard (x,y) coordinate plane?

The city council debated the new zoning proposal for over three hours, they couldn't reach a consensus.

Passage adapted from a 2018 article on urban studies.

The concept of the '15-minute city,' where residents can access all essential services—work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure—within a 15-minute walk or bike ride, has gained significant traction among urban planners. Proponents argue that this model reduces carbon emissions by decreasing reliance on automobiles, fosters stronger community bonds through increased local interaction, and improves public health by promoting active travel. It represents a fundamental shift from the 20th-century model of segregated zoning, which separated residential, commercial, and industrial areas, thereby necessitating vehicular travel between them. Critics, however, raise concerns about implementation. They point to the immense cost of retrofitting existing sprawling suburbs and the potential for such policies to exacerbate social inequity, creating well-serviced, desirable enclaves for the wealthy while leaving poorer neighborhoods with continued service deficits. The debate highlights a central tension in modern urban planning: how to create sustainable and livable cities without deepening existing social and economic divides.

According to the passage, a primary argument against the 15-minute city concept is that it might:

The expression (3x^2 + 5x - 2) is a polynomial. Which TWO of the following are factors of this polynomial? (Select TWO)

A student conducts an experiment to measure the rate of photosynthesis in an aquatic plant. The plant is submerged in a beaker of water containing a dissolved source of CO2. A light source is placed at varying distances from the beaker, and the number of oxygen bubbles produced by the plant per minute is counted. The data is shown below.

┌──────────────────┬────────────────────────┐
│ Distance of │ Bubbles of O2 Produced │
│ Light (cm) │ per Minute │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────┤
│ 10 │ 45 │
│ 20 │ 23 │
│ 30 │ 11 │
│ 40 │ 5 │
│ 50 │ 2 │
└──────────────────┴────────────────────────┘

True or False: Based on the data, as light intensity decreases, the rate of photosynthesis increases.