Wednesday, April 17, 2013

NEW ACT/SAT BLOG

Knowsys is launching a new website!  


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The new blog page should be easier to search and includes helpful links at the top of the page to other resources that can help you as you study for your tests.  The entire history of this blog has been moved to that page.

Please bookmark the new http://myknowsys.com/blog/ page so that you can keep returning for clear and logical explanations of ACT and SAT test questions!

ACT Reading

Link of the Day

Prepare for the SAT essay by becoming an expert on a few stories.  For most stories you want to know the 5Ws: who, what, where, when, and why.  Some current events are missing the "why," but that doesn't mean that you cannot use them.  Take a look at this article.  Scientists don't know why sea lion pups are struggling to survive.  Sometimes not having the full story can make a great support for your argument.

Suppose that you want to use this article to support the idea that people should take better care of the environment,  You could argue that we don't know how our wastefulness might affect the world until it is too late.

Suppose that you want to argue the opposite: environmentalists are creating more problems and overlooking more important issues. You could argue that people are throwing off the balance of nature and creating overpopulation by trying to rescue pups that would not survive on their own.

How could you use this article to support a position on the following SAT essay prompts?

Is the world changing for the better?  Can knowledge be a burden rather than a benefit?  Has today's abundance of information only made it more difficult to understand the world around us?

SAT Question of the Day

The SAT question of the day is a Sentence Completion Question that has already been addressed on this blog: click here to see an explanation.


ACT Question of the Day


The ACT question of the day is a Reading Question that has already been addressed on this blog: click here to see an explanation.


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For help with the SAT Vocabulary, check out our flashcards, flashcard apps, and iBook activities.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

ACT Math

SAT Question of the Day

The SAT question of the day is a Functions Question that has already been addressed on this blog: click here to see an explanation.


ACT Math Question of the Day

This math question tests your knowledge of the distance formula and scientific notation.

A particle travels 1 × 108 centimeters per second in a straight line for 4 × 10–6seconds. How many centimeters has it traveled?

This question asks you to find a distance.  The distance formula is rate × time = distance.  Plug in your rate (cm/sec) and your time (sec):

(1 × 108)(4 × 10–6) = distance

At this point you could try to count zeros or plug this into your calculator.  It is actually faster if you just think about the properties of multiplication.  Remember that it doesn’t matter which order you use when multiplying several numbers together.  If you want your answer to remain in scientific notation, multiply the single digit numbers by each other and the tens by each other.  You know that 1 × 4 = 4.  You also know that 108 × 10–6102.  Therefore, you answer is 4 × 102.

Note: Working with exponents is not difficult!  Remember that if you are multiplying two base numbers that are the same (your 10s), all you need to do is add the exponents to find the power of your answer.  8 + (-6) = 2.  This works because raising a number to a negative power is really the same thing as putting it on the bottom of a fraction that many times.  Another way to think about 108 × 10–6102 is to imagine eight 10s on the top of a fraction and six 10s on the bottom.  After you cancel as many 10s as you can, there are still two 10s on top, which is your 102.

F. 2.5 × 102
G. 2.5 × 1013
H. 4 × 102
J. 4 × 10–14
K. 4 × 10–48

The correct answer is (H).


For the ACT Question of the Day, visit http://www.act.org/qotd/.

To get help preparing for the SAT, PSAT, or ACT Exam, visit www.myknowsys.com!

Monday, April 15, 2013

ACT English

SAT Question of the Day

The SAT question of the day is an Improving Sentences Question that has already been addressed on this blog: click here to see an explanation.

ACT English Question of the Day

Some ACT English questions will ask you to reflect on a whole passage rather than a single grammatical point.  Take a look at today's question.

Tuning In During the Twenties
[1]
     Modern broadcasting began to develop after
the First World War. Before 1920, radio was simply
a useful way to send electrical signals ashore from a
ship at sea, or, from one "ham" operator to another.
The new technology associated with movies and
airplanes was already developing rapidly by the time
soldiers started returning from European trenches
in 1918. The vast potential of the airwaves, therefore,
had scarcely been touched.
[2]
     [1] Then a vice president of Westinghouse,
looking for a way to make the transmission of radio
signals more profitable, decided on a two-fold 
strategy. [2] First, he would entice an audience with
daily programming of great variety. [3] Second, he
would sell this audience the radio receivers necessary
to listen to this entertainment. [4] The plan succeeded
beyond anyone's expectations. 
[3]
     The federal Radio Division in Washington, D.C.,
was created to license stations, because it had no 
power to regulate them. Broadcasters multiplied
wildly, some helping themselves to the more desirable
frequencies, others increasing their transmission
power at will. Chaos means things were out of control.
[4]
     Yet even in the midst of such anarchy,
some commercial possibilities and organizations
saw clearly of a medium whose regulation seemed 
imminent. In 1926, RCA paid the American
Telephone & Telegraph Company one million dollars
for station WEAF in New York City—and NBC was
born. Years later, the Radio Law of 1927 was
enacted. It authorized it's control for licensing and of policing the broadcasters.
[5]
     The RCA executives who created the 
powerful NBC network were right to see that
sizable profits would come from this new medium.
Even in 1930 for example an hour's advertising on 
nationwide radio to forty-seven cities cost $10,180.
Advertising turned broadcasting into an industry,
and the untapped potential of the airwaves
began to be realized.

The writer has been asked to write an essay assessing the development of modern technologies after the First World War. Would this essay fulfill that assignment?

This is a big picture question; you can predict the answer without looking at the choices.  Notice that the question asks about “technologies.” If you skim the first paragraph and skim the topic sentences of the rest of the essay, you will notice that this entire essay is about radio, which is only one technology.  This is an essay about “modern broadcasting,” not about “modern technologies.”  This essay does not fulfill the assignment because it is too narrow in scope.  Look down at your answer choices.

A. Yes; the writer focuses exclusively on the commercial possibilities of radio.
B. Yes; the writer focuses on the need for federal regulation in the world of broadcasting.
C. No; the writer focuses on the commercial possibilities of radio, just one technology.
D. No; the writer focuses on the contrast between early radio and radio broadcasting of today.

The correct answer is (C). 


For the ACT Question of the Day, visit http://www.act.org/qotd/.

To get help preparing for the SAT, PSAT, or ACT Exam, visit www.myknowsys.com!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

ACT Science

SAT Question of the Day

The SAT question of the day is a Sentence Completion Question that has already been addressed on this blog: click here to see an explanation.

ACT Science Question of the Day

ACT science questions often ask you to read charts and graphs, but you do not have to understand all of the information that is provided in order to answer the question correctly.  Take a look at today's question before wading through the images.

Abandoned cornfields have been the sites of investigations concerning ecological succession, the orderly progression of changes in the plant and/or animal life of an area over time (see Figure 1).
(Note: The plants are ordered according to their appearance during ecological succession.)



During the early stages of succession, the principal community (living unit) that dominates is the pioneer community. Pioneer plants are depicted in Figure 2.



The final stage of ecological succession is characterized by the presence of the climax community, the oak-hickory forest. Figure 3 depicts the gradual change from pine to hardwoods.




Figures adapted from Eugene P. Odum, Fundamentals of Ecology. ©1971 by Saunders College Publishing/Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc.


On the basis of the data depicting the gradual change from pine forest to an oak-hickory forest, after 100 years, as the density of the pine trees:

You can tell from the description of the figures that Figure 3 concerns forests, and its description even includes the words “gradual change.”  You do not need any of the other figures.  You first need to know what happens to the pine trees.  The line labeled “pine” goes down, so the pine trees are decreasing over the years.  Then notice that the line labeled “oak-hickory” goes up.  These trees are increasing during the same period.  Look down at your answer choices.

. . . as the density of the pine trees:

A. increases, the density of the oak-hickory trees increases.
B. increases, the density of the oak-hickory trees decreases.
C. decreases, the density of the oak-hickory trees increases.
D. decreases, the density of the oak-hickory trees decreases.

The correct answer is (C).


For the ACT Question of the Day, visit http://www.act.org/qotd/.To get help preparing for the SAT, PSAT, or ACT Exam, visit www.myknowsys.com!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

ACT Reading

SAT Question of the Day

The SAT question of the day is an Algebra Question that has already been addressed on this blog: click here to see an explanation.

ACT Reading Question of the Day

ACT reading passages are long, but if you know what kind of information you need, you usually don't have to read very much to answer the question.  Look down at the question before you start reading.

SOCIAL SCIENCE: This passage is adapted from Leonard W.
Levy's
 Origins of the Fifth Amendment: The Right Against Self
Incrimination.
 (©1968 by Clio Enterprises Inc.).


    Community courts and community justice pre-
vailed in England at the time of the Norman Conquest
 
[1066]. The legal system was ritualistic, dependent
 
upon oaths at most stages of litigation, and permeated
5  
by both religious and superstitious notions. The pro-
ceedings were oral, very personal, and highly con-
frontative. Juries were unknown. One party publicly
 
"appealed," or accused, the other before the community
 
meeting at which the presence of both was obligatory.
10  
To be absent meant risking fines and outlawry. After 
the preliminary statements of the parties, the court ren-
dered judgment, not on the merits of the issue nor the
 
question of guilt or innocence, but on the manner by
 
which it should be resolved. Judgment in other words
15  
preceded trial because it was a decision on what form 
the trial should take. It might be by compurgation, by
 
ordeal, or, after the Norman Conquest, by battle.
 
Excepting trial by battle, only one party was tried or,
 
more accurately, was put to his "proof." Proof being
20  
regarded as an advantage, it was usually awarded to the
accused party; in effect he had the privilege of proving
 
his own case.

    Trial by compurgation consisted of a sworn state-
ment to the truth of one's claim or denial, supported by
25  
the oaths of a certain number of fellow swearers. 
Presumably they, no more than the claimant, would
 
endanger their immortal souls by the sacrilege of false
 
swearing. Originally the oath-helpers swore from their
 
own knowledge to the truth of the party's claim. Later
30  
they became little more than character witnesses, 
swearing only to their belief that his oath was trust-
worthy. If he rounded up the requisite number of com-
purgators and the cumbrous swearing in very exact
 
form proceeded without a mistake, he won his case. A
35  
mistake "burst" the oath, proving guilt.

    Ordeals were usually reserved for more serious
 
crimes, for persons of bad reputation, for peasants, or
 
for those caught with stolen goods. As an invocation of
 
immediate divine judgment, ordeals were consecrated
40  
by the Church and shrouded with solemn religious mys-
tery. The accused underwent a physical trial in which
 
he called upon God to witness his innocence by putting
 
a miraculous sign upon his body. Cold water, boiling
 
water, and hot iron were the principal ordeals, all of
45  
which the clergy administered. In the ordeal of cold 
water, the accused was trussed up and cast into a pool
 
to see whether he would sink or float. On the theory
 
that water which had been sanctified by a priest would
 
receive an innocent person but reject the guilty, inno-
50  
cence was proved by sinking—and hopefully a quick 
retrieval—guilt by floating. In the other ordeals, one
 
had to plunge his hand into a cauldron of boiling water
 
or carry a red hot piece of iron for a certain distance, in
 
the hope that three days later, when the bandages were
55  
removed, the priest would find a "clean" wound, one 
that was healing free of infection. How deeply one
 
plunged his arm into the water, how heavy the iron or
 
great the distance it was carried, depended mainly on
 
the gravity of the charge.
60  
    The Normans brought to England still another 
ordeal, trial by battle, paradigm of the adversary
 
system, which gave to the legal concept of "defense" or
 
"defendant" a physical meaning. Trial by battle was a
 
savage yet sacred method of proof which was also
65  
thought to involve divine intercession on behalf of the 
righteous. Rather than let a wrongdoer triumph, God
 
would presumably strengthen the arms of the party who
 
had sworn truly to the justice of his cause. Right, not
 
might, would therefore conquer. Trial by battle was
70  
originally available for the settlement of all disputes 
but eventually was restricted to cases of serious crime.

    Whether one proved his case by compurgation,
 
ordeal, or battle, the method was accusatory in char-
acter. There was always a definite and known accuser,
75  
some private person who brought formal suit and 
openly confronted his antagonist. There was never any
 
secrecy in the proceedings, which were the same for
 
criminal as for civil litigation. The judges, who had no
 
role whatever in the making of the verdict, decided only
80  
which party should be put to proof and what its form 
should be; thereafter the judges merely enforced an
 
observance of the rules. The oaths that saturated the
 
proceedings called upon God to witness to the truth of
 
the respective claims of the parties, or the justice of
85  
their cause, or the reliability of their word. No one gave 
testimonial evidence nor was anyone questioned to test
 
his veracity.

Which of the following factors did all the trials discussed have in common?

·         I. A definite and known accuser
·         II. Secrecy
·         III. Oaths and invocations of divine assistance

This question asks you about all three types of trials.  Which paragraph has information about all three types of trials?  The last one!  It mentions all the types of trials in the topic sentence.  Look for a mention of I (key word: accuser).  Line 74 confirms that I is true because there was “always” a known accuser.  Now look for II (key word: secrecy).  Lines 76 through 77 tell you that there was never any secrecy so you can eliminate II.  Look for evidence of III (key word: oaths).  Line 82 tells you that oaths “saturated” the process.  Even if you don’t know that “saturated” means “filled completely,” you can still see that the oaths are used in three different situations in the same sentence, implying that each situation corresponds to one of the three different types of trials.  That means that I and III are both correct.  Look down at your answer choices.

A. I only
B. II only
C. I and II only
D. I and III only

The correct answer is (D).


For the ACT Question of the Day, visit http://www.act.org/qotd/.

To get help preparing for the SAT, PSAT, or ACT Exam, visit www.myknowsys.com!

Friday, April 12, 2013

ACT Math

SAT Question of the Day

The SAT question of the day is an Identifying Sentence Errors Question that has already been addressed on this blog: click here to see an explanation.

ACT Math Question of the Day

What are the values of a and b, if any, where a|b – 2| < 0 ?

There are three things you must understand to solve this problem: number properties, absolute value, and inequalities.

Start by considering the equation as a whole. You know that the side that contains the variables must be less than zero. What kind of numbers are less than zero? Negative numbers! Now you know that a|b – 2| must be a negative number.

Break down a|b – 2| into its essential parts. It is really just the variable a multiplied by |b – 2|. What kinds of numbers do you have to multiply together in order to get a negative number? You must have a positive number times a negative number. You know that anything inside the absolute value bars will be positive. That is your positive number. Now you know that variable a must be negative! In other words a < 0!

Now that you know the restrictions on variable a, look at b. You know that you need a negative number times a positive number and it must be less than 0. Think about the properties of 0. Zero is neither negative nor positive. You must make sure that the second part of your equation (|b – 2|) does not equal 0. When does |b – 2| = 0? When b = 2. Therefore, for your equation to work, b ≠ 2.

A. a < 0 and b ≠ 2
B. a < 0 and b = 2
C. a ≠ 0 and b > 2
D. a > 0 and b < 2
E. There are no such values of a and b.

The correct answer is (A).


For the ACT Question of the Day, visit http://www.act.org/qotd/.

To get help preparing for the SAT, PSAT, or ACT Exam, visit www.myknowsys.com!