CSET Multiple Subjects Subtest II (214) practice test

Separating a mixture relies on differences in physical properties. Iron is magnetic, so a magnet removes it while everything is dry; salt dissolves in water but sand does not, so filtering separates the sand from the salt solution, and evaporating the water leaves the salt. Each substance is recovered unchanged, with no chemical change involved.

A

Leaves the sand and iron filings mixed together in the filter; the magnet step is needed.

C

Salt does not melt at ordinary temperatures, and heating would not separate it from the sand.

D

Iron does not dissolve in water; it would be trapped with the sand in the filter.

Plant cells are surrounded by a stiff cell wall made largely of cellulose, which gives them a fixed, boxy shape and lets them stack in regular patterns. Animal cells have only a flexible membrane, so they take on rounded or irregular shapes. Onion skin cells come from an underground bulb and contain no chloroplasts, so chloroplasts cannot explain the difference.

A

Onion bulb cells have no chloroplasts, and chloroplasts do not determine cell shape.

B

Both plant and animal cells have a cell membrane.

D

Both cell types have a nucleus of similar size; the nucleus does not shape the cell.

Bending toward light, called phototropism, results from uneven growth. The plant hormone auxin, produced near the shoot tip, moves toward the shaded side of the stem, where it causes cells to elongate more than cells on the lit side. Because the shaded side grows longer, the stem curves toward the light, which helps the leaves capture more light for photosynthesis.

A

If cells on the lit side elongated more, the stem would curve away from the light; auxin collects on the shaded side.

B

Assumes growth follows local photosynthesis; a shaded side that grew more slowly would bend the stem away from the light, whereas auxin makes the shaded side elongate faster than the lit side.

C

Phototropism is a growth response, not wilting; the stem curves because its shaded side grows longer than its lit side.

In undisturbed sedimentary layers each layer was deposited on top of the one below, so the deepest layer is the oldest and the top layer is the youngest (superposition). Fossils record the environment at the time the sediment settled: fish and clams show that layer C formed under water, and land plants show that layer A formed on land. Together the layers record an environment that changed from marine to terrestrial over time.

A

Exposure at the surface does not make a layer old; the top layer was deposited last.

B

The fossils are in different layers, which formed at different times.

C

Sedimentary layers form from settling particles, not from lava, which would form igneous rock.

Tides are caused mainly by the moon's gravitational pull on Earth's oceans, with the sun contributing a smaller effect. At new moon and full moon the sun and moon line up with Earth, so their pulls combine and produce the largest range between high and low tide, called spring tides. At the quarter phases the sun and moon pull at right angles, partly canceling each other, producing neap tides.

B

Quarter moons bring neap tides, the smallest tidal range, because the sun and moon pull at right angles.

C

New moon produces spring tides just as full moon does; brightness is irrelevant.

D

Crescent phases are intermediate; what matters is the alignment of sun, Earth and moon.

In expanded form, 5,238 = 5 × 1,000 + 2 × 100 + 3 × 10 + 8, and each power of 10 is 1 more than a multiple of 9 (1,000 = 999 + 1, 100 = 99 + 1, 10 = 9 + 1). Regrouping gives 5,238 = (5 × 999 + 2 × 99 + 3 × 9) + (5 + 2 + 3 + 8), a multiple of 9 plus the digit sum, 18. A number and its digit sum therefore leave the same remainder when divided by 9, so one is divisible by 9 exactly when the other is.

B

Overgeneralizes the pattern 18, 27, …, 90 from the multiplication table; the digits of 99 add up to 18, so a multiple of 9 has a digit sum that is a multiple of 9, not necessarily 9.

C

A true fact about base ten that does not connect a number to its digit sum; the rule works because 10, 100, 1,000, … each leave a remainder of 1 when divided by 9.

D

A true but irrelevant fact: relating 9 to 3 explains neither digit-sum rule, and both rules rest on 10 leaving a remainder of 1 when divided by 9 or by 3.

A relation is a function when every input is paired with exactly one output. In the list (3, 5), (4, 5), (5, 5) the inputs 3, 4 and 5 each appear once, so it is a function; several inputs sharing the output 5 is allowed. The other lists repeat an input with different outputs (1 in choice A, 2 in choice B, 0 in choice C), which violates the definition.

A

The input 1 is paired with both 2 and 4.

B

The single input 2 has three different outputs.

C

The input 0 is paired with both 1 and −1.

When parallel lines are cut by a transversal, same-side interior angles are supplementary: (3x + 20) + (2x − 15) = 180. Combining gives 5x + 5 = 180, so 5x = 175 and x = 35. The angles are 125° and 55°, which add to 180°. Alternate interior and corresponding angles would be congruent instead, so identifying the angle pair correctly is the key step.

A

Sets the two angles equal, as if they were alternate interior angles: 3x + 20 = 2x − 15.

B

Sets the sum equal to 90° instead of 180°.

D

Sign error combining the constants: 20 − 15 treated as −5, giving 5x − 5 = 180.

Convert each unit: 90 km = 90 × 1,000 = 90,000 m, and 1 hour = 60 × 60 = 3,600 s. So 90 km/h = 90,000 m ÷ 3,600 s = 25 m/s. In unit analysis the conversion factors 1,000 m/1 km and 1 h/3,600 s are multiplied so that the unwanted units cancel.

A

Divides 90 by 3,600 but forgets to convert kilometers to meters.

B

Divides by 60 only (hours to minutes) and never converts kilometers to meters.

D

Multiplies by 60 instead of dividing by 3,600.

A question that measures opinion without bias is neutral, asks about a single issue and presents both sides (support or oppose) without suggesting a preferred answer. Adding a favorable reason, combining two projects in one question, or phrasing the question as "Don't you agree" each pushes or muddles the responses. A random sample removes bias in who is asked, but biased wording would still distort the results.

B

Adding a favorable reason (helping children study) leads respondents toward yes, so the results would overstate support.

C

A double-barreled question asks about two projects at once, so a yes or a no cannot be attributed to the library alone.

D

"Don't you agree" is a leading phrase that invites agreement with a negative statement, so the results would understate support.