unnecessary information. Commas should always be placed before and after unnecessary
information, so (B) is correct.
7. A On proposition questions, make sure the phrase has some precise and definable role within
the sentence or passage. The information about the U.S. government agents appears to be
relevant to the passage, but use POE to check the answers to be sure. Keep (A) since its
role is to indicate the difference in the tests. Choice (B) doesn’t work since national
security is not focused on in the passage. Eliminate (C) because this information is not
mentioned earlier in the passage. Choice (D) is also incorrect because it’s never stated that
hacking is a problem only in the United States. The correct answer is (A).
8. C Since there are periods and semicolons in the answer choices, this question is testing STOP
punctuation. Use the Vertical Line Test, placing the line between one and typically.
Eliminate (A) and (D), as a period and semicolon are both STOP punctuation and cannot
both be correct. Also, the adverb typically should not be placed after what it’s modifying.
Eliminate (B) because the commas are separating two complete ideas and that is not one of
the situations in which to use a comma. Choice (C) is the answer.
9. C The answer choices indicate that verb tense is being tested, so let the non-underlined
portions guide your choice of verb. Present tense is seen in We want you to hack us, says
that organization, so (C) is consistent. Eliminate (A) and (D) since both use the past
participle. Choice (B) is also incorrect because it’s past tense. Choice (C) is correct.
10. C Even though the phrase “It takes a crook to catch a thief” is used in the passage, this does
not mean that a film referencing the phrase is relevant to the passage; eliminate (A) and (B).
Because (D) implies that the film has some relevance to this passage, (D) should be
eliminated as well. Choice (C) is correct.
11. D When prepositions are changing in the answer choices, the question is most likely testing
conventional expression. The correct wording of the underlined phrase is contradiction in
terms. Therefore, eliminate (A), (B), and (C). Choice (D) is the answer.
Taking Stock of Modern Investing
12. B Notice the question! The paragraph has a fairly conversational tone overall, so only (D),
with the phrase as all get-out, seems to carry that tone too far. In style, the paragraph is
casual but with clear focus on the idea of how time can be a funny thing. The preceding
sentence is an example of how one can study for what feels like hours, while only 40
minutes have actually elapsed. Therefore, the correct answer will deal with time. Choice
(B) is the only answer choice that refers to a time period. All of the other choices have
irrelevant information, so (B) is correct.
13. A A verb is underlined, so make sure it is consistent with the non-underlined portion. Is is
singular and its partner, the subject each, is singular as well, so they are consistent with
each other in number. Be careful with the phrase of these since it’s not the subject but a
prepositional phrase, which can never be the subject of the sentence. Eliminate (B) and (D)
