PERT Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: B

1. Choice B is correct.
2. The $y$-intercept is $(0,3)$, so $b=3$.
3. From $(0,3)$ to $(2,-1)$: rise $-4$, run 2, so $m=\frac{-4}{2}=-2$.
4. Equation: $y=-2x+3$.
5. Check $(2,-1)$: $-2(2)+3=-1$.

$y=-2x+\frac{3}{2}$: Used the $x$-intercept, $\frac{3}{2}$, as $b$; $b$ is where the line crosses the $y$-axis.

$y=-2x+3$: Correct. The line crosses the $y$-axis at 3 and falls 2 units for each unit to the right.

$y=-\frac{1}{2}x+3$: Inverted the slope: run over rise instead of rise over run.

$y=2x+3$: The line falls from left to right, so its slope is negative.

In $y=mx+b$, $b$ is the $y$-intercept and $m$ is rise over run between any two points on the line.

Answer: B

1. Choice B is correct.
2. Factor out the GCF $3x$: $3x(2x^2-5x+3)$.
3. Factor $2x^2-5x+3$: need numbers with product $2\cdot 3=6$ and sum $-5$: $-2$ and $-3$.
4. $2x^2-2x-3x+3=2x(x-1)-3(x-1)=(2x-3)(x-1)$.
5. Check: $(2x-3)(x-1)=2x^2-5x+3$, times $3x$ gives $6x^3-15x^2+9x$.

$3x(2x-1)(x-3)$: Wrong factor pair: $(2x-1)(x-3)=2x^2-7x+3$.

$3x(2x-3)(x-1)$: Correct. $3x(2x^2-5x+3)$, and $2x^2-5x+3=(2x-3)(x-1)$.

$3x(2x+3)(x+1)$: Signs reversed: this expands to $3x(2x^2+5x+3)$.

$3x(2x^2-5x+3)$: Not complete: the trinomial in parentheses still factors.

"Factor completely" means take out the GCF first and then keep factoring until no factor can be broken down further.

Answer: B

1. Choice B is correct.
2. Total squares: $5\times 8=40$.
3. Shaded squares: 8 in the top row + 6 in the second row = 14.
4. Percent: $\frac{14}{40}=0.35=35\%$.
5. Check: $35\%+65\%=100\%$, and $0.65\times 40=26$ unshaded squares.

14%: Used the count of shaded squares as the percent; the grid has 40 squares, not 100.

35%: Correct. 14 of the 40 squares are shaded: $\frac{14}{40}=0.35=35\%$.

54%: Compared shaded to unshaded squares, $\frac{14}{26}$, instead of shaded to total.

65%: This is the unshaded part: $\frac{26}{40}$.

Percent of a figure = (shaded parts ÷ total equal parts) × 100.

Answer: D

1. Choice D is correct.
2. Distribute: $2x-2\le 5x+7$.
3. Subtract $2x$ and subtract 7: $-9\le 3x$.
4. Divide by 3 (positive, so no reversal): $-3\le x$, that is, $x\ge -3$.
5. Closed dot at $-3$ (equality allowed), shading to the right.
6. Check: $x=0$ gives $-2\le 7$ (true); $x=-4$ gives $-10\le -13$ (false).

Number line A: Divided $-3x\le 9$ by $-3$ without reversing the sign; this shows $x\le -3$.

Number line B: The open dot leaves out $-3$, but "$\le$" includes it, so the dot must be closed.

Number line C: Sign error: $9÷(-3)=-3$, not 3; this shows $x\ge 3$.

Number line D: Correct. $2x-2\le 5x+7$ gives $-9\le 3x$, so $x\ge -3$: a closed dot at $-3$ shaded to the right.

Keeping the variable term positive (here by moving $2x$ to the right) avoids dividing by a negative; if you do divide by a negative, reverse the sign.

Answer: D

It proves that every zoo deserves more funding.: Passage 2 wants money moved away from exhibits, not more funding for zoos.

It shows that condors should never have been captured.: Passage 2 never discusses condors or objects to that capture.

It is false, because condors are now extinct.: Passage 2 does not deny the condor story; it questions how typical such stories are.

It is a rare success, not proof that zoos usually help wildlife.: Correct. Passage 2 opens by dismissing "a few famous rescue stories" (Passage 2, paragraph 1, sentence 1) and notes that many zoo animals are not endangered and few return to the wild.

To predict one author's response to another, apply the first author's stated reasoning to the other's specific example.

Answer: B

"Other bees crowded around the dancer, following her movements with their antennae in the dark.": Antennae can also pick up smells, so this detail does not rule out the smell explanation.

"Later experiments, including some that used a robotic bee programmed to perform the dance, showed that the dance itself guides the foragers.": Correct. A robot gives the dance without carrying the scent of real flowers, so "showed that the dance itself guides the foragers" (paragraph 5, sentence 3) directly undercuts the smell explanation.

"He trained bees to visit dishes of sugar water placed at known distances and directions from a hive with glass walls.": Describes how the experiment was set up, not evidence against smell.

"Within minutes, some of them left the hive and flew almost directly to the food.": Bees could reach food quickly by either the dance or smell, so this does not separate the two explanations.

Evidence that challenges an explanation must be something that explanation cannot account for.

Answer: D

It gives an example of the idea just described.: "But" signals a contrast or limitation, not an example.

It describes the result of Fresnel's finished design.: Misplaces the sentence: the finished design and its results come later in paragraph 2 and in paragraph 3.

It restates the sentence before it in simpler words.: It adds new information, weight and light loss, rather than repeating the earlier point.

It points out a drawback of the idea just described.: Correct. The sentence before it explains that a thick lens could bend light into a beam; "But such a lens would be enormously heavy" (paragraph 2, sentence 3) turns to the problems with that approach, which Fresnel's design then solves.

A sentence that opens with "But" usually qualifies or limits the sentence before it, often by naming a problem.

Answer: D

It gives an example that supports the sentence before it.: Black and white mangroves are not an example of root filtering; they do something else.

It gives the cause of the method just described.: It does not explain why red mangroves filter salt; it describes another method.

It repeats the same method in different words.: "Different approach" rules out a restatement: pushing salt out through leaves is not filtering it at the roots.

It contrasts a second method with the one just described.: Correct. The sentence before it explains that red mangroves filter salt at their roots; "take a different approach" (paragraph 2, sentence 4) signals a contrast: these trees let salt in and push it out through their leaves.

Phrases such as "a different approach," "in contrast" and "however" signal that a sentence sets up a contrast with what came before.

Answer: C

She moves from fear of the shop to comfort in it.: Contradicted: she "begged for weeks" to work there (paragraph 1), so she was never afraid of it.

She moves from honesty to hiding her mistakes.: Reverses the story: she considers hiding the radio but confesses instead (paragraph 4).

She moves from overconfidence to a willingness to learn carefully.: Correct. In paragraph 2 she is "certain she understood the whole job" after one morning; by the end she treasures the sketch that shows a slower, careful method (paragraphs 5–6).

She moves from interest in repair work to boredom with the whole job.: Contradicted: her careful keeping of the sketch shows that her interest has grown.

To trace a character's change, compare how she thinks or acts at the beginning with how she thinks or acts at the end.

Answer: A

In 1925, relay teams of mushers and dogs carried medicine across Alaska to Nome. Their effort helped stop a diphtheria outbreak.: Correct. It states the problem (paragraphs 1–2), the relay that solved it (paragraphs 3–4) and the result (paragraph 5).

A pilot flew medicine to Nome after ships failed. Dog teams later brought more supplies.: Contradicts paragraph 2: planes were judged too risky, and the dog teams carried the medicine.

Balto led the last team into Nome. A statue of him was later placed in Central Park.: Too narrow: these are details from paragraphs 4 and 5 and leave out the outbreak and the relay as a whole.

Seppala crossed the frozen ice of Norton Sound to reach Nenana. From there, a train carried the medicine the rest of the way to Nome.: Misorders the events: the train went to Nenana first, and no railroad reached Nome.

A narrative summary gives the problem, the key action and the outcome in the right order.

Answer: C

opened: The past tense contradicts "next spring."

will open: Standard English does not use "will" in a "when" clause about the future; the future is already shown in the main clause.

opens: Correct. In a time clause beginning with "when" that refers to the future, English uses the simple present ("when the stadium opens"), while the main clause carries the future ("will have played").

had opened: The past perfect places the opening before a past time, which contradicts "next spring."

In clauses of time (when, before, after, as soon as) that refer to the future, use the present tense; keep "will" in the main clause.

Answer: C

effect: As a verb, "effect" means "to bring about" (effect a change); the rules will not bring students into being.

infect: Means to spread disease; it makes no sense here.

affect: Correct. "Affect" is the verb meaning "to influence or change," which is what the rules will do to students.

inflict: Means to impose something painful and needs an object such as "a penalty"; one cannot "inflict a student."

Use "affect" as the verb (to influence) and "effect" as the noun (a result). "Effect" as a verb means only "to bring about."

Answer: A

A nutritionist says breakfast aids focus; one study found it made students feel more alert but did not raise scores.: Correct. It reports the nutritionist's claim and both parts of the study's finding (more alert, same test scores) without overstating either source.

Both sources agree that eating breakfast raises students' test scores.: Neither source says this; the study found no difference in scores.

Both sources show that breakfast has no effect on students.: Ignores the nutritionist's claim and the study's finding about alertness.

The study proved that the nutritionist was wrong to recommend breakfast, so schools should stop urging students to eat it.: Overstates: the study measured test scores, not concentration, and it found students felt more alert.

When sources partly disagree, an accurate synthesis states what each one claims and where they differ, rather than forcing agreement or declaring a winner.

Answer: B

County park visits more than doubled from 2022 to 2024, mostly because of the popular new trail system.: Wrong data (an increase from 410,000 to 520,000 is about 27 percent, not double), and it turns the staff's belief into a fact.

Visits rose by about 110,000 from 2022 to 2024; staff credit the new trails, but that is unconfirmed.: Correct. The number is right (520,000 − 410,000 = 110,000), and the note keeps the staff's explanation labeled as an unconfirmed belief.

A visitor survey found that most of the 520,000 people who visited in 2024 came to use the new trails.: Invents a survey; the excerpt says no survey has been done.

Department staff report that visits to each of the twelve county parks rose by about 110,000 from 2022 to 2024.: Applies the countywide increase to each park.

An accurate note keeps the numbers exact and keeps opinions labeled as opinions. It never upgrades a belief into a proven cause or adds findings the source does not contain.

Answer: C

Sentence 3: Sentence 3 describes the two kinds of rooftop gardens, which introduces the topic.

Sentence 7: Sentence 7 explains how plants cool a building, the benefit named in sentence 5.

Sentence 9: Correct. The selection is about rooftop gardens; where the tallest skyscrapers are located has nothing to do with their benefits or costs, so sentence 9 breaks the focus of paragraph 2.

Sentence 15: Sentence 15 stays on topic: tax credits help owners cover the cost discussed in paragraph 3.

Every sentence in a paragraph should support its main idea. A sentence that mentions a related word (buildings) but not the topic itself (rooftop gardens) does not belong.