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

Answer: C

doubts the new lamp will keep working through the night: The technician promises it will never miss a night, and the father leaves it to run; his words are about the record, not the lamp.

hopes to be hired as the technician for Cobble Point: Nothing in either text suggests he wants the technician's job.

believes part of the keeper's work still has value: Correct. Text 1 shows that machines replaced the keepers' nightly tasks; by saying "Somebody should still write it down," he honors a duty no machine performs — 04 Evaluate and Extend Meaning.

wants to show the technicians that they made an error: The lamp comes on "right on time"; there is no error to prove.

Use the facts in one text to understand a character's feelings in the other.

Answer: C

1. Asphalt at 3:00 p.m. = 138°F.
2. Concrete: 138 − 121 = 17 degrees cooler; shaded grass: 138 − 84 = 54 degrees cooler.
3. Shaded grass gives the greatest drop for the playground area.

Coating the roof of the school building with white paint: A white roof cools the roof, not the playground; it is the right idea in the wrong place.

Replacing part of the asphalt with a concrete surface: Concrete was cooler than asphalt (121°F vs 138°F), but only by 17 degrees.

Replacing part of the asphalt with grass shaded by trees: Correct. Shaded grass was 84°F, 54 degrees cooler than asphalt, the largest difference in the table — 04 Evaluate and Extend Meaning.

Replacing part of the concrete with grass in full sun: This cools a concrete area, not the asphalt area, and sunny grass is still warmer than shaded grass.

When applying data to a new case, make sure the change acts on the place in question and compare the actual differences.

Answer: D

To show that Clark's lack of formal schooling made his journals hard to trust: Paragraph 2 praises the exact measurements in Clark's journals; the spelling is mentioned, not used to discredit him.

To prove that the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean on November 7, 1805: The very next paragraph says the opposite: Clark was looking at the river mouth, not the ocean.

To explain why Jefferson wanted extra copies of the journals made: The copies are explained in paragraph 2 as protection against loss, not linked to this entry.

To let readers feel the explorers' excitement before revealing Clark's mistake: Correct. The quotation shares Clark's emotion in his own words, and paragraph 5 then reveals he was mistaken — 04 Evaluate and Extend Meaning.

Ask what a quotation does in the article: here it captures a feeling in the writer's own words, which the author then corrects.

Answer: D

Hiking quickly, the parking lot was seen just before sunset.: Still dangles: the sentence never names who was hiking, so the phrase attaches to "the parking lot."

The parking lot, hiking quickly, came into view just before sunset.: Moving the phrase next to "parking lot" makes it say even more clearly that the lot was hiking.

Hiking quickly, just before sunset came the parking lot into view.: The word order is awkward, and the phrase still has no hikers to describe.

Hiking quickly, they saw the parking lot just before sunset.: Correct — the subject "they" now follows the phrase "Hiking quickly," so the hikers are the ones hiking: "Hiking quickly, they saw the parking lot just before sunset." — 07 Sentence Structure.

An opening -ing phrase describes the subject that follows the comma; make sure that subject is the one doing the action.

Answer: B

Tall grasses called cordgrass grow thickly in these marshes, their roots hold the muddy soil in place.: Joins two complete sentences with only a comma, which makes a comma splice (run-on).

Tall grasses called cordgrass, whose roots hold the muddy soil in place, grow thickly in these marshes.: Correct — the relative clause "whose roots hold the muddy soil in place" turns sentence 4 into a clause describing cordgrass and keeps both ideas: "Tall grasses called cordgrass, whose roots hold the muddy soil in place, grow thickly in these marshes." — 07 Sentence Structure.

Tall grasses called cordgrass grow thickly in these marshes, and holding the soil with their roots.: The part after "and" has no subject or verb, so the two halves are not parallel and the second half is a fragment.

Because cordgrass holds the muddy soil in place, its roots grow thickly in these marshes.: Changes the meaning: the report never says the roots grow thickly because the soil is held in place.

When one sentence only describes a noun in another, combine them with a relative clause (who, whose, which) placed next to that noun.

Answer: C

1. The path adds 2 ft on each side: outer length $10+2+2=14$ ft, outer width $6+2+2=10$ ft.
2. Outer area: $14\times 10=140$ sq ft. Garden area: $10\times 6=60$ sq ft.
3. Path area: $140-60=80$ sq ft.

36 square feet: Adds the 2-foot width to only one side of each dimension: $12\times 8-60$.

64 square feet: Multiplies the garden's perimeter (32 ft) by 2 ft, which leaves out the four corner squares.

80 square feet: Correct — the outer rectangle is $(10+4)$ by $(6+4)$, or 14 ft by 10 ft: $140-60=80$ square feet — 17 Problem Solving and Reasoning.

140 square feet: This is the area of the garden and path together; the garden's area must be subtracted.

For a border, subtract the inner area from the outer area, remembering that the border width is added on both sides of each dimension.

Answer: D

1. $P(\text{blue})=\frac{2}{8}=\frac{1}{4}$ on each spin.
2. The event fails only if both spins are blue: $\frac{1}{4}\times \frac{1}{4}=\frac{1}{16}$.
3. $P(\text{at least one not blue})=1-\frac{1}{16}=\frac{15}{16}$

$\frac{1}{16}$: This is the probability that both spins land on blue, the opposite of the event asked about.

$\frac{9}{16}$: This is the probability that neither spin lands on blue; "at least one" also includes one blue and one other color.

$\frac{3}{4}$: This is the probability for one spin only; it does not account for two spins.

$\frac{15}{16}$: Correct — the only outcome that fails is blue both times: $P(\text{blue, blue})=\frac{2}{8}\times \frac{2}{8}=\frac{1}{16}$, so $1-\frac{1}{16}=\frac{15}{16}$ — 15 Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability.

For "at least one" questions, find the probability of the single failing case and subtract it from 1.

Answer: C

1. Numerator: $4^2\cdot 4^{-5}=4^{2+(-5)}=4^{-3}$.
2. Divide: $4^{-3}÷4^{-1}=4^{-3-(-1)}=4^{-2}$.
3. $4^{-2}=\frac{1}{4^2}=\frac{1}{16}$.

$-16$: Gets $4^{-2}$ but treats the negative exponent as a negative number; $4^{-2}$ is positive.

$\frac{1}{256}$: Subtracts $1$ instead of $-1$: $2+(-5)-1=-4$, giving $4^{-4}$.

$\frac{1}{16}$: Correct. $2+(-5)-(-1)=-2$, and $4^{-2}=\frac{1}{4^2}=\frac{1}{16}$ — 10 Number and Number Relations.

$16$: Loses the negative sign on the final exponent, giving $4^2$.

Add exponents when multiplying powers of the same base, subtract when dividing, and read $a^{-n}$ as $\frac{1}{a^n}$.

Answer: C

1. Length: 3.5 in. × 4 ft per in. = 14 ft.
2. Width: 2.5 in. × 4 ft per in. = 10 ft.
3. Area: 14 × 10 = 140 square feet.
4. Check: plan area 8.75 sq in. × 16 = 140 sq ft, since area scales by $4^2$.

$8.75$ square feet: This is the area on the plan in square inches; the scale was not applied.

$35$ square feet: Multiplies the plan area by 4 only once; area grows by 4 × 4 = 16.

$140$ square feet: Correct. Actual size is 3.5 × 4 = 14 ft by 2.5 × 4 = 10 ft, and 14 × 10 = 140 square feet — 13 Measurement.

$560$ square feet: Scales the 140 square feet by 4 again, applying the scale one time too many.

Convert each length with the scale before finding area; an area scales by the square of the length scale.

Answer: A

1. Toilets: half of 24% = 12%; 0.12 × 300 = 36 gallons.
2. Leaks: 10%; 0.10 × 300 = 30 gallons.
3. Showers: one-quarter of 20% = 5%; 0.05 × 300 = 15 gallons.
4. Washer: one-third of 17% ≈ 5.7%; about 17 gallons.
5. The toilet change saves the most.

Installing toilets that use half as much water per flush: Correct. Half of 24% is 12% of 300 gallons, or 36 gallons a day, the largest saving — 24 Personal and Social Perspectives in Science.

Fixing every leak in the home: Fixing all leaks saves 10% of 300, or 30 gallons a day, which is less than 36.

Taking showers that are one-quarter shorter: One-quarter of 20% is 5%, or 15 gallons a day.

Running the clothes washer one-third less often each week: One-third of 17% is about 5.7%, or 17 gallons a day.

Compare the actual amount saved: the size of each use times the fraction of it that the change removes.

Answer: B

Rock X is older than all four layers.: A rock cannot cut through layers that did not exist yet, so X is younger than the layers it cuts.

Rock X is younger than Layers 1–3 but older than Layer 4.: Correct. X cuts Layers 1–3, so it formed after them; Layer 4 lies unbroken on top, so it formed after X — 22 Earth and Space Science.

Rock X is younger than all four layers, including Layer 4.: If X were younger than Layer 4, it would cut through Layer 4 too.

Layers 1–3 formed after Rock X cooled.: Reversed: the magma pushed into layers that were already there.

A rock that cuts across layers is younger than those layers; a layer resting unbroken on top of it is younger still.

Answer: C

1. Changes in time: 180 − 115 = 65; 115 − 70 = 45; 70 − 45 = 25; 45 − 30 = 15 seconds.
2. Time always decreased as temperature rose, and each decrease was smaller than the one before.

Water temperature had little effect on how fast the sugar dissolved.: The time dropped from 180 seconds to 30 seconds, a large effect.

The dissolving time was cut exactly in half for every 15°C rise in the water temperature.: From 10°C to 25°C the time fell from 180 to 115 seconds, which is not half.

Warmer water dissolved the sugar faster, but the time saved shrank as it got hotter.: Correct. The time fell by 65, 45, 25, and then 15 seconds between temperatures — 19 Science Inquiry.

Water at 70°C can hold more dissolved sugar than water at 10°C can.: Lucia measured how fast one cube dissolved, not how much sugar the water could hold.

A conclusion must match what was actually measured; "how fast" (rate) is not the same as "how much" (amount that dissolves).

Answer: C

tropical rain forest, which is hot and rainy all year: January averages 52°F and July is nearly dry, so the city is neither hot nor rainy all year.

tropical savanna, which has a wet season and a dry season and is warm all year: A savanna's wet season comes in summer, and it stays warm all year; this city is wettest in winter and cool in January.

Mediterranean, which has warm, dry summers and mild, rainy winters: Correct — the city is warmest and almost dry in July and mild and wettest in January, the pattern of a Mediterranean climate — 26 Geographic Perspectives.

humid continental, which has cold winters and rain in every season: A January average of 52°F is mild, not cold, and summer here is almost dry.

Identify a climate by both patterns: how temperature changes through the year and which season gets the most precipitation.

Answer: C

Congress sets up a national postal system.: A postal system serves the goal to "promote the general Welfare," not defense.

Federal courts settle a dispute between two states.: Settling disputes fits the goal to "establish Justice."

Congress raises money to support an army and a navy.: Correct — keeping armed forces protects the nation from attack, which is what "provide for the common defence" means — 28 Civics and Government Perspectives.

The government counts the population every ten years.: The census is used to divide seats in the House, not to defend the nation.

Each goal in the Preamble matches kinds of government action: defense (armed forces), justice (courts), general welfare (services for the public).

Answer: D

Northbrook: Northbrook is on the river, but no railroad reaches it.

Rennick: Rennick is near the mountains and is not on the river or the railroad.

Westmoor: Westmoor is on the railroad, but it is not on any river.

Tavely: Correct — Tavely sits where Mill Creek joins the Tamsin River and where the railroad crosses, so goods can move by both water and rail — 26 Geographic Perspectives.

Trading centers tend to grow where transportation routes meet, such as river junctions and rail crossings.