SSAT Questions Courtesy of PrivateSchoolExam.com - Online SSAT Test Prep.

1. There are many places to visit in the country of China. For example, Beijing, China, is the current capital of China. Several decades ago, the city was called Peking. It is the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Besides being one of the largest cities in China, it is the site of many places for visitors. The Forbidden City was the ancient home of the emperors of the Ming and the Qing dynasties in China. It was a place where emperors and all of their family, including concubines, lived and ruled the land. Nearby is Tiananmen Square, the site of a famous student uprising in 1989. The emperor’s summer palace was also located in Beijing.

Near Beijing is the site of a portion of the Great Wall of China, a 3000 mile-long fortified wall that kept the Chinese away from the impending Mongol attacks from the north. At the great wall, visitors can climb onto the wall and have their picture taken. The Great Wall of China is built along the tops of the mountains from Beijing out to the western border of China. In many places, it has decayed into rubble. The Great Wall was originally built and maintained between the 5^th and the 16^th century.

Another place to visit in China is the Terracotta Warriors outside of Xi’an. They are a series of life-sized statues of soldiers built as part of the tomb of the first Qin Emperor around 200 BC. There are more than 8,000 soldiers buried there and many of the visible soldiers were built from fragments of pottery put together by patient archeologists. A number of bronze horses and carriages were found at the site as well, which is now a museum.

Questions:

1. According to the passage, what is an older name for Beijing?

a. Xi’an

b. Chongqing

c. The Forbidden City

d. Peking

e. Xin Dynasty

Answer: d. An older name for Beijing is Peking. The Forbidden City is within Beijing itself.

1. What is a good alternative name for “rubble” in the second paragraph?

a. debris

b. skeleton

c. remains

d. shell

e. cremations

Answer: a. The word “debris” is a good alternative term for “rubble”.

1. A good outline for this passage is:

a. Terra Cotta Warriors, Beijing, Forbidden City

b. Great Wall, Beijing City, Terracotta Warriors

c. Beijing City, Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors

d. Great Wall, Qin Dynasty, Terracotta Warriors

e. Beijing City, Qing Dynasty, Great Wall

Answer: c. The passage begins with a paragraph on Beijing, then on the great wall and finally on the Terracotta Warriors.

1. The Terracotta Warriors were constructed in which Dynasty?

a. Xi’an

b. Qin

c. Qing

d. Song

e. Ming

Answer: b. The Terracotta Warriors were created for the first Qin Dynasty Emperor’s tomb.

1. According to he passage, about how long was the Great Wall of China?

a. 2000 miles

b. 2000 kilometers

c. 1500 miles

d. 3000 kilometers

e. 3000 miles

Answer: e. The Great Wall of China once completely extended 3000 miles.

These take practice.

1. Globe is to map as
   1. Book is to library
   2. Statue is to art
   3. Portrait is to person
   4. Movie is to storytelling
   5. Orchestra is to symphony

A globe is a type of map. A book is a part of a library, but it isn’t a type of library. A statue is a type of art. A portrait is of a person, but it’s not a type of person. A movie is a type of storytelling. An orchestra plays a symphony, but it isn’t a type of symphony. We’re left with (B) and (D). Let’s narrow down the original relationship. A globe is a three-dimensional map. A statue is three-dimensional art. A movie is not three-dimensional storytelling: it is only two-dimensional. The best answer is (B) statue is to art.

Talon is to hawk as

a. Ear is to dog

b. Horn is to unicorn

c. Toe is to tiger

d. Claw is to cat

e. Tail is to elephant

A talon is a body part of a hawk. But every other answer choice is a body part of the animal it is paired with, so we need to be more specific. A talon is at the end of a hawk's foot. Toe is to tiger and claw is to cat both fit that relationship, so we need to be even more specific. A talon is a body part that a hawk uses to pierce and rip at things. A toe doesn't pierce or rip, but a claw does, so the correct answer is (D): Claw is to cat as Talon is to hawk.

Practice, Practice, Practice

1. Needle is to knitting as:
   1. Flipper is to waving
   2. Shoe is skipping
   3. Shovel is to digging
   4. Rubber is to peeling
   5. Distance is to measuring

A needle is a tool used for knitting. A flipper is something you might wave, but it isn’t a tool and it isn’t necessary for waving. A shoe might be worn while skipping, but it isn’t necessary. A shovel is a tool used for digging. Rubber and peeling have no relationship, and you might measure distance, but distance isn’t a tool. Only shovel is to digging has the appropriate relationship, so the correct answer is (C).

1. Irrational is to logic
   1. Ingenious is to intelligence
   2. Love is to hatred
   3. Indifference is to difference
   4. Ingenuous is to guile
   5. Cruel is to heart

This is a tricky one. Irrational by definition means to be without logic. Ingenious means to be “especially intelligent or clever,” but if you didn’t know that, you might think it meant the opposite of intelligent. Love and hatred are opposites, but to love doesn’t mean to be without hatred specifically. Indifference and difference seem like opposites, but indifference means “not to care” while difference means “the state of not being similar” – they actually have nothing to do with each other. Ingenuous means to be “innocent and unsuspecting” (Notice that ingenuous from Answer (D) and Ingenious from answer (A) are different words!) and guile means “sly and cunning” so ingenuous could be thought of as lacking guile. Cruel might be thought of as a state lacking a heart, but that’s just metaphorical and isn’t a concrete relationship. The best answer is (D) Ingenuous is to lack guile as irrational is to lack logic.

Find Hundreds of SSAT Practice Problems at www.privateschoolexam.com

A glass of cold water is placed on a table at room temperature. If it starts at a temperature of 1°C and increases to 21°C in the course of 4 hours, what is the average rise in temperature per hour?

a.3°

b.4°

c.5°

d.6°

e.7°

Since the rise in temperature is 20° over the course of 4 hours, the average rise in temperature is 5° per hour.

Thus, the answer is (C) 5°.

In the city of Waterville, 70% of households have flood insurance. If there are 2,500 households in Waterville, how many households do not have flood insurance policies?

a.375

b.500

c.1650

d.1700

e.1750

To find the number of households without insurance policies, simply multiply the given total number of households by the percentage of households without insurance. ( ), and . Thus, the answer is (A) 375 households.

If the values of A and B in the fraction AC/B=D are both quadrupled, what be the effect on D?

a.Divided by 16

b.Divided by 4

c.No change

d.Multiplied by 4

e.Multiplied by 16

If A and B are both quadrupled, they will cancel each other out. Thus, the answer is (C) No change.

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