SBAC Online Practice Questions and Answers

FILL BLANK

Consider this right triangle.

Enter the ratio equivalent to sin (B).

A. 21/29

Read the text attached.

Workplace Diversity The twenty-first century workplace features much greater diversity than was common even a couple of generations ago. Individuals who might once have faced employment challenges because of religious beliefs, ability differences, or sexual orientation now regularly join their peers in interview pools and on the job. Each may bring a new outlook and different information to the table; employees can no longer take for granted that their coworkers think the same way they do. This pushes them to question their own assumptions, expand their understanding, and appreciate alternate viewpoints. The result is more creative ideas, approaches, and solutions. Thus, diversity may also enhance corporate decision-making.

Communicating with those who differ from us may require us to make an extra effort and even change our viewpoint, but it leads to better collaboration and more favorable outcomes overall, according to David Rock, director of the Neuro-Leadership Institute in New York City, who says diverse coworkers "challenge their own and others' thinking."2 According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), organizational diversity now includes more than just racial, gender, and religious differences. It also encompasses different thinking styles and personality types, as well as other factors such as physical and cognitive abilities and sexual orientation, all of which influence the way people perceive the world. "Finding the right mix of individuals to work on teams, and creating the conditions in which they can excel, are key business goals for today's leaders, given that collaboration has become a paradigm of the twenty-first century workplace," according to an SHRM article.3

Attracting workers who are not all alike is an important first step in the process of achieving greater diversity. However, managers cannot stop there. Their goals must also encompass inclusion, or the engagement of all employees in the corporate culture. "The far bigger challenge is how people interact with each other once they're on the job," says Howard J. Ross, founder and chief learning officer at Cook Ross, a consulting firm specializing in diversity. "Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance. Diversity is about the ingredients, the mix of people and perspectives. Inclusion is about the container璽he place that allows employees to feel they belong, to feel both accepted and different."4

Workplace diversity is not a new policy idea; its origins date back to at least the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (CRA) or before. Census figures show that women made up less than 29 percent of the civilian workforce when Congress passed Title VII of the CRA prohibiting workplace discrimination. After passage of the law, gender diversity in the workplace expanded significantly. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the percentage of women in the labor force increased from 48 percent in 1977 to a peak of 60 percent in 1999. Over the last five years, the percentage has held relatively steady at 57 percent. Over the past forty years, the total number of women in the labor force has risen from 41 million in 1977 to 71 million in 2017.5 The BLS projects that the number of women in the U.S. labor force will reach 92 million in 2050 (an increase that far outstrips population growth).

The statistical data show a similar trend for African American, Asian American, and Hispanic workers (Figure 8.2). Just before passage of the CRA in 1964, the percentages of minorities in the official on-the-books workforce were relatively small compared with their representation in the total population. In 1966, Asians accounted for just 0.5 percent of private-sector employment, with Hispanics at 2.5 percent and African Americans at 8.2 percent. 6 However, Hispanic employment numbers have significantly increased since the CRA became law; they are expected to more than double from 15 percent in 2010 to 30 percent of the labor force in 2050. Similarly, Asian Americans are projected to increase their share from 5 to 8 percent between 2010 and 2050.

Figure 8.2There is a distinct contrast in workforce demographics between 2010 and projected numbers for 2050. (credit: attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license) Much more progress remains to be made, however. For example, many people think of the technology sector as the workplace of open-minded millennials. Yet Google, as one example of a large and successful company, revealed in its latest diversity statistics that its progress toward a more inclusive workforce may be steady but it is very slow. Men still account for the great majority of employees at the corporation; only about 30 percent are women, and women fill fewer than 20 percent of Google's technical roles (Figure 8.3). The company has shown a similar lack of gender diversity in leadership roles, where women hold fewer than 25 percent of positions. Despite modest progress, an ocean-sized gap remains to be narrowed. When it comes to ethnicity, approximately 56 percent of Google employees are white. About 35 percent are Asian, 3.5 percent are Latino, and 2.4 percent are black, and of the company's management and leadership roles, 68 percent are held by whites.

Figure 8.3

Google is emblematic of the technology sector, and this graphic shows just how far from equality and diversity the industry remains. (credit: attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)

Google is not alone in coming up short on diversity. Recruiting and hiring a diverse workforce has been a challenge for most major technology companies, including Facebook, Apple, and Yahoo (now owned by Verizon); all have reported

gender and ethnic shortfalls in their workforces.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has made available 2014 data comparing the participation of women and minorities in the high-technology sector with their participation in U.S. private-sector employment overall, and

the results show the technology sector still lags.8 Compared with all private-sector industries, the high-technology industry employs a larger share of whites (68.5%), Asian Americans (14%), and men (64%), and a smaller share of African

Americans (7.4%), Latinos (8%), and women (36%). Whites also represent a much higher share of those in the executive category (83.3%), whereas other groups hold a significantly lower share, including African Americans (2%), Latinos

(3.1%), and Asian Americans (10.6%). In addition, and perhaps not surprisingly, 80 percent of executives are men and only 20 percent are women. This compares negatively with all other private-sector industries, in which 70 percent of

executives are men and 30 percent women.

Technology companies are generally not trying to hide the problem. Many have been publicly releasing diversity statistics since 2014, and they have been vocal about their intentions to close diversity gaps. More than thirty technology

companies, including Intel, Spotify, Lyft, Airbnb, and Pinterest, each signed a written pledge to increase workforce diversity and inclusion, and Google pledged to spend more than $100 million to address diversity issues.9

Diversity and inclusion are positive steps for business organizations, and despite their sometimes slow pace, the majority are moving in the right direction. Diversity strengthens the company's internal relationships with employees and

improves employee morale, as well as its external relationships with customer groups. Communication, a core value of most successful businesses, becomes more effective with a diverse workforce. Performance improves for multiple

reasons, not the least of which is that acknowledging diversity and respecting differences is the ethical thing to do.

What is the best explanation of the impact the last sentence of the attached passage has on the overall tone of the text? "Performance improves for multiple reasons, not the least of which is that acknowledging diversity and respecting

differences is the ethical thing to do."

A. The reader is reminded that this goes beyond being nice or fair, but that diversity not only improves performance in the business but is a moral responsibility employers have as people.

B. The reader is encouraged to apply for that job he or she didn't think they would get because they wouldn't fit in as employers are looking to increase their diversity.

C. The reader is confused by the double-standard taking place; companies claim to value diversity but continue to hire a very narrow section of society.

D. The reader is warned that if employers don't increase the diversity and inclusion within their workforce, performance will suffer and the company may fail.

Read the passage attached.

"From early in their educational careers, students in the United States are encouraged to attend college and are indoctrinated with the idea that a college education will open an increased number of doors in their future and allow them access to higher paying jobs that will result in an increased quality of life. However, today's college graduates find themselves heading out to the workforce saddled with tremendous debt from student loans taken out to pay for that college dream. Many of them find that those high-paying jobs they were promised are difficult to find as new graduates and the salaries they earn as they start their careers are barely enough to make ends meet, never mind making meaningful headway in paying off their student loans. As the cost of college continues to rise, so too does the student loan debt looming over new graduates. The college dream becomes a repayment nightmare for far too many highly educated young people."

A student is writing an argumentative report about the rights of students to have free education through college. The attached passage is from a source she'd like to use. The student also wrote down some claims to use in her report. Which of these claims is best supported by the information in the attached source?

A. One in three college graduates cannot find full-time employment upon graduation.

B. Students have access to a variety of scholarship opportunities that may help alleviate some of the burden of borrowing money to pay for college expenses.

C. The threat of skyrocketing debt may change some students' minds about the value of attending college.

D. Tuition is only one of many expenses college students must pay for.

Read the material attached.

Source 1:

Military Supports Alternative Treatments for Treating Pain in Vets and Troops

The military has long worried that an over-reliance on prescription pain killers for the after-effects of tours of duty was putting both veterans and active-duty troops at risk of dependency, serious adverse reactions to the drugs and accidental

death. The problem was found to be greatest among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan ?particularly those with post-traumatic stress disorder ?who, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), may have been given "inappropriate prescriptions" for opioids in a misguided attempt to relieve their suffering quickly.

Now, however, change appears to be coming as the military expands its use of alternative treatments such as chiropractic care.

Dr. Robert D. Kerns, the national program director for pain management at the Department of Veterans Affairs, told the New York Times that the study "encourages" both his department, as well as the Pentagon's health system, "to build on...

existing initiatives."

If done, that would be good news to Congressional committees following up on last year's Veterans Health Administration scandal.

"We have said for a long time that sending a veteran out of the door with a bagful of pills is not a solution," Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said in investigating allegations that a Tomah, Wisconsin, Veterans Affairs hospital was prescribing "excessive

dosages of opiates."

Even as more research pours in, chiropractic care continues to gain support. A 2013 study published in the journal Spine found that 73 percent of participating active-duty military patients with low back pain receiving a combination of

chiropractic manipulative treatment and standard medical care rated their global improvement as "pain completely gone," "much better," or "moderately better."

In the same study, only 17 percent who received standard medical care alone said likewise.

Source 2:

Relief for Weekend Warriors Comes From Chiropractic Care, Not a Pill Bottle

Sports injuries can happen to anyone, and they may be more likely among amateur athletes than professionals.

Amateur athletes, whether they are weekend warriors or regular fitness buffs, can end up with an injury for a variety of reasons, from wearing the wrong shoes to an incorrect technique in a tennis or golf swing. However, amateurs and pros alike want relief when they get hurt, and anyone can become addicted to strong, opioid painkillers, according to a recent article in Outside magazine. "The reality is that all athletes are one fall, twist, or tweak away from landing their own opioid prescription," the article notes.

In the wake of a directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to cut down on painkiller prescriptions, doctors and patients are seeking drug-free alternatives, and chiropractic care is one of them.

In fact, chiropractic care can provide not only short-term pain relief but long-term prevention of future pain by helping to address structural imbalances in the body that might be contributing to the problem.

Medications (including ibuprofen and other over-the-counter drugs as well as prescription drugs) can mask the pain from an injury but fail to address the cause. Doctors of chiropractic (DCs) use hands-on techniques to manipulate the joints

and soft tissues of the body to address where pain syndromes may originate. DCs receive a minimum of seven years of higher education and are skilled in the diagnosis and art of spinal manipulation.

In addition, according to Dr. Sherry McAllister of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, most insurance and health plans cover chiropractic care.

In comparing the two sources in the attachment, which of these is not a valid comparison?

A. Source 1 uses emotional appeals of discussing the pain experienced by veterans and active-duty military members to make its point, while source 2 uses more factual statements and statistics to appeal to the audience's rational side.

B. Both sources explain the benefits of chiropractic care for a specific group of people.

C. Source 1 uses more credible and widely recognized references to support the claim, including the JAMA, a director with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and a Congressional Representative, while source 2 references Outside magazine and doctor from the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress.

D. Source 2 suggests that chiropractic care can alleviate the need for both prescription and over-the-counter medication by addressing the underlying causes of pain and not just masking the symptoms of pain, while source 1 concentrates on the movement away from prescription medication through the use of chiropractic care.

Let f(x) = 3x + 5. If g is the inverse of f, which of the following must equal g?

A. Option A

B. Option B

C. Option C

D. Option D

Simplify the expression (5x2y + 7) + (2x + 4y - 2) - (x + 3y - 1)

A. 8x + y + 4

B. 6x + 3y + 6

C. 6x - y + 6

D. 6x + 9y +4

A. Option A

B. Option B

C. Option C

D. Option D

Ashley's class is doing experiments with probability. They have a box with 3 green balls, 2 blue balls, and 5 red balls. Ashley picks a ball, records its color, and puts it back in the box. Her classmate Julio then picks a ball from the box. What is the probability that both of them pick a green ball?

A. 0.09

B. 0.06

C. 0.6

D. 0.3

Read the text and answer the question.

Blue Crabs Provide Evidence of Oil Tainting Gulf Food

Weeks ago, before engineers pumped in mud and cement to plug the gusher, scientists began finding specks of oil in crab larvae plucked from waters across the Gulf coast.

The government said last week that three-quarters of the spilled oil has been removed or naturally dissipated from the water. But the crab larvae discovery was an ominous sign that crude had already infiltrated the Gulf's vast food web – and

could affect it for years to come.

"It would suggest the oil has reached a position where it can start moving up the food chain instead of just hanging in the water," said Bob Thomas, a biologist at Loyola University in New Orleans.

"Something likely will eat those oiled larvae . . . and then that animal will be eaten by something bigger and so on."

Tiny creatures might take in such low amounts of oil that they could survive, Thomas said. But those at the top of the chain, such as dolphins and tuna, could get fatal "megadoses."

Marine biologists routinely gather shellfish for study. Since the spill began, many of the crab larvae collected have had the distinctive orange oil droplets, said Harriet Perry, a biologist with the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast

Research Laboratory.

"In my 42 years of studying crabs I've never seen this," Perry said.

She wouldn't estimate how much of the crab larvae are contaminated overall, but said about 40 percent of the area they are known to inhabit has been affected by oil from the spill.

While fish can metabolize dispersant and oil, crabs may accumulate the hydrocarbons, which could harm their ability to reproduce, Perry said in an earlier interview with Science magazine.

She told the magazine there are two encouraging signs for the wild larvae – they are alive when collected and may lose oil droplets when they molt.

Tulane University researchers are investigating whether the splotches also contain toxic chemical dispersants that were spread to break up the oil but have reached no conclusions, biologist Caz Taylor said.

If large numbers of blue crab larvae are tainted, their population is virtually certain to take a hit over the next year and perhaps longer, scientists say. The spawning season occurs between April and October, but the peak months are in July

and August.

How large the die-off would be is unclear, Perry said. An estimated 207 million gallons of oil have spewed into the Gulf since an April 20 drilling rig explosion triggered the spill, and thousands of gallons of dispersant chemicals have been

dumped.

Scientists will be focusing on crabs because they're a "keystone species" that play a crucial role in the food web as both predator and prey, Perry said.

Richard Condrey, a Louisiana State University oceanographer, said the crabs are "a living repository of information on the health of the environment."

Named for the light-blue tint of their claws, the crabs have thick shells and 10 legs, allowing them to swim and scuttle across bottomlands. As adults, they live in the Gulf's bays and estuaries amid marshes that offer protection and abundant

food, including snails, tiny shellfish, plants and even smaller crabs. In turn, they provide sustenance for a variety of wildlife, from redfish to raccoons and whooping cranes.

Adults could be harmed by direct contact with oil and from eating polluted food. But scientists are particularly worried about the vulnerable larvae.

That's because females don't lay their eggs in sheltered places, but in areas where estuaries meet the open sea. Condrey discovered several years ago that some even deposit offspring on shoals miles offshore in the Gulf.

The larvae grow as they drift with the currents back toward the estuaries for a month or longer. Many are eaten by predators and only a handful of the 3 million or so eggs from a single female live to adulthood.

But their survival could drop even lower if the larvae run into oil and dispersants.

"Crabs are very abundant. I don't think we're looking at extinction or anything close to it," said Taylor, one of the researchers who discovered the orange spots.

Still, crabs and other estuary-dependent species such as shrimp and red snapper could feel the effects of remnants of the spill for years, Perry said.

"There could be some mortality, but how much is impossible to say at this point," said Vince Guillory, biologist manager with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Perry, Taylor and Condrey will be among scientists monitoring crabs for negative effects such as population drop-offs and damage to reproductive capabilities and growth rates.

Crabs are big business in the region. In Louisiana alone, some 33 million pounds are harvested annually, generating nearly $300 million in economic activity, Guillory said.

Blue crabs are harvested year-round, but summer and early fall are peak months for harvesting, Guillory said.

Prices for live blue crab generally have gone up, partly because of the Louisiana catch scaling back due to fishing closures, said Steve Hedlund, editor of SeafoodSource.com, a website that covers the global seafood industry.

Fishers who can make a six-figure income off crabs in a good year now are now idled – and worried about the future.

"If they'd let us go out and fish today, we'd probably catch crabs," said Glen Despaux, 37, who sets his traps in Louisiana's Barataria Bay. "But what's going to happen next year, if this water is polluted and it's killing the eggs and the larvae? I

think it's going to be a long-term problem."

Excerpt from "Blue Crabs Provide Evidence of Oil Tainting Gulf Food Web" by John Flesher. Copyright © 2010 by The Associated Press. Reprinted by permission of The Associated Press.

How does the last paragraph affect the presentation of information? (Choose three.)

A. It illustrates the possible economic effects of the Gulf oil spill.

B. It makes the report more personal by showing its effects on one individual.

C. It provides a contrasting point of view to those expressed earlier in the text.

D. It reinforces the idea that the oil contamination in the Gulf will have long-lasting effects.

E. It summarizes the main types of damage scientists have identified in the Gulf ecosystem.

F. It provides predictions about the length of time scientists expect the effects of the oil spill to last.

A student is writing an editorial for the school newspaper about volunteering in the community. Read the excerpt from a draft of the editorial and complete the task that follows.

The Value of Volunteering

There are many positive aspects to volunteering. You gain valuable hands-on experience wherever you are working. If you volunteer in a homework help program at the library, you learn how to teach others. Some students use volunteering as a way to try out a career direction. A student who wants to be a children's doctor can volunteer in the children's wing of a hospital. You can learn leadership skills as a volunteer. If you work in an afterschool program at the local recreation center, you might find yourself leading a group of children in a game of basketball.

Many teens simply do not have the time to fit another activity into a busy schedule that includes schoolwork, sports, clubs, jobs, and a social life. Some students view their extracurricular activities as a way to accomplish the same goals that volunteering does. You can gain leadership skills as the captain of the volleyball team or organizational skills by working on the high school yearbook.

But one thing you gain from volunteering that you cannot get from other activities is the sense that you are making a difference in the world. This is an intangible benefit that is perhaps the most important aspect of volunteer work. One of the main goals in educating our youth is to teach them to become productive members of society. As a way to reach that goal, there is very little to compare with volunteering.

Choose the transition sentence that would improve the links between the first and the second paragraph.

A. The negative aspects of volunteering should not be overstated.

B. Many teens need to be convinced that volunteering should be mandatory.

C. However challenging volunteering may be, it will, in the end, provide many benefits.

D. It is understandable why students feel they can not commit to volunteering in the community.