High School Placement Test Prep - Question List

96. The division of your company that you oversee contains 18 employees whose total salary last year was $855,000. The average salary of all company employees with the same level of responsibility and qualifications is $50,000. Is your department above or below the company average?

97. Choose the answer which best rewords the italicized portion. If you think the original wording is best, choose option A.

China and Japan have been locked in a territorial dispute since the 1970s.

98. What is 60% as a simple fraction in lowest terms?

99. A box of candy contains 11 pieces of gummy candy, 13 pieces of gum, 8 truffles, and 9 mints. Sue randomly grabs a piece of gum from the bag. What is the probability that the next piece of candy taken will be a piece of gum or a piece of gummy candy?

100. The World Wildlife Foundation recently reports that the number of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico has declined drastically. Although extreme drought conditions have dried up nectar plants monarch butterflies rely on for food. The destruction of their overwintering grounds also poses a considerate threat.

When monarch butterflies arrive in Mexico from Canada and the United States, they converge on oyamel fir trees. The trees provide shelter to monarch butterflies they are also essential to the communities that surround the forests. In the past, residents used the wood for cooking and heating, but recently, they have began to sell it in order to support their livelihoods. As a result of logging oyamel fir trees, the habitat of the monarch butterfly population has shrunk.

In 2008, scientists used satellite imagery to illustrate the degradation of oyamel fir forests. Officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States met to quickly develop a monarch butterfly conservation plan. A key feature of the plan focused on protecting the monarch butterflies’ habitat. Mexico agreed to enforce a ban on logging within the Monarch Biosphere Bio Reserve.

Despite various conversation efforts, including paying landowners for logging rights, the monarch butterfly population continues to decline. There was a 28 percent reduction in numbers of butterflies overwintering in Mexico. If further efforts are not made, some scientist predict the total collapse of the ecosystem that supports monarch butterflies in Mexico.

Based on the author’s tone, what can the reader conclude about the threat to monarch butterflies?