AP US History: Which question was the Missouri Compromise of 1820 mainly meant to settle?
Whether slavery would spread into new states and territories The compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, keeping the Senate balanced. It also banned slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36°30′. The whole deal was about where slavery could expand.
AP US History: What was the main goal of the US policy of containment after World War II?
To stop the spread of Soviet communism to more countries Containment meant stopping communism from spreading beyond where it already was. It shaped the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and NATO. It was the core idea of US Cold War policy.
AP World History: Modern: Which of these is the best example of the Columbian Exchange?
Smallpox reaching the Americas and maize reaching Africa The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of plants, animals, people and diseases between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres after 1492. Smallpox going west and maize going east are both classic examples. The other options are different trade networks or a later period.
AP Human Geography: In Stage 2 of the demographic transition model, what usually happens?
Death rates fall quickly while birth rates stay high, so population grows fast Stage 2 starts when better food, clean water and medicine cut the death rate. Birth rates take longer to change, so the gap between births and deaths gets wide. That gap is what makes the population grow quickly.
AP US Government and Politics: What principle did Marbury v. Madison (1803) establish?
Judicial review, the courts’ power to strike down laws that break the Constitution In Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that part of a federal law was unconstitutional and so couldn’t be enforced. That set up judicial review. It’s why the Supreme Court can check Congress and the President.
AP Psychology: Your car beeps until you buckle your seat belt, so you start buckling up right away. Which kind of learning is this?
Negative reinforcement Buckling up makes an unpleasant sound stop, and that makes you more likely to buckle up again. Taking away something unpleasant to strengthen a behavior is negative reinforcement. “Negative” means something is removed, not that it’s bad.
AP Psychology: A researcher gives one group of students coffee with caffeine and another group decaf, then tests both on a memory task. What is the independent variable?
Whether the coffee had caffeine The independent variable is the one the researcher changes on purpose. Here that’s caffeine or no caffeine. The memory scores are what gets measured, so they’re the dependent variable.
AP English Language: A writer arguing for later school start times writes, “Some parents worry that a later start will cut into after-school jobs. That’s a fair worry, but districts that made the change found most students kept their jobs.” What is this sentence mainly doing in the argument?
Admitting an opposing view and then answering it The writer names a concern from the other side, grants that it’s reasonable, then pushes back with evidence. That move is a concession followed by a rebuttal. It makes the writer look fair and strengthens the argument.
AP English Language: A student writes, “Our town’s public library is more important now than ever.” Which detail would best support this claim?
Visits to the library rose 15% last year, mostly for job-search help and free internet. The claim is about the library’s importance now. Rising visits for practical needs is current, specific evidence that people depend on it. The other details are true-sounding but don’t show growing importance.
AP English Literature: In the line “The old house groaned and sighed as the storm leaned on its walls,” which device is the poet mainly using?
Personification The house groans and sighs, and the storm leans, which are things people do. Giving human actions or feelings to non-human things is personification. It makes the house seem tired and strained.
AP Calculus AB: If f(x) = x³ − 4x, what is f′(2)?
8 By the power rule, f′(x) = 3x² − 4. Then f′(2) = 3(4) − 4 = 8. So the slope of the curve at x = 2 is 8.
AP Calculus AB: What is the limit of sin(3x) / x as x approaches 0?
3 Rewrite it as 3 · sin(3x) / (3x). As x goes to 0, so does 3x, and sin(u)/u approaches 1. So the limit is 3 · 1 = 3.
AP Statistics: A small data set has one value that is much larger than all the others. How does that outlier affect the mean and the median?
It pulls the mean up much more than the median The mean uses every value, so one huge number drags it up. The median only depends on the middle position, so it barely moves. That’s why the median is called resistant to outliers.
AP Precalculus: For f(x) = 2 · 3ˣ, what is f(x + 1) divided by f(x)?
3 f(x + 1) = 2 · 3ˣ⁺¹ = 2 · 3ˣ · 3. Divide by 2 · 3ˣ and you’re left with 3. Each time x goes up by 1, the output is multiplied by 3, the growth factor.
AP Biology: How does an enzyme speed up a chemical reaction in a cell?
It lowers the activation energy of the reaction Enzymes lower the activation energy, the energy barrier a reaction has to get over. With a lower barrier, the reaction happens much faster. The enzyme isn’t used up and can be reused.
AP Biology: Two plants that are both heterozygous for a trait (Aa × Aa) are crossed. A is completely dominant over a. What ratio of offspring phenotypes do you expect?
3 dominant : 1 recessive A Punnett square gives AA, Aa, Aa and aa. The first three all show the dominant trait, and only aa shows the recessive one. That’s a 3 : 1 phenotype ratio.
AP Environmental Science: In a typical food chain, roughly how much of the energy at one trophic level is passed on to the next level?
About 10% Most energy at each level is used for life processes or lost as heat, so only about 10% is stored in new biomass that the next level can eat. This is often called the 10% rule. It’s why food chains rarely have more than four or five levels.
AP Art History: Which technique, developed by Italian artists in the early 1400s, uses lines that meet at a vanishing point to create the look of depth on a flat surface?
Linear perspective Linear perspective makes parallel lines, like floor tiles or the edges of a building, meet at a single vanishing point. That makes a flat painting look three-dimensional. Brunelleschi is usually credited with working out the system in Florence.
AP Spanish Language and Culture: Lee el mensaje: “Hola, Marta: La reunión del club de lectura cambió del jueves al viernes a las cinco, porque la biblioteca cierra temprano el jueves. ¡Nos vemos allí! Daniel.” ¿Por qué cambió la reunión?
Porque la biblioteca cierra temprano el jueves Daniel gives the reason right after “porque”: the library closes early on Thursday. That’s why the meeting moved to Friday. The message doesn’t mention the other reasons.
AP Seminar: You’re researching whether a new sleep supplement improves sleep. Which source is likely to be the most credible?
A peer-reviewed study in a medical journal by researchers with no financial link to the company A peer-reviewed study has been checked by other experts, and researchers with no financial stake have less reason to be biased. The other sources are either selling the product or are one person’s unchecked opinion. Credibility depends on expertise, review and bias.
United States · Exam