Free NBT Academic Literacy Questions and Answers 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student encounters the word "ameliorate" in a passage. Based on the context sentence "The new policy was designed to ameliorate living conditions in low-income areas," what does "ameliorate" most likely mean?
- Worsen
- Improve (Correct answer)
- Measure
- Describe
Correct answer: Improve
"Ameliorate" means to make something bad or unsatisfactory better. The context — a policy designed to affect low-income living conditions — strongly suggests a positive change, pointing to "improve."
Question 2: Which of the following is an example of a primary source?
- A textbook chapter summarising historical events
- A journal article analysing a 19th-century novel
- The original diary of a historical figure (Correct answer)
- An encyclopedia entry about a scientific discovery
Correct answer: The original diary of a historical figure
A primary source is an original, first-hand account or artefact, such as a diary, original research data, photographs, or historical documents. Secondary sources, like textbooks, analyse or summarise primary sources.
Question 3: Read the following and identify the logical fallacy: "Everyone is switching to solar energy, so it must be the best option." This is an example of:
- Ad hominem
- False dilemma
- Bandwagon fallacy (Correct answer)
- Straw man
Correct answer: Bandwagon fallacy
The bandwagon fallacy (argumentum ad populum) assumes something is correct or good simply because many people do or believe it. Popularity is not evidence of correctness.
Question 4: In the sentence "The lecture, which was three hours long, covered several complex topics," the clause "which was three hours long" is:
- A restrictive relative clause
- A non-restrictive relative clause (Correct answer)
- An adverbial clause
- A noun clause
Correct answer: A non-restrictive relative clause
Non-restrictive relative clauses add extra information that is not essential to identifying the noun. They are set off by commas. Removing "which was three hours long" does not change the core meaning of the sentence.
Question 5: A passage argues that social media negatively affects academic performance. Which evidence would MOST strongly support this claim?
- An anecdote about one student who failed after using social media
- A peer-reviewed study showing a negative correlation between screen time and grades across 10,000 students (Correct answer)
- A tweet from a teacher expressing frustration about student phone use
- A news article stating that teenagers use social media daily
Correct answer: A peer-reviewed study showing a negative correlation between screen time and grades across 10,000 students
Strong academic evidence is peer-reviewed, uses large sample sizes, and establishes relevant correlations. The study with 10,000 students directly addresses the claim and meets these criteria.
Question 6: What is the function of an abstract in an academic research paper?
- To list all references used
- To provide a brief summary of the study's purpose, methods, findings, and conclusions (Correct answer)
- To introduce the background of the topic in detail
- To present the raw data collected
Correct answer: To provide a brief summary of the study's purpose, methods, findings, and conclusions
An abstract is a concise summary — typically 150–300 words — placed at the beginning of a research paper. It outlines the research question, methodology, results, and conclusion to help readers decide if the paper is relevant.
Free NBT Academic Literacy Questions and Answers 3
A student encounters the word "ameliorate" in a passage.
Based on the context sentence "The new policy was designed to ameliorate living conditions in low-income areas," what does "ameliorate" most likely mean?