RCT Practice Passages and Questions
Key Takeaways
Practice with full-length passages under timed conditions to build test-day pacing skills.
After answering, always verify your choice against the passage text — even if you feel confident.
Track which question types you miss most often and focus practice on those categories.
Military and science passages are the most common on the OAR — read widely in both areas to build familiarity.
Review wrong answers to understand WHY the correct answer is better, not just WHAT the correct answer is.
The best way to improve your RCT performance is deliberate practice with realistic passages. Read each passage carefully, answer the questions, and then study the explanations — especially for questions you got wrong.
Practice Passage 1: Naval History
The Battle of Midway, fought in June 1942, is widely regarded as the turning point of the Pacific War. Just six months after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy achieved a decisive victory against the Imperial Japanese Navy, sinking four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing one of its own. The battle demonstrated that carrier-based aviation, not battleships, would determine the outcome of naval engagements.
American success at Midway was not merely a product of superior firepower. Intelligence played a crucial role. Navy codebreakers, working under Commander Joseph Rochefort at Station HYPO in Pearl Harbor, had partially broken the Japanese naval code JN-25. This intelligence allowed Admiral Chester Nimitz to position his numerically inferior force at precisely the right location to ambush the Japanese fleet. Without this advance knowledge, the battle's outcome might have been very different.
The strategic implications of Midway extended well beyond the immediate tactical victory. Japan lost four fleet carriers and hundreds of experienced aviators who could not easily be replaced. The battle effectively ended Japan's ability to conduct major offensive operations in the Pacific, shifting the initiative permanently to the United States and its allies. Historians have noted that while the war would continue for more than three years after Midway, Japan was thereafter fighting a predominantly defensive campaign.
Practice Passage 2: Marine Science
The ocean's thermohaline circulation, sometimes called the "global conveyor belt," is a system of deep ocean currents driven by differences in water temperature and salinity. In the North Atlantic, surface waters cooled by Arctic winds become denser and sink to great depths, forming North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). This cold, dense water then flows southward along the ocean floor, eventually rising in other ocean basins in a process that can take centuries to complete a full cycle.
The thermohaline circulation plays a vital role in regulating global climate by distributing heat from tropical regions toward the poles. The Gulf Stream, which carries warm water from the Gulf of Mexico northeastward across the Atlantic, is partly driven by this system. Without it, Western Europe would likely experience significantly colder winters, as the warm water that moderates its climate would no longer reach its shores.
Climate scientists have raised concerns that global warming could disrupt the thermohaline circulation. As Arctic ice melts and precipitation increases at high latitudes, large volumes of fresh water enter the North Atlantic. Because fresh water is less dense than salt water, this influx could prevent the surface water from sinking, potentially weakening or even shutting down the conveyor belt. While a complete shutdown is considered unlikely in the near term, even a partial weakening could have significant consequences for weather patterns across the Northern Hemisphere.
Based on Passage 1, what was the primary reason the U.S. Navy was able to position its forces effectively at Midway?
The U.S. had more aircraft carriers than Japan
Navy codebreakers had partially broken the Japanese naval code
The U.S. fleet had superior firepower
Japanese pilots were poorly trained
What can be inferred from Passage 1 about the relative size of the U.S. and Japanese fleets at Midway?
The U.S. fleet was larger than the Japanese fleet
The fleets were approximately equal in size
The Japanese fleet was larger than the U.S. fleet
The passage provides no information about fleet sizes
The author's purpose in writing Passage 1 is primarily to:
Argue that intelligence is more important than firepower in war
Describe the Battle of Midway and explain its significance as a turning point
Criticize the Japanese military strategy during World War II
Compare the U.S. and Japanese navies during World War II
According to Passage 2, what drives the thermohaline circulation?
Wind patterns and tidal forces
Differences in water temperature and salinity
The rotation of the Earth
Volcanic activity on the ocean floor
Based on Passage 2, how could global warming potentially affect the thermohaline circulation?
By increasing the salinity of the North Atlantic
By making surface water warmer and therefore more likely to sink
By adding fresh water that could prevent surface water from sinking
By increasing wind speeds that drive the circulation
The author's tone in the third paragraph of Passage 2 is best described as:
Alarmist and panicked
Dismissive and unconcerned
Cautiously concerned
Enthusiastically hopeful
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.