The correct answer is "and cheered at the end of the last day of school." It is logical that students would cheer when they are excited and the conjunction "and" is the appropriate one to use to join these two ideas.

Incorrect answers:

In the answer choice "but they went to the beach anyway," the conjunction "but" means there is a contrast (difference) between the first and second parts of the sentence. Being excited about summer and going to the beach are similar ideas and do not contradict each other, so this answer is not correct.

In the answer choice "so they appeared very disappointed," the conjunction "so" indicates that the first part of the sentence caused the second part. Feeling excited would not cause students to appear disappointed, so this answer choice is logically incorrect.

In the answer choice "so they wished that summer would end soon," the conjunction "so" indicates that the first part of the sentence caused the second part. Students who are excited about summer vacation would want it to last a long time and would not want summer to end soon, so this answer choice is logically incorrect.

This sentence completion contains the key word "but," so you know that the second part of the sentence should show a contrast (different meaning) to the first part. The correct answer should also be about the same topic as the first part of the sentence. The topic is the direction that orchestra conductors face, so the correct answer is "conductors of the seventeenth century faced their audience." This answer shows a contrast to modern conductors, who face the musicians.

Incorrect answers:

The answer choice "seventeenth century conductors did so as well" does not show a contrast, so it is logically incorrect.

The answer choice "conductors of the seventeenth century used larger batons" is incorrect because it does not relate to the topic of the first part of the sentence.

The answer choice "seventeenth century orchestras did not have conductors" shows a contrast between 17th century conductors and modern conductors, but it relates to a slightly different topic than the first half of the sentence.

We know that most NBA players go to college before becoming professionals, but the word "but" tells us that this was not true for the player in question. This implies that unlike the other athletes, this player did not attend college. The statement that he "became a professional directly out of high school" is the only one that makes sense here—the other statements state that he did go to college.

This is a long sentence, so let's try to put the information in order. "The usual strict format" tells us that previous journal assignments had rules that students had to follow. Maybe the teacher asked specific questions, or had a minimum number of sentences for the students to write. This time, though, the assignment is "open-ended," so the students can respond in whatever way they choose. If this makes John excited, he must like flexibility better than the rules from before. This would make sense if he had felt "constrained," or unpleasantly held back, by the "limitations," or rules.

The first sentence tells us that the third graders have historically been champions, but every student knows that this year is different. Since they are students, the third graders must also know that they are not going to win, or at the very least, that something has happened to make their victory less likely than it used to be. The only statement that supports this idea is the one saying that they "know they can't compete" with the first graders. The statement about the third grade's confidence is the opposite of the correct answer, and the final two choices have nothing to do with the information given.

We know that Avery is good at science, and we also know that something about the exam's treatment of biology made him happy. Since biology is a category of science (and since he presumably wants to do well), there must be a lot of biology on the test. "Focused heavily on" is therefore our answer. The other three choices all state the same thing—that the test didn't include a lot of biology, which doesn't make sense in this sentence.

Rose and her mother want to take this trip, but the key word "although" tells us that Rose's father has a different opinion. Rose's father, therefore, must have a negative opinion of either this road trip or travel in general. If he "enjoyed exploring new places" or "had loved to travel" for years, he probably would've wanted to go on this vacation as much as the other members of his family. Similarly, having extended family members in other states is a reason that would make the trip more appealing, or a neutral statement at the very least. The only answer that makes sense is that he "disliked traveling by car," which explains why he might not want to go on a road trip.

"Shallow" means not deep. The correct answer is that he wasn't able to submerge all the way under the water.

He wouldn't drown because the water was shallow.

He would not be able to float with his feet not touching the bottom in shallow water.

Huge fish wouldn't be able to swim in shallow water, so he wouldn't find one there.

He wouldn't try scuba diving in shallow water.

Here, the key word is "similarities." If Bradley is "astonished," or shocked, at the similarities between two things, the things in question must seem very different on the surface. Therefore, a choice like "his grandfather's childhood during the 1940s" is incorrect because this choice is too close in meaning to "the olden days"; finding similarities between the two would not surprise anyone. From this reasoning, we can deduce that the best choice would be related to modern life, as it would be the most likely to be compared with times of old. "His life during contemporary times" is the most relevant answer. "Contemporary" means modern, and it is certainly logical that Bradley might be surprised when finding that his grandfather and himself have some things in common.

What do we know about Mr. Garrett? Only one thing—that he is known to be a very slow grader. We can infer that Mr. Garrett is a teacher of some kind. We also know that we are looking for an answer choice that causes Ryan to become "astonished," or very surprised. The only event that might surprise Ryan is receiving his grade in less than a day, since he is expecting Mr. Garrett to take much longer. Of the other choices, one is completely unconnected (the teacher's sister becoming ill) and the other two are opposites (Mr. Garrett taking a long time to grade, which would not surprise Ryan in the slightest).