Scientists Still Don't Know How or When the Grand Canyon Formed. New Research May Hint at Its Ancient Origins Researchers say the ancestral Colorado River formed an ancient lake in northern Arizona roughly 6.6 million years ago that spilled out westward onto the landscape that would eventually become the Grand Canyon

New evidence supports one of the theories of how the Grand Canyon was formed. But there's nothing conclusive to tell us which theory is correct yet. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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Is this a symptom of the demographic cliff? A result of the specific circumstances of one school? It's hard to know at this point, but the shuttering of Hampshire College is most certainly worth noting. It's also worth staying tuned to find the answers to these questions. #Admissions

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The Gunboat ‘Philadelphia’ Lasted One Day in Battle. It’s Still Telling Us About the Revolution 250 Years Later. The 29-ton ship went to war against the British, then sat at the bottom of Lake Champlain for 160 years. Now it’s a relic of ragged glory

As the Semiquicentennial approaches, we read about the gunboat Philadelphia. It reminds us of the remarkable effort required to secure independence. Read challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT #SmithsonianSunday

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How the Chocolate Bunny Became the Mouthwatering Mascot of Easter Sweets In the 19th century, chocolatiers crafted these tasty treats with “complexity and artistry,” says a food curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

They had me at "chocolate." The history of the chocolate bunny and its relationship to Easter is intriguing. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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Responding to grade inflation, Harvard has moved toward a cap on the percentage of A grades professors may assign. There's nuance to the policy beyond the headline. I urge everyone to read it all the way through. Gift article. #Harvard #GradeInflation #Admissions #Standards

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This High School Student Invented a Filter That Eliminates 96 Percent of Microplastics From Drinking Water Virginia teenager Mia Heller’s filtration system harnesses the power of ferrofluid, a magnetic oil that binds to microplastics in flowing water

In today's #SmithsonianSunday article, we read the story of a potential breakthrough for safer drinking water, made by a current high school student. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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Typos Have Plagued Us for Centuries. Just Ask the Publishers Who Printed the Seventh Commandment as 'Thou Shalt Commit Adultery' in 1631 A new exhibition at Yale Library explores the history of typos across five centuries. Visitors will see corrections that were listed inside copies of works by James Joyce, Upton Sinclair and Nicolaus Copernicus

For any of us who have made an embarrassing typo (and who hasn't?), an exhibit at the Yale Library offers some comfort. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #SmithsonianSunday #ReadingIsFundamental #TestPrep #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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The Hunt for Julius Caesar's Assassins Marked the Last Days of the Roman Republic A new page-turning history details the events that led to the deaths of many of the conspirators

This Ides of March, an exploration of the fighting that followed Caesar's assassination, ending the Roman Republic once and for all. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #SmithsonianSunday #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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Why Has Punch, an Adorable Baby Monkey, Struggled to Fit in With His Troop? Scientists Explain the Lives of Japanese Macaques Experts say the other monkeys' aggressive behaviors toward Punch are pretty normal

Who says that Long Island Test Prep can't meet the cultural moment? This week's #SmithsonianSunday gives scientific context to the viral story of Punch The Monkey. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT

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The Oldest State Park in America Is About to Expand Niagara Falls State Park in western New York is absorbing two neighboring parks, which will add more than 150 acres and new hiking trails to its bounds

National parks get press, but state parks, especially in my home state of New York, are often equally impressive. Niagara Falls state park is expanding! Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT
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Today, LSU announced a return to an SAT/ACT requirement for admissions for the Fall of 2028. Given the trend of the past couple of years, stay tuned for similar decisions from other schools over the next few months.

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Your Daily Coffee Might Be Protecting Your Brain From Dementia, a New Study Suggests Two to three caffeinated cups a day may help keep the cognitive condition away

Ignore the part at the end about living a healthy overall lifestyle; focus on the validation that my daily coffee may offer protection against dementia. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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Afghanistan Was a Crossroad of the Ancient World, Where Hellenistic Culture Blended With Buddhist Influences Alexander the Great conquered the region around 329 B.C.E., leaving behind Greek and Macedonian settlers who intermarried with locals. Their descendants eventually formed new kingdoms whose legacies continue to be debated today

Earlier interpretations tell us that Europe was the center of the ancient world. Today's #SmithsonianSunday article reminds us that it was likely quite a bit to the east. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental

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Evolving How We Deliver the LSAT to Increase Test Security and Test Taker Success | The Law School Admission Council

In an effort to combat cheating, or as #LSAC put it, "increase test security," the #LSAT will go to testing only at in-person testing centers beginning in August. Not all details are public yet, but those that are can be found in the linked article.

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See How Alex Honnold Climbed a Dizzying 1,667-Foot-Tall Skyscraper Without Ropes He became famous after scaling El Capitan without protective equipment in 2017. Now the 40-year-old athlete has completed the first free solo of Taipei 101 in Taiwan

For Super Bowl #SmithsonianSunday, we read about an athlete in a different sport: Climbing Really Tall Things That Nobody Should Ever Try To Climb. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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A Little Boy’s Library Book Was Due in 1989. Thirty-Six Years Later, He Realized His Parents Had Never Returned It After finding "Harry the Dirty Dog" at his dad's home in Greece, Dimitris Economou brought it back to the library in Virginia where his family had checked it out more than three decades earlier

On a cold day, a heart-warming story about a book's journey around the world and then home again. This title also helped begin my own reading journey. Read challenging and interesting materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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Calling all Word Nerds! The National Test Prep Association is once again offering the Jeanne Lucas Memorial Scholarship. Follow the link to fill out the application, and for the prompt for the required essay. Good luck to all! #NTPA #Admissions #Scholarships

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'Aha' Moments Seem to Come Out of Nowhere. How Does the Brain Create These Sudden Bursts of Insight? Neuroscientists are tracking the brain activity that underlies a cognitive breakthrough and unraveling how it might boost memory

Understanding how "Aha Moments" develop and endeavoring to foster them are important parts of #TestPrep. This week's #SmithsonianSunday article explores the science behind them. Read challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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New Tech Requirements – Bluebook | College Board

Given the electronic delivery of the #SAT, it's important to stay up to date on the technical requirements for the Bluebook software needed to access the exam. Minimum system software levels were bumped up this month for Windows, Mac, and iPadOS. #TestPrep #TechPrep #Collegeboard

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Hundreds of Mysterious Victorian-Era Shoes Are Washing Up on a Beach in Wales. Nobody Knows Where They Came From The leading theory is that the black leather boots, which were discovered by volunteers, were traveling on a cargo ship that sank nearby roughly 150 years ago

Shoes are washing up on a Welsh beach. What can they can tell us about history? That's still being sorted out. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for life and the exams. #SmithsonianSunday #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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In a change announced only after the administration of the first January LSATs, LSAC has clarified that Reading Comprehension will not always include comparative passages: students may see them, but they may only see single passages. Shame on LSAC. #LSAT #ForewarnedIsForearmed

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The Louvre Installs Metal Security Bars on Window Used During $102M Jewel Heist The Paris institution, the busiest museum in the world, is also making other security upgrades

They're closing the barn door, but the jewels have already bolted...
Responding to a shocking heist, the Louvre is upgrading security. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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About as long as an #SAT passage, this week's #SmithsonianSunday article gives a background of the technology behind the Times Square #NYE ball, from its beginnings to today. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental

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Celebrate Hanukkah the All-American Way With This Menorah In a tribute to liberty, Jewish immigrant Manfred Anson crafted a poignant masterpiece

This week, as Chanukah concludes, we look at a menorah that celebrates the theme of liberation in a way uniquely suited to the Jewish-American experience. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #FestivalOfLights

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University of Alabama System campuses announce major college admissions change The campus system made standardized tests optional in 2020.

Another domino tumbles...

The University of Alabama system, which already required tests for scholarship consideration, is returning to using them for admissions as well, beginning with the high school Class of 2028. #TestPrep #SAT #ACT #Admissions #TestRequired

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Excited to once again attend the National Test Prep Association Winter Workshop in San Diego! It's one of the best ways to learn from other leaders in the industry and stay current. Highlights so far include briefings from both College Board and ACT. #TestPrep #LifetimeLearning #NTPA #SAT #ACT #GRE

#SmithsonianSunday! This article details the extraordinary planning that went into staging this picture of a skydiver with the sun as the backdrop. Read interesting and challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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Opinion | The Early Decision Option Is a Racket. Shut It Down. Colleges should not be allowed to squeeze applicants in a vise.

While I’m hesitant regarding the author’s call for federal action, I’m in agreement on the broad strokes. Early Decision entails significant pitfalls. #admissions #earlydecision #FoodForThought

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A Historian Has Finally Uncovered the Identity of the Nazi Gunman in a Haunting Holocaust Photograph The 1941 image shows a Nazi soldier pointing a gun at the head of a man kneeling at the edge of a pit filled with bodies. With help from A.I., the gunman has been identified as 34-year-old Jakobus Onnen

This week, our #SmithsonianSunday article demonstrates the role A.I. played in uncovering information about the past, including one of the darkest moments in history. Read challenging materials to prepare for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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In Her 70s, Grandma Moses Began Painting Lovely Scenes of Rural Life. Then She Became an Icon A new Smithsonian retrospective explores the legacy of America’s beloved late bloomer, often underrated in art history

This week's #SmithsonianSunday article offers a reconsideration of Grandma Moses and her legacy as an artist. Read challenging and interesting materials to prepare yourself for the exams and life. #TestPrep #ReadingIsFundamental #SAT #ACT #GRE #LSAT

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