501 Informational Reading Questions
501 Informational Reading Questions
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5 0 1
I NFORMATIONAL
READING
QUESTIONS
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ISBN 9781611030822
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Introduction vii
1 U.S. History and Politics 1
2 Arts and Humanities 37
3 Health and Medicine 71
4 Literature and Literary Criticism 103
5 Music 147
6 Science and Nature 171
7 Sports and Leisure 209
8 Social Studies 245
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Introduction
Schools and employers know that students and workers who can analyze
informational reading passages and who can reason critically about what
they read are better students and more valuable employees. That is why
standardized tests almost invariably include a reading comprehension sec
tion that often includes informational reading passages.
This book is designed to help you be a more successful reader. You are
probably most interested in performing well on a standardized test such as
the SAT®, ACT®, or a vocational or professional exam. By reading and
working through 501 Informational Reading Questions you will become much
more proficient at answering the multiplechoice questions found on those
tests. The benefits you gain from this practice and from your conscious
attention to reasoning skills will extend far beyond any exam and into all
aspects of your life. Reading will become a much more rewarding and
enjoyable experience, and your life will be richer for it!
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lar to material you will face on your exam. However, it’s important that you
practice with all the passages, not just the ones in your areas of interest.
Sometimes unfamiliar subjects can teach you the most valuable lessons
about reading.
Each chapter contains short reading passages, similar to the ones found
on many exams, including the SAT.
History and politics are covered in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 passages focus
on the humanities—they are drawn from fields such as mythology, philos
ophy, and the arts. Chapter 3 has passages that deal with health and medi
cine. Chapter 4 draws passages from literature. Chapter 5 passages are
drawn from the field of music. Chapter 6 contains material on science and
nature. Chapter 7 covers sports and leisure. And finally, Chapter 8 passages
are based in the social sciences of anthropology and sociology.
STAY ACTIVE
The most important thing to know about reading is that it is an active
endeavor. Keep your mind active and on its analytical toes at all times.
Underline important points as you read, argue with the author, make
notes, and do whatever you need to stay involved with the passage.
Make sure you are thoroughly familiar with the following reading strate
gies. Then feel free to adapt them to suit your needs and preferences. One
word of caution, though: Be sure you actually try each strategy several times
before deciding whether or not it suits you!
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2. Try looking at the questions (but not the answers) before you read the
passage. Make sure you understand what each question is asking.
What are the key words in the questions? Are there phrases you
can look for in the passage? If so, underline them or jot them in
the margin so that you can look for them in the passage. Then,
when you find them, you can either answer the question right away
or mark the area to return to later.
3. After reading the passage, return to the questions and try to answer each
one in your own words before you look at your answer choices. The
reason for this is that the answers will contain distracter choices.
These are choices that are logically plausible but not correct, that
contain words and phrases found in the passage but are not
correct, or that are close to correct but wrong in some detail. If
you can formulate your own answer before looking at your choices,
you are less likely to be lured by an incorrect answer choice.
6. When you encounter a twopassage section, read the passages with their
relationship in mind. Are they opposed or in agreement? If there is
some other type of relationship, how would you describe it? If the
passages have opposing viewpoints, what are the points of
difference? You may want to make notes about these things in the
margin.
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Finally, as you work through these 501 questions, think of it as time spent
doing something for yourself. It is extremely important for you to improve
your reading skills, not only for standardized tests, but also for your success
throughout life!
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U.S. History
U.S. and
History
1
and Politics
(1) “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to
say what the law is,” stated Chief Justice John Marshall in a unanimous
opinion in the 1803 Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison. This
landmark case established the doctrine of judicial review, which gives
(5) the court the authority to declare executive actions and laws invalid if
they conflict with the U.S. Constitution. The court’s ruling on the
constitutionality of a law is nearly final—it can only be overcome by
a constitutional amendment or by a new ruling of the court. Through
the power of judicial review, the court shapes the development of law,
(10) assures individual rights, and maintains the Constitution as a “living”
document by applying its broad provisions to complex new situations.
Despite the court’s role in interpreting the Constitution, the doc
ument itself does not grant this authority to the court. However, it is
clear that several of the founding fathers expected the Court to act in
(15) this way. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison argued for the
importance of judicial review in the Federalist Papers, a series of 85
political essays that urged the adoption of the Constitution. Hamilton
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argued that judicial review protected the will of the people by making
the Constitution supreme over the legislature, which might only
(20) reflect the temporary will of the people. Madison wrote that if a pub
lic political process determined the constitutionality of laws, the Con
stitution would become fodder for political interests and partisanship.
However, the practice of judicial review was, and continues to be, a
controversial power because it gives justices—who are appointed
(25) rather than elected by the people—the authority to void legislation
made by Congress and state lawmakers.
1. The passage suggests that the practice of judicial review allows the
court to
a. wield enormous power.
b. determine foreign policy.
c. make laws that reflect the principles of the Constitution.
d. rewrite laws that are unconstitutional.
e. make amendments to the Constitution.
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In the following passage, the author gives an account of the development of the
Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 executive order
abolishing slavery in the Confederate States of America.
(1) Almost from the beginning of his administration, Lincoln was pres
sured by abolitionists and radical Republicans to issue an Emancipa
tion Proclamation. In principle, Lincoln approved, but he postponed
action against slavery until he believed he had wider support from the
(5) American public. The passage of the Second Confiscation Act by
Congress on July 17, 1862, which freed the slaves of everyone in rebel
lion against the government, provided the desired signal. Not only had
Congress relieved the Administration of considerable strain with its
limited initiative on emancipation, it demonstrated an increasing pub
(10) lic abhorrence toward slavery. Lincoln had already drafted what he
termed his “Preliminary Proclamation.” He read his initial draft of the
Emancipation Proclamation to Secretaries William H. Seward and
Gideon Welles on July 13, 1862. For a moment, both secretaries were
speechless. Quickly collecting his thoughts, Seward said something
(15) about anarchy in the South and possible foreign intervention, but with
Welles apparently too confused to respond, Lincoln let the matter
drop.
Nine days later, on July 22, Lincoln raised the issue in a regularly
scheduled Cabinet meeting. The reaction was mixed. Secretary of War
(20) Edwin M. Stanton, correctly interpreting the Proclamation as a mil
itary measure designed both to deprive the Confederacy of slave labor
and bring additional men into the Union Army, advocated its imme
diate release. Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase was equally sup
portive, but Montgomery Blair, the Postmaster General, foresaw
(25) defeat in the fall elections. Attorney General Edward Bates, a conser
vative, opposed civil and political equality for blacks but gave his qual
ified support. Fortunately, President Lincoln only wanted the advice
of his Cabinet on the style of the Proclamation, not its substance. The
course was set. The Cabinet meeting of September 22, 1862, resulted
(30) in the political and literary refinement of the July draft, and on Janu
ary 1, 1863, Lincoln composed the final Emancipation Proclamation.
It was the crowning achievement of his administration.
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way that will inform, amuse, provoke, poke, and persuade readers. Car
toons take on the principal issues and leaders of the day, skewering hyp
(5) ocritical or corrupt politicians and depicting the ridiculous, the ironic,
or the serious nature of a major event in a single, deftly drawn image.
Cartoons use few words, if any, to convey their message. Some use car
icature, a technique in which a cartoonist exaggerates the features of
well-known people to make fun of them. (Think of renderings of Bill
(10) Clinton with a nose redder than Rudolph’s and swollen out of propor
tion, or cartoons of George W. Bush’s exaggerated pointy visage sport
ing a ten-gallon cowboy hat.)
Because they have the ability to evoke an emotional response in
readers, political cartoons can serve as a vehicle for swaying public
(15) opinion and can contribute to reform. Thomas Nast (1840–1902), the
preeminent political cartoonist of the second half of the nineteenth
century, demonstrated the power of his medium when he used his art
to end the corrupt Boss Tweed Ring in New York City. His images,
first drawn for Harper’s Weekly, are still in currency today: Nast created
(20) the tiger as the symbol of Tammany Hall, the elephant for the Repub
lican Party, and the donkey for the Democratic Party. Created under
tight deadlines for ephemeral, commercial formats like newspapers
and magazines, cartoons still manage to have lasting influence.
Although they tackle the principal issues and leaders of their day, they
(25) often provide a vivid historical picture for generations to come.
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12. The author cites Thomas Nast’s depiction of an elephant for the
Republican Party (lines 20–21) as an example of
a. an image that is no longer recognized by the public.
b. the saying “the pen is mightier than the sword.”
c. art contributing to political reform.
d. a graphic image that became an enduring symbol.
e. the ephemeral naature of political cartooning.
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14. The author cites the example of Rosa Parks (lines 9–10) refusing to
relinquish her bus seat in order to
a. demonstrate the accidental nature of political change.
b. show a conventional response to a common situation.
c. describe a seminal event that influenced a larger movement.
d. portray an outcome instead of a cause.
e. give a detailed account of what life was like in Montgomery,
Alabama in 1955.
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19. The term second class citizenship (line 47) most nearly refers to
a. native or naturalized people who do not owe allegiance to a
government.
b. foreign-born people who wish to become a citizen of a new
country.
c. those who deny the rights and privileges of a free person.
d. having inferior status and rights in comparison to other citizens.
e. having inferior status and rights under a personal sovereign.
The following passage explores the role of Chinese Americans in the nineteenth
century westward expansion of the United States, specifically their influence on
the development of California.
(1) While the Chinese, in particular those working as sailors, knew the west
coast of North America before the Gold Rush, our story begins in 1850,
as the documentation from the Gold Rush provides the starting point
with which to build a more substantial narrative. Most Chinese immi
(5) grants entered California through the port of San Francisco. From San
Francisco and other ports, many sought their fortunes in other parts of
California. The Chinese formed part of the diverse gathering of peoples
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from throughout the world who contributed to the economic and pop
ulation explosion that characterized the early history of the state of Cal
(10) ifornia. The Chinese who emigrated to the United States at this time
were part of a larger exodus from southeast China searching for better
economic opportunities and fleeing a situation of political corruption and
decline. Most immigrants came from the Pearl River Delta in Guang
dong (Canton) Province.
(15) Chinese immigrants proved to be productive and resourceful con
tributors to a multitude of industries and businesses. The initial group
of Chinese argonauts sought their livelihood in the gold mines, call
ing California Gam Saan, Gold Mountain. For the mining industry,
they built many of the flumes and roads, allowing for easier access and
(20) processing of the minerals being extracted. Chinese immigrants faced
discrimination immediately upon arrival in California. In mining, they
were forced to work older claims, or to work for others. In the 1850s,
the United States Constitution reserved the right of naturalization for
white immigrants to this country. Thus, Chinese immigrants lived at
(25) the whim of local governments with some allowed to become natu
ralized citizens, but most not. Without this right, it was difficult to
pursue livelihoods. For example, Chinese immigrants were unable to
own land or file mining claims. Also in the 1850s, the California leg
islature passed a law taxing all foreign miners. Although stated in gen
(30) eral terms, it was enforced chiefly against the Mexicans and the
Chinese through 1870. This discrimination occurred in spite of the
fact that the Chinese often contributed the crucial labor necessary to
the mining enterprise.
Discriminatory legislation forced many Chinese out of the gold
(35) fields and into low-paying, menial, and often arduous jobs. In many
cases, they took on the most dangerous and least desirable compo
nents of work available. They worked on reclaiming marshes in the
Central Valley so that the land could become agriculturally produc
tive. They built the stone bridges and fences, constructed roads, and
(40) excavated storage areas for the wine industry in Napa and Sonoma
counties. The most impressive construction feat of Chinese Americans
was their work on the western section of the transcontinental railroad.
Chinese-American workers laid much of the tracks for the Central
Pacific Railroad through the foothills and over the high Sierra
(45) Nevada, much of which involved hazardous work with explosives to
tunnel through the hills. Their speed, dexterity, and outright perse
verance, often in brutally cold temperatures and heavy snow through
two record-breaking winters, is a testimony to their outstanding
achievements and contributions to opening up the West.
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21. The first paragraph (lines 1–14) of the passage serves what
function in the development of the passage?
a. provides an expert’s opinion to support the author’s thesis
b. introduces the topic by describing general patterns
c. compares common myths with historical facts
d. draws a conclusion about the impact of Chinese immigration on
the state of California
e. condemns outdated concepts
22. Which of the following best describes the approach of the passage?
a. theoretical analysis
b. historical overview
c. dramatic narrative
d. personal assessment
e. description through metaphor
24. The author cites the United States Constitution (lines 23–24) in
order to
a. praise the liberties afforded by the Bill of Rights.
b. show that the government valued the contributions of its
immigrants.
c. imply that all American citizens are equal under the law.
d. emphasize the importance of a system of checks and balances.
e. suggest that it did not protect Chinese immigrants from
discrimination.
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(1) The mounting conflict between the colonies and England in the 1760s
and 1770s reinforced a growing conviction that Americans should be
less dependent on their mother country for manufactures. Spinning
bees and bounties encouraged the manufacture of homespun cloth as
(5) a substitute for English imports. But manufacturing of cloth outside
the household was associated with relief of the poor. In Boston and
Philadelphia, Houses of Industry employed poor families at spinning
for their daily bread.
Such practices made many pre-Revolutionary Americans dubious
(10) about manufacturing. After independence there were a number of
unsuccessful attempts to establish textile factories. Americans needed
access to the British industrial innovations, but England had passed laws
forbidding the export of machinery or the emigration of those who
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31. The first paragraph (lines 1–8) of the passage implies that early
American manufacturing was
a. entirely beneficial.
b. politically and economically necessary.
c. symbolically undemocratic.
d. environmentally destructive.
e. spiritually corrosive.
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34. The author implies that the catalyst (line 26) behind the spread of
American textile mills in the early 1800s was
a. Slater’s invention of a water-powered spinning machine.
b. the decline in the ideal of the self-sufficient American farm
family.
c. the expertise of the workforce trained in Slater’s prototype mill.
d. an increased willingness to employ child laborers.
e. the support of British manufacturers who owned stock in
American mills.
The following passage describes the Great Depression and the relief policies
introduced under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that aimed to mitigate
the effects of the crisis.
(1) The worst and longest economic crisis in the modern industrial world,
the Great Depression in the United States had devastating conse
quences for American society. At its lowest depth (1932–33), more
than 16 million people were unemployed, more than 5,000 banks had
(5) closed, and over 85,000 businesses had failed. Millions of Americans
lost their jobs, their savings, and even their homes. The homeless built
shacks for temporary shelter—these emerging shantytowns were nick
named “Hoovervilles,” a bitter homage to President Herbert Hoover,
who refused to give government assistance to the jobless. Farmers
(10) were hit especially hard. A severe drought coupled with the economic
crisis ruined small farms throughout the Great Plains as productive
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farmland turned to dust and crop prices dropped by 50%. The effects
of the American depression—severe unemployment rates and a sharp
drop in the production and sales of goods—could also be felt abroad,
(15) where many European nations were still struggling to recover from
World War I.
Although the stock market crash of 1929 marked the onset of the
depression, it was not the cause of it: Deep underlying fissures already
existed in the economy of America’s Roaring Twenties. For example,
(20) the tariff and war-debt policies after World War I contributed to the
instability of the banking system. American banks made loans to Euro
pean countries following World War I. However, the United States
kept high tariffs on goods imported from other nations. These poli
cies worked against one another: If other countries could not sell
(25) goods in the United States, they could not make enough money to pay
back their loans or to buy American goods.
And while the United States seemed to be enjoying a prosperous
period in the 1920s, the wealth was not evenly distributed. Businesses
made gains in productivity, but only one segment of the population—
(30) the wealthy—reaped large profits. Workers received only a small share
of the wealth they helped produce. At the same time, Americans spent
more than they earned. Advertising encouraged Americans to buy
cars, radios, and household appliances instead of saving or purchasing
only what they could afford. Easy credit polices allowed consumers to
(35) borrow money and accumulate debt. Investors also wildly speculated
on the stock market, often borrowing money on credit to buy shares
of a company. Stocks increased beyond their worth, but investors were
willing to pay inflated prices because they believed stocks would con
tinue to rise. This bubble burst in the fall of 1929, when investors lost
(40) confidence that stock prices would keep rising. As investors sold off
stocks, the market spiraled downward. The stock market crash
affected the economy in the same way that a stressful event can affect
the human body, lowering its resistance to infection.
The ensuing depression led to the election of President Franklin D.
(45) Roosevelt in 1932. Roosevelt introduced relief measures that would
revive the economy and bring needed relief to Americans who were
suffering the effects of the depression. In his first hundred days in
office, Roosevelt and Congress passed major legislation that saved
banks from closing and regained public confidence. These measures,
(50) called the New Deal, included the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which
paid farmers to slow their production in order to stabilize food prices;
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insured bank
deposits in the case that banks fail; and the Securities and Exchange
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37. The author’s main point about the Great Depression is that
a. government policies had nothing to do with it.
b. the government immediately stepped in with assistance for the
jobless and homeless.
c. underlying problems in the economy preceded it.
d. the New Deal policies introduced by Franklin D. Roosevelt
ended it.
e. its effects were severe but not far-reaching.
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41. The term policies as it is used in lines 23–24 most nearly means
a. theories.
b. practices.
c. laws.
d. examples.
e. problems.
42. The passage suggests that the 1920s was a decade that extolled the
value of
a. thrift.
b. prudence.
c. balance.
d. tranquility.
e. extravagance.
42. The example of the human body as a metaphor for the economy
(lines 41–43) suggests that
a. a stressful event like the stock market crash of 1929 probably
made a lot of people sick.
b. the crash weakened the economy’s ability to withstand other
pressures.
c. the crash was an untreatable disease.
d. a single event caused the collapse of the economy.
e. there is no way to “diagnose” the factors that led to the
depression.
44. The content of the last paragraph of the passage (lines 44–59)
would most likely support which of the following statements?
a. The New Deal policies were not radical enough in challenging
capitalism.
b. The economic policies of the New Deal brought about a com
plete business recovery.
c. The Agricultural Adjustment Act paid farmers to produce sur
plus crops.
d. The federal government became more involved in caring for
needy members of society.
e. The New Deal measures went too far in turning the country
toward socialism.
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In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson sent Army Officers Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark on an expedition to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase
and beyond and to look for a waterway that would connect the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans. This passage describes the collision of cultures that occurred
between Native Americans and the representatives of the United States
government.
(1) When Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark into the West, he pat
terned their mission on the methods of Enlightenment science: to
observe, collect, document, and classify. Such strategies were already
in place for the epic voyages made by explorers like Cook and Van
(5) couver. Like their contemporaries, Lewis and Clark were more than
representatives of European rationalism. They also represented a ris
ing American empire, one built on aggressive territorial expansion and
commercial gain.
But there was another view of the West: that of the native inhabi
(10) tants of the land. Their understandings of landscapes, peoples, and
resources formed both a contrast and counterpoint to those of Jeffer
son’s travelers. One of Lewis and Clark’s missions was to open diplo
matic relations between the United States and the Native American
nations of the West. As Jefferson told Lewis, “it will now be proper
(15) you should inform those through whose country you will pass . . .
that henceforth we become their fathers and friends.” When Euro-
Americans and Native Americans met, they used ancient diplomatic
protocols that included formal language, ceremonial gifts, and displays
of military power. But behind these symbols and rituals there were
(20) often very different ways of understanding power and authority. Such
differences sometimes made communication across the cultural divide
difficult and open to confusion and misunderstanding.
An important organizing principle in Euro-American society was
hierarchy. Both soldiers and civilians had complex gradations of rank
(25) to define who gave orders and who obeyed. While kinship was impor
tant in the Euro-American world, it was even more fundamental in
tribal societies. Everyone’s power and place depended on a complex
network of real and symbolic relationships. When the two groups
met—whether for trade or diplomacy—each tried to reshape the other
(30) in their own image. Lewis and Clark sought to impose their own
notions of hierarchy on Native Americans by “making chiefs” with
medals, printed certificates, and gifts. Native people tried to impose
the obligations of kinship on the visitors by means of adoption cere
monies, shared names, and ritual gifts.
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(35) The American republic began to issue peace medals during the first
Washington administration, continuing a tradition established by the
European nations. Lewis and Clark brought at least 89 medals in five
sizes in order to designate five “ranks” of chief. In the eyes of Ameri
cans, Native Americans who accepted such medals were also acknowl
(40) edging American sovereignty as “children” of a new “great father.”
And in a moment of imperial bravado, Lewis hung a peace medal
around the neck of a Piegan Blackfeet warrior killed by the expedition
in late July 1806. As Lewis later explained, he used a peace medal as a
way to let the Blackfeet know “who we were.”
(45) In tribal society, kinship was like a legal system—people depended
on relatives to protect them from crime, war, and misfortune. People
with no kin were outside of society and its rules. To adopt Lewis and
Clark into tribal society, the Plains Indians used a pipe ceremony. The
ritual of smoking and sharing the pipe was at the heart of much Native
(50) American diplomacy. With the pipe the captains accepted sacred obli
gations to share wealth, aid in war, and revenge injustice. At the end
of the ceremony, the pipe was presented to them so they would never
forget their obligations.
Gift-giving was an essential part of diplomacy. To Native Ameri
(55) cans, gifts proved the giver’s sincerity and honored the tribe. To Lewis
and Clark, some gifts advertised the technological superiority and oth
ers encouraged the Native Americans to adopt an agrarian lifestyle.
Like salesmen handing out free samples, Lewis and Clark packed bales
of manufactured goods to open diplomatic relations with Native
(60) American tribes. Jefferson advised Lewis to give out corn mills to
introduce the Native Americans to mechanized agriculture as part of
his plan to “civilize and instruct” them. Clark believed the mills were
“verry Thankfully recived,” but by the next year the Mandan had
demolished theirs to use the metal for weapons.
45. The goals of the Lewis and Clark expedition include all of the
following purposes EXCEPT to
a. expand scientific knowledge.
b. strengthen American claims to western territory.
c. overcome Native American resistance with military force.
d. introduce native inhabitants to the ways of Euro-American
culture.
e. make peaceful contact with native inhabitants.
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52. The author uses the image of salesmen handing out free samples (lines
57–58) in order to
a. depict Lewis and Clark as entrepreneurs.
b. illustrate the generosity Lewis and Clark showed the tribal
people they met.
c. suggest that Lewis and Clark hoped to personally profit from
their travels.
d. imply that everyone likes to get something for free.
e. show the promotional intent behind the explorers’ gift-giving.
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PASSAGE 1
(1) First let me speak of the constitution of the United States, and assert
that there is not a line in it, nor a word, forbidding women to vote; but,
properly interpreted, that is, interpreted by the Declaration of Inde
pendence, and by the assertions of the Fathers, it actually guarantees
(5) to women the right to vote in all elections, both state and national.
Listen to the preamble to the constitution, and the preamble you
know, is the key to what follows; it is the concrete, general statement
of the great principles which subsequent articles express in detail. The
preamble says: “We, The People of the United States, in order to form
(10) a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain
and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Commit this to memory, friends; learn it by heart as well as by head,
(15) and I should have no need to argue the question before you of my
right to vote. For women are “people” surely, and desire, as much as
men, to say the least, to establish justice and to insure domestic tran
quility; and, brothers, you will never insure domestic tranquility in the
days to come unless you allow women to vote, who pay taxes and bear
(20) equally with yourselves all the burdens of society; for they do not
mean any longer to submit patiently and quietly to such injustice, and
the sooner men understand this and graciously submit to become the
political equals of their mothers, wives, and daughters—aye, of their
grandmothers, for that is my category, instead of their political mas
(25) ters, as they now are, the sooner will this precious domestic tranquil
ity be insured. Women are surely “people,” I said, and were when
these words were written, and were as anxious as men to establish jus
tice and promote the general welfare, and no one will have the hardi
hood to deny that our foremothers (have we not talked about our
(30) forefathers alone long enough?) did their full share in the work of
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PASSAGE 2
(1) This proposed amendment forbids the United States or any State to
deny or abridge the right to vote on account of sex. If adopted, it will
make several millions of female voters, totally inexperienced in politi
cal affairs, quite generally dependent upon the other sex, all incapable
(5) of performing military duty and without the power to enforce the laws
which their numerical strength may enable them to make, and com
paratively very few of whom wish to assume the irksome and respon
sible political duties which this measure thrusts upon them.
An experiment so novel, a change so great, should only be made
(10) slowly and in response to a general public demand, of the existence of
which there is no evidence before your committee. Petitions from var
ious parts of the country, containing by estimate about 30,000 names,
have been presented to Congress asking for this legislation. They were
procured through the efforts of woman-suffrage societies, thoroughly
(15) organized, with active and zealous managers. The ease with which sig
natures may be procured to any petition is well known. The small num
ber of petitioners, when compared with that of the intelligent women
in the country, is striking evidence that there exists among them no
general desire to take up the heavy burden of governing, which so
(20) many men seek to evade. It would be unjust, unwise, and impolitic to
impose that burden on the great mass of women throughout the coun
try who do not wish for it, to gratify the comparatively few who do.
It has been strongly urged that without the right of suffrage women
are and will be subjected to great oppression and injustice. But every
(25) one who has examined the subject at all knows that without female suf
frage, legislation for years has improved and is still improving the con
dition of women. The disabilities imposed upon her by the common
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law have, one by one, been swept away until in most of the States she
has the full right to her property and all, or nearly all the rights which
(30) can be granted without impairing or destroying the marriage relation.
These changes have been wrought by the spirit of the age, and are not,
generally at least, the result of any agitation by women in their own
behalf.
Nor can women justly complain of any partiality in the adminis
(35) tration of justice. They have the sympathy of judges and particularly
of juries to an extent which would warrant loud complaint on the part
of their adversaries of the sterner sex. Their appeals to legislatures
against injustice are never unheeded, and there is no doubt that when
any considerable part of the women of any State really wish for the
(40) right to vote it will be granted without the intervention of Congress.
Any State may grant the right of suffrage to women. Some of them
have done so to a limited extent, and perhaps with good results. It is
evident that in some States public opinion is much more strongly in
favor of it than it is in others. Your committee regards it as unwise and
(45) inexpedient to enable three-fourths in number of the States, through
an amendment to the National Constitution, to force woman suffrage
upon the other fourth in which the public opinion of both sexes may
be strongly adverse to such a change.
For these reasons, your committee reports back said resolution with
(50) a recommendation that it be indefinitely postponed.
56. The phrase learn it by heart as well as by head in line Passage 1, line
14 suggests
a. an emotional and intellectual response.
b. rote memorization.
c. learning from experience rather than books.
d. accepting an argument on faith.
e. presupposition of an outcome.
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64. The two authors would most likely agree with which statement?
a. Most women do not desire the right to vote.
b. Women are not meant to be soldiers.
c. Voting is more of a burden than a privilege.
d. American society is ready for female voters.
e. Men and women should be political equals.
65. The approaches of the two passages to the topic differ in that only
Passage 1
a. describes an incident from the author’s personal experience.
b. gives a point and argues its counterpoint.
c. cites several specific examples of laws that benefit women.
d. addresses its audience in the second person.
e. recommends an action to be taken.
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68. Which of the following words best fits in the blank in paragraph
one of the passage?
a. dramatic
b. modest
c. undignified
d. rewarding
e. raucous
Answers
1. a. The fact that judicial review can override decisions made by the
legislative and executive branches implies that it gives the court
great authority.
2. c. To maintain the “life” of the Constitution, the court applies its
broad provisions to complex new situations (line 11) that arise in cur
rent law.
3. c. To declare means to make known formally or officially. To pro
claim is its synonym, with a slightly different connotation. It
implies declaring clearly, forcefully, and authoritatively.
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Arts and
2
Humanities
The following paragraph details the design of New York City’s Central Park.
(1) Although it is called Central Park, New York City’s great green space
has no “center”—no formal walkway down the middle of the park, no
central monument or body of water, no single orienting feature. The
paths wind, the landscape constantly shifts and changes, the sections
(5) spill into one another in a seemingly random manner. But this “decen
tering” was precisely the intent of the park’s innovative design. Made to
look as natural as possible, Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1858 plan for Cen
tral Park had as its main goal the creation of a democratic playground—
a place with many centers to reflect the multiplicity of its uses and users.
(10) Olmsted designed the park to allow interaction among the various
members of society, without giving preference to one group or class.
Thus, Olmsted’s ideal of a “commonplace civilization” could be realized.
69. In lines 3–5, the author describes specific park features in order to
a. present both sides of an argument.
b. suggest the organization of the rest of the passage.
c. provide evidence that the park has no center.
d. demonstrate how large the park is.
e. show how well the author knows the park.
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In this excerpt from Book One of his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle expands his
definitions of “good” and “happiness.”
(1) Good things are commonly divided into three classes: (1) external
goods, (2) goods of the soul, and (3) goods of the body. Of these, we
call the goods pertaining to the soul goods in the highest and fullest
sense. But in speaking of “soul,” we refer to our soul’s actions and
(5) activities. Thus, our definition [of good] tallies with this opinion which
has been current for a long time and to which philosophers subscribe.
We are also right in defining the end as consisting of actions and activ
ities; for in this way the end is included among the goods of the soul
and not among external goods.
(10) Also the view that a happy man lives well and fares well fits in with
our definition: for we have all but defined happiness as a kind of good
life and wellbeing.
Moreover, the characteristics which one looks for in happiness are
all included in our definition. For some people think that happiness is
(15) a virtue, others that it is practical wisdom, others that it is some kind
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73. According to the passage, the greatest goods are those that
a. are theoretical.
b. are spiritual.
c. are intellectual.
d. create happiness.
e. create prosperity.
(1) If you have ever made a list of pros and cons to help you make a deci
sion, you have used the utilitarian method of moral reasoning. One of
the main ethical theories, utilitarianism posits that the key to deciding
what makes an act morally right or wrong is its consequences.
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(5) Whether our intentions are good or bad is irrelevant; what matters is
whether the result of our actions is good or bad. To utilitarians, hap
piness is the ultimate goal of human beings and the highest moral
good. Thus, if there is great unhappiness because of an act, then that
action can be said to be morally wrong. If, on the other hand, there is
(10) great happiness because of an action, then that act can be said to be
morally right.
Utilitarians believe that we should carefully weigh the potential
consequences of an action before we take it. Will the act lead to things
that will make us, or others, happy? Will it make us, or others,
(15) unhappy? According to utilitarians, we should choose to do that which
creates the greatest amount of good (happiness) for the greatest num
ber of people. This can be difficult to determine, though, because
sometimes an act can create shortterm happiness but misery in the
long term. Another problematic aspect of utilitarianism is that it
(20) deems it acceptable—indeed, even necessary—to use another person
as a means to an end and sacrifice the happiness of one or a few for the
happiness of many.
77. In lines 1–2, the author refers to a list of pros and cons in order to
a. show that there are both positive and negative aspects of
utilitarianism.
b. suggest that making a list of pros and cons is not an effective
way to make a decision.
c. emphasize that utilitarians consider both the good and the bad
before making a decision.
d. indicate that readers will learn how to make decisions using
pro/con lists.
e. show readers that they are probably already familiar with the
principles of utilitarian reasoning.
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(1) I have said that all branches of knowledge are connected together,
because the subjectmatter of knowledge is intimately united in itself
[ . . . ]. Hence it is that the Sciences, into which our knowledge may
be said to be cast, have multiple bearings on one another, and an inter
(5) nal sympathy, and admit, or rather demand, comparison and adjust
ment. They complete, correct, and balance each other. This
consideration, if wellfounded, must be taken into account, not only
as regards the attainment of truth, which is their common end, but as
regards the influence which they excise upon those whose education
(10) consists in the study of them. I have already said, that to give undue
prominence to one is to be unjust to another; to neglect or supersede
these is to divert those from their proper object. It is to unsettle the
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82. The main idea of the first paragraph (lines 1–18) is that
a. each science should be studied independently.
b. the sciences are interrelated.
c. the boundary lines between each of the sciences should be
clearer.
d. some sciences are unduly given more emphasis than others at
the university level.
e. it is difficult to attain a proper balance among the sciences.
85. By using the word safeguard in line 18, the author suggests that
a. it is dangerous to limit one’s education to one field or area of
specialization.
b. it is not safe to study the sciences.
c. the more one knows, the safer one will feel.
d. one should choose a second area of specialization as a backup in
case the first does not work out.
e. each science has its own specific safety guidelines.
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88. Which of the following best describes the author’s idea of a liberal
education?
a. indepth specialization in one area
b. free education for all
c. a broad scope of knowledge in several disciplines
d. training for a scientific career
e. an emphasis on the arts rather than the sciences
In this passage, the author discusses the problem of maintaining privacy in our
hightech society.
(1) A recent New York Times “House and Home” article featured the story
of a man who lives in a glass house. Every wall in his home is trans
parent; he has no walls to hide behind, not even in the bathroom. Of
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94. The passage suggests that all of the following contribute to the
erosion of privacy EXCEPT
a. increased use of credit cards for purchases.
b. buying and selling of electronic profiles.
c. increasingly discreet surveillance equipment.
d. lack of controls over information exchange.
e. easy access to electronic information in cyberspace.
97. Based on the passage, it can be inferred that the author would
support which of the following?
a. widespread construction of glass houses
b. stricter sentencing for perpetrators of fraud
c. greater flexibility in loan approval criteria
d. stricter regulations for information gathering and exchange
e. modeling prisons after Bentham’s panopticon
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(40) Sorrow, Villainy, Misfortune, and Plague. At the bottom of the jar was
Hope, but Pandora closed the lid before Hope could escape.
Prometheus drew Zeus’s greatest wrath when he refused to tell Zeus
which of Zeus’s sons would kill him and take over the throne. Believ
ing he could torture Prometheus into revealing the secret, Zeus bound
(45) Prometheus to a rock where every day an eagle would come to tear at
his flesh and eat his liver, which would regenerate each night. But
Prometheus refused to reveal his knowledge of the future to Zeus and
maintained his silence. Eventually, Prometheus was released by Her
acles (also known as Hercules), the last mortal son of Zeus and the
(50) strongest of all mortals. Soon afterwards, Prometheus received
immortality from a dying centaur, to take his place forever among the
great gods of Olympus.
98. The main idea of the first paragraph (lines 1–6) is that Prometheus
a. is disrespectful of authority.
b. is the mythological creator of humans.
c. has many admirable characteristics.
d. should not have been so fond of humans.
e. is a fascinating character because of his complexity.
100. Based on this passage, it can be inferred that Zeus disliked humans
because
a. Prometheus spent too much time with them.
b. Prometheus cared for humans more than he did for Zeus.
c. humans could not be trusted.
d. humans did not respect Zeus.
e. he did not create them.
101. Zeus becomes angry at Prometheus for all of the following EXCEPT
a. creating man.
b. giving man fire.
c. being excessively fond of humans.
d. refusing to reveal which of his sons would kill him.
e. tricking him into taking the undesirable part of an ox.
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104. The fact that Zeus included Hope in Pandora’s jar (lines 38–41)
suggests that
a. Zeus really did love humans as much as Prometheus did.
b. while Zeus was a vengeful god, he did not wish humans to live
in utter despair.
c. Zeus was just playing a trick on humans.
d. Zeus was trying to make amends with Prometheus.
e. Zeus wanted to drive Prometheus away from humans.
105. The content and style of this passage suggest that the intended
audience
a. are experts on Greek mythology.
b. are religious officials.
c. is a general lay audience.
d. are family members and friends.
e. is a scholarly review board.
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lasting impact on the world around us. One such example is the Pre
Raphaelite Brotherhood.
In the mid1800s, the art world in England was rattled by the ini
tials PRB. The PRB (or PreRaphaelite Brotherhood) was founded by
(10) William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, and Dante Gabriel Ros
setti. These three burgeoning artists (the oldest of whom was 21) and
their disdain for the artistic conventions of the time would have a dra
matic influence on the art world for generations to come.
The PRB was formed in response to the brotherhood’s belief that
(15) the current popular art being produced in England was lacking in
meaning and aesthetic honesty. During the era leading up to the PRB,
the Royal Academy dominated British art. The Royal Academy advo
cated a style that was typically staid and relied heavily upon the use of
dark amber and brown tones to depict overly idealized landscapes,
(20) carefully arranged family portraits and still lifes, and overly dramatic
nature scenes such as a boat caught in stormy seas. By contrast, the
PRB believed that art should present subjects that, by their very
nature, had greater meaning and more accurately depicted reality. The
PRB was committed to bringing greater integrity to art and even went
(25) so far as to publish The Germ, a journal that extolled the virtues of the
PRB’s aesthetic principles.
To develop subjects with greater meaning, the PRB initially turned
to ancient myths and stories from the Bible. Many of the PRB’s bib
lically themed paintings portrayed the religious figures as regular peo
(30) ple. This departure from the convention of the time is notable in John
Everett Millais’s Christ in the Home of his Parents. In this painting, Jesus
is portrayed as a young boy in his father’s carpentry shop. Everyone in
the painting, including Christ himself, looks like a common person of
that time period, complete with dirty feet and hands. This realism—
(35) especially as it related to the Biblical figures—was not well received by
many in the art world at the time. Later works done by fellow PRB
members, and those inspired by them, utilized themes from poetry, lit
erature, and medieval tales, often with the aim of highlighting the
societal and moral challenges of the time.
(40) With the goal of bringing greater honesty to their work, the PRB
ignored the convention of painting an imagined or remembered land
scape or background. Instead, PRB members would hunt (sometimes
for weeks) for locations to incorporate into their paintings and then
paint them in exacting detail.
(45) One of the most distinctive aspects of PRB works—both in contrast
to the works produced during the early nineteenth century and with
the art of today—is their dramatic use of color. By committing them
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107. In the opening paragraph (lines 1–7), the author characterizes the
PRB as all of the following EXCEPT
a. young.
b. revolutionary.
c. rebellious.
d. antiwar.
e. passionate.
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109. The PRB believed artists should do all of the following EXCEPT
a. paint meaningful subjects.
b. paint existing rather than imagined landscapes.
c. use vibrant colors.
d. choose subjects that address social issues.
e. portray people and nature in an idealized manner.
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In the following passage, the author tells of public art and its functions.
(1) In Manhattan’s Eighth Avenue/Fourteenth Street subway station, a
grinning bronze alligator with human hands pops out of a manhole
cover to grab a bronze “baby” whose head is the shape of a moneybag.
In the Bronx General Post Office, a giant 13panel painting called
(5) Resources of America celebrates the hard work and industrialism of
America in the first half of the twentieth century. And in Brooklyn’s
MetroTech Center just over the Brooklyn Bridge, several installations
of art are on view at any given time—from an iron lasso resembling a
giant charm bracelet to a series of wagons that play recordings of great
(10) American poems to a lifesized Seeing Eye® dog that looks so real
people are constantly stopping to pet it.
There exists in every city a symbiotic relationship between the city
and its art. When we hear the term art, we tend to think of private
art—the kind displayed in private spaces such as museums, concert
(15) halls, and galleries. But there is a growing interest in, and respect for,
public art: the kind of art created for and displayed in public spaces
such as parks, building lobbies, and sidewalks.
Although all art is inherently public—created in order to convey an
idea or emotion to others—“public art,” as opposed to art that is
(20) sequestered in museums and galleries, is art specifically designed for
a public arena where the art will be encountered by people in their
normal daytoday activities. Public art can be purely ornamental or
highly functional; it can be as subtle as a decorative doorknob or as
conspicuous as the Chicago Picasso. It is also an essential element of
(25) effective urban design.
The more obvious forms of public art include monuments, sculp
tures, fountains, murals, and gardens. But public art also takes the
form of ornamental benches or streetlights, decorative manhole cov
ers, and mosaics on trash bins. Many city dwellers would be surprised
(30) to discover just how much public art is really around them and how
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much art they have passed by without noticing, and how much impact
public art has on their daytoday lives.
Public art fulfills several functions essential to the health of a city
and its citizens. It educates about history and culture—of the artist, the
(35) neighborhood, the city, the nation. Public art is also a “placemaking
device” that instantly creates memorable, experiential landmarks, fash
ioning a unique identity for a public place, personalizing it and giving
it a specific character. It stimulates the public, challenging viewers to
interpret the art and arousing their emotions, and it promotes com
(40) munity by stimulating interaction among viewers. In serving these
multiple and important functions, public art beautifies the area and
regenerates both the place and the viewer.
One question often debated in public art forums is whether public
art should be created with or by the public rather than for the public.
(45) Increasingly, cities and artists are recognizing the importance of creat
ing works with meaning for the intended audience, and this generally
requires direct input from the community or from an artist entrenched
in that community. At the same time, however, art created for the com
munity by an “outsider” often adds fresh perspective. Thus, cities and
(50) their citizens are best served by a combination of public art created by
members of the community, art created with input from members of
the community, and art created by others for the community.
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118. The use of the word sequestered in line 20 suggests that the author
feels
a. private art is better than public art.
b. private art is too isolated from the public.
c. the admission fees for public art arenas prevent many people
from experiencing the art.
d. private art is more difficult to understand than public art.
e. private art is often controversial in nature.
119. According to lines 33–42, public art serves all of the following
functions EXCEPT
a. beautification.
b. creation of landmarks.
c. the fostering of community.
d. the promotion of good citizenship.
e. education.
120. Which sentence best sums up the main idea of the passage?
a. Public art serves several important functions in the city.
b. Public art is often in direct competition with private art.
c. Public art should be created both by and for members of the
community.
d. In general, public art is more interesting than private art.
e. Few people are aware of how much public art is around them.
121. The author’s goals in this passage include all of the following
EXCEPT
a. to make readers more aware of the public art works.
b. to explain the difference between public art and private art.
c. to explain how public art impacts the city.
d. to inspire readers to become public artists.
e. to argue that public art should be created by artists from both
inside and outside the community.
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122. Which of the following does the author NOT provide in this
passage?
a. an explanation of how the city affects art
b. specific examples of urban art
c. a reason why outsiders should create public art
d. a clear distinction between public and private art
e. an explanation of how public art regenerates the community
123. Given the author’s main purpose, which of the following would
most strengthen the passage?
a. a more detailed discussion of the differences between public and
private art
b. specific examples of art that fulfills each of the functions dis
cussed in paragraph 5 (lines 33–42)
c. interviews with public artists about how public art should be
created
d. a specific example of public art created by a community mem
ber versus one created by an outsider to expand paragraph 6
(lines 43–52)
e. a brief lesson in how to interpret art
(1) The English language premiere of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for
Godot took place in London in August 1955. Godot is an avantgarde
play with only five characters (not including Mr. Godot, who never
arrives) and a minimal setting: one rock and one bare tree. The play
(5) has two acts; the second act repeats what little action occurs in the first
with few changes: the tree, for instance, acquires one leaf. In a state
ment that was to become famous, the critic Vivian Mercer has
described Godot as “a play in which nothing happens twice.” Opening
night, critics and playgoers greeted the play with bafflement and deri
(10) sion. The line “Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes. It’s
awful,” was met by a loud rejoinder of “Hear! Hear!” from an audience
member. __________________________________. However, Harold
Hobson’s review in The Sunday Times managed to recognize the play
for what history has proven it to be, a revolutionary moment in the
(15) ater.
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125. Which sentence, if inserted in the blank space, would make the
best sense in the context of the passage?
a. The director, Peter Hall, had to beg the theater management
not to close the play immediately but to wait for the Sunday
reviews.
b. Despite the audience reaction, the cast and director believed in
the play.
c. It looked as if Waiting for Godot was beginning a long run as the
most controversial play of London’s 1955 season.
d. Waiting for Godot was in danger of closing the first week of its
run and of becoming nothing more than a footnote in the
annals of the English stage.
e. Waiting for Godot quickly became a forgotten and unremarkable
dramatic footnote.
126. Which of the following provides the best definition of the term
“avantgarde” as the author intends it in the passage?
a. innovative
b. unintelligible
c. foreign
d. highbrow
e. expected
127. Which of the following best describes the attitude of the author of
the passage toward the play Waiting for Godot?
a. It was a curiosity in theater history.
b. It is the most important play of the 20th century.
c. It is too repetitious.
d. It represents a turning point in stage history.
e. It was a trivial event in theater history.
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William Shakespeare
(1) For a man who has been called the greatest writer in the English lan
guage, astonishingly little is known about William Shakespeare. We
do know that from about 1590 to 1613, Shakespeare wrote thirtysix
plays. These include the great tragedies, such as Hamlet, Macbeth, and
(5) Romeo and Juliet. They also include the comedies, such as A Midsum
mer Night’s Dream. He also wrote histories, such as Henry V. Among
his later plays are the romances, including The Tempest, The Winter’s
Tale, and Cymbeline. We also know that Shakespeare was an actor and
a businessman. He was part owner of The Chamberlain’s Men, a
(10) group of actors who performed at the Globe Theater in London.
Shakespeare was born in April, 1564, in StratforduponAvon, War
wickshire, about one hundred miles northwest of London. According
to the records of Stratford’s Holy Trinity Church, he was baptized on
April 26. As with most sixteenthcentury births, the actual day is not
(15) recorded. William was the family’s third child and the first son.
Shakespeare’s father John made leather gloves and when Shake
speare was a child, his business prospered. He did so well, in fact, that
he was considered a “gentleman,” a title of respect in those days.
There is no record that Shakespeare attended school, but as the son
(20) of a successful merchant, he would have been allowed free tuition at
the local grammar school. Thus, we can take for granted that he
received an education. A great deal was demanded from students in
Shakespeare’s day. Grammar school began at dawn and continued for
most of the day, six days a week. After they learned their alphabet and
(25) Latin, students read the works of challenging Latin writers, including
Virgil, Ovid, Horace, and Seneca. No one knows how long Shake
speare studied at the Stratford Grammar School. It seems likely that
he was apprenticed to his father’s business in the usual way, perhaps
some time around 1577 when John Shakespeare’s fortunes took a turn
(30) for the worse.
Because William did not go to a university, he would not have been
considered an educated man of the same rank as the writer Ben Jon
son, who, at the time, was more famous than Shakespeare. Jonson was
quite contemptuous of what he perceived as Shakespeare’s educational
(35) deficiencies: “He [Shakespeare] has small Latin and less Greek,” he
sniffed. By our modern standards, of course, Shakespeare was very
welleducated. Jonson was probably a little jealous because so many
people flocked to see Shakespeare’s plays!
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130. Readers can conclude that little is known about Shakespeare’s life
because
a. no one saved documents during that time.
b. almost no documents were created in the 1600s.
c. he deliberately kept the facts of his life a secret.
d. few documents or descriptions of his life survive.
e. his personal life was too mundane to remember.
132. What fact BEST proves that Shakespeare had many talents?
a. “The first . . . evidence of Shakespeare’s rise to prominence in
the London theater appeared in 1592.”
b. “English drama came of age during the reign of Elizabeth I,
developing into a . . . very popular art form.”
c. “In 1599, he became part owner in the most prestigious public
theater in London, the Globe.”
d. “It appears that Shakespeare did a great deal of writing as well
as acting during this time.”
e. From 1594–1599, they had become the most popular acting
company in London.
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Answers
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104. b. The inclusion of Hope in the jar suggests that Zeus had some
pity on mankind and that he wanted to send something to help
humans battle the numerous evils he unleashed upon them.
105. c. The style is neither formal nor informal but an easygoing in
between to make the material easily understood and interesting
to a lay audience. In addition, the passage does not take for
granted that the reader knows basic information about mythol
ogy. For example, line 9 states that Zeus was the great ruler of
Olympian gods.
106. d. The members of the PRB were young artists who suddenly
found themselves leading a rebellion that had a dramatic influ
ence on the art world for generations to come (lines 12–13). The
concluding paragraph repeats this idea, stating that these three
young men had a tremendous influence on an entire generation of
artists (lines 58–59). Because upstart precedes young, we can infer
that these men, like the leaders of other rebellions, were sud
denly thrown into the spotlight, raised to a high (albeit contro
versial) position in the art world.
107. d. The author cites the PRB as an example of a rebellion led by
young activists (line 5) and states that the PRB had a dramatic
influence on the art world because of their disdain for the artistic
conventions of the time (line 12). This suggests that their ideas
about art were revolutionary, creating a significant and lasting
change in the art world. That they were passionate about their
beliefs is clear from the fact that they felt strongly enough to
form an association and lead a rebellion.
108. b. Line 11 states that the oldest PRB member was only 21 years
old, so it is clear that the members were young and still devel
oping their skills as artists.
109. e. In the third paragraph (lines 14–26), the author states that the
PRB believed their peers’ art lack[ed] in meaning and aesthetic
honesty because it often depicted overly idealized landscapes, care
fully arranged family portraits and still lifes, and overly dramatic
nature scenes. In contrast, the PRB believed art should more accu
rately depic[t] reality and portray people, places, and things realis
tically instead of in an idealized way.
110. a. Lines 34–36 state that the PRB’s realism—especially as it related to
the Biblical figures—was not well received by many in the art world
at the time.
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111. c. Lines 14–16 state that the PRB was formed in response to the
brotherhood’s belief that the current popular art being produced in
England was lacking in meaning and aesthetic honesty. In addition,
line 24 states that the PRB was committed to bringing greater
integrity to art, suggesting that their peers’ work did not have
integrity.
112. e. The topic sentence of the sixth paragraph states that one of the
most distinctive aspects of PRB works—both in contrast to the works
produced during the early nineteenth century and with the art of
today—is their dramatic use of color (lines 45–47).
113. b. Throughout the passage, the author describes the principles of
the PRB—why the group was formed (paragraphs 2 and 3) and
how the group attempted to live up to its principles (paragraphs
4–6). There is little or no information offered about the other
answer choices.
114. a. In the third paragraph, the author states that the PRB rejected
the style and subjects of the Royal Academy, seeking instead
subjects that, by their very nature, had greater meaning and more
accurately depicted reality (lines 22–23). In paragraph 4, the
author describes how the PRB chose its subjects and aimed to
portray people more realistically, thus implying that the mem
bers of the PRB had a greater awareness of social issues. In
addition, in lines 38–39, the author states that the PRB often
chose subjects that highlight[ed] the societal and moral challenges of
the time.
115. e. The three examples in the first paragraph show that there is a
wide range of styles of public art in New York City and that
public art can be found in a variety of places, including more
mundane locations such as the subway and post office.
116. a. Inherently is an adverb that describes the essential nature of
something. The context clue to answer this question is found
in the same sentence. All art is inherently public because it is cre
ated in order to convey an idea or emotion to others. The author is
saying that an essential characteristic of art is that it is created
for others.
117. b. Line 16 defines public art as the kind of art created for and dis
played in public spaces, and lines 20–22 state that public art is
specifically designed for a public arena where the art will be encoun
tered by people in their normal daytoday activities. This is in con
trast to private art, which is less accessible because it is kept in
specific, nonpublic places such as museums and galleries.
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128. b. This is a belief that cannot be proven with facts. Some people
might argue that Jonathan Swift or Samuel Johnson were far
better writers than Shakespeare.
129. a. The boys first studied the “alphabet and Latin,” progressing to
classic Latin writing.
130. d. You can conclude from the second paragraph that there is an
actual record of Shakespeare’s baptism. You can conclude from
the last paragraph that a record of his death survives. Putting
together this information, you can conclude that although a few
documents about his life do exist, not many have survived.
131. b. The information is arranged in time order, starting with Shake
speare’s birth and progressing to his death.
132. d. This statement includes both of his primary talents—writing
and acting.
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Health and
3
Medicine
The following passage is an excerpt from the National Institutes of Health that
describes the effects and potential consequences of sleep deprivation.
(1) Experts say that if you feel drowsy during the day, even during boring
activities, you haven’t had enough sleep. If you routinely fall asleep
within five minutes of lying down, you probably have severe sleep dep
rivation, possibly even a sleep disorder. Microsleeps, or very brief
(5) episodes of sleep in an otherwise awake person, are another mark of
sleep deprivation. In many cases, people are not aware that they are
experiencing microsleeps. The widespread practice of “burning the
candle at both ends” in Western industrialized societies has created so
much sleep deprivation that what is really abnormal sleepiness is now
(10) almost the norm.
Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.
Sleepdeprived people who are tested by using a driving simulator or
by performing a handeye coordination task perform as badly as or
worse than those who are intoxicated. Sleep deprivation also magni
(15) fies alcohol’s effects on the body, so a fatigued person who drinks will
become much more impaired than someone who is well rested. Dri
ver fatigue is responsible for an estimated 100,000 motor vehicle acci
dents and 1,500 deaths each year, according to the National Highway
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133. The passage suggests that falling asleep during a morning class
a. means that the topic does not interest you.
b. is a symptom of sleep deprivation.
c. indicates that you should drink a caffeinated beverage at
breakfast.
d. means that you have a sleep disorder.
e. requires a visit to the doctor.
134. The image of burning the candle at both ends (lines 7–8) most nearly
refers to
a. an unrelenting schedule that affords little rest.
b. an ardent desire to achieve.
c. the unavoidable conflagration that occurs when two forces
oppose each other.
d. a latent period before a conflict or collapse.
e. a state of extreme agitation.
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The following passage discusses the findings of several recent health surveys
investigating the physical activity level of American adolescents.
(1) Almost 50% of American teens are not vigorously active on a regular
basis, contributing to a trend of sluggishness among Americans of all
ages, according the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Ado
lescent female students are particularly inactive—29% are inactive
(5) compared with 15% of male students. Unfortunately, the sedentary
habits of young “couch potatoes” often continue into adulthood.
According to the Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and
Health, Americans become increasingly less active with each year of
age. Inactivity can be a serious health risk factor, setting the stage
(10) for obesity and associated chronic illnesses like heart disease or dia
betes. The benefits of exercise include building bone, muscle, and
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141. The first paragraph (lines 1–13) of the passage serves all of the
following purposes EXCEPT to
a. provide statistical information to support the claim that
teenagers do not exercise enough.
b. list longterm health risks associated with lack of exercise.
c. express skepticism that teenagers can change their exercise
habits.
d. show a correlation between inactive teenagers and inactive
adults.
e. highlight some health benefits of exercise.
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The following passage discusses the inspiration and career of the first woman
to receive an M.D. degree from an American medical school in the nineteenth
century.
(1) Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to receive an M.D. degree
since the Renaissance, graduating from Geneva Medical College, in
New York state, in 1849. She supported women’s medical education
and helped many other women’s careers. By establishing the New York
(5) Infirmary in 1857, she offered a practical solution to one of the prob
lems facing women who were rejected from internships elsewhere but
determined to expand their skills as physicians. She also published sev
eral important books on the issue of women in medicine, including
Address on the Medical Education of Women in 1864 and Medicine as a
(10) Profession for Women in 1860.
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in Bristol, England in 1821, to Han
nah Lane and Samuel Blackwell. Both for financial reasons and
because her father wanted to help abolish slavery, the family moved to
America when Elizabeth was eleven years old. Her father died in 1838.
(15) As adults, his children campaigned for women’s rights and supported
the antislavery movement. In her book Pioneer Work in Opening the
Medical Profession to Women, published in 1895, Dr. Blackwell wrote
that she was initially repelled by the idea of studying medicine. She
said she had “hated everything connected with the body, and could not
(20) bear the sight of a medical book . . . My favorite studies were history
and metaphysics, and the very thought of dwelling on the physical
structure of the body and its various ailments filled me with disgust.”
Instead she went into teaching, then considered more suitable for a
woman. She claimed that she turned to medicine after a close friend
(25) who was dying suggested she would have been spared her worst suf
fering if her physician had been a woman.
Blackwell had no idea how to become a physician, so she consulted
with several physicians known by her family. They told her it was a
fine idea, but impossible; it was too expensive, and such education was
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(30) not available to women. Yet Blackwell reasoned that if the idea were
a good one, there must be some way to do it, and she was attracted by
the challenge. She convinced two physician friends to let her read
medicine with them for a year, and applied to all the medical schools
in New York and Philadelphia. She also applied to twelve more
(35) schools in the northeast states and was accepted by Geneva Medical
College in 1847. The faculty, assuming that the allmale student body
would never agree to a woman joining their ranks, allowed them to
vote on her admission. As a joke, they voted “yes,” and she gained
admittance, despite the reluctance of most students and faculty.
(40) Two years later, in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first
woman to receive an M.D. degree from an American medical school.
She worked in clinics in London and Paris for two years, and studied
midwifery at La Maternité where she contracted “purulent opthalmia”
from a young patient. When Blackwell lost sight in one eye, she
(45) returned to New York City in 1851, giving up her dream of becom
ing a surgeon.
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell established a practice in New York City, but
had few patients and few opportunities for intellectual exchange with
other physicians and “the means of increasing medical knowledge
(50) which dispensary practice affords.” She applied for a job as physician
at the women’s department of a large city dispensary, but was refused.
In 1853, with the help of friends, she opened her own dispensary in a
single rented room, seeing patients three afternoons a week. The dis
pensary was incorporated in 1854 and moved to a small house she
(55) bought on 15th Street. Her sister, Dr. Emily Blackwell, joined her in
1856 and, together with Dr. Marie Zakrzewska, they opened the New
York Infirmary for Women and Children at 64 Bleecker Street in
1857. This institution and its medical college for women (opened
1867) provided training and experience for women doctors and med
(60) ical care for the poor.
As her health declined, Blackwell gave up the practice of medicine
in the late 1870s, though she still campaigned for reform.
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151. The passage implies that Blackwell’s attitude toward studying and
practicing medicine changed from
a. tenacious to wavering.
b. uninterested to resolute.
c. cynical to committed.
d. idealized to realistic.
e. theoretical to practical.
(1) No single issue has preoccupied the Surgeons General of the past four
decades more than smoking. The reports of the Surgeon General have
alerted the nation to the health risk of smoking, and have transformed
the issue from one of individual and consumer choice, to one of epi
(5) demiology, public health, and risk for smokers and nonsmokers alike.
Debate over the hazards and benefits of smoking has divided physi
cians, scientists, governments, smokers, and nonsmokers since
Tobacco nicotiana was first imported to Europe from its native soil in the
Americas in the sixteenth century. A dramatic increase in cigarette
(10) smoking in the United States in the twentieth century called forth
antismoking movements. Reformers, hygienists, and public health
officials argued that smoking brought about general malaise, physio
logical malfunction, and a decline in mental and physical efficiency.
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155. The first sentence of the second paragraph (lines 6–9) is intended
to express the
a. longstanding controversy about the effects of smoking.
b. current consensus of the medical community regarding
smoking.
c. government’s interest in improving public health.
d. ongoing colloquy between physicians, scientists, and
governments.
e. causal relationship between smoking and lung disease.
156. The author implies that the impulse (line 27) to create a
government report on smoking
a. was an overdue response to public demand.
b. would not have been pursued if John F. Kennedy was not
president.
c. came from within the U.S. Public Health Service.
d. would meet with significant opposition from smokers around
the country.
e. was the result of pressure from forces outside of the government.
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159. The statement that the 1964 Surgeon General’s report remained
silent on concrete remedies (line 76) implies that it
a. served primarily as a manifesto that declared the views of the
Surgeon General.
b. could have recommended banning cigarette advertising but it
did not.
c. was ignorant of possible remedial actions.
d. maintained its objectivity by abstaining from making policy
recommendations.
e. did not deem it necessary to recommend specific actions that
would confront the health problem of smoking.
160. In the last paragraph of the passage, the attitude of the author
toward the legacy of the 1964 Surgeon General’s report is one of
a. unqualified praise.
b. appreciation.
c. wonderment.
d. cynicism.
e. disillusionment.
These two passages reflect two different views of the value of cosmetic
plastic surgery. Passage 1 is an account by a physician who has practiced
internal medicine (general medicine) for more than two decades and who has
encountered numerous patients inquiring about cosmetic plastic surgery
procedures. Passage 2 is written by a professional woman in her midforties
who has considered cosmetic plastic surgery for herself.
PASSAGE 1
(1) Elective and cosmetic plastic surgery is one of the fastest growing seg
ments of healthcare, second only to geriatric care. As the “baby
boomers” (those born between 1945 and 1965) age, more Americans
are seeking cosmetic procedures that minimize the visible signs of
(5) aging. The demand for selfimprovement has increased as the job
market has become more competitive and a high divorce rate spurs the
search for new personal relationships. Increased discretionary wealth
and a wider acceptance of cosmetic techniques have also contributed
to the spike in cosmetic surgery.
(10) In the 2000s, I was just beginning as an internist, working in a pri
vate practice. Then in my late twenties, I felt pity for my patients who
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PASSAGE 2
(1) Beauty is only skin deep, or so goes the old adage. However, in a cul
ture increasingly fixated on youthfulness and saturated with media
images of “ideal”looking men and women, cosmetic plastic surgery
seems like the norm instead of the exception. Over 6.6 million Amer
(5) icans opted for cosmetic surgery in 2016, with women accounting for
85% of cosmeticsurgery patients, according to the American Society
of Plastic Surgeons. Once the province of older women, cosmetic sur
gery is increasingly an option for 35 to 50yearolds, who make up
45% of cosmeticsurgery patients.
(10) Coming of age in the 1990s, I grew up believing in the spirit of
feminism, a ready warrior for equal rights for women in the home and
workplace. I believed that women should be valued for who they are
and what they do, and not for how they look. But as I approach my
midforties, I look in the mirror and wonder about the reflection I
(15) see. Although I adhere to a healthy lifestyle, eat well, exercise regu
larly, and feel energetic, the reality is that I am beginning to look,
well, middleaged.
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163. In the second paragraph of Passage 1 (lines 10–21), how would the
author characterize the motivation of cosmetic plastic surgeons?
a. altruistic
b. professional
c. creative
d. thrilling
e. greedy
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166. The author of Passage 2 implies that feminists of the 1970s held
which of the following beliefs?
a. All women should have the right to safe, affordable cosmetic
surgery.
b. Looks should not be a factor in determining a person’s worth.
c. Cosmetic surgery is a beneficial tool in that it increases a
woman’s selfesteem.
d. To be fair, men should be judged by their looks, too.
e. Women should do whatever is necessary to compete in the job
market.
168. The two authors would most likely agree with which statement?
a. Cosmetic surgery takes away individuality.
b. Ideals of beauty are not culturally informed.
c. Plastic surgeons prey off of vulnerable patients.
d. American society is highly competitive.
e. The benefits of plastic surgery outweigh the risks.
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169. The approaches of the two passages to the topic are similar in that
they both use
a. firstperson experiences.
b. secondperson address to the reader.
c. references to other sources on the subject.
d. a summary of types of plastic surgery.
e. statistics on patient satisfaction.
(1) Once people wore garlic around their necks to ward off disease. Today,
most Americans would scoff at the idea of wearing a necklace of garlic
cloves to enhance their wellbeing. However, you might find a number
of Americans willing to ingest capsules of pulverized garlic or other
(5) herbal supplements in the name of health.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), which includes a
range of practices outside of conventional medicine such as herbs,
homeopathy, massage, yoga, and acupuncture, holds increasing
appeal for Americans. In fact, according to one estimate, 42% of
(10) Americans have used alternative therapies. A Harvard Medical School
survey found that young adults (those born between 1965 and 1979)
are the most likely to use alternative treatments, whereas people born
before 1945 are the least likely to use these therapies. Nonetheless, in
all age groups, the use of unconventional healthcare practices has
(15) steadily increased since the 1950s, and the trend is likely to continue.
CAM has become a big business as Americans dip into their wallets
to pay for alternative treatments. A recent American Medical Associ
ation study estimated that the public spent $21.2 billion for alterna
tive medicine therapies in that year, more than half of which were
(20) “outofpocket” expenditures, meaning they were not covered by
health insurance. Indeed, Americans made more outofpocket
expenditures for alternative services than they did for outofpocket
payments for hospital stays in 2016. In addition, the number of total
visits to alternative medicine providers (about 629 million) exceeded
(25) the tally of visits to primary care physicians (386 million) in that year.
However, the public has not abandoned conventional medicine for
alternative healthcare. Most Americans seek out alternative therapies
as a complement to their conventional healthcare whereas only a small
percentage of Americans rely primarily on alternative care. Why have
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173. The author most likely uses the Harvard survey results (lines
10–13) to imply that
a. as people age they always become more conservative.
b. people born before 1945 view alternative therapies with disdain.
c. the survey did not question baby boomers (those born between
1945–1965) on the topic.
d. many young adults are openminded to alternative therapies.
e. the use of alternative therapies will decline as those born
between 1965 and 1979 age.
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177. The author suggests that cross[ing] the line into mainstream medicine
(lines 36–37) involves
a. performing stringently controlled research on alternative
therapies.
b. accepting the spiritual dimension of preventing and treating
illness.
c. approving of any treatments that a patient is interested in
trying.
d. recognizing the popularity of alternative therapies.
e. notifying your physician about herbs or alternative therapies
you are using.
178. In lines 49–54, the author refers to garlic use again in order to
a. cite an example of the fraudulent claims of herbal supplements.
b. suggest that claims about some herbs may be legitimate.
c. mock people who take garlic capsules.
d. reason why some Americans are drawn to alternative health
methods.
e. argue that observational studies provide enough evidence.
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(50) and nuts are beneficial to the heart and may deserve a larger propor
tion in the American diet than their place at the tip of the food pyra
mid indicates. Likewise, some carbohydrates that form the basis of the
food pyramid, like the “refined” carbohydrates contained in white
bread, pasta, and white rice, are metabolized in the body much the
(55) same way sweets are. According to one Harvard Medical School
researcher, a breakfast of a bagel with lowfat cream cheese is “meta
bolically indistinguishable from a bowl of sugar.”
So what about those highfat, protein diets that restrict carbohy
drates like the popular Atkins diet and others? A small group of nutri
(60) tion experts within the medical establishment find it hard to ignore the
anecdotal evidence that many lose weight successfully on these diets.
They are arguing that those diets should not be dismissed out of hand,
but researched and tested more closely. Still others fear that Ameri
cans, hungry to find a weightloss regimen, may embrace a diet that
(65) has no longterm data about whether it works or is safe. What is clear
is that Americans are awaiting answers and in the meantime, we need
to eat something.
181. The author’s attitude toward the medical experts who ridiculed low
carbohydrate diets as quackery and praised lowfat diets is one of
a. bemused agreement.
b. seeming ambivalence.
c. unconcerned apathy.
d. implicit objection.
e. shocked disbelief.
182. The term gospel (line 8) as it is used in the passage most nearly
means
a. one of the first four New Testament books.
b. a proven principle.
c. a message accepted as truth.
d. American evangelical music.
e. a singular interpretation.
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183. The author uses the word Fact (line 14) in order to
a. draw a conclusion about the USDA’s dietary recommendations.
b. imply that statistical information can be misleading.
c. hypothesize about the health effects of highfat, protein diets.
d. introduce a theory about the increased rate of obesity.
e. emphasize a statistical reality regardless of its cause.
184. The passage suggests that the obesity trend in the United States is
a. partly a result of inactive lifestyles.
b. the predictable outcome of cutting down on saturated fat.
c. a cyclical event that happens every twenty years.
d. unrelated to a rise in diabetes cases.
e. the unfortunate byproduct of the effort to reduce heart disease.
185. In lines 26–31, the author implies that the government’s 1979
food guidelines
a. relied more on folk wisdom than on scientific study.
b. were based on the theoretical premise that eating less dietary fat
reduces heart disease.
c. were negligent in not responding to the increasing incidence of
heart disease.
d. no longer bothered to mention nutrient objectives.
e. were successful in reducing heart disease rates.
186. The author characterizes the antifat message of the last twenty years
(line 48) as
a. elusive.
b. questionable.
c. incoherent.
d. beneficial.
e. inventive.
187. The author cites the example of a breakfast of a bagel with lowfat
cream cheese in order to
a. show that getting a nutritional breakfast can be fast and
convenient.
b. demonstrate that carbohydrates are the ideal nutrient.
c. overturn the notion that a carbohydratebased breakfast is
necessarily healthy.
d. persuade readers that they should eat eggs and sausage for breakfast.
e. argue that Americans should greatly restrict their carbohydrate
intake.
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188. The author of the passage would most likely agree with which
statement?
a. The federal government knowingly gave the public misleading
advice.
b. Soaring obesity rates are most certainly a result of lowfat diets.
c. Nutritionists should promote highfat, protein diets like the
Atkins diet.
d. Scientists should investigate every fad diet with equal scrutiny.
e. There is no definitive evidence connecting dietary fat to heart
disease.
189. The tone of the last sentence of the passage (lines 65–67) is
one of
a. optimism.
b. resolve.
c. indulgence.
d. irony.
e. revulsion.
(1) The human body can tolerate only a small range of temperature, espe
cially when the person is engaged in vigorous activity. Heat reactions
usually occur when large amounts of water and/or salt are lost through
excessive sweating following strenuous exercise. When the body
(5) becomes overheated and cannot eliminate this excess heat, heat exhaus
tion and heat stroke are possible.
Heat exhaustion is generally characterized by clammy skin, fatigue,
nausea, dizziness, profuse perspiration, and sometimes fainting, result
ing from an inadequate intake of water and the loss of fluids. First aid
(10) treatment for this condition includes having the victim lie down, raising
the feet 812 inches, applying cool, wet cloths to the skin, and giving the
victim sips of salt water (1 teaspoon per glass, half a glass every 15 min
utes), over the period of an hour.
Heat stroke is much more serious; it is an immediately lifethreaten
(15) ing situation. The characteristics of heat stroke are a high body temper
ature (which may reach 106°F or more); a rapid pulse; hot, dry skin; and
a blocked sweating mechanism. Victims of this condition may be uncon
scious, and first aid measures should be directed at cooling the body
quickly. The victim should be placed in a tub of cold water or repeatedly
(20) sponged with cool water until his or her temperature is lowered suffi
ciently. Fans or air conditioners will also help with the cooling process.
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Care should be taken, however, not to overchill the victim once the tem
perature is below 102°F.
(1) A healthy diet with proper nutrition is essential for maintaining good
overall health. Since vitamins were discovered earlier in this century, peo
ple have routinely been taking vitamin supplements for this purpose. The
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is a frequently used nutritional
(5) standard for maintaining optimal health. The RDA specifies the recom
mended amount of a number of nutrients for people in many different
age and sex groups. The National Research Council’s Committee on
Diet and Health has proposed a definition of the RDA to be that amount
of a nutrient which meets the needs of 98% of the population.
(10) The RDA approach ____________________________. First, it is
based on the assumption that it is possible to accurately define nutritional
requirements for a given group. However, individual nutritional
requirements can vary widely within each group. The efficiency with
which a person converts food intake into nutrients can also vary widely.
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(15 Certain foods when eaten in combination actually prevent the absorption
of nutrients. For example, spinach combined with milk reduces the
amount of calcium available to the body from the milk. Also, the RDA
approach specifies a different dietary requirement for each age and sex;
(20) however, it is clearly unrealistic to expect a homemaker to prepare a dif
ferent menu for each family member. Still, although we cannot rely
solely upon RDA to ensure our overall longterm health, it can be a use
ful guide so long as its limitations are recognized.
193. Which of the following would best fit in the blank in the first
sentence of paragraph 2?
a. is based on studies by respected nutritionists
b. has a number of shortcomings
c. has been debunked in the last few years
d. is full of holes
e. is undeniably infallible
194. With which of the following would the author most likely agree?
a. The RDA approach should be replaced by a more realistic nutri
tional guide.
b. The RDA approach should be supplemented with more specific
nutritional guides.
c. In spite of its flaws, the RDA approach is definitely the best guide
to good nutrition.
d. The RDA approach is most suitable for a large family.
e. It would be best if the RDA approach never existed.
Answers
133. b. The passage states that daytime drowsiness, even during boring
activities (lines 1–2), is a sign that a person is not getting enough
sleep.
134. a. This image connotes a state of working hard without adequate
rest.
135. e. The passage claims that lack of sleep magnifies alcohol’s effects on the
body (lines 14–15), implying that it hampers a person’s ability to
function.
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136. d. The first paragraph of this short passage deals with the symptoms
of sleep deprivation and the second paragraph discusses the dan
gers of not getting enough sleep. Choices b and e are too specific
to be the passage’s primary purpose. Choices a and c are not sup
ported by the passage.
137. d. Although he was a man of no formal scientific education (line 2),
Leeuwenhoek demonstrated, in his own words, a craving after
knowledge, which I notice resides in me more than in most other men
(lines 24–26), and was the first to describe microorganisms. The
phrase stumbled upon in choice a is too accidental to describe
Leeuwenhoek’s perseverance. The words proficient and entertain
ment in choice c do not accurately describe Leeuwenhoek’s skill
and drive depicted in the passage. Choices b and e are incorrect;
Leeuwenhoek was not trained nor did he know that his discover
ies would later help to cure disease.
138. c. Inspired means to exert an animating or enlivening influence on. In
the context of the passage, Leeuwenhoek’s creation of microscope
lenses were influenced by the lenses used by drapers.
139. a. The quotation highlights the value Leeuwenhoek placed on shar
ing his discoveries with other scientists. He states that he thought it
was my duty to put down my discovery on paper, so that all ingenious
people might be informed thereof (lines 27–28).
140. b. The tone of the passage is positive. However, ecstatic reverence
(choice a) is too positive and tepid approval (choice c) is not
positive enough.
141. c. Nowhere in the passage does the author speculate about whether
teenagers can change their exercise habits.
142. c. One meaning of sedentary is settled; another meaning is doing or
requiring much sitting. Stationary, defined as fixed in a course or
mode, is closest in meaning.
143. e. The last sentence illustrates factors that motivate teenagers to
exercise by using the results of a national survey to provide spe
cific examples.
144. d. The passage promotes change in teenagers’ exercise habits by
emphasizing the benefits of exercise, the moderate amount of
exercise needed to achieve benefits, and some factors that may
encourage teenagers to exercise.
145. c. The focus of the passage is Blackwell’s efforts to open the profes
sion of medicine to women. Lines 3–4 state that Blackwell sup
ported women’s medical education and helped many other women’s
careers.
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146. a. In this context, the word practical refers to the solution’s utility as
opposed to its theoretical or ideal premise.
147. b. The author suggests that Samuel Blackwell’s belief in slaves’ rights
influenced Elizabeth’s struggle for greater rights for women.
148. e. Blackwell wrote that the study of medicne filled me with disgust
(line 22).
149. b. Although Blackwell did overcome her revulsion of the body, pro
vide healthcare to the poor, and establish a medical college for
women, she did not choose medicine for these reasons according
to the passage. Blackwell was told her goal was impossible (line 29),
too expensive (line 29), and that medical education was not available
to women (line 30).
150. e. The Geneva Medical College student body voted “yes” on Black
well’s admittance as a joke (line 38).
151. b. Initially Blackwell was interested in teaching (line 23). Subse
quently, she was attracted by the challenge (lines 31–32) and deter
mined to succeed in studying and practicing medicine.
152. b. The question calls for an opinion. The passage does not speculate
about what degree of women’s success can be attributed to Black
well’s influence.
153. d. Choices a, b, and e are too specific to be the primary purpose of
the passage, whereas choice c is too general. The passage focuses
on the importance of the first official report (line 27) to name
smoking a serious health hazard.
154. c. One meaning of preoccupied is lost in thought; another is engaged
or engrossed. In this case, absorbed is nearest in meaning.
155. a. The debate over the hazards and benefits of smoking (line 6) that con
tinued since the sixteenth century (line 9) points to a longstanding
controversy.
156. e. An alliance of prominent private health organizations (line 28) gave
the push for an official report on smoking.
157. d. The quotation illustrates the response to the report, describing its
effect on the country as a bombshell (line 48).
158. b. Hedged (line 63) can mean hindered or hemmed in, but in this
instance, it most nearly means evaded. The author suggests in
lines 62–67 that the report evaded a risk by calling smoking a
habit rather than an addiction.
159. b. The author’s statement implies that the report could have sug
gested specific actions to confront the health problem of smoking,
but that it did not.
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160. b. The author describes the influence of the report in positive terms
except to mention that it did not give recommendations for reme
dial actions.
161. c. An adage is a word used to describe a common observation or say
ing, like beauty is only skin deep (Passage 2, line 1).
162. c. The author states that the health risk for cosmetic procedures is low
(Passage 1, lines 24–25) but does not give factual information to
back this claim. The statement is important to the author’s argu
ment because he or she cites it as one of the reasons his or her
attitude toward plastic surgery has changed.
163. e. The author describes cosmetic plastic surgeons as slick salespeople
reaping large financial rewards from others’ insecurity and vanity
(Passage 1, lines 17–18).
164. d. The author of Passage 1 directly invokes the audience he or she
hopes to reach in line 31: members of the medical community.
165. d. One definition of saturate is to satisfy fully; another definition,
which fits the context of the passage, is to fill completely with
something that permeates or pervades.
166. b. The author of Passage 2 claims that she grew up in the spirit of
feminism (lines 10–11), believ[ing] that women should be valued for
who they are and what they do, not for how they look (lines 12–13).
The author implies that this is a belief held by feminists of the
1970s.
167. a. The author of Passage 1, a physician, discusses his or her profes
sional jealousy in lines 14–21. The author of Passage 2 does not
raise this issue.
168. d. Passage 1 states that the demand for cosmetic surgery has
increased in part because the job market has become more competitive
(line 6). Passage 2 comments on a competitive culture where looks
count (line 24).
169. a. Both passages are firstperson accounts that use personal experi
ence to build an argument.
170. c. Choice d is true, but too specific to be the author’s primary pur
pose. Choice e can be eliminated because it is too negative and
choices a and b are too positive.
171. a. The author contrasts the public’s dismissal of the arcane practice
of wearing garlic with its increasing acceptance of herbal reme
dies.
172. b. In this context, conventional refers to the established system of
Western medicine or biomedicine.
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Literature and
4
Literary Criticism
The following passage is from Frank McCourt’s 1996 memoir Angela’s Ashes.
The author describes what it was like to go to school as a young boy.
(1) We go to school through lanes and back streets so that we won’t meet
the respectable boys who go to the Christian Brothers’ School or the
rich ones who go to the Jesuit school, Crescent College. The Chris
tian Brothers’ boys wear tweed jackets, warm woolen sweaters, shirts,
(5) ties, and shiny new boots. We know they’re the ones who will get jobs
in the civil service and help the people who run the world. The Cres
cent College boys wear blazers and school scarves tossed around their
necks and over their shoulders to show they’re cock o’ the walk. They
have long hair which falls across their foreheads and over their eyes so
(10) that they can toss their quaffs like Englishmen. We know they’re the
ones who will go to university, take over the family business, run the
government, run the world. We’ll be the messenger boys on bicycles
who deliver their groceries or we’ll go to England to work on the
building sites. Our sisters will mind their children and scrub their
(15) floors unless they go off to England, too. We know that. We’re
ashamed of the way we look and if boys from the rich schools pass
remarks we’ll get into a fight and wind up with bloody noses or torn
clothes. Our masters will have no patience with us and our fights
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because their sons go to the rich schools and, Ye have no right to raise
(20) your hands to a better class of people so ye don’t.
195. The “we” the author uses throughout the passage refers to
a. his family.
b. the poor children in his neighborhood.
c. the children who attend rich schools.
d. the author and his brother.
e. the reader and writer.
198. The author quotes his school masters saying Ye have no right to raise
your hands to a better class of people so ye don’t (lines 19–20) in order to
a. demonstrate how strict his school masters were.
b. contrast his school to the Christian Brothers’ School and Cres
cent College.
c. show how his teachers reinforced class lines.
d. prove that the author was meant for greater things.
e. show how people talked.
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In this excerpt from Toni Morrison’s 1970 novel The Bluest Eye, Pauline tries
to ease her loneliness by going to the movies.
(1) One winter Pauline discovered she was pregnant. When she told
Cholly, he surprised her by being pleased. [ . . . ] They eased back into
a relationship more like the early days of their marriage, when he
asked if she were tired or wanted him to bring her something from the
(5) store. In this state of ease, Pauline stopped doing day work and
returned to her own housekeeping. But the loneliness in those two
rooms had not gone away. When the winter sun hit the peeling green
paint of the kitchen chairs, when the smoked hocks were boiling in the
pot, when all she could hear was the truck delivering furniture down
(10) stairs, she thought about back home, about how she had been all alone
most of the time then too, but this lonesomeness was different. Then
she stopped staring at the green chairs, at the delivery truck; she went
to the movies instead. There in the dark her memory was refreshed,
and she succumbed to her earlier dreams. Along with the idea of
(15) romantic love, she was introduced to another—physical beauty. Prob
ably the most destructive ideas in the history of human thought. Both
originated in envy, thrived in insecurity, and ended in disillusion.
201. Lines 1–5 suggest that just prior to Pauline’s pregnancy, Cholly
had
a. loved Pauline dearly.
b. begun to neglect Pauline.
c. worked every day of the week.
d. cared about Pauline’s dreams.
e. graduated from college.
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202. Pauline’s loneliness is different from the loneliness she felt back
home (lines 10–11) because
a. she’s more bored than lonely.
b. her family has abandoned her.
c. she wants Cholly to be more romantic.
d. she’s a mother now.
e. she shouldn’t feel lonely with Cholly.
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207. The fact that Thomas, Chess, and Checkers sing a song of
mourning while Samuel is still alive suggests that
a. Samuel is afraid to die.
b. Samuel doesn’t belong on the reservation.
c. Samuel’s life is tragic.
d. they believe the song has healing powers.
e. Samuel is a ghost.
208. Thomas wants his tears to be “selfish and fresh” (line 13) because
a. it is difficult for him to share his feelings with others.
b. he wants to mourn his father as an individual, not just as
another dying Indian.
c. he feels guilty mourning his father before his father has died.
d. he doesn’t think the tribe will mourn his father’s passing.
e. tribal tears were meaningless.
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209. The sentence Then the BIA poured those tears into beer and Pepsi cans
and distributed them back onto the reservation (lines 11–12) is an
example of
a. a paradox.
b. dramatic irony.
c. onomatopoeia.
d. flashback.
e. figurative language.
In this excerpt from John Steinbeck’s 1936 novel In Dubious Battle, Mac and
Doc Burton discuss “the cause” that leads hundreds of migratory farm
workers to unite and strike against landowners.
(1) Mac spoke softly, for the night seemed to be listening. “You’re a mystery
to me, too, Doc.”
“Me? A mystery?”
“Yes, you. You’re not a Party man, but you work with us all the time;
(5) you never get anything for it. I don’t know whether you believe in what
we’re doing or not, you never say, you just work. I’ve been out with you
before, and I’m not sure you believe in the cause at all.”
Dr. Burton laughed softly. “It would be hard to say. I could tell you
some of the things I think; you might not like them. I’m pretty sure you
(10) won’t like them.”
“Well, let’s hear them anyway.”
“Well, you say I don’t believe in the cause. That’s not like not believ
ing in the moon. There’ve been communes before, and there will be
again. But you people have an idea that if you can establish the thing, the
(15) job’ll be done. Nothing stops, Mac. If you were able to put an idea into
effect tomorrow, it would start changing right away. Establish a com
mune, and the same gradual flux will continue.”
“Then you don’t think the cause is good?”
Burton sighed. “You see? We’re going to pile up on that old rock
(20) again. That’s why I don’t like to talk very often. Listen to me, Mac. My
senses aren’t above reproach, but they’re all I have. I want to see the
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214. According to Doc Burton, the strikes are like the infection (line 42)
because
a. the strikes are life-threatening.
b. many of the strikers are ill.
c. the size of the group has swollen.
d. the strikes are a reaction to an injury.
e. the strikes are taking place on a battleground.
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217. It can be inferred from this passage that Doc Burton believes the
cause
a. is just an excuse for fighting.
b. is reasonable.
c. will fail.
d. will correct social injustice.
e. will make America a more democratic place.
218. Doc Burton repeats the word might in lines 56 and 62 because
a. he doesn’t believe Mac is sincere about the cause.
b. he really wants Mac to consider the possibility that the group is
blind to the cause.
c. he is asking a rhetorical question.
d. he doesn’t want Mac to know the truth about the cause.
e. he wants Mac to see that he isn’t really serious in his criticism of
the cause.
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novel, and that are yet typical short stories and not mere stunted nov
(15) els, will occur to everyone. General rules in art are useful chiefly as a
lamp in a mine, or a handrail down a black stairway; they are neces
sary for the sake of the guidance they give, but it is a mistake, once
they are formulated, to be too much in awe of them.
There are at least two reasons why a subject should find expression
(20) in novel-form rather than as a tale; but neither is based on the num
ber of what may be conveniently called incidents, or external hap
penings, which the narrative contains. There are novels of action
which might be condensed into short stories without the loss of their
distinguishing qualities. The marks of the subject requiring a longer
(25) development are, first, the gradual unfolding of the inner life of its
characters, and secondly the need of producing in the reader’s mind the
sense of the lapse of time. Outward events of the most varied and excit
ing nature may without loss of probability be crowded into a few hours,
but moral dramas usually have their roots deep in the soul, their rise far
(30) back in time; and the suddenest-seeming clash in which they culminate
should be led up to step by step if it is to explain and justify itself.
There are cases, indeed, when the short story may make use of the
moral drama at its culmination. If the incident dealt with be one which
a single retrospective flash sufficiently lights up, it is qualified for use
(35) as a short story; but if the subject be so complex, and its successive
phases so interesting, as to justify elaboration, the lapse of time must
necessarily be suggested, and the novel-form becomes appropriate.
The effect of compactness and instantaneity sought in the short
story is attained mainly by the observance of two “unities”—the old
(40) traditional one of time, and that other, more modern and complex,
which requires that any rapidly enacted episode shall be seen through
only one pair of eyes . . . .
One thing more is needful for the ultimate effect of probability; and
that is, never let the character who serves as reflector record anything
(45) not naturally within his register. It should be the storyteller’s first care
to choose this reflecting mind deliberately, as one would choose a
building-site, or decide upon the orientation of one’s house, and when
this is done, to live inside the mind chosen, trying to feel, see and react
exactly as the latter would, no more, no less, and, above all, no other
(50) wise. Only thus can the writer avoid attributing incongruities of
thought and metaphor to his chosen interpreter.
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This excerpt is from the final scene of George Bernard Shaw’s 1916 play
Pygmalion, when Professor Higgins learns just how well he taught Liza.
(1) HIGGINS: If you’re going to be a lady, you’ll have to give up feeling
neglected if the men you know don’t spend half their time snivel
ing over you and the other half giving you black eyes. If you can’t
stand the coldness of my sort of life, and the strain of it, go back to
(5) the gutter. Work ’til you are more a brute than a human being; and
then cuddle and squabble and drink ’til you fall asleep. Oh, it’s a fine
life, the life of the gutter. It’s real: it’s warm: it’s violent: you can feel
it through the thickest skin: you can taste it and smell it without any
training or any work. Not like Science and Literature and Classi
(10) cal Music and Philosophy and Art. You find me cold, unfeeling, self
ish, don’t you? Very well: be off with you to the sort of people you
like. Marry some sentimental hog or other with lots of money, and
a thick pair of lips to kiss you with and a thick pair of boots to kick
you with. If you can’t appreciate what you’ve got, you’d better get
(15) what you can appreciate.
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LIZA (desperate): Oh, you are a cruel tyrant. I can’t talk to you: you
turn everything against me: I’m always in the wrong. But you know
very well all the time that you’re nothing but a bully. You know I
can’t go back to the gutter, as you call it, and that I have no real
(20) friends in the world but you and the Colonel. You know well I
couldn’t bear to live with a low common man after you two; and it’s
wicked and cruel of you to insult me by pretending I could. You
think I must go back to Wimpole Street because I have nowhere
else to go but father’s. But don’t you be too sure that you have me
(25) under your feet to be trampled on and talked down. I’ll marry
Freddy, I will, as soon as he’s able to support me.
HIGGINS (sitting down beside her): Rubbish! You shall marry an
ambassador. You shall marry the Governor-General of India or the
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, or somebody who wants a deputy-
(30) queen. I’m not going to have my masterpiece thrown away on
Freddy.
LIZA: You think I like you to say that. But I haven’t forgot what you
said a minute ago; and I won’t be coaxed round as if I was a baby or
a puppy. If I can’t have kindness, I’ll have independence.
(35) HIGGINS: Independence? That’s middle class blasphemy. We are all
dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.
LIZA (rising determinedly): I’ll let you see whether I’m dependent on
you. If you can preach, I can teach. I’ll go and be a teacher.
HIGGINS: What’ll you teach, in heaven’s name?
(40) LIZA: What you taught me. I’ll teach phonetics.
HIGGINS: Ha! ha! ha!
LIZA: I’ll offer myself as an assistant to Professor Nepean.
HIGGINS (rising in a fury): What! That impostor! that humbug! that
toadying ignoramus! Teach him my methods! my discoveries! You
(45) take one step in his direction and I’ll wring your neck. (He lays hands
on her.) Do you hear?
LIZA (defiantly resistant): Wring away. What do I care? I knew you’d
strike me some day. (He lets her go, stamping with rage at having for
gotten himself, and recoils so hastily that he stumbles back into his seat on
(50) the ottoman.) Aha! Now I know how to deal with you. What a fool
I was not to think of it before! You can’t take away the knowledge
you gave me. You said I had a finer ear than you. And I can be civil
and kind to people, which is more than you can. Aha! That’s done
you, Henry Higgins, it has. Now I don’t care that (snapping her fin
(55) gers) for your bullying and your big talk. I’ll advertise it in the
papers that your duchess is only a flower girl that you taught, and
that she’ll teach anybody to be a duchess just the same in six months
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227. In lines 1–15, Higgins contrasts the life of the gutter with his sort of
life, which is best described as
a. the life of an ambassador.
b. the life of the rich and famous.
c. the life of a tyrant.
d. the life of a scholar.
e. the life of the working class.
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233. Which of the following best describes what Higgins has taught
Liza?
a. the history of the English language
b. how to speak and act like someone from the upper class
c. how to be independent of others
d. how to understand literature and philosophy
e. how to appreciate scholarly work
In this excerpt from Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre, the narrator decides to
leave Lowood, the boarding school where she has lived for eight years.
(1) Miss Temple, through all changes, had thus far continued superin
tendent of the seminary; to her instruction I owed the best part of my
acquirements; her friendship and society had been my continual sol
ace: she had stood me in the stead of mother, governess, and, latterly,
(5) companion. At this period she married, removed with her husband (a
clergyman, an excellent man, almost worthy of such a wife) to a dis
tant county, and consequently was lost to me.
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From the day she left I was no longer the same: with her was gone
every settled feeling, every association that had made Lowood in some
(10) degree a home to me. I had imbibed from her something of her nature
and much of her habits: more harmonious thoughts: what seemed bet
ter-regulated feelings had become inmates of my mind. I had given in
allegiance to duty and order; I was quiet; I believed I was content: to the
eyes of others, usually even to my own, I appeared a disciplined and sub
(15) dued character.
But destiny, in the shape of the Rev. Mr. Nasmyth, came between me
and Miss Temple: I saw her in her traveling dress step into a post-chaise,
shortly after the marriage ceremony; I watched the chaise mount the hill
and disappear beyond its brow; and then retired to my own room, and
(20) there spent in solitude the greatest part of the half-holiday granted in
honor of the occasion.
I walked about the chamber most of the time. I imagined myself only
to be regretting my loss, and thinking how to repair it; but when my
reflections concluded, and I looked up and found that the afternoon was
(25) gone, and evening far advanced, another discovery dawned on me,
namely, that in the interval I had undergone a transforming process; that
my mind had put off all it had borrowed of Miss Temple—or rather that
she had taken with her the serene atmosphere I had been breathing in
her vicinity—and that now I was left in my natural element, and begin
(30) ning to feel the stirring of old emotions. It did not seem as if a prop were
withdrawn, but rather as if a motive were gone; it was not the power to
be tranquil which had failed me, but the reason for tranquility was no
more. My world had for some years been in Lowood: my experience
had been of its rules and systems; now I remembered that the real world
(35) was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and
excitements, awaited those who had courage to go forth into its expanse,
to seek real knowledge of life amidst its perils.
I went to my window, opened it, and looked out. There were the two
wings of the building; there was the garden; there were the skirts of
(40) Lowood; there was the hilly horizon. My eye passed all other objects to
rest on those most remote, the blue peaks: it was those I longed to sur
mount; all within their boundary of rock and heath seemed prison-
ground, exile limits. I traced the white road winding round the base of
one mountain, and vanishing in a gorge between two: how I longed to
(45) follow it further! I recalled the time when I had traveled that very road
in a coach; I remembered descending that hill at twilight: an age seemed
to have elapsed since the day which brought me first to Lowood, and I
had never quitted it since. My vacations had all been spent at school:
Mrs. Reed had never sent for me to Gateshead; neither she nor any of
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(50) her family had ever been to visit me. I had had no communication by
letter or message with the outer world: school-rules, school-duties,
school-habits and notions, and voices, and faces, and phrases, and cos
tumes, and preferences, and antipathies: such was what I knew of exis
tence. And now I felt that it was not enough: I tired of the routine of
(55) eight years in one afternoon. I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped; for
liberty I uttered a prayer; it seemed scattered on the wind then faintly
blowing. I abandoned it and framed a humbler supplication; for change,
stimulus: that petition, too, seemed swept off into vague space: “Then,”
I cried, half desperate, “grant me at least a new servitude!”
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240. It can be inferred from the passage that life at Lowood was
a. very unconventional and modern.
b. very structured and isolated.
c. harsh and demeaning.
d. liberal and carefree.
e. urban and sophisticated.
243. In lines 60–66, the narrator reduces her petition to simply a new
servitude because she
a. doesn’t believe in prayer.
b. is not in a free country.
c. has been offered a position as a servant.
d. knows so little of the real world.
e. has been treated like a slave at Lowood.
In this excerpt from Susan Glaspell’s oneact play Trifles, Mrs. Hale and
Mrs. Peters make an important discovery in Mrs. Wright’s home as their
husbands try to determine who strangled Mr. Wright.
(1) MRS. PETERS: Well, I must get these things wrapped up. They may
be through sooner than we think. [Putting apron and other things
together.] I wonder where I can find a piece of paper, and string.
MRS. HALE: In that cupboard, maybe.
(5) MRS. PETERS [looking in cupboard]: Why, here’s a birdcage. [Holds it
up.] Did she have a bird, Mrs. Hale?
MRS. HALE: Why, I don’t know whether she did or not—I’ve not
been here for so long. There was a man around last year selling
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canaries cheap, but I don’t know as she took one; maybe she did.
(10) She used to sing real pretty herself.
MRS. PETERS [glancing around]: Seems funny to think of a bird here.
But she must have had one, or why would she have a cage? I won
der what happened to it.
MRS. HALE: I s’pose maybe the cat got it.
(15) MRS. PETERS: No, she didn’t have a cat. She’s got that feeling some
people have about cats—being afraid of them. My cat got in her
room and she was real upset and asked me to take it out.
MRS. HALE: My sister Bessie was like that. Queer, ain’t it?
MRS. PETERS [examining the cage]: Why, look at this door. It’s broke.
(20) One hinge is pulled apart.
MRS. HALE [looking too]: Looks as if someone must have been rough
with it.
MRS. PETERS: Why, yes.
[She brings the cage forward and puts it on the table.]
(25) MRS. HALE: I wish if they’re going to find any evidence they’d be
about it. I don’t like this place.
MRS. PETERS: But I’m awful glad you came with me, Mrs. Hale. It
would be lonesome for me sitting here alone.
MRS. HALE: It would, wouldn’t it? [Dropping her sewing.] But I tell
(30) you what I do wish, Mrs. Peters. I wish I had come over sometimes
when she was here. I—[looking around the room]—wish I had.
MRS. PETERS: But of course you were awful busy, Mrs. Hale—your
house and your children.
MRS. HALE: I could’ve come. I stayed away because it weren’t cheer-
(35) ful—and that’s why I ought to have come. I—I’ve never liked this
place. Maybe because it’s down in a hollow and you don’t see the
road. I dunno what it is but it’s a lonesome place and always was. I
wish I had come over to see Minnie Foster sometimes. I can see
now—
(40) [Shakes her head.]
MRS. PETERS: Well, you mustn’t reproach yourself, Mrs. Hale.
Somehow we just don’t see how it is with other folks until—some
thing comes up.
MRS. HALE: Not having children makes less work—but it makes a
(45) quiet house, and Wright out to work all day, and no company when
he did come in. Did you know John Wright, Mrs. Peters?
MRS. PETERS: Not to know him; I’ve seen him in town. They say
he was a good man.
MRS. HALE: Yes—good; he didn’t drink, and kept his word as well
(50) as most, I guess, and paid his debts. But he was a hard man, Mrs.
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Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him—[shivers]. Like a raw wind
that gets to the bone. [Pauses, her eye falling on the cage.] I should think
she would’a wanted a bird. But what do you suppose went with it?
MRS. PETERS: I don’t know, unless it got sick and died.
(55) [She reaches over and swings the broken door, swings it again. Both women watch
it.]
MRS. HALE: You weren’t raised round here, were you? [MRS. PETERS
shakes her head.] You didn’t know—her?
MRS. PETERS: Not till they brought her yesterday.
(60) MRS. HALE: She—come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird her-
self—real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and—fluttery. How—
she—did—change. [Silence; then as if struck by a happy thought and
relieved to get back to every day things.] Tell you what, Mrs. Peters, why
don’t you take the quilt in with you? It might take up her mind.
(65) MRS. PETERS: Why, I think that’s a real nice idea, Mrs. Hale. There
couldn’t possibly be any objection to it, could there? Now, just what
would I take? I wonder if her patches are in here—and her things.
[They look in the sewing basket.]
MRS. HALE: Here’s some red. I expect this has got sewing things in it.
(70) [Brings out a fancy box.] What a pretty box. Looks like something some
body would give you. Maybe her scissors are in here. [Opens box. Sud
denly puts her hand to her nose.] Why—[MRS. PETERS bends nearer,
then turns her face away.] There’s something wrapped in this piece of
silk.
(75) MRS. PETERS [lifting the silk]: Why this isn’t her scissors.
MRS. HALE [lifting the silk]: Oh, Mrs. Peters—it’s—
[MRS. PETERS bends closer.]
MRS. PETERS: It’s the bird.
MRS. HALE [jumping up]: But, Mrs. Peters—look at it! Its neck! Look
(80) at its neck! It’s all—to the other side.
MRS. PETERS: Somebody—wrung—its—neck.
[Their eyes meet. A look of growing comprehension, of horror. Steps are heard
outside. MRS. HALE slips box under quilt pieces, and sinks into her chair.
Enter SHERIFF and COUNTY ATTORNEY HALE. MRS.
(85) PETERS rises.]
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245. Mrs. Hale says she wishes she had come to Mrs. Wright’s house
(lines 29–31 and 37–39) because
a. she realizes that Mrs. Wright must have been lonely.
b. she enjoyed Mr. Wright’s company.
c. she always felt at home in the Wright’s house.
d. she realizes how important it is to keep good relationships with
one’s neighbors.
e. she had a lot in common with Mrs. Wright.
246. According to Mrs. Hale, what sort of man was Mr. Wright?
a. gentle and loving
b. violent and abusive
c. honest and dependable
d. quiet and cold
e. a strict disciplinarian
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PASSAGE 1
(1) I see by your eagerness, and the wonder and hope which your eyes
express, my friend, that you expect to be informed of the secret with
which I am acquainted; that cannot be: listen patiently until the end
of my story, and you will easily perceive why I am reserved upon that
(5) subject. I will not lead you on, unguarded and ardent as I then was, to
your destruction and infallible misery. Learn from me, if not by my
precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of
knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native
town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his
(10) nature will allow.
When I found so astonishing a power placed within my hands, I
hesitated a long time concerning the manner in which I should employ
it. Although I possessed the capacity of bestowing animation, yet to
prepare a frame for the reception of it, with all its intricacies of fibers,
(15) muscles, and veins, still remained a work of inconceivable difficulty
and labour. I doubted at first whether I should attempt the creation of
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PASSAGE 2
(1) “Yes. These creatures you have seen are animals carven and wrought
into new shapes. To that—to the study of the plasticity of living
forms—my life has been devoted. I have studied for years, gaining in
knowledge as I go. I see you look horrified, and yet I am telling you
(5) nothing new. It all lay in the surface of practical anatomy years ago,
but no one had the temerity to touch it. It’s not simply the outward
form of an animal I can change. The physiology, the chemical rhythm
of the creature, may also be made to undergo an enduring modifica
tion, of which vaccination and other methods of inoculation with liv
(10) ing or dead matter are examples that will, no doubt, be familiar to you.
“A similar operation is the transfusion of blood, with which subject
indeed I began. These are all familiar cases. Less so, and probably far
more extensive, were the operations of those medieval practitioners who
made dwarfs and beggar cripples and show-monsters; some vestiges of
(15) whose art still remain in the preliminary manipulation of the young
mountebank or contortionist. Victor Hugo gives an account of them in
L’Homme qui Rit. . . . But perhaps my meaning grows plain now. You
begin to see that it is a possible thing to transplant tissue from one part
of an animal to another, or from one animal to another, to alter its
(20) chemical reactions and methods of growth, to modify the articulations
of its limbs, and indeed to change it in its most intimate structure?
“And yet this extraordinary branch of knowledge has never been
sought as an end, and systematically, by modern investigators, until I
took it up! Some such things have been hit upon in the last resort of
(25) surgery; most of the kindred evidence that will recur to your mind has
been demonstrated, as it were, by accident—by tyrants, by criminals,
by the breeders of horses and dogs, by all kinds of untrained clumsy-
handed men working for their own immediate ends. I was the first
man to take up this question armed with antiseptic surgery, and with
(30) a really scientific knowledge of the laws of growth.
“Yet one would imagine it must have been practiced in secret before.
Such creatures as Siamese Twins . . . . And in the vaults of the Inquisi
tion. No doubt their chief aim was artistic torture, but some, at least,
of the inquisitors must have had a touch of scientific curiosity . . . .”
(35) “But,” said I. “These things—these animals talk!”
He said that was so, and proceeded to point out that the possibili
ties of vivisection do not stop at a mere physical metamorphosis. A pig
may be educated. The mental structure is even less determinate than
the bodily. In our growing science of hypnotism we find the promise
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255. From Passage 2, it can be inferred that Dr. Moreau is what sort of
scientist?
a. artistic
b. calculating and systematic
c. careless, haphazard
d. famous, renowned
e. materialist
256. These things that the narrator refers to in Passage 2, line 35 are
a. Siamese twins.
b. inquisitors.
c. pigs.
d. creatures Moreau created.
e. tyrants and criminals.
258. Based on the information in the passages, Dr. Moreau is like Victor
Frankenstein in that he also
a. used dead bodies in his experiments.
b. wanted his creations to worship him.
c. made remarkable discoveries.
d. kept his experiment a secret from everyone.
e. had a specific justification for his pursuit of knowledge.
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(1) The fictional world of Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison’s novel
Sula—the African-American section of Medallion, Ohio, a community
called “the Bottom”—is a place where people, and even natural things,
are apt to go awry, to break from their prescribed boundaries, a place
(5) where bizarre and unnatural happenings and strange reversals of the
ordinary are commonplace. The very naming of the setting of Sula is
a turning-upside-down of the expected; the Bottom is located high up
in the hills. The novel is furthermore filled with images of mutilation,
both psychological and physical. A great part of the lives of the char
(10) acters, therefore, is taken up with making sense of the world, setting
boundaries and devising methods to control what is essentially uncon
trollable. One of the major devices used by the people of the Bottom
is the seemingly universal one of creating a ____________, in this case,
the title character Sula upon which to project both the evil they per
(15) ceive outside themselves and the evil in their own hearts.
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261. Which of the following words would best fit into the blank in the
final sentence of the passage?
a. scapegoat
b. hero
c. leader
d. victim
e. monster
262. Based on the description of the setting of the novel Sula, which of
the following adjectives would most likely describe the behavior of
many of its residents?
a. furtive
b. suspicious
c. unkempt
d. eccentric
e. predictable
(1) For perhaps the tenth time since the clock struck two, Sylvia crosses
to the front-facing window of her apartment, pulls back the blue cur
tain and looks down at the street. People hurry along the sidewalk;
however, although she watches for several long moments, she sees no
(5) one enter her building.
She walks back to the center of the high-ceilinged living room,
where she stands frowning and twisting a silver bracelet around and
around on her wrist. She is an attractive young woman, although per
haps too thin and with a look that is faintly ascetic; her face is narrow
(10) and delicate, her fine, light-brown hair caught back by a tortoiseshell
comb. She is restless now, because she is being kept waiting. It is
nearly two-thirty—a woman named Lola Parrish was to come at two
o’clock to look at the apartment.
She considers leaving a note and going out. The woman is late, after
(15) all, and besides, Sylvia is certain that Lola Parrish will not be a suit
able person with whom to share the apartment. On the phone she had
sounded too old, for one thing, her voice oddly flat and as deep as a
man’s. However, the moment for saying the apartment was no longer
available slipped past, and Sylvia found herself agreeing to the two
(20) o’clock appointment. If she leaves now, as she has a perfect right to do,
she can avoid the awkwardness of turning the woman away.
Looking past the blue curtain, however, she sees the sky is not clear
but veiled by a white haze, and the air is oppressively still. She knows
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that the haze and the stillness and heat are conditions that often pre
(25) cede a summer thunderstorm, one of the abrupt, swiftly descending
electrical storms that have terrified her since she was a child. If a storm
comes, she wants to be at home in her own place.
She walks back to the center of the room, aware now that the idea
(30) of sharing the apartment, never appealing, born of necessity, has actu
ally begun to repel her. Still, she knows she will have to become accus
tomed to the notion, because her savings are nearly gone and the small
trust fund left her by her father exhausted. She has a job, but it does
not pay well, and, although she has considered seeking another (per
(35) haps something connected with music—in her childhood she had
played the flute and people had said she was gifted), lately she has
found herself dragged down by a strange inertia.
Besides, although her job pays poorly, it suits her. She is a typist in
a natural history museum, in an office on the top floor, near the aviary.
(40) The man for whom she works, one of the curators, is rarely in, so
Sylvia has the office to herself. The aviary consists of three enormous
rooms, painted white, each with a high vaulted ceiling. The birds
themselves, so beautifully mounted they seem alive, are displayed in
elaborate dioramas. Behind glass, they perch in trees with leaves of
(45) sculpted metal, appear to soar through painted forests, above painted
rivers and marshes. Everything is rendered in exquisite detail. And in
her office there is a skylight. The location of the office, so near the
open sky, suits her, too, because she is mildly claustrophobic.
264. Based on the tone of the passage and the description of Sylvia at
this moment, which of the following is the most likely reason
Sylvia’s job “suits her”?
a. Her office is tastefully decorated.
b. She is fond of her employer, the museum curator.
c. She is musical and enjoys the singing of birds.
d. She is able to work alone in a space that feels open.
e. She is afraid to pursue other job opportunities.
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265. When Sylvia looks out her window, the weather appears
a. gloomy
b. ominous
c. spring-like
d. bracing
e. confusing
266. Based on the story segment, which of the following would most
likely describe Sylvia’s behavior in relationship to other people?
a. distant
b. overbearing
c. dependent
d. malicious
e. generous
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269. The phrase “Without a tighter breathing / And zero at the bone”
most nearly indicates
a. fright
b. cold
c. grief
d. awe
e. joy
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(1) In his famous study of myth, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Joseph
Campbell writes about the archetypal hero who has ventured outside
the boundaries of the village and, after many trials and adventures, has
returned with the boon that will save or enlighten his fellows. Like
(5) Carl Jung, Campbell believes that the story of the hero is part of the
collective unconscious of all humankind. He likens the returning hero
to the sacred or tabooed personage described by James Frazier in The
Golden Bough. Such an individual must, in many instances of myth, be
insulated from the rest of society, “not merely for his own sake but for
(10) the sake of others; for since the virtue of holiness is, so to say, a pow
erful explosive which the smallest touch can detonate, it is necessary
in the interest of the general safety to keep it within narrow bounds.”
There is __________ between the archetypal hero who has jour
neyed into the wilderness and the poet who has journeyed into the
(15) realm of imagination. Both places are dangerous and full of wonders,
and both, at their deepest levels, are journeys that take place into the
kingdom of the unconscious mind, a place that, in Campbell’s words,
“goes down into unsuspected Aladdin caves. There not only jewels but
dangerous jinn abide. . . .”
272. The phrase that would most accurately fit into the blank in the
first sentence of the second paragraph is
a. much similarity
b. a wide gulf
c. long-standing conflict
d. an abiding devotion
e. no similarity
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273. Based on the passage, which of the following would best describe
the hero’s journey?
a. wonderful
b. terrifying
c. awesome
d. whimsical
e. insignificant
274. The title of Campbell’s book, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, is
meant to convey
a. the many villagers whose lives are changed by the story the hero
has to tell
b. the fact that the hero journeys into many different imaginary
countries
c. the many languages into which the myth of the hero has been
translated
d. the universality of the myth of the hero who journeys into the
wilderness
e. the notion that the hero is a magical shape-shifter
275. Based on the passage, which of the following best describes the
story that will likely be told by Campbell’s returning hero and
Frazier’s sacred or tabooed personage?
a. a radically mind-altering story
b. a story that will terrify people to no good end
c. a warning of catastrophe to come
d. a story based on a dangerous lie
e. a boring recounting of dry facts
276. As depicted in the last sentence of the passage, “Aladdin caves” are
most likely to be found in
a. holy books
b. fairy tales
c. the fantasies of the hero
d. the unconscious mind
e. daydreams
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Answers
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213. a. In lines 21–25, Doc Burton describes his desire to see the whole pic
ture, to look at the whole thing. He tells Mac he doesn’t want to
judge the cause as good or bad so that he doesn’t limit his vision.
Thus, he is best described as an objective observer.
214. d. In the first part of his analogy, Doc Burton says that infections are
a reaction to a wound—the wound is the first battleground (line 40).
Without a wound, there is no place for the infection to fester. The
strikes, then, are like the infection in that they are a reaction to a
wound (social injustice).
215. a. By comparing an individual in a group to a cell within the body
(line 50), Doc Burton emphasizes the idea that the individual is
really not an individual at all but rather part of a whole.
216. c. In lines 59–62, Doc Burton argues that the group doesn’t care
about the standard or cause it has created because the group simply
wants to move, to fight. Individuals such as Mac, however, believe in
a cause (or at least think they do).
217. a. Doc Burton seems to feel quite strongly that group-man simply
wants to move, to fight, without needing a real cause—in fact, he
states that the group uses the cause simply to reassure the brains of
individual men (lines 61–62).
218. b. Doc Burton knows how deeply Mac believes in the cause and
knows that if he outright says the group doesn’t really believe in the
cause that Mac would not listen. Thus he says “It might be like this,”
emphasizing the possibility. Still Mac reacts hotly.
219. b. In lines 3–4, Wharton makes it clear that she will be refuting the
statement in the first two lines: but it is certainly a misleading
[premise] on which to build any general theory. In lines 8–9, she states
that a subject is suited to a short story or a novel, and in lines 9–10,
if it appears to be adapted to both the chances are that it is inadequate in
either. This firmly refutes the opening statement.
220. d. After making it clear that subjects are not equally suitable for
short stories and novels, Wharton explains what makes a particu
lar subject suitable for the novel form (paragraphs 4 and 5) and
how the elements of time and length are different in the short
story (paragraph 6).
221. b. In lines 15–18, Wharton writes that rules in art are useful mainly
for the sake of the guidance they give, but it is a mistake [ . . . ] to be too
much in awe of them. Thus, they should be used only as a general
guide.
222. a. Wharton compares general rules in art to both a lamp in a mine and
a handrail down a black stairwell.
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233. b. The excerpt opens with Higgins telling Liza “If you’re going to be a
lady” and comparing her past—the life of the gutter—with her pres
ent—a cultured life of literature and art. We also know that Hig
gins taught Liza phonetics (line 40) and that Liza was once only a
flower girl but is now a duchess (lines 55–56). Thus, we can con
clude that Higgins taught Liza how to speak and act like someone
from the upper class.
234. d. Higgins realizes that Liza—with the knowledge that he gave
her—now has the power to stand up to him, that she will not just
let herself be trampled on and called names (line 59). He realizes that
she has other options and she is indifferent to his bullying and big
talk (line 55).
235. c. Liza’s final lines express her joy at realizing that she has the power
to change her situation and that she is not Higgins’ inferior but
his equal; she can’t believe that all the time I had only to lift up my
finger to be as good as you (lines 59–60). She realizes that she can be
an assistant to someone else, that she doesn’t have to be depend
ent on Higgins.
236. d. In the first few lines, the narrator states that Miss Temple was the
superintendent of the seminary and that she received both instruction
and friendship from Miss Temple, who was also like a mother to
her: she had stood me in the stead of mother.
237. a. The narrator states that with Miss Temple, I had given in allegiance
to duty and order; I was quiet; I believed I was content (lines 12–13).
238. d. The context here suggests existence or habitation, not captivity or
illness.
239. c. We can assume that the narrator would go home during vacations,
but she spent all of her vacations at school because Mrs. Reed had
never sent for me to Gateshead (lines 50–51). Thus we can infer that
Mrs. Reed was her guardian, the one who sent the narrator to
Lowood in the first place.
240. b. The narrator describes her experience with schoolrules and
schoolduties (line 53) and how she tired of the routine (line 56)
after Miss Temple left. She also contrasts Lowood with the real
world of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements (lines 35–36)
and that the view from her window seemed a prisonground, exile
limits (line 44). Thus, it can be inferred that Lowood is both a
structured and isolated place.
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241. a. The narrator states in lines 26–27 that she had undergone a
transforming process and that now she again felt the stirring of
old emotions (line 30) and remembered that the real world was
wide and awaited those who had courage to go forth (lines 36–37).
She also looks at the road from Lowood and states how [she]
longed to follow it further! More importantly, she repeats her
desire for liberty and prays for a new servitude—something
beyond Lowood.
242. e. In lines 13–15, the narrator states that with Miss Temple at
Lowood, she believed she was content, that to the eyes of others,
usually even to my own, I appeared a disciplined and subdued charac
ter. This suggests that in her natural element (lines 29–30) she is
not so disciplined or subdued. Her desire for freedom and to
explore the world are also evident in this passage; she longs to
follow the road that leads away from Lowood (line 46) and she
is half desperate in her cry for something new, something beyond
Lowood and the rules and systems she tired of [ . . . ] in one after
noon (line 56).
243. d. Because Lowood had been the narrator’s home for eight years
and all she knew of existence was school rules, duties, habits,
faces, etc. (lines 53–55)—because she had had no communication
[ . . . ] with the outer world (lines 52–53), it is likely that she feels
her initial prayers were unrealistic. At least a new servitude
would provide some familiar territory, and it therefore seems
more realistic and attainable than liberty or change.
244. c. The women refer to each other as “Mrs.”, and their conversa
tion reveals that they don’t know much about each other. Mrs.
Hale, for example, asks Mrs. Peters if she knew Mr. Wright
(line 46) and if she were raised round here (line 58).
245. a. Mrs. Peters says It would be lonesome for me sitting here alone
(lines 27–28)—to which Mrs. Hale replies, It would, wouldn’t it?
and then expresses her wish that she’d come to see Mrs.
Wright. She says it’s a lonesome place and always was in line 37
and then says I can see now—(lines 38–39) suggesting that she
can understand now how Mrs. Wright must have felt.
246. d. Mrs. Hale describes Mr. Wright as a hard man who was like a
raw wind that gets to the bone (lines 51–52). Mrs. Wright’s loneli
ness would be deepened by living with a man who was quiet
and cold.
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255. b. Moreau states in lines 22–24 that this extraordinary branch of knowl
edge has never been sought as an end, [ . . . ] until I took it up!, and in
lines 28–30, he states that he was the first man to take up this ques
tion armed with antiseptic surgery, and with a really scientific knowledge
of the laws of growth. This, and the detail with which he explains
the background of his investigations, reveals that he is a calculat
ing and systematic scientist. (Although he confesses that he chose
the human form by chance (line 45), it is likely that Moreau did not
just happen upon this choice but that he found the human form,
as he later states, more appealing to the artistic turn of mind [ . . . ]
than any animal shape (lines 48–49).
256. d. Right after he says these things, the narrator says these animals to
clarify that he is referring to the creatures that Moreau created.
An additional context clue is provided by Moreau’s response, in
which he explains how animals may be educated so that they
may talk.
257. b. The narrator asks Moreau to justify all this pain (line 54), implying
that he has inflicted great pain on the animals he has used in his
experiments.
258. c. Both men make remarkable discoveries in their fields; in the
other aspects the men are different. Dr. Moreau uses live ani
mals to change their form, and there is no evidence in the pas
sage that he wants his creatures to worship him or that he has
kept his experiment a secret (though these facts are evident in
other passages in the book). Passage 2 also suggests that
Moreau did not have a specific application or justification for
his work; he responds to the narrator’s request for a justification
by philosophizing about pain.
259. a. Frankenstein confesses that he was horrified by the torture of
living animals and that he trembled just remembering the pain
he inflicted (lines 52–55). He also characterizes himself as having
lost all soul or sensation (line 57) in his quest. In addition, he is
telling this tale as a warning. Thus it is likely that he would be
most offended by Moreau’s indifference to the suffering of other
creatures.
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260. b. In lines 29–35, Frankenstein cites specific goals for his pursuit of
knowledge: he wanted to pour a torrent of light into our dark world
by making important new discoveries; he wanted to create a new
species that would bless [him] as its creator and source; and he wanted
to renew life. Moreau, on the other hand, does not offer any appli
cation or justification; he seems motivated only by the acquisition
of knowledge. He states that he has devoted his life to the study of
the plasticity of living forms (lines 2–3) and seems more interested in
what science has to teach (lines 65–66) than in what can be done with
that knowledge. This is reinforced by the fact that he does not
offer a justification for his experiments.
261. a. A scapegoat is one who is forced to bear the blame for others or
upon whom the sins of a community are heaped.
262. d. The passage says of the people who live in “the Bottom” that
they are apt to go awry, to break from their prescribed bound
aries. A person who is eccentric is quirky or odd.
263. a. In paragraph 2, Sylvia is described as restless and in paragraph 4
she is fearful of the impending storm; therefore her mood is
most likely anxious.
264. d. In the final sentence, Sylvia is described as mildly claustrophobic,
and this reason states that she works in a space that feels open,
which is ideal for a person who does not like enclosed spaces.
265. b. In paragraph four, Sylvia does not want to go outside because
an electrical storm is coming, and she has always been fright
ened of storms. Ominous and frightening have similar meanings.
266. a. Sylvia’s job suits her partly because her boss is usually gone and
she’s alone at work; she is mildly fearful of meeting the new per
son, Lola Parrish, and even thinks of leaving before their
appointment. These details point to a distant kind of person.
267. a. Sylvia does seem distant and her life seems somewhat cold, so
this explanation is the most logical choice.
268. b. The fellow frightens the speaker. People are often afraid of
snakes.
269. a. “Tighter breathing” indicates fear, as does zero at the bone (one
is sometimes said to be cold with fear). Also, the subject is a
snake, which is a generally feared animal.
270. c. The speaker seems to be referring to animals when he says
“nature’s people,” because he follows with his contrasting atti
tude toward the fellow, which is a snake.
271. b. Stanza two contains the phrase when a boy implying the speaker
was a boy in the past and is now, therefore, an adult man.
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272. a. This sentence describes an archetypal hero and a poet who both
take journeys, which makes them similar.
273. c. The word awe implies mingled reverence, dread, and wonder,
so the adjective awesome is the best of all the choices to describe
a place that is dangerous and full of wonders (line 15).
274. d. The first sentence of the passage describes Campbell’s hero as
archetypal. An archetype is a personage or pattern that occurs in
literature and human thought often enough to be considered
universal. Also, in the second sentence, the author of the pas
sage mentions the collective unconscious of all humankind.
275. a. The passage states that the hero’s tale will enlighten his fellows,
but that it will also be dangerous. Such a story would surely be
radically mind-altering.
276. d. The second sentence in the second paragraph says that the
kingdom of the unconscious mind goes down into unsuspected
Aladdin caves.
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5
Music
The following passage describes the transition from the swing era to bebop in the
history of jazz music.
(1) Jazz, from its early roots in slave spirituals and the marching bands of
New Orleans, had developed into the predominant American musical
style by the 1930s. In this era, jazz musicians played a lush, orchestrated
style known as swing. Played in large ensembles, also called big bands,
(5) swing filled the dance halls and nightclubs. Jazz, once considered risqué,
was made more accessible to the masses with the vibrant, swinging
sounds of these big bands. Then came bebop. In the mid1940s, jazz
musicians strayed from the swing style and developed a more improvi
sational method of playing known as bebop. Jazz was transformed from
(10) popular music to an elite art form.
The soloists in the big bands improvised from the melody. The
young musicians who ushered in bebop, notably trumpeter Dizzy Gille
spie and saxophonist Charlie Parker, expanded on the improvisational
elements of the big bands. They played with advanced harmonies,
(15) changed chord structures, and made chord substitutions. These young
musicians got their starts with the leading big bands of the day, but dur
ing World War II—as older musicians were drafted and dance halls
made cutbacks—they started to play together in smaller groups.
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278. According to the passage, in the 1940s you would most likely find
bebop being played where?
a. church
b. a large concert hall
c. in music schools
d. small clubs
e. parades
280. In the context of this passage, aficionados (line 23) can most
accurately be described as
a. fans of bebop.
b. residents of Harlem.
c. innovative musicians.
d. awkward dancers.
e. fickle audience members.
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The selection that follows is based on an excerpt from the biography of a music
legend.
(1) Although Dick Dale is best known for his contributions to surf music,
and has been called “King of the Surf Guitar,” he has also been referred
to as the “Father of Heavy Metal.” While this title is more often associ
ated with Ozzy Osbourne or Tony Iossa, Dale earned it from Guitar
(5) Player Magazine for his unique playing style and pioneering use of Fender
guitars and amplifiers.
In the mid1950s, Dale was playing guitar at a club in California, where
his oneofakind music turned it from a jazz club into a rock nightspot.
After a 1956 concert there, guitar and amplifier maker Leo Fender
(10) approached the guitarist and gave him the first Fender Stratocaster to try
before the guitar was mass marketed. Fender thought that Dale’s way of
playing, a virtual assault on the instrument, would be a good test of its
durability. However, the guitar was righthanded and Dale played left
handed. Unfazed, Dale held and played it upside down and backwards (a
(15) feat that later strongly influenced Jimi Hendrix).
The test proved too much for Fender’s equipment. Dale loved the gui
tar, but blew out the amplifier that came with it. It had worked well for
most other musicians, who at that time were playing country and blues.
Rock didn’t exist, and no one played the guitar as fiercely as Dale. Fender
(20) improved the amplifier, and Dale blew it out again. Before Fender came
up with a winner, legend has it that Dale blew up between 40 and 60
amplifiers. Finally, Fender created a special amp just for Dale, known as
the “Showman.” It had more than 100 watts of power. The two men then
made an agreement that Dale would “road test” prototypes of Fender’s
(25) new amplification equipment before they would be manufactured for the
general public. But they still had problems with the speakers—every
speaker Dale used it with blew up (some even caught fire) because of the
intense power of his volume coupled with a staccato playing style.
Fender and Dale approached the James B. Lansing speaker company,
(30) asking for a fifteeninch speaker built to their specifications. The com
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288. All of the following can explicitly be answered on the basis of the
passage EXCEPT
a. Who invented the Stratocaster?
b. Where did Dick Dale meet Leo Fender?
c. What company made speakers for Dick Dale?
d. Where did Ozzy Osbourne get his start as a musician?
e. What do Dick Dale, Ozzy Osbourne, and Tony Iossa have in
common?
The following passage discusses the unique musical traditions that developed
along the Rio Grand in colonial New Mexico.
(1) From 1598 to 1821, the area along the Rio Grand that is now the state
of New Mexico formed the northernmost border of the Spanish
colonies in the New World. The colonists lived on a geographic fron
tier surrounded by deserts and mountains. This remote colony with its
(5) harsh climate was far removed from the cultural centers of the Span
ish Empire in the New World, and music was a necessary part of social
life. The isolated nature of the region and needs of the community
gave rise to a unique, rich musical tradition that included colorful bal
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humorous verses offering practical advice to the couple. Then all the
guests filed past to bless the couple and concluding verses were sung
to honor specific individuals such as the best man. At the wedding
dance, la marcha was performed. In this triumphal march, couples
(55) formed into single files of men and women. After dancing in concen
tric circles, the men and women lined up opposite one another with
their hands joined overhead to form a tunnel of love from which the
new couple was the last to emerge.
By the turn of the twentieth century, styles were evolving and musi
(60) cal forms popular in previous eras were giving way to new tastes. The
ancient romance ballads were replaced by newer forms that featured
more local and contemporary events. The extraordinary indita was no
longer performed and the canción, or popular song, had begun its rise.
However, many of the wedding traditions of the colonial era are still
(65) in practice today. The music that was so central to life in the remote
colony of New Mexico has much to teach us about the unique and
vibrant culture that once flourished there.
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293. According to the passage, the main purpose of the “Delivery of the
Newlyweds” was to
a. sanction and bless the new couple.
b. form a tunnel of love.
c. marry couples who did not want a Church wedding.
d. offer advice to the new couple.
e. sing improvised songs to newlyweds.
294. Which of the titles provided below is most appropriate for this
passage?
a. Wedding Marches and New Year’s Waltzes of the Rio Grand
b. The Fading Era of Colonial Music in New Mexico
c. Cowboy Songs of the Past
d. Between Deserts and Mountains New Mexico Sings a Unique
Song
e. The Extraordinary Popular and Ceremonial Music of the Rio
Grand
295. The author’s attitude toward the music of colonial New Mexico
can best be described as
a. bemusement.
b. admiration.
c. alienation.
d. condescension.
e. awe.
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In Passage 1, the author describes the life and influence of blues guitarist
Robert Johnson. In Passage 2, the author provides a brief history of the blues.
PASSAGE 1
(1) There is little information available about the legendary blues guitarist
Robert Johnson, and the information that is available is as much rumor
as fact. What is undisputable, however, is Johnson’s impact on the
world of rock and roll. Some consider Johnson the father of modern
(5) rock; his influence extends to artists from Muddy Waters to Led Zep
pelin, from the Rolling Stones to the Allman Brothers Band. Eric
Clapton, arguably the greatest living rock guitarist, has said that
“Robert Johnson to me is the most important blues musician who ever
lived. [ . . . ] I have never found anything more deeply soulful than
(10) Robert Johnson.” While the impact of Johnson’s music is evident, the
genesis of his remarkable talent remains shrouded in mystery.
For Johnson, born in 1911 in Hazelhurst, Mississippi, music was a
means of escape from working in the cotton fields. As a boy he worked
on the farm that belonged to Noel Johnson—the man rumored to be
(15) his father. He married young, at age 17, and lost his wife a year later
in childbirth. That’s when Johnson began traveling and playing the
blues.
Initially Johnson played the harmonica. Later, he began playing the
guitar, but apparently he was not very good. He wanted to learn, how
(20) ever, so he spent his time in blues bars watching the local blues legends
Son House and Willie Brown. During their breaks, Johnson would go
up on stage and play. House reportedly thought Johnson was so bad
that he repeatedly told Johnson to get lost. Finally, one day, he did.
For six months, Johnson mysteriously disappeared. No one knew what
(25) happened to him.
When Johnson returned half a year later, he was suddenly a first
rate guitarist. He began drawing crowds everywhere he played. John
son never revealed where he had been and what he had done in those
six months that he was gone. People had difficulty understanding how
(30) he had become so good in such a short time. Was it genius? Magic?
Soon, rumors began circulating that he had made a deal with the devil.
Legend has it that Johnson met the devil at midnight at a crossroads
and sold his soul to the devil so he could play guitar.
Johnson recorded only 29 songs before his death in 1938, purport
(35) edly at the hands of a jealous husband. He was only 27 years old, yet
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he left an indelible mark on the music world. There are countless ver
sions of “Walkin’ Blues,” and his song “Cross Road Blues” (later reti
tled “Crossroads”) has been recorded by dozens of artists, with
Cream’s 1969 version of “Crossroads” being perhaps the bestknown
(40) Johnson remake. Again and again, contemporary artists return to John
son, whose songs capture the very essence of the blues, transforming
our pain and suffering with the healing magic of his guitar.
PASSAGE 2
(1) There are more than fifty types of blues music, from the famous
Chicago and Memphis Blues to the less familiar Juke Joint and
Acoustic Country Blues. This rich variety comes as no surprise to
those who recognize the blues as a fundamental American art form.
(5) Indeed, in its resolution to name 2003 the Year of the Blues, the 107th
Congress has declared that the blues is “the most influential form of
American roots music.” In fact, the two most popular American musi
cal forms—rock and roll and jazz—owe their genesis in large part
(some would argue entirely) to the blues.
(10) The blues—a neologism attributed to the American writer Wash
ington Irving (author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”) in 1807—
evolved from black American folk music. Its beginnings can be traced
to songs sung in the fields and around slave quarters on southern plan
tations, songs of pain and suffering, of injustice, of longing for a bet
(15) ter life. A fundamental principle of the blues, however, is that the
music be cathartic. Listening to the blues will drive the blues away; it
is music that has the power to overcome sadness. Thus “the blues” is
something of a misnomer, for the music is moving but not melancholy;
it is, in fact, music born of hope, not despair.
(20) The blues began to take shape as a musical movement in the years
after emancipation, around the turn of the century when blacks were
technically free but still suffered from social and economic discrimi
nation. Its poetic and musical forms were popularized by W. C. Handy
just after the turn of the century. Handy, a classical guitarist who
(25) reportedly heard the blues for the first time in a Mississippi train sta
tion, was the first to officially compose and distribute “blues” music
throughout the United States, although its popularity was chiefly
among blacks in the South. The movement coalesced in the late 1920s
and indeed became a national craze with records by blues singers such
(30) as Bessie Smith selling in the millions.
The 1930s and 1940s saw a continued growth in the popularity of
the blues as many blacks migrated north and the blues and jazz forms
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299. In Passage 2, the sentence People all across America—black and white,
young and old, listened to songs with lyrics that were intensely honest and
personal, songs that told about any number of things that give us the
blues: loneliness, betrayal, unrequited love, a run of bad luck, being out of
work or away from home or broke or broken hearted (lines 43–47), the
author is
a. defining blues music.
b. identifying the origin of the blues.
c. describing the lyrics of a famous blues song.
d. explaining why blues remakes were so popular.
e. making a connection between the blues and the Civil Rights
movement.
301. Both authors would agree on all of the following points EXCEPT
a. listening to the blues is cathartic.
b. Robert Johnson is the best blues guitarist from the 1930s and
1940s.
c. the blues are an important part of American history.
d. “Crossroads” is one of the most wellknown blues songs.
e. blues music is deeply emotional.
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310. The author uses the anecdote about Mozart’s Kingdom of Back to
illustrate
a. Mozart’s admiration for the composer Johann Sebastian Bach.
b. the role imagination plays in musical composition.
c. that Mozart was mentally unstable.
d. that Mozart was an imaginative child.
e. that Mozart’s only friends were imaginary people and family
servants.
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(1) The Woodstock Music and Art Fair—better known to its partici
pants and to history simply as “Woodstock”—should have been a
colossal failure. (2) Just a month prior to its August 15, 1969, opening,
the fair’s organizers were informed by the council of Wallkill, New
York, that permission to hold the festival was withdrawn. (3) Amaz
ingly, not only was a new site found, but word got out to the public of
the fair’s new location. (4) At the new site, fences that were supposed
to facilitate ticket collection never materialized, and all attempts at
gathering tickets were abandoned. (5) Crowd estimates of 30,000 kept
rising; by the end of the three days, some estimated the crowd at
500,000. (6) And then, on opening night, it began to rain. (7) Off and
on, throughout all three days, huge summer storms rolled over the
gathering. (8) In spite of these problems, most people think of Wood
stock not only as a fond memory but as the defining moment for an
entire generation.
315. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for this
passage?
a. Backstage at Woodstock
b. Woodstock: From The Band to The Who
c. Remembering Woodstock
d. Woodstock: The Untold Story
e. Will There Ever Be Another Woodstock?
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Answers
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285. b. The passage is primarily about Dick Dale and his contributions
to the history of playing electric guitar. The first paragraph
mentions that he was called the King of Heavy Metal, and the
last sentence notes that Dale made music history by playing a
new kind of music that would later be called heavy metal.
286. c. To be fazed by something means to be disturbed or affected by
it. Unfazed is therefore to not be affected or bothered by some
thing. Even though the guitar was made for a righthanded
player, Dale tried it anyway. He wasn’t bothered by the fact that
it seemingly wasn’t right for him.
287. a. The line refers to the new transformer. Dale wanted to play
louder, and the new transformer was designed to allow him to
do that. Thus, it was a scream machine.
288. d. The passage mentions that Ozzy Osbourne is often called the
Father of Heavy Metal, but gives no other information
about him.
289. c. The first paragraph introduces the topic of the passage, the musi
cal traditions of colonial New Mexico. Choices a and d are too
narrow, and choice b is too broad. Choice e is the purpose of
the entire passage, not the first paragraph alone.
290. d. Singular means of or relating to a single instance, or something
considered by itself. Although strange and superior can be syn
onyms for singular, the author emphasizes throughout the pas
sage that the music is unique. Unusual is closest in meaning to
unique. Also, note that in the next sentence the author states
that the bailes had unusual melodic structures and the players
had unique methods of bowing and tuning their instruments.
291. d. The passage does not explicitly state that European culture was
imposed on native traditions. Rather, it states that the cultures
mixed to give rise to the music.
292. c. The passage clearly states that both ceremonies used impro
vised verses. The New Year’s celebration included improvised
couplets, composed on the spot (lines 40–41) and the verses of the song
[of the wedding ceremony], played to a lively waltz, were improvised
(lines 48–49). Each of the other choices is true for one of the
ceremonies but not both.
293. a. The sentence following the first mention of the ceremony states
its purpose: the community would gather to sanction the new couple
(lines 46–47). It is stated that the guests file past to bless the cou
ple (line 42). Choices b, d, and e are all part of the ceremony
but not its main purpose. Choice c is not explicitly supported by
the text.
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294. e. This title indicates that the passage covers both popular and
ceremonial music and introduces the main theme of the pas
sage: the unique (extraordinary) musical tradition of the Rio
Grand region. The other choices are all too narrow (choice d),
or are totally inappropriate (choice c).
295. b. The introductory and final paragraphs of the passage reveal the
author’s admiration for the music. In line 8 the author describes
the musical tradition as unique, rich, and in lines 9–10 he or she
calls the ceremonial music some of the most extraordinary . . . in the
Hispanic world.” In line 62, the author describes the indita as
extraordinary. Although he or she describes the tradition in positive
terms, awe overstates the case.
296. c. In Passage 1, the author provides a limited chronology of Johnson’s
life (paragraphs 2, 3, and 4) and briefly describes his influence on
blues and rock and roll (paragraphs 1 and 5).
297. b. In paragraph 3 of Passage 1, the author describes how Johnson
was not very good at playing the guitar but that he wanted to learn
and so spent his time in blues bars watching the local blues legends
(lines 19–20). That he disappeared for some time and then
returned as a firstrate guitarist (lines 26–27) also suggests
Johnson’s determination.
298. a. In lines 10–12 of Passage 2, the author describes how the blues
came to be called the blues—thus neologism means a new word
or new meaning or use of a word.
299. d. This sentence states that the blues remakes were enjoyed by all
kinds of people—black and white, young and old (line 43)—and
suggests why the songs were so popular by describing how the
lyrics touched a common emotional chord in listeners, all of
whom have had the blues from one or more of the sources listed
in the sentence.
300. d. The author states that the blues was a music perfectly suited for a
nation on the brink of the Civil Rights movement because it was
music that had the power to cross boundaries, to heal wounds, and to
offer hope to a new generation of Americans (lines 47–50). The pre
vious sentence states that the music was popular with both black
and white, young and old (line 43). Thus, the author suggests that
this shared musical experience helped promote understanding
across racial boundaries and thereby ease racial tensions.
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301. b. Neither author explicitly states that Robert Johnson is the best
blues guitarist of his era, although this is implied by the author
of Passage 1, who states that Johnson’s impact on the world of rock
and roll is indisputable (lines 3–4) and quotes Eric Clapton as say
ing Johnson is the most important blues musician who ever lived
(lines 8–9). However, the author of Passage 2 simply lists John
son in the same sentence as his mentors Son House and Willie
Brown (lines 33–34), without suggesting that any one of these
artists was better than the other.
302. c. Passage 1 states from the beginning that there is little informa
tion about Johnson and that the information that is available is
as much rumor as fact (lines 2–3). There is also no definitive
answer regarding how Johnson acquired his talent (paragraph
4), and the author uses the word purportedly in lines 34–35 to
further emphasize the speculative nature of the narrative. Pas
sage 2, on the other hand, provides many specific facts in the
form of names and dates to present a text that is factual and
assertive.
303. a. Passage 1 describes the life and influence of one specific blues
artist, while Passage 2 provides a general overview of the history
of the blues.
304. c. At the end of Passage 1, the author describes the reason so
many artists record Johnson’s songs: his music capture[s] the very
essence of the blues, transforming our pain and suffering with the
healing magic of his guitar (lines 41–42). This sentence “proves”
the idea stated in Passage 2 that ‘the blues’ is something of a
misnomer. This is the only sentence from Passage 2 that fits the
focus of Passage 1; the others concern the development or
defining characteristics of the blues.
305. a. The passage is a neutral narration of Mozart’s childhood and
the beginnings of his musical career. Choices c, d, and e can be
eliminated because the author does not take a side or try to
prove a point. Choice b is incorrect because the author does not
make any generalizations about the classical music “scene.”
306. c. The passage clearly states that Wolfgang took an interest in the
clavier when his sister was learning the instrument.
307. c. The passage states (lines 18–19) that Wolfgang’s first public
appearance was at Linz and that after this concert word of his
genius traveled to Vienna. The passage states earlier that
Vienna was the capital of the Hapsburg Empire.
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Science and
6
Nature
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tions in these mapped areas. Sadly, the halt in logging was short lived.
In August and September logging took place in at least six oldgrowth
(20) forest areas in Northern Finland.
It seems Metsähallitus wants to have its cake and eat it too—friendly
talks with environmental groups at the same time they keep logging
critical habitat. To be blunt, their commitment to the dialog process
has proven untrustworthy. The new logging has been without con
(25) sensus from the dialog process or proper consultation with the Sami
reindeer herders. Now there’s a risk the logging will expand to include
other oldgrowth areas.
Greenpeace investigations have revealed a number of companies
buying oldgrowth timber from Metsähallitus, but the great majority
(30) goes to Finland’s three international paper manufacturers, Stora Enso,
UPMKymmene, and MReal. Greenpeace recommends that com
panies ask for written guarantees that no material from any of the
recently mapped oldgrowth areas is entering or will enter their sup
ply chain, pending the switch to only timber that has been independ
(35) ently certified to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council in
order to stop this risk to protected forests.
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This passage describes the Great Barrier Reef and its inhabitants.
(1) Coral reefs are among the most diverse and productive ecosystems on
Earth. Consisting of both living and nonliving components, this type
of ecosystem is found in the warm, clear, shallow waters of tropical
oceans worldwide. The functionality of the reefs ranges from provid
(5) ing food and shelter to fish and other forms of marine life to protect
ing the shore from the ill effects of erosion and putrefaction. In fact,
reefs actually create land in tropical areas by formulating islands and
contributing mass to continental shorelines.
Although coral looks like a plant, actually it is mainly composed of
(10) the limestone skeleton of a tiny animal called a coral polyp. While
corals are the main components of reef structure, they are not the only
living participants. Coralline algae cement the myriad corals, and
other miniature organisms such as tube worms and mollusks con
tribute skeletons to this dense and diverse structure. Together, these
(15) living creatures construct many different types of tropical reefs.
Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest network of coral reefs,
stretching 2,010 km (1,250 miles) off Australia’s northeastern coast.
From microorganisms to whales, diverse life forms make their home
on the reef. Over 1,500 fish species, 4,000 mollusk species, 200 bird
(20) species, 16 sea snake species, and six sea turtle species thrive in the
reef’s tropical waters. The reef is also a habitat for the endangered
dugong (sea cow), moray eels, and sharks. In addition to crawling with
animal life, the coral reef offers the viewer a spectrum of brilliant col
ors and intricate shapes, a virtual underwater, writhing garden.
(25) Although protected by the Australian government, Great Barrier
Reef faces environmental threats. Crownofthorns starfish feed on
coral and can destroy large portions of reef. Pollution and rising water
temperatures also threaten the delicate coral. But the most preventa
ble of the hazards to the reef are tourists. Tourists have contributed to
(30) the destruction of the reef ecosystem by breaking off and removing
pieces of coral to bring home as souvenirs. The government hopes
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322. Which of the following statements does NOT describe the Great
Barrier Reef?
a. The Great Barrier reef is a colorful and active underwater
structure.
b. The Great Barrier Reef is a producer of small islands and
landmasses.
c. The Great Barrier Reef is threatened by vacationers.
d. The Great Barrier Reef is the cause of much beachfront erosion
in Northeastern Australia.
e. The Great Barrier Reef is home to endangered sea turtles.
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326. According to the passage, all of the following are a threat to a coral
reef EXCEPT
a. tourists.
b. pollution.
c. erosion and putrefaction.
d. rising water temperatures.
e. Crownofthorns starfish.
This passage details the history and reasoning of Daylight Saving Time.
(1) For centuries time was measured by the position of the sun with the use
of sundials. Noon was recognized when the sun was the highest in the
sky, and cities would set their clock by this Apparent Solar Time, even
though some cities would often be on a slightly different time. “Sum
(5) mer time” or Daylight Saving Time (DST) was instituted to make bet
ter use of daylight. Thus, clocks are set forward one hour in the spring
to move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening and then
set back one hour in the fall to return to normal daylight.
Benjamin Franklin first conceived the idea of daylight saving during
(10) his tenure as an American delegate in Paris in 1784 and wrote about it
extensively in his essay “An Economical Project.” It is said that
Franklin awoke early one morning and was surprised to see the sunlight
at such an hour. Always the economist, Franklin believed the practice
of moving the time could save on the use of candlelight as candles
(15) were expensive at the time. In England, builder William Willett
(1857–1915) became a strong supporter for Daylight Saving Time
upon noticing blinds of many houses were closed on an early sunny
morning. Willett believed everyone, including himself, would appre
ciate longer hours of light in the evenings. In 1909, Sir Robert Pearce
(20) introduced a bill in the House of Commons to make it obligatory to
adjust the clocks. A bill was drafted and introduced into Parliament sev
eral times but met with great opposition, mostly from farmers. Even
tually, in 1925, it was decided that summer time should begin on the
day following the third Saturday in April and close after the first Sat
(25) urday in October.
The United States Congress passed the Standard Time Act of 1918
to establish standard time and preserve and set Daylight Saving Time
across the continent. This act also devised five time zones throughout
the United States: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Alaska. The
(30) first time zone was set on “the mean astronomical time of the seventy
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330. According to the passage, in which area of the world is DST least
useful?
a. the tropics
b. Indiana
c. Navajo reservations
d. Mexico
e. Saskatchewan
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332. What of the following statements is the best title for this passage?
a. The History and Rationale of Daylight Saving Time
b. Lyndon Johnson and the Uniform Time Act
c. The U.S. Department of Transportation and Daylight Saving
Time
d. Daylight Saving Time in the United States
e. Benjamin Franklin’s Discovery
333. In which month does the need for more energy in the morning
offset the afternoon conservation of energy by DST?
a. June
b. July
c. October
d. January
e. March
This passage details the life and illustrious career of Sir Isaac Newton,
preeminent scientist and mathematician.
(1) Tradition has it that Newton was sitting under an apple tree when an
apple fell on his head, and this made him understand that earthly and
celestial gravitation are the same. A contemporary writer, William
Stukeley, recorded in his Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton’s Life a conversa
(5) tion with Newton in Kensington on April 15, 1726, in which Newton
recalled “when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind.
It was occasioned by the fall of an apple, as he sat in contemplative
mood. Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the
ground, thought he to himself. Why should it not go sideways or
(10) upwards, but constantly to the earth’s centre.”
Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician, philosopher, and physi
cist, was born in 1642 in WoolsthorpebyColsterworth, a hamlet in
the county of Lincolnshire. His father had died three months before
Newton’s birth, and two years later his mother went to live with her
(15) new husband, leaving her son in the care of his grandmother. Newton
was educated at Grantham Grammar School. In 1661 he joined Trin
ity College, Cambridge, and continued there as Lucasian professor of
mathematics from 1669 to 1701. At that time the college’s teachings
were based on those of Aristotle, but Newton preferred to read the
(20) more advanced ideas of modern philosophers such as Descartes,
Galileo, Copernicus, and Kepler. In 1665, he discovered the binomial
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in Parliament, and was president of the Royal Society from 1703 until
(65) his death in 1727. Sir Isaac Newton was knighted in 1705 by Queen
Anne. Newton never married, nor had any recorded children. He died
in London and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
336. In line 36, what does the term clockwork universe most nearly mean?
a. eighteenth-century government
b. the international dateline
c. Newton’s system of latitude
d. Newton’s system of longitude
e. Newton’s Laws of Motion
337. According to the passage, how did Newton affect Kepler’s work?
a. He discredited his theory at Cambridge, choosing to read
Descartes instead.
b. He provides an explanation of Kepler’s laws of planetary
motion.
c. He convinced the Dean to teach Kepler, Descartes, alileo, and
Copernicus instead of Aristotle.
d. He showed how Copernicus was a superior astronomer to
Kepler.
e. He did not understand Kepler’s laws, so he rewrote them in
English.
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This passage outlines the past and present use of asbestos, the potential health
hazard associated with this material, and how to prevent exposure.
(1) Few words in a contractor’s vocabulary carry more negative connota-
tions than asbestos. According to the Asbestos Network, “touted as a
miracle substance,” asbestos is the generic term for several naturally
occurring mineral fbers mined primarily for use as freproof insula-
(5) tion. Known for strength, fexibility, low electrical conductivity, and
resistance to heat, asbestos is composed of silicon, oxygen, hydrogen,
and assorted metals. Before the public knew asbestos could be harm-
ful to one’s health, it was found in a variety of products to strengthen
them and to provide insulation and fre resistance.
(10) Asbestos is generally made up of fber bundles that can be broken
up into long, thin fbers. We now know from various studies that when
this friable substance is released into the air and inhaled into the lungs
over a period of time, it can lead to a higher risk of lung cancer and a
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PASSAGE 1
(1) PHI, the Divine Proportion of 1.618, was described by the astronomer
Johannes Kepler as one of the “two great treasures of geometry.” (The
other is the Pythagorean theorem.)
PHI is the ratio of any two sequential numbers in the Fibonacci
(5) sequence. If you take the numbers 0 and 1, then create each subse-
quent number in the sequence by adding the previous two numbers,
you get the Fibonacci sequence. For example, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21,
34, 55, 89, 144. If you sum the squares of any series of Fibonacci num-
bers, they will equal the last Fibonacci number used in the series times
(10) the next Fibonacci number. This property results in the Fibonacci spi-
ral seen in everything from seashells to galaxies, and is written math-
ematically as: 12 + 12 + 22 + 32 + 52 = 5 ¥ 8.
Plants illustrate the Fibonacci series in the numbers of leaves, the
arrangement of leaves around the stem, and in the positioning of
(15) leaves, sections, and seeds. A sunfower seed illustrates this principal
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PASSAGE 2
(1) Langdon turned to face his sea of eager students. “Who can tell me
what this number is?”
A long-legged math major in back raised his hand. “That’s the num-
ber PHI.” He pronounced it fee.
(5) “Nice job, Stettner,” Langdon said. “Everyone, meet PHI.” [ . . . ]
“This number PHI,” Langdon continued, “one-point-six-one-eight,
is a very important number in art. Who can tell me why?” [ . . . ]
“Actually,” Langdon said, [ . . . ] “PHI is generally considered the most
beautiful number in the universe.” [ . . . ] As Langdon loaded his slide
(10) projector, he explained that the number PHI was derived from the
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Landgon gave the kid a proud nod. “Nice job. Yes, the ratios of line
segments in a pentacle all equal PHI, making the symbol the ultimate
expression of the Divine Proportion.”
351. In Passage 2, line 20, ubiquity of PHI most nearly means its
a. rareness in nature.
b. accuracy in nature.
c. commonality in nature.
d. artifciality against nature.
e. purity in an unnatural state.
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ture with prisms that run perpendicular to the crown or tip. Enamel
prism patterns can have both taxonomic and evolutionary signifcance.
Tooth and tusk ivory can be carved into an almost infnite variety of
shapes and objects. A small example of carved ivory objects are small
(50 statuary, netsukes, jewelry, fatware handles, furniture inlays, and piano
keys. Additionally, warthog tusks, and teeth from sperm whales, killer
whales, and hippos can also be scrimshawed or superfcially carved, thus
retaining their original shapes as morphologically recognizable objects.
The identifcation of ivory and ivory substitutes is based on the
(55) physical and chemical class characteristics of these materials. A com-
mon approach to identifcation is to use the macroscopic and micro-
scopic physical characteristics of ivory in combination with a simple
chemical test using ultraviolet light.
357. In line 5, what does the term discrete most nearly mean?
a. tactful
b. distinct
c. careful
d. prudent
e. judicious
358. Which of the following titles is most appropriate for this passage?
a. Ivory: An Endangered Species
b. Elephants, Ivory, and Widespread Hunting in Africa
c. Ivory: Is It Organic or Inorganic?
d. Uncovering the Aspects of Natural Ivory
e. Scrimshaw: A Study of the Art of Ivory Carving
359. The word scrimshawed in line 12 and line 52 most nearly means
a. foated.
b. waxed.
c. carved.
d. sunk.
e. buoyed.
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361. As used in line 13, what is the best synonym for mastication?
a. digestion
b. tasting
c. biting
d. chewing
e. preparation
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This passage is about the process by which scientists prove theories, the
scientific method.
(1) The scientifc method usually refers to either a series or a collection
of processes that are considered characteristic of scientifc investiga-
tion and of the acquisition of new scientifc knowledge.
The essential elements of the scientifc method are:
(25) Observation
The scientifc method begins with observation. Observation often
demands careful measurement. It also requires the establishment of an
operational defnition of measurements and other concepts before the
experiment begins.
(30) Hypothesis
To explain the observation, scientists use whatever they can (their
own creativity, ideas from other fields, or even systematic guessing)
to come up with possible explanations for the phenomenon under
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Testing
In the twentieth century, philosopher Karl Popper introduced the idea
that a hypothesis must be falsifable; that is, it must be capable of being
demonstrated wrong. A hypothesis must make specifc predictions;
(40) these predictions can be tested with concrete measurements to support
or refute the hypothesis. For instance, Albert Einstein’s theory of gen-
eral relativity makes a few specifc predictions about the structure of
space and fow of time, such as the prediction that light bends in a
strong gravitational feld, and the amount of bending depends in a pre-
(45) cise way on the strength of the gravitational feld. Observations made
of a 1919 solar eclipse supported this hypothesis against other possi-
ble hypotheses, such as Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity, which did
not make such a prediction. British astronomers used the eclipse to
prove Einstein’s theory and therefore, eventually replaced Newton’s
(50) theory.
Verif ation
Probably the most important aspect of scientifc reasoning is verif-
cation. Verifcation is the process of determining whether the
hypothesis is in accord with empirical evidence, and whether it will
(55) continue to be in accord with a more generally expanded body of evi-
dence. Ideally, the experiments performed should be fully described
so that anyone can reproduce them, and many scientists should inde-
pendently verify every hypothesis. Results that can be obtained from
experiments performed by many are termed reproducible and are
(60) given much greater weight in evaluating hypotheses than non-repro-
ducible results.
Evaluation
Falsifcationism argues that any hypothesis, no matter how respected
or time-honored, must be discarded once it is contradicted by new reli-
(65) able evidence. This is, of course, an oversimplifcation, since individ-
ual scientists inevitably hold on to their pet theory long after contrary
evidence has been found. This is not always a bad thing. Any theory
can be made to correspond to the facts, simply by making a few adjust-
ments—called “auxiliary hypothesis”—so as to bring it into corre-
(70) spondence with the accepted observations. The choice of when to
reject one theory and accept another is inevitably up to the individual
scientist, rather than some methodical law.
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375. Which of the following sentences, if inserted into the blank line,
would best sum up the frst paragraph and lead into the next?
a. The cuttlefsh can be cooked and eaten like its less tender rela-
tives, the squid and octopus, but must still be tenderized before
cooking in order not to be exceedingly chewy.
b. On a scuba dive when you’re observing cuttlefsh, it is best to
move slowly because cuttlefsh have excellent eyesight and will
probably see you frst.
c. Cuttlefsh do not have an exoskeleton; instead, their skin is cov-
ered with chromataphors.
d. By far their most intriguing characteristic is their ability to
change their body color and pattern.
e. There are many interesting and diverse types of aquatic species
in the ocean.
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376. Which of the following best outlines the main topics addressed in
the passage?
a. I. Explanation of why cuttlefsh are intriguing
II. Communication skills of cuttlefsh
b. I. Classifcation and diffculties of observing cuttlefsh
II. Scientifc explanation of modes of cuttlefsh communication
c. I. Explanation of the cuttlefsh’s method of locomotion
II. Description of color displays in mating behavior
d. I. eneral classifcation and characteristics of cuttlefsh
II. Uses and beauty of the cuttlefsh’s ability to change color
e. I. The origin of the cuttlefsh
II. Food sources for the cuttlefsh
(1) Medical waste has been a growing concern because of recent inci-
dents of public exposure to discarded blood vials, needles (sharps),
empty prescription bottles, and syringes. Medical waste can typically
include general refuse, human blood and blood products, cultures and
(5) stocks of infectious agents, laboratory animal carcasses, contaminated
bedding material, and pathological wastes.
Wastes are generally collected by gravity chutes, carts, or pneumatic
tubes, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Chutes
are limited to vertical transport, and there is some risk of exhausting
(10) contaminants into hallways if a door is left open during use. Another
disadvantage of gravity chutes is that the waste container may get
jammed while dropping or broken upon hitting the bottom. Carts are
primarily for horizontal transport of bagged or containerized wastes.
The main risk here is that bags may be broken or torn during trans-
(15) port, potentially exposing the worker to the wastes. Using automated
carts can reduce the potential for exposure. Pneumatic tubes offer the
best performance for waste transport in a large facility. Advantages
include high-speed movement, movement in any direction, and min-
imal intermediate storage of untreated wastes. However, some objects
(20) cannot be conveyed pneumatically.
Off-site disposal of regulated medical wastes remains a viable
option for smaller hospitals (those with less than 150 beds). Some pre-
liminary on-site processing, such as compaction or hydropulping, may
be necessary prior to sending the waste off-site. Compaction reduces
(25) the total volume of solid wastes, often reducing transportation and dis-
posal costs, but does not change the hazardous characteristics of the
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379. For hospitals that dispose of waste on their own premises, the
optimum treatment method is
a. incineration
b. compaction
c. sterilization
d. hydropulping
e. radiation
381. The two processes mentioned in the passage that involve the
formation of liquid are
a. compaction and hydropulping
b. incineration and compaction
c. hydropulping and sterilization
d. sterilization and incineration
e. regurgitation and elimination
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382. According to the passage, two effective methods for treating waste
caused by infectious matter are
a. steam sterilization and incineration
b. hydropulping and steam sterilization
c. incineration and compaction
d. hydropulping and incineration
e. fracking and regeneration
383. Based on the tone of the passage, the author’s MAIN purpose is to
a. teach prospective owners how to transform their racing grey-
hound into a good pet
b. show how the greyhound’s nature makes it equally good as racer
and pet
c. encourage people to adopt retired racing greyhounds
d. objectively present the pros and cons of adopting a racing grey-
hound
e. convince people to avoid greyhounds at all costs
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Answers
318. e. Answer choices a–d are all unauthorized logging practices per-
formed by Metsähallitus in Finland. Choice e is incorrect
because it refers to another country.
319. c. Calling for a moratorium means to cease or stop an activity or
concept. You can deduce this correct answer from the clue in
line 17, halt.
320. b. The author’s tone can best be characterized as an urgent warn-
ing. The passage exposes an illegal logging practice that threat-
ens to destroy forests in Finland. The author’s genuine concern
rules out choices a and d, and there is nothing in the passage to
suggest that the author is either secretly angry, choice c, or in a
state of panic, choice e.
321. d. Though reenpeace is clearly out to inform the reader of bad
logging practices in Finland, it is not trying to rally support for
their organization (choice e); rather, their goal is to promote
awareness, and through awareness, change. Choice a’s sugges-
tion that other forests are endangered is false, and choices b and
c are not ideas put forth by the passage.
322. d. The reat Barrier Reef does not cause erosion; it prevents it.
All of the other choices are true and can be found in the
passage.
323. e. According to the passage, 2,010 km is approximately 1,250
miles. So, twice as many km (4,020) would be approximately
twice as many miles (2,500).
32 . b. The phrase ill effects of that precedes the words erosion and putre-
faction means that putrefaction is a negative consequence, as is
erosion. The other choices are either neutral, c, d, and e, or
positive, a.
325. a. This statement encapsulates the entire passage, not just a part
of it. Choices c and e are too specifc to be correct. Choices b
and d are not supported by the passage.
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338. d. All of the other titles were bestowed on Newton during his
lifetime.
339. b. William Stukeley published Memoirs of Sir saac Newton’s Life in
1726, after Newton’s death. The other choices are all accom-
plishemnts of Newton in his lifetime.
3 0. a. Choice a is correct because it lists the proper accolades and the
proper time frame in which he lived. Choice b is incorrect because
he did not live in the Renaissance; choices c and d are incorrect
because he was not a lord, but a knight; and choice e is incorrect
because it is not the best summary of his vast accomplishments.
3 1. c. The phrase broken up into long, thin fbers is used to describe
asbestos bundles in lines 10–11, prior to the phrase friable
substance supports that friable means easily broken down. All
other choices are not supported in the passage.
3 2. b. This choice best describes the passage in its entirety, while the
other choices describe individual points made throughout the
passage.
3 3. d. Asbestosis usually occurs in people exposed to high levels of
asbestos. Choice a is incorrect because not all insulation mate-
rial contains asbestos fbers; choice b is incorrect because
asbestos that is in good condition and not crumbled or breaking
away does not need to be removed. Choice c is incorrect
because the AHERA protects schools against asbestos exposure.
Choice e is incorrect because asbestosis is a lung disease, not a
manmade substance.
3 . e. The correct choice is universal. The sentence Many commercial
building and home insulation products contained asbestos after the
word ubiquitous shows that asbestos was commonly used.
3 5. b. The author explains that lung cancer and asbestosis are diseases
of the lung in lines 11–16 of the passage. Choice a is not true
because lung cancer and asbestosis are not dangerous fbers,
asbestos is. Choice c is incorrect as both diseases may be fatal,
but may be treated, as well. Choice d is incorrect because we
know lung cancer can develop in ways other than asbestos expo-
sure. Choice e is incorrect because asbestosis in not necessarily
a common illness.
3 6. a. While the passage does include the other choices except choice
e, the overall purpose of the passage is to teach asbestos aware-
ness in the home and school.
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371. b. This is the best choice as it explains the overall point of the pas-
sage, which is a step-by-step process covering the scientifc
method. Choice e is close, but the entire passage is not about
evaluating data. Choice a is incorrect because the theory of rel-
ativity is only cited as an example, not as a general topic. Like-
wise, choice c only considers a small part of the passage. Choice
d is too specifc.
372. c. Operational defnition is defned as a clear defnition of a meas-
urement in lines 26–29 in the passage.
373. a. Choice a is supported by the passage. Choice c is not supported
anywhere in the passage. Choices b, d, and e are all incorrect
interpretations of information contained in the passage and are
careless choices.
37 . b. All the other choices are indicated in the passage to be steps of
the process of scientifc method.
375. d. This sentence sums up the frst paragraph, which is essentially a
list of the cuttlefsh’s characteristics, by declaring which is the
most interesting characteristic, and the sentence introduces the
subject of the second paragraph—the ability of the cuttlefsh to
change color.
376. d. This outline covers the most important ideas in the two para-
graphs.
377. d. See the second sentence of the second paragraph: there is some
risk of exhausting contaminants into hallways, meaning waste
might be discharged.
378. c. The word fugitive here is the key to the meaning. The words
fugitive emissions are used in the context of the disposal process
of hydropulping, and to be a fugitive means to run away or to
escape, so this defnition is the logical choice.
379. a. See lines 42–43, which state that incineration is . . . the preferred
method for on-site treatment.
380. b. See lines 52–54, which point out that steam sterilization does
not change the appearance of the waste, thus perhaps raising
questions at a landfll.
381. c. The fourth paragraph states that liquid is separated from pulp
in the hydropulping process. The sixth paragraph says t at liq-
uid may form during t e sterilization process.
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In the following passage, the author attempts to define what separates a sport
from a leisure activity.
(1) The seemingly simple question of “what defines a sport?” has been
the fodder for argument and conversation for years, among profes-
sional and armchair athletes alike. There seems to be no doubt that vig-
orous and highly competitive activities such as baseball, football, and
(5) soccer are truly “sports,” but when the subject of other activities
such as darts, chess, and shuffleboard is broached we find ourselves
at the heart of a controversy.
If say, billiards, is not a sport, then what exactly is it? Those who
would dispute it to be a sport would respond that it is a simple leisure
(10) activity. They would go on to claim a true sport frst and foremost
requires some form of physical exertion. More to the point, if a player
does not break a sweat, what he or she plays is not a sport. Beyond
that, more important criteria would be the need for decent hand-eye
coordination, and the ever-present possibility of sustaining injury. Bil-
(15) liards only fts one of those specifcations (hand-eye coordination), so
according to the doubters, it is not a real sport.
To help resolve this dispute, the frst text to consult would have to
be the dictionary. According to one dictionary, a sport is defned as “a
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387. According to the criteria given in lines 11–14, all of the following
would be considered a “true” sport EXCEPT
a. cheerleading.
b. skiing.
c. race car driving.
d. horseshoes.
e. gymnastics.
The following passage describes the Native American games that were
predecessors to the modern sport of lacrosse.
(1) The roots of the modern-day sport of lacrosse are found in tribal stick
and ball games developed and played by many native North American
tribes dating back as early as the ffteenth century. The Native Amer-
ican names for these games refected the bellicose nature of those early
(5) contests, many of which went far beyond friendly recreational com-
petition. For example, the Algonquin called their game Baggattaway,
which meant, “they bump hips.” The Cherokee Nation and the Six
Tribes of the Iroquois called their sport Tewaarathon, which translated
into “Little Brother of War.” Rules and style of play differed from
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(10) tribe to tribe and games could be played by as few as ffteen to as many
as 1,000 men and women at a time. These matches could last for three
days, beginning at dawn each day and ending at sunset. The goals
could be specifc trees or rocks, and were a few hundred yards to a few
miles apart. Despite these differences, the sole object of every game
(15) was the same: to score goals by any means necessary. Serious injuries
caused by blows from the heavy wooden sticks used in the games were
not uncommon, and often expected. Not surprisingly, the Native
Americans considered these precursors to today’s lacrosse excellent
battle preparation for young warriors, and games were often used to
(20) settle disputes between tribes without resorting to full-blown warfare.
For the Six Tribes of the Iroquois, certain matches of Tewaarathon
held religious signifcance, as well. One of the most important gods
the Iroquois worshipped was the Creator, Deganawidah. In Iroquois
legend, the Creator united the Six Tribes into the one nation.
(25) Tewaarathon was played to please the Creator, and the competition was
viewed as a re-creation of the Iroquois Creation Story, where super-
natural forces of good and evil battled each other in an epic struggle.
390. Which of the following titles would be the most appropriate for
this passage?
a. Little Brother of War
b. Lacrosse: America’s Most Violent Sport
c. The Origins of the Modern Lacrosse Stick
d. Deganawidah and the Six Tribes
e. Hockey: the Little Brother of Lacrosse
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391. In line 15, the author’s use of the phrase by any means necessary
emphasizes the
a. unpredictable nature of the game.
b. mild nature of the game.
c. violent nature of the game.
d. fact that both women and men participated in the games.
e. importance of scoring goals.
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(20) identity publicly, our fashion sense and disposable income. The mar-
ket naturally manipulates the labels, making sure we keep purchasing
what will most quickly declare us excellent consumers. If this year a
pair of sneakers worn by a celebrity are so popular that we are pre-
pared to spend our way into a trendy identity, then next year there
(25) will be something else.
394. What does the author mean by the commercial range of options
(line 3)?
a. the variety of commercials on television and radio
b. the numerous products available to today’s consumer
c. the ability to shop on the Internet
d. let the buyer beware
e. technology’s impact upon the world
396. The author would agree with all the following statements
EXCEPT
a. A person wearing a New York Yankees baseball hat is not neces-
sarily a fan of the team or a resident of New York.
b. Pride in our school or community is not as strong today as it
was years ago.
c. In today’s society, being trendy is more important than keeping
tradition.
d. You can tell a lot about somebody by what they are wearing.
e. The last resort of the modern world is the marketplace.
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The following passage is an excerpt from Jack London’s The Cruise of the nark.
In this selection, London discusses his experience of learning to surf in Waikiki
in the early 1 00s.
(1) A wave is a communicated agitation. The water that composes the
body of a wave does not move. If it did, when a stone is thrown into a
pond and the ripples spread away in an ever-widening circle, there
would appear at the center an ever-increasing hole. No, the water that
(5) composes the body of a wave is stationary. Thus, you may watch a par-
ticular portion of the ocean’s surface and you will see the same water
rise and fall a thousand times to the agitation communicated by a
thousand successive waves. Now imagine this communicated agitation
moving shoreward. As the bottom shoals, the lower portion of the
(10) wave strikes land frst and is stopped. But water is fuid, and the upper
portion has not struck anything, wherefore it keeps on communicat-
ing its agitation, keeps on going. And when the top of the wave keeps
on going, while the bottom of it lags behind, something is bound to
happen. The bottom of the wave drops out from under and the top of
(15) the wave falls over, forward, and down, curling and cresting and roar-
ing as it does so. It is the bottom of a wave striking against the top of
the land that is the cause of all surfs.
But the transformation from a smooth undulation to a breaker is
not abrupt except where the bottom shoals abruptly. Say the bottom
(20) shoals gradually from a quarter of a mile to a mile, then an equal dis-
tance will be occupied by the transformation. Such a bottom is that off
the beach of Waikiki, and it produces a splendid, surf-riding surf. One
leaps upon the back of a breaker just as it begins to break, and stays on
it as it continues to break all the way in to shore.
(25) And now to the particular physics of surf-riding. et out on a fat
board, six feet long, two feet wide, and roughly oval in shape. Lie
down upon it like a small boy on a coaster and paddle with your hands
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out to deep water, where the waves begin to crest. Lie out there qui-
etly on the board. Sea after sea breaks before, behind, and under and
(30) over you, and rushes in to shore, leaving you behind. When a wave
crests, it gets steeper. Imagine yourself, on your board, on the face of
that steep slope. If it stood still, you would slide down just as a boy
slides down a hill on his coaster. “But,” you object, “the wave doesn’t
stand still.” Very true, but the water composing the wave stands still,
(35) and there you have the secret. If ever you start sliding down the face
of that wave, you’ll keep on sliding and you’ll never reach the bottom.
Please don’t laugh. The face of that wave may be only six feet, yet you
can slide down it a quarter of a mile, or half a mile, and not reach the
bottom. For, see, since a wave is only a communicated agitation or
(40) impetus, and since the water that composes a wave is changing every
instant, new water is rising into the wave as fast as the wave travels.
You slide down this new water, and yet remain in your old position
on the wave, sliding down the still newer water that is rising and
forming the wave. You slide precisely as fast as the wave travels. If it
(45) travels ffteen miles an hour, you slide ffteen miles an hour. Between
you and shore stretches a quarter of mile of water. As the wave trav-
els, this water obligingly heaps itself into the wave, gravity does the
rest, and down you go, sliding the whole length of it. If you still cher-
ish the notion, while sliding, that the water is moving with you, thrust
(50) your arms into it and attempt to paddle; you will fnd that you have to
be remarkably quick to get a stroke, for that water is dropping astern
just as fast as you are rushing ahead.
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This passage details the life and career of Althea Gibson, an African-American
pioneer in the sport of tennis.
(1) Today, watching Venus and Serena Williams dominate the sport of
women’s tennis with their talent and fair, it is hard to imagine that just
over ffty years ago African-American tennis players were barred from
competing on the grandest stages of their sport. Jackie Robinson broke
(5) the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947, but the walls that kept
African Americans from playing professional sports did not come tum-
bling down overnight. Almost four years passed from Jackie Robinson’s
major league debut until a female African American made a similar
impact upon the sport of women’s tennis. That woman’s name was Althea
(10) ibson.
Althea ibson was born on a cotton farm on August 25, 1927, in Sil-
ver, South Carolina. The early stages of the reat Depression forced her
sharecropper father to move the family from the bucolic Silver to the
urban bustle of New York City when she was just three years old. As a
(15) child growing up in the Harlem section of Manhattan, Althea found
she had an affnity for athletics. Basketball and paddle tennis were her
favorite sports, and she excelled at both. In fact, her talent at paddle ten-
nis was so remarkable that in 1939 she won her age group at the New
York City paddle tennis championships. Shortly after, a very good friend
(20) of Althea’s suggested that she try lawn tennis. She showed an incredible
aptitude for the sport and her play caught the attention of members of the
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the courts.” The editorial caused a national uproar that quickly led the
(65) USLTA to fnally extend Althea an invitation to play in the 1950 U.S.
Nationals tournament. This invitation would open many doors for
Althea, and the following year she was the frst African American to com-
pete at Wimbledon.
It took a few years for Althea to adjust to the world-class level of play.
(70) She won her frst major tournament in 1956 and would dominate the
sport for the next fve years, winning six doubles titles and a total of eleven
rand Slam events including the U.S. Nationals and Wimbledon twice.
Yet even at the height of her career as an international tennis champ,
Althea was forced to endure discrimination. She was often refused hotel
(75) rooms and reservations at restaurants simply because of her skin color.
Althea once said that her extraordinary success was the product of
being “game enough to take a lot of punishment along the way.” The pio-
neering example set by Althea ibson paved the way for future genera-
tions of African-American tennis players, and proved that beyond her
(80) tennis glory she was a true champion of the human spirit.
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410. Which of the following best describes the USLTA’s change of heart
regarding Althea’s invitation?
a. buckling under the pressure of public opinion
b. a calculated strike against segregation
c. a sudden recognition of Althea’s abilities
d. a bold marketing strategy
e. a desire to diversify the women’s game
411. The author uses Althea’s quote about being game enough in line 80
to illustrate that
a. Althea’s career was plagued with injuries.
b. the sport of tennis is more grueling than people realize.
c. Althea believed the discrimination she faced served only to
make her a stronger competitor.
d. Althea was often fned for yelling at the referee.
e. Althea believed talent was more important than mental
toughness.
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414. Why did Althea’s friend suggest that she try lawn tennis?
a. Lawn tennis is a more competitive game than paddle tennis.
b. The friend preferred playing lawn tennis.
c. There was more money to be made playing lawn tennis than
paddle tennis.
d. The friend thought Althea might enjoy playing lawn tennis, and
excel at it.
e. The friend was looking for a tennis partner.
(1) Professional baseball suffered during the two years the United States
was involved in World War I. Many Americans who were preoccupied
with the seriousness of the war raging overseas had little concern for
the trivialities of a baseball game. After the war ended in 1919, many
(5) Americans wanted to put those dark years behind them and get back
to the normal activities of a peaceful life. One of those activities was
watching baseball. In the summer of 1919, ballparks that just one year
earlier had been practically empty were now flled daily with the sights
and sounds of America’s favorite pastime. That year, both the Cleve-
(10) land Indians and New York Yankees were two of the strongest teams
in baseball’s American League, but one team stood head and shoulders
above the rest: The Chicago White Sox.
The Chicago White Sox, called The White Stockings until 1902,
were owned by an ex-ballplayer named Charles Comiskey. Between the
(15) years of 1900 and 1915 the White Sox had won the World Series only
once, and Comiskey was determined to change that. In 1915, he pur-
chased the contracts of three of the most promising stars in the league:
outfelders “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and “Happy” Oscar Felsch, and sec-
ond baseman Eddie Collins. Comiskey had only to wait two years for his
(20) plan to come to fruition; the 1917 White Sox, playing in a park named
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for their owner, won the World Series. Two years later they had the best
record in all of baseball and were again on their way to the Series.
Baseball players’ salaries in that era were much different than the exor-
bitant paychecks of today’s professional athletes. Often, ballplayers would
(25) have second careers in the off-season because of the mediocrity of their
pay. To make matters worse, war-torn 1918 was such a horrible year for
baseball attendance that many owners cut player salaries for the follow-
ing season. However, it is said in all of baseball there was no owner as
parsimonious as Charles Comiskey. In 1917, he reportedly promised
(30) every player on the White Sox a bonus if they won the American League
Championship. After winning the championship, they returned to the
clubhouse to receive their bonus—a bottle of inexpensive champagne.
Unlike other owners, Comiskey also required the players to pay for the
cleaning of their uniforms. The Sox had the best record in baseball, but
(35) they were the least paid, were the most discontented, and wore the dirt-
iest uniforms.
Comiskey’s frugality did not sit well with the players. They were
most upset with the fact that he did not raise salaries back to their
1918 levels, even though the ballpark attendance fgures for 1919
(40) were higher than any previous year. One player, Eddie Ciccotte, felt
especially ill-treated by Comiskey. The owner promised the pitcher
a bonus of $10,000 if he won thirty games, but after Ciccotte won his
twenty-ninth game he was benched by Comiskey for the rest of the
season.
(45) amblers were such a common sight around the Chicago ballpark
that Charles Comiskey had signs proclaiming “No Betting Allowed
In This Park” posted conspicuously in the stands. The money with
which these gamblers tempted the players was hard to refuse, and it
was rumored that to supplement their income some of the lower-paid
(50) athletes would offer inside tips to the bettors. But gamblers’ mingling
with ballplayers wasn’t solely confned to the White Sox. In 1920,
allegations involving gambling among Chicago Cubs players brought
to light a scandal that would shock Chicago and the rest of America:
Eight members of the White Sox had thrown the 1919 World Series.
(55) The exact facts regarding the scandal will never be known, but the
most accepted theory is that just prior to the World Series, White Sox
player Chick andil had approached a gambler by the name of
Joseph Sullivan with a proposal that for $100,000 andil would make
sure the Sox lost the Series. andil needed to recruit other players for
(60) the plan to work. It was not hard for him to do—there were many
underpaid players on the White Sox who were dissatisfed with the
way Comiskey operated the team. Ultimately, the seven other play-
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ers that were allegedly involved in the scheme were Eddie Cicotte,
Happy Felsch, Joe Jackson, Fred McMullin, Charles “Swede” Ris-
(65) berg, Buck Weaver, and Claude Williams.
They were successful. The Chicago White Sox, heavily favored to
beat an inferior Cincinnati Reds team, lost the nine-game World Series
in eight games, due in most part to the inferior play of the eight con-
spiring players. When the scandal made headlines the following year
(70) the press began to refer to them as the Black Sox, and the ignominious
label would be used to describe them forever.
When the eight players stood before an Illinois grand jury, it was
determined that there was not enough substantial evidence for any
convictions, and the players were all eventually acquitted of any crim-
(75) inal wrongdoing. Interestingly enough, Charles Comiskey paid for the
players’ high-priced defense lawyers. Unfortunately for Comiskey,
there was to be no similar reprieve from major league baseball: Every
single one of the accused players was banned from the game for life.
Comiskey’s once mighty team was decimated by the loss of its most
(80) talented players, and the 1921 White Sox fnished the season in sev-
enth place.
416. According to the passage, who was the supposed ringleader of the
Black Sox scandal?
a. Charles Comiskey
b. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson
c. Eddie Ciccotte
d. Eddie Collins
e. Chick andil
418. According to facts from the passage, what was the name of the
White Sox’s ballpark?
a. Chicago Park
b. Comiskey Park
c. Sullivan Stadium
d. White Sox Park
e. Sox Field
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420. According to the passage, how many World Series did the White
Sox win between 1900 and 1919?
a. none
b. one
c. two
d. three
e. four
423. The last paragraph of the passage suggests that Charles Comiskey
a. thought the team was better off without the eight players.
b. hoped all eight players would be convicted and sent to jail.
c. wanted the players involved in the scandal to return to the
team.
d. was contemplating retirement.
e. had a plan to get the White Sox back to the World Series.
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The following passage is adapted from a magazine article entitled The Revival
of the Olympic Games: Restoring the tadium at Athens, published prior to the
first modern Olympics.
(1) For several months an unwonted activity has prevailed in one quarter
of Athens. Herodes Atticus Street behind the royal garden, one of the
most retired streets of the city, has resounded all day long with the rat-
tle of heavy wagons bringing blocks of marble from Pentelikon. At
(5) sunrise and sunset crowds of workingmen are seen moving through
this street, the lower end of which opens upon a bridge across the Ilis-
sos, and on the opposite bank lies the Panathenaic Stadium, now being
lined with marble for the Olympic games which are to be held in it
early in April. The time is short, and the work is being pressed for-
(10) ward. When the International Athletic Committee, at a session in
Paris last year, decided to have a series of athletic contests once in four
years in various countries, it is not surprising that they selected reece
for the frst contest. Although reece now has as little of the athletic
habit as any nation of the civilized world, its past is interwoven with
(15) athletics. Olympia is a magic word, and the committee were doubtless
swayed partly by sentimental reasons in the choice of name and place.
But some may wonder why, since the games come to reece, they
are not to be held at Olympia, to justify the name which they have
taken. This is because the originators of the scheme, although they
(20) have conceded something to sentiment, are no visionaries, but men of
practical common sense. Even their concession to sentiment is likely
to turn out to be a clever piece of practical management, calculated to
launch the games upon the world with more success than could have
been secured in any other way. The games also have a name which will
(25) be just as true in 1900 at Paris, and 1904 in America, as it is this year
in Athens.
Now, however fne a thing it might be to let athletes stir real
Olympic dust, and to let runners put their heels into the very groove
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of the old starting-sill, with the feeling that thirty centuries looked
(30) down upon them, it would not be practical. A successful athletic con-
test cannot be held in the wilderness. It demands a crowd and suste-
nance for a crowd. The crowd is the one essential concomitant of the
athletes. But a crowd will not go where it cannot eat and sleep. To
bring to Olympia a concourse suffcient to in modern times make the
(35) games anything like a success would demand the organization of a
frst-class commissary department, and that too for a service of half a
month only. Shelter and food for such an occasion come naturally only
in connection with some city with a market. Ancient Olympia, with all
its magnifcent buildings, was of course that sort of city, albeit practi-
(40) cally a deserted city except for a few days once in four years.
The visitors at Athens next April—and it is hoped that there will be
tens of thousands of them—will doubtless feel keenly enough the
inadequacy even of a city of 130,000 inhabitants, to give them all that
they seek in the way of material comforts. The problem of seating a
(45) large crowd of spectators did not come up before the International
Committee. But it is this problem which has found a most happy solu-
tion in Athens. The Stadium at Olympia, although excavated at each
end by the ermans, still lies in most of its course under ffteen or
twenty feet of earth. But the Stadium at Athens has always been a ft
(50) place for a monster meeting, provided people would be contented to
sit on its sloping sides without seats. When a local Athenian commit-
tee was formed, composed of most of the citizens conspicuous for
wealth or position, and some resident foreigners, under the presidency
of Constantine, crown prince of reece, one of the frst questions
(55) before it was this question of seating; and its attention was naturally
directed to the Stadium.
A wealthy and generous reek of Alexandria, eorge Averoff, who
was known as a man always on the watch to do something for Athens,
readily took upon himself the expense of restoring the Stadium to
(60) something like its former splendor, when it was lined with marble and
seated 50,000 spectators. He has already given over 900,000 drachmas,
which, if the drachma were at par, would be $180,000, but which now
amounts to only about $100,000. There is a sub-committee of the
general committee above described, designated as the committee on
(65) the preparation of the Stadium, composed of several practical architects,
but including also the Ephor eneral of Antiquities, and the directors
of the foreign archaeological schools. The presence of the archaeolog-
ical element on this committee emphasizes the fact that the new work
is to be a restoration of the old.
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427. Based on information in the passage, what year were the frst
modern Olympics to be held?
a. 1892
b. 1896
c. 1900
d. 1904
e. 1908
429. All of the following are reasons why the frst modern games were
held in Athens and not in Olympia EXCEPT
a. Olympia was a much smaller city than Athens.
b. Parts of the Stadium at Olympia were buried underground.
c. Athens offered better facilities for the crowd in terms of food
and shelter.
d. The ermans voted against Olympia in favor of Athens.
e. The city of Olympia would not attract the same crowd as
Athens.
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430. Who was in charge of solving the problem of seating the crowds
expected at Athens?
a. the International Athletic Committee
b. the ermans
c. eorge Averoff
d. the Ephor eneral of Antiquities
e. a local Athenian Committee
431. According to the passage, about how long were the games to be?
a. two weeks
b. the month of April
c. four years
d. three weeks
e. a few days
433. In line 30, what does the author claim would not be practical?
a. trying to revive the spirit of the ancient games
b. holding the new Olympics in Olympia
c. excavating the Stadium at Olympia for use at the modern games
d. refurbishing the Stadium at Athens
e. seating 50,000 spectators
434. The phrase the feeling that thirty centuries looked down upon them
(lines 29–30) refers to the
a. political importance of holding the frst modern games at the
site of Ancient Olympia.
b. decision to hold the second modern Olympics in France.
c. importance of reviving the spirit of the ancient Olympic games.
d. sentimental value of holding the modern games at the site of
Ancient Olympia.
e. need for the best amateur athletes to compete.
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The following passages detail two very different perspectives of life aboard a
ship in the age of sail. The first passage describes an English pleasure yacht in
the early 1800s. The second passage recounts a young boy’s impressions of the
first time he set sail in a merchant vessel.
PASSAGE 1
(1) Reader, have you ever been at Plymouth? If you have, your eye must
have dwelt with ecstasy upon the beautiful property of the Earl of
Mount Edgcumbe: if you have not been at Plymouth, the sooner that
you go there the better. You will see ships building and ships in ordi-
(5) nary; and ships repairing and ships ftting; and hulks and convict ships,
and the guard-ship; ships ready to sail and ships under sail; besides
lighters, men-of-war’s boats, dockyard-boats, bum-boats, and shore-
boats. In short, there is a great deal to see at Plymouth besides the sea
itself: but what I particularly wish now is, that you will stand at the bat-
(10) tery of Mount Edgcumbe and look into Barn Pool below you, and
there you will see, lying at single anchor, a cutter; and you may also
see, by her pendant and ensign, that she is a yacht.
You observe that this yacht is cutter-rigged, and that she sits grace-
fully on the smooth water. She is just heaving up her anchor; her fore-
(15) sail is loose, all ready to cast her—in a few minutes she will be under
way. You see that there are ladies sitting at the taffrail; and there are
fve haunches of venison hanging over the stern. Of all amusements,
give me yachting. But we must go on board. The deck, you observe,
is of narrow deal planks as white as snow; the guns are of polished
(20) brass; the bitts and binnacles of mahogany: she is painted with taste;
and all the moldings are gilded. There is nothing wanting; and yet
how clear and unencumbered are her decks! Let us go below.
There is the ladies’ cabin: can anything be more tasteful or elegant?
Is it not luxurious? And, although so small, does not its very confned
(25) space astonish you, when you view so many comforts so beautifully
arranged? This is the dining-room, and where the gentlemen repair.
And just peep into their state-rooms and bed-places. Here is the stew-
ard’s room and the buffet: the steward is squeezing lemons for the
punch, and there is the champagne in ice; and by the side of the pail
(30) the long-corks are ranged up, all ready. Now, let us go forwards: here
are, the men’s berths, not confned as in a man-of-war. No! Luxury
starts from abaft, and is not wholly lost, even at the fore-peak. This is
the kitchen; is it not admirably arranged? And how delightful are the
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PASSAGE 2
(1) My very frst sea voyage was in a small merchant vessel out of New
York called the Alba. I was only twelve years old at the time, and full
of dreams of boundless adventure upon the high seas. I was to serve
as the ship’s boy. I was given the post by my Uncle Joseph, the weath-
(5) ered old captain of the Alba who uttered few words, choosing to speak
more with his menacing gaze than with his mouth. The moment I
stepped upon the bustling deck my Uncle Joseph set me straight about
shipboard life. There were to be no special privileges afforded to me
because of our relations. I was to live and mess in the ‘tween decks
(10) with the other seamen, and because I was his nephew, I would proba-
bly have to work twice as hard as the others to prove my worth. From
that point on I was to refer to my uncle as “Sir” or “Captain,” and only
speak to him when he addressed me. He then told me a bit about the
Alba. I learned that she was a cutter, and all cutters were fore-and-aft
(15) rigged, and possessed only a single mast. After my brief lesson, he then
sent me below deck to get myself situated.
What I found when I dismounted the ladder below was an entirely
different world than the orderly brightness of the top deck. Here was
a stuffy and dimly lit space barely tall enough for me to stand up
(20) straight in. It was the middle of July, and the heat was oppressive.
There seemed to be no air at all, there certainly were no windows, and
the stench that rose up from the bilge was so pungent it made me gag.
From the shadows, a pair of eyes materialized. They belonged to a
grimy boy no older than me.
(25) “Hello mate, you must be the new lubber just shipped aboard. I’m
Nigel. Follow me, we’re just in time for dinner.”
My new friend led me into the tiny dining room where the crew
messed. The men ate shoulder to shoulder on wooden tables bolted to
the deck. The horrifc smell of so many men crammed together was
(30) overpowering. We received our food from the ship’s cook, a portly
man in a flthy apron who, with the dirtiest hands I’d ever seen, ladled
us out a sort of stew. We found two open spots at a mess table and sat
down to eat. The stew was lukewarm and the mysterious meat in it was
so tough I could barely chew it. I managed to swallow a few spoonfuls
(35) and pushed my dish aside.
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438. What do the yacht in Passage 1 and the Alba in Passage 2 have in
common?
a. They were both built in England.
b. They both have only a single mast.
c. They are both made of iron.
d. They both have lifeboats.
e. They are both fast.
439. How do the yacht in Passage 1 and the Alba in Passage 2 differ?
a. The yacht does not carry cargo.
b. The yacht is much bigger than the Alba.
c. There are no passengers aboard the Alba, only crew.
d. The yacht is much more luxurious than the Alba.
e. The yacht is much faster than the Alba.
440. Why does the captain in Passage 2 (lines 11–12) demand that his
nephew call him Sir or Captain?
a. The captain wanted his nephew to understand who was
in charge.
b. The captain did not want any member of the crew to know the
narrator was his nephew.
c. The captain was afraid that if he showed affection to his
nephew, he would lose his authority over the crew.
d. The captain was not really the narrator’s uncle.
e. It was important that the crew understood that the boy was no
more privileged than anyone else aboard.
441. In Passage 1, line 26, the use of the word repair most nearly means
a. go.
b. fx things.
c. sit in pairs.
d. get dressed.
e. exercise.
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387. d. Cheerleading (choice a), skiing (choice b), race car driving (choice
c), and gymnastics (choice e) are all strenuous activities that
require good hand-eye coordination and run the risk of injury.
Playing horseshoes (choice d) only requires good hand-eye
coordination.
388. b. Bellicose most closely means warlike. There are two major clues
in this passage to help you answer this question. The frst clue
lies in the translation of the name Tewaarathon, meaning “Little
Brother of War.” Another clue lies in lines 18–19, where the
passage states that these games were excellent battle preparation
for warriors.
389. c. The answer to this question can be found in lines 17–20, as well
as in the entire second paragraph. The passage states that the
games played by the Native Americans were often substitutes
for war, and from time to time the games held religious and
spiritual signifcance. Don’t be fooled by choice e; the Native
Americans may have played friendly exhibition matches, but
this is not discussed anywhere in the passage.
390. a. “Little Brother of War” is the best choice for the title of this
passage because, in the frst paragraph, the games are described
as ferce and warlike. Choice a is also the name of the original
Iroquois game, which was the subject of the entire second para-
graph. The other choices do not ft because they are unsup-
ported by the passage, or describe only a small portion of
the passage.
391. c. The answer can be found in the two sentences that follow the
phrase. The sentences state that the games were often high-
stakes substitutes for war, and it was not uncommon for players
to suffer serious injuries at the hands (and sticks) of others.
These statements describe the ferce nature of the games, and
suggest that players would not hesitate to resort to violent tac-
tics to score, by any means necessary. Choices d and e are true and
mentioned in the passage, but they do not ft in context with
the phrase.
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399. d. The question asks for the statement that cannot be answered
based on information given in the passage. In lines 25–29, the
author describes the shape and dimensions of a fat board, and
tells the reader how to paddle and lie upon it. But nowhere in
the passage does the author state that a fat board is the most
popular type of surfboard.
400. e. The answer to this question is found in lines 18–22. The author
states that the bottom shoals gradually from a quarter of a mile to a
mile toward the beach at Waikiki, producing a splendid surf-
riding surf.
401. b. When the word shoal is used as a verb it usually means to
become shallow (as in water) or to come to a shallow or less
deep part of. Lines 9–10 state that as the wave approaches the
shore the lower portion of the wave strikes land frst and is stopped. If
the sea bottom is rising, the water will therefore be not as deep,
in other words—it will be shallower.
402. b. The answer is explained in lines 9–17, and spelled out in lines
16–17: t is the bottom of a wave striking against the top of the land
that is the cause of all surfs.
403. a. As it is used in the passage, impetus most nearly means a moving
force. In this case, a wave is a moving force through the water. If
you did not know the correct defnition, the best way to answer
this question would be to replace impetus in the sentence with
each of the given answer choices to see which one makes the
most sense in context.
404. a. The best approach to this question is to reread lines 18–21 for
each answer choice to see which choice is directly supported by
the given text. For this question you would not have to go far to
fnd the answer: choice a quickly summarizes the text of those
lines. All the other answer choices are unsupported or contra-
dicted by the given text.
40 . c. Context clues are your best aid in answering this question, and
an important context clue is given in lines 1 and 2. The author
goes on to state that the water that composes the body of a wave is
stationary, and gives the example of the thrown stone causing rip-
ples in the water. The rock that is thrown is the cause of the agi-
tation of the water. The ripples (or the waves) that surge away
from that agitation are the communication of that agitation mov-
ing through the water. Therefore, choice c is the correct
answer.
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406. c. In line 33, the author compares surfng to slid[ing] down a hill.
But unlike a six-foot hill, a surfer can slide down a six-foot wave
for more than a quarter of a mile without ever reaching the bot-
tom. The author explains that this is possible because the water
that composes the wave is, like a hill, standing still and new water
is rising into the wave as fast as the wave travels, preventing the
surfer from reaching the bottom (lines 41–43). So while it looks
like a surfer is sliding along moving water, he or she is actually
stationary on a wave as it moves through the water. That’s the
secret.
407. e. Glimpsing a piece of the past (choice a), glorifying athletes (choice
b), disparaging segregation (choice c), and learning some tennis
history (choice d) are all story elements that support the main
purpose of the passage: To tell the story of Althea ibson, the
woman who broke the color barrier in professional tennis
(choice e).
408. a. The word bucolic is most often used to describe something
typical of or relating to rural life. If you did not know what
bucolic meant, there are contextual clues to help you. In lines
11-15, the passage tells us that Althea was born on a cotton
farm and her father was a sharecropper. Also, in lines 13–14,
the author contrasts the bucolic Silver with New York City’s
urban bustle.
409. e. The passage states that Althea ibson was a two-time Wim-
bledon champion. However, the passage does not offer the
exact number of defeats Althea suffered at Wimbledon in her
career.
410. a. Althea’s accomplishments in 1949 and 1950 should have
earned her an invitation to the 1950 U.S. Nationals, but her
and the ATA’s efforts to secure an invitation from the USTLA
fell on deaf ears (lines 51–57). It was not until the national
uproar spurred by Alice Marble’s editorial (lines 62–66)
that the USTLA, buckling under the weight of public pres-
sure (choice a), relented and extended Althea an invitation
to play.
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424. b. Lines 47–50 state that gamblers would often target the lower-
paid athletes because the money with which these gamblers tempted
the players was hard to refuse. The passage tells that due to
Charles Comiskey’s stinginess with his players, there were many
underpaid players on the White Sox who were dissatisfed (lines
61–62) and they were the most discontented team in baseball (line
35). These factors suggest that if Charles Comiskey had treated
his players better, perhaps they might not have been so eager to
betray him.
42 . b. A context clue to help you answer this question is found in lines
2–3, when the author states that Herodes Atticus Street is one of
the most retired streets of the city. Of the given answer choices, out
of the ordinary best describes the activity of heavy construction
on a normally quiet street.
426. c. The author states in lines 6–7 that the lower end of Herodes
Atticus Street opens upon a bridge across the lissos, and on the
opposite bank lies the Panathenaic Stadium—the Stadium at
Athens.
427. b. Lines 11–12 state the Committee decided that the Olympics
would be held once in four years, and the next two Olympics to
follow would be held in the years 1900 and 1904 (line 25).
428. c. As stated in line 16, the organizers of the frst modern
Olympics were swayed partly by sentimental reasons in the choice of
name and place. The ancient Olympics took its name from the
city where it was held every four years: Olympia, in reece. To
honor those ancient games, the organizers named the modern
games the Olympics and would play the inaugural contests in
reece.
429. d. The ermans were involved in excavating the ancient Stadium
at Olympia (lines 47–48). Nowhere in the passage does it men-
tion that there was a vote to decide between Olympia and
Athens.
430. e. Lines 44–46 state that the problem of seating a large crowd of spec-
tators did not come up before the nternational Committee (choice a).
In fact, it was a local Athenian committee (choice e) composed of
most of the citizens conspicuous for wealth or position, and some resi-
dent foreigners (lines 52–53) that were posed with the question of
seating for the games in Athens.
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437. d. In lines 2–3, the author of Passage 1 tells of the beautiful prop-
erty belonging to the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and implores the
reader to visit Plymouth if they ever get the chance. He then goes
on to describe the bustling harbor at Plymouth and fnishes with:
there is a great deal to see at Plymouth besides the sea itself (lines 8–9).
In short, he describes all the interesting sights to behold at Ply-
mouth. All the other choices either do not make sense or are not
specifcally supported by details from the text.
438. b. In lines 10–12 of Passage 1 the narrator states that the yacht is a
particular type of ship known as a cutter. In lines 14–15 of Pas-
sage 2, the Captain explains to his nephew that the Alba is a cut-
ter, as well. In that same conversation the nephew learns that all
cutters share a similar trait: they possess only a single mast (line
15). Therefore, choice b is the correct answer.
439. d. When answering this question, the key is to be sure to fnd the
only choice that is supported by specifc examples from the text.
Nowhere in the text of Passage 1 does it state that the yacht car-
ries cargo, but on the other hand it never mentions the fact that
it does not. The same reasoning goes for choices b, c, and e.
The yacht may be bigger and faster than the Alba, and the Alba
may carry only crew, but these facts are never mentioned in the
texts so we can’t know for sure. That leaves only one possible
answer: choice d. The yacht is most certainly more luxurious
than the Alba, and this statement is backed by both narrators’
descriptions of their respective vessels.
440. e. The captain knew it was important that the crew understood
the boy was no more privileged than anyone else aboard the
Alba. Evidence for this choice is found in the narrator’s state-
ment in lines 10–11: because was his nephew, would probably
have to work twice as hard as the others to prove my worth. All the
other choices do not make sense or are not backed by specifc
examples from the text.
441. a. As used inPassage 1, line 26, the verb repair most closely means
take themselves, or more simply, go. Today, repair is most com-
monly used as a verb that means to fx something (choice b).
However, in the context of the sentence, this makes no sense.
The easiest way to answer this question is to replace repair in
the sentence with each the answer choices, and see which one
fts best in context. By doing this you should narrow down your
choice to just one: choice a.
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442. c. The narrator’s familiarity with yachts and the harbor at Ply-
mouth (lines 1–12) in Passage 1 seems to indicate that he is
an experienced yachtsman. He reveals his passion for yachting
in lines 17–18, when he declares, Of all amusements, give me
yachting. All the other answer choices either do not make
sense or are not supported by specific examples from
the text.
443. e. Nigel probably had rotten or missing teeth. The narrator of Pas-
sage 2 chose to describe Nigel’s smile as a graveyard of yellow sin-
cerity, describing his yellow teeth as tombstones in a graveyard.
When a writer uses a descriptive word or phrase in place of
another to suggest a similarity between the two, this fgure of
speech is called a metaphor (choice e). If the boy had instead said,
Nigel’s smile was “like a graveyard of yellow sincerity,” it would
have been a simile, choice b.
444. a. Both passages are basically concerned with a similar situation—
life aboard a cutter. The author of Passage 1 sets a pleasurable
tone in the frst paragraph by describing the idyllic scene at Ply-
mouth and the anchored yacht. He later describes the yacht as
elegant, tasteful, and luxurious (line 18), and the smell of the food
delightful (lines 23–24). In stark contrast, the boy narrator in
Passage 2 begins the passage by describing the menacing façade
of his uncle and the immediate reality check the boy receives
when he steps aboard (lines 6–9). His description of the heat
and smell below deck (lines 20–22), and the horrible food (lines
33–35), effectively sets the dark and oppressive tone of the pas-
sage. Together, these two very different descriptions prove that
the reality of two seemingly similar situations can often be extremely
different, choice a.
44 . b. The word berth, when used as a noun, often refers to the sleep-
ing quarters aboard a boat or a train. In lines 39–43 the boy
describes his berth as the place where he could stow [his] clothes,
and at night string up [his] hammock.
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Social Studies
8
Questions 446–449 are based on the following passage.
The following passage examines the possibility that early humans used
toothpicks.
(1) Could good dental hygiene be man’s earliest custom? The fndings of
paleontologist Leslea Hlusko suggest that 1.8 million years ago early
hominids used grass stalks to clean their teeth. Many ancient hominid
teeth unearthed in archaeological digs have curved grooves near the
(5) gumline. Hlusko posited that these grooves were evidence of teeth
cleaning by early man. However, critics pointed out that even though
the use of toothpicks is still a common practice among modern man
similar grooves are not found on modern teeth.
Hlusko, convinced that she was on the right track, experimented
(10) with grass stalks to see if they might have been the cause of the
grooves. Unlike the wood used for modern toothpicks, grass contains
hard silica particles that are more abrasive than the soft fbers found
in wood. A stalk of grass is also about the same width as the marks
found on the ancient teeth. To prove her theory Dr. Hlusko took a
(15) baboon tooth and patiently rubbed a grass stalk against it for eight
hours. As she suspected, the result was grooves similar to those found
on the ancient hominid teeth. She repeated the experiment with a
human tooth and found the same result.
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It seems that our early human ancestors may have used grass, which
(20) was easily found and ready to use, to foss between their teeth. As
Hlusko suggests in the journal Current Anthropology, “Toothpicking
with grass stalks probably represents the most persistent habit docu-
mented in human evolution.”
449. The passage suggests that the theory that early man used grass
stalks as toothpicks is
a. a possibility.
b. very probable.
c. absolutely certain.
d. fanciful.
e. uncorroborated.
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This passage, from research conducted for the Library of Congress olklife
Center, discusses the various folk beliefs of lorida fishermen.
(1) Beliefs are easily the most enduring and distinctive aspects of maritime
culture. Traditional beliefs, commonly called superstitions, are con-
victions that are usually related to causes and effects, and are often
manifest in certain practices. Common examples include beliefs about
(5) good and bad luck, signs for predicting the weather, interpretations of
supernatural happenings, and remedies for sickness and injury.
Because maritime occupations often place workers in a highly unpre-
dictable and hazardous environment, it is not surprising that fshermen
hold many beliefs about fortune and misfortune. A primary function of
(10) such beliefs is to explain the unexplainable. Watermen can cite many
actions that invite bad luck. These actions include uttering certain words
while aboard a boat, taking certain objects aboard a boat, going out in
a boat on a certain day, or painting boats certain colors. Among Florida
fshermen, saying “alligator,” bringing aboard shells or black suitcases,
(15) and whistling are all considered bad luck while on a boat.
Beliefs about actions that invite good luck appear to be fewer in
number than those about bad luck. Beliefs about good luck include
breaking a bottle of champagne or other liquid over the bow of a ves-
sel when it is launched, participating in a blessing-of-the-feet cere-
(20) mony, placing a coin under the mast, carrying a lucky object when
aboard, and stepping on or off the boat with the same foot. There are
many beliefs about predicting the weather and the movement of fsh.
These beliefs are often linked to the detection of minute changes in
the environment and refect fshermen’s intimate contact with the nat-
(25) ural environment.
A Florida shrimp fsherman told a researcher that when shrimps’
legs are blood red you can expect a strong northeaster or strong south-
easter. The direction of the wind is used to predict the best location for
catching shrimp. Other signs for weather prediction include rings
(30) around the moon, the color of the sky at sunrise and sunset, and the
color and texture of the sea. Sometimes beliefs are expressed in concise
rhymes. An oysterman from Apalachicola, Florida, uses the rhyme,
“East is the least, and west in the best” to recall that winds from the
west generally produce conditions that are conducive to good catches.
(35) Beliefs related to the supernatural—the existence of ghosts, phantom
ships, burning ships, or sea monsters—are also found in maritime com-
munities. Many fshermen are reluctant to discuss the supernatural, so
these beliefs are less conspicuous than those about luck and the
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This passage explores the theory that the first three years of life are critical in
the development of a child’s character and suggests a parenting model that
strengthens moral behavior.
(1) Does a baby have a moral conscience? While a baby is not faced with
many serious ethical dilemmas, his or her moral character is formed
from the earliest stages of infancy. Recent research has shown that the
type of parenting an infant receives has a dramatic impact on the
(5) child’s moral development and, consequently, success later in life. The
renowned childcare expert T. Berry Brazelton claims that he can
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observe a child of eight months and tell if that child will succeed or fail
in life. This may be a harsh sentence for an eight-month-old baby, but
it underscores the importance of educating parents in good child-rear-
(10) ing techniques and of intervening early in cases of child endanger-
ment. But what are good parenting techniques?
The cornerstone of good parenting is love, and the building blocks
are trust, acceptance, and discipline. The concept of “attachment par-
enting” has come to dominate early childhood research. It is the rela-
(15) tively simple idea that an infant who is frmly attached to his or her
“primary caregiver”—often, but not always, the mother—develops into
a secure and confdent child. Caregivers who respond promptly and
affectionately to their infants’ needs—to eat, to play, to be held, to sleep,
and to be left alone—form secure attachments with their children. A
(20) study conducted with rhesus monkeys showed that infant monkeys pre-
ferred mothers who gave comfort and contact but no food to mothers
who gave food but no comfort and contact. This study indicates that
among primates love and nurturing are even more important than food.
Fortunately, loving their infants comes naturally to most parents and
(25) the frst requisite for good parenting is one that is easily met. The sec-
ond component—setting limits and teaching self-discipline—can be
more complicated. Many parents struggle to fnd a balance between
responding promptly to their babies’ needs and “spoiling” their child.
Norton arfnkle, chair of the Executive Committee of the Lamaze
(30) Institute for Family Education, has identifed four parenting styles: warm
and restrictive, warm and permissive, cold and restrictive, and cold and
permissive. A warm parent is one who exhibits love and affection; a cold
parent withholds love; a restrictive parent sets limits on her child’s behav-
ior and a permissive parent does not restrict her child. arfnkle fnds
(35) that the children of warm-restrictive parents exhibit self-confdence and
self-control; the children of warm-permissive parents are self-assured but
have diffculty following rules; children of cold-restrictive parents tend
to be angry and sullenly compliant, and the most troubled children are
those of cold-permissive parents. These children are hostile and defant.
(40) The warm-restrictive style of parenting helps develop the two key
dimensions of moral character: empathy and self-discipline. A warm
attachment with his or her parent helps the child develop empathetic
feelings about other human beings, while parental limit-setting
teaches the child self-discipline and the ability to defer gratifcation.
(45) The ability to defer gratifcation is an essential skill for negotiating the
adult world. A study conducted by Daniel oleman, author of Emo-
tional Intelligence, tested a group of four-year-olds’ ability to defer grat-
ifcation. Each child in the study was offered a marshmallow. The child
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could choose to eat the marshmallow right away or wait ffteen min-
(50) utes to eat the marshmallow and receive another marshmallow as a
reward for waiting. Researchers followed the children and found that
by high school those children who ate their marshmallow right away
were more likely to be lonely, more prone to stress, and more easily
frustrated. Conversely, the children who demonstrated self-control
(55) were outgoing, confdent, and dependable.
This research seems to answer the old adage, “you can’t spoil a
baby.” It seems that a baby who is fed at the frst sign of hunger and
picked up on demand can perhaps be “spoiled.” Most parents, how-
ever, tend to balance their baby’s needs with their own. Many parents
(60) will teach their baby to sleep through the night by not picking up the
baby when she awakes in the middle of the night. Although it can be
heart wrenching for these parents to ignore their baby’s cries, they are
teaching their baby to fall asleep on her own and getting the beneft
of a full night’s sleep.
(65) While many parents will come to good parenting techniques
instinctually and through various community supports, others parents
are not equipped for the trials of raising a baby. Are these babies
doomed to lives of frustration, poor impulse-control, and anti-social
behavior? Certainly not. Remedial actions—such as providing enrich-
(70) ment programs at daycare centers and educating parents—can be
taken to reverse the effects of bad parenting. However, the research
indicates that the sooner these remedies are put into action the better.
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461. Based on the information in paragraph four, one can infer that
children who are unable to defer gratifcation are most unlikely to
succeed because
a. they are unpopular.
b. they lack empathy.
c. their parents neglected them.
d. they are unable to follow directions.
e. they lack self-discipline.
463. The author of this passage would be most likely to agree with
which statement?
a. Babies of cold-permissive parents are doomed to lives of failure.
b. ood parenting is the product of education.
c. Instincts are a good guide for most parents.
d. Conventional wisdom is usually wrong.
e. Parents should strive to raise self-suffcient babies.
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PASSAGE 1
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PASSAGE 2
(1) The inhabitants of the Trobriand Islands, an archipelago off the coast
of Papua New uinea in the South Pacifc, are united by a ceremo-
nial trading system called the kula ring. Kula traders sail to neighbor-
ing islands in large ocean-going canoes to offer either shell necklaces
(5) or shell armbands. The necklaces, made of red shells called bagi, travel
around the trading ring clockwise, and the armbands, made of white
shells called mwali, travel counterclockwise.
Each man in the kula ring has two kula trading partners—one part-
ner to whom he gives a necklace for an armband of equal value,
(10) although the exchanges are made on separate occasions, and one part-
ner with whom he makes the reverse exchange. Each partner has one
other partner with whom he trades, thus linking all the men around
the kula ring. For example, if A trades with B and C, B trades with A
and D, and C trades with A and E, and so on. A man may have only
(15) met his own specifc kula partners, but he will know by reputation all
the men in his kula ring. It can take anywhere from two to ten years
for a particular object to complete a journey around the ring. The
more times an object has made the trip around the ring the more value
it accrues. Particularly beautiful necklaces and armbands are also
(20) prized. Some famous kula objects are known by special names and
through elaborate stories. Objects also gain fame through ownership
by powerful men, and, likewise, men can gain status by possessing par-
ticularly prized kula objects.
The exchange of these ceremonial items, which often accompanies
(25) trade in more mundane wares, is enacted with a host of ritual activi-
ties. The visitors, who travel to receive kula from their hosts, are seen
as aggressors. They are met with ritual hostility and must charm their
hosts in order to receive the necklaces or armbands. The visitors take
care to make themselves beautiful, because beauty conveys strength
(30) and protects them from danger. The hosts, who are the “victims” of
their visitors’ charm and beauty, give the prized objects because they
know that the next time it will be their turn to be the aggressor. Each
man hopes that his charm and beauty will compel his trading partner
to give him the most valuable kula object.
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(35) The objects cannot be bought or sold. They have no value other
than their ceremonial importance, and the voyages that the traders
make to neighboring islands are hazardous, time-consuming, and
expensive. Yet, a man’s standing in the kula ring is his primary concern.
This ceremonial exchange has numerous tangible benefts. It estab-
(40) lishes friendly relations through a far-fung chain of islands; it provides
a means for the utilitarian exchange of necessary goods; and it rein-
forces the power of those individuals who win and maintain the most
valuable kula items. Although the kula ring might mystify Western
traders, this system, which has been in operation for hundreds of
(45) years, is a highly effective means of unifying these distant islanders and
creating a common bond among peoples who might otherwise view
one another as hostile outsiders.
466. In Passage 1, the author’s attitude toward the potlatch can best be
described as
a. condescending.
b. antagonistic.
c. wistful.
d. respectful.
e. romantic.
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468. In Passage 2, line 30, the word victims is in quotation marks because the
a. word might be unfamiliar to some readers.
b. author is implying that the hosts are self-pitying.
c. author is reinforcing the idea that the hosts are playing a pre-
scribed role.
d. author wants to stress the brutal nature of the exchange.
e. author is taking care not to be condescending to the Trobriand
culture.
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472. Which of the following titles would be most appropriate for both
Passage 1 or Passage 2?
a. A ift-giving Ceremony
b. Ritual Exchange in Traditional Societies
c. Ceremonial iving and Receiving in a Traditional Society
d. The Kindness of Strangers
e. iving and Receiving in a Faraway Land
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477. From the information provided in the passage, one can conclude
that the author
a. has personally benefted from the effects of affrmative action.
b. considers affrmative action a necessary evil.
c. favors accepting poorly qualifed candidates for the sake of
diversity.
d. despises the opponents of affrmative action.
e. thinks that affrmative action will eventually be unnecessary.
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480. The author gives all the following reasons for continuing
affrmative action in college admissions EXCEPT that it
a. fosters diversity.
b. provides fair access to higher education.
c. is necessary to promote social mobility.
d. exposes students to a broad spectrum of society.
e. prepares students for the future.
481. The argument for affrmative action in the workplace that most
closely mirrors the author’s reasoning about affrmative action in
college admissions is
a. it is the law of the land.
b. diversity in the workplace better prepares a company to
compete in the marketplace.
c. a diverse workforce is more effcient.
d. a less-qualifed minority candidate is still a great asset to a
company.
e. it is the right thing to do.
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482. Which sentence, if inserted in the blank space above, would be the
most correct and contribute the most pertinent information to that
paragraph?
a. His monument stands at the lower end of the road, that is, the
end closest to the river Liffey that bisects Dublin.
b. Other monuments along the street include statues to Charles
Parnell, Anna Livia Plurabelle, and James Joyce.
c. Dublin tourist buses leave from this site every twenty minutes.
d. Daniel O’Connell was an important Irish nationalist who died
before the 1916 rebellion.
e. Most European countries have memorable patriots who are
worth celebrating.
483. What is the best defnition for the underlined word trump as it is
used in the frst paragraph of the passage?
a. to trumpet loudly, to blare or drown out
b. to trample
c. to get the better of by using a key or hidden resource
d. to devise a fraud, to employ trickery
e. to slip away from
(1) Authentic Dhurrie rugs are hand-woven in India. Today, they are usu-
ally made of wool, but they are descendants of cotton foor- and bed-
coverings. In fact, the name Dhurrie comes from the Indian word dari,
which means threads of cotton. The rugs are noted for their soft col-
(5) ors and their varieties of design and make a stunning focal point for
any living room or dining room.
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48 . Which of the following is the most likely intended audience for the
passage?
a. people studying traditional Indian culture
b. people who are studying Indian domestic customs
c. people learning to operate a rug loom
d. people who enjoy interior decorating
e. people who prefer to spend their time outdoors
(1) Emperor Charlemagne of the Franks was crowned in 800 A.D. The
Frankish Empire at that time extended over what is now ermany,
Italy, and France. Charlemagne died in 814, but his brief reign marked
the dawn of a distinctly European culture. The artists and thinkers
(5) that helped create this European civilization drew on the ancient texts
of the ermanic, Celtic, reek, Roman, Hebrew, and Christian
worlds. __________________________________. These mores in turn
laid the groundwork for the laws, customs, and even attitudes of
today’s European culture.
486. Which sentence, if inserted into the blank line in the passage,
would be most consistent with the writer’s purpose and intended
audience?
a. Cultural traditions function to identify members of a culture to
one another and also to allow the individual to self-identify.
b. Many of the traditions of these cultures remained active in
Frankish society for centuries.
c. When tradition is lacking or is not honored by the younger
generation in a society, there is danger that the culture will be
lost.
d. I don’t think it is necessary to discuss the origin of these tradi-
tions; it will only muddy the water.
e. History is flled with the rises and falls of many great empires.
487. According to the passage, for how many years was Charlemagne
Emperor of the Franks?
a. 14 years
b. 15 years
c. 13 years
d. 16 years
e. 18 years
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488. Which of the following is the best meaning of the word culture as it
is used in the passage?
a. the fashionable class
b. a community of inter-related individuals
c. a partnership
d. an organized group with a common goal
e. a band of greedy yet cunning strangers
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(1) Moscow has a history of chaotic periods of war that ended with the
destruction of a once largely wooden city and the building of a “new”
city on top of the rubble of the old. The result is a layered city, with
each tier holding information about a part of Russia’s past. In some
(5) areas of the city, archaeologists have reached the layer from 1147, the
year of Moscow’s founding. Among the fndings from the various peri-
ods of Moscow’s history are carved bones, metal tools, pottery, glass,
jewelry, and crosses.
(1) Archaeology is the study of the life and culture of past civilizations,
artifacts, and people. Studying archaeology shows how people inter-
act with their environment. An archaeologist is like a detective gath-
ering clues to the past.
(5) Archaeology is a science that involves biology, botany, geology,
chemistry, history, psychology, and art, to name a few. ood archae-
ologists work in teams made up of experts and archaeology students.
Experts could include biologists who help the archaeologists recon-
struct the environment at a site. It could also include geologists who
(10) study the soil at the site. eologists fnd that as a civilization thrives,
the soil reveals how they lived. Their garbage, belongings, and their
paths and trails give shape to their history. In any case, it takes many
experts to sift through the history of a site.
Archaeologists rely on careful science and documentation to under-
(15) stand the past. This is especially important because most archaeolog-
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ical sites are non-renewable; once they are destroyed or altered, the
information they contain is lost forever. Archaeologists have to keep
very detailed and accurate records about every artifact they fnd at a
site, including its location, position, and condition, not to mention
(20) what was located in close proximity. An artifact might be a bead, a
piece of pottery, or a bone, for example. Once collected at a dig site,
these artifacts are taken to an archaeological laboratory—usually at a
university or museum—where they are analyzed. After all the infor-
mation is collected, a picture begins to develop about a site. The pic-
(25) ture is an unwritten record of what the site looked like, who lived and
worked there, and how the people lived. After an archaeologist has
developed this “site picture,” he or she writes reports to share what
they have learned with others.
Even the tiniest things—like three small, blue, glass beads—can
(30) offer important clues about the past. Three beads—faceted and about
the size of a man’s little fngernail—were unearthed from a 200-year-
old building foundation in the east yard of historic Ramsey House.
University of Tennessee (UT) anthropology professor Dr. Charles
Faulkner admits the discovery might not sound impressive, but the
(35) beads are a strong indication that the 18 × 18 foot log building was
once home to slaves. Faulkner says that European-American women
did not wear such beads in the early 19th century. While the discov-
ery of these three small beads seems small, they do offer clues to the
past.
(40) “There are just three, and they may not sound like a lot, but these
are the frst beads we’ve found on the site,” says Faulkner, who has
been working at Ramsey House since 1985. Similar beads have been
found in an archaeological dig in downtown Knoxville’s historic
(45) Blount Mansion slave quarters, and they are often discovered in digs
at Southern plantations on the East Coast. Finding these beads at ran-
dom locations may provide a link to the people and the culture. Based
on the beads and on other artifacts found during a summer’s work at
Ramsey House, Faulkner believes that slaves lived in the one-story
(50) building from 1820 or 1830 until the Civil War.
“We are very, very interested in African-Americans on the frontier.
Archaeology is one of the few ways we can fnd out about them—what
food they ate, what dishes they used.”
The work, funded by a Tennessee Historical Commission grant to
(55) Ramsey House, has expanded on earlier digs. Twenty-two UT his-
torical archaeological feld school students and three volunteers have
painstakingly dug, scraped, and sifted through layers of earth since
mid-July. They used mason trowels, kitchen spoons, and whiskbrooms
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to fnd building footers and china, small animal bones, and handmade
(60) nails. They flled plastic bags with soil to use as water flters to help
them fnd tiny artifacts and perhaps more blue glass beads.
What’s discovered will then help Faulkner piece together what the
Ramsey House site in East Knox County once looked like. Then
called Swan Pond, Ramsey House was constructed from pink marble
(65) and blue limestone by architect Thomas Hope for Colonel Francis
Alexander Ramsey. While construction took place, Ramsey moved to
what was then a peninsula jutting into a clear lake in 1793. At least two
adults and four children lived in a 20 20-foot log cabin there while
Swan Pond was being built.
(70) Ramsey’s frontier property, in East Knox County, was likely more
fort than estate. Large postholes that would have supported a six- to
eight-foot board fence have been found at points around the house.
Original buildings, like the log cabin, were likely constructed in the
compound’s corners. Swan Pond was then built in the middle of the
(75) fenced area. This protective fence may have lasted until the mid-
1800s. A rather tedious dig around one posthole found it was replaced
four times. This told Faulkner that “this was an important fence.”
But what’s underground in the east yard of the house has drawn the
most interest, and most of the work has centered on the slave quarters.
(80) Faulkner believes that slave quarters were not the frst use of the build-
ing. The early eighteenth-century structure was built during Francis
Ramsey’s life and may have been his offce. After Ramsey died in 1820,
the building became a slave cabin. Post-Civil War horseshoes and nails
indicated it later was a dilapidated storage shed that was demolished
(85) in the 1880s.
This summer’s work expanded on a 1995 dig that found part of the
offce/slave cabin foundation. At that time, Faulkner said the “mystery
building” could have once been a blacksmith shop. “I never expected
to fnd anything like this,” he said last week. “Often you don’t know
(90) if something like this has been plowed up or dug away.” In addition,
his work this summer made Faulkner more certain that he knows
where the original 1793 Ramsey log cabin was built. The 1995 dig also
found a partial foundation of a second building slightly to the north
and east of Ramsey House. Faulkner theorized four years ago that the
(95) structure could be the original cabin; today he’s more certain. Next
summer’s archaeological work will look for more foundation and fence
postholes to prove his theory.
A picture of the site is beginning to emerge and will develop as the
dig progresses, perhaps over several years. “We still don’t know all of
(100) this for sure, but I am more and more confdent,” he says. “We can see
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a sequence of events out here. If what we think is going on, it’s all
starting to come together. If so, what we have found is really impor-
tant. I think eventually you’ll be able to reconstruct the whole origi-
nal farmstead here.”
492. Which statement BEST expresses the main idea of the passage?
a. Ramsey House was built in the 1800s.
b. Ramsey House was once home to slaves.
c. Mr. Ramsey was very wealthy.
d. Ramsey House was a battle site in the Civil War.
e. Ramsey House has not changed since it was built.
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499. Which of the following statements from the passage refects the
author’s OPINION rather than a statement of fact?
a. Archaeologists rely on careful science and documentation to
understand the past.
b. Three beads were unearthed from a 200-year-old building
foundation in the yard of Ramsey House.
c. Ramsey’s frontier property was likely more fort than estate.
d. The 1995 dig found a partial foundation of a second building.
e. At one point in its history, Ramsey House was a slave cabin.
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Answers
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4 9. c. The author opens the paragraph with the assertion that love is
the cornerstone (foundation) of good parenting. The monkey
study, which indicates that the need for love supercedes the
need for food, is used to support that assertion.
460. a. The passage clearly defnes cold parents as withholding love
(lines 32–33). Aloof means reserved or removed in feeling.
Restrictive parenting is defned in the passage as setting limits
(lines 33–34). A disciplinarian is one who enforces order.
461. e. Lines 44 and 54–55 link the ability to defer gratifcation with
self-discipline and self-control. Hence, children who are unable
to defer gratifcation are unlikely to succeed because they lack
self-discipline.
462. e. The subject of this paragraph is parents balancing their needs
with those of their child. Teaching a child to sleep through the
night is an example of parents balancing their needs (for a full
night’s sleep) with the needs of their baby (to be picked up in
the middle of the night).
463. c. The passage clearly states that many parents will come to good par-
enting techniques instinctually (lines 65–66), which indicates that
instincts are a good guide for parents. Also, line 24 states that
loving an infant comes naturally to most parents—something
that comes naturally is instinctual. None of the other choices is
supported by the passage.
464. b. The passage clearly states that potlatch is a gift-giving ceremony.
The author explains that potlatch is a generic word for the cere-
mony that comes from a shared trading language, while each
nation has its own specifc word for potlatch.
46 . a. The passage states that guests were expected to give a potlatch
with gifts of equal value to what they received. This arrange-
ment can best be described as reciprocal. The other choices are
not supported by the passage.
466. d. The author describes the ceremony in mostly neutral terms but
in the last paragraph emphasizes the positive aspects of the tra-
dition, which indicates a degree of respect.
467. e. The passage explicitly states in lines 15–16 that a man will know
by reputation all the men in his kula ring. None of the other
choices is explicitly stated in the passage.
468. c. The passage states in lines 26–27 that the visitors are seen as
aggressors and are met with ritual hostility. This indicates that the
visitors and hosts are playing the roles of aggressor and victims.
The author uses quotes to indicate that the hosts are not really
victims, but might call themselves the victims in the exchange.
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469. d. Lines 17–24 state the ways in which a kula object gains value;
special shells are not mentioned.
470. a. The fnal paragraph of each passage explicitly states the ways in
which these ceremonies, or rituals, maintain community ties.
None of the other choices is true for both passages.
471. b. Both authors specifcally discuss the non-monetary value of
each ceremony. In Passage 1, lines 33–36 the author states, Giv-
ing wealth—not accumulating wealth, as is prized in Western cul-
ture—was a means of cementing leadership, affrming status, . . . In
Passage 2, lines 35–39 the author states, The objects . . . have no
value, and yet, this ceremonial exchange has numerous tangible bene-
fts. None of the other choices is supported by the texts.
472. c. Both potlatches and the kula ring involve giving and receiving,
and both of the societies that participate in these rituals can be
described as traditional. The tone of the title in choice e is
more whimsical than the serious tone of each passage. Choice b
is incorrect because neither article draws conclusions about tra-
ditional societies in general.
473. b. The sentence preceding this phrase discusses the homogenous,
or uniform, makeup of the student body in the 1960s. The
author is using the word lesson ironically in that a lack of diver-
sity is not something on which many educators would pride
themselves.
474. e. A sea change is a transformation. This can be inferred from the
next sentence, which states that colleges adopted policies of
affrmative action. Affrmative action is a transformation in col-
lege admissions.
47 . d. The author clearly states in lines 17–18 that President Johnson
aptly explained the reasoning behind affrmative action.
476. c. After stating that he considers the trend of abolishing affrma-
tive action to be very dangerous, the author explains how a
diverse student body makes his classes much richer.
477. a. According to the author, one of the main benefts of affrmative
action is diversity in the classroom and he states that this diver-
sity has been a boon to my experience as a teacher (line 40). So,
affrmative action has personally benefted the author. None of
the other choices is supported by the passage.
478. b. Feasible can mean capable of being done (possible) or capable
of being used (suitable). In this context, the author is suggest-
ing that, for many minorities, extracurricular activities and
the like are not economically possible, that is, they are unaf-
fordable.
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490. b. The passage mentions that despite living a life of relative privi-
lege, Jessie Street devoted her efforts to working for the rights
of the disenfranchised, including workers and women. The
cause that best fts this description is an initiative to help jobless
women fnd meaningful employment.
491. d. This statement is supported by information in the frst sentence
of the passage because it speaks of periods of war.
492. b. The passage tells us that the discovery of the beads is a strong
indication that the 18-by-18 foot log building on the Ramsey
House property was once home to slaves.
493. c. The passage tells us that “slave quarters was not the frst use of
the building” and “that the house was built during Mr. Ramsey’s
life and may have been his offce.”
494. b. Toward the end of the article, in paragraph 11, the author tells
us that the archaeologist at Ramsey House, Faulkner, has found
things he had not expected to fnd. In paragraph 12, Faulkner is
quoted as saying he is “more and more confdent.”
49 . b. The answer can be found in the frst paragraph when the author
states, “archaeology is the study of the life and culture of past
civilizations, artifacts, and people.”
496. c. The passage tells us that similar beads have been found in an
archeological dig of downtown Knoxville’s historic Blount Man-
sion slave quarters and are often discovered in digs at southern
plantations on the East Coast. Thus, the scientists can infer that
the presence of beads at Ramsey House also indicates that slaves
lived there.
497. b. In paragraph 8, the passage tells us that Swan Pond was built
for the Ramsey family in the late 1700s.
498. c. Non-renewable means that once something is destroyed or
altered, the information it contains is lost forever.
499. c. The author does not know for a fact that Ramsey’s property was
more likely a fort than an estate. She thinks that this is true by
looking at what the archaeologists have found at the dig site so
far. She may change her opinion after more facts are discovered.
00. a. Archaeologists must be very careful and accurate in their work,
in part because most archaeological sites are non-renewable;
once they are destroyed, the information they contain is lost
forever.
01. c. The tone of this passage is informative.
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