Thầy Minh Education Studio

Evidence-based Reading
Session 2
Vocab-in-context
 1 1
Question 1 is based on the following text. 1

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Which choice completes the text with the
Every time a car drives through a major most logical and precise word or phrase?
intersection, it becomes a data point. Magnetic A) proper
coils of wire lay just beneath the pavement,
B) simple
Line registering each passing car. This starts a
5 cascade of information: Computers tally the C) timid
number and speed of cars, shoot the data D) inexpensive
through underground cables to a command
center and finally translate it into the colors
red, yellow and green. On the seventh floor of
10 Boston City Hall, the three colors splash like
paint across a wall-sized map.
The tactics and aims of traffic management
are ________ but powerful. Most
intersections rely on a combination of pre-set
15 timing and computer adaptation. For
example, where a busy main road intersects
with a quiet residential street, the traffic signal
might give 70 percent of “green time” to the
main road, and 30 percent to the residential
20 road.

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Questions 2-3 are based on the following 2

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text. Which choice completes the text with the
most logical and precise word or phrase?
Mrs. President and Sisters, I might almost A) recorded
say daughters - I cannot tell you how much joy
B) rose
has filled my heart as I have sat here listening to
Line these papers and noting those characteristics C) strained
5 that made each in its own way beautiful and D) conveyed
masterful. I would in no ways lessen the
importance of these expressions by your various
representatives, but I want to say that the words
that specially ________ what I may call the up-
10 gush of my soul were to be found in the paper
read by Mrs. Swalm on ‘The Newspaper as a
Factor of Civilization.” I have never been a pen
artist and I have never succeeded with
rhetorical flourishes unless it were by accident.
15 But I have always admired supremely that
which I could realize the least. The woman who
can coin words and ideas to suit me best would
not be unlike Mrs. Swalm, and when I heard her
I said: ‘That is worthy of Elizabeth Cady
20 Stanton.”
While I have been sitting here I have been
thinking that we have made strides in
journalism in the last forty years. I recall the
first time I ever wrote for a paper. The
25 periodical was called the Lily. It was edited—
and quite appropriately—by a Mrs. Bloomer.
The next paper to which I contributed was the
Una. These two journals were the only avenues
women had through which to face themselves
30 in type to any extent worthy of note before the 3
war. The press was as kind as it knew how to be.
Which choice completes the text with the
It meant well and did all for us it knew how to
most logical and precise word or phrase?
do. We couldn't ask it to do more than it knew
how. But that was little enough and I tried an A) worried
35 experiment editing a newspaper myself. I B) involved
started a paper and ran it for two years at a vast
cost to every one ________ in it. I served seven C) bothered
years at lecturing to pay off the debt and D) altered
interest on that paper and I considered myself
40 fortunate to get off as easily as that.

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Questions 4-5 are based on the following 4

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text. Which choice completes the text with the
most logical and precise word or phrase?
Mrs. President and Sisters, I might almost say A) gain
daughters - I cannot tell you how much joy has
B) spend
filled my heart as I have sat here listening to
Line these papers and noting those characteristics C) think up
5 that made each in its own way beautiful and D) learn about
masterful. I would in no ways lessen the
importance of these expressions by your various
representatives, but I want to say that the words
that specially voiced what I may call the up-gush
10 of my soul were to be found in the paper read by
Mrs. Swalm on ‘The Newspaper as a Factor of
Civilization.” I have never been a pen artist and
I have never succeeded with rhetorical
flourishes unless it were by accident. But I have
15 always admired supremely that which I could
realize the least. The woman who can ________
words and ideas to suit me best would not be
unlike Mrs. Swalm, and when I heard her I said:
‘That is worthy of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.”
20 While I have been sitting here I have been
thinking that we have made strides in
journalism in the last forty years. I recall the first
time I ever wrote for a paper. The periodical was
called the Lily. It was edited—and quite
25 appropriately—by a Mrs. Bloomer. The next
paper to which I contributed was the Una.
These two journals were the only ________
5
women had through which to face themselves in
type to any extent worthy of note before the Which choice completes the text with the
30 war. The press was as kind as it knew how to be. most logical and precise word or phrase?
It meant well and did all for us it knew how to A) routes
do. We couldn't ask it to do more than it knew
how. But that was little enough and I tried an B) means
experiment editing a newspaper myself. I started C) escapes
35 a paper and ran it for two years at a vast cost to D) conventions
every one concerned in it. I served seven years at
lecturing to pay off the debt and interest on that
paper and I considered myself fortunate to get
off as easily as that.

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 1 1
Question 6 is based on the following text. 6

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Which choice completes the text with the
I wish to speak to-day, not as a Massachusetts most logical and precise word or phrase?
man, nor as a Northern man, but as an A) considerations
American, and a member of the Senate of the
United States. It is fortunate that there is a B) decisions
Line
5 Senate of the United States; a body not yet C) disturbances
moved from its propriety, not lost to a just sense D) defenses
of its own dignity and its own high
responsibilities, and a body to which the
country looks, with confidence, for wise,
10 moderate, patriotic, and healing counsels.
It is not to be denied that we live in the midst
of strong ________, and are surrounded by very
considerable dangers to our institutions and
government. The imprisoned winds are let
15 loose. The East, the North, and the stormy
South combine to throw the whole sea into
commotion, to toss its billows to the skies, and
IS disclose its profoundest depths.

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 1 1
Question 7 is based on the following text. 7

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The text indicates that focusing on one’s
Yogi Berra, the former Major League baseball actions as they are performed
catcher and coach, once remarked that you A) is an important component of improving
can’t hit and think at the same time. Of course, a skill.
Line since he also reportedly said, “l really didn’t say
B) is more common among experts than it is
5 everything I said,” it is not clear we should take
among other people.
his statements at face value. Nonetheless, a
widespread view — in both academic journals C) can result in a compromised
and the popular press — is that thinking about performance.
what you are doing, as you are doing it, D) leads to a superior level of performance.
10 interferes with performance. The idea is that
once you have developed the ability to play an
arpeggio on the piano, putt a golf ball or parallel
park, attention to what you are doing leads to
inaccuracies, blunders and sometimes even
15 utter paralysis. As the great choreographer
George Balanchine would say to his dancers,
“Don’t think, dear; just do.”
Perhaps you have experienced this
destructive force yourself. Start thinking about
20 just how to carry a full glass of water without
spilling, and you’ll end up drenched. How,
exactly, do you initiate a telephone
conversation? Begin wondering, and before
long, the recipient of your call will notice the
25 heavy breathing and hang up. Our actions, the
French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty
tells us, exhibit a “magical” efficacy, but when
we focus on them, they degenerate into the
absurd. A 13-time winner on the Professional
30 Golfers Association Tour, Dave Hill, put it like
this: “You can’t be thinking about the
mechanics of the sport while you are
performing.”

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 1 1
Question 8 is based on the following text. 8

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Which choice completes the text with the
His ignorance was as remarkable as his most logical and precise word or phrase?
knowledge. Of contemporary literature, A) clarify
philosophy and politics he appeared to know
B) actualize
Line next to nothing. Upon my quoting Thomas
5 Carlyle, he inquired in the naivest way who he C) accomplish
might be and what he had done. My surprise D) conceive
reached a climax, however, when I found
incidentally that he was ignorant of the
Copernican Theory and of the composition of
10 the solar system. That any civilized human
being in this nineteenth century should not be
aware that the earth traveled round the sun
appeared to me to be such an extraordinary fact
that I could hardly ________ it.

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Function

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 1 1
Question 9 is based on the following text. 9

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Which choice best describes the function of
Every time a car drives through a major the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
intersection, it becomes a data point. Magnetic A) It emphasizes the importance of obeying
coils of wire lay just beneath the pavement, traffic signals.
Line registering each passing car. This starts a
5 cascade of information: Computers tally the B) It indicates that drivers and traffic
number and speed of cars, shoot the data engineers can react to information in
through underground cables to a command different ways.
center and finally translate it into the colors red, C) It explains why traffic engineers arc more
yellow and green. On the seventh floor of active than other workers.
10 Boston City Hall, the three colors splash like D) It points out a striking feature of the map
paint across a wall-sized map. in Boston City Hall.
To drivers, the color red means stop, but on
the map it tells traffic engineers to leap into
action, Traffic control centers like this one—a
15 room cluttered with-computer terminals and
five video feeds of urban intersections—
represent the brain of a traffic system. The city's
network is of sensors, cables and signals are the
nerves connected to the rest of the body. “Most
20 people don't think there are eyes and ears
keeping track of all this stuff,” says John
DeBenedictis, the center's engineering director.
But in reality, engineers literally watch our every
move, making subtle changes that relieve and
25 redirect traffic.

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 1 1
Questions 10-11 are based on the following 10

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text. The phrase “ghost along” (line 3) primarily
serves to suggest
Sailing at night in luminescent seas is A) misleading appearance
something splendid that is not given to everyone. B) labored motion
On a quiet night, with just enough wind to ghost
along without the engine, it can be euphoric. C) unexplained phenomena
Line
5 Euphoria is worth seeking; we don’t often D) silent travel
achieve it in this rush-around world. You need a
pause, or you miss it. Sitting in the cockpit on a
night watch, it takes a little time to become
adapted to the dark and to realize how much is
10 going on in the sea around you. What you
generally see first is a cloudy luminescence.
One source of such luminescence is an alga 11
called Noctiluca. Each of these organisms is Which choice best describes the function of
barely a millimeter across and practically the underlined sentence (lines 20-23) in the
15 transparent, so that it is difficult to see even if text as a whole?
you know what you are looking for. It is not
much to look at if you haven’t got a microscope A) To reveal the scientific community’s
aboard, but a more interesting question is not limited understanding of Noctiluca
what Noctiluca looks like, flashing or quiescent, B) To imply that some research on
20 but why it bothers to flash. Isn’t it suicidal to luminescence is flawed
advertise your presence in this blatant way, when
C) To suggest that an adaptation serves no
you are near enough invisible if you sit tight and
biological purpose
do nothing? The answer, for the alga, is
copepods, the next step up in the food chain and D) To note an apparent drawback to
25 the most abundant small predators in the sea. luminescence in Noctiluca

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 1 1
Question 12 is based on the following text. 12

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Which choice best describes the function of
the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
Sailing at night in luminescent seas is
something splendid that is not given to everyone. A) To explain why copepods are luminescent
One source of luminescence is an alga called
B) To account for copepods' apparent dislike
Noctiluca. Each of these organisms is barely a
Line of eating Noctiluca
5 millimeter across and practically transparent, so
that it is difficult to see even if you know what C) To reinforce the point that copepods are
you are looking for. But a more interesting more difficult to detect than are Noctiluca
question is not what Noctiluca looks like, flashing D) To indicate what makes copepods so
or quiescent, but why it bothers to flash. Isn’t it successful as predators
10 suicidal to advertise your presence in this blatant
way, when you are near enough invisible if you
sit tight and do nothing? The answer, for the alga,
is copepods, the next step up in the food chain
and the most abundant small predators in the
15 sea. They are only three or four millimeters long
—big enough to see in a bucket, if you shine a
bright light and watch for their shadows, for they,
too, do their best to be transparent. Copepods
move in jerks, pouncing on yet smaller prey.
20 They don’t like prey that flashes. Grab it, it
explodes into light in their scratchy little arms,
and they drop it. An odd bit of behavior, really,
because the alga, so far as we know, doesn’t taste
nasty, or sting, or do anything unpleasant to the
25 predator, and you might reasonably expect the
copepod to habituate to the flashes after a few
tries. But it does not, apparently, and since
practically every animal that has ever been
studied habituates to stimuli that repeatedly
30 prove harmless, there must be some other
explanation. The most likely possibility is that the
copepod itself wishes to remain invisible. Chomp
down the alga, and the unfortunate copepod
would be, for a while, lit up by the glow in its gut,
35 a sitting target for a fish or anyone else with a
taste for seafood.

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 1 1
Question 13 is based on the following text. 13

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The underlined portion is used to make the
point that
Sailing at night in luminescent seas is
something splendid that is not given to everyone. A) a hypothesis is most likely accurate
One source of such luminescence is an alga called B) a theory is likely to be rejected
Noctiluca. Each of these organisms is barely a
Line
C) an event will probably occur
5 millimeter across and practically transparent, so
that it is difficult to see even if you know what D) an observation is likely to be understood
you are looking for. In some of the larger
luminescent species, in which the patterns of
light differ between sexes, it is a fair bet that
10 luminescence serves as an identification signal, a
means of bringing the sexes together in places
that have so little light that shapes and normal,
reflected colors won’t do. Others use lights to
attract prey, like deep-sea anglerfish, with
15 luminous-tipped rods that wave seductively in
front of cavernous mouths, invisible in the
abyssal dark. Or searchlights.

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 1 1
Writers blessed with talent to spare go through 14

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the writing process unconsciously, in some cases Which choice best describes the function of
oblivious to it. Especially when they’re young, as the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
Line long as they have a certain level of talent it’s not
5 so difficult for them to write a novel. On the other A) To add a qualification
hand, writers who aren’t blessed with much talent B) To corrrect a misconception
—those who barely make the grade—need to C) To introduce a hypothesis
build up their strength at their own expense. They
D) To validate a supposition
have to train themselves to improve their focus,
10 to increase their endurance. They’re sweating,
digging out a hole at their feet with a shovel,
when they run across a deep, secret water vein.
It’s a lucky thing, but what made this good
fortune possible was all the training they did that
15 gave them the strength to keep on digging. I
imagine that late-blooming writers have all gone
through a similar process.
Naturally there are people in the world (only a
handful, for sure) blessed with enormous talent
20 that, from beginning to end, doesn't fade, and
whose works are always of the highest quality.
These fortunate few have a water vein that never
dries up, no matter how much they tap into it.
For literature, this is something to be thankful for.

Naturally there are people in the world (only a 15

handful, for sure) blessed with enormous talent Which choice best describes the function of
that, from beginning to end, doesn't fade, and the underlined portion in the text as a
Line whose works are always of the highest quality. For whole?
5 literature, this is something to be thankful for. It’s
hard to imagine the history of literature without A) To justify the choices he has made in his
such figures as Shakespeare, Balzac, and Dickens. work
But the giants are, in the end, giants—exceptional, B) To imply that his work has been found
legendary figures. The remaining majority of valuable
10 writers who can’t reach such heights (including
C) To explain how he supplements his
me, of course) have to supplement what’s missing
writing
from their store of talent through whatever means
they can. Otherwise it’s impossible for them to D) To display a certain modesty about his
keep on writing novels of any value. work

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20
 1 1
Questions 16-17 are based on the following 16

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text. The narrator’s remarks about “any civilized
This passage is adapted from A Study in Scarlet, Sir human being” (lines 10-11) primarily serve
Arthur Conan Doyle's first story in his acclaimed to express his
Sherlock Holmes series. In this excerpt the narrator, Dr.
Watson, observes Mr. Holmes, with whom he has A) annoyance with a common state of affairs
recently entered into a shared housing arrangement,
although he knows very little about this new roommate B) regret over a particular occurrence
as of yet. C) shock at an unexpected revelation
His ignorance was as remarkable as his D) disappointment at his friend’s actions
knowledge. Of contemporary literature,
philosophy and politics he appeared to know
Line next to nothing. Upon my quoting Thomas
5 Carlyle, he inquired in the naivest way who he
might be and what he had done. My surprise
reached a climax, however, when I found
incidentally that he was ignorant of the
Copernican Theory and of the composition of
10 the solar system. That any civilized human
being in this nineteenth century should not be
aware that the earth travelled round the sun
appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact
that I could hardly realize it.
15 "You appear to be astonished," he said,
smiling at my expression of surprise. "Now that
I do know it I shall do my best to forget it."
"To forget it!" 17
"You see," he explained, "I consider that a man's The phrase “To forget it!” (line 18) primarily
20 brain originally is like a little empty attic, and emphasizes the narrator’s
you have to stock it with such furniture as you
choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every A) extreme displeasure
sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge B) surprised disbelief
which might be useful to him gets crowded out,
25 or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other C) sense of urgency
things so that he has a difficulty in laying his D) feelings of regret
hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very
careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-
attic. He will have nothing but the tools which
30 may help him in doing his work, but of these he
has a large assortment, and all in the most
perfect order."

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Inference
 1 1
This passage is excerpted from a novel first published in 18

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1887. Here, the narrator is describing his friend, a private
detective renowned for his brilliance and eccentricity. It can most reasonably be inferred from lines
1-6 (“His . . . done”) that the narrator believes
His ignorance was as remarkable as his that
knowledge. Of contemporary literature,
philosophy and politics he appeared to know A) Carlyle was the foremost writer of his age
Line next to nothing. Upon my quoting Thomas B) educated people should know who
5 Carlyle,* he inquired in the naivest way who he Carlyle was
might be and what he had done. My surprise
reached a climax, however, when I found C) Carlyle’s ideas are not relevant to most
incidentally that he was ignorant of the people’s daily lives
Copernican Theory and of the composition of D) most readers do not fully appreciate the
10 the solar system. That any civilized human complexity of Carlyle’s thinking
being in this nineteenth century should not be
aware that the earth travelled round the sun
appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact
that I could hardly realize it.
15 "To forget it!"
"You see," he explained, "I consider that a
man's brain originally is like a little empty attic,
and you have to stock it with such furniture as
you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of
20 every sort that he comes across, so that the 19
knowledge which might be useful to him gets
crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot The friend suggests that a “fool” (line 19) is
of other things so that he has a difficulty in one who
laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful
workman is very careful indeed as to what he A) possesses only specialized knowledge
25
takes into his brain- attic. He will have nothing B) has no practical experience
but the tools which may help him in doing his C) has little respect for learning
work, but of these he has a large assortment,
D) acquires information indiscriminately
and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake
30 to think that that little room has elastic walls
and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it
there comes a time when for every addition of
knowledge you forget something that you knew
before. It is of the highest importance, therefore,
35 not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful
ones."

* Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881) was a nineteenth-

century British historian and essayist.

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 1 1
It was so rare to see a real Asian American on 20

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television when I was a kid that we had a family The author’s description in lines 11-16 (“They
ritual when one was spotted. It constituted what liked . . . TV Asian”) suggests that she was
Line I now call an “Asian sighting.” A hoot went out:
5 “Hey, come see this, look now!” A) angry about her parents’ outdated
We would then drop everything and make a opinions
frenzied rush to the tube to see who had entered B) impressed by her parents’ perceptive
that mysterious TV land where people of Asian observations
descent were virtually nonexistent. My parents
10 participated enthusiastically in the routine as C) irritated by her parents’ comprehensive
well. They liked to assess for us kids the looks, critiques
ethnicity, demeanor, intelligence and other vital D) delighted with her parents’ spirited
signs of the real Asian, a commentary they contributions
delivered in a manner as succinct and passionate
15 as that of a sports announcer. Most irksome was
their habit of comparing us to the TV Asian.
When an Asian beauty contestant competed for
Miss World or Miss Universe, my father
invariably turned to me and said, in all
20 seriousness, “Helen, why don’t you try for Miss
World?” My brothers snickered and taunted in
the background while I seethed in embarrassed
fury.

One day I became one of those real Asians on 21

TV. In 1972, I visited China as one of the first
Americans to get into the country after President Lines 13-18 (“On the . . . play”) imply that the
Nixon’s historic visit. The TV game show To Tell actors
Line
5 the Truth asked me to be a contestant on the A) had a good deal of professional
show, which had celebrities guess the real experience
contestant from imposters after receiving clues
about the real person. The show would cover my B) made the author question her own
train fare to New York from New Jersey. I identity
10 wouldn’t get paid, but for every celebrity panelist C) would be unlikely to fool the panelists
who guessed wrong, I’d win $50.00, That was D) were unlike other Asian American
enough to entice me, the struggling student, and performers
I hopped the train to New York. On the set, I
met the two Asian American actors hired to play
15 me: not only were they older than I, they were
Miss World material. The available selection of
Asian American actors must have been as sparse
as the roles available for them to play. When it
came time to pick the real Asian American
20 college student who went to China, somehow all
the panelists picked me. CO NTI N U E
 1 1
One day I became one of those real Asians on 22

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TV. In 1972, I visited China as one of the first The comment in lines 18-21 (“When it . . .
Americans to get into the country after President me”) suggests that the author was
Line Nixon’s historic visit. The TV game show To Tell
5 the Truth asked me to be a contestant on the A) relieved that the experience was over
show, which had celebrities guess the real B) resentful of the other contestants
contestant from imposters after receiving clues C) concerned about her family’s reaction
about the real person. The show would cover my
D) not surprised by the panelists’ selection
train fare to New York from New Jersey. I
10 wouldn’t get paid, but for every celebrity panelist
who guessed wrong, I’d win $50.00, That was
enough to entice me, the struggling student, and I
hopped the train to New York. On the set, I met
the two Asian American actors hired to play me:
15 not only were they older than I, they were Miss
World material. The available selection of Asian
American actors must have been as sparse as the
roles available for them to play. When it came
time to pick the real Asian American college
20 student who went to China, somehow all the
panelists picked me.

On the scheduled air date, my whole family 23

crowded around the television. Mom and Dad The observation about “pre-videocassette
held back from doing their usual critique. At first recorder days” (lines 5-6) primarily implies
Line we all watched in stunned silence, to see me as that
5 the Asian sighting. In those pre-videocassette
recorder days, it was startling to see yourself on A) a filming technique has improved the
screen. My three older brothers made wisecracks quality of television programming
and my little sister and brother jumped up and B) a technological innovation has made a
down in excitement. Finally Dad said, “Your certain experience more common
10 voice sounds different.” Mom said I should have
C) a common piece of equipment has made
worn more makeup. They stopped foisting the
television more accessible
Miss World pageant on me. So much for my
television career. Most mind-boggling was the D) an everyday object has reshaped the
thought that my brief, shining moment on To public’s preferences
15 Tell the Truth was an Asian sighting for other
Asian American families across America.

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 1 1
Question 24 is based on the following text. 24

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This text is from a 2008 translation of a book by a The author suggests that the “surface reality”
Japanese novelist and long-distance runner. is
Most people only see the surface reality of
A) soothing
writing and think of writers as involved in quiet,
intellectual work done in their study. If you B) fulfilling
Line have the strength to lift a coffee cup, they figure, C) deceptive
5 you can write a novel. But once you try your D) tedious
hand at it, you soon find that it isn’t as peaceful
a job as it seems. The whole process—sitting at
your desk, focusing your mind like a laser beam,
imagining something out of a blank horizon,
10 creating a story, selecting the right words, one
by one, keeping the whole flow of the story on
track— requires far more energy, over a long
period, than most people ever imagine. You
might not move your body around, but there's
15 grueling, dynamic labor going on inside you.
Everybody uses their mind when they think.

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Extra Practice

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Two thousand years have passed, but 25

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________ of the ancient ruins of Petra still Which choice completes the text with the
endure in the desert of southern Jordan. The most logical and precise word or phrase?
Line facades of its buildings peer out front banks of
5 sand, and you can wander freely among them, A) traces
fingertips on chiseled rock. Delicate bits of B) variations
pottery lie scattered across the land like
C) shelters
eggshells, so numerous at times that it is hard to
avoid stepping on them. And if you are out D) coverings
10 early, you might even hear the echoes of the
ancient city, as I have, in the local residents
drifting by on camels in the mist or in the
murmur of voices over pots of steeping tea.

For people with synesthesia, a condition in 26

which the senses get mixed up, the number five
Which choice completes the text with the
may be red. One explanation for this sensory
most logical and precise word or phrase?
Line crossover is that synesthetes, people with
5 synesthesia, are simply experiencing childhood A) pure
memories and associations. Maybe the person
B) keen
played with refrigerator magnets as a child and
the number five was red. Another explanation is C) sensitive
that synesthetes are experiencing the result of D) satisfactory
10 some kind of cross wiring between regions of
the brain. In fact, we have now identified where
in the brain such cross wiring might occur. We
have also determined that synesthesia can occur
if the wiring is ________ but the balance of
15 chemicals that control brain activity is skewed.

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Miss Saxon was at work on the text of a new 27

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story, which she intended to begin laying out Which choice completes the text with the
that night after her son went to bed. It would be most logical and precise word or phrase?
Line the lead story for the June issue of Kiss Comics.
5 She planned to call it “The Bomb Destroyed My A) roomier
Marriage.” The story would be based on an B) more informal
article that she had read in Redbook about the
C) more careless
humorous difficulties of being married to a
nuclear physicist employed by the government D) weaker
10 at a top-secret facility in the middle of the New
Mexico desert. She was not writing so much as
planning out her panels, one by one, at the
typewriter. Over the years, Sammy’s scripts had
grown no less detailed but ________; he never
15 bothered with telling an artist what to draw.
Rosa couldn’t operate that way; she hated
working from Sammy’s scripts. She needed to
have everything figured out in advance—
storyboarded, they called it in Hollywood—shot
20 by shot, as it were.

A standard explanation for our plump babies 28

has been that natural selection favored an Which choice completes the text with the
increase in body fat to offset the loss of most logical and precise word or phrase?
Line insulating body hair. It is known that the
5 optimal temperature for a human infant kept in A) porous
an incubator is about 90°F, so cooling could be a
B) accessible
problem. Baby fat is distinctively distributed,
being mainly located just beneath the skin. In C) uncovered
contrast to adult fat stores, there is relatively D) vacant
10 little fat in the belly cavity. Anthropologist
Boguslaw Pawlowski supported this view,
arguing that various features of the human
newborn evolved in early humans to counter
excessive cooling during nights spent sleeping in
15 ________ savannah. Those features include
relatively large size as well as a greater
proportion of subcutaneous fat.

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Hindsight bias is defined as the belief that an 29

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event is more predictable after it becomes Which choice completes the text with the
known than it was before it became known. For most logical and precise word or phrase?
Line example, a voter might believe that after
5 accepting the Democratic nomination for A) accurate
president in August 2008, Barack Obama s B) positive
chances of winning the U.S. presidency were
C) thorough
about 60%. After Obama’s victory in November
2008, this same voter might look back, see the D) firm
10 victory as more predictable than it was before
the outcome was known, and conclude that
Obama’s chances were at least 80% at the time
of the convention. Sometimes termed the “knew
it all along effect,” hindsight bias involves the
15 inability to recapture the feeling of uncertainty
that preceded an event. When there is a need to
understand past events as they were
experienced at the time, hindsight bias thwarts
________ appraisal.

Heaven has appointed to one sex the 30

superior, and to the other the subordinate
Which choice completes the text with the
________, and this without any reference to the
most logical and precise word or phrase?
Line character or conduct of either. It is therefore as
5 much for the dignity as it is for the interest of A) region
females, in all respects to conform to the duties B) studio
of this relation.... But while woman holds a
subordinate relation in society to the other sex, C) district
it is not because it was designed that her duties D) rank
10 or her influence should be any the less
important, or all-pervading. But it was designed
that the mode of gaining influence and of
exercising power should be altogether different
and peculiar

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Some people like to act like things come easy 31

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to them. Take Cynthia Procter, for instance. If Which choice best describes the function of
there's a test tomorrow, she'll say something the underlined sentence in the text as a
Line like, "Oh, I guess I'll watch television tonight," whole?
5 just to let you know she ain't thinking about the
test. Oh, brother. When I pass her house, she is A) To expand on an opinion about artistic
practicing the scales on the piano over and over. interests
Then in music class she always lets herself get B) To respond to a challenge about the
bumped around so she falls accidentally on narrator's integrity
10 purpose onto the piano stool and is so surprised
C) To support an observation about a
to find herself sitting there that she decides just
particular behavior
for fun to try out the ole keys. And what do you
know— Chopin's waltzes just spring out of her D) To rationalize the narrator's role in a
fingertips. A regular prodigy. misunderstanding

One of the many things that orcas do well is 32

turn on a dime in tight quarters. Marine Which choice best describes the function of
biologist Eva Saulitis reports that although orcas the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
Line are typically longer than the twenty-foot skiff
5 she uses and many tons heavier, “We find them A) To provide an example of an object that
in tiny coves where it’s too narrow for us to orcas can locate easily by sonar
anchor.” Also, like other dolphins, orcas can use B) To suggest that Saulitis uses
their own sonar to locate underwater objects by unconventional research techniques
making clicking sounds, but those that hunt
10 seals are mostly silent (to avoid tipping off their C) To explain why orcas need to be able to
prey). This means that the crafty hunters of turn on a dime
Prince William Sound, with nearly a thousand D) To emphasize by comparison an orca’s
miles of shoreline to prowl, apparently skill at maneuvering
memorize the contours of the whole convoluted
15 coast.

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Susan Glaspell’s role in the literary scene is 33

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often understood to have begun with her Which choice best describes the function of
entrance to New York’s Greenwich Village as the underlined sentence in the text as a
Line part of a cast of eccentric radicals who were whole?
5 challenging the status quo in art and politics.
But a recent biography emphasizes that, long A) To correct a misconception about the
before that time, Glaspell was already a origins of Glaspell’s literary prominence
successful writer. She sold short stories for top B) To demonstrate that Glaspell was more
10 dollar to major magazines and was able to live well-known than other writers in the
in Paris for a year on the sales of her first, best- New York literary scene
selling novel. When she landed in New York in
C) To analyze the influence that Glaspell’s
1913, her reputation had preceded her.
initial success had on her subsequent
literary career
D) To examine the reasons for the
commercial success that Glaspell’s
writings enjoyed

What embodies the bounty of nature better 34

than an ear of corn? With a twist of the wrist it
Which choice best describes the function of
is easily plucked from the stalk with no waste or
the underlined sentence in the text as a
fuss. It is packed with tasty, nutritious kernels
Line whole?
5 that are larger and more numerous than those
of other grains. Wrapped up in a protective A) It serves as an example.
leafy husk, corn appears to be a gift from nature. B) It summarizes previous comments.
But appearances can be deceptive. A cultivated
field of corn, or any other crop, is as human C) It answers an objection.
10 made as a microchip. Much as we like to think D) It shifts the focus.
of farming as natural, farmed land is as much a
technological landscape as a biological one.

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Before I ever saw myself, I saw my sister. 35

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When I was still too small for mirrors, I saw her Which choice best describes the function of
as the reflection that proved my own existence. the underlined sentence in the text as a
Line Back then, I was content to see only Cole, three whole?
5 years older than me, and imagine that her face
—cinnamon skinned, curly haired, serious— A) It introduces a distinctive narrative voice.
was my own. It was her face above me always, B) It explores the implications of a theory.
waving toys at me, cooing at me, whispering to C) It presents a refutation of an argument.
me, pinching me when she was angry and I was
10 the easiest target. That face was me and I was D) It amplifies the statement that precedes it.
that face and that was how the story went.

That nineteenth-century French novelist 36

Honoré de Balzac could be financially wise in
Which choice best describes the function of
his fiction while losing all his money in life was
the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
Line an irony duplicated in other matters. For
5 instance, the very women who had been drawn A) To explain why Balzac was unable to
to him by the penetrating intuition of the conduct his financial affairs properly
female heart that he showed in his novels were
B) To point out a possible source of Balzac’s
appalled to discover how insensitive and
powerful imagination
awkward the real man could be. It seems the
10 true source of creation for Balzac was not C) To exonerate the boarding school for
sensitivity but imagination. Balzac’s fiction Balzac’s lackluster performance
originally sprang from an intuition he first D) To foster the impression that Balzac was
discovered as a wretched little school boy locked an unruly student
in a dark closet of his boarding school: life is a
15 prison, and only imagination can open its
doors.

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Choice of language frequently plays a 37

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significant role in the development of the Which choice best describes the function of
Hispanic American writer’s voice and message. the underlined sentence in the text as a
Line “I lack language,” wrote Cherrie Une Moraga, whole?
5 author of Loving in the War Years: lo que nunca
pasó por sus labios. The use of two languages in A) To emphasize the challenges that some
the title itself expresses the difficulty that the Hispanic American writers face in getting
author perceives in narrating personal their work published
experience in one language when one has lived B) To celebrate the achievements of a young
10 in another. Hispanic American novelist
C) To demonstrate the expressiveness of a
writer who has mastered several
languages
D) To illustrate a dilemma that Hispanic
American writers often face

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Whistling and moaning, a 50-mile-an-hour 38

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wind whipped among the telescope domes atop The author implies that being “human”
Kitt Peak. A few feet below, turning gray in the
includes
Line dusk, slid a river of clouds that had been rising
5 and dropping all day. High above, comet Hale- A) enjoying the company of others
Bopp hung like a feathery fishing lure, its tail
B) reflecting on past experiences
curving off a bit, as if blown to the side by the
punishing wind. One by one, stars winked on in C) appreciating nature’s beauty
a darkening sky. Nearby, wild horses wandered D) seeking joy through simplicity
10 past. They never glanced skyward at the
gossamer swath of Hale-Bopp nor at the
wondrous spectacle that is the night sky on a
clear night, comet or no.
It felt good to be human.

America’s long romance with technology and 39

science fiction is fizzling, and fascination with Sobchack suggests that Americans’ “vision”
fantasy movies like The Lord of the Rings, Harry of science was based on
Line Potter, and Shrek is growing. According to
5 Vivian Sobchack, a professor at UCLA, “change A) unrealistic expectations
and technology are such a pervasive part of
B) careful calculations
daily life that for the most part there is no magic
to it anymore. The promise of science, science C) unimaginative assumptions
fiction, and technology to deliver us has been D) unnecessary concerns
10 normalized. The utopian vision we had did not
come to pass.” The magic will have to come
from somewhere else, and we seem to have
found it in fantasy. Swords, not lasers. Magic,
not electricity. Villages, not cities. The past, not
15 the future.

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Daily life is overflowing with mundane 40

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mental events. A paper clip gleams amid stacks In the text, the author implicitly likens our
of documents, a friend’s face shines like a experience of sensory impressions to
Line beacon out of a crowd, the smell of freshly
5 baked bread evokes childhood memories— A) an emotional roller coaster
thoughts and perceptions such as these flow by B) an unobstructed stream
with monotonous ease. So it seems, anyway. Yet
given what scientists know about how brains C) a nostalgic reminiscence
work, even the ability to perceive a paper clip on D) a diverting daydream
10 a messy desk represents an extraordinary and
mysterious achievement.

Dr. Jane Wright insisted in later years that 41

her father, surgeon Louis Wright, never
The passage suggests that Jane Wright’s
pressured her to study medicine; indeed he
medical training was made more difficult
Line warned her how hard becoming a doctor would
because
5 be. His very fame, within and beyond the
African American community, made her A) her father warned her not to study
training harder in some ways. “His being so medicine
good really makes it very difficult,” Wright told
an interviewer soon after she graduated from B) her father flaunted his success
10 medical school in 1945. “Everyone knows who C) she shared her father’s desire for fame
Papa is.” D) she was inevitably compared to her father

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“The rock was still wet. The animal was 42

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glistening, like it was still swimming,” recalls It can be inferred that Hou Xianguang’s
Hou Xianguang. Hou discovered the unusual “hands began to shake” because Xianguang
Line fossil while surveying rocks as a paleontology was
5 graduate student in 1984, near the Chinese
town of Chengjiang. “My teachers always talked A) afraid that he might lose the fossil
about the Burgess Shale animals. It looked like B) worried about the implications of his
one of them. My hands began to shake.” finding
Hou had indeed found a Naraoia like those C) uncertain about the authenticity of the
10 from Canada. However, Hou’s animal was 15 fossil
million years older than its Canadian relatives.
D) excited about the magnitude of his
discovery

Newspaper editor and political commentator 43

Henry Louis Mencken was a force of nature,
The public response described in lines 7-9
brushing aside all objects animal and mineral in
most strongly suggests that Mencken’s
Line his headlong rush to the publicity that surely
writings were
5 awaited him. He seized each day, shook it to
within an inch of its life, and then gaily went on A) authoritative
to the next. No matter where his writing B) controversial
appeared, it was quoted widely, his pungently
C) arrogant
outspoken opinions debated hotly. Nobody else
10 could make so many people so angry, or make D) informal
so many others laugh so hard.

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Jazz musician Benny Carter, known for his 44

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sophisticated compositions and arrangements, The author suggests that Carter was not
was also a virtuoso alto saxophone player. only an outstanding jazz composer but
Line Fellow musicians frequently cited Carter’s also
5 groundbreaking improvisational style, which
avoided the expected run up and down the A) a talented composer of classical music
chord changes and instead spread out phrase B) an opponent of organized labor
fragments over the chord progression. In 1934,
C) an effective participant in social change
just six years after his first recording, Carter
10 played at the opening of the Apollo Theater in D) an astute critic of other musicians’ work
Harlem and then led the first interracial big
band to tour Europe. In the ensuing quarter
century, Carter wrote music for film and
television in Hollywood, where he played a key
15 role in the merger of the trade unions of Black
musicians and White musicians.

Properly speaking, a movement is a 45

continuous, collective effort to bring about The passage indicates that Black writers and
fundamental social reform. It is a collaborative artists were most important to the freedom
Line rather than an individualistic enterprise. No struggle in that they
5 matter how many factions are involved, there is
always a common objective. The Black freedom A) promoted freedom of artistic expression
struggle of the 1960’s was such an effort. Its for Black Americans
objective was to transform the manner in which B) attempted to alter the way Black people
Black Americans in the United States were were depicted in the arts
10 viewed and treated. And Black writers and
C) created powerful protest art that
artists, as a vital sector of the movement, sought
documented the Black struggle
to transform the manner in which Black
Americans were represented or portrayed in D) prescribed a course of action to help
literature and the arts. ensure social justice

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