TEXAS REVIEW READING COMPREHENSION - 2 GRE
Passage 4:
The common belief of some linguists that each language is a perfect vehicle for the thoughts of the nation
speaking it is in some ways the exact counterpart of the conviction of the Manchester school of economics that
supply and demand will regulate everything for the best. Just as economists were blind to the numerous cases in
which the law of supply and demand left actual wants unsatisfied, so also many linguists are deaf to those
instances in which the very nature of a language calls forth misunderstandings in everyday conversation, and in
which, consequently, a word has to be modified or defined in order to present the idea intended by the speaker:
“He took his stick—no, not John’s, but his own.” No language is perfect, and if we admit this truth, we must also
admit that it is not unreasonable to investigate the relative merits of different languages or of different details in
languages.
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
a) analyze an interesting feature of the English language
b) refute a belief held by some linguists
c) show that economic theory is relevant to linguistic study
d) illustrate the confusion that can result from the improper use of language
e) suggest a way in which languages can be made more nearly perfect
2. The misunderstanding presented by the author in passage is similar to which of the following?
I. X uses the word “you” to refer to a group, but Y thinks that X is referring to one person only.
II. X mistakenly uses the word “anomaly” to refer to a typical example, but Y knows that “anomaly” means
“exception.”
III. X uses the word “bachelor” to mean “unmarried man,” but Y mistakenly thinks that bachelor means
“unmarried woman.”
a) I only
b) II only
c) III only
d) I and II only
e) II and III only
3. In presenting the argument, the author does all of the following EXCEPT:
a) give an example
b) draw a conclusion
c) make a generalization
d) make a comparison
e) present a paradox
4. Which of the following contributes to the misunderstanding described by the author in passage?
a) It is unclear whom the speaker of the sentence is addressing.
b) It is unclear to whom the word “his” refers the first time it is used.
c) It is unclear to whom the word “his” refers the second time it is used.
d) The meaning of “took” is ambiguous.
e) It is unclear to whom “He” refers.
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TEXAS REVIEW READING COMPREHENSION - 2 GRE
Passage 5:
Tocqueville, apparently, was wrong. Jacksonian America was not a fluid, egalitarian society where individual
wealth and poverty were ephemeral conditions. At least so argues E. Pessen in his iconoclastic study of the very
rich in the United States between 1825 and 1850.
Pessen does present a quantity of examples, together with some refreshingly intelligible statistics, to establish
the existence of an inordinately wealthy class. Though active in commerce or the professions, most of the
wealthy were not self-made but had inherited family fortunes. In no sense mercurial, these great fortunes
survived the financial panics that destroyed lesser ones. Indeed, in several cities the wealthiest one percent
constantly increased its share until by 1850 it owned half of the community’s wealth. Although these
observations are true, Pessen overestimates their importance by concluding from them that the undoubted
progress toward inequality in the late eighteenth century continued in the Jacksonian period and that the
United States was a class-ridden, plutocratic society even before industrialization.
5. According to the passage, Pessen indicates that all of the following were true of the very wealthy in the
United States between 1825 and 1850 EXCEPT:
a) They formed a distinct upper class.
b) Many of them were able to increase their holdings.
c) Some of them worked as professionals or in business.
d) Most of them accumulated their own fortunes.
e) Many of them retained their wealth in spite of financial upheavals.
6. Which of the following best states the author’s main point?
a) Pessen’s study has overturned the previously established view of the social and economic structure
of early-nineteenth-century America.
b) Tocqueville’s analysis of the United States in the Jacksonian era remains the definitive account of
this period.
c) Pessen’s study is valuable primarily because it shows the continuity of the social system in the
United States throughout the nineteenth century.
d) The social patterns and political power of the extremely wealthy in the United States between 1825
and 1850 are well documented.
e) Pessen challenges a view of the social and economic systems in the United States from 1825 to
1850, but he draws conclusions that are incorrect.
7. The author's attitude toward Pessen's presentation of statistics can be best described as
a) disapproving
b) shocked
c) suspicious
d) amused
e) laudatory
Passage 6:
In Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry does not reject integration or the economic and moral promise of the
American dream; rather, she remains loyal to this dream while looking, realistically, at its incomplete realization.
Once we recognize this dual vision, we can accept the plays ironic nuances as deliberate social commentaries by
Hansberry rather than as the “unintentional” irony that Bigsby attributes to the work. Indeed a curiously
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TEXAS REVIEW READING COMPREHENSION - 2 GRE
persistent refusal to credit Hansberry with a capacity for intentional irony has led some critics to interpret the
plays thematic conflicts as mere confusion, contradiction, or eclecticism. Isaacs, for example, cannot easily
reconcile Hansberry’s intense concern for her race with her ideal of human reconciliation. But the plays complex
view of Black self-esteem and human solidarity as compatible is no more contradictory than Du Bois famous,
well-considered ideal of ethnic self-awareness coexisting with human unity, or Fanons emphasis on an ideal
internationalism that also accommodates national identities and roles.
8. The author of the passage would probably consider which of the following judgments to be most similar
to the reasoning of the critics mentioned in highlighted sentence?
a) The world is certainly flat; therefore, the person proposing to sail around it is unquestionably
foolhardy.
b) Radioactivity cannot be directly perceived; therefore, a scientist could not possibly control it in a
laboratory.
c) The painter of this picture could not intend it to be funny; therefore, its humor must result from a
lack of skill.
d) Traditional social mores are beneficial to culture; therefore, anyone who deviates from them acts
destructively.
e) Filmmakers who produce documentaries deal exclusively with facts; therefore, a filmmaker who
reinterprets particular events is misleading us.
9. In which sentence of the passage does the author provide examples that reinforce an argument against
a critical response cited earlier in the passage?
a) The first sentence (“In Raisin …realization”)
b) The second sentence (“Once we … work”)
c) The third sentence (“Indeed, … eclecticism”)
d) The fourth sentence (“Isaacs, …reconciliation”)
e) The fifth sentence (“But the … roles”)
10. In the context in which it appears, “realization” (line 2) most nearly means
a) understanding
b) accomplishment
c) depiction
d) recognition
e) discovery
Passage 7:
Whether the languages of the ancient American peoples were used for expressing abstract universal concepts
can be clearly answered in the case of Nahuatl. Nahuatl, like Greek and German, is a language that allows the
formation of extensive compounds. By the combination of radicals or semantic elements, single compound
words can express complex conceptual relations, often of an abstract universal character. The tlamatinime
(those who know) were able to use this rich stock of abstract terms to express the nuances of their thought.
They also availed themselves of other forms of expression with metaphorical meaning, some probably original,
some derived from Toltec coinages. Of these forms, the most characteristic in Nahuatl is the juxtaposition of
two words that, because they are synonyms, associated terms, or even contraries, complement each other to
evoke one single idea. Used metaphorically, the juxtaposed terms connote specific or essential traits of the
being they refer to, introducing a mode of poetry as an almost habitual form of expression.
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TEXAS REVIEW READING COMPREHENSION - 2 GRE
For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
11. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage regarding present-day research relating to
Nahuatl?
a) Some record of evidence of the thought of the tlamatinime is available.
b) For at least some Nahuatl expressions, researchers are able to trace their derivation from another
ancient American language.
c) Researchers believe that in Nahuatl, abstract universal concepts are always expressed
metaphorically.
12. Select the sentence in the passage in which the author introduces a specific Nahuatl mode of expression
that is not identified as being shared with certain European languages.
13. In the context in which it appears, “coinages” (line 9) most nearly means
a) adaptations
b) creations
c) idiosyncrasies
d) pronunciations
e) currencies
Passage 8:
Reviving the practice of using elements of popular music in classical composition, an approach that had been in
hibernation in the United States during the 1960s, composer Philip Glass (born 1937) embraced the ethos of
popular music without imitating it. Glass based two symphonies on music by rock musicians David Bowie and
Brian Eno, but the symphonies’ sound is distinctively his. Popular elements do not appear out of place in Glass’s
classical music, which from its early days has shared certain harmonies and rhythms with rock music. Yet this use
of popular elements has not made Glass a composer of popular music. His music is not a version of popular
music packaged to attract classical listeners; it is high art for listeners steeped in rock rather than the classics.
14. The passage addresses which of the following issues related to Glass’s use of popular elements in his
classical compositions?
a) How it is regarded by listeners who prefer rock to the classics
b) How it has affected the commercial success of Glass’s music
c) Whether it has contributed to a revival of interest among other composers in using popular
elements in their compositions
d) Whether it has had a detrimental effect on Glass’s reputation as a composer of classical music
e) Whether it has caused certain of Glass’s works to be derivative in quality
Consider each of the three choices separately and select all that apply.
15. The passage suggests that Glass’s work displays which of the following qualities?
a) A return to the use of popular music in classical compositions
b) An attempt to elevate rock music to an artistic status more closely approximating that of classical
music
c) A long-standing tendency to incorporate elements from two apparently disparate musical styles
16. Select the sentence that distinguishes two ways of integrating rock and classical music.
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