GMAT Reasoning Test 25.docx

GMAT Reasoning Test 24 No. 1995 1995 04 SECTION A Influenced by the view of some twentieth-century feminists that women’s position within the family is one of the central factors determining women’s social position, some historians have underestimated the significance of the woman suffrage movement. These historians contend that nineteenth-century suffragist was less radical and, hence, less important than, for example, the moral reform movement or domestic feminism—two nineteenth-century movements in which women struggled for more power and autonomy within the family. True, by emphasizing these struggles, such historians have broadened the conventional view of nineteenth-century feminism, but they do a historical disservice to suffragism. Nineteenth-century feminists and anti-feminist alike perceived the suffragists’ demand for enfranchisement as the most radical element in women’s protest, in part because suffragists were demanding power that was not based on the institution of the family, women’s traditional sphere. When evaluating nineteenth-century feminism as a social force, contemporary historians should consider the perceptions of actual participants in the historical events. 17. The author asserts that the historians discussed in the passage have (A) influenced feminist theorists who concentrate on the family (B) honored the perceptions of the women who participated in the women suffrage movement (C) treated feminism as a social force rather than as an intellectual tradition (D) paid little attention to feminist movements?E? (E) expanded the conventional view of nineteenth-century feminism 18. The author of the passage asserts that some twentieth-century feminists have influenced some historians view of the (A) significance of the woman suffrage movement (B) importance to society of the family as an institution (C) degree to which feminism changed nineteenth-century society (D) philosophical traditions on which contemporary feminism is based?A? (E) public response to domestic feminism in the nineteenth century 19. The author of the passage suggests that which of the following was true of nineteenth-century feminists? (A) Those who participated in the moral reform movement were motivated primarily by a desire to reconcile their private lives with their public positions. (B) Those who advocated domestic feminism, although less visible than the suffragists, were in some ways the more radical of the two groups. (C) Those who participated in the woman suffrage movement sought social roles for women that were not defined by women’s familial roles. (D) Those who advocated domestic feminism regarded the gaining of more autonomy within the family as a step toward more participation in public life.?C? (E) Those who participated in the nineteenth-century moral reform movement stood midway between the positions of domestic feminism and suffragism. 20. The author implies that which of the following is true of the historians discussed in the passage? (A) They argue that nineteenth-century feminism was not as significant a social force as twentieth-century feminism has been. (B) They rely too greatly on the perceptions of the actual participants in the events they study. (C) Their assessment of the relative success of nineteenth-century domestic feminism does not adequately take into account the effects of antifeminist rhetoric. (D) Their assessment of the significance of nineteenth-century suffragism differs considerably from that of nineteenth-century feminists.?D? (E) They devote too much attention to nineteenth-century suffragism at the expense of more radical movements that emerged shortly after the turn of the century. Many objects in daily use have clearly been influenced by science, but their form and function, their dimensions and appearance, were determined by technologists, artisans, designers, inventors, and engineers—using non-scientific modes of thought. Many features and qualities of the objects that a technologist thinks about cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with in the mind by a visual, nonverbal process. In the development of Western technology, it has been non-verbal thinking, by and large, that has fixed the outlines and filled in the details of our material surroundings. Pyramids, cathedrals, and rockets exist not because of geometry or thermodynamics, but because they were first a picture in the minds of those who built them. The creative shaping process of a technologist’s mind can be seen in nearly every artifact that exists. For example, in designing a diesel engine (diesel engine: n. ???), a technologist might impress individual ways of nonverbal thinking on the machine by continually using an intuitive sense of rightness and fitness. What would be the shape of the combustion chamber (combustion chamber: ???)? Where should the valves be placed? Should it have a long or short piston? Such questions have a range of answers that are supplied by experience, by physical requirements, by limitations of available space, and not least by a sense of form. Some decisions, such as wall thickness and pin diameter, may depend on scientific calculations, but the nonscientific component of design remains primary. Design courses, then, should be an essential element in engineering curricula. Nonverbal thinking, a central mechanism in engineering design, involves perceptions, the stock-in-trade (stock-in-trade: n.??, ????) of the artist, not the scientist. Because perceptive processes are not assumed to entail “hard thinking,” nonverbal thought is sometimes seen as a primitive stage in the development of cognitive processes and inferior to verbal or mathematical thought. But it is paradoxical that when the staff of the Historic American Engineering Record wished to have drawings made of machines and isometric views of industrial processes for its historical record of American engineering, the only college students with the requisite abilities were not engineering students, but rather students attending architectural schools. If courses in design, which in a strongly analytical engineering curriculum provide the background required for practical problem-solving, are not provided, we can expect to encounter silly but costly errors occurring in advanced engineering systems. For example, early models of high-speed railroad cars loaded with sophisticated controls were unable to operate in a snowstorm because a fan sucked snow into the electrical system. Absurd random failures that plague automatic control systems are not merely trivial aberrations; they are a reflection of the chaos that results when design is assumed to be primarily a problem in mathematics. 21. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with (A) identifying the kinds of thinking that are used by technologists (B) stressing the importance of nonverbal thinking in engineering design (C) proposing a new role for nonscientific thinking in the development of technology (D) contrasting the goals of engineers with those of technologists?B? (E) criticizing engineering schools for emphasizing science in engineering curricula 22. It can be inferred that the author thinks engineering curricula are (A) strengthened when they include courses in design (B) weakened by the substitution of physical science courses for courses designed to develop mathematical skills (C) strong because nonverbal thinking is still emphasized by most of the courses (D) strong despite the errors that graduates of such curricula have made in the development of automatic control systems?A? (E) strong despite the absence of nonscientific modes of thinking 23. Which of the following statements best illustrates the main point of lines 1-28 of the passage? (A) When a machine like a rotary engine malfunctions, it is the technologist who is best equipped to repair it. (B) Each component of an automobile—for example, the engine or the fuel tank—has a shape that has been scientifically determined to be best suited to that component’s function. (C) A telephone is a complex instrument designed by technologists using only nonverbal thought. (D) The designer of a new refrigerator should consider the designs of other refrigerators before deciding on its final form.?E? (E) The distinctive features of a suspension bridge reflect its designer’s conceptualization as well as the physical requirements of its site. 24. Which of the following statements would best serve as an introduction to the passage? (A) The assumption that the knowledge incorporated in technological developments must be derived from science ignores the many non-scientific decisions made by technologists. (B) Analytical thought is no longer a vital component in the success of technological development. (C) As knowledge of technology has increased, the tendency has been to lose sight of the important role played by scientific thought in making decisions about form, arrangement, and texture. (D) A movement in engineering colleges toward a technician’s degree reflects a demand for graduates who have the nonverbal reasoning ability that was once common among engineers.?A? (E) A technologist thinking about a machine, reasoning through the successive steps in a dynamic process, can actually turn the machine over mentally. 25. The author calls the predicament faced by the Historic American Engineering Record “paradoxical” (lines 36-37) most probably because (A) the publication needed drawings that its own staff could not make (B) architectural schools offered but did not require engineering design courses for their students (C) college students were qualified to make the drawings while practicing engineers were not (D) the drawings needed were so complicated that even students in architectural schools had difficulty making them?E? (E) engineering students were not trained to make the type of drawings needed to record the development of their own discipline 26. According to the passage, random failures in automatic control systems are “not merely trivial aberrations” (lines 53) because (A) automatic control systems are designed by engineers who have little practical experience in the field (B) the failures are characteristic of systems designed by engineers relying too heavily on concepts in mathematics (C) the failures occur too often to be taken lightly (D) designers of automatic control systems have too little training in the analysis of mechanical difficulties?B? (E) designers of automatic control systems need more help from scientists who have a better understanding of the analytical problems to be solved before such systems can work efficiently 27. The author uses the example of the early models of high-speed railroad cars primarily to (A) weaken the argument that modern engineering systems have major defects because of an absence of design courses in engineering curricula (B) support the thesis that the number of errors in modern engineering systems is likely to increase (C) illustrate the idea that courses in design are the most effective means for reducing the cost of designing engineering systems (D) support the contention that a lack of attention to the nonscientific aspects of design results in poor conceptualization by engineers?D? (E) weaken the proposition that mathematics is a necessary part of the study of design SECTION B One explanation for the tendency of animals to be more vigilant in smaller groups than in larger ones assumes that the vigilant behavior—looking up, for example—is aimed at predators. If individuals on the edge of a group are more vigilant because they are at greater risk of being captured, then individuals on average would have to be more vigilant in smaller groups, because the animals on the periphery of a group form a greater proportion of the whole group as the size of the group diminishes. However, a different explanation is necessary in cases where the vigilant behavior is not directed at predators. J. Krebs has discovered that great blue herons look up more often when in smaller flocks than when in larger ones, solely as a consequence of poor feeding conditions. Krebs hypothesizes that the herons in smaller flocks are watching for herons that they might follow to better feeding pools, which usually attract larger numbers of the birds. 17. It can be inferred from the passage that in species in which vigilant behavior is directed at predators, the tendency of the animals to be more vigilant in smaller groups than in larger ones would most likely be minimized if which of the following were true? (A) The vigilance of animals on the periphery of a group always exceeded that of animals located in its interior, even when predators were not in the area. (B) The risk of capture for individuals in a group was the same, whether they were located in the interior of the group or on its periphery. (C) Animals on the periphery of a group tended to be less capable of defending themselves from attack by predators than animals located in the interior of the group. (D) Animals on the periphery of a group tended to bear marks that were more distinctive to predators than animals located in the interior of the group.?B? (E) Animals on the periphery of a group tended to have shorter life spans than animals located in the interior of the group. 18. Which of the following best describes the relationship of the second paragraph to the first? (A) The second paragraph relies on different evidence in drawing a conclusion similar to that expressed in the first paragraph. (B) The second paragraph provides further elaboration on why an assertion made at the end of the first paragraph proves to be true in most cases. (C) The second paragraph provides additional information in support of a hypothesis stated in the first paragraph. (D) The second paragraph provides an example of a case in which the assumption described in the first paragraph is unwarranted.?D? (E) The second paragraph describes a phenomenon that has the same cause as the phenomenon described in the first paragraph. 19. It can be inferred from the passage that the author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following assertions about vigilant behavior? (A) The larger the group of animals, the higher the probability that individuals in the interior of the group will exhibit vigilant behavior. (B) Vigilant behavior exhibited by individuals in small groups is more effective at warding off predators than the same behavior exhibited by individuals in larger groups. (C) Vigilant behavior is easier to analyze in species that are preyed upon by many different predators than in species that are preyed upon by relatively few of them. (D) The term “vigilant,” when used in reference to the behavior of animals, does not refer exclusively to behavior aimed at avoiding predators.?D? (E) The term “vigilant,” when used in reference to the behavior of animals, usually refers to behavior exhibited by large groups of animals. 20. The passage provides information in support of which of the following assertions? (A) The avoidance of predators is more important to an animal’s survival than is the quest for food. (B) Vigilant behavior aimed at predators is seldom more beneficial to groups of animals than to individual animals. (C) Different species of animals often develop different strategies for dealing with predators. (D) The size of a group of animals does not necessarily reflect its success in finding food.?E? (E) Similar behavior in different species of animals does not necessarily serve the same purpose. The earliest controversies about the relationship between photography and art centered on whether photography’s fidelity to appearances and dependence on a machine allowed it to be a fine art as distinct from merely a practical art. Throughout the nineteenth century, the defense of photography was identical with the struggle to establish it as a fine art. Against the charge that photography was a soulless, mechanical copying of reality, photographers asserted that it was instead a privileged way of seeing, a revolt against commonplace vision, and no less worthy an art than painting. Ironically, now that photography is securely established as a fine art, many photographers find it pretentious or irrelevant to label it as such. Serious photographers variously claim to be finding, recording, impartially observing, witnessing events, exploring themselves—anything but making works of art. In the nineteenth century, photography’s association with the real world placed it in an ambivalent relation to art; late in the twentieth century, an ambivalent relation exists because of the Modernist heritage in art. That important photographers are no longer willing to debate whether photography is or is not a fine art, except to proclaim that their own work is not involved with art, shows the extent to which they simply take for granted the concept of art imposed by the triumph of Modernism: the better the art, the more subversive it is of the traditional aims of art. Photographers’ disclaimers of any interest in making art tell us more about the harried status of the contemporary notion of art than about whether photography is or is not art. For example, those photographers who suppose that, by taking pictures, they are getting away from the pretensions of art as exemplified by painting remind us of those Abstract Expressionist painters who imagined they were getting away from the intellectual austerity of classical Modernist painting by concentrating on the physical act of painting. Much of photography’s prestige today derives from the convergence of its aims with those of recent art, particularly with the dismissal of abstract art implicit in the phenomenon of Pop painting during the 1960’s. Appreciating photographs is a relief to sensibilities tired of the mental exertions demanded by abstract art. Classical Modernist painting—that is, abstract art as developed in different ways by Picasso, Kandinsky, and Matisse—presupposes highly developed skills of looking and a familiarity with other paintings and the history of art. Photography, like Pop painting, reassures viewers that art is not hard; photography seems to be more about its subjects than about art. Photography, however, has developed all the anxieties and self-consciousness of a classic Modernist art. Many professionals privately have begun to worry that the promotion of photography as an activity subversive of the traditional pretensions of art has gone so far that the public will forget that photography is a distinctive and exalted activity—in short, an art. 21. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with (A) defining the Modernist attitude toward art (B) explaining how photography emerged as a fine art after the controversies of the nineteenth century (C) explaining the attitudes of serious contemporary photographers toward photography as art and placing those attitudes in their historical context (D) defining the various approaches that serious contemporary photographers take toward their art and assessing the value of each of those approaches?C? (E) identifying the ways that recent movements in painting and sculpture have influenced the techniques employed by serious photographers 22. Which of the following adjectives best describes “the concept of art imposed by the triumph of Modernism” as the author represents it in lines 25-27? (A) Objective (B) Mechanical (C) Superficial (D) Dramatic?E? (E) Paradoxical 23. The author introduces Abstract Expressionist painters (lines 34) in order to (A) provide an example of artists who, like serious contemporary photographers, disavowed traditionally accepted aims of modern art (B) call attention to artists whose works often bear a physical resemblance to the works of serious contemporary photographers (C) set forth an analogy between the Abstract Expressionist painters and classical Modernist painters (D) provide a contrast to Pop artists and others who created works that exemplify the Modernist heritage in art?A? (E) provide an explanation of why serious photography, like other contemporary visual forms, is not and should not pretend to be an art 24. According to the author, the nineteenth-century defenders of photography mentioned in the passage stressed that photography was (A) a means of making people familiar with remote locales and unfamiliar things (B) a technologically advanced activity (C) a device for observing the world impartially (D) an art comparable to painting?D? (E) an art that would eventually replace the traditional arts 25. According to the passage, which of the following best explains the reaction of serious contemporary photographers to the question of whether photography is an art? (A) The photographers’ belief that their reliance on an impersonal machine to produce their art requires the surrender of the authority of their personal vision (B) The photographers’ fear that serious photography may not be accepted as an art by the contemporary art public (C) The influence of Abstract Expressionist painting and Pop Art on the subject matter of the modern photograph (D) The photographers’ belief that the best art is subversive of art as it has previously been defined?D? (E) The notorious difficulty of defining art in its relation to realistic representation 26. According to the passage, certain serious contemporary photographers expressly make which of the following claims about their photographs? (A) Their photographs could be created by almost anyone who had a camera and the time to devote to the activity. (B) Their photographs are not examples of art but are examples of the photographers’ impartial observation of the world. (C) Their photographs are important because of their subjects but not because of the responses they evoke in viewers. (D) Their photographs exhibit the same ageless principles of form and shading that have been used in painting.?B? (E) Their photographs represent a conscious glorification of the mechanical aspects of twentieth-century life. 27. It can be inferred from the passage that the author most probably considers serious contemporary photography to be a (A) contemporary art that is struggling to be accepted as fine art (B) craft requiring sensitivity but by no means an art (C) mechanical copying of reality (D) modern art that displays the Modernist tendency to try to subvert the prevailing aims of art?D? (E) modern art that displays the tendency of all Modernist art to become increasingly formal and abstract 1995 10 SECTION A It is possible for students to obtain advanced degrees in English while knowing little or nothing about traditional scholarly methods. The consequences of this neglect of traditional scholarship are particularly unfortunate for the study of women writers. If the canon—the list of authors whose works are most widely taught—is ever to include more women, scholars must be well trained in historical scholarship and textual editing. Scholars who do not know how to read early manuscripts, locate rare books, establish a sequence of editions, and so on are bereft of crucial tools for revising the canon. To address such concerns, an experimental version of the traditional scholarly methods course was designed to raise students’ consciousness about the usefulness of traditional learning for any modern critic or theorist. To minimize the artificial aspects of the conventional course, the usual procedure of assigning a large number of small problems drawn from the entire range of historical periods was abandoned, though this procedure has the obvious advantage of at least superficially familiarizing students with a wide range of reference sources. Instead students were engaged in a collective effort to do original work on a neglected eighteenth-century writer, Elizabeth Griffith, to give them an authentic experience of literary scholarship and to inspire them to take responsibility for the quality of their own work. Griffith’s work presented a number of advantages for this particular pedagogical purpose. First, the body of extant scholarship (a fund of knowledge and learning “drawing on the scholarship of the ancients”) on Griffith was so tiny that it could all be read in a day; thus students spent little time and effort mastering the literature and had a clear field for their own discoveries. Griffith’s play The Platonic Wife exists in three versions, enough to provide illustrations of editorial issues but not too many for beginning students to manage. In addition, because Griffith was successful in the eighteenth century, as her continued productivity and favorable reviews demonstrate, her exclusion from the canon and virtual disappearance from literary history also helped raise issues concerning the current canon. The range of Griffith’s work meant that each student could become the world’s leading authority on a particular Griffith text. For example, a student studying Griffith’s Wife in the Right obtained a first edition of the play and studied it for some weeks. This student was suitably shocked and outraged to find its title transformed into A Wife in the Night in Watt’s Bibliotheca Britannica. Such experiences, inevitable and common in working on a writer to whom so little attention has been paid, serve to vaccinate the student—I hope for a lifetime—against credulous use of reference sources. 17. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with (A) revealing a commonly ignored deficiency (B) proposing a return to traditional terminology (C) describing an attempt to correct a shortcoming (D) assessing the success of a new pedagogical approach?C? (E) predicting a change in a traditional teaching strategy 18. It can be inferred that the author of the passage expects that the experience of the student mentioned as having studied Wife in the Right would have which of the following effects? (A) It would lead the student to disregard information found in the Bibliotheca Britannica. (B) It would teach the student to question the accuracy of certain kinds of information sources when studying neglected authors. (C) It would teach the student to avoid the use of reference sources in studying neglected authors. (D) It would help the student to understand the importance of first editions in establishing the authorship of plays.?B? (E) It would enhance the student’s appreciation of the works of authors not included in the canon. 19. The author of the passage suggests that which of the following is a disadvantage of the strategy employed in the experimental scholarly methods course? (A) Students were not given an opportunity to study women writers outside the canon. (B) Students’ original work would not be appreciated by recognized scholars. (C) Little scholarly work has been done on the work of Elizabeth Griffith. (D) Most of the students in the course had had little opportunity to study eighteenth-century literature.?E? (E) Students were not given an opportunity to encounter certain sources of information that could prove useful in their future studies. 20. Which of the following best states the “particular pedagogical purpose” mentioned in line 28? (A) To assist scholars in revising the canon of authors (B) To minimize the trivial aspects of the traditional scholarly methods course (C) To provide students with information about Griffith’s work (D) To encourage scholarly rigor in students’ own research?D? (E) To reestablish Griffith’s reputation as an author 21. Which of the following best describes the function of the last paragraph in relation to the passage as a whole? (A) It summarizes the benefits that students can derive from the experimental scholarly methods course. (B) It provides additional reasons why Griffith’s work raises issues having to do with the canon of authors. (C) It provides an illustration of the immediate nature of the experiences students can derive from the experimental scholarly methods course. (D) It contrasts the experience of a student in the experimental scholarly methods course with the experience of a student in the traditional course.?C? (E) It provides information that emphasizes the suitability of Griffith’s work for inclusion in the canon of authors. 22. It can be inferred that which of the following is most likely to be among the “issues” mentioned in line 38? (A) Why has the work of Griffith, a woman writer who was popular in her own century, been excluded from the canon? (B) In what ways did Griffith’s work reflect the political climate of the eighteenth century? (C) How was Griffith’s work received by literary critics during the eighteenth century? (D) How did the error in the title of Griffith’s play come to be made??A? (E) How did critical reception of Griffith’s work affect the quantity and quality of that work? 23. It can be inferred that the author of the passage considers traditional scholarly methods courses to be(To minimize the artificial (??????genuine) aspects of the conventional course, the usual procedure of assigning a large number of small problems drawn from the entire range (??????wide-ranging) of historical periods was abandoned, though this procedure has the obvious advantage of at least superficially familiarizing students with a wide range of reference sources.???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????) (A) irrelevant to the work of most students (B) inconsequential because of their narrow focus (C) unconcerned about the accuracy of reference sources (D) too superficial to establish important facts about authors?E? (E) too wide-ranging to approximate genuine scholarly activity Experiments show that insects can function as pollinators of cycads (cycad: n.???), rare, palmlike tropical plants. Furthermore, cycads removed from their native habitats—and therefore from insects native to those habitats—are usually infertile. Nevertheless, anecdotal reports of wind pollination in cycads cannot be ignored. The structure of cycads male cones is quite consistent with the wind dispersal of pollen, clouds of which are released from some of the larger cones. The male cone of Cycas circinalis, for example, sheds almost 100 cubic centimeters of pollen, most of which is probably dispersed by wind. Still, many male cycad cones (a mass of ovule-bearing or pollen-bearing scales or bracts in trees of the pine family or in cycads that are arranged usually on a somewhat elongated axis (???)??) are comparatively small and thus produce far less pollen. Furthermore, the structure of most female cycad cones seems inconsistent with direct pollination by wind. Only in the Cycas (cycas: n.[?]??,??,???) genus are the females’ ovules (ovule: n.??, ??) accessible to airborne pollen, since only in this genus are the ovules surrounded by a loose aggregation of megasporophylls (megasporophyll: [?]????) rather than by a tight cone. 24. According to the passage, the size of a male cycad cone directly influences which of the following? (A) The arrangement of the male cone’s structural elements (B) The mechanism by which pollen is released from the male cone (C) The degree to which the ovules of female cycads are accessible to airborne pollen (D) The male cone’s attractiveness to potential insect pollinators?E? (E) The amount of pollen produced by the male cone 25. The passage suggests that which of the following is true of the structure of cycad cones? (A) The structure of cycad cones provides conclusive evidence in favor of one particular explanation of cycad pollination. (B) The structure of cycad cones provides evidence concerning what triggers the first step in the pollination process. (C) An irresolvable discrepancy exists between what the structure of most male cycad cones suggests about cycad pollination and what the structure of most female cones suggests about that process. (D) The structure of male cycad cones rules out a possible mechanism for cycad pollination that is suggested by the structure of most female cycad cones.?E? (E) The structure of male cycad cones is consistent with a certain means of cycad pollination, but that means is inconsistent with the structure of most female cycad cones. 26. The evidence in favor of insect pollination of cycads presented in lines 2-4 would be more convincing if which of the following were also true? (A) Only a small variety of cycad species can be successfully transplanted. (B) Cycads can sometimes be pollinated by means other than wind or insects. (C) Insects indigenous to regions to which cycads are transplanted sometimes feed on cycads. (D) Winds in the areas to which cycads are usually transplanted are similar to winds in cycads’ native habitats.?D? (E) The transplantation of cycads from one region to another usually involves the accidental removal and introduction of insects as well. 27. The passage suggests that which of the following is true of scientific investigations of cycad pollination? (A) They have not yet produced any systematic evidence of wind pollination in cycads. (B) They have so far confirmed anecdotal reports concerning the wind pollination of cycads. (C) They have, until recently, produced little evidence in favor of insect pollination in cycads. (D) They have primarily been carried out using cycads transplanted from their native habitats.?A? (E) They have usually concentrated on describing the physical characteristics of the cycad reproductive system. SECTION B (This passage is adapted from an article published in 1981.) The term “remote sensing (remote sensing: ??, ??, ?????)” refers to the techniques of measurement and interpretation of phenomena from a distance. Prior to the mid-1960’s the interpretation of film images was the primary means for remote sensing of the Earth’s geologic features. With the development of the optomechanical scanner, scientists began to construct digital multispectral images using data beyond the sensitivity range of visible light photography. These images are constructed by mechanically aligning pictorial representations of such phenomena as the reflection of light waves outside the visible spectrum, the refraction of radio waves, and the daily changes in temperature in areas on the Earth’s surface. Digital multispectral imaging has now become the basic tool in geologic remote sensing from satellites. The advantage of digital over photographic imaging is evident: the resulting numerical data are precisely known, and digital data are not subject to the vagaries of difficult-to-control chemical processing. With digital processing, it is possible to combine a large number of spectral images. The acquisition of the first multispectral digital data set from the multispectral scanner (MSS) aboard the satellite Landsat (landsat: n.(??)????(??)??) in 1972 consequently attracted the attention of the entire geologic community. Landsat MSS data are now being applied to a variety of geologic problems that are difficult to solve by conventional methods alone. These include specific problems in mineral and energy resource exploration and the charting of glaciers and shallow seas. A more fundamental application of remote sensing is to augment conventional methods for geologic mapping of large areas. Regional maps present compositional, structural, and chronological information for reconstructing geologic evolution. Such reconstructions have important practical applications because the conditions under which rock units and other structural features are formed influence the occurrence of ore and petroleum deposits and affect the thickness and integrity of the geologic media in which the deposits are found. Geologic maps incorporate a large, varied body of specific field and laboratory measurements, but the maps must be interpretative because field measurements are always limited by rock exposure, accessibility and labor resources. With remote-sensing techniques it is possible to obtain much geologic information more efficiently than it can be obtained on the ground. These techniques also facilitate overall interpretation. Since detailed geologic mapping is generally conducted in small areas, the continuity of regional features that have intermittent and variable expressions is often not recognized, but in the comprehensive views of Landsat images these continuities are apparent. However, some critical information cannot be obtained through remote sensing, and several characteristics of the Landsat MSS impose limitations on the acquisition of diagnostic data. Some of these limitations can be overcome by designing satellite systems specifically for geologic purposes; but, to be most effective, remote-sensing data must still be combined with data from field surveys and laboratory tests, the techniques of the earlier twentieth century. 17. By using the word “interpretative” in line 40, the author is indicating which of the following? (A) Some maps are based more on data from aerial photography than on data from field operations. (B) Some maps are based almost exclusively on laboratory measurements. (C) Some maps are based on incomplete data from field observations. (D) Some maps show only large geologic features.?C? (E) Some maps can be three-dimensional. 18. With which of the following statements about geologic mapping would the author be most likely to agree? (A) Geologic mapping is basically an art and not a science. (B) Geologic mapping has not changed significantly since the early 1960’s. (C) Geologic mapping will have limited practical applications until remote-sensing systems are perfected. (D) A developmental milestone in geologic mapping was reached in 1972.?D? (E) Without the present variety of remote-sensing techniques, geologic mapping could not be done. 19. According to the passage, measurements of which of the following can be provided by the optomechanical scanner but not by visible-light photography? (A) The amount of visible light reflected from oceans (B) The density of foliage in remote areas on the Earth’s surface (C) Daily temperature changes of areas on the Earth’s surface (D) The degree of radioactivity emitted by exposed rocks on the Earth’s surface?C? (E) Atmospheric conditions over large landmasses 20. It can be inferred from the passage that a major disadvantage of photographic imaging in geologic mapping is that such photography (A) cannot be used at night (B) cannot focus on the details of a geologic area (C) must be chemically processed (D) is always enhanced by digital reconstruction?C? (E) cannot reflect changes over extended periods of time 21. It can be inferred from the passage that Landsat images differ from conventional geologic maps in that Landsat images (A) reveal the exact size of petroleum deposits and ore deposits (B) indicate the continuity of features that might not otherwise be interpreted as continuous (C) predict the movements of glaciers (D) provide highly accurate data about the occurrence of mineral deposits?B? (E) reveal the integrity of the media in which petroleum deposits and ore deposits are found 22. The passage provides information about each of the following topics EXCEPT: (A) the principal method of geologic remote sensing prior to the mid-1960’s (B) some of the phenomena measured by digital multi-spectral images in remote sensing (C) some of the practical uses of regional geologic maps (D) the kinds of problems that are difficult to solve solely through conventional methods of geologic mapping?E? (E) the specific limitations of the Landsat multi-spectral scanner 23. The passage suggests which of the following about the “conventional methods” mentioned in line 29? (A) They consist primarily of field surveys and laboratory measurements. (B) They are not useful in providing information necessary for reconstructing geologic evolution. (C) They have rarely been used by geologists since 1972. (D) They are used primarily to gather compositional information about geologic features.?A? (E) They are limited primarily because of difficulties involved in interpreting film images. Although the development of new infrastructure (such public facilities as power plants, schools, and bridges) is usually determined by governmental planning, sometimes this development can be planned more flexibly and realistically by private investors who anticipate profit from the collection of user fees. Such profits can contribute to the financing of more infrastructure if demand proves great enough, whereas (whereas: conj.??, ??) the reluctance of developers to invest in such projects can signal that additional infrastructure is not needed. During the economic boom of the 1980’s, for example, the state of Virginia authorized private developers to build a $300 million toll road (toll road: ????). These developers obtained the needed right-of-way from property owners, but by 1993 they still had not raised the necessary financing. The unwillingness of investors to finance this project does not negate the viability of privately financed roads; rather, it illustrates a virtue of private financing. If a road appears unlikely to attract enough future traffic to pay for the road, then it should not be built. 24. The primary purpose of the passage is to (A) build a case for increasing the development of new infrastructure (B) advocate an alternative to government financing of infrastructure (C) explain the failure of a privately financed venture (D) suggest the types of infrastructure most appropriate for private financing?B? (E) argue against government restrictions on developing new infrastructure 25. The passage implies that the “governmental planning” mentioned in line 3 may lead to which of the following problems? (A) Improper use of profits derived from user fees (B) Unduly slow development of necessary new infrastructure (C) Unrealistic decisions about developing new infrastructure (D) Incorrect predictions about profits to be gained from user fees?C? (E) Obstruction of private financing for the development of new infrastructure 26. According to the passage, which of the following is true of the toll road mentioned in line 12? (A) After it was built, it attracted too little traffic to pay for its construction. (B) It was partially financed by the state of Virginia. (C) Its development was authorized during an economic boom. (D) Its construction was controversial among local residents.?C? (E) Its developers were discouraged by governmental restrictions on acquiring the necessary land. 27. The passage suggests that which of the following would occur if a privately financed bridge that proved to be profitable failed after a number of years to meet the demands of traffic? (A) Private developers who financed the bridge would rely on governmental authorities to develop new infrastructure. (B) User fees would be increased so that usage would become more costly. (C) Governmental authorities would be reluctant to rely on private contractors to develop a new bridge. (D) The success of the project would be jeopardized by public dissatisfaction with the project’s adequacy.?E? (E) Profits generated by user fees would be used to help finance the construction of new infrastructure to alleviate the traffic problem. ANSWERS 1995 04 SECTION A E A C D B A E A E B D SECTION B B D D E C E A D D B D 1995 10 SECTION A C B E D C A E E E D A SECTION B C D C C B E A B C C E