Transcript
GMAT
Reasoning Test 16
No. 6-1 to No. 6-3
No. 6-1
SECTION A
A mysterious phenomenon is the ability of over-water migrants to travel on course. Birds, bees, and other species can keep track of (keep track of: v.??) time without any sensory cues from the outside world, and such “biological clocks” clearly contribute to their “compass sense.” For example, they can use the position of the Sun or stars, along with the time of day (the time of day: n.??), to find north. But compass sense alone cannot explain how birds navigate the ocean: after a flock traveling east is blown far south by a storm, it will assume the proper northeasterly course to compensate. Perhaps, some scientists thought, migrants determine their geographic position on Earth by celestial navigation, almost as human navigators use stars and planets, but this would demand of (demand of: v.??) the animals a fantastic map sense. Researchers now know that some species have a magnetic sense, which might allow migrants to determine their geographic location by detecting variations in the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field.
17. The main idea of the passage is that
(A) migration over land requires a simpler explanation than migration over water does
(B) the means by which animals migrate over water are complex and only partly understood
(C) the ability of migrant animals to keep track of time is related to their magnetic sense
(D) knowledge of geographic location is essential to migrants with little or no compass sense?B?
(E) explanations of how animals migrate tend to replace, rather than build on, one another
18. It can be inferred from the passage that if the flock of birds described in lines 8-12 were navigating by compass sense alone, they would, after the storm, fly
(A) east
(B) north
(C) northwest
(D) south?A?
(E) southeast
19. In maintaining that migrating animals would need “a fantastic map sense” (line 17) to determine their geographic position by celestial navigation, the author intends to express
(A) admiration for the ability of the migrants
(B) skepticism about celestial navigation as an explanation
(C) certainly that the phenomenon of migration will remain mysterious
(D) interest in a new method of accounting for over-water migration?B?
(E) surprise that animals apparently navigate in much the same way that human beings do
20. Of the following descriptions of migrating animals, which most strongly suggests that the animals are depending on magnetic cues to orient themselves?
(A) Pigeons can properly readjust their course even when flying long distances through exceedingly dense fogs.
(B) Bison are able to reach their destination by passing through a landscape that has been partially altered by a recent fire.
(C) Elephants are able to find grounds that some members of the herd have never seen before.
(D) Swallows are able to return to a given spot at the same time every year.?A?
(E) Monarch butterflies coming from different parts of North America are able to arrive at the same location each winter.
Roger Rosenblatt’s book Black Fiction, in attempting to apply literary rather than sociopolitical criteria to its subject, successfully alters the approach taken by most previous studies. As Rosenblatt notes, criticism of Black writing has often served as a pretext for expounding on Black history. Addison Gayle’s recent work, for example, judges the value of Black fiction by overtly political standards, rating each work according to the notions of Black identity which it propounds.
Although fiction assuredly springs from political circumstances, its authors react to those circumstances in ways other than ideological, and talking about novels and stories primarily as instruments of ideology circumvents much of the fictional enterprise. Rosenblatt’s literary analysis discloses affinities and connections among works of Black fiction which solely political studies have overlooked or ignored.
Writing acceptable criticism of Black fiction, however, presupposes giving satisfactory answers to a number of questions. First of all, is there a sufficient reason, other than the racial identity of the authors, to group together works by Black authors? Second, how does Black fiction make itself distinct from other modern fiction with which it is largely contemporaneous? Rosenblatt shows that Black fiction constitutes a distinct body of writing that has an identifiable, coherent literary tradition. Looking at novels written by Blacks over the last eighty years, he discovers recurring concerns and designs independent of chronology. These structures are thematic, and they spring, not surprisingly, from the central fact that the Black characters in these novels exist in a predominantly White culture, whether they try to conform to that culture of rebel against (rebel against: v.??) it.
Black Fiction does leave some aesthetic questions open. Rosenblatt’s thematic analysis permits considerable objectivity; he even explicitly states that it is not his intention to judge the merit of the various works—yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especially since an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting results. For instance, some of the novels appear to be structurally diffuse. Is this a defect, or are the authors working out of, or trying to forge, a different kind of aesthetic? In addition, the style of some Black novels, like Jean Toomer’s Cane, verges on (verge on: (=on the verge of)???v.??, ??) expressionism or surrealism; does this technique provide a counterpoint (a complementing or contrasting item: OPPOSITE) to the prevalent theme that portrays the fate against which Black heroes are pitted, a theme usually conveyed by more naturalistic modes of expression?
In spite of such omissions, what Rosenblatt does include in his discussion makes for an astute and worthwhile study. Black Fiction surveys a wide variety of novels, bringing to our attention in the process some fascinating and little-known works like James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Its argument is tightly constructed, and its forthright, lucid style exemplifies levelheaded and penetrating criticism.
21. The author of the passage objects to criticism of Black fiction like that by Addison Gayle because it
(A) emphasizes purely literary aspects of such fiction
(B) misinterprets the ideological content of such fiction
(C) misunderstands the notions of Black identity contained in such fiction
(D) substitutes political for literary criteria in evaluating such fiction?D?
(E) ignores the interplay between Black history and Black identity displayed in such fiction
22. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with
(A) evaluating the soundness of a work of criticism
(B) comparing various critical approaches to a subject
(C) discussing the limitations of a particular kind of criticism
(D) summarizing the major points made in a work of criticism?A?
(E) explaining the theoretical background of a certain kind of criticism
23. The author of the passage believes that Black Fiction would have been improved had Rosenblatt
(A) evaluated more carefully the ideological and historical aspects of Black fiction
(B) attempted to be more objective in his approach to novels and stories by Black authors
(C) explored in greater detail the recurrent thematic concerns of Black fiction throughout its history
(D) established a basis for placing Black fiction within its own unique literary tradition?E?
(E) assessed the relative literary merit of the novels he analyzes thematically
24. The author’s discussion of Black Fiction can be best described as
(A) pedantic and contentious
(B) critical but admiring
(C) ironic and deprecating
(D) argumentative but unfocused?B?
(E) stilted and insincere
25. It can be inferred that the author of the passage would be LEAST likely to approve of which of the following?
(A) An analysis of the influence of political events on the personal ideology of Black writes
(B) A critical study that applies sociopolitical criteria to autobiographies by Black authors
(C) A literary study of Black poetry that appraises the merits of poems according to the political acceptability of their themes
(D) An examination of the growth of a distinct Black literary tradition within the context of Black history?C?
(E) A literary study that attempts to isolate aesthetic qualities unique to Black fiction
26. The author of the passage uses all of the following in the discussion of Rosenblatt’s book EXCEPT
(A) rhetorical questions
(B) specific examples
(C) comparison and contrast
(D) definition of terms?D?
(E) personal opinion
27. The author of the passage refers to James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man most probably in order to
(A) point out affinities between Rosenblatt’s method of thematic analysis and earlier criticism
(B) clarify the point about expressionistic style made earlier in the passage
(C) qualify the assessment of Rosenblatt’s book made in the first paragraph of the passage
(D) illustrate the affinities among Black novels disclosed by Rosenblatt’s literary analysis?E?
(E) give a specific example of one of the accomplishments of Rosenblatt’s work
SECTION B
The molecules of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere affect the heat balance of the Earth by acting as a one-way screen. Although these molecules allow radiation at visible wavelengths, where most of the energy of sunlight is concentrated, to pass through, they absorb some of the longer-wavelength, infrared emissions radiated from the Earth’s surface, radiation that would otherwise be transmitted back into space. For the Earth to maintain a constant average temperature, such emissions from the planet must balance incoming solar radiation. If there were no carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, heat would escape from the Earth much more easily. The surface temperature would be so much lower that the oceans might be a solid mass (solid mass: ??) of ice.
Today, however, the potential problem is too much carbon dioxide. The burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of forests have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by about 15 percent in the last hundred years, and we continue to add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Could the increase in carbon dioxide cause a global rise in average temperature, and could such a rise have serious consequences for human society? Mathematical models that allow us to calculate the rise in temperature as a function of the increase indicate that the answer is probably yes.
Under present conditions a temperature of-18? can be observed at an altitude of 5 to 6 kilometers above the Earth. Below this altitude (called the radiating level), the temperature increases by about 6? per kilometer approaching the Earth’s surface, where the average temperature is about 15?. An increase in the amount of carbon dioxide means that there are more molecules of carbon dioxide to absorb infrared radiation. As the capacity of the atmosphere to absorb infrared radiation increases, the radiating level and the temperature of the surface must rise.
One mathematical model predicts that doubling the atmospheric carbon dioxide would raise the global mean surface temperature by 2.5?. This model assumes that the atmosphere’s relative humidity (relative humidity: n.????) remains constant and the temperature decreases with altitude at a rate of 6.5? per kilometer. The assumption of constant relative humidity is important, because water vapor in the atmosphere is another efficient absorber of radiation at infrared wavelengths. Because warm air can hold more moisture than cool air, the relative humidity will be constant only if the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere increases as the temperature rises. Therefore, more infrared radiation would be absorbed and reradiated back to the Earth’s surface. The resultant warming at the surface could be expected to melt snow and ice, reducing the Earth’s reflectivity. More solar radiation would then be absorbed, leading to a further increase in temperature.
17. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) warn of the dangers of continued burning of fossil fuels
(B) discuss the significance of increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
(C) explain how a constant temperature is maintained on the Earth’s surface
(D) describe the ways in which various atmospheric and climatic conditions contribute to the Earth’s weather?B?
(E) demonstrate the usefulness of mathematical models in predicting long-range climatic change
18. According to the passage, the greatest part of the solar energy that reaches the Earth is
(A) concentrated in the infrared spectrum
(B) concentrated at visible wavelengths
(C) absorbed by carbon dioxide molecules
(D) absorbed by atmospheric water vapor?B?
(E) reflected back to space by snow and ice
19. According to the passage, atmospheric carbon dioxide performs all of the following functions EXCEPT:
(A) absorbing radiation at visible wavelengths
(B) absorbing infrared radiation
(C) absorbing outgoing radiation from the Earth
(D) helping to retain heat near the Earth’s surface?A?
(E) helping to maintain a constant average temperature on the Earth’s surface
20. Which of the following best describes the author’s attitude toward the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and its consequences?
(A) Incredulous
(B) Completely detached
(C) Interested but skeptical
(D) Angry yet resigned?E?
(E) Objective yet concerned
21. It can be concluded from information contained in the passage that the average temperature at an altitude of 1 kilometer above the Earth is about
(A) 15?
(B) 9?
(C) 2.5?
(D) -12??B?
(E) -18?
22. It can be inferred from the passage that the construction of the mathematical model mentioned in the passage involved the formulation of which of the following?
(A) An assumption that the amount of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere would in reality steadily increase
(B) An assumption that human activities are the only agencies by which carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere
(C) Assumptions about the social and political consequences of any curtailment of the use of fossil fuels
(D) Assumptions about the physical conditions that are likely to prevail during the period for which the model was made?D?
(E) Assumptions about the differential behavior of carbon dioxide molecules at the various levels of temperature calculated in the model
23. According to the passage, which of the following is true of the last hundred years?
(A) Fossil fuels were burned for the first time.
(B) Greater amounts of land were cleared than at any time before.
(C) The average temperature at the Earth’s surface has become 2? cooler.
(D) The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased measurably.?D?
(E) The amount of farmland worldwide has doubled.
Some modern anthropologists hold that biological evolution has shaped not only human morphology but also human behavior. The role those anthropologists ascribe to evolution is not of dictating the details of human behavior but one of imposing constraints—ways of feeling, thinking, and acting that “come naturally” in archetypal situations in any culture. Our “frailties”—emotions and motives such as rage, fear, greed, gluttony, joy, lust, love—may be a very mixed assortment, but they share at least one immediate quality: we are, as we say, “in the grip” of them. And thus they give us our sense of constraints.
Unhappily, some of those frailties—our need for ever-increasing security among them—are presently maladaptive. Yet beneath the overlay of cultural detail, they, too, are said to be biological in direction, and therefore as natural to us as are our appendixes. We would need to comprehend thoroughly their adaptive origins in order to understand how badly they guide us now. And we might then begin to resist their pressure.
24. The primary purpose of the passage is to present
(A) a position on the foundations of human behavior and on what those foundations imply
(B) a theory outlining the parallel development of human morphology and of human behavior
(C) a diagnostic test for separating biologically determined behavior patterns from culture-specific detail
(D) a practical method for resisting the pressures of biologically determined drives?A?
(E) an overview of those human emotions and motives that impose constraints on human behavior
25. The author implies that control to any extent over the “frailties” that constrain our behavior is thought to presuppose
(A) that those frailties are recognized as currently beneficial and adaptive
(B) that there is little or no overlay of cultural detail that masks their true nature
(C) that there are cultures in which those frailties do not “come naturally” and from which such control can be learned
(D) a full understanding of why those frailties evolved and of how they function now?D?
(E) a thorough grasp of the principle that cultural detail in human behavior can differ arbitrarily from society to society
26. Which of the following most probably provides an appropriate analogy from human morphology for the “details” versus “constraints” distinction made in the passage in relation to (in relation to: adv.??, ??, ?…??) human behavior?
(A) The ability of most people to see all the colors of the visible spectrum as against most people’s inability to name any but the primary colors
(B) The ability of even the least fortunate people to show compassion as against people’s inability to mask their feelings completely
(C) The ability of some people to dive to great depths as against most people’s inability to swim long distances
(D) The psychological profile of those people who are able to delay gratification as against people’s inability to control their lives completely?E?
(E) The greater lung capacity of mountain peoples that helps them live in oxygen-poor air as against people’s inability to fly without special apparatus
27. It can be inferred that in his discussion of maladaptive frailties the author assumes that
(A) evolution does not favor the emergence of adaptive characteristics over the emergence of maladaptive ones
(B) any structure or behavior not positively adaptive is regarded as transitory in evolutionary theory
(C) maladaptive characteristics, once fixed, make the emergence of other maladaptive characteristics more likely
(D) the designation of a characteristic as being maladaptive must always remain highly tentative?E?
(E) changes in the total human environment can outpace evolutionary change
No. 6-2
SECTION A
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 as metaphor, 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.
17. A main purpose of the passage is to
(A) delineate the function of the tlamatinime in Nahuatl society
(B) explain the abstract philosophy of the Nahuatl thinkers
(C) argue against a theory of poetic expression by citing evidence about the Nahuatl
(D) explore the rich metaphorical heritage the Nahuatl received from the Toltecs?E?
(E) describe some conceptual and aesthetic resources of the Nahuatl language
18. According to the passage, some abstract universal ideas can be expressed in Nahuatl by
(A) taking away from a word any reference to particular instances
(B) removing a word from its associations with other words
(C) giving a word a new and opposite meaning
(D) putting various meaningful elements together in one word?D?
(E) turning each word of a phrase into a poetic metaphor
19. It can be inferred solely from the information in the passage that
(A) there are many languages that, like Greek or German, allow extensive compounding
(B) all abstract universal ideas are ideas of complex relations
(C) some record or evidence of the thought of the tlamatinime exists
(D) metaphors are always used in Nahuatl to express abstract conceptual relationships?C?
(E) the abstract terms of the Nahuatl language are habitually used in poetry
Many theories have been formulated to explain the role of grazers such as zooplankton in controlling the amount of planktonic algae (phytoplankton) in lakes. The first theories of such grazer control were merely based on observations of negative correlations between algal and zooplankton numbers. A low number of algal cells in the presence of a high number of grazers suggested, but did not prove, that the grazers had removed most of the algae. The converse observation, of the absence of grazers in areas of high phytoplankton concentration, led Hardy to propose his principle of animal exclusion, which hypothesized that phytoplankton produced a repellent that excluded grazers from regions of high phytoplankton concentration. This was the first suggestion of algal defenses against grazing.
Perhaps the fact that many of these first studies considered only algae of a size that could be collected in a net (net phytoplankton), a practice that overlooked the smaller phytoplankton (nannoplankton) that we now know grazers are most likely to feed on, led to a de-emphasis of the role of grazers in subsequent research. Increasingly, as in the individual studies of Lund, Round, and Reynolds, researchers began to stress the importance of environmental factors such as temperature, light, and water movements in controlling algal numbers. These environmental factors were amenable to field monitoring and to simulation in the laboratory. Grazing was believed to have some effect on algal numbers, especially after phytoplankton growth rates declined at the end of bloom periods, but grazing was considered a minor component of models that predicted algal population dynamics (population dynamics: ????;????).
The potential magnitude of grazing pressure on freshwater phytoplankton has only recently been determined empirically. Studies by Hargrave and Geen estimated natural community grazing rates by measuring feeding rates of individual zooplankton species in the laboratory and then computing community grazing rates for field conditions using the known population density of grazers. The high estimates of grazing pressure postulated by these researchers were not fully accepted, however, until the grazing rates of zooplankton were determined directly in the field, by means of new experimental techniques. Using a specially prepared feeding chamber, Haney was able to record zooplankton grazing rates in natural field conditions. In the periods of peak zooplankton abundance, that is, in the late spring and in the summer, Haney recorded maximum daily community grazing rates, for nutrient-poor lakes and bog lakes, respectively, of 6.6 percent and 114 percent of daily phytoplankton production. Cladocerans had higher grazing rates than copepods, usually accounting for 80 percent of the community grazing rate. These rates varied seasonally, reaching the lowest point in the winter and early spring. Haney’s thorough research provides convincing field evidence that grazers can exert significant pressure on phytoplankton population.
20. The author most likely mentions Hardy’s principle of animal exclusion in order to
(A) give an example of one theory about the interaction of grazers and phytoplankton
(B) defend the first theory of algal defenses against grazing
(C) support the contention that phytoplankton numbers are controlled primarily by environmental factors
(D) demonstrate the superiority of laboratory studies of zooplankton feeding rates to other kinds of studies of such rates?A?
(E) refute researchers who believed that low numbers of phytoplankton indicated the grazing effect of low numbers of zooplankton
21. It can be inferred from the passage that the “first theories” of grazer control mentioned in line 4 would have been more convincing if researchers had been able to
(A) observe high phytoplankton numbers under natural lake conditions
(B) discover negative correlations between algae and zooplankton numbers from their field research
(C) understand the central importance of environmental factors in controlling the growth rates of phytoplankton
(D) make verifiable correlations of cause and effect between zooplankton and phytoplankton numbers?D?
(E) invent laboratory techniques that would have allowed them to bypass their field research concerning grazer control
22. Which of the following, if true, would call into question Hardy’s principle of animal exclusion?
(A) Zooplankton are not the only organisms that are affected by phytoplankton repellents.
(B) Zooplankton exclusion is unrelated to phytoplankton population density.
(C) Zooplankton population density is higher during some parts of the year than during others.
(D) Net phytoplankton are more likely to exclude zooplankton than are nannoplankton.?B?
(E) Phytoplankton numbers can be strongly affected by environmental factors.
23. The author would be likely to agree with which of the following statements regarding the pressure of grazers on phytoplankton numbers?
I. Grazing pressure can vary according to the individual type of zooplankton.
II. Grazing pressure can be lower in nutrient-poor lakes than in bog lakes.
III. Grazing tends to exert about the same pressure as does temperature.
(A) I only
(B) III only
(C) I and II only
(D) II and III only?C?
(E) I, II, and III
24. The passage supplies information to indicate that Hargrave and Geen’s conclusion regarding the grazing pressure exerted by zooplankton on phytoplankton numbers was most similar to the conclusion regarding grazing pressure reached by which of the following researchers?
(A) Hardy
(B) Lund
(C) Round
(D) Reynolds?E?
(E) Haney
25. It can be inferred from the passage that one way in which many of the early researchers on grazer control could have improved their data would have been to
(A) emphasize the effects of temperature, rather than of light, on phytoplankton
(B) disregard nannoplankton in their analysis of phytoplankton numbers
(C) collect phytoplankton of all sizes before analyzing the extent of phytoplankton concentration
(D) recognize that phytoplankton other than net phytoplankton could be collected in a net?C?
(E) understand the crucial significance of net phytoplankton in the diet of zooplankton
26. According to the passage, Hargrave and Geen did which of the following in their experiments?
(A) They compared the grazing rates of individual zooplankton species in the laboratory with the natural grazing rates of these species.
(B) The hypothesized about the population density of grazers in natural habitats by using data concerning the population density of grazers in the laboratory.
(C) They estimated the community grazing rates of zooplankton in the laboratory by using data concerning the natural community grazing rates of zooplankton.
(D) They estimated the natural community grazing rates of zooplankton by using data concerning the known population density of phytoplankton.?E?
(E) They estimated the natural community grazing rates of zooplankton by using laboratory data concerning the grazing rates of individual zooplankton species.
27. Which of the following is a true statement about the zooplankton numbers and zooplankton grazing rates observed in Haney’s experiments?
(A) While zooplankton numbers began to decline in August, zooplankton grazing rates began to increase.
(B) Although zooplankton numbers were high in May, grazing rates did not become high until January.
(C) Both zooplankton numbers and grazing rates were higher in December than in November.
(D) Both zooplankton numbers and grazing rates were lower in March than in June.?D?
(E) Both zooplankton numbers and grazing rates were highest in February.
SECTION B
Hydrogeology is a science dealing with the properties, distribution, and circulation of water on the surface of the land, in the soil and underlying rocks, and in the atmosphere. The hydrologic cycle, a major topic in this science, is the complete cycle of phenomena through which water passes, beginning as atmospheric water vapor, passing into liquid and solid form as precipitation, thence along and into the ground surface, and finally again returning to the form of atmospheric water vapor by means of evaporation and transpiration.
The term “geohydrology” is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for “hydrogeology.” Geohydrology is concerned with underground water. There are many formations that contain water but are not part of the hydrologic cycle because of geologic changes that have isolated them underground. These systems are properly termed geohydrologic but not hydrogeologic. Only when a system possesses natural or artificial boundaries that associate the water within it with the hydrologic cycle may the entire system properly be termed hydrogeologic.
17. The author’s primary purpose is most probably to
(A) present a hypothesis
(B) refute an argument
(C) correct a misconception
(D) predict an occurrence?C?
(E) describe an enigma
18. It can be inferred that which of the following is most likely to be the subject of study by a geohydrologist?
(A) Soft, porous rock being worn away by a waterfall
(B) Water depositing minerals on the banks of a gorge through which the water runs
(C) The trapping of water in a sealed underground rock cavern through the action of an earthquake
(D) Water becoming unfit to drink through the release of pollutants into it from a manufacturing plant?C?
(E) The changing course of a river channel as the action of the water wears away the rocks past which the river flows
19. The author refers to “many formations” (line 16) primarily in order to
(A) clarify a distinction
(B) introduce a subject
(C) draw an analogy
(D) emphasize a similarity?A?
(E) resolve a conflict
The historian Frederick J. Turner wrote in the 1890’s that the agrarian discontent that had been developing steadily in the United States since about 1870 had been precipitated by the closing of the internal frontier—that is, the depletion of available new land needed for further expansion of the American farming system. Not only was Turner’s thesis influential at the time, it was later adopted and elaborated by other scholars, such as John D. Hicks in The Populist Revolt (1931). Actually, however, new lands were taken up for farming in the United States throughout and beyond the nineteenth century. In the 1890’s, when agrarian discontent had become most acute, 1,100,000 new farms were settled, which was 500,000 more than had been settled during the previous decade. After 1890, under the terms of the Homestead Act and its successors, more new land was taken up for farming than had been taken up for this purpose in the United States up until that time. It is true that a high proportion of the newly farmed land was suitable only for grazing and dry farming, but agricultural practices had become sufficiently advanced to make it possible to increase the profitability of farming by utilizing even these relatively barren lands.
The emphasis given by both scholars and statesmen to the presumed disappearance of the American frontier helped to obscure the great importance of changes in the conditions and consequences of international trade that occurred during the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened and the first transcontinental railroad in the United States was completed. An extensive network of telegraph and telephone communications was spun: Europe was connected by submarine cable with the United States in 1866 and with South America in 1874. By about 1870 improvements in agricultural technology made possible the full exploitation of areas that were most suitable for extensive farming (extensive farming: ????) on a mechanized basis. Huge tracts of land were being settled and farmed in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and in the American West, and these areas were joined with one another and with the countries of Europe into an interdependent market system. As a consequence, agrarian depressions no longer were local or national in scope, and they struck several nations whose internal frontiers had not vanished or were not about to vanish. Between the early 1870’s and the 1890’s, the mounting agrarian discontent in America paralleled the almost uninterrupted decline in the prices of American agricultural products on foreign markets. Those staple-growing farmers in the United States who exhibited the greatest discontent were those who had become most dependent on foreign markets for the sale of their products. Insofar as (to the extent or degree that) Americans had been deterred from taking up new land for farming, it was because market conditions had made this period a perilous time in which to do so.
20. The author is primarily concerned with
(A) showing that a certain interpretation is better supported by the evidence than is an alternative explanation
(B) developing an alternative interpretation by using sources of evidence that formerly had been unavailable
(C) questioning the accuracy of the evidence that most scholars have used to counter the author’s own interpretation
(D) reviewing the evidence that formerly had been thought to obscure a valid interpretation?A?
(E) presenting evidence in support of a controversial version of an earlier interpretation
21. According to the author, changes in the conditions of international trade resulted in an
(A) underestimation of the amount of new land that was being famed in the United States
(B) underutilization of relatively small but rich plots of land
(C) overexpansion of the world transportation network for shipping agricultural products
(D) extension of agrarian depressions beyond national boundaries?D?
(E) emphasis on the importance of market forces in determining the prices of agricultural products
22. The author implies that the change in the state of the American farmer’s morale during the latter part of the nineteenth century was traceable to the American farmer’s increasing perception that the
(A) costs of cultivating the land were prohibitive within the United States
(B) development of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States occurred at the expense of the American farmer
(C) American farming system was about to run out of the new farmland that was required for its expansion
(D) prices of American agricultural products were deteriorating especially rapidly on domestic markets?E?
(E) proceeds from the sales of American agricultural products on foreign markets were unsatisfactory
23. According to the passage, which of the following occurred prior to 1890?
(A) Frederick J. Turner’s thesis regarding the American frontier became influential.
(B) The Homestead Act led to an increase in the amount of newly farmed land in the United States.
(C) The manufacturers of technologically advanced agricultural machinery rapidly increased their marketing efforts.
(D) Direct lines of communication were constructed between the United States and South America.?E?
(E) Technological advances made it fruitful to farm extensively on a mechanized basis.
24. The author implies that, after certain territories and countries had been joined into an interdependent market system in the nineteenth century, agrarian depressions within that system
(A) spread to several nations, excluding those in which the internal frontier remained open
(B) manifested themselves in several nations, including those in which new land remained available for farming
(C) slowed down the pace of new technological developments in international communications and transportation
(D) affected the local and national prices of the nonagricultural products of several nations?B?
(E) encouraged several nations to sell more of their agricultural products on foreign markets
25. The author provides information concerning newly farmed lands in the United States (lines 11-27) as evidence in direct support of which of the following?
(A) A proposal by Frederick J. Turner that was later disputed by John D. Hicks
(B) An elaboration by John D. Hicks of a thesis that formerly had been questioned by Frederick J. Turner
(C) The established view that was disputed by those scholars who adopted the thesis of Frederick J. Turner
(D) The thesis that important changes occurred in the nature of international trade during the second half of the nineteenth century?E?
(E) The view that the American frontier did not become closed during the nineteenth century or soon thereafter
26. The author implies that the cause of the agrarian discontent was
(A) masked by the vagueness of the official records on newly settled farms
(B) overshadowed by disputes on the reliability of the existing historical evidence
(C) misidentified as a result of influential but erroneous theorizing
(D) overlooked because of a preoccupation with market conditions?C?
(E) undetected because visible indications of the cause occurred so gradually and sporadically
27. The author’s argument implies that, compared to the yearly price changes that actually occurred on foreign agricultural markets during the 1880’s, American farmers would have most preferred yearly price changes that were
(A) much smaller and in the same direction
(B) much smaller but in the opposite direction
(C) slightly smaller and in the same direction
(D) similar in size but in the opposite direction?D?
(E) slightly greater and in the same direction
No. 6-3
SECTION A
The use of heat pumps has been held back largely by skepticism about advertisers’ claims that heat pumps can provide as many as two units of thermal energy for each unit of electrical energy used, thus apparently contradicting the principle of energy conservation (energy conservation: ????? ????????). Heat pumps circulate a fluid refrigerant that cycles alternatively from its liquid phase to its vapor phase in a closed loop (closed loop: [?]??). The refrigerant, starting as a low-temperature, low-pressure vapor, enters a compressor driven by an electric motor. The refrigerant leaves the compressor as a hot, dense vapor and flows through a heat exchanger called the condenser, which transfers heat from the refrigerant to a body of air. Now the refrigerant, as a high-pressure, cooled liquid, confronts a flow restriction which causes the pressure to drop. As the pressure falls, the refrigerant expands and partially vaporizes, becoming chilled. It then passes through a second heat exchanger, the evaporator, which transfers heat from the air to the refrigerant, reducing the temperature of this second body of air. Of the two heat exchangers, one is located inside, and the other one outside the house, so each is in contact with a different body of air: room air and outside air, respectively.
The flow direction of refrigerant through a heat pump is controlled by valves. When the refrigerant flow is reversed, the heat exchangers switch function. This flow-reversal capability allows heat pumps either to heat or cool room air. Now, if under certain conditions a heat pump puts out more thermal energy than it consumes in electrical energy, has the law of energy conservation been challenged? No, not even remotely: the additional input of thermal energy into the circulating refrigerant via the evaporator accounts for the difference in the energy equation.
Unfortunately, there is one real problem. The heating capacity of a heat pump decreases as the outdoor temperature falls. The drop in capacity is caused by the lessening amount of refrigerant mass moved through the compressor at one time. The heating capacity is proportional to this mass flow rate: the less the mass of refrigerant being compressed, the less the thermal load it can transfer through the heat-pump cycle. The volume flow rate of refrigerant vapor through the single-speed rotary compressor used in heat pumps is approximately constant. But cold refrigerant vapor entering a compressor is at lower pressure than warmer vapor. Therefore, the mass of cold refrigerant—and thus the thermal energy it carries—is less than if the refrigerant vapor were warmer before compression.
Here, then, lies a genuine drawback of heat pumps: in extremely cold climates—where the most heat is needed—heat pumps are least able to supply enough heat.
17. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) explain the differences in the working of a heat pump when the outdoor temperature changes
(B) contrast the heating and the cooling modes of heat pumps
(C) describe heat pumps, their use, and factors affecting their use
(D) advocate the more widespread use of heat pumps?C?
(E) expose extravagant claims about heat pumps as false
18. The author resolves the question of whether heat pumps run counter to the principle of energy conservation by
(A) carefully qualifying the meaning of that principle
(B) pointing out a factual error in the statement that gives rise to this question
(C) supplying additional relevant facts
(D) denying the relevance of that principle to heat pumps?C?
(E) explaining that heat pumps can cool, as well as heat, room air
19. It can be inferred from the passage that, in the course of a heating season, the heating capacity of a heat pump is greatest when
(A) heating is least essential
(B) electricity rates are lowest
(C) its compressor runs the fastest
(D) outdoor temperatures hold steady?A?
(E) the heating demand surges
20. If the author’s assessment of the use of heat pumps (lines 1-6) is correct, which of the following best expresses the lesson that advertisers should learn from this case?
(A) Do not make exaggerated claims about the products you are trying to promote.
(B) Focus your advertising campaign on vague analogies and veiled implications instead of on facts.
(C) Do not use facts in your advertising that will strain the prospective client’s ability to believe.
(D) Do not assume in your advertising that the prospective clients know even the most elementary scientific principles.?C?
(E) Concentrate your advertising firmly on financially relevant issues such as price discounts and efficiency of operation.
21. The passage suggests that heat pumps would be used more widely if
(A) they could also be used as air conditioners
(B) they could be moved around to supply heat where it is most needed
(C) their heat output could be thermostatically controlled
(D) models with truly superior cooling capacity were advertised more effectively?E?
(E) people appreciated the role of the evaporator in the energy equation
22. According to the passage, the role of the flow restriction (lines 16-17) in a heat pump is to
(A) measure accurately the flow rate of the refrigerant mass at that point
(B) compress and heat the refrigerant vapor
(C) bring about the evaporation and cooling of refrigerant
(D) exchange heat between the refrigerant and the air at that point?C?
(E) reverse the direction of refrigerant flow when needed
23. The author regards the notion that heat pumps have a genuine drawback as a
(A) cause for regret
(B) sign of premature defeatism
(C) welcome challenge
(D) case of sloppy thinking?A?
(E) focus for an educational campaign
All of Francoise Duparc’s surviving paintings blend portraiture and genre. Her subjects appear to be acquaintances whom she has asked to pose; she has captured both their self-consciousness and the spontaneity of their everyday activities, the depiction of which characterizes genre painting. But genre painting, especially when it portrayed members of the humblest classes, was never popular in eighteenth-century France. The Le Nain brothers and Georges de La Tour, who also chose such themes, were largely ignored. Their present high standing is due to a different, more democratic political climate and to different aesthetic values: we no longer require artists to provide ideal images of humanity for our moral edification but rather regard such idealization as a falsification of the truth. Duparc gives no improving message and discreetly refrains from judging her subjects. In brief, her works neither elevate nor instruct. This restraint largely explains her lack of popular success during her lifetime, even if her talent did not go completely unrecognized by her eighteenth-century French contemporaries.
24. According to the passage, modern viewers are not likely to value which of the following qualities in a painting?
(A) The technical elements of the painting
(B) The spontaneity of the painting
(C) The moral lesson imparted by the painting
(D) The degree to which the painting realistically depicts its subject?C?
(E) The degree to which the artist’s personality is revealed in the painting
25. If the history of Duparc’s artistic reputation were to follow that of the Le Nain brothers and Georges de La Tour, present-day assessments of her work would be likely to contain which of the following?
(A) An evaluation that accords high status to her work
(B) Acknowledgement of her technical expertise but dismissal of her subject matter as trivial
(C) Agreement with assessments made in her own time but acknowledgements of the exceptional quality of a few of her paintings
(D) Placement of her among the foremost artists of her century?A?
(E) A reclassification of her work as portraiture rather than genre painting
26. It can be inferred from the passage that the term “genre painting” would most likely apply to which of the following?
(A) A painting depicting a glorious moment of victory following a battle
(B) A painting illustrating a narrative from the Bible
(C) A portrayal of a mythological Greek goddess
(D) A portrayal of a servant engaged in his work?D?
(E) A formal portrait of an eighteenth-century king
27. The argument of the passage best supports which of the following contentions concerning judgments of artistic work?
(A) Aesthetic judgments can be influenced by the political beliefs of those making the judgment.
(B) Judgments of the value of an artist’s work made by his or her contemporaries must be discounted before a true judgment can be made.
(C) Modern aesthetic taste is once again moving in the direction of regarding idealistic painting as the most desirable form of painting.
(D) In order to be highly regarded, an artist cannot be solely identified with one particular kind of painting.?A?
(E) Spontaneity is the most valuable quality a portrait painter can have.
SECTION B
Mycorrhizal fungi (mycorrhizal fungi: ????) infect more plants than do any other fungi and are necessary for many plants to thrive, but they have escaped widespread investigation until recently for two reasons. First, the symbiotic association is so well-balanced that the roots of host plants show no damage even when densely infected. Second, the fungi cannot as yet (as yet: adv.??) be cultivated in the absence of a living root. Despite these difficulties, there has been important new work that suggests that this symbiotic association can be harnessed to achieve more economical use of costly superphosphate fertilizer (superphosphate fertilizer: ??????) and to permit better exploitation of cheaper, less soluble rock phosphate. Mycorrhizal benefits are not limited to improved phosphate uptake in host plants. In legumes, mycorrhizal inoculation has increased nitrogen fixation beyond levels achieved by adding phosphate fertilizer (phosphate fertilizer: ??(?)) alone. Certain symbiotic associations also increase the host plant’s resistance to harmful root fungi. Whether this resistance results from exclusion of harmful fungi through competition for sites, from metabolic change involving antibiotic production, or from increased vigor is undetermined.
17. Which of the following most accurately describes the passage?
(A) A description of a replicable experiment
(B) A summary report of new findings
(C) A recommendation for abandoning a difficult area of research
(D) A refutation of an earlier hypothesis?B?
(E) A confirmation of earlier research
18. The level of information in the passage above is suited to the needs of all of the following people EXCEPT:
(A) a researcher whose job is to identify potentially profitable areas for research and product development
(B) a state official whose position requires her to alert farmers about possible innovations in farming
(C) an official of a research foundation who identifies research projects for potential funding
(D) a biologist attempting to keep up with scientific developments in an area outside of his immediate area of specialization?E?
(E) a botanist conducting experiments to determine the relationship between degree of mycorrhizal infection and expected uptake of phosphate
19. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following has been a factor influencing the extent to which research on mycorrhizal fungi has progressed?
(A) Lack of funding for such research
(B) Lack of immediate application of such research
(C) Lack of a method for identifying mycorrhizal fungi
(D) Difficulties surrounding laboratory production of specimens for study?D?
(E) Difficulties ensuing from the high cost and scarcity of superphosphate fertilizers
20. The passage suggests which of the following about the increased resistance to harmful root fungi that some plants infected with mycorrhizal fungi seem to exhibit?
(A) There are at least three hypotheses that might account for the increase.
(B) An explanation lies in the fact that mycorrhizal fungi increase more rapidly in number than harmful root fungi do.
(C) The plants that show increased resistance also exhibit improved nitrogen fixation.
(D) Such increases may be independent of mycorrhizal infection.?A?
(E) It is unlikely that a satisfactory explanation can be found to account for the increase.
In the early 1950’s, historians who studied preindustrial Europe (which we may define here as Europe in the period from roughly 1300 to 1800) began, for the first time in large numbers, to investigate more of the preindustrial European population than the 2 or 3 percent who comprised the political and social elite: the kings, generals, judges, nobles, bishops, and local magnates who had hitherto usually filled history books. One difficulty, however, was that few of the remaining 97 percent recorded their thoughts or had them chronicled by contemporaries. Faced with this situation, many historians based their investigations on the only records that seemed to exist: birth, marriage, and death records. As a result, much of the early work on the nonelite was aridly statistical in nature; reducing the vast majority of the population to a set of numbers was hardly more enlightening than ignoring them altogether. Historians still did not know what these people thought or felt.
One way out of this dilemma was to turn to the records of legal courts, for here the voices of the nonelite can most often be heard, as witnesses, plaintiffs, and defendants. These documents have acted as “a point of entry into the mental world of the poor.” Historians such as Le Roy Ladurie have used the documents to extract case histories, which have illuminated the attitudes of different social groups (these attitudes include, but are not confined to, attitudes toward crime and the law) and have revealed how the authorities administered justice. It has been societies that have had a developed police system and practiced Roman law (Roman law: n.???the legal system of the ancient Romans that includes written and unwritten law, is based on the traditional law and the legislation of the city of Rome, and in form comprises legislation of the assemblies, resolves of the senate, enactments of the emperors, edicts of the praetors, writings of the jurisconsults, and the codes of the later emperors), with its written depositions, whose court records have yielded the most data to historians. In Anglo-Saxon countries hardly any of these benefits obtain, but it has still been possible to glean information from the study of legal documents.
The extraction of case histories is not, however, the only use to which court records may be put. Historians who study preindustrial Europe have used the records to establish a series of categories of crime and to quantify indictments that were issued over a given number of years. This use of the records does yield some information about the nonelite, but this information gives us little insight into the mental lives of the nonelite. We also know that the number of indictments in preindustrial Europe bears little relation to the number of actual criminal acts, and we strongly suspect that the relationship has varied widely over time. In addition, aggregate population estimates are very shaky, which makes it difficult for historians to compare rates of crime per thousand in one decade of the preindustrial period with rates in another decade. Given these inadequacies, it is clear why the case history use of court records is to be preferred.
21. The author suggests that, before the early 1950’s, most historians who studied preindustrial Europe did which of the following?
(A) Failed to make distinctions among members of the preindustrial European political and social elite.
(B) Used investigatory methods that were almost exclusively statistical in nature.
(C) Inaccurately estimated the influence of the preindustrial European political and social elite.
(D) Confined their work to a narrow range of the preindustrial European population.?D?
(E) Tended to rely heavily on birth, marriage, and death records.
22. According to the passage, the case histories extracted by historians have
(A) scarcely illuminated the attitudes of the political and social elite
(B) indicated the manner in which those in power apportioned justice
(C) focused almost entirely on the thoughts and feelings of different social groups toward crime and the law
(D) been considered the first kind of historical writing that utilized the records of legal courts?B?
(E) been based for the most part on the trial testimony of police and other legal authorities
23. It can be inferred from the passage that much of the early work by historians on the European nonelite of the preindustrial period might have been more illuminating if these historians had
(A) used different methods of statistical analysis to investigate the nonelite
(B) been more successful in identifying the attitudes of civil authorities, especially those who administered justice, toward the nonelite
(C) been able to draw on more accounts, written by contemporaries of the nonelite, that described what this nonelite thought
(D) relied more heavily on the personal records left by members of the European political and social elite who lived during the period in question?C?
(E) been more willing to base their research on the birth, marriage, and death records of the nonelite
24. The author mentions Le Roy Ladurie (line 26) in order to
(A) give an example of a historian who has made one kind of use of court records
(B) cite a historian who has based case histories on the birth, marriage, and death records of the nonelite
(C) identify the author of the quotation cited in the previous sentence
(D) gain authoritative support for the view that the case history approach is the most fruitful approach to court records?A?
(E) point out the first historian to realize the value of court records in illuminating the beliefs and values of the nonelite
25. According to the passage, which of the following is true of indictments for crime in Europe in the preindustrial period?
(A) They have, in terms of their numbers, remained relatively constant over time.
(B) They give the historian important information about the mental lives of those indicted.
(C) They are not a particularly accurate indication of the extent of actual criminal activity.
(D) Their importance to historians of the nonelite has been generally overestimated.?C?
(E) Their problematic relationship to actual crime has not been acknowledged by most historians.
26. It can be inferred from the passage that a historian who wished to compare crime rates per thousand in a European city in one decade of the fifteenth century with crime rates in another decade of that century would probably be most aided by better information about which of the following?
(A) The causes of unrest in the city during the two decades
(B) The aggregate number of indictments in the city nearest to the city under investigation during the two decades
(C) The number of people who lived in the city during each of the decades under investigation
(D) The mental attitudes of criminals in the city, including their feelings about authority, during each of the decades under investigation?C?
(E) The possibilities for a member of the city’s nonelite to become a member of the political and social elite during the two decades
27. The passage would be most likely to appear as part of
(A) a book review summarizing the achievements of historians of the European aristocracy
(B) an essay describing trends in the practice of writing history
(C) a textbook on the application of statistical methods in the social sciences
(D) a report to the historical profession on the work of early-twentieth-century historians?B?
(E) an article urging the adoption of historical methods by the legal profession
ANSWERS
No. 6-1
SECTION A
B
A
B
A
D
A
E
B
C
D
E
SECTION B
B
B
A
E
B
D
D
A
D
E
E
No. 6-2
SECTION A
E
D
C
A
D
B
C
E
C
E
D
SECTION B
C
C
A
A
D
E
E
B
E
C
D
No. 6-3
SECTION A
C
C
A
C
E
C
A
C
A
D
A
SECTION B
B
E
D
A
D
B
C
A
C
C