For this Inference EXCEPT question, examine each answer choice in light of the passage. The fourth sentence points out that Orwell reviewed “the seminal works of his time,” which would be the books written by his contemporaries. The author would thus agree with the statement in (A), so it can be eliminated. The last two sentences show that Orwell’s negative review of Wells’ final work led to the end of their friendship, so (B) is out. The final sentence shows that the pessimistic view of the future in Wells’ work is similar to that presented in Orwell’s 1984. The author would also agree with the statement in (C), so eliminate it as well. While the passage highlights Orwell’s work as a reviewer, it states that he had a “prolific career as both a book reviewer and author.” There is no evidence in the passage to support the idea that Orwell’s work as a reviewer outweighed his work as an author. The author of the passage would not agree with this statement, so (D) is correct. The fourth sentence eliminates (E). The phrase “unrivaled in his keen insight into the core arguments of the seminal works of his time” is another way to say that Orwell was skilled at dissecting the key ideas presented in the work of other authors.
All-that-apply questions require consideration of each of the answer choices separately. In (A), objective criticism does describe Orwell’s approach, but the second part of the statement—that the criticism was tempered by mutual admiration—is proved false by Orwell’s negative review of his friend Wells’ work and the subsequent end of their friendship. Eliminate (A). The “invective-laden diatribe” in (B) is an unnecessarily extreme reference to Orwell’s review of Wells’ book. While it may be true that Orwell felt some competitive rivalry with his contemporaries, there is no evidence for this idea in the passage. Eliminate (B). The passage mentions both Orwell’s “unrivaled keen insight” and the fact that he did not allow his friendship with Wells to affect the review that he wrote. Therefore, there is support in the passage for both parts of statement (C), making this choice the only correct answer.
This question asks for an accurate description of the effects of Orwell’s review of Mind at the End of Its Tether. The last two sentences of the passage talk about how the review ended Orwell and Wells’ friendship and the irony of Orwell’s negative review of the book given its similarities to his own novel, 1984. (B) is correct because it picks up on the fact that Orwell’s negative review of Mind at the End of Its Tether addressed themes also found in 1984. (A) is incorrect because sales of Mind at the End of Its Tether are not mentioned in the passage. (C), (D), and (E) all use extreme language—“irrelevant,” “singular,” and “pinnacle”—that is not supported in the passage.
Though he is widely regarded within philosophical circles as one of the preeminent luminaries, along with Husserl, in the modern development of ontology, certain scholars and thinkers militate against the value of his thought in its entirety.
The sentence you’re looking for is one that sums up how the intellectual community, as a whole, views Heidegger. This means the sentence should encompass all parties, both those that are receptive to him and those that view him negatively. The second sentence, “His contributions to Continental philosophy in works such as Sein und Zeit have been read, in some circles, through the critical lens of his affiliation with National Socialism in Nazi Germany during the Second World War,” may be tempting, but this is telling you the way in which his work has been interpreted, not the reactions or attitudes of the academic community. It also doesn’t mention any “competing” feelings toward his work. The last sentence provides justification for why certain scholars view him as they do, but it does not account for the other schools of thought. The next-to-last sentence, “Though he is widely regarded within philosophical circles as one of the preeminent luminaries, along with Husserl, in the modern development of ontology, certain scholars and thinkers militate against the value of his thought in its entirety,” sums up the complete range of reaction to Heidegger across the academic community.
Choice (A) is incorrect. The author nowhere explicitly states or implies that anyone has a positive reaction to Heidegger’s political views. She only intimates that scholars working in the study of philosophy have been influenced by his work in that field. Choice (B) is correct because the author states that Heidegger’s work, even in philosophy, has been viewed through this “critical lens.” Answer choice (C) is also correct. The author cites philosophers, such as Sartre, who have reacted positively to Heidegger’s philosophy and asserts that those who view him negatively do so because they cannot abide absolving him of guilt for his support of the Nazis.
This question asks you to engage the text at a deep level and to infer what the author is suggesting. It is important to pay close attention to the author’s tone. The passage’s Main Idea is the evaluation of a thinker’s body of work by academic scholars in different fields. The author points out both Heidegger’s tremendous accomplishments in the field of philosophy and his less-than-admirable involvement with the Nazi party. Choice (B) is dealt with nowhere in the passage. Choice (E) goes beyond the scope of the passage. Choice (A) is incorrect, because the author emphasizes Heidegger’s influence on philosophers like Sartre and makes certain to point out that it is in “their eyes” that Heidegger is so viewed, not the author’s own. Choice (D) is incorrect because it is the opposite of what the author implies. Choice (C) is the correct answer because, in the last sentence of the passage, the author stresses that it is only Heidegger’s contributions to philosophy that are being considered, not his political views. The author seems to be suggesting that the two can be judged apart from one another.
In the first paragraph, the author states that color is not only a function of wavelength, and then the key word “However” signals what color actually is: “not merely” a physical property “but rather” the product of an interaction among the object’s properties (specifically, how it reflects light), the light itself, and the human observer. The rest of the passage elaborates on this interaction of the physical properties of light and the perception of light. Answer choice (B) states this idea and is correct.
Choice (A) is extreme because of the words “primarily” in the first part and “not relevant” in the second part; in the last sentence of paragraph 1, the author says the study of color is appropriate for both psychology and physics. The word “immutable” in choice (C) means “unchanging” and thus directly contradicts the Main Idea of the passage, which is that color is a construct of multiple factors and these factors can vary for any given object. Choice (D) might be inferred from the passage, but this is not the main point of the passage, which is about the nature of color and not about people’s reactions to color. Choice (E) is extreme due to the word “meaningless.” Although objects may appear different colors to different people under different conditions, and one can never be sure what another person means by the word red, the author never says it is without meaning to, for example, describe an apple as red.
To prepare to answer this Inference question, review the points the author has made in the passage. The correct answer must be true given what the author has said. In paragraph 3, the author states that the color of an object changes depending on nearby colors. Therefore, answer choice (A) is supported.
Choice (B) misuses the detail that blue is not the favorite color of most Chinese. This does not mean that no Chinese person would like an electric blue sofa—after all, most people own objects of many colors, including colors that are not their favorite—and some Chinese people may prefer blue. Choice (C) is not supported. Using low-saturation or grayish tones next to each other can result in colors looking different than they would in isolation or next to other colors, but it does not result in different people perceiving the colors differently. Choice (D) is a distortion. The passage states that an item of an intermediate color that is placed near a color-wheel-adjacent primary color, such as orange placed near red, will look more like the primary color on the other side of it (orange next to red will look more yellow). Nothing suggests this effect is undesirable, so choice (D)’s “should not” is unsupported. Also, the passage only discusses the interaction of intermediate and primary colors that are next to each other on the color wheel, but this answer choice refers to any intermediate color being placed next to red. Finally, although one artist, Josef Albers, worked with color in this way, the passage does not suggest that artists in general “often” do this, and choice (E) is incorrect.
“According to the passage” signals a Detail question. Research each answer choice to determine whether it matches an idea stated in the passage. Choice (A) is stated in paragraph 3, as shown by the example of gray-blue looking either gray-purple or gray-green when placed against a background of the other color. Answer choice (B) is a 180, or the opposite of what is true. An intermediate color placed next to a component primary color will look more like the other component primary color, thus contrasting more sharply. Choice (C) is incorrect. According to paragraph 2, children may interpret colors differently than do adults because children lack experience interpreting color under different lighting conditions, but this has nothing to do with intermediate or low-saturation colors.
“In order to” signals a Logic question. It is asking why the author included Albers in the passage. Review your Passage Map. It should note that the author’s overall purpose is to explain why color is as much psychological construct as physical property. Then the Main Idea of paragraph 3, where Albers is mentioned, is that people see color differently depending on context. Thus, paragraph 3 is about a particular aspect of how color is a psychological construct. The author must mention Albers to support this idea, and answer choice (E) correctly states this.
The author is not making an argument about artists, so (A) is out. Choice (B) is incorrect because the author says in paragraph 1 that color does result in part from the physical properties of light and can properly be studied by physicists; the author does not mention Albers to say that color is solely a nonscientific phenomenon. (C) uses an idea from paragraph 2; this is not the point being made in paragraph 3. (D) states a comparison between different types of shapes that the passage never makes.