Mary’s former classmates were taken aback by her ________ behavior at the reunion for, during her school years, she was frequently reprimanded for creating disturbances with her exuberant outbursts and playful antics.
Hindsight often has the effect of changing the collective perception of certain historical events. Some incidents seem to be of exceptional importance when they first occur, but they ultimately prove to have few (i) ________ for future generations. Others appear to be rather (ii) ________ to contemporaries, and it is only later that their true significance is understood.
|
|
Who among us isn’t guilty of mistaking a polite rhetorical question such as a (i) “How are you?” for a genuine inquiry and responding with (ii) description of the minutiae of our day?
|
|
Though she was typically able to (i) the energy required to deal with such an unruly group of students, the exhausted vice principal found herself unable to (ii) the (iii) kindergartners.
|
|
|
(i) mushrooms are popular in many cuisines, it is (ii) to eat those found in the wild, as many frequently found mushrooms resemble edible mushrooms but are, in fact, (iii) .
|
|
|
Though the poet’s work was praised highly by critics, sales of his anthologies were (i) ; it is possible the poor sales were due to his language being too (ii) to be readily understood.
|
|
Question 7 is based on the passage below.
Computer programs exist that attempt to generate random numbers, but no such program can fully replicate a truly random selection. Computer programs are, by definition, a set of instructions that use an input to generate an output. If both the input and the algorithm are known, the result is fully predictable. Even the best random number generation programs can only be called pseudo-random because the input itself is generated by the program. As a result, a pattern will emerge within the results, even if the program is sophisticated enough to make the pattern very complicated, and that pattern can be used to predict future results. True random number generation often depends on measurement of an unpredictable physical phenomenon, such as weather patterns or atmospheric radiation, and using that measurement as an input to generate a result.
The passage provides information sufficient to infer each of the following statements EXCEPT:
Questions 8–10 are based on the passage below.
Toward the end of the 19th century, many scientists thought that all the great scientific discoveries had already been made and that there was not much left to do beyond some “tidying up.” Max Planck, born in 1858, turned this notion upside down with his study of black-body radiation. Even in a vacuum, a hot body will tend to come to thermal equilibrium with a colder body by radiative heat transfer. This is the principle by which we derive energy from the sun. However, measurement of black-body radiation frequencies across a range of temperatures resulted in a parabolic curve, which theory in Planck’s time could not explain. After many years of work devoted to this problem, Planck succeeded in quantitatively explaining the experimental data; his key insight was that energy comes in small, discrete packets, called quanta. His theory was the birth of what is called quantum mechanics, the revolutionary theory of matter that is fundamental to the modern understanding of physics, chemistry, and molecular biology.
Select the sentence that best describes the importance of Max Planck’s work to modern science, as described in the passage.
Which of the following would best paraphrase the opening sentence?
Which of the following best describes the relationship between the highlighted portions of the passage?
For the following questions, select the two answer choices that, when inserted into the sentence, fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and yield complete sentences that are similar in meaning.
After naturally occurring smallpox was eradicated, the World Health Organization chose to the remaining samples of the virus in hopes that they might be later used in developing the means to combat other viruses.
The Magna Carta was one of the most political declarations of the Middle Ages because it declared the monarch’s powers to be limited by the law; although its practical effects were not immediate, it is commonly seen as the genesis of constitutional law in England.
Though filled the streets, people seemed unconcerned with the appearance of their city.
G. K. Chesterton’s sense of humor is exemplified in his often responses to his friend and rival George Bernard Shaw.
Each passage in this group is followed by questions based on its content. After reading a passage, choose the best answer(s) to each question. Answer all questions following a passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage.
Questions 15–18 are based on the passage below.
There is an anthropological theory that states that societies may be divided into one of two broad categories by their cultural motivators: shame or guilt. In a shame-based society, the ethical motivations are primarily external; one’s behavior is governed based on potential effects on the social group (such as dishonoring one’s family). By contrast, guilt-based societies rely more heavily on internal motivations; one’s behavior is governed based on a set of internal guidelines. There is no society where one or the other is entirely absent, but the distinction lies in that, based on the accepted values of the society, one will come to be dominant over the other. It would seem that early Medieval Europe was primarily a shame-based society; indeed, the forms of shame-based motivators in courtly society were extremely highly developed, with express social laws governing various behaviors. This sort of shame may be seen to be divided into many forms, such as positive and negative shame; that is, prospective and retrospective (knowledge of the honor one will accrue or the shame one will avoid through future actions, and humiliation or other punishment after something harmful has been done, respectively), ethical and nonethical (dealing with higher, such as theological and abstract, concepts, and quotidian matters, respectively), and so on. These social structures may also be found in the contemporary tales of the chivalric world. An example of such may be seen in the frequent plot device of the knight committing adultery with the wife of his lord. Adultery with the wife of one’s lord is a matter of treason and an explicit moral wrong, and yet the condemnation in these stories seems to focus on the perpetrator’s violation of social norms (treason) rather than moral standards (adultery).
Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the passage?
Select the sentence that describes the scope of the passage.
Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
What can we infer about a society that focuses primarily upon a moral code of right and wrong?
Based on the passage, a society that prizes the harmony of the social group would most likely be
Questions 19 and 20 are based on the passage below.
At the atomic scale, all matter exhibits properties commonly associated with both waves and particles. The classic experiment that demonstrates wavelike properties is the double-slit experiment, first performed by Thomas Young at the beginning of the 19th century. If a beam of light passes through two narrow slits and is projected onto a screen behind the slits, a pattern of light and dark fringes can be observed. The explanation for this is based on an analogy with ripples in water. If we drop two stones some distance apart, the ripples start to interfere with each other, sometimes amplifying when two crests or troughs meet, sometimes canceling when a crest meets a trough. A similar explanation holds for interference effects with visible light; the two slits act as independent sources in the same way as do the stones in water. This experiment provided convincing evidence in support of Christiaan Huygens’s wave theory of light, which eventually supplanted the older particle theory of Isaac Newton. However, in the 20th century, Einstein showed that Newton was not entirely wrong. His analysis of the photoelectric effect showed that light could behave as a particle as well as a wave. Surprisingly, electrons, which we tend to think of as particles, also demonstrate interference effects, showing that they too are waves as well as particles.
Which of the following best summarizes the findings of Young’s experiment, as described in the passage?
Based on the passage, what would we expect the light fringes in Young’s experiment to represent?