Once you have checked your answers, remember to return to this page and respond to the Reflect questions.
1. C
The stated text notes the existence of “a singularly beautiful chain of being” as well as a “scale of organization.” This would suggest some type of systematic ordering of nature. While immense variety, (A), and the coexistence of humans and animals, (B), are present in nature, neither is the primary point of these lines. The text does mention a “the contemplative mind” but does not indicate that contemplation is the only way to understand organic life, (E). Choice (C) is correct.
2. B
First be sure to note the negative in the question, which states “nothing in nature.” The key word in the correct answer is separate. Throughout the text, you can find many references to a web of connections that exists between the many disparate parts of nature—“the most perfect order” (paragraph 1), a “uniformity” and “a continuity in the series” (paragraph 3), “a singularly beautiful chain of being” (paragraph 4), “the perfection of organization” (paragraph 6), and others. None of the other answer choices reflect this idea nearly as well. Choice (B) is correct.
3. E
The second paragraph is a single sentence that divides all matter into three categories. There follows a description of each, followed by another short paragraph—the seventh—that notes that we can bend ourselves to the study of the more simple conditions. The author then pulls back into an extremely abstract look at life at the atomic level. There is no empirical data or personal experience presented in the passage, so eliminate (A) and (B). Likewise, there is nothing ironic about the passage, so eliminate (C). Choice (D) is a trap answer because it mentions the number three. However, the three things mentioned in the second paragraphs are categories, not groupings of evidence. Choice (E) is correct.
4. A
The sixth paragraph begins with The naturalist searches the earth, the waters, and the air, for their living things. This is obviously a naturalist’s purpose, or task. The seventh paragraph, meanwhile, states that it is with some difficulty we can bend ourselves to the study of the more simple conditions in which it exists. This is a little tough to interpret, but reading the next paragraphs should at least demonstrate that the three categories of matter are no longer being discussed. The topic has changed. Choice (B) should be eliminated because it the variety of living things is discussed, but not the difficulty of categorizing that variety; the mention of difficulty actually occurs in the seventh paragraph. Eliminate (C) because the passage of time is out of scope. Eliminate (D) because the seventh paragraph never mentions the discovery of perfection. Eliminate (E) because it is entirely out of scope. Choice (A) is correct.
5. C
Context is key here. The sentence reads Through the entire series, from the Polype to the higher order of animals…This implies that the Polype are a lower order of animals, since the author is moving through a series, from low to high. Choice (D) is a trap for anybody who recognizes Polype as a Greek goddess; though it mentions both the underworld and the word Greek, it is severely off topic. Choice (C) is correct.
6. C
A periodic sentence is defined as a sentence that is not grammatically complete before the final clause. In other words, it gets to the point not at the beginning, but at the end. It tends to be quite long, because it’s stuffed with many dependent clauses and phrases before finally arriving at the independent clause. You can’t conclude very much on inference questions; all we really know is that anybody who uses complex sentences probably has complex thoughts. No other inferences are safer than that. After all, it’s possible to achieve complex thought without a high educational level, so eliminate (A). Intellectual validity is a vague concept—who grants it? do you need a license?—so eliminate (B). Also, we don’t know the needs of the average reader in the nineteenth century, and whatever those needs may have been, they’re outside the scope of the question, so eliminate (D). Choice (C) is correct.
7. E
In (E), the author describes the way that an alchemist…dissipates a metal in vapour, then notes that it remains a metal, and the same metal still. This describes the tendency of matter to retain its original identity. It does not relate to the interconnectedness of things mentioned in the question, which the other four answers do. Choice (E) is correct.
8. D
The first sentence notes the feelings of religious admiration that we experience when we look at nature. Likewise, the third paragraph discusses the mystery of life, a pervading spiritual essence, and an Infinite mind. This indicates a mystical outlook. While there is a case to be made for methodical, (E), note the title of the book: The Poetry of Science. Choice (D) is correct.
9. D
This one is a little tricky, because it refers to each one, at the beginning of that independent clause. However, each one isn’t an answer choice, so find the antecedent. Each one refers to every atom at the beginning of the sentence. At the very least, recognize that it is singular, so immediately POE (A) and (B), since they’re plural nouns. Choice (D) is correct.
10. B
The single sentence that forms the seventh paragraph signals an end to the categorizing of the three classes of matter discussed in the sixth paragraph. At the same time, it signals a switch to a more abstract topic—namely, the more simple conditions in which matter exists, namely a laughably antiquated discussion of atomic theory, one that includes alchemy, in the eighth paragraph. (Hey, it was 1848.) There are no compliments being paid, so eliminate (E). Eliminate (D) because the author is describing the conditions in which the conditions of the previous paragraph occur, which is not amplification. The syntactic structure of so…that…doesn’t indicate a redefinition, so eliminate (C). While the paragraph is definitely ambiguous, there is no single concept being addressed, and certainly not being explained. So eliminate (A). Choice (B) is correct.
11. D
Between the dashes the author makes a list of four different types of plants: confervae (algae), lichen, and lordly oak or towering palm. The first two are small; the last two are large, made even bigger by their accompanying adjectives. Therefore, the purpose of this list of words is to illustrate the scale of plants in the natural world. The other answers have all been misinterpreted to varying degrees, or are out of scope.
12. A
The text discusses a symmetrical arrangement, a systematic aggregation, and powers of a strangely complicated kind. These phrases point towards (A), an innate sense of order underlying all of creation. Choice (B) is a trap; while the passage does note that science with all its refinements has not detected the agencies that order the universe, the passage does not state that those agencies are undetectable. Likewise, though the paragraph does discuss minerals, it is never implied that living things become mineralized, so eliminate (C). No chaos is ever mentioned or suggested, nor is a watchful overspirit; eliminate (D). Eliminate (E) because it’s a lovely word salad; also, the adjective decelerating contradicts the phrase unceasingly at work, which is found at the end of the paragraph
13. C
The word gravity, found in the question, is a synonym of important—and that word is used not once, but twice in the same paragraph. Doing things in an ethical and timely manner is irrelevant to gravity to the gravity of the situation, so eliminate (A). So are a multidisciplinary approach and controlled substances, so eliminate (B) and (D). While bereavement is another word for grieving, it is not a direct synonym for gravity, not in the way that important is, so eliminate (E). Choice (C) is correct.
14. D
The second and third paragraphs contain mostly statistics and statements of fact about the medical examiner’s process of responding to deaths. There is little else offered except facts, not even conclusions. On the whole, this is what might be called “dry” reading. It’s also close to logos, or logical reasoning, which Aristotle ranked as the least effective appeal out of the main trio of ethos, pathos, and logos. Choice (D) is correct.
15. B
This passage is fairly simple in its aim: The authors describe for the reader how the medical examiner’s office goes about investigating deaths in San Diego County. In that sense, there is no argument being made here—it’s a simple description of a process, using fair amount of detail. There is no analysis of efficiency or objections, and no summaries of tasks offered, so eliminate (A), (C), and (D). While compassion is mentioned in the final paragraph, it’s not the purpose of the entire passage, so eliminate (E). Choice (B) is correct.
16. A
The passive tense is used primarily by people who want to evade responsibility, since the subject is rendered invisible. Therefore, this voice is irresistible to workers who want to hide behind the curtain of government bureaucracy, particularly when they’ve done something wrong. For example, saying mistakes were made is vastly preferable to saying I made a mistake. Fun fact: Stephen King boasted in his book On Writing that he’s never used a single passive verb in any of his books. Choice (A) is correct.
17. D
Process analysis is the mode of this essay. The authors are describing the medical examiners’ office’s process of investigating deaths at home. There is simply no narration, (A), definition of terminology (B), analogies of any kind (C), or comparison and contrast (E). Choice (D) is correct.
18. E
The tone of this piece is structured, disciplined, cautious, and quantitative. Answer choices with words such as methodical, structured, systematic, investigative, comprehensive, and accurately all reflect that tone. However, the tone is unemotional and detached, which rules out helping ease the difficulties. Choice (E) is correct.
19. B
Most of this passage strikes a serious, patient tone, which is appropriate given that it was written by and about a group of professional investigators. However, the final paragraph changes that tone. The authors remind us that these investigators have caring attitudes and compassion. These are the first emotional words used in the entire passage. While nostalgic, (E), is an emotional word, it refers to a yearning for the past, which is off-topic. Choice (B) is correct.
20. B
Infer and imply questions are touchy, and the best answers are the safest, smallest conclusions that can be drawn from the paragraph. In this case, the safest conclusion is that medications sometimes play a role in deaths that occur at home. Choice (A) is true, but because it was stated in the passage, it cannot be inferred. There is no evidence in the passage to support (C), (D), or (E). Choice (B) is correct.
21. C
Ethos is a rhetorical appeal using the speaker’s ethical character. It is noted by Aristotle as being the most effective of the trio of rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos. In this case, the authors’ testimony to the positive characteristics of the investigators is a rather obvious instance of ethos. Choice (C) is correct.
22. B
The investigators are not serving as literal eyes and ears of the medical examiner; that person presumably has a pair of eyes and ears of his or her own. Therefore, their service as the eyes and ears of the medical examiner must be metaphorical. The trap answer, (E), can be eliminated because there is no analogy being drawn. Instead, it’s a piece of figurative language. Choice (B) is correct.
23. C
A denotation is a first definition of a word. A connotation is a secondary or tertiary definition of a word, often something more obscure that not everybody can grasp. However, the purpose of this report is not to obscure meaning—its purpose is to be quite clear and transparent. The words used in this passage do not carry secondary meanings; they are clear and unmistakable denotations, as befits a report by and about scientific investigators. Eliminate (A) because the 5th paragraph is full of deductive reasoning; eliminate (B) because the 2nd and the 3rd paragraphs are filled with statistics, e.g. quantifiable evidence. Terms such as decedent and bereavement and inappropriate indicate formal syntax, so eliminate (D). The use of semi-colons and many complex and compound-complex sentence structure means that (E) should be eliminated. Choice (C) is correct.
24. C
Only choice (C) contains both sensory language—Yellow plantains, red coffee beans, tall green wax palms, clear waterfalls tumbling from misty mountains—and a contrast with the violence of city life. Some choices, such as (A) and (D), contain sensory language but no contrast. Other choices, such as (B) and (E), contrast with the following sentences but do not contain sensory language. The answer is (C).
25. A
Watch for referent words such as this and such—these words often provide the linguistic hook to an idea expressed in a previous sentence. In this case, this refers to an unfair reputation for violence described in sentence 1. Therefore, the best placement of sentence should be immediately following sentence 1, or Before sentence 2, which is (A).
26. E
Because the paragraph illustrates with numbers the same ideas found in the previous paragraph, select a transition sentence that simply eases us from anecdotal to statistical evidence. Choice (A) features the pronoun you—among other problems—so eliminate it. Choice (B) is tempting, but the point of the paragraph is not to highlight the incomplete nature of the evidence, so eliminate that too. Choice (C) alludes to a false equivalence, and (D) is a quote from Mark Twain. Eliminate both. The answer is (E).
27. E
Consider sentence 13, the following sentence, when making your decision: Other cities of the United States have suffered similarly unfair derogation. This indicates that the previous sentence, sentence 12, should describe some type of criticism of U.S. cities. The current sentence discusses the city of Cali, Colombia. Because of that, either moving or deleting sentence 13 would work best. Unfortunately, however, because the entire paragraph is structured as a compare-and-contrast between Medellín and Chicago, there is little thematic room for information about a third city. The sentence should be deleted, so the answer is (E).
28. D
Read the question carefully; it asks for an answer choice that reflects Detroit’s historical success and subsequent decline. Choice (D) mentions Detroit’s former status as the fourth-largest city in the nation (historical success) as well as the fact that its population has dropped by almost seventy percent (subsequent decline). The other choices are missing one or both of these requirements.
29. B
Sentences 15 and 16 describes the rise of theft, which is a nonviolent crime. Therefore, the inserted sentence needs to pivot away from violent crime—the focus of the previous paragraphs—to nonviolent crime. Choice (B) does this directly and succinctly, while the other answer choices all compare violent and nonviolent crime.
30. A
Only choice (A) accurately depicts the idea that public rehabilitation of cities’ images is growing across the world. Choice (E) does have a global scope but refers to the nonexistence of this phenomenon; eliminate it. Choice (D) implies that this phenomenon is more important in Western cities than globally, which is a misinterpretation of the question stem; eliminate it as well. And while (C) does display an appropriate discussion of the increasingly global nature of something, that something is the wrong topic, social networking, so eliminate this too. Choice (B) is out of scope. The answer is (A).
31. E
The problem with the underlined portion is that they has an unclear antecedent, since no plural noun exists in the prior sentence. Eliminate (A) and (B). Starting any sentence with There is, while not incorrect, is by nature weaker than using a concrete noun as the subject, so eliminate (C). Lastly, using a dash to introduce an explanation is certainly allowed by the rules of formal English, as long as the word before the dash is not a verb. Since the word before the dash is say, eliminate (D). The answer is (E).
32. E
In the original sentence, there are three terms that contribute to an informal tone—huge, irrevocably, and whole mess. The correct answer will change all three of those, so eliminate (A). Choice (B) keeps the word irrevocably, which is a word of exaggeration and should be removed; eliminate (B). Choice (C) changes irrevocably to immensely, which is equally informal; eliminate it. Choice (D) successfully changes or deletes all three terms, but the new phrase quite a bit is still informal. Furthermore, (D) uses an extra pronoun, it, which should be avoided if possible; eliminate (D). Choice (E) eliminates all three terms, changes one of them to rapid rise, and then inserts the formal phrase as a viable career option. The answer is (E).
33. D
Ask yourself what could’ve resulted in a garage filled with stacks of unsold titles that were sure to be pulped. It isn’t normal to begin an essay with a discussion of a result without first mentioning the cause, so eliminate (A). Likewise, these unsold titles could be related the huge explosion of self-publishing, but there is no specific evidence of that; eliminate (B). Choice (C) may look a bit more promising, but placing the sentence here separates the stigma of self-published books from the reason for the stigma. However, once sentence 3 discusses how the self-published author pays for the production of the books, it is then safe to discuss a logical outcome of that—the possibility that he or she may not be able to sell them. Choice (D) is correct.
34. C
Since the questions asks about the main idea of the passage, it might be a good idea to save it for last. In the remainder of the passage, the writer clearly views self-publishing as tremendous gift for writers. Therefore, this sentence should reflect that same point-of-view. Only (C) uses language of that type—the long overdue transformation, and especially in favor of the writer. The other answer choices are not necessarily incorrect, either in fact or in bias, but none of them reflect the writer-centric quality of the new publishing landscape that Amazon created.
35. B
Remember that the question is asking for convincing evidence that Amazon democratized book publishing. This is not the same as providing evidence that traditional publishing is suffering. Proving an opposing argument wrong is not the same as proving your argument to be right. Choices (C), (D), and (E), while offering decent evidence of decline in traditional publishing, don’t directly support the notion that Amazon democratized book publishing. (They do indirectly imply the idea, however.) Eliminate all three. Only (B) provides specific evidence to support this claim.
36. A
The original sentence discusses opposing ideas—fast success v. slow success—so the correct answer will feature connective words that show contrast. For this reason, eliminate (B), (C), and (D), since and, furthermore, and so are all transition words showing continuity. Of the remaining answers, (E) does use a contrasting transition word, whereas, but unfortunately it should be preceded by a comma, not a colon. (Same rule as for the word while.) Choice (A) is correct.
37. B
The main idea of the paragraph is that a torrent of self-published titles made their way into the book marketplace. Choice (A) is a humorous aside that doesn’t support the main idea, since some of these independently published books were in fact made of paper; eliminate it. Choice (C) can be eliminated because it gives no new information about the long-tail theory, only the briefest of mentions, even though that concept would be germane here. Choice (D) supports the opposite idea of the paragraph, and (E) is unrelated to the main idea of the paragraph, so eliminate both. The answer is (B).
38. E
Read the following sentences. Sentence 12 discusses the added business responsibilities that self-published authors must shoulder, while sentence 13 discusses the possible financial windfall that comes to self-published authors as a result of making seventy percent of list price (instead of a paltry fourteen percent). The sentence that addresses both of those ideas, to an appropriate degree, and with different language, is (E). Choice (B) does address both of those ideas as well, but the word only is extreme and inaccurate, since the writer never states that only business-minded writers make profits. The other three answers are more general and fail to address either idea directly. The answer is (E).
39. D
Remember the two simplest options for transitions—ideas that move in the same direction, or ideas that move in opposite directions. These two sentences are set in opposition to one another. Therefore, eliminate any answer choice that uses transition words indicating continuity of thought. Since (A) and (C) use for and and, eliminate both. Likewise, a dash and a colon are typically used to express continuity of expression, so eliminate (B) and (E). To show contrast, do not rely on implied or vague contrast; select answers with clear and explicit contrast words such as but, yet, while, though, and however. The answer is (D).
40. D
Keep in mind conciseness and clarity: the correct answer must create both. The original sentence is neither concise nor clear and can be eliminated. Choice (B) is concise, but it vaguely implies that electronic books will be read on mobile phones in the future, when in fact that is already happening. Eliminate (B). Choice (C) attempts to clarify the sentence by creating parallelism using 1, 2, and 3 structure, but unfortunately the third item—mobile phones—aren’t consumed in the same way that the first two items are. Eliminate (C). Conciseness is the problem with (E); this answer uses the carried around in our pockets phrase, which is redundant, since mobile phones are typically carried around in pockets. Eliminate (E). The answer is (D).
41. D
Sentence 1 states that nobody really knows what [a driverless car] should look like. Therefore, a better explanation of what that entails would naturally follow, which (D) provides—and carries even more weight when coming from the mouth of an expert. Choice (A) would support the idea of constant innovation, which is the opposite of what’s implied, so eliminate it. Choices (B) and (E) are outside the scope of driverless cars, so eliminate them. Choice (C) is the trap answer, because while it’s close to being on topic, there is no need to understand why certain designs were rejected without knowing what aspects of driverless automobile design need to be changed to begin with. The answer is (D).
42. C
This is a straightforward transition question. Recently tells us that something is a new development, and however indicates that there’s a contrast with the idea in the previous paragraph. No other answer describes anything new. The answer is (C).
43. E
Because the paragraph discusses many other aspects of transportation that affect consumer behavior—such as generational changes and ride-sharing apps—the topic sentence should mention a number of other factors, which (E) does. The additional phrase particularly generational ones sets up sentence 5 perfectly. The other answers do address generational issues in car ownership, such as (A), (B), and (C), but they’ve all slightly misinterpreted the meaning of the paragraph. The answer is (E).
44. B
The sentence is supposed to transmit the danger of excessive reliance upon auto companies. Choice (B) illustrates the way that Mercedes pulled the rug out from beneath its users by closing all of its North American operations, leaving many without a method of getting to work. Mercedes’ failure to expand the program to Asia doesn’t indicate any lack of reliability, so eliminate (C). Choice (D) discusses affordability, which is not the purpose of the question; eliminate it. Choice (E) swaps a discussion of the Mercedes rental program for a discussion of ride-sharing programs such as Lyft and Uber, so eliminate that too. The answer is (B).
45. E
The reference to these rapidly multiplying urban transportation options implies that the previous sentences would feature discussions of those options. Since most of the paragraph concerns those options, this sentence is best placed at or near the end; eliminate (A), (B), and (C). Since sentence 9 is a discussion of yet another transportation option, any summary of those options should follow it, not precede it; eliminate (D). The answer is (E).
