In this type of question, you must choose the one answer that is closest to the meaning of a sentence

that is highlighted in the passage or you may be asked to simplify the meaning of a long and complex
sentence.

Sentence Simplification questions always look the same. A single sentence in the passage is highlighted.
You are then asked:
• Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence?
Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

• Study the highlighted sentence carefully.

• Break the sentence down into meaningful parts by looking for punctuation and transition
expressions.

• If the highlighted sentence makes references to information outside of the highlighted sentence,
read the context around the highlighted sentence.

• Study the answer choices, and eliminate definitely wrong answers. The wrong answers may
either contradicts a detail in the highlighted sentence or omits something important from the
sentence.

• Choose the best answer from the remaining choices.

Example 1: The Great Red Spot

 One distinctive feature of the planet
Jupiter is the Great Red Spot, a massive
oval of swirling reddish-brown clouds.
Were Earth to be juxtaposed with the
Great Red Spot, our planet would be
dwarfed in comparison, with a
diameter less than half that of the
Great Red Spot. The Spot’s clouds, most
likely tinted red as a result of the
phosphorus that they contain, circulate
in a counterclockwise direction. The
outer winds require six Earth days to complete the circumference of the Great Red Spot, a length of
time indicative of the vastness of the Great Red Spot.

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in
the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential
information.

A. The density of the Great Red Spot is much higher than that of the Earth.

B. If the diameter of the Great Red Spot were doubled, it would equal that of the Earth.

C. By placing the Earth next to the Great Red Spot, one could see that the Earth has a much
smaller diameter.

D. Because the Earth is close to the Great Red Spot, Earth is influenced by its huge size.

This question asks about the essential meaning of a complex sentence. To answer this question, you
should break the complex sentence down into parts. The first part of the sentence says were Earth to
be juxtaposed with the Great Red Spot, which means by placing the Earth next to the Great Red Spot. The
next part of the sentence states that our planet would be dwarfed in comparison, with a diameter less
than half that of the Great Red Spot, which means that the Earth has a much smaller diameter. To answer
this question, you should click on the third answer.

Example 2: The Great Red Spot

One distinctive feature of the planet Jupiter is the Great Red Spot, a massive oval of swirling reddish-
brown clouds. Were Earth to be juxtaposed with the Great Red Spot, our planet would be dwarfed in
comparison, with a diameter less than half that of the Great Red Spot. The Spot’s clouds, most likely
tinted red as a result of the phosphorus that they contain, circulate in a counterclockwise direction.
The; outer winds require six Earth days to complete the circumference of the Great Red Spot, a
length of time indicative of the vastness of the Great Red Spot.

1. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted
sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out
essential information.
A. The Earth’s outer winds move a distance equal to the circumference of the Great Red Spot.

B. The outer winds of the Great Red Spot move more quickly than do those on Earth.
 C. The winds moving across the Great Red Spot finally change direction every six Earth days.

D. The fact that the winds take so long to move around the Great Red Spot proves how big
it is

This question asks about the essential information in the highlighted sentence. To answer this
question, you should break the highlighted sentence down into meaningful parts. The first part of
the highlighted sentence states that the outer winds require six Earth days to complete the
circumference of the Great Red Spot, which means that the winds take so long to move around the
Great Red Spot. The second part of the highlighted sentence states that this is a length of time
indicative of the vastness of the Great Red Spot, which means that this proves how big it is. To answer
this question, you should click on the last answer.

PRACTICE 1: Eye variation among different species

The human criterion for perfect vision is 20/20 for reading
the standard lines on a Snellen eye chart without a hitch. The score
is determined by how well you read lines of letters of different sizes
from around six meters away. But being able to read the bottom
line on the eye chart does not approximate perfection as far as
other species are concerned. Most birds would consider us very
visually handicapped. The hawk, for instance, has such sharp eyes that it can spot a dime on the sidewalk
while perched on top of the Empire State Building. It can make fine visual distinctions because it is
blessed with one million cones per square millimeter in its retina. And in water, humans are farsighted
while the kingfisher, swooping down to spear fish, can see well in both the air and water because it is
endowed with two foveae—areas of its eye, which consist mostly of cones that provide visual
distinctions. One fovea permits the bird, while in the air, to scan the water below with one eye at a time.
This is called monocular vision. Once it hits the water, the other fovea joins in, allowing the kingfisher
to focus both eyes, like binoculars, on its prey at the same time. A frog’s vision is distinguished by its
ability to perceive things as a constant motion picture. Known as bug detectors, a highly developed set
of cells in a frog’s eyes responds mainly to moving objects. So it is said that a frog sitting in a field of
dead bugs would not see them as food and would starve.
The bee has a compound eye, which is used for navigation. It has 15,000 facets that divide what it sees
into a pattern of dots, or mosaic. With this kind of vision, the bee sees the sun only as a single dot,
a constant point of reference. Thus, the eye is a superb navigational instrument that constantly
measures the angle of its line of flight in relation to the sun. A bee’s eye also gauges flight speed. And
if that is not enough to leave our 20/20 perfect vision paling in comparison, the bee is capable of seeing
something we cannot—ultraviolet light. Thus, what humans consider to be perfect vision is in fact rather
limited when we look at other species. However, there is still much to be said for the human eye. Of all
the mammals, only humans and some primates can enjoy the pleasures of color vision.

Question 1: Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the first highlighted
sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential
information.
 A. Other species might not consider perfect human eyesight to be ideal for them.
B. Some other animals can also read the eye chart, which means that they have perfect eyesight.
C. Other species are not particularly concerned about being able to read the bottom of an eye
chart.
D. Different species have different methods of determining perfect eyesight.

Question 2: Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the second
highlighted sentence?
A. One type of vision the bee has is to see the sun as a mere dot.
B. The bee constantly refers to the sun’s position even though it only appears as a small dot.
C. A small dot is all those bees need to determine their reference point.
D. The bee uses the sun as a reference point, which appears as a dot in its vision.

PRACTICE 2: Ecosystems
The word ecosystem is a mix of the words ecological and
system. Ecosystem refers to all the natural things and
processes that control the behavior of plants, animals, and
minerals in a certain part of nature. One example is the desert
ecosystem. It is usually hot and dry in the desert though it
can be very cold at night. Therefore, all of the plants, animals,
and other things have adapted to this environment. In other
words, there is a harmony in the desert ecosystem between
all things that live or exist there and the environment. There
is no limit as to how big or how small an ecosystem may be.
As long as the harmony is real, then there is an ecosystem.
Ecosystems have become an important issue in modern
politics and amongst environmental groups because
many of the world’s ecosystems are being destroyed. In recent years, the representatives of 175
countries—almost every country in the world—signed an international agreement called the
Convention on Biological Diversity. This convention says that nations and individuals should protect
ecosystems and natural living areas and try to maintain the populations of plants and animals that exist
in all ecosystems. This convention states that all parts of an ecosystem work together in harmony and
as a whole, so the ecosystem is like a unit or one body. If a part of a body is cut off or killed, then there
is a good chance that the whole body will die or will stop working properly. When any part of an
ecosystem is destroyed, it is likely that the ecosystem will be destroyed or will stop working properly.
It is important to learn about how the harmony or balance is maintained in an ecosystem. The
balance is maintained through many different interactions between the various parts of an ecosystem.
For example, when there are too many mosquitoes in a forest, then frogs eat a lot of them. Because
frogs eat a lot, they tend to be healthier, and thus they have more babies. But then there are too many
frogs, so other animals start to eat more frogs. And the cycle repeats itself over and over until there is
harmony in the ecosystem. There are some plants and animals that help one another to survive
more easily. Insects like termites break down dead trees and return nutrients to the soil. This makes
the soil richer, and plants can grow more easily in the soil. There are millions of things that happen to
maintain the balance or harmony in an ecosystem. But when one part of the ecosystem dies because
of what humans do to the environment, then there are terrible consequences for the ecosystem.
Question 1: Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the first highlighted
sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential
information.
A. Politicians are combining with environmental groups to help save the world’s ecosystems.
B. Since the world’s ecosystems are being destroyed, environmental groups are gaining more
importance in modern politics.
C. Both politicians and environmental groups are concerned with ecosystems since many of
them are being ruined.
D. The issue of the destruction of ecosystems is often debated by environmental groups in the
political arena.

Question 2: Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the second highlighted
sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential
information.
A. Without plants and animals, ecosystems could not survive.
B. Some animals and plants work together to ensure each other’s survival.
C. The presence of plants and animals makes survival easier.
D. Plants and animals always try to help the other survive more easily.

Practice 3: The intelligence of dolphins

Many scientists believe that dolphins are very intelligent creatures because dolphins have large
brains, show intelligent behavior, and are creative. All of these factors make dolphins very compelling
animals for scientists to study. Some scientists believe that by studying dolphins, they can learn how
humans became such intelligent animals.
Dolphins’ brains are quite large compared to other
animals. In fact, their brains are bigger than humans’ if you
consider their weight. However, if you look at the weight of the
brain compared to overall body size, then humans have slightly
larger brains. Compared to chimpanzees, which are also
considered intelligent animals and which many people believe
are related to humans, a bottle-nosed dolphin’s brain is four
times larger. One part of an animal’s brain, the cerebral
cortex, is 40% larger in dolphins than in humans. This is an
area of the brain that many scientists believe that much
complex thinking occurs.

The complex behavior of dolphins shows that they are very

intelligent. For example, they usually swim in small groups of
six to twelve individuals. Researchers believe that the dolphins
can recognize one another in their groups. Some scientists in
Scotland have shown that two or three dolphins often make
strong bonds with one another, similar to human’s making close friendships. In addition, dolphins work
together as a unit to help one another survive and live well. When a shark approaches, the dolphins
move together at the exact same time to avoid the threat. Some scientists even believe that they make
clicking sounds to warn one another. They seem to work well together and are always aware of their
surroundings, which people often are not.
Dolphins are also exceptional because of their creativity. An American scientist named Karen
Pryor performed an experiment on captive dolphins to learn how creative they are. The dolphins had
been taught tricks, but Pryor wanted to see if she could make them act creatively. For instance, if they
performed their tricks in an original way, they were rewarded with extra fish. When the dolphins
performed the same trick, they had done before, they were not rewarded. The dolphins learned after a
while that they would be rewarded for doing original tricks, so they started doing more and more
original and creative ones. Pryor measured the amount of time it took the dolphins to learn what was
wanted of them. Afterwards, she tried an experiment where people were taught simple tricks and then
were rewarded for doing the tricks originally. Interestingly, it took the humans about the same
amount of time as it took the dolphins to learn what was wanted of them.
Question 1: Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the first highlighted
sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential
information.
A. A dolphin’s cerebral cortex comprises 40% of its brain.
B. Humans have larger cerebral cortexes but smaller brains than dolphins.
C. 40% of dolphins have larger cerebral cortexes than humans.
D. A dolphin’s cerebral cortex is almost one and a half as large as a human’s.

Question 2: Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the second highlighted
sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential
information.
A. Humans learned in about the same amount of time what the dolphins wanted them to do.
B. It is interesting that both humans and dolphins spent a similar amount of time learning
certain tasks.
C. Dolphins were, interestingly enough, somewhat quicker than humans at learn
D. Humans took the same amount of time to accomplish the tasks as dolphins did.