dSAT Phase 2 Student Book

Mid-term Reading Exam

Q1 –

The petroglyphs of the Mojave Desert—rock

illustrations depicting both humans and
fauna, located in what is currently the
United States and date back 4,000-6,000
years—are regarded as ancient art in
contemporary times. However, the original
perception of these illustrations by the
people of that era remains ______. It's
conceivable they viewed these petroglyphs
similarly to how we perceive art today, yet
there's also a chance they did not—our
understanding here is simply speculative.

A) Incontrovertible
B) Obscure
C) Immutable
D) Oblivious

2–

It can be frustration to read Margaret

Fuller’s travel writing, as she produced
accounts of her travel that _____ conventions
of bourgeois travel narrative, often
capitulating to the most well-worn clichés of
the genre at precisely the moments when she
sought most energetically to cast them off in
favor of some new, more passionate mode of
discernment.

A. challenged
B. conformed to
C. established
D. validated

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3–

Convinced of the gravity of her poetry,

Voigt must have found the reviews of her
most recent collection _____ reading: one
amused reviewer thought that it was
unrecognizable as poetry but decidedly
diverting

A. tempting
B. depressing
C. thrilling
D. presumptuous

4–

The focus on documenting the everyday lives

of ordinary people, a characteristic of literary
realism, is highlighted in works like
'Middlemarch' by George Eliot, which
portrays the intricate societal dynamics in a
provincial town. Literary realism, in this
context, can be viewed as an attempt to _____
the extravagance and emotional intensity of
the romantic style, exemplified in novels such
as 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte,
which rather amplified the characters'
passions and idealized the natural world.

Which choice completes the text with the

most logical and precise word or phrase?

A) appreciate
B) corroborate
C) assuage
D) echo

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Q5 –

Charles Darwin's contributions to cataloging

animal species from diverse habitats were highly
esteemed for their scientific importance. His
foundational approach was pragmatic and
achieved significant outcomes, yet in the annals of
history, few achievements can _______ pioneering
solo ventures. For instance, Amelia Earhart's solo
transatlantic flight remains a milestone that
overshadows many other accomplishments.

A) fluctuate with
B) overreach by
C) constrain within
D) prevail over

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Q6 –

Several investigations indicate that mountain

yellow-legged frogs (MYLF) are less common in
regions with alkaline water, and those found in
such environments tend to be of smaller size.
Theories to explain this phenomenon have ranged
from the adverse impact of alkaline water on
juvenile MYLF, the ability of adult MYLF to detect
and avoid alkaline conditions, or the depletion of
MYLF prey in alkaline waters leading to smaller
MYLF populations. However, researchers observed
relatively high numbers of large MYLF in the
Serenity Creek region, despite its alkaline water
conditions. It's proposed that there could be
intraspecific variation in alkaline water tolerance
among MYLF, suggesting potential local
adaptation to alkaline conditions. This aligns with
previous findings of local adaptation among other
amphibian species to varying water pH levels.

The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. cite evidence that appears to contradict a widely

held assumption
B. present contrasting interpretations of a
particular research finding
C. explain how a particular environmental change
can produce diverse outcomes
D. note an unexpected finding and summarize new
possible explanation for it

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Q7 –

United State women won the vote in 1920 after decades

of campaigning. Yet, the impact on women’s status was
more limited than women’s rights activists had
anticipated. Women were granted suffrage at a historical
point when voting was no longer a significant political
activity for many Americans. In the mid-nineteenth
century, when women first sought suffrage rights, voter
turnout rates were unprecedentedly high, elections in
much of the country very competitive, and political
parties important. But when women finally received the
vote in 1920, electoral politics was largely
noncompetitive, with virtual one-party rule in many
areas, and voter turnout had slipped to its all-time low.
Nonetheless, the vote still mattered enough for women to
seek it and for conservatives to try to restrict its
availability.

What is the function of the underlined sentence?

A. account for long lag between the beginning of the

woman suffrage movement and the achievement of
voting rights for women
B. suggest that political parties had a larger role in
opposing woman suffrage than has sometimes been
acknowledged
C. confirm that the attaining of woman suffrage was
politically important in spite of a national devaluation of
voting
D. identify a reason that the granting of voting rights to
women had less political impact than women’s rights
activists hoped

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Q8 –

Text 1
The poet Audre Lorde once claimed that poetry is the most
inexpensive of art forms to practice. While people who
pursue other art forms-sculpture, architecture, long-form
prose-require large blocks of uninterrupted time as well as
money to complete their work, poets can write, as Lorde
said. “between shifts, in the hospital pantry, on the subway.
and on scraps of surplus paper”. So poets can make
worthwhile art even if they must earn their living in
another way.
Text 2
Any assessment of the state of contemporary poetry must
reckon with the professionalization of the field. While it is
possible in theory for anyone to publish in Virginia
Quarterly Review, Kenyon Review, or a similar major poetry
outlet, many people who do so have professional training in
poetry and extensive practice writing it, which requires
time not often available to those who must also work full-
time jobs. Thus, financial security indirectly affects which
people become poets.

Based on the texts, how would Lorde (Text 1) most likely

respond to the argument presented in Text 2?

A. By indicating that those poets who publish in major

poetry journals are most likely to be able to earn a living by
writing poetry
B. By pointing out that people can produce valuable poetry
in other circumstances than those described by the author
of Text 2
C. By suggesting that those artists who specialize in more
financially rewarding artistic forms are unlikely to also be
successful as poets
D. By asserting that people often work full-time jobs in
order to afford the professional training described in Text 2

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Q9 –

Text 1: The world has always been a large place,

but in some senses it has become much smaller
than it was. As recently as the late nineteenth
century, the great science fiction writer Jules Verne
wrote the then-unbelievable novel Around the
World in Eighty Days. Today we can physically
circumnavigate the world in one day and
electronically orbit the planet in just eight seconds.
A truly global outlook is feasible now because of
recent developments in transportation and
communications. People all over the world have
enthusiastically adopted these innovations to reach
out and touch others, both physically and
electronically, around the globe.

Text 2: Our world, seemingly global, is in reality a

planet of thousands of the most varied and never
intersecting provinces. A trip around the world is a
journey from backwater to backwater, each of which
considers itself, in its isolation, a shining star. For
most people, the real world ends on the threshold of
their house, at the edge of their village, or, at the
very most, on the border of their valley. That which
is beyond is unreal, unimportant, and even useless,
whereas that which we have at our fingertips. in
our field of vision, expands until it seems an entire
universe, overshadowing all else.

The author of Text 2 would most likely argue

that the "outlook" mentioned in Text 1 is

(A) rare except among avid readers

(B) common among residents of small towns
(C) insincere in its apparent optimism
(D) shared by relatively few people

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Q10 –

Biologist Rosanna Alegado believes that we might

learn how multicellular organisms developed from
single-celled ones if we understand why the single-
celled organism S. rosetta, the oldest living relative
of animals, sometimes forms colonies of cells.
Alegado and colleagues reviewed data from many
studies of how S. rosetta responds when exposed to
another type of single-celled organism, bacteria,
including Tristan Barbeyron’s work with Zobellia
galactonovorans bacteria and Jongsik Chun’s work
with Algoriphagus mannitolivorans might have
played a role in the development of multicellular
organisms.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support

Alegado and colleagues’ conclusion?

A. Barbeyron and Chun found that S. rosetta

tended to form colonies after bacterial exposure.
B. Barbeyron and Chun found that S. rosetta
tended to form colonies after bacterial exposure, but
Chun did not.
C. Neither Barbeyron nor Chun found that S.
rosetta tended to form colonies after bacterial
exposure.
D. Chun found that S. rosetta tended to form
colonies after bacterial exposure, Barbeyron did not.

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Q11 –

Neuroscientists Laura Sanchez, Carlos Martinez, and

their team explored the auditory processing skills of
eighteen chimpanzees. The researchers observed the
brain responses of Chico (a bonobo), Lola (a chimpanzee),
and other primates while they listened to three
recordings: one of a classic jungle melody, another of
rhythmic drumbeats, and a third consisting of random
sound snippets from the first two, arranged in a
nonsensical manner. Each chimpanzee was familiar with
either jungle melodies or drumbeats, but not both. The
team hypothesized that variations in primates' cranial
structures might influence their ability to discern
musical sounds from random noise.

Which discovery from the investigation, if confirmed,

would most directly support the team's hypothesis?
A. Chimpanzees with elongated skulls accustomed to
jungle melodies tended to exhibit heightened brain
activity when exposed to jungle melodies compared to
chimpanzees with rounded skulls accustomed to
drumbeats.
B. In comparison to chimpanzees with rounded skulls,
those with elongated skulls demonstrated less disparity
in brain activity when listening to either jungle melodies
or drumbeats than when exposed to the nonsensical
recording.
C. Chimpanzees with elongated skulls showed a more
pronounced contrast in brain activity when listening to
their preferred music compared to when they heard the
alternative genre, as opposed to chimpanzees with
rounded skulls.
D. The brain activity patterns observed in chimpanzees
with elongated skulls when exposed to the nonsensical
recording differed from those seen in chimpanzees with
rounded skulls when listening to their preferred music.

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Q12 –

Images from ground-based telescopes are

invariably distorted by the Earth's atmosphere.
Orbiting space telescopes, however, operating
above Earth's atmosphere, should provide
superbly detailed images. Therefore, ground-based
telescopes will soon become obsolete for advanced
astronomical research purposes.

Which of the following statements, if true, would

cast the most doubt on the conclusion drawn
above?

(A) Ground-based telescopes located on mountain

summits are not subject to the kinds of
atmospheric distortion which, at low altitudes,
make stars appear to twinkle.
(B) By careful choice of observatory location, it is
possible for large-aperture telescopes to avoid most
of the kind of wind turbulence that can distort
image quality.
(C) When large-aperture telescopes are located at
high altitudes near the equator, they permit the
best Earth-based observations of the center of the
Milky Way Galaxy, a prime target of astronomical
research.
(D) Detailed spectral analyses, upon which
astronomers rely for determining the chemical
composition and evolutionary history of stars,
require telescopes with more light-gathering
capacity than space telescopes can provide.

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Q13 –

In a continuous process of growth, terrestrial snails

known as helicoids extend their shells by adding
new layers, and the composition of each layer
reflects the minerals present in the soil at the time
of its formation. Researchers led by Dr. Lina Marcel
and her team examined the growth rings (the
divisions between each shell layer) of one male
(identified as "M") and one female (identified as "F")
helicoid, noting that the mineral composition in ring
F07 corresponded to that typically found in soil 2
meters below the surface, while the composition in
ring M22 matched soil found at a depth of
approximately 8 meters. Marcel and her team
inferred that ring F07 was formed closer to the
surface than M22.

Which piece of evidence would most strongly back

the team's deduction?

A) Male helicoids generally exhibit a greater

accumulation of specific minerals than do female
helicoids living at the same depth.
B) In helicoids, the rate at which growth rings are
formed is influenced more by the helicoid's sex than
by the mineral composition of the surrounding soil.
C) Irrespective of sex, helicoids spend the majority
of their lifespan at depths that differ from those
indicated by the specific mineral composition of
their growth rings, due to changes in soil layers
over time.
D) There is no significant difference in how male
and female helicoids absorb minerals from the soil
or incorporate them into their growth rings.

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Q14 –

Macaque monkeys and cats can see in three

dimensions (3D), which helps them perceive
distance and depth. Octopuses and squid are
thought to lack 3D vision. Many researchers
once thought the same about cuttlefish, but
Trevor Wardill and his team wanted to test
whether this assumption was true. The team
studied how cuttlefish wearing 3D glasses
reacted to 3D images of shrimp (a favorite prey)
projected on a tank wall. Cuttlefish changed
their striking position to match the 3D images,
suggesting that their vision is more like that of
macaque monkeys and cats than that of
octopuses or squid.

Which choice best states the function of the

underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

A) It explains why the animals discussed in the

text were once thought to lack 3D vision.
B) It presents the results of the study of 3D
vision discussed in the text.
C) It offers a suggestion for future research on
the aspect of 3D vision discussed in the text.
D) It explains how 3D vision in macaque
monkeys and cats differs from the type of 3D
vision discussed in the text.

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Q15 –

The text is from Lady Gregory's 1904 play

Spreading the News. Mrs. Tarpey, who's said Mrs.
Malone have been buying and selling goods at the
local fair.
Mrs. Tarpey: Good morrow, Bartley Fallon; good
morrow, Mrs. Fallon. Well, Bartley, who'd have the
cause for complaining today: they are all saying it
was a good fair.
Bartley: (raising his voice) It was not a good fair,
Mrs. Tarpey. It was a scattered fair at a fair. If we
didn't expect more, we got less. That's the way with
me always: whatever I have to sell goes down and
whatever I have to buy goes up. If there's ever a
new misfortune coming to this world, it's on myself
it pitches, like a flock of crows on seed potatoes.

Which choice best describes the function of the

underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A) It describes an event that Bartley observed at
the fair.
B) It uses a counterexample to raise questions
about a claim that Bartley made.
C) It presents a vivid image to emphasize a claim
that Bartley makes.
D) It portrays Mrs. Tarpey as skeptical that a
certain event will take place.

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Q16 –

In the diverse ecosystems of Madagascar's

rainforests, the blue coua, a fruit-consuming bird,
plays a crucial role in the propagation of forest
flora by transporting seeds from the fruits it
consumes to various locations (a phenomenon
known as seed dispersion). Research indicates that
these birds assist in spreading seeds from
endangered native species, such as the voapaka
tree. Yet, they distribute a greater quantity of
seeds from the invasive mokara orchids and other
prolific non-native species, primarily due to the
abundance of these plants available for
consumption. Hence, it is not surprising that
_________

Which option most coherently concludes the

passage?
A. invasive mokara orchids and other exotic flora
have only recently surpassed native forest species
in terms of prevalence in the wild.
B. in Madagascar, potential sites for seed dispersal
by the blue coua are predominantly occupied by
native species such as the voapaka tree.
C. the voapaka tree and the mokara orchid are the
species most at risk of extinction in the wild.
D. in Madagascar's ecosystems, the expansion rate
of non-native species exceeds that of endangered
native species, including the voapaka tree.

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Q17 –

In the 20th century, computers were classified

based on their processing power and storage
capacity. This system considered factors like the
speed of the processor and the amount of RAM.
"Supercomputers" were the highest classification,
while "personal computers" were lower in the
hierarchy. The classification determined the
computer's application: supercomputers were used
for complex simulations, while personal computers
were suited for everyday tasks. Two of the
computers from this era were the CRAY-1 (80
MHz processor speed and 16 MB RAM) and the
IBM 360/91 (60 MHz processor speed and 16 MB
RAM). Of these two, only the CRAY-1 was
classified as a supercomputer. It can therefore be
concluded that ___

Which choice most logically completes the text?

a/ The IBM 360/91 was used for complex

simulations.
b/ All computers with at least 80 MHz processor
speed were classified as supercomputers.
c/ The CRAY-1 required more than 16 MB RAM to
function effectively.
d/ Not all computers with 16 MB RAM were
classified as supercomputers.

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