Package 2

This following text is for questions 1 to 3

Called by some the “island that time forgot,” Madagascar is home to a vast array of
unique, exotic creatures. One such animal is the aye-aye. First described by western science
in 1782, it was initially categorized as a member of the order Rodentia. Further research then
revealed that it was more closely related to the lemur, a member of the primate order. Since
the aye-aye is so different from its fellow primates, however, it was given its own family:
daubentoniidae. The aye-aye has been listed as an endangered species and, as a result, the
government of Madagascar has designated as island off the north-eastern coast of
Madagascar as a protected reserve for aye-aye and other wildlife.
Long before Western science became enthralled with this nocturnal denizen of
Madagascar’s jungles, the aye-aye had its own reputation with the local people. The aye-
aye is perhaps best known for its large, round eyes and long, extremely thin middle finger.
These adaptations are quite sensible, allowing the aye-aye to see well at night and retrieve
grubs, which are one of its primary food sources, from deep within hollow branches.
However, the aye-aye’s striking appearance may end up causing its extinction. The people
of Madagascar believe that the aye-aye is a type of spirit animal, and that its appearance is
an omen of death. Whenever one is sighted, it is immediately killed. When combined with
the loss of large swaths of jungle habitat, this practice may result in the loss of a superb
example of life’s variety.

1. Based on the information given in the passage, the intended audience would most likely
be ….
A. visitors to a natural science museum
B. professors of evolutionary science
C. a third-grade science class
D. students of comparative religions
E. attendees at a world culture symposium

2. The author’s attitude toward the aye-aye, as represented in the highlighted text, could
best be described as ….
A. admiring
B. mystified
C. reverent
D. appalled
E. lachrymose

3. For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select all that
apply.
Which of the following statements can be logically inferred from the passage about the
aye-aye?
A. The aye-aye currently lives only on a protected reserve off the north-eastern coast of
Madagascar
B. The aye-aye is a nocturnal animal.
C. The aye-aye is a prominent part of religion practiced by the people of Madagascar.
The following text is for questions 4 and 5
A novel that is a bestseller is often, because of its popularity, not taken seriously as
literature. Critics seem to presuppose that great literature must be somehow burdensome
to the reader; it must be difficult for the uninitiated to understand. It is precisely this inverted
snobbery that has hindered Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits from gaining the critical
attention it deserves.
Published in 1982, the novel draws deeply on the author’s own family history. Allende
is the first cousin once removed of former Chilean president Salvador Allende, who was
murdered during a right-wing military coup in 1973. Yet rather than the to-be-expected
socialist harangue, Allende subtly works her political message within the fabric of the
compelling narrative she weaves. While Allende borrows a bit too freely from Gabriel Garcia
Marquez’s work, she nevertheless has a powerful and original voice within the construct of
magical realism.

4. The author of the passage would probably consider which of the following situations to
be analogous to the critics’ viewpoint as it is described in the highlighted sentence?
A. Avant-garde movies with complicated storylines are deemed cinematically superior
works to Hollywood blockbusters with straightforward narratives.
B. Scientific journals are thought of as providing coverage of natural events that is
inferior to that provided by nature documentaries.
C. Poetry is considered superior literature to prose because it is shorter, and therefore
the message it conveys is more easily understood.
D. Political diatribes are viewed as falling outside the accepted literary canon because
they are too controversial.
E. A movie version of a popular novel is considered artistically superior to the original.

5. It can be inferred from the passage that …

A. Allende’s novel is a retelling of her family’s political struggles.
B. Allende’s novel would have received more favourable reviews if critics had believed
it to be great literature.
C. Allende learned about magical realism from Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
D. Allende’s novel could have been more compelling if she had included a stronger
political message
E. readers might have expected Allende’s work to be more political than it actually was.

The following text is for questions 6 to 7

Bronson Alcott is perhaps best known not for, who he was, but for whom he knew.
Indeed, Alcott’s connections were impressive by any standards: He was a close confidante
of such luminaries as Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. Yet,
to remember the man solely by his associations is to miss his importance to nineteenth-
century American philosophy as a whole and to the Transcendental Movement in particular.
Admittedly, Alcott’s gift was not as a writer. His philosophical treatises have rightly been
criticized by many as being ponderous, esoteric, and lacking focus.
However, Alcott was an erudite orator, and it is in the text of his orations that one
begins to appreciate him as a visionary. Most notably, Alcott advocated what were at the
time polemical ideas on education. He believed that good teaching should be Socratic in
nature and that a student’s intellectual growth was concomitant with his or her spiritual
growth.

6. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would agree with all of the following
statements EXCEPT ….
A. Alcott should be remembered for his contributions to Transcendentalism
B. Alcott’s ideas were ahead of those of many of his contemporaries
C. Alcott believed that learning should not neglect a student’s spiritual education
D. Alcott’s ideas about education were not always accepted by his compatriots
E. Alcott should not be regarded as a particularly gifted orator

7. It can be inferred that the author would agree with which of the following statements?
A. transcendentalism was an esoteric field of inquiry promulgated by a select group of
visionaries.
B. Alcott’s prose style is not always easily understood.
C. A Socratic pedagogical style is difficult to align with spiritual teaching.
D. Alcott should be chiefly appreciated for the strengths of his association.
E. the text of Alcott’s orations was widely accepted by his peers.

The following text is for questions 8 and 9

Echinosorex gymnure, known colloquially as the moonrat or gymnure, is one of the
many fascinating creatures that inhabit the jungles of Southeast Asia. A close relative of the
hedgehog, the moonrat likewise belongs to the order Insectivora and the family Erinaceidae.
However, the family then splits into the sub-family Hylomyinae, which contains three
separate genera and eight distinct species. The appearance and habitat of the moonrat are
actually far more similar to those of various members of the order Rodentia, though its eating
habits are more in line with its fellow insectivores. Ultimately, the taxonomic classification of
this animal is useful only when considered along with other information regarding the
animal’s ecological niche.

8. Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
Which of the following scenarios demonstrates the idea put forth by the author of this
passage regarding animal classification?
A. While studying a population of bears, scientists rely solely on the traditional
taxonomic designations to identify likely hunting grounds.
B. A team of medical researchers closely monitors the actions of the animals involved
in a study and compares its finding with prevailing beliefs about those animals.
C. A zookeeper designs a habitat for a new acquisition, disregards taxonomic
classifications and instead focuses on observational data.

9. The author’s tone could best be described as ….

A. exasperated
B. didactic
C. ambivalent
D. morose
E. laudatory
The following text is for questions 10 to 19
10. The main purpose of the passage is to ….
A. provide support for the claim that efforts to reduce traffic actually increase traffic.
B. dispute the widely held belief that building and improving mass transit systems is
good for the environment.
C. discuss the negative environmental consequences of car-focused development and
suburban sprawl.
D. argue that one way to reduce the negative environmental effects of traffic is to make
driving less agreeable.

11. Which choice best supports the idea that the author assumes that, all things being equal,
people would rather drive than take mass transit?
A. Lines 1-5 (“Building . . . car”)
B. Lines 5-8 (“To have . . . overall”)
C. Lines 15-18 (“But they’re . . . productive”)
D. Lines 19-22 (“One . . . commutes”)

12. As used in line 9, “backed up” most nearly means ….

A. supported
B. copied
C. substituted
D. jammed

13. In the first paragraph, the author concedes that his recommendations are …
A. costly to implement.
B. not widely supported.
C. strongly opposed by experts.
D. environmentally harmful in the short term.
14. Based on the passage, how would the author most likely characterize many attempts to
improve traffic?
A. They are doomed to fail because most people like driving too much to change their
habits.
B. They overestimate how tolerant people are of long commutes.
C. They are well intentioned but ultimately lead to environmental harm.
D. They will only work if they make driving more economical and productive.
15. According to the passage, reducing commuting time for drivers can have which of the
following effects?
A. Drivers become more productive employees than they previously were.
B. Mass transit gets extended farther into suburban areas than it previously was.
C. Mass transit carries fewer passengers and receives less government funding than it
previously did.
D. Drivers become more willing to live farther from their places of employment than
they previously were.

16. As used in line 72, “promotes” most nearly means ….

A. upgrades
B. serves
C. advocates
D. develops

17. According to figure 1, how many vehicles traveled on the altered road through the
Southampton city center per day before the route was altered?
A. 3,081
B. 5,316
C. 24,101
D. 26,522

18. Do the data in figure 1 support or weaken the argument of the author of the passage,
and why?
A. Support, because the data show that merely moving drivers out of cars can induce
traffic.
B. Support, because the data show that reducing road capacity can lead to a net
reduction in traffic.
C. Weaken, because the data show that in some cases road alterations lead to greater
traffic on surrounding roads.
D. Weaken, because the data show that traffic reductions due to road alterations tend
to be brief.

19. Based on figure 2, the engineers surveyed were most sceptical of the idea that in the
event of a reallocation of road space, drivers would change …
A. when they travel.
B. their means of traveling.
C. how often they make a journey.
D. their driving style.
The following passage is for questions 20 to 28

20. The main purpose of the passage is to …

A. describe how squadrons of planes can save fuel by flying in a V formation.
B. discuss the effects of downdrafts on birds and airplanes.
C. explain research conducted to study why some birds fly in a V formation.
D. illustrate how birds sense air currents through their feathers.

21. The author includes the quotation “Air gets pretty unpredictable behind a flapping wing”
(lines 17-18) to …
A. explain that the current created by a bird differs from that of an airplane.
B. stress the amount of control exerted by birds flying in a V formation.
 C. indicate that wind movement is continuously changing.
D. emphasize that the flapping of a bird’s wings is powerful.

22. What can reasonably be inferred about the reason Usherwood used northern bald ibises
as the subjects of his study?
A. The ibises were well acquainted with their migration route.
B. Usherwood knew the ibises were familiar with carrying data loggers during migration.
C. The ibises have a body design that is similar to that of a modern airplane.
D. The ibises were easily accessible for Usherwood and his team to track and observe.

23. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
A. Lines 3-7 (“A new . . . flight”)
B. Lines 10-12 (“Squadrons . . . same”)
C. Lines 22-24 (“The study . . . Europe”)
D. Lines 29-31 (“The device’s . . . flaps”)

24. What is the most likely reason the author includes the 30 cm measurement in line 30?
A. To demonstrate the accuracy with which the data loggers collected the data
B. To present recorded data about how far an ibis flies between successive wing flaps
C. To provide the wingspan length of a juvenile ibis
D. To show how far behind the microlight plane each ibis flew

25. What does the author imply about pelicans, storks, and geese flying in a V formation?
A. They communicate with each other in the same way as do ibises.
B. They have the same migration routes as those of ibises.
C. They create a similar wake to that of ibises.
D. They expend more energy than do ibises.

26. What is a main idea of the seventh paragraph (lines 62-73)?

A. Different types of hierarchies exist in each flock of birds.
B. Mistakes can happen when long-winged birds create a V formation.
C. Future research will help scientists to better understand V formations.
D. Long-winged birds watch the lead bird closely to keep a V formation intact.

27. The author uses the phrase “aerodynamic sweet spot” in line 63 most likely to …
A. describe how the proper structural design of an airplane helps to save fuel.
B. show that flying can be an exhilarating experience.
C. describe the birds’ synchronized wing movement.
D. suggest that a certain position in a V formation has the least amount of wind
resistance.

28. As used in line 72, “ripple” most nearly means ….

A. fluctuate
B. spread
C. wave
D. undulate
The following passage is for questions 29 and 30
Every year about two million people visit Mount Rushmore, where the faces of four
U.S. presidents were carved in granite by the sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his son. The
creation of the Mount Rushmore monument took 14 years- from 1927 to 1941 – and nearly
a million dollars. These were times when money was difficult to come by, and many people
were jobless. To help him with this sculpture, Borglum hired laid-off workers from the closed-
down mines in the Black Hills area of South Dakota. He taught these men to dynamite, drill,
carve, and finish the granite as they were hanging in mid-air in his specially devised chairs,
which had many safety features.
Borglum used dynamite to remove 90 percent of the 450,000 tons of rock from the
mountain quickly and relatively inexpensively. His workmen became so skilled that without
causing damage, they could blast to within four inches of the finished surface and grade the
contour of the facial features. Borglum was proud of the fact that no workers were killed or
seriously injured during the years of blasting and carving the granite. Considering the
workers regularly used dynamite and heavy equipment, this was a remarkable feat.
During the carving, many changes in the original design had to be made to keep the
carved heads free of large fissures that were uncovered. However, not all the cracks could
be avoided, so Borglum concocted a mixture of granite dust, white lead, and linseed oil to
fill them.
Every winter, water from melting snow gets into the fissures and expands as it freezes,
making the fissures bigger. Consequently, every autumn maintenance work is done to refill
the cracks. To preserve this national monument for future generations, the repairers swing
out in space over a 500-foot drop and fix the monument with the same mixture that Borglum
used.

29. According to the passage, what achievement did Borglum pride himself on?
A. The four presidential faces in granite that he had sculpture.
B. The removal of 90 percent of the 450,000 tons of rock quickly and at relatively low
cost
C. His safety record of no deaths or serious injuries during the years of work with heavy
equipment and dynamite.
D. His skilful training of the labour force that enabled blasts of dynamite to be within
inches of the contour lines of the faces

30. 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. Since cracks could not be avoided, Borglum tried various materials to cover them.
B. In order to fill the unavoidable cracks, Borglum invented a mixture for filling them.
C. A mixture was uncovered by Borglum during the changes in design needed to avoid
the cracks.
D. Because cracks could not be avoided, Borglum bought a mixture of granite dust,
white lead, and linseed oil.