Level A - Passage-Based Reading Exercises - PASSAGE-BASED READING QUESTIONS - SAT CRITICAL READING WORKBOOK

SAT CRITICAL READING

PART 4

 

PASSAGE-BASED READING QUESTIONS

 

Passage-Based Reading Exercises


To develop your ability to handle passage-based reading questions, work your way through the following four exercises. Each exercise contains a full test’s worth of long reading passages and questions: one 400-word passage followed by 6 questions, one 550-word passage followed by 9 questions, one 800-word passage followed by 12 questions, plus one pair of passages followed by 13 questions. The passages have been taken from published sources—the same sort of sources that are tapped by the makers of the SAT.

Warning: These exercises are graded in difficulty. Although the questions don’t necessarily get harder the further you go, the reading passages definitely do. Go all the way. Even if you do less well on Level C than you did on Level A, look on every error as an opportunity to learn. Reread all the passages you found difficult. Review all the vocabulary words that you didn’t know. Remember: these passages and questions are all comparable to the ones on the SAT.

After completing each exercise, see how many questions you answered correctly. (The correct answers are given at the end of the practice exercises.)

Then read the answer explanations.

Level A

 

You should feel reasonably comfortable interpreting most of the reading passages on this level of difficulty. Consider the reading passages that follow to be a warm-up for the harder excerpts to come.

EXERCISE 1

 

Read each of the passages below, and then answer the questions that follow the passage. The correct response may be stated outright or merely suggested in the passage.

 

Questions 1–5 are based on the following passage.

The following passage is taken from a review of a general survey of the natural and physical sciences published in 1964.

 

          “Idle speculation” has no place in science,
but “speculation” is its very lifeblood, a well-
known physicist believes.

Line                “The more fundamental and far-reaching a

(5)  scientific theory is, the more speculative it is
likely to be,” Dr. Michael W. Ovenden, author
and lecturer at the University of Glasgow,
Scotland, states in his book “Life in the
Universe.” Dr. Ovenden says it is erroneous to

(10)  believe that science is only concerned with
“pure facts,” for mere accumulation of facts is
a primitive form of science. A mature science
tries to arrange facts in significant patterns to
see relationships between previously unrelated

(15)  aspects of the universe.

                A theory that does not suggest new ways
of looking at the universe is not likely to make
an important contribution to the development
of science. However, it is also important that

(20)  theories are checked by new experiments and
observations.

                Dr. Ovenden discusses recent discoveries in
biology, chemistry and physics that give clues
to the possibility of life in the solar system

(25)  and other star systems. He discusses conditions
on Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, and
considers whether or not the same conditions
may be found on planets of other stars.

                Only the planets Venus, Earth, and Mars

(30)  lie within the temperature zone, about
75,000,000 miles wide, in which life can exist.
Venus is covered by a dense layer of clouds
which permits no observation of the surface,
and the surface temperature of the planet is

(35)  not known.

                Mars is colder than Earth, the average
temperature being about minus 40 degrees
Fahrenheit, compared with plus 59 degrees
Fahrenheit as the average for Earth. However,

(40)  near the Mars poles during the summer season,
temperatures may rise to as much as 70
degrees Fahrenheit, whereas winter temperatures
may fall to minus 130 degrees
Fahrenheit.

(45)       Because of the extreme difference in the
Martian seasons, the only life-forms expected
to exist, without a built-in temperature control
such as warm-blooded animals and humans
have, are those which would stay inactive

(50)  most of the year. These life-forms may be a
kind of vegetation that opens its leaves to the
sun in the daytime, stores water and closes its
leaves in the night for protection against the
cold.

(55)       Attempts have been made to detect in the
spectrum of the dark markings on Mars the
absorption lines due to chlorophyll. So far the
test has not succeeded. But the infrared spectrum
of the Martian markings has been found

(60)  to be very similar to the spectrum of Earth
vegetation when studied at high altitudes.

   1. In line 1, “idle” most nearly means

       (A) stationary

       (B) perfect

       (C) empty

       (D) lethargic

       (E) leisurely

   2. “Speculation is its [science’s] very lifeblood” (line 2) means that scientists must

       (A) fund their research through gambling proceeds

       (B) concern themselves with provable facts

       (C) understand all forms of science

       (D) form opinions about the data they gather

       (E) keep abreast of new developments

   3. According to lines 12–15, a mature science

       (A) concerns itself exclusively with gathering and recording facts

       (B) dismisses speculative thinking as overly fanciful

       (C) connects hitherto unlinked phenomena in meaningful ways

       (D) subordinates speculative thought to the accumulation of facts

       (E) differentiates between hypotheses and speculation

   4. The similarity from high altitudes between the infrared spectrum of the Martian markings and the Earth spectrum suggests

       (A) the value of speculative thinking

       (B) the absence of chlorophyll on Mars

       (C) a possibility that Mars has vegetation

       (D) that Mars’s surface has been cultivated

       (E) the effect of cold on the color of the spectrum

   5. The author does all of the following EXCEPT

       (A) make an approximation

       (B) use a metaphor

       (C) state a resemblance

       (D) make a conjecture

       (E) deny a contradiction

Questions 6–15 are based on the following passage.

The following passage is taken from The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois’s classic study of the African-American’s struggle in this country.

 

               Once upon a time I taught school in the
hills of Tennessee, where the broad dark vale
of the Mississippi begins to roll and crumple

Line to greet the Alleghanies. I was a Fisk student

(5)  then, and all Fisk men thought that Tennessee
was theirs alone, and in vacation time they sallied
forth in lusty bands to meet the county
school-commissioners. Young and happy, I too
went, and I shall not soon forget that summer,

(10)  seventeen years ago.

               First, there was a Teachers’ Institute at the
county-seat; and there distinguished guests of
the superintendent taught the teachers fractions
and spelling and other mysteries—white

(15)  teachers in the morning, Negroes at night. A
picnic now and then, and a supper, and the
rough world was softened by laughter and
song. I remember how—but I wander.

               There came a day when all the teachers

(20)  left the Institute and began the hunt for
schools. I learn from hearsay (for my mother
was mortally afraid of firearms) that the hunting
of ducks and bears and men is wonderfully
interesting, but I am sure that the man who has

(25)  never hunted a country school has something
to learn of the pleasures of the chase. I see
now the white, hot roads lazily rise and fall
and wind before me under the burning July
sun; I feel the deep weariness of heart and

(30)  limb as ten, eight, six miles stretch relentlessly
ahead; I feel my heart sink heavily as I hear
again and again, “Got a teacher? Yes.” So I
walked on and on—horses were too expensive
—until I had wandered beyond railways,

(35)  beyond stage lines, to a land of “varmints” and
rattlesnakes, where the coming of a stranger
was an event, and men lived and died in the
shadow of one blue hill.

               Sprinkled over hill and dale lay cabins and

(40)  farmhouses, shut out from the world by the
forests and the rolling hills toward the east.
There I found at last a little school. Josie told
me of it; she was a thin, homely girl of twenty,
with a dark-brown face and thick, hard hair. I

(45)  had crossed the stream at Watertown, and rested
under the great willows; then I had gone to
a little cabin where Josie was resting on her
way to town. The gaunt farmer made me welcome,
and Josie, hearing my errand, told me

(50)  anxiously that they wanted a school over the
hill; that but once since the war had a teacher
been there; that she herself longed to learn—
and thus she ran on, talking fast and loud, with
much earnestness and energy.

(55)       Next morning I crossed the tall, round hill,
plunged into the wood, and came out at Josie’s
home. The father was a quiet, simple soul,
calmly ignorant, with no touch of vulgarity.
The mother was different—strong, bustling,

(60)  and energetic, with a quick, restless tongue,
and an ambition to live “like folks.” There was
a crowd of children. Two growing girls; a shy
midget of eight; John, tall, awkward, and eighteen;
Jim, younger, quicker, and better-looking;

(65)  and two babies of indefinite age. Then
there was Josie herself. She seemed to be the
center of the family: always busy at service, or
at home, or berry-picking; a little nervous and
inclined to scold, like her mother, yet faithful,

(70)  too, like her father. I saw much of this family
afterwards, and grew to love them for their
honest efforts to be decent and comfortable,
and for their knowledge of their own ignorance.
There was with them no affectation.

(75)  The mother would scold the father for being
so “easy”; Josie would roundly berate the boys
for carelessness; and all knew that it was a
hard thing to dig a living out of a rocky side-
hill.

   6. The passage as a whole is best characterized as

       (A) an example of the harsh realities of searching for employment

       (B) a description of the achievements of a graduate of a prestigious school

       (C) an analysis of teacher education in a rural setting

       (D) a reminiscence of a memorable time in one man’s life

       (E) an illustration of the innocence and gullibility of youth

   7. Lines 21–24 suggest that the author had no firsthand knowledge of hunting living creatures because

       (A) he had too much sympathy for the hunter’s prey to become a hunter himself

       (B) his studies had left him no time for recreational activities

       (C) small arms weapons had been forbidden in his home

       (D) hunting was an inappropriate activity for teachers

       (E) his mother had once been wounded by a gunshot

   8. To the author, his journey through the Tennessee countryside seemed to be all of the following EXCEPT

       (A) gratifying

       (B) interminable

       (C) tiring

       (D) carefree

       (E) discouraging

   9. The “stage lines” mentioned by the author in line 35 refer to

       (A) phases of personal growth

       (B) theatrical directions

       (C) horse-drawn transportation

       (D) cultural divisions

       (E) train stations

10. The author sets the word varmints in quotation marks (line 35) for which of the following reasons?

       (A) He wishes to indicate he is referring to an authority.

       (B) He is unsure of the correct spelling of the term.

       (C) He recognizes them as hunted creatures.

       (D) He is using the word colloquially.

       (E) He is defining it as a technical term.

11. The author’s attitude toward his schoolhunting days is predominantly one of

       (A) exasperation

       (B) nostalgia

       (C) bitterness

       (D) self-reproach

       (E) amusement

12. The passage suggests that Josie’s interest on meeting the author was

       (A) magnified by her essentially gregarious nature

       (B) sufficiently strong to make her act uncharacteristically

       (C) prompted by her need for distractions on the long road to town

       (D) intensified by her desire to gain an education

       (E) motivated by her longing to escape her impoverished home

13. By saying she wished to live “like folks” (line 61), Josie’s mother primarily emphasizes

       (A) apprehension about sinking to the level of mere brutes

       (B) an expanding greed for material possessions

       (C) impatience with people who think themselves too good for their fellows

       (D) a longing for her entire family to better themselves

       (E) an unfortunate inclination toward conformity

14. To the author, Josie appears to

       (A) be far more energetic than her mother

       (B) possess traits of both her parents

       (C) scold her brothers excessively

       (D) look down on her parents for their ignorance

       (E) share her father’s calm demeanor

15. The author most likely remembers Josie and her family primarily with feelings of

       (A) measured regret

       (B) grudging condescension

       (C) grateful veneration

       (D) outright curiosity

       (E) distinct affection

Questions 16–27 are based on the following passage.

The book from which the following passage was taken explains architectural methods both past and present.

 

               The ancient Chinese believed that in the
features of the natural landscape one could
glimpse the mathematically precise order of

Line the universe and all the beneficial and harmful

(5)  forces that were harmoniously connected
according to the principle of the Tao—the
Way. This was not a question of metaphor; the
topography did not represent good or evil; it
really was good or evil. Under these circumstances,

(10)  locating a building in the landscape
became a decision of momentous proportions
that could affect an individual and his family
for generations to come. The result was feng-shui,
which means “wind and water,” and

(15)  which was a kind of cosmic surveying tool. Its
coherent, scientific practice dates from the
Sung dynasty (960–1126), but its roots are
much older than that. It was first used to locate
grave sites—the Chinese worshiped their

(20)  ancestors, who, they believed, influenced the
good fortune of their descendants. Eventually
it began to be used to locate the homes of the
living; and, indeed, the earliest book on feng-shui,
published during the Han dynasty (202

(25)  B.C.A.D. 220), was entitled The Canon of the
Dwellings
.

               Feng-shui combined an intricate set of
related variables that reflected the three
great religions of China—Taoism, Buddhism, and

(30)  Confucianism. First were the Taoist principles
of yang and yin—male and female. The five
Buddhist planets corresponded to the five elements,
the five directions (north, south, west,
east, and center), and the five seasons (the

(35)  usual four and midsummer). Feng-shui
employed the sixty-four epigrams of the I-
Ching
, a classic manual of divination popularized
by Confucius, and also made use of the
astrological signs: the constellations were

(40)  divided into four groups: the Azure Dragon
(east), the Black Tortoise (north), the White
Tiger (west), and the Red Bird (south).

               The first task of the geomancer, who was
called feng-shui hsien sheng, or “doctor of the

(45)  vital force,” was to detect the presence of each
of these variables in the natural landscape.
Hilly ground represented the Dragon; low
ground was the Tiger: the ideal was to have
the Dragon on the left and the Tiger on the

(50)  right (hence, to face south). In a predominant
ly hilly area, however, a low spot was a good
place to build; in flatter terrain, heights were
considered lucky. The best site was the junction
between the Dragon and the Tiger, which

(55)  is why the imperial tombs around Beijing
are so beautifully situated, just where the valley
floor begins to turn into mountain slopes.

               The shape of mountain peaks, the presence
of boulders, and the direction of streams

(60)  all incorporated meanings that had to be
unraveled. Often simple observation did not
suffice, and the Chinese had to resort to external
aids. The mariner compass was a Chinese
invention, but the feng-shui compass served a

(65)  different purpose. It resembled a large, flat,
circular platter. In the center, like the bull’s-
eye of a dartboard, was a magnetic needle,
surrounded by eighteen concentric circles.
Each ring represented a different factor and

(70)  was inscribed with the constellations, odd and
even numbers, the planets and the elements,
the seasons, the hexagrams, the signs of the
zodiac, the solar orbit, and so on. With the aid
of the compass, the geomancer could discover

(75)  the existence of these variables even when
they were not visible to the naked eye.

               It might appear that feng-shui made man
the victim of fate, but this is not the case. For
one thing, there was a moral dimension to the

(80)  belief; and to gain the full benefit of an auspiciously
placed home, the family itself had to
remain honest and upright. Moreover, the geomancer’s
job was not only to identify bad and
good sites but also to advise on how to

(85)  mitigate evil influences or to improve good ones.
Trees could be planted to camouflage undesirable
views; streams could be rerouted; mounds
could be built up or cut down. It is no
accident that the greatest Chinese art of all is

(90)  gardening.

               Many villages in China have a grove of
trees or bamboo behind them, and a pond in
front. The function of these picturesque features
is not as landscaping embellishment, or

(95)  at least it is not only that; they are intended to
fend off evil influences. The pagodas that can
still be seen built on the tops of hills and
mounds serve the same purpose. When visiting
some recently built farmhouses in the

(100) county of Wuqing, I noticed that the entrances
to some of the courtyards were screened by a
wall that forced the visitor to wind his way
around it, as in a maze or an obstacle course.
But the purpose of the ying-pei, as the Chinese

(105) walls are called, is not to prevent the passerby
from looking in. These are “spirit walls” and
are meant to keep out asomatous
1 trespassers.
The ying-pei is not an isolated superstition,
like lucky horseshoes in the West; it too is part

(110) of feng-shui.

16. The passage suggests that the ancient Chinese

       (A) are not clearly understood by modern-day thinkers

       (B) were preoccupied with death

       (C) did not understand the basic physical principles that govern the universe

       (D) behaved in a peaceful manner

       (E) conducted their lives according to a well-defined philosophy

17. As described in the passage, feng-shui is a practice that

       (A) has spread throughout the world

       (B) is used to locate building sites

       (C) is widely used near the water’s edge

       (D) most people consider a foolish superstition

       (E) is used to determine the appearance of buildings

18. According to the passage, the Tao apparently

       (A) originated about a thousand years ago

       (B) is a kind of metaphor

       (C) is a way of viewing the world

       (D) is a prescription for a happy life

       (E) is a moral code that guides human behavior

19. According to the passage, feng-shui seems to have developed as a practice mainly because the Chinese believed in

       (A) the sayings of Confucius

       (B) life after death

       (C) astrology

       (D) providing for future generations

       (E) original sin

20. The best definition of a “geomancer”

       (line 43) is one who

       (A) knew how to provide spiritual counsel

       (B) understood religion

       (C) could read and interpret the terrain

       (D) guided people in the wilderness

       (E) served as a medium between the living and the dead

21. The principles of feng-shui suggest that the best terrain on which to build a house is

       (A) partly flat and partly hilly

       (B) a river valley

       (C) mountainous

       (D) where mountains meet the sea

       (E) rugged with lots of trees

22. The author compares the center of a feng-shui compass to the bull’s-eye of a dartboard (lines 66 and 67) in order to

       (A) suggest that feng-shui is like a game

       (B) clarify the appearance of the compass

       (C) indicate that feng-shui requires physical dexterity

       (D) explain that it is extremely difficult to find ideal building sites

       (E) belittle the art of feng-shui

23. The author of the passage implies that the city of Beijing was deliberately built

       (A) near mountains

       (B) on a large bay

       (C) at the confluence of two rivers

       (D) to maximize the sun’s light and warmth

       (E) close to ancient burial places

24. According to the passage, an ideally situated home

       (A) assures happiness to the family living there

       (B) is no guarantee of good fortune

       (C) empower families to ward off sickness and disease

       (D) helps a family establish financial security

       (E) keeps families together

25. The author calls gardening the “greatest” art in China (line 89) because

       (A) Chinese gardens are usually very beautiful

       (B) the best gardeners in the world come from China

       (C) gardening is a popular pastime in China

       (D) Chinese gardens contain symbolic meanings

       (E) the Chinese know how to grow exotic plants and flowers

26. Which of the following best describes the author’s attitude toward feng-shui?

       (A) Mild skepticism

       (B) Surprise

       (C) Awe and wonder

       (D) Amused mockery

       (E) Intellectual curiosity

27. To repel evil spirits a family believing in feng-shui is likely to pay attention to all of the following EXCEPT

       (A) the distance from their home of large rock formations

       (B) the accessibility of the main entrance

       (C) the placement of trees around the house

       (D) the color of their house

       (E) the appearance of nearby mountains

____________

1Lacking a body; ghostly; spirit-like.

Questions 28–40 are based on the following pair of passages.

The following passages discuss the problems of being poor in America. The first is an excerpt from a best-selling study of a Puerto Rican family, written by an anthropologist in the 1960s. The second is an excerpt from a speech given at a Florida school in 1965.

Passage 1

               Low wages, chronic unemployment and
underemployment lead to low income, lack of
property ownership, absence of savings,

Line absence of food reserves in the home, and a

(5)  chronic shortage of cash. These conditions
reduce the possibility of effective participation
in the larger economic system. And as a
response to these conditions we find in the
culture of poverty a high incidence of pawning

(10)  personal goods, borrowing from local money-
lenders at usurious rates of interest, spontaneous
informal credit devices organized by
neighbors, the use of secondhand clothing and
furniture, and the pattern of frequent buying of

(15)  small quantities of food many times a day as
the need arises.

               People with a culture of poverty produce
very little wealth and receive very little in
return. They have a low level of literacy and

(20)  education, usually do not belong to labor
unions, are not members of political parties,
generally do not participate in the national
welfare agencies, and make very little use of
banks, hospitals, department stores, museums

(25)  or art galleries. They have a critical attitude
toward some of the basic institutions of the
dominant classes, hatred of the police, mistrust
of government and those in high position,
and a cynicism which extends even to the

(30)  church. This gives the culture of poverty a
high potential for protest and for being used in
political movements aimed against the existing
social order.

               People with a culture of poverty are aware

(35)  of middle-class values, talk about them and
even claim some of them as their own, but on
the whole they do not live by them. Thus it is
important to distinguish between what they say
and what they do. For example, many will

(40)  tell you that marriage by law, by the church, or
by both is the ideal form of marriage, but few
will marry. To men who have no steady jobs
or other sources of income, who do not own
property and have no wealth to pass on to their

(45)  children, who are present-time oriented and
who want to avoid the expense and legal difficulties
involved in formal marriage and
divorce, free unions or consensual marriages
make a lot of sense. Women will often turn

(50)  down offers of marriage because they feel it
ties them down to men who are immature,
punishing and generally unreliable. Women
feel that consensual union gives them a better
break; it gives them some of the freedom and

(55)  flexibility that men have. By not giving the
fathers of their children legal status as husbands,
the women have a stronger claim on
their children if they decide to leave their men.
It [consensual union] also gives women

(60)  exclusive rights to a house or any other property
they may own.

Passage 2

 

               You ask me what is poverty? Listen to me.
Here I am, dirty, smelly, and with no “proper”
underwear on and with the stench of my rotting

(65)  teeth near you. I will tell you. Listen to
me. Listen without pity. I cannot use your pity.
Listen with understanding. Put yourself in my
dirty, worn-out ill-fitting shoes, and hear me.

               Poverty is getting up every morning from

(70)  a dirt- and illness-stained mattress. The sheets
have long since been used for diapers. Poverty
is living in a smell that never leaves. This is a
smell of urine, sour milk, and spoiling food
sometimes joined with the strong smell of

(75)  long-cooked onions. Onions are cheap. If you
have smelled this smell, you did not know
how it came. It is the smell of the outdoor
privy. It is the smell of young children who
cannot walk the long dark way in the night. It

(80)  is the smell of the mattresses where years of
“accidents” have happened. It is the smell of
the milk which has gone sour because the
refrigerator long has not worked, and it costs
money to get it fixed. It is the smell of rotting

(85)  garbage. I could bury it, but where is the shovel?
Shovels cost money.

               Poverty is always being tired. I have
always been tired. They told me at the hospital
when the last baby came that I had chronic

(90)  anemia caused from poor diet, a bad case of
worms, and that I needed a corrective operation.
I listened politely—the poor are always
polite. The poor always listen. They don’t say
that there is no money for iron pills, or better

(95)  food, or worm medicine. The idea of an operation
is frightening and costs so much that, if I
had dared, I would have laughed… .

               Poverty is looking into a black future.
Your children won’t play with my boys. They

(100) will turn to other boys who steal to get what
they want. I can already see them behind the
bars of their prison instead of behind the bars
of my poverty. Or they will turn to the freedom
of alcohol or drugs, and find themselves

(105) enslaved. And my daughter? At best, there is
for her a life like mine… . Poverty is an acid
that drips on pride until all pride is worn away.
Poverty is a chisel that chips on honor until
honor is worn away. Some of you say that you

(110) would do something in my situation, and
maybe you would, for the first week or the
first month, but for year after year after year?

               I have come out of my despair to tell you
this. Remember I did not come from another

(115) place or another time. Others like me are all
around you. Look at us with an angry heart,
anger that will help you help me. Anger that
will let you tell of me. The poor are always
silent. Can you be silent too?

28. A defining characteristic of poverty, according to the author of Passage 1, is that poor people

       (A) lack the imagination to lift themselves out of poverty

       (B) lack the skills to find decent jobs

       (C) are constantly in a state of crisis

       (D) are somewhat responsible for their own poverty

       (E) are isolated from the mainstream of society

29. The author of Passage 1 uses the phrase “culture of poverty” (line 9) to suggest that

       (A) causes of poverty have been carefully studied and analyzed

       (B) poor people often take pride in their poverty

       (C) for some people poverty has become a prevailing way of life

       (D) poor people share a common background

       (E) there are several levels and classifications of poor people

30. By asserting that the culture of poverty can be used by political movements (lines 30–33), the author is

       (A) predicting an uprising by the poor

       (B) citing a reason for eliminating poverty

       (C) encouraging political movements to incite rebellions

       (D) criticizing the motives of politicians

       (E) alluding to a particular historical event

31. The author’s point about the need to “distinguish between what they [poor people] say and what they do” (lines 37–39) is meant to suggest that

       (A) poor people enjoy being hypocritical

       (B) lying is part of the culture of poverty

       (C) the poor are often unable to change the conditions of their lives

       (D) the poor are fooling themselves

       (E) poverty causes people to have illusions

32. A conclusion to be drawn from the discussion of marriage in Passage 1 is that men and women in the culture of poverty

       (A) avoid legalized marriages for practical and economic reasons

       (B) prefer to be independent

       (C) cannot afford the cost of a marriage license

       (D) do not trust each other to be faithful husbands and wives

       (E) consider themselves unworthy of legal marriage

33. The comparison between the “bars of their prison” and the “bars of my poverty” (lines 102 and 103) is meant to suggest that the speaker believes that

       (A) her sons must choose between a life of crime and a life of poverty

       (B) escaping from poverty is more difficult than escaping from prison

       (C) her sons can escape from poverty but not from prison

       (D) crime results from poverty

       (E) poverty and imprisonment are similar

34. Evidence in Passage 2 suggests that the speaker lives

       (A) on an isolated farm

       (B) in an urban slum

       (C) in a housing project

       (D) in the country

       (E) near a big city

35. The primary emotion conveyed by the speaker in Passage 2 is

       (A) jealousy

       (B) resentment

       (C) discouragement

       (D) hopelessness

       (E) remorse

36. When the speaker says “the poor always listen” (line 93) and “the poor are always silent” (lines 118 and 119) she is implying that poor people

       (A) are more polite than middle-class people are

       (B) cannot express themselves articulately

       (C) prefer to keep to themselves

       (D) suffer from powerlessness

       (E) don’t want to antagonize other people

37. The main intent of the speaker in Passage 2 is to

       (A) convey information about poverty to the audience

       (B) enrage the audience

       (C) arouse the audience to action

       (D) define poverty

       (E) describe real differences between the rich and the poor

38. Compared to Passage 1, Passage 2 is more likely to evoke an emotional response from the reader because

       (A) it uses shocking language

       (B) it is written in sentence fragments

       (C) the speaker shows intense emotion

       (D) it repeatedly uses the word poverty

       (E) the audience is addressed as “you”

39. In discussing poverty, the authors of both passages seem to agree that poverty

       (A) cannot be clearly defined

       (B) means more than lack of money

       (C) should be viewed with compassion

       (D) cannot be eliminated

       (E) weakens the fabric of society

40. Passage 2 illustrates the contention in Passage 1 that the poor

       (A) suffer from a chronic shortage of cash

       (B) mistrust the government

       (C) have a low level of literacy and education

       (D) rely on neighbors to borrow money

       (E) make little use of banks, hospitals, and department stores

EXERCISE 2

 

Read each of the passages below, and then answer the questions that follow the passage. The correct response may be stated outright or merely suggested in the passage.

 

Questions 1–7 are based on the following passage.

The following passage, taken from a memoir by a Japanese-American writer, describes the conflicts she felt as she grew up living in two cultures and trying to meet two very different sets of expectations.

 

               Whenever I succeeded in the Hakujin
world, my brothers were supportive, whereas
Papa would be disdainful, undermined by my

Line obvious capitulation to the ways of the West. I

(5)  wanted to be like my Caucasian friends. Not
only did I want to look like them, I wanted to
act like them. I tried hard to be outgoing and
socially aggressive and act confidently, like
my girlfriends. At home I was careful not to

(10)  show these personality traits to my father. For
him it was bad enough that I did not even look
Japanese: I was too big, and I walked too
assertively. My behavior at home was never
calm and serene, but around my father I still

(15)  tried to be as Japanese as I could.

               As I passed puberty and grew more interested
in boys, I soon became aware that an
Oriental female evoked a certain kind of interest
from males. I was still too young to understand

(20)  how or why an Oriental female fascinated
Caucasian men, and of course, far too
young to see then that it was a form of “not
seeing.” My brothers would warn me, “Don’t
trust the Hakujin boys. They only want one

(25)  thing. They’ll treat you like a servant and
expect you to wait on them hand and foot.
They don’t even know how to be nice to you.”
My brothers never dated Caucasian girls.
In fact, I never really dated Caucasian boys until

(30)  I went to college. In high school, I used to
sneak out to dances and parties where I would
meet them. I wouldn’t even dare to think what
Papa would do if he knew.

               What my brothers were saying was that I

(35)  should not act toward Caucasian males as I
did toward them. I must not “wait on them” or
allow them to think I would, because they
wouldn’t understand. In other words, be a
Japanese female around Japanese men and act

(40)  as a Hakujin around Caucasian men. The double
identity within a “double standard” resulted
not only in confusion for me of my role, or
roles, as a female, but also in who or what I
was racially. With the admonitions of my

(45)  brothers lurking deep in my consciousness, I
would try to be aggressive, assertive and
“come on strong” toward Caucasian men. I
mustn’t let them think I was submissive, passive,
and all-giving like Madame Butterfly.

(50)  With Asian males I would tone down my natural
enthusiasm and settle into patterns
instilled in me through the models of my
mother and sisters. I was not comfortable in
either role.

1. The author’s father reacted negatively to her successes in the Caucasian world because

       (A) he wanted her older sisters to be more successful than she was

       (B) his expectations were that she could do even better than he had done

       (C) he realized worldly success alone could not make her happy

       (D) he envied her for having opportunities that he had never known

       (E) he felt her Westernization was costing him his authority over her

   2. The author most likely uses the Japanese word Hakujin to stand for Caucasians because

       (A) she knows no other word with that meaning

       (B) her brothers insisted that she address white boys in that way

       (C) she enjoys showing off her knowledge of exotic terminology

       (D) that is how her immediate family referred to them

       (E) it is a term that indicates deep respect

   3. The father of the author expected her to be

       (A) tranquil and passive

       (B) subservient to Caucasian males

       (C) successful in the Hakujin way

       (D) increasingly independent and aggressive

       (E) open about going to school dances

4. By describing the white boys’ fascination with Oriental women as “not seeing” (lines 22 and 23), the author primarily wishes to convey that

       (A) the white boys were reluctant to date their Oriental classmates or see them socially

       (B) they had no idea what she was like as an individual human being

       (C) the boys were too shy to look the girls in the eye

       (D) the boys could not see her attractions because she was too large to meet Japanese standards of beauty

       (E) love is nearsighted, if not blind

   5. By a “double identity within a ‘double standard’” (lines 40 and 41) the author primarily means that

       (A) she had one standard while her brothers had another

       (B) she had one standard while her mother had another

       (C) she was Japanese at home and Hakujin outside the home

       (D) she was too assertive at school to be passive at home

       (E) she felt like a double agent, betraying both sides

   6. As used in lines 48 and 49, the figure of Madame Butterfly can best be described as

       (A) a model the author sought to emulate

       (B) the pattern the author’s brothers wished her to follow

       (C) a particularly generous Hakujin

       (D) a role the author eventually found comfortable

       (E) an ethnic stereotype

   7. The author’s reaction to the roles she was required to adopt was primarily one of

       (A) indifference

       (B) despair

       (C) bemusement

       (D) outrage

       (E) unease

Questions 8–15 are based on the following passage.

The following excerpt is taken from a standard text on the history of Mexican art.

 

               Pre-Spanish history in Mexico is riddled
with lacunae or gaps. All that can be stated
with certainty is that, quite independent of any

Line European or Oriental influence, peoples

(5)  speaking different languages and at various
stages of cultural development gradually created
a civilization in Mexico which, by the
tenth century, already knew the use of certain
metals. This civilization has left us temples,

(10)  palaces, tombs, ball-courts, images of its gods,
ritual masks and funeral urns, mural paintings
and codices, jewelry and personal ornaments,
pottery for household and religious uses,
weapons, and primitive tools. All these do not

(15)  belong to the same epoch, style, or culture, but
together they form a rich and varied aggregation
which is, nevertheless, homogeneous and
comparable to Chinese art of the two thousand
years from Confucius to the Ming dynasty.

(20)       Pre-Spanish art in Mexico served a religious
function. It was not content to copy the
external world, whose visible forms were for
it no more than an outward testimony of great
inner forces. It created original compositions,

(25)  using real elements with an almost musical
freedom. It is not a crude art; they are mistaken
who see in its bold simplifications or wayward
conceptions an inability to overcome
technical difficulties. The ancient Mexican

(30)  artist was deliberate and skillful, and, though
never led by a merely descriptive aim, he
often lingered over his subjects with realistic
and minutely observant pleasure. One marvels
at his plastic feeling and at his powers of decorative

(35)  composition.

               The Mayas achieved in sculpture a placid
and austere beauty of proportion and sensitiveness
in modeling which has rarely been
surpassed. The works of the Totonacs reveal a

(40)  people of keen sensibility and varied means of
expression. Their grace and tranquil, formal
beauty, their plastic rhythm and interpretation
of psychological values place their makers
among the creators of purest art. Aztec works

(45)  rival the sober and vigorous solidity of great
Egyptian sculpture, which they surpass in
human intensity. The colossal statue of
Coatlicue shows that equilibrium between a
maximum richness of detail and an assertion

(50)  of plastic structure which, centuries later, is
again to be found in the Mexican baroque.

               In its finest works, Mexican sculpture
equals the masterpieces of any other period.
The plastic feeling of these mysterious people

(55)  led them to solutions that are surprising in
their modernity. There are Tarascan statuettes
that anticipate the essential and drastic simplicity
of Brancusi, and Totonac masks that
recall the poignant mortality which haunted

(60)  Lehmbruck. The reclining figure of Chacmool
seems to forecast the lines of “The
Mountains” by the English sculptor Henry
Moore. The ancient Mexicans tried sculptural
caricature also, and even sought to reproduce

(65)  color effects plastically … These peoples have
left us, as Roger Fry affirms, “more master-
pieces of pure sculpture than the whole of
Mesopotamia, or than the majority of modern
European civilizations.”

8. In line 1, “riddled” most nearly means

       (A) puzzled

       (B) questioned

       (C) interpreted

       (D) sifted

       (E) filled

   9. The author stresses that our knowledge of pre-Spanish civilization in Mexico is

       (A) incomplete

       (B) homogeneous

       (C) academic

       (D) graphic

       (E) paradoxical

10. Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?

       (A) Religion dominated early Mexican art.

       (B) The artists of ancient Mexico excelled chiefly in decoration.

       (C) Mexican art surpasses European and Asian art.

       (D) Many masterpieces exist among pre-Spanish Mexican art works.

       (E) Modern Mexican art cannot equal pre-Spanish Mexican art.

11. The author implies that distortions in ancient Mexican art were

       (A) reparable

       (B) deliberate

       (C) beautiful

       (D) caused by inferior tools

       (E) inflicted at a later date

12. The statement in lines 33–35 (“One marvels … decorative composition”) is best interpreted as conveying

       (A) skepticism about the ancient Mexican artist’s commitment to decorative art

       (B) distrust of the plastic, synthetic quality of purely decorative art

       (C) perplexity about how the pre-Spanish artist could have achieved his level of technical skill

       (D) admiration for both the artist’s technical expertise and artistic sensibility

       (E) a desire to study the origins of Mexican art further

13. In line 38, “modeling” most nearly means

       (A) posing for artists

       (B) imitating the work of others

       (C) displaying fashions

       (D) being good examples

       (E) shaping objects

14. In the last paragraph, the author probably mentions Brancusi, Lehmbruck, and Henry Moore in order to

       (A) prove that he is acquainted with the works of modern artists

       (B) show that their works were influenced by Mexican art

       (C) explain that good art has universal appeal

       (D) add a note of irony to his argument

       (E) relate Mexican art to more familiar works of art

15. It can be inferred from the passage that much of ancient Mexican art depicted

       (A) abstract patterns

       (B) landscapes

       (C) people

       (D) still life

       (E) pure color

Questions 16–27 are based on the following passage.

The following passage is an excerpt from a historical study, done in the 1980s, of the relationship between the press and each American president from George Washington to Ronald Reagan.

 

               In the shifting relationship between the
press and the presidency over nearly two centuries,
there has remained one primary constant—

Line the dissatisfaction of one with the

(5)  other. No president has escaped press criticism,
and no president has considered himself
fairly treated. The record of every administration
has been the same, beginning with mutual
protestations of goodwill, ending with recriminations

(10)  and mistrust.

               This is the best proof we could have that
the American concept of a free press in a free
society is a viable idea, whatever defects the
media may have. While the Founding Fathers

(15)  and their constituencies did not always agree on
the role the press should play, there was a basic
consensus that the newspaper (the only medium
of consequence at the time) should be the
buffer state between the rulers and the ruled.

(20)  The press could be expected to behave like a
watchdog, and government at every level,
dependent for its existence on the opinions of
those it governed, could expect to resent being
watched and having its shortcomings, real or

(25)  imaginary, exposed to the public view.

               Reduced to such simple terms, the relationship
of the presidents to the press since
George Washington’s first term is understandable
only as an underlying principle. But this

(30)  basic concept has been increasingly complicated
by the changing nature of the presidency,
by the individual nature of presidents, by
the rise of other media, especially television,
and by the growing complexity of beliefs

(35)  about the function of both press and government.

               In surveying nearly two centuries of this
relationship, it is wise to keep in mind an
axiom of professional historians—that we

(40)  should be careful not to view the past in terms
of our own times, and make judgments
accordingly. Certain parallels often become
obvious, to be sure, but to assert what an individual
president should or should not have

(45)  done, by present standards, is to violate historical
context. Historians occasionally castigate
each other for this failing, and in the case of
press and government, the danger becomes
particularly great because the words

(50)  themselves—“press” and “government,” even
“presidency”—have changed in meaning so
much during the past two hundred years.

               Recent scholarship, for example, has
emphasized that colonial Americans believed

(55)  in a free press, but not at all in the sense that
we understand it today. Basic to their belief
was the understanding, which had prevailed
since the invention of the printing press in the
fifteenth century, that whoever controlled the

(60)  printing press was in the best position to control
the minds of men. The press was seen at
once as an unprecedented instrument of
power, and the struggle to control it began
almost as soon as the Gutenberg (or Mazarin)

(65)  Bible appeared at Mainz in 1456, an event
which meant that, for the first time, books
could be reproduced exactly and, more important,
that they could be printed in quantity.

               Two primary centers of social and political

(70)  power—the state and the church—stood
to benefit most from the invention of the
printing press. In the beginning it was mutually
advantageous for them to work together;
consequently it was no accident that the first

(75)  printing press on the North American continent
was set up in Mexico City in 1539 by
Fray Juan Zumarraga, first Catholic bishop of
that country. It gave the church an unprecedented
means of advancing conversion, along

(80)  with the possibility of consolidating and
extending its power, thus providing Catholic
Spain with the same territorial advantages
that would soon be extended elsewhere in the
Americas.

(85)       When British colonies were established in
North America during the early part of the
seventeenth century, it was once again a religious
faith, this time Protestant, that brought
the first printing press to what is now the

(90)  United States. But while colonial printing in
Central and South America remained the
province of the Catholics for some time and
was used primarily for religious purposes, in
North America secular publishing became an

(95)  adjunct of a church-dominated press almost at
once and was soon dominant.

               It is part of American mythology that the
nation was “cradled in liberty” and that the
colonists, seeking religious freedom, immediately

(100) established a free society, but the facts
are quite different. The danger of an uncontrolled
press to those in power was well
expressed by Sir William Berkeley, governor
of Virginia, when he wrote home to his superiors

(105) in 1671: “I thank God there are no free
schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not
have these hundred years; for learning has
brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects
into the world, and printing has divulged

(110) them, and libels against the best government,
God keep us from both.” There are those in
twentieth-century America who would say
“Amen” to Berkeley’s view of printing and
“libels against the best government.”

16. According to the passage, all American presidents have experienced

       (A) defects in the quality of their press coverage

       (B) goodwill from some reporters in the press corps

       (C) alternating periods of antagonism and harmony with the press

       (D) hostility between themselves and the press

       (E) having untruthful reports published about themselves

17. Conflict between the president and the press indicates that

       (A) the press publishes the truth even when it hurts the president

       (B) freedom of the press is alive and well in the United States

       (C) presidents have traditionally had little respect for the press

       (D) the press is made up mostly of critics and cynics

       (E) friendly reporters are rarely assigned to cover the president

18. In the early days of the country, the function of the press was to

       (A) interpret the government’s actions for the people

       (B) carefully observe and report on the work of all elected officials

       (C) serve as a conduit of information between the government and the people

       (D) preserve, protect, and defend the Bill of Rights, especially freedom of the press

       (E) mold public opinion

19. Since the early days the relationship between the president and the press has been altered by all of the following EXCEPT

       (A) the president’s term of office has remained four years

       (B) the position of “Press Secretary” has been created

       (C) presidents hold televised news conferences

       (D) U.S. presidents are expected to be world leaders

       (E) an increasingly large number of news people cover the president

20. The author of the passage cautions the reader about judging presidents of the distant past because

       (A) press reports of their day cannot be trusted

       (B) modern scholars have revised history

       (C) we can’t fully grasp the context of the past

       (D) second-guessing is unfair to former presidents

       (E) history is an imprecise science

21. In colonial America, the phrase “free press” (line 55) meant that

       (A) the same newspapers were published throughout the thirteen colonies

       (B) the press influenced what people thought and did

       (C) aside from the Bible, newspapers were the colonists’ favorite reading material

       (D) very few people could afford to own a printing press

       (E) the government was less powerful than the press

22. The assertion that it was “no accident” (line 74) that Juan Zumarraga set up the first printing press in North America means that

       (A) the church refused to allow anyone else to set up a printing press before Zumarraga did

       (B) Zumarraga worked as an agent of the Spanish government

       (C) printing holy bibles raised funds for the church

       (D) the church quickly saw that the printing press could help spread the word of God

       (E) Zumarraga advocated the improvement of the printing press

23. In contrast to printing in South America, printing in North America

       (A) was less politically oriented

       (B) was founded by the Catholic church

       (C) was dominated by religion

       (D) began earlier in the history of the New World

       (E) quickly became less religious in nature

24. In the opening sentence of the final paragraph (lines 97–101), the author seeks primarily to

       (A) define a term

       (B) defend a widely held belief

       (C) correct a misconception

       (D) champion a cause

       (E) pose a question

25. The author refers to Sir William Berkeley as an example of an administrator who

       (A) was concerned for the future of his colony

       (B) was appointed rather than elected to his office

       (C) viewed the press as a tool for spreading heresy

       (D) advocated religious tolerance

       (E) inspired confidence in the press

26. Americans who would say “Amen” to Berkeley’s view (lines 112 and 113) are likely to believe

       (A) that limits should be set on freedom of the press

       (B) in the exercise of complete religious freedom for all

       (C) in a laissez-faire type of government

       (D) in the separation of church and state

       (E) that extremism in defense of freedom is not justified

27. The passage suggests that issues of a free press

       (A) pertain only to the United States

       (B) have been intertwined with matters concerning the separation of church and state

       (C) still raise controversy in the United States

       (D) are clearly discussed in the Constitution of the United States

       (E) originated during George Washington’s administration

Questions 28–40 are based on the following pair of passages.

The following passages are excerpts from the writings of two naturalists with a deep affection for the American wilderness. The first is about the Grand Canyon; the second, about the Sonoran Desert in the state of Arizona.

Passage 1

 

               Those who have long and carefully studied
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado do not
hesitate for a moment to pronounce it by far

Line the most sublime of all earthly spectacles. If its

(5)  sublimity consisted only in its dimensions, it
could be sufficiently set forth in a single sentence.
It is more than 200 miles long, from
5 to 12 miles wide, and from 5,000 to 6,000
feet deep. There are in the world valleys which

(10)  are longer and a few which are deeper. There
are valleys flanked by summits loftier than the
palisades of the Kaibab. Still the Grand
Canyon is the sublimest thing on earth. It is
not so alone by virtue of its magnitudes, but

(15)  by virtue of the whole—its ensemble.

               The common notion of a canyon is that of
a deep, narrow gash in the earth, with nearly
vertical walls, like a great and neatly cut
trench. There are hundreds of chasms in the

(20)  Plateau Country which answer very well to
this notion. Many of them are sunk to frightful
depths and are fifty to a hundred miles in
length. Some are exceedingly narrow, as the
canyons of the forks of the Virgen, where the

(25)  overhanging walls shut out the sky. Some are
intricately sculptured, and illuminated with
brilliant colors; others are picturesque by reason
of their bold and striking sculpture. A few
of them are most solemn and impressive by

(30)  reason of their profundity and the majesty of
their walls. But, as a rule, the common
canyons are neither grand nor even attractive.
Upon first acquaintance they are curious and
awaken interest as a new sensation, but they

(35)  soon grow tiresome for want of diversity, and
become at last mere bores. The impressions
they produce are very transient, because of
their great simplicity, and the limited range of
ideas they present.

(40)        It is perhaps in some respects unfortunate
that the stupendous pathway of the Colorado
River through the Kaibabs was ever called
a canyon, for the name identifies it with a baser
conception. But the name presents as wide a

(45)  range of signification as the word house. The
log cabin of the rancher, the painted and
vine-clad cottage of the mechanic, the home
of the millionaire, the places where parliaments
assemble, and the grandest temples of

(50)  worship are all houses. Yet the contrast
between St. Mark’s and the rude dwelling of
the frontiersman is not greater than that
between the chasm of the Colorado and the
trenches in the rocks which answer to the ordinary

(55)  conception of a canyon. So is the chasm
an expansion of the simple type of drainage
channels peculiar to the Plateau Country. To
the conception of its vast proportions must be
added some notion of its intricate plan, the

(60)  nobility of its architecture, its colossal buttes,
its wealth of ornamentation, the splendor of its
colors, and its wonderful atmosphere. All of
these attributes combine with infinite complexity
to produce a whole which at first

(65)  bewilders and at length overpowers.

Passage 2

 

               Last Saturday before dusk, the summer’s
114 degree heat broke to 79 within an hour. A
fury of wind whipped up, pelting houses with
dust, debris, and gravel. Then a scatter of rain

(70)  came, as a froth of purplish clouds charged
across the skies. As the last of the sun’s light
dissipated, we could see Baboquivari Peak silhouetted
on a red horizon, lightning dancing
around its head.

(75)       The rains came that night—they changed
the world.

               Crusty dry since April, the desert floor
softened under the rain’s dance. Near the
rain-pocked surface, hundreds of thousands of

(80)  bloodroot amaranth are popping off their seed-
coats and diving toward light. Barren places
will soon be shrouded in a veil of green.

               Desert arroyos are running again, muddy
water swirling after a head of suds, dung, and

(85)  detritus. Where sheetfloods pool, buried animals
awake, or new broods hatch. At dawn,
dark egg-shaped clouds of flying ants hover
over ground, excited in the early morning light.

               In newly filled waterholes, spadefoot

(90)  toads suddenly congregate. The males bellow.
They seek out mates, then latch onto them
with their special nuptial pads. The females
spew out egg masses into the hot murky water.
For two nights, the toad ponds are wild with

(95)  chanting while the Western spadefoot’s
burnt-peanut-like smell looms thick in the air.

               A yellow mud turtle crawls out of the
drenched bottom of an old adobe borrow pit
where he had been buried through the hot dry

(100) spell. He plods a hundred yards over to a
floodwater reservoir and dives in. He has no
memory of how many days it’s been since his
last swim, but the pull of the water—that is
somehow familiar.

(105)      This is the time when the Papago Indians
of the Sonoran Desert celebrate the coming of
the rainy season moons, the Jujkiabig
Mamsad
, and the beginning of a new year.

               Fields lying fallow since the harvest of the

(110) winter crop are now ready for another planting.
If sown within a month after summer solstice,
they can produce a crop quick enough for harvest
by the Feast of San Francisco, October 4.

               When I went by the Madrugada home in

(115) Little Tucson on Monday, the family was
eagerly talking about planting the flashflood
field again. At the end of June, Julian wasn’t
even sure if he would plant this year—no rain
yet, too hot to prepare the field, and hardly

(120) any water left in their charco catchment basin.

               Now, a fortnight later, the pond is nearly
filled up to the brim. Runoff has fed into it
through four small washes. Sheetfloods have
swept across the field surface. Julian imagines

(125) big yellow squash blossoms in his field, just
another month or so away. It makes his mouth
water.

               Once I asked a Papago youngster what the
desert smelled like to him. He answered with

(130) little hesitation:

               “The desert smells like rain.”

               His reply is a contradiction in the minds of
most people. How could the desert smell like
rain, when deserts are, by definition, places

(135) which lack substantial rainfall?

               The boy’s response was a sort of Papago
shorthand. Hearing Papago can be like tasting a
delicious fruit, while sensing that the taste comes
from a tree with roots too deep to fathom.

(140)      The question had triggered a scent—creosote
bushes after a storm—their aromatic oils
released by the rains. His nose remembered
being out in the desert, overtaken: the desert
smells like rain
.

28. Passage 1 indicates that the Grand Canyon is “the sublimest thing on earth” (line 13) because of its

       (A) size

       (B) geologic formations

       (C) mysterious beauty

       (D) overall appearance

       (E) stature among the world’s natural wonders

29. Passage 1 implies that visitors to the Grand Canyon are most likely to be

       (A) enthusiastic at first but quick to seek fresh wonders

       (B) astonished by the Grand Canyon’s incomparable size

       (C) overwhelmed by the canyon’s variety of features

       (D) awestruck by the agelessness of the place

       (E) impressed by the mixture of colors and rock formations

30. The author thinks that the Grand Canyon should not have been called a “canyon” because

       (A) it is far too big for a canyon

       (B) most canyons have vertical walls

       (C) it is made up of several unconnected parts

       (D) the Grand Canyon transcends the common notion of the word

       (E) it was not formed the way most other canyons were

31. One can infer from the passage that St. Mark’s (line 51) is

       (A) a large church

       (B) an ornate structure

       (C) an archaeological ruin

       (D) a holy shrine

       (E) a tourist attraction

32. Relating the Grand Canyon to “drainage channels” (lines 56 and 57) helps the author make the point that

       (A) large canyons at one time were very small

       (B) flowing water is necessary in canyon formation

       (C) the Grand Canyon is in a class by itself

       (D) canyons change perpetually in Plateau Country

       (E) the canyons of Plateau Country are unique

33. According to Passage 2, rain showers in the desert

       (A) soak instantly into the earth

       (B) are usually preceded by thunder

       (C) promote the growth of vegetation

       (D) force birds from their nests

       (E) keep the land cool enough for comfortable human habitation

34. In line 72, “dissipated” most nearly means

       (A) squandered

       (B) distributed

       (C) separated

       (D) vanished

       (E) indulged

35. The author’s attitude toward the coming of the rains is best described as

       (A) respect for the rains’ destructive powers

       (B) awe of their revitalizing effects

       (C) appreciation of the rains’ practical utility

       (D) puzzlement at the rains’ delayed arrival

       (E) skepticism of their ultimate influence

36. The author of Passage 2 identifies the spadefoot toad by all of the following characteristics EXCEPT

       (A) its relative size

       (B) the time of day it is particularly active

       (C) its manner of propagating offspring

       (D) the sound it makes as its mating call

       (E) its characteristic odor

37. According to the author, the Papago youngster’s description of the desert’s smell (line 131) would strike most readers as

       (A) incontrovertible

       (B) literal

       (C) tentative

       (D) paradoxical

       (E) hypothetical

38. In contrast to the author of Passage 2, the author of Passage 1 relies almost exclusively on his sense(s) of

       (A) sight and sound

       (B) sight and smell

       (C) sight only

       (D) smell only

       (E) sound only

39. The author of Passage 2 most obviously differs from the author of Passage 1 in that he

       (A) views nature more like a poet than a scientist

       (B) includes information about his personal experiences

       (C) uses figurative language

       (D) is more respectful of nature’s wonders

       (E) includes more geological information

40. The two passages differ in that Passage 1 is

       (A) abstract, whereas Passage 2 is concrete

       (B) practical, whereas Passage 2 is speculative

       (C) analytical, whereas Passage 2 is didactic

       (D) cynical, whereas Passage 2 is earnest

       (E) resigned, whereas Passage 2 is argumentative