71. (D). The author states that the Tokugawa period in Japan was a model for patterns of organization, and writes, as
psychologists, social historians, and Biblical prophets have all observed, in varying ways, humans inevitably fail
to anticipate unintended consequences. This certainly qualifies as a "common failing." (A) is incorrect, as Iceland is
only mentioned briefly as an analogy. (B) is wrong both because the author does not express a point of view and
because the issue is the result rather than the imposition of a fixed order. (C) addresses a very minor detail, not the
purpose. (E) is a comparison that the passage does not address and therefore cannot be inferred.
72. (C). The author states that the inversion of the financial and social rankings led to the decline of Tokugawa
society. (A) and (B) are both incorrect because the passage states that social mobility was prohibited and that facet of
the society became problematic. (D) does not necessarily support that point—for one, no reason for any such revolt
can be assumed. (E) is also incorrect; while the author does mention foreign pressure as leading to the collapse of the
government, the question concerns the decline of the society, which began long before Admiral Perry's arrival.
73. (C). The author states that unifying Germany under Prussian rather than Austrian rule made war more likely. (A) is
a result of the treaty but the author does not imply that it was negative. (B) is based on information from the first
paragraph and is irrelevant to this question. (D), while true, is unmentioned in the passage and thus not correct. (E) is
wrong because it is a distortion to state that the author thought unifying Germany itself was the problem.
74. (A). The passage mentions the military brilliance of Prinz Eugen of Savoy, so (A) must be true and is correct. (B)
and (E) are both incorrect because the author does not create hierarchies of importance in either case, thus no
particular ranking must be true. (C) and (D) are incorrect because the passage does not indicate who won and who lost.
75. (B). The author discusses two ideas, but subtly dismisses the objectivity of the first's adherents in the last
sentence of the first paragraph. Phrases such as it is no wonder indicate an implicit sympathy for the second
suggestion. (A) distorts the point, as "theories" are not the same as ideas, the two ideas are not exactly "opposing," and
the issue is not a "process." (C) is incorrect — the last sentence of the passage undermines "definitively" and
"programs" are not the same as ideas. (D) is wrong because dearth means "lack," and Lewis's work is certainly very
popular. (E) is incorrect because, in addition to missing the point, there is no critique, only a very brief description.
76. (D). The passage only notes that Lewis's topics include both baseball and finance; the parallels mentioned are
between the protagonists, not the professions. (A) is incorrect; "gaming the system" is idiomatic. (B) is incorrect; the
fourth sentence of the second paragraph describes Lewis's protagonists. (C) is incorrect; movie making, used as
evidence, is part of popular culture. (E) is incorrect; the introductory discussion of Lewis's education can fairly be
called a mention of formative influences.
77. III only. Statement I is wrong because a person driving his own car isn't a public service (the skateboarder is also a
pretty transparent play on the idea of a "rider"). II is wrong because the free rider problem concerns people enjoying
benefits without paying for them, not people paying different amounts for the same service. III is correct because in
this instance, the action of many free riders leads to a systemic problem.
78. (C). Choice (A) is wrong because nowhere in the passage is it stated that free riders cannot be blamed. (B) is
wrong because nowhere in the passage is it stated that free rider problems are not worth worrying about. (C) is correct
because the first sentence of the last paragraph says that in some cases, the free rider problem is viewed as a
necessary cost of government, implying that in other cases, it is not. (D) is incorrect because national defense is
cited as an example of the inevitability of free rider problems, not as proof that they need to be stamped out as quickly
as possible. (E) is incorrect because the passage does not discuss the morality of free riders.
79. I and III only. Regarding the first statement, the passage claims modern humans are known to have diverged
hundreds of thousands of years before modern humans left Africa. To say that they diverged is to say that two
species share a common ancestry to that point. Regarding the second statement, whether modern humans and
Neanderthals interbred is a matter of controversy (The team's conclusions were answered with skepticism on a
number of fronts) and thus this answer cannot be definitely true. Finally, although the passage does not endorse the
claim that modern humans and Neanderthals interbred between 60,000 and 100,000 years ago, it treats as given the
claim that the two species lived near one another during that interval (for roughly forty thousand years of that
window Neanderthals and modern humans lived near one another in the Middle East).
80. III only. The passage says that Paleontologists and archaeologists charged that the conclusion was
unsupported by archaeological evidence, so they appeal to archaeological evidence to criticize Paabo's
conclusions. Statement I is wrong because there is no suggestion that the contamination of Neanderthal DNA with
modern human DNA was deliberate, nor even that it was done by Paabo, nor is any other reason offered to doubt his
integrity. Statement II is wrong because there is no suggestion that they ignore DNA evidence, even if they are not as
persuaded by it as Paabo and his team.
81. (D). The passage claims that the reflecting surface must be far enough away so that the sound of the echo is
distinct from the original sound, but not so far away that the sound is completely dissipated. You can use that
information to eliminate (A) and (B). The passage also claims that multiple reflecting surfaces are apt to produce a
reverberation rather than an echo, so you can cross off (C). The anechoic chamber is said to prevent echoes with
sound-absorbing fiberglass wedges, so (E) is also out.
82. II and III only. The echo chamber is constructed with the acoustical properties of a small cathedral precisely in
order to create echoes. Mountains, along with buildings, are offered as an example of the sort of reflecting surface
likely to bring about an echo.
83. I only. The first statement is justified because in the second paragraph, de Beauvoir is quoted as saying exactly so.
The second statement is not justified because at the end of the first paragraph, de Beauvoir indicates that women are
viewed as intrinsically passive and immanent. This does NOT mean that de Beauvoir believes this (in fact, the
second paragraph gives good evidence that she believes precisely the reverse). The third statement is not justified
because, although de Beauvoir views both self-constraint and imposed constraint (oppression) as negative, she does
not indicate which type she considers to be worse.
84. II only. In the first paragraph, the passage states that immanence is considered "a degradation" before going back
and forth between immanence as a freely chosen moral fault and immanence as the result of oppression. Thus,
immanence is not always characterized as either.
85. (D). The first sentence of the passage tells you that existentialist ethics were a major influence on de Beauvoir's
philosophy. Much of the rest of the passage is devoted to explaining that philosophy. (A) is too broad, as the passage
doesn't explain all of existential ethics, of which transcendence is just one concept. Similarly, (B) is too broad as the
passage does not discuss all of feminist theory, just de Beauvoir's. (C) is wrong — the passage is not a diatribe (the
word diatribe is almost certainly inappropriate to describe any GRE passage). Choice (E) is again too broad and off
the point.
86. (A). The author's primary purpose in writing this passage is to explain the distinction between science and nonscience
via historical examples, such as those of Aristotle and Galileo. The author begins by positing the question of
differentiating the two, and then goes on to use historical examples to explain why each does or does not meet the
qualification for modern science. In (B), the author never criticizes the Ancient Greek philosophers, just labels their
method unscientific. In (C), nowhere does the author claim that it is important to follow Galileo's scientific method,
just that this is now the modern definition of science. Regarding (D), the author never makes mention of the historical
definition of science. In (E), the author never argues that the findings of Galileo are more important than those of
Aristotle. Further, the author only discusses one finding of each philosopher/scientist, so this answer is out of scope.
87. (D). Galileo's method forced one to first form a hypothesis, then design an experiment to confirm or deny this
hypothesis, and then accept or discard the hypothesis based on one's findings. Aristotle's hypothesis was that
solids were the least expanded form of matter, and the experiment he designed to prove this was to show that solids
sank within liquids of the same type. As this did not hold true for water, under the Galilean method Aristotle would be
forced to discard his hypothesis based on the results of his experiment. Regarding (A), the passage does not contain
any information about the shape of solid water or of other solid forms of matter, only about Aristotle's conjectures on
the shape of solid water. Regarding (B), the passage claims the opposite of this fact: that an object with larger mass
will not fall to the ground more quickly than an object with lesser mass. As for (C), the passage states that the ancient
Greeks were more philosophers than scientists, but never prohibits one from being both. As for (E), the passage states
that Galileo used his scientific method to disprove many commonly held misconceptions about the rules of physics,
but never states that you cannot do this in the absence of his method.
88. (C). The passage describes the role of Alcott's women in their society and briefly wonders about the author's
motivation. (A) concerns only the last sentence of the passage. (B) and (D) ignore that the passage discusses a novel
rather than reality. (D) is also too broad and somewhat nonsensical since the passage concerns the past. (E) misses the
author's tone — there is no indictment, merely a discussion.
89. (E). In the second paragraph, the passage dismisses Meg's taking part by saying it meant no more than talking to
her husband, remaining home, and allowing him to be a mediator between her and the world. (A) misses the point of
the passage and is almost backwards. (B) and (C) are misplaced details about the alternative to taking part. (D)
distorts the second paragraph, which said her husband was her mediator instead of her taking part.
90. I and III only. The first statement is justified, as the first sentence states that the man of the house was at the
warfront. The third statement must follow, because the passage states that men went out in public to conduct activities
and returned home at night. The second statement, while quite possibly true, is not mentioned in the passage. The
passage only states that Alcott glorified this condition in her novel, not that the entire society did so. Do not bring in
outside information or make assumptions!
91. (E). A falsifiable idea is "one that can be shown to be false." The statement no human being lives forever can
only be shown to be false if one observes a human being that lives forever. However, this would be impossible
(because of the word forever), and thus the idea is not falsifiable. In addition, answer choices (A) through (D) are
incorrect. The statement all birds are black is falsifiable by identifying a single bird that is not black. The statement
Earth is the only planet in the universe with intelligent life can be proven false by finding intelligent life on any
planet in the universe except Earth. The statement It rains on Mars everyday can be proven false by observing Mars
on a single non-rainy day. The statement The sun will explode in 100,000 years can be proven false by waiting more
than 100,000 years and verifying that the sun has not exploded. Note that choices (D) and (E) seem somewhat similar
— however impractical it is to wait 100,000 years to falsify something, there is still a big difference between
"100,000 years" and "forever."
92. (B). The author states in the last paragraph that a theory that is unable to be proven true is very unlikely to be
formed. Therefore, it appears that he/she believes that "confirmability" lacks a practical application. The author states,
it is understandable that Popper does not devote that much time to the criterion of 'confirmability,' inferring that
confirmability is less important that falsifiability, not more. You can eliminate (A). Regarding (C), the author states
that a theory that is unable to be proven true is unlikely to be formed, therefore it is unlikely he/she believes that
confirmability applies to a broad range of theories. As for (D), in the first sentence of the last paragraph, the author
states that confirmability follows the same logic as falsifiability ("By that logic,…") and thus it appears he/she
believes that comfirmability is reasonable. As for (E), the author states, it is understandable that Popper does not
devote that much time to the criterion of 'confirmability'. Thus, the author is unlikely to agree that Popper should
have developed the idea of confirmability.
93. (C). The second paragraph focuses on the significance of the two definitions of 'political', as (C) states. (A) is
incorrect because no alternative is offered in the second paragraph. (B) is incorrect because there is no "revision" —
this choice might describe the third paragraph. Similarly, in (D), there is no "exception." (E) is closer to the point of
the first paragraph.
94. (B). The author mentions the play as an example, or "illustration," of when speech is political, which is the aspect
discussed in that paragraph. (A) is incorrect, as it is used as an example, not counterpoint. (C) is wrong because the
passage does not advocate a position. (D) and (E) miss the point of the example, which is neither about universality
nor a fallacy.
95. (E). The passage states that the hegemonic model believed governments to operate exclusively through law and
the threat and enforcement of concrete punishment, such as imprisonment, monetary penalties, etc… which
legitimizes law and supports the exercise of power. (A), (B), and (C) all exemplify a using the rule of law to exact
concrete punishments. (D) does not demonstrate a clear punishment, but does represent a clear exercise of power (the
ability to censor an exhibit). Only (E) does not represent the use of law and punishment, as a coup would necessarily
not be legal.
96. (A). The answer to this type of question is always explicit in the passage. In the third paragraph, the passage cites
Hanna Pitkin: public-spirited conversation happens when citizens speak in terms of 'justice.' None of the other
choices is mentioned in this section of the passage.
97. Such a definition is not precisely wrong, but rather is outdated and falls short… (second sentence of first
paragraph). This is the only one of the four sentences in paragraphs 1 and 2 that includes an explicit criticism.
98. (B). The passage describes two different ideas, explanationism and predictionism, that have both been used to
verify or disprove different scientific theories. As for (A), the passage never states that either theory is superior to the
other. Although (C) is true, the passage only mentions the two models of the solar system as an example of the
workings of explanationism. Therefore, it cannot be the main idea of the passage. Regarding (D), the passage does not
describe what is required to posit a physical theory. As for (E), a predictionist and an explanationist will always
diverge on how to prove that a scientific theory is true, but they might still agree on whether or not the theory is
correct.
99. (E). Before citing the example of the Copernicus and Brahe models of the universe, the author states, it could be
the case that a theory predicts something and yet does not provide the best explanation of it. The author goes on
to use Copernicus and Brahe as an example, stating that both of their theories have predictive power, but obviously
Brahe's does not offer the best explanation for the workings of the solar system. As for (A), the author is actually
arguing the opposite: that predictive power alone is never enough to verify a theory. (B) does reveal that some
theories have more or less of an ad-hoc quality, but this is not the author's reason for citing this example. The main
reason must be related back to explanationism. As for (C), the example showed the opposite — both theories were
found to accurately predict future events, and thus they must have both made the same predictions for those future
events. Although it is true that the more complicated model failed (D), the author's intent was to show that an
incorrect model can still make correct predictions.
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