Questions 120–121 are based on the following reading passage.
After 22 years of observations in Shark Bay, Australia, behavioral biologist Janet Mann and her
colleagues have discovered that certain bottlenose dolphins, known as spongers, form social networks,
showing the first hints of culture among non-human animals. Spongers are dolphins that wear marine basket
sponges on their beaks as hunting tools, using them to
5
root around on deep sandy bottoms and find fish concealed below the sand. Sponging is a complex hunting
technique passed on from mother to offspring. A sponger must know where the sponges grow, how to pick the
right sponge, how to remove the sponge intact from the ocean floor, and how and where to properly hunt.
Spongers typically live solitary lives, but over 22 years of observation, a pattern
10
emerged. The 28 female spongers formed cliques with other female spongers that were not necessarily
genetically related to them. This behavior differs from other animal behavior where circumstances, such as
genetics or food sources, dictate the formation of groups. The fact that these spongers chose to associate
based upon similar, socially learned behaviors makes their cliques a cultural first among animals.
120. Which of the following expresses the main idea of the passage?
(A) Sponging is a complex behavior used by some dolphins as a hunting technique.
(B) Any study of animal behavior must take place over an extended period of time in order for patterns to
emerge.
(C) A small set of non-human animals has been found to form social networks.
(D) Studying how animals form groups is important to our understanding of nature.
(E) Only humans can form social networks.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
121. Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
Groups formed by genetic bonds or food supplies do not qualify as social networks.
All spongers of Shark Bay, Australia form social networks.
Spongers can only be found in Shark Bay, Australia.
Questions 122–123 are based on the following reading passage.
For years, the idea that blind people can hear better than sighted people was considered something of an
old canard. However, functional brain imaging now has allowed us to look inside the brains of blind people
who possess what can only be termed cerebral superpowers—the ability to understand speech at up to 25
syllables per second, a speed
5
that sounds like "noise" to sighted people (a typical sighted person understands closer to 10 syllables per
second). As it turns out, a brain region called V1, situated at the back of the skull and which normally only
responds to light has actually been rewired in the brains of blind people—and now processes auditory
information. This is truly a stunning example of the brain's plasticity, a topic of cardinal importance in
designing educational experiences and
10 materials to best engage the brains of students.
Of course, in discussing the brain's amazing plasticity, modern thinkers take for granted something that
would have been shocking to thinkers from Aristotle (who posited a holistic, non-corporeal mind in De Anima
in the 4th century, BC) through Descartes (who argued, in the 17th century, for mind-body dualism)—the idea
that the mind is physically located in the brain
15 and that our intellect, personality, and selfhood are attributable to physical processes in the brain and can be
altered by brain injuries.
122. According to the passage, the belief that blind people can hear better than sighted people
(A) is untrue
(B) was not a matter of contention, but was then shown to be true
(C) was, for years, thought to be true, but is now up for debate
(D) is put forth by the scientific community, but this evidence is contested by many
(E) was, for years, commonly known but thought by many to be false, and then was shown to be true
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
123. According to the passage, Aristotle would NOT have thought that
the mind is separate from the body
the mind exists in parts or modules, rather than as one entity
blind people can hear better than sighted people
Questions 124–125 are based on the following reading passage.
The atrocities committed during the Second World War by the National Socialists are well known and
have been meticulously documented by historians. Far less known, however, are the mass deportations that
took place almost two years after the conclusion of the war, this time orchestrated by the Allied governments.
In the years after 1945, over 12 million German-
5
speaking citizens of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Poland were dispossessed, packed into trains, and
left to fend for themselves in newly defeated and impoverished Germany. What allowed for this mass exile—
the largest forced migration in history—was the confluence of political motivations on the part of the key
players. The expelling countries of Eastern and Central Europe were especially keen on punishing Germans for
the horrors of the war—though,
10
of course, their own German-speaking populations were hardly responsible for Germany's actions—and on
increasing the ethnic homogeneity within their borders. The Allied powers, too, had something to gain. The
Soviet Union, intent on capitalizing politically on German's defeat, aimed to irrevocably undermine relations
between Germany and Poland, especially by ceding German territory to Poland and emptying it of its
inhabitants. Britain, weary from the
15
war, hoped the resulting mass suffering would reinforce the completeness of Germany's defeat. And the
United States, in turn, was attempting to cozy up to the nations of Eastern and Central Europe in the hopes of
keeping them away from Soviet influence.
The result of the deportations, however, was the death of at least 500,000 people and Germany's
acquisition of a homeless population far greater than that of any other industrialized
20
country. The death toll was not far worse, furthermore, only because the Soviets' ambition to cripple Germany
was unsuccessful. Following the war, Germany underwent what is known as its "economic miracle," which
made it possible to house, feed, and employ the mass of exiles. That this episode is practically excised from
the history books in some countries, however, is surely corroboration of the platitude that history is written by
the victors.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
124. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
Some events that occurred during World War II do not appear in history books.
The Allied powers included the Soviet Union, Britain, the United States, and Poland.
The Allied powers were not entirely unified on political matters.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
125. Which of the following, if true, would weaken the claim that the Allied powers had something to gain from the
deportations?
The United States believed that the Eastern and Central European powers hoped to create more
multicultural, ethnically mixed societies.
The Soviet Union wanted to profit from post-war trade between Germany and Poland.
Britain, weary of the killing during the war, pledged itself to preventing suffering.
Questions 126–128 are based on the following reading passage.
Quantum mechanics is a relatively new field of physics that was developed in the early 1900's. Although
we classically think of a particle as a fixed object, quantum mechanics describes particles as waves using
properties such as position and energy. The quantum mechanical wave describes the probability of a particle to
attain certain values of these
5
properties, and measuring the particle samples from this probability. Take, for example, the analogy of rolling
a six-sided die. For each roll there is a one-in-six chance that any single number will result. After rolling,
however, only one single number will be observed. If the die is rolled enough times, one can deduce that the
die has six sides and that each side is equally likely. However, one can never be completely sure, because
rolling dice is probabilistic in
10
nature. Quantum mechanics states that the same is true of the position (and other properties) of a particle. A
particle trapped in a closed box has some finite probability of being at any location within the box. Open the
box once and you'll find the particle at only one location. Open the box enough times and you'll see all the
particle locations and the frequency at which they are achieved. From this, one can deduce the original
properties of the quantum
15 mechanical wave, just as one could deduce the properties of the die.
The counterintuitive properties of quantum mechanics, that the attributes of a particle cannot be known in
advance of measurement, initially provoked many strong philosophical debates and interpretations regarding
the field. In fact, Einstein was deeply troubled by the idea of nature being probabilistic and commented
famously that, "God does not play dice with
20 the universe." Over the last 70 years, however, irrefutable evidence has abounded that verifies the truth of the
theory of quantum mechanics.
126. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
(A) Particles are not a fixed object but rather waves.
(B) Controversial theories are often found to be correct.
(C) Quantum mechanics correctly postulates the probabilistic nature of particles.
(D) Many questions still exist about the nature of particles and quantum mechanics.
(E) Experiments can be designed to test the quantum mechanical nature of particles.
127. Based on the information in the passage, which of the following would best explain Einstein's motivation for
stating that "God does not play dice with the universe"?
(A) Einstein did not believe that particles should be governed by probability as in a game of dice.
(B) Einstein believed that God should control the fate of the universe.
(C) Einstein was opposed to the theory of quantum mechanics on the grounds that it violated causality.
(D) Einstein's religious beliefs did not allow him to fully understand the theory of quantum mechanics.
(E) Einstein believed that God created the universe such that particles would be modeled probabilistically
as in quantum mechanics.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
128. Which of the following can be properly inferred based on the information in the passage?
The location of a particle within a closed box cannot be known for certain without observing the
particle.
Properties such as position and energy of a particle can never be measured.
Particles can be properly described as quantum mechanical waves.
Questions 129–133 are based on the following reading passage.
Invisible theater and guerrilla theater are two forms of street theater with similar origins but very
different approaches. Both forms take place exclusively in public places, but invisible theater conceals its
performative nature whereas guerrilla theater flaunts it. While invisible theater creates a performance space
unbeknownst to its audience, guerrilla theater actively
5 seeks the attention of an audience by explicitly imposing a performance space onto a public place.
Starting in the early 1970's, Augusto Boal and fellow actors have staged scenes regarding social issues in
public or semi-public places (e.g., restaurants), crafting their dialog and action to get a verbal reaction from
bystanders. Because performers and non-performers remain
10
distinct, invisible theater returns somewhat to the model set up by traditional theater. However, there are a few
key differences. The performance space is created in public places without the awareness of non-performers.
For non-performers, being beyond the performative space allows them to avoid the etiquette of theatergoing
and removes that "lens" that unavoidably emerges when we feel we are viewing art or performance. If people
do not suspect that they
15 are viewing art, however, they are free to engage with the action and concepts of an unfolding drama as if these
actions and concepts were real.
Boal has documented various successful instances of invisible theater in which non-performers actively
listen, participate in public-spirited discussion, and even take unplanned public-minded action in response to
the dialogue and events set up by invisible theater
20
performers. Because onlookers think they are witnessing real life events, because the performers are bold in
their statements, because the scripted characters are very vocal about what they are doing and experiencing,
invisible theater is able to instigate political conversation within an everyday context; it successfully creates
public forums out of thin air.
Guerrilla theater creates surprise performances in public, but is driven by the forceful
25
imposition of "traditional" (if we can call anything about guerrilla theater "traditional") theater. One example
includes two professors of Galway's University College who dressed in their robes and went out to the street,
questioning pedestrians and awarding diplomas to the ones least able to provide good answers, as a way to
protest their university's decision to grant Ronald Reagan an honorary doctorate in law.
30
A large part of the goal of guerrilla theater is to get publicized, its message echoed over and over in our
ever-expanding network of technology-interface mass media. Guerrilla theater knows it may antagonize its
direct audience—it often hopes to, because conflict is more likely to be broadcast, and the goal of guerrilla
theater is to get people talking publicly.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
129. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
When people are unaware that they are viewing a performance, they tend to act more naturally.
Invisible theater is best described as improvisational.
One measure of the success of a theatrical performance can be the actions taken by the audience once
the performance is over.
130. The main point of the passage could best be described as
(A) a discussion of two different but aligned artistic currents
(B) an examination of which of two art forms is more effective at prompting political action
(C) a synopsis of the evolution of theater
(D) a presentation of two theatrical concepts that conceal their performative nature
(E) an overview of artistic life in public places
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
131. Which of the following is true of both invisible theater and guerrilla theater?
both have a goal of encouraging discourse
both impose performance space onto public location
both antagonize their audience
132. The passage implies that the Galway professors believed which of the following?
(A) Guerrilla theater was superior to invisible theater.
(B) Protesting an honor could result in the revocation of the award.
(C) Granting Ronald Reagan a degree demeaned the intellectual standard of the university.
(D) Handing out diplomas was a legal activity.
(E) Ronald Reagan's foreign policy had deleterious effects.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
133. Which of the following, if true, would undermine the principle of invisible theater?
When people knowingly view art, their heightened attention increases their perception and
involvement.
Audience members watch a performance and later report to others what happened, still not knowing
that the event was a theater piece.
A lively debate about public issues is brought to a halt by the imposition of scripted characters
inserting theatrical dialogue.
Questions 134–138 are based on the following reading passage.
Cells employ many strategies to avoid genetic mutation. From the high fidelity of DNA-synthesizing
enzymes to the pro-death signaling that accompanies mutagenic stimuli such as UV radiation, cellular
mechanisms that stymie genetic changes are ubiquitous throughout the natural world. These mechanisms are
critical because widespread genomic changes would
5 wreak physiological havoc; indeed, malfunctions in molecular players that safeguard against mutagenesis, such
as the protein p53, have been implicated in diseases such as cancer.
Yet despite the criticality of preventing and eliminating DNA mutations to avoid deleterious changes in
cells, in specific contexts many organisms have also adapted beneficial mechanisms to induce genetic
changes.
10
One such instance is observed in vertebrate immune systems: white blood cells such as T cells recognize
invading pathogens through receptors on their surfaces. In order to recognize a wide variety of pathogens,
these cells must generate a large repertoire of receptors. Relying only on a genetically encoded repertoire
would be disadvantageously limiting—analogous to having only a few dozen language phrases with which to
respond to the nearly infinite
15
potential combinations of words in a conversation. Instead, the repertoire is generated by a process of genetic
recombination, in which T cells "cut-and-paste" the DNA encoding their microbe-recognizing receptors. Many
of these genetic rearrangements produce cells bearing non-functional proteins; such unproductive cells are
eliminated through senescence. Nevertheless, this seemingly haphazard process of programmed genetic
mutation is crucial to
20
generating immunological diversity, as individuals with defects in this pathway exhibit clinical
immunodeficiency. How this process is regulated by T cells to prevent harmful mutations remains the subject
of ongoing research.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
134. Which of the following is true of genetic changes in cells?
They can cause serious problems to body systems.
They can provide benefits to the immune system.
Some genetic mutation is regulated by T cells.
135. The phrase "seemingly haphazard" (line 19) is meant to indicate that:
(A) the process of programmed genetic mutation deserves further study.
(B) the production by T-cells of "unproductive cells" is wasteful.
(C) genetic recombination may appear random, but is not.
(D) T-cells are essential to proper immune system functioning.
(E) programmed genetic mutation can be dangerous to an organism.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
136. Which of the following can be inferred from the first paragraph of the passage?
Pro-death signaling is a mechanism that hinders genetic changes.
Cellular mechanisms that safeguard against mutagenesis are very common.
Protein p53 may play a role in preventing cancer from forming.
137. The analogy (lines 14–15) regarding "a few dozen language phrases … conversation" is meant to elucidate
(A) why genetic recombination is important to T cell functioning
(B) the need for numerous means of fighting cancer and other diseases caused by cell mutation
(C) why white blood cells such as T cells rely on a genetically encoded repertoire
(D) how language use is like "cutting and pasting"
(E) the mechanism by which mutagenesis can compromise physiological functioning
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
138. In the analogy in the third paragraph, the "nearly infinite potential combinations of words in a conversation,"
represent
pathogens
receptors
T cells
Questions 139–140 are based on the following reading passage.
Martin Haberman pulls no punches in his scathing critique of the insensitive and unjust treatment
received by children in poverty in the public school system. He focuses the brunt of his criticism on teachers
who have been insufficiently trained for the realities of the modern school environment and whose prejudices,
lack of deep content knowledge, and excessive
5
focus on order and discipline profoundly limit their effectiveness. Haberman writes, "the principles and
theories we call child and adolescent development were all developed to explain the middle-class experience,"
and that everyone else in public schools, including non-white, immigrant, or non-English-speaking children,
are considered somehow anomalies, thus leading to the absurd situation in which a teacher completes teacher
training and is put in front
10 of a class of students she considers to be made entirely of "exceptions."
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
139. According to Haberman, a teacher's effectiveness can be compromised by
insufficient attention to order and discipline
insufficient knowledge of the material being taught
personal bias
140. In the last line of the passage, the word exceptions is in quotes to make the point that
(A) the idea of "exceptions" is crucial to effective education
(B) the quote is taken verbatim from a teacher
(C) students who perform academically well are an aberration, not the reverse
(D) certain teachers inappropriately consider "non-white, immigrant, or non-English-speaking children"
as other than the norm
(E) teachers versed in the principles and theories of child and adolescent development developed to
explain the middle-class experience are actually the norm
Questions 141–142 are based on the following reading passage.
Naturalism, arising in the 19th century as a literary response to Darwin's account of evolution, focused
on describing everyday reality but differed from realism in its attempts to provide a "scientific" foundation for
its depictions of characters, stressing the influence of environment and heredity upon the individual psyche.
Émile Zola, in particular, saw his craft
5
as an extension of the scientific method into the domain of art. The 19th century, perhaps in opposition to
naturalism, saw the rise of the Decadent movement, embracing artifice over nature in their writing,
championed by Zola's erstwhile protégé, Joris-Karl Huysmans. The protagonist of his masterpiece, Á rebours
(literally, Against the Grain, but more commonly translated as Against Nature), removes himself from
society—viewing it as the product of
10 a nature long surpassed by human ingenuity—and surrounds himself exclusively with art, perfume, literature,
and technology.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
141. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about perfume?
Some followers of the Decadent movement considered it to be an example of human artifice.
Some followers of the Decadent movement considered it to be superior to natural entities.
Some followers of the Decadent movement enjoyed surrounding themselves with it.
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
142. Which of the following, if true, would undermine the claim that the Decadent movement was opposed to
naturalism?
Decadent authors intended to use literature as a vehicle for the scientific method.
Decadent authors focused on the effects of environment on shaping character.
Decadent authors elaborated on the way inherited traits influenced human behavior.
Questions 143–144 are based on the following reading passage.
For many years, biological scientists have sought to decipher cellular function by quantifying the degrees
of protein and mRNA expression within populations of their cells of interest. Classically, these measurements
required combining many cells into a single sample and rupturing their membranes, thus exposing pooled
quantities of the target molecule for
5
detection. One limitation of these techniques is the reliance on average measurements: it is impossible to
distinguish a uniform population of cells expressing intermediate quantities of a molecule from a population
composed of separate low and high expressers. The distinction has proven to be important, particularly in the
context of drug targeting of cancer cells; prescribing a dose to hit the "average" cell may completely miss the
more aggressive "one
10 percent."
The advent of single-cell measurement technology such as flow cytometry and RNA FISH has made it
possible to capture not only a population's average levels of a molecule, but also the distribution of the
molecule's expression within the population. As a result, researchers are increasingly investigating the
sources and significance of variability within populations that
15 were previously assumed to be identical.
143. According to the passage, the limitation of combining many cells into one sample and then rupturing their
membranes in order to detect a target molecule is that
(A) variability exists within cell populations
(B) some cells in the sample may contaminate others
(C) this method cannot single out the cells that express more of a certain molecule
(D) the rupture of cell membranes is implicated in the formation of cancer
(E) it is preferable to capture a population's average levels of a molecule
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply
.
144. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage regarding flow cytometry and RNA FISH?
Both technologies allow researchers to quantify properties of individual cells.
Using these technologies, it is impossible to distinguish a uniform population of cells expressing
intermediate quantities of a molecule.
Both technologies allow researchers to measure variability of molecule expression within cell
populations.
Questions 145–146 are based on the following reading passage.
The Portuguese began to enter Angola in the 16th century, and over the next three hundred years slowly
pushed into the interior of the sizable nation of Southern Africa, finally achieving complete occupation by the
1920's. However, following Angolan independence in 1975, and despite a bloody civil war that lasted until
2002, the Angolan economy has grown at
5
a double-digit pace since the 1990's, due largely to expansive mineral and petroleum reserves. Conversely,
Portugal is now broke and in debt, its economy shrinking by full percentage points every year. In a grand stroke
of irony, Portugal's Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho in 2011 suggested to Angola's President Jose
Eduardo dos Santos that "We
10
should take advantage of this moment … to strengthen our bilateral relations." President dos Santos replied,
"We are aware of Portugal's difficulties and we are open and available to help." This "help" will likely come in
the form of Angola's investment in Portuguese industries that the International Monetary Fund has ordered be
privatized as a condition of a 78 billion dollar bailout. Already, the country that once mined Angola for slaves
and raw material is now virtually helpless as Angola purchases Lisbon's prime real estate, using much of it to
build luxury resorts where
15 Angolan officials go for holidays.
Despite the stunning reversal of fortune, Angola is not without its difficulties. Corruption is rampant, and
Angola has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world—in the capital city of Luanda,
hamburgers go for 50 dollars and designer jeans cost twice what they do in London or New York, while twothirds
of the population lives on less than 2 dollars a day.
145. Which of the following is NOT stated as a component of Portugal and Angola's historical relationship?
(A) Portuguese traders sold Angolan slaves.
(B) Raw material was taken from Angola by the Portuguese.
(C) The two nations were at war.
(D) The Portuguese increasingly dominated Angola over a period of several hundred years.
(E) Angola achieved independence from Portugal in the 20th century.
146. The "grand stroke of irony" (line 7) is best described as:
(A) two countries dedicated to strengthening bilateral relations share economic problems.
(B) a former colonial possession is now being called upon to assist its former possessor
(C) slavery has ended, and yet people still live in poverty
(D) the cost of living in Luanda is very high, and yet most people are poor
(E) the Portuguese economy was once thriving and is now dwindling
Questions 147–149 are based on the following reading passage.
For as long as humans have been philosophizing about the mind, virtually every thinker has conceived of
the mind as a unitary entity. In fact, such a view was crucial to both Aristotle's and Descartes's view that the
mind (or the soul) survived death. Surely the self cannot be subdivided; surely one cannot have half a mind?
5
Indeed, the final evidence that one can, in fact, have "half a mind" came in the 1960's, from the famous
studies for which Roger Sperry was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1981 for his discoveries about the functional
specialization of the cerebral hemispheres. Working with epileptics who had been treated via the cutting of the
corpus callosum, or division between the two hemispheres, Sperry was able to observe "odd behavior" in these
patients—each half of
10 the brain could gain new information, but one hemisphere was entirely unaware of what the other had learned
or experienced.
Restak, in The Modular Brain, posits that the brain is not centrally organized (some prior theories of
mind had actually posed the existence of a "director" in the brain, begging the question of who directs the
director's brain) but, alternately, that different parts of the brain
15
control different abilities, and that those "modules" can operate independently. As we can easily see from
patients with brain damage, there is no "unified mind and personality"—part of ourselves, centered in different
parts of the brain, can change or be obliterated entirely as a result of physical changes to the brain. Consider
the case of Phineas Gage, a rail worker who, in 1848, while attempting to compress explosive powder with a
tamping rod, literally blew a
20
hole in the front of his brain. While Gage was ultimately able to function fairly normally, his personality was
markedly changed; he became boorish and irresponsible. Gage's case was well documented, allowing modern
reconstructions to show that his injury affected areas of the brain that we now know to be related to moral
sensibilities and their expression. That is, Phineas Gage literally lost one (or more) of the modules in his
modular brain system.
147. The case of Phineas Gage is presented as evidence that
(A) the modular brain system has a central "director"
(B) people who lose parts of the brain are usually able to function normally
(C) brain injury is a serious risk in certain types of work
(D) splitting the corpus callosum can result in marked changes in personality
(E) aspects of personality can be physically located within the brain
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
148. In lines 13–14, the phrase "begging the question of who directs the director's brain" is meant to emphasize that
the problem of a "director" in the brain is recursive
whether there is such a "director" of the brain is an open question
Restak has both asked and answered a question about the brain's organization
Consider each of the answer choices separately and indicate all that apply.
149. Which of the following can be inferred about thinkers who conceive of the mind as a unitary entity?
They believe that the mind survives death.
Their views are incompatible with modular brain theory.
They are unaware that certain aspects of personality are known to be controlled by certain areas of the
brain
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