Passage 1
In choosing a method for determining climatic condi-
tions that existed in the past, paleoclimatologists invoke
four principal criteria. First, the material-rocks, lakes,
vegetation, etc.-on which the method relies must be
( 5 )widespread enough to provide plenty of information,
since analysis of material that is rarely encountered will
not permit correlation with other regions or with other
periods of geological history. Second, in the process of
formation, the material must have received an environ-
(10) mental signal that reflects a change in climate and that
can be deciphered by modern physical or chemical
means. Third, at least some of the material must have
retained the signal unaffected by subsequent changes in
the environment. Fourth, it must be possible to deter-
(15) mine the time at which the inferred climatic conditions
held. This last criterion is more easily met in dating
marine sediments, because dating of only a small
number of layers in a marine sequence allows the age of
other layers to be estimated fairly reliably by extrapola-
(20) tion and interpolation. By contrast, because sedimenta-
tion is much less continuous in continental regions, esti-
mating the age of a continental bed from the known
ages of beds above and below is more risky.
One very old method used in the investigation of past
(25) climatic conditions involves the measurement of water
levels in ancient lakes. In temperate regions, there are
enough lakes for correlations between them to give us a
reliable picture. In arid and semiarid regions, on the
other hand, the small number of lakes and the great
(30) distances between them reduce the possibilities for corre-
lation. Moreover, since lake levels are controlled by rates
of evaporation as well as by precipitation, the interpreta-
tion of such levels is ambiguous. For instance, the fact
that lake levels in the semiarid southwestern United
(35) States appear to have been higher during the last ice age
than they are now was at one time attributed to
increased precipitation. On the basis of snow-line eleva-
tions, however, it has been concluded that the climate
then was not necessarily wetter than it is now, but rather
(40) that both summers and winters were cooler, resulting in
reduced evaporation.
Another problematic method is to reconstruct former
climates on the basis of pollen profiles. The type of vege-
tation in a specific region is determined by identifying
(45) and counting the various pollen grains found there.
Although the relationship between vegetation and
climate is not as direct as the relationship between
climate and lake levels, the method often works well in
the temperate zones. In arid and semiarid regions in
(50) which there is not much vegetation, however, small
changes in one or a few plant types can change the
picture dramatically, making accurate correlations
between neighboring areas difficult to obtain.
1. Which of the following statements about the
difference between marine and continental
sedimentation is supported by information in the
passage?
(A) Data provided by dating marine sedimentation is
more consistent with researchers' findings in
other disciplines than is data provided by dating
continental sedimentation.
(B) It is easier to estimate the age of a layer in a
sequence of continental sedimentation than it
is to estimate the age of a layer in a sequence
of marine sedimentation.
(C) Marine sedimentation is much less widespread
than continental sedimentation.
(D) Researchers are more often forced to rely on
extrapolation when dating a layer of marine
sedimentation than when dating a layer of
continental sedimentation.
(E) Marine sedimentation is much more continuous
than is continental sedimentation.
2. Which of the following statements best describes the
organization of the passage as a whole?
(A) The author describes a method for determining past
climatic conditions and then offers specific
examples of situations in which it has been used.
(B) The author discusses the method of dating marine
and continental sequences and then explains how
dating is more difficult with lake levels than with
pollen profiles.
(C) The author describes the common requirements of
methods for determining past climatic conditions
and then discusses examples of such methods.
(D) The author describes various ways of choosing a
material for determining past climatic conditions
and then discusses how two such methods have
yielded contradictory data.
(E) The author describes how methods for determining
past climatic conditions were first developed and
then describes two of the earliest known methods.
3. It can be inferred from the passage that
paleoclimatologists have concluded which of the
following on the basis of their study of snow-line
elevations in the southwestern United States?
(A) There is usually more precipitation during an ice age
because of increased amounts of evaporation.
(B) There was less precipitation during the last ice age
than there is today.
(C) Lake levels in the semiarid southwestern United
States were lower during the last ice age than they
are today.
(D) During the last ice age, cooler weather led to lower
lake levels than paleoclimatologists had previously
assumed.
(E) The high lake levels during the last ice age may have
been a result of less evaporation rather than more
precipitation.
4. Which of the following would be the most likely topic
for a paragraph that logically continues the passage?
(A) The kinds of plants normally found in arid regions
(B) The effect of variation in lake levels on pollen
distribution
(C) The material best suited to preserving signals of
climatic changes
(D) Other criteria invoked by paleoclimatologists when
choosing a method to determine past climatic
conditions
(E) A third method for investigating past climatic
conditions
5. The author discusses lake levels in the southwestern
United States in order to
(A) illustrate the mechanics of the relationship between
lake level, evaporation, and precipitation
(B) provide an example of the uncertainty involved in
interpreting lake levels
(C) prove that there are not enough ancient lakes with
which to make accurate correlations
(D) explain the effects of increased rates of evaporation
on levels of precipitation
(E) suggest that snow-line elevations are invariably
more accurate than lake levels in determining rates
of precipitation at various points in the past
6. It can be inferred from the passage that an
environmental signal found in geological material
would not be useful to paleoclimatologists if it
(A) had to be interpreted by modern chemical means
(B) reflected a change in climate rather than a long-
term climatic condition
(C) was incorporated into a material as the material was
forming
(D) also reflected subsequent environmental changes
(E) was contained in a continental rather than a marine
sequence
7. According to the passage, the material used to determine
past climatic conditions must be widespread for which
of the following reasons?
Ⅰ.Paleoclimatologists need to make comparisons
between periods of geological history.
Ⅱ. Paleoclimatologists need to compare materials that
have supported a wide variety of vegetation.
Ⅲ. Paleoclimatologists need to make comparisons with
data collected in other regions.
(A) Ⅰ only
(B) Ⅱ only
(C) Ⅰ and Ⅱ only
(D) Ⅰ and Ⅲ only
(E) Ⅱ and Ⅲ only
8. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage
about the study of past climates in arid and semiarid
regions?
(A) It is sometimes more difficult to determine past
climatic conditions in arid and semiarid regions than
in temperate regions.
(B) Although in the past more research has been done on
temperate regions, paleoclimatologists have
recently turned their attention to arid and semiarid
regions.
(C) Although more information about past climates can
be gathered in arid and semiarid than in temperate
regions, dating this information is more difficult.
(D) It is difficult to study the climatic history of arid and
semiarid regions because their climates have tended
to vary more than those of temperate regions.
(E) The study of past climates in arid and semiarid
regions has been neglected because temperate
regions support a greater variety of plant and animal
life.
Passage 2
Australian researchers have discovered electroreceptors
(sensory organs designed to respond to electrical fields)
clustered at the tip of the spiny anteater's snout. The
researchers made this discovery by exposing small areas of
(5) the snout to extremely weak electrical fields and recording
the transmission of resulting nervous activity to the brain.
While it is true that tactile receptors, another kind of
Sensory organ on the anteater's snout, can also respond to
electrical stimuli, such receptors do so only in response to
(10) electrical field strengths about 1,000 times greater than
those known to excite electroreceptors.
Having discovered the electroreceptors, researchers are
now investigating how anteaters utilize such a sophisticated
sensory system. In one behavioral experiment, researchers
(15) successfully trained an anteaters to distinguish between
two troughs of water, one with a weak electrical field
and the other with none. Such evidence is consistent with
researchers' hypothesis that anteaters use electroreceptors
to detect electrical signals given off buy prey; however,
(20) researchers as yet have been unable to detect electrical
signals emanating from termite mounds, where the favorite
food of anteaters live. Still, researchers have observed
anteaters breaking into a nest of ants at an oblique angle
and quickly locating nesting chambers. This ability quickly
(25) to locate unseen prey suggests, according to the researchers,
that the anteaters were using their electroreceptors to
locate the nesting chambers.
1. According to the passage, which of the following is a characteristic that distinguishes electroreceptors from tactile receptors?
(A) The manner in which electroreceptors respond to electrical stimuli
(B) The tendency of electroreceptors to be found in clusters
(C) The unusual locations in which electroreceptors are found in most species.
(D) The amount of electrical stimulation required to excite electroreceptors
(E) The amount of nervous activity transmitted it the brain by electroreceptors when they are excited
2. Which of the following can be inferred about experiment described in the first paragraph?
(A) Researchers had difficulty verifying the existence of electroreceptors in the anteater because electroreceptors respond to such a narrow range of electrical field strengths.
(B) Researchers found that the level of nervous activity in the anteater's brain increased dramatically as the strength of the electrical stimulus was increased.
(C) Researchers found that some areas of the anteater's snout were not sensitive to a weak electrical stimulus.
(D) Researchers found that the anteater's tactile receptors were more easily excited by a strong electrical stimulus than were the electroreceptors.
(E) Researchers tested small areas of the anteater's snout in order to ensure that only electroreceptors were responding to the stimulus.
3. The author of the passage most probably discussed the function of tactile receptors (lines 7-11) in order to
(A) eliminate and alternative explanation of anteater's response to electrical stimuli
(B) highlight a type of sensory organ that has a function identical to that of electroreceptors
(C) point out a serious complication in the research on electroreceptors in anteaters
(D) suggest that tactile receptors assist electroreceptors in the detection of electrical signals
(E) introduce a factor that was not addressed in research on electroreceptors in anteaters
4. Which of the following can be inferred about anteaters from the behavioral experiment mentioned in the second paragraph?
(A) They are unable to distinguish between stimuli detected by their tactile receptors.
(B) They are unable to distinguish between the electrical signals emanating from termite mounds and those emanating from ant nests.
(C) They can be trained to recognize consistently the presence of a particular stimulus.
(D) They react more readily to strong than to weak stimuli.
(E) They are more efficient at detecting stimuli in a controlled environment than in a natural environment.
5. The passage suggests that researchers mentioned in the second paragraph who observed anteaters break into a nest of ants would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
(A) The event they observed provides conclusive evidence that anteaters use their electroreceptors to locate unseen prey.
(B) The event they observed was atypical and may not reflect the usual hunting practices of anteaters.
(C) It is likely that the anteaters located the ants' nesting chambers without the assistance of electroreceptors.
(D) Anteaters possess a very simple sensory system for use in locating prey.
(E) The speed with which the anteaters located their prey is greater than what might be expected on the basis of chance alone.
6. Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the hypothesis mentioned in lines 17-19?
(A) Researchers are able to train anteaters to break into an underground chamber that is emitting a strong electrical signal.
(B) Researchers are able detect a weak electrical signal emanating from the nesting chamber of an ant colony.
(C) Anteaters are observed taking increasingly longer amounts of time to locate the nesting chambers of ants.
(D) Anteaters are observed using various angles to break into nests of ants.
(E) Anteaters ate observed using the same angle used with nests of ants to break into the nests of other types of prey.
Passage 3
Most economists in the United States seem
captivated by the spell of the free market. Conse-
quently, nothing seems good or normal that does
not accord with the requirements of the free market.
( 5 )A price that is determined by the seller or, for
that matter, established by anyone other than the
aggregate of consumers seems pernicious. Accord-
ingly, it requires a major act of will to think of
price-fixing (the determination of prices by the
(10) seller) as both normal and having a valuable
economic function. In fact, price-fixing is normal
in all industrialized societies because the indus-
trial system itself provides, as an effortless conse-
quence of its own development, the price-fixing
(15) that it requires. Modern industrial planning
requires and rewards great size. Hence,
a comparatively small number of large firms will
be competing for the same group of consumers.
That each large firm will act with consideration of
(20) its own needs and thus avoid selling its products
for more than its competitors charge is commonly
recognized by advocates of free-market economic
theories. But each large firm will also act with
full consideration of the needs that it has in
(25) common with the other large firms competing for
the same customers. Each large firm will thus
avoid significant price-cutting, because price-
cutting would be prejudicial to the common interest
in a stable demand for products. Most economists
(30) do not see price-fixing when it occurs because
they expect it to be brought about by a number of
explicit agreements among large firms; it is not.
Moreover, those economists who argue that
allowing the free market to operate without inter-
(35) ference is the most efficient method of establishing
prices have not considered the economies of non-
socialist countries other than the United states.
These economies employ intentional price-fixing,
usually in an overt fashion. Formal price-fixing
(40) by cartel and informal price-fixing by agreements
covering the members of an industry are common-
place. Were there something peculiarly efficient
about the free market and inefficient about price-
fixing, the countries that have avoided the first
(45) and used the second would have suffered drastically
in their economic development. There is no indica-
tion that they have.
Socialist industry also works within a frame-
work of controlled prices. In the early 1970's,
(50) the Soviet Union began to give firms and industries
some of the flexibility in adjusting prices that a
more informal evolution has accorded the capitalist
system. Economists in the United States have
hailed the change as a return to the free market.
(55) But Soviet firms are no more subject to prices
established by a free market over which they
exercise little influence than are capitalist firms;
rather, Soviet firms have been given the power to
fix prices.
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) refute the theory that the free market plays a
useful role in the development of industrialized
societies
(B) suggest methods by which economists and members
of the government of the United States can
recognize and combat price-fixing by large firms
(C) show that in industrialized societies price-fixing and
the operation of the free market are not only
compatible but also mutually beneficial
(D) explain the various ways in which industrialized
societies can fix prices in order to stabilize the free
market
(E) argue that price-fixing, in one form or another, is an
inevitable part of and benefit to the economy of any
industrialized society
2. The passage provides information that would answer
which of the following questions about price-fixing?
Ⅰ.What are some of the ways in which prices can be
fixed?
Ⅱ. For what products is price-fixing likely to be more
profitable than the operation of the free market?
Ⅲ.Is price-fixing more common in socialist industrialized
societies or in nonsocialist industrialized societies?
(A) Ⅰonly
(B) Ⅲ only
(C) Ⅰand Ⅱonly
(D) Ⅱand Ⅲ only
(E) Ⅰ,Ⅱ,and Ⅲ
3. The author's attitude toward Most economists in the
United States(line 1) can best be described as
(A) spiteful and envious
(B) scornful and denunciatory
(C) critical and condescending
(D) ambivalent but deferential
(E) uncertain but interested
4. It can inferred from the author's argument that a price
fixed by the seller seems pernicious(line 7) because
(A) people do not have confidence in large firms
(B) people do not expect the government to
regulate prices
(C) most economists believe that consumers as a
group should determine prices
(D) most economists associate fixed prices with
communist and socialist economies
(E) most economists believe that no one group
should determine prices
5. The suggestion in the passage that price-fixing in
industrialized societies is normal arises from the
author's statement that price-fixing is
(A) a profitable result of economic development
(B) an inevitable result of the industrial system
(C) the result of a number of carefully organized
decisions
(D) a phenomenon common to industrialized and
nonindustrialized societies
(E) a phenomenon best achieved cooperatively by
government and industry
6. According to the author, price-fixing in nonsocialist
countries is often
(A) accidental but productive
(B) illegal but useful
(C) legal and innovative
(D) traditional and rigid
(E) intentional and widespread
7. According to the author, what is the result of the Soviet
Union's change in economic policy in the 1970's?
(A) Soviet firms show greater profit.
(B) Soviet firms have less control over the free market.
(C) Soviet firms are able to adjust to technological
advances.
(D) Soviet firms have some authority to fix prices.
(E) Soviet firms are more responsive to the free market.
8. With which of the following statements regarding the
behavior of large firms in industrialized societies
would the author be most likely to agree?
(A) The directors of large firms will continue to
anticipate the demand for products.
(B) The directors of large firms are less interested in
achieving a predictable level of profit than in
achieving a large profit.
(C) The directors of large firms will strive to reduce the
costs of their products.
(D) Many directors of large firms believe that the
government should establish the prices that will be
charged for products.
(E) Many directors of large firms believe that the price
charged for products is likely to increase annually.
9. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with
(A) predicting the consequences of a practice
(B) criticizing a point of view
(C) calling attention to recent discoveries
(D) proposing a topic for research
(E) summarizing conflicting opinions
KEYS
Passage 1: ECEEB DDA
Passage 2: DCACE B
Passage 3: EACCB EDAB