Directions: Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. Read the following passage. Computers—as we know them—didn’t exist in 1950. Nonetheless, a British mathematician called Allen Turning (sometimes called the father of computing) devised a test to try and determine whether a machine was intelligent. The test is simple enough. People ask questions of “someone” another room by typing them on a keyboard. They see responses printed on a screen. They can ask anything they want. At the end of the session, they decide if their counterpart is a person or a ‘machine (in which case it passed the Turing Test). So far, no computer has, and that’s despite some amazing achievements in the field of artificial intelligence (Al). According to one view, that’s because the Turing Test is misrepresented. Turing didn’t design it to see whether a computer could pass itself off as human (the basis of many Sci-fi films) but whether it could think as intelligently as. a human. And that, of course, depends on how intelligent the questions are. 1. The author’s use of quotation marks around “someone” indicates that at least some of the time, the person in question is: A. obscure. B. plural C. unknown: D. non-human, 292. The author's view of the Turing test can best be characterized as: A. useful in limited circumstances. B. only as good as the questions init. C. now outdated by more sophisticated techniques. D. of its time, and irrelevant in connection with Al. 3. The primary purpose of the passage is to: ‘A. describe the purpose and scope of the Turing Test. B. explain that the Turing Testis often misrepresented. C. discuss the origin and development of Al testing. D. determine the effectiveness of the Turing Test. Read the following interview and passage. Passage 1 Interviewer: Dr. Simons: Interviewer: Dr. Simons: I'm joined by Dr. Simons of the University of Minnesota, who is calling for middle and high schools in the U.S. to start at 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. That's right. I'm a parent, and it’s a real concern. By the time kids get to high school, 87% of them are sleep deprived. They tend to stay up two hours later than they did when they were younger, but they are stil getting up for an 8:00 a.m. school start time. We've just completed some research on this. It took three years and while it covered just three states, we think the results are indicative. We found that just shifting the start time by half an hour, to 8:30 a.m., kids had noticeably better test scores, and schools saw a massive reduction in teenage car accidents—down 70%. ‘And that simply has to do with not enough sleep? Yes. It means kids get up late, sometimes miss early classes, come to school without breakfast... They're drowsy and slow reacting behind the wheel and tired and lackluster in class. If shifting the school day by 30 minutes stops all that, then we have a duty to do it. 30Passage 2: Teenagers undergo a shift in their internal body clocks which coincides with puberty. According to The Parents’ Union itis related to melatonin production and circadian rhythm, and is a biological change. Left to their own devices, therefore, teenagers will stay up till midnight and emerge around 9:00 a.m. in the morning. By 10:00 a.m., they are awake and raring to go. That pattern doesn’t fit with the typical school day, since most establishments start at 8:00 a.m. The American Academy of Pediatrics, urging for a change in school start times, stated that, “Insufficient sleep represents one of the most common, important, and potentially remediable health risks in children, particularly in the adolescent population.” And, according to the University of Michigan it leads to “lower academic achievement .. higher rates of absenteeism and tardiness, and decreased readiness to learn.” Already 1,000 U.S. schools in seventy districts have opted for an 8:30 a.m, start time, but Oxford University, England, thinks that 10:00 a.m. would be even better. They are currently doing randomized trials to find the optimum start time for sleepy teens on both sides of the pond, 4. During the interview, what does Dr Simons imply about sleep deprivation? A. Itis entirely preventable if parents were stricter about bedtimes. B. It becomes worse and more widespread as children go up through the grades. C. Schools should do more to make allowances for sleep deprived teenagers. D. Car accidents would stop and test results would be perfect if a 10:00 a.m. start time were adopted, 5. Passage 2 suggests that the mismatch between a teenager's wake-sleep cycle and the organization of the school day is: ‘A. physiological in origin and should be accommodated with staggered school hours. B. a perfectly natural part of the shift toward adulthood and can be medically controlled C. now well documented and it behooves governments to mandate starting half an hour later. D. easily remedied, but requires data from randomized trials in England to be accurate, 6. Compared to the interview, the article has an advantage, in that: A. itincorporates several different points of view. B. the information it gives can be verified. C. it introduces evidence from multiple expert sources. D. a written article does not convey the writer's opinion. a17. Which choice best states the relationship between the two passages? ‘A. Passage 2 provides scientific refutation for the perspective offered in Passage 1. B, Passage 2 illustrates the practical difficulties of a proposal made in Passage 1. C. Passage 2 takes issue with the primary argument of Passage 1. D. Passage 2 offers an explanation for a phenomenon mentioned in Passage 1. Read the following passage Aside from competition and predation, there are three types of symbiotic relationships in nature. In parasitism, the organism, (such as a flea or mistletoe) benefits, while the host (a dog or a tree) suffers. In commensalism, while the organism derives some benefit, the host is unaffected: it neither benefits nor suffers. In mutualism, both parties get something out of the relationship. Pseudomyrmex ants, for example, live in acacia trees. The trees contain sugar- bearing veins which the ants tap for food, and clusters of thorns which provide shelter. In return, the bijou bodyguards defend the tree against herbivores. They exude a venom which is toxic (and painful), thus discouraging browsing on the leaves. They also, according to new research by the ‘Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, provide protection against microbial pathogens—plant diseases caused by bad bacteria. Apparently they carry good bacteria on their legs; as these rub against the acacia’s leaves, they destroy the bad bacteria and help keep the plant in good shape. 8, Based on the passage, a barnacle which attaches itself to shark, taking advantage of scraps of food left from the shark's prey, provides a clear example of which type of symbiotic relationship? ‘A. Competition, as the barnacle is competing for food from the same source as the shark. B. Parasitism, as the barnacle uses the shark as a host and gives nothing in return. C. Commensalism, as the shark is indifferent to the barnacle and derives no harm from it. D. Mutualism, because the barnacle cleans up after the shark and feeds on its leftovers. 9. What is the effect of the expression bijou bodyguards on the passage? A. Itmakes a serious scientific passage more acces: le to a general audience. B. It introduces a light-hearted tone to what would otherwise be a dry, academic text. C. It suggests the author is amused at the thought of something so small protecting something. so large, D. Itadds a touch of mockery to the passage, suggesting that symbiotic relationships can exist in unlikely places. 3210. Compared to ants, that tap a vein to gain sustenance, herbivores graze on acacia leaves devoid of ant protection and are portrayed as: A. cunning. B, leisurely. C. haphazard, D. unfortunate. 33ANSWERS Informational Text - Proficient Quiz 2 The passage says: “People ask questions of “someone” in another room,” and later that “they decide if their counterpart is a person or a machine,” so the “someone” is, sometimes a machine (a computer). (A) is incorrect because the “someone” is ‘obscured (meaning hidden) rather than obscure (mysterious). (B) is incorrect because the passage doesn’t suggest a single person could be asking questions of multiple intelligences. (C) is incorrect because while the person in the other room may well be unknown to the questioner, that isn’t why the author put quotation marks around “someone.” Rather, it indicates that the author could have written “someone or something.” The author concludes the passage with his/her opinion, introduced by “of course,” which is that whether computers can think as intelligently as a human “depends on how intelligent the questions are.” (A) is incorrect because the author limits the test’s usefulness purely to the quality of the questions. (C) is incorrect as no more sophisticated tests are mentioned. (0) is incorrect because the test was devised before there were computers. The purpose of the passage is to describe the purpose of the test (what itis designed to do) and its scope (the range of what it can do). (B) is incorrect because the author writes: “According to one view, that's because the Turing Test is misrepresented.” (C)is incorrect because the development of Al testing is not discussed. (0) is incorrect because the focus of the passage is not on how good the test is when it is used for its proper purpose—we only know that a computer hasn’t passed yet—but to describe ‘what itis supposed to do and how it works. Dr Simons says that: “By the time kids get to high school, 87% of them are sleep- deprived,” which suggests that a significant number are sleep deprived before they reach high school, but things just get worse as kids get older. (A) is incorrect because the passage doesn’t say anything about parents being stricter: Dr Simons just says he's a parent and he’s concerned. (C) is incorrect because Dr Simons doesn’t say schools should make more allowances—such as being lenient about tardiness or poor erades—but that they should alter start times. (0) is incorrect because Dr Simons doesn’t suggest perfection would result, just that car accidents would be reduced and grades would improve. 34The passage says that the shift in teenagers’ timing is related to “melatonin production and circadian rhythm and is a biological change.” That means itis. physiological and beyond a teenager's ability to control—so schools need to offer staggered start times because they can change—teenagers can't. (B) is incorrect because while perfectly natural, the passage doesn’t suggest controlling it with medication. (C) is incorrect because although the passage indicates there is alot of scie fic evidence available, it doesn't say government should force schools to start 30 minutes later—rather it suggests research is ongoing and that two hours later might be better. (0) is incorrect because while school start times could be changed, it, would not necessarily be “easy” (2 family could have child in Grade 3 starting at 8.00 a.m. one in Grade 5 starting at 9.00 a.m, and one in Grade 8 starting at 10.00 a.m.) and is not dependent on data from England, The advantage of the article is that it can gather evidence from multiple sources, whereas the interviewer is talking to one expert from one university—a single source. (A) is incorrect because the article has a single point of view (the author's) but explains what other people say about the issue (multiple sources). (B) is incorrect because both spoken and written information can be verified—the only difference is when, (0) is incorrect because a written article can convey the author's opinion as well as the spoken word. Passage 2 differs from Passage 1 in that in the interview the problem is stated (teenagers wake up late and it leads to accidents and academic underachievement), ‘The article restates that, but also explains why. (A) is incorrect because the science it explains and confirms it. (8) is incorrect because the proposal in Passage 1 is to start schools 30 minutes later, in Passage 2 doesn’t refute the perspective in Passage 1: and Passage 2 suggests longer than that, but points to the practical difficulties of getting teenagers to change their behavior—not changing start times. (C) is incorrect because Passage 2 doesn’t take issue with the primary argument—delay school starting time for teenagers—it just suggests half an hour may not be enough The passage explains that in commensalism, the host doesn’t suffer, but the organism benefits. Since the shark is “indifferent to the barnacle and derives no harm from it” but the barnacle gets a surface to attach to and can mop up leftovers from the shark's dinner, then it is a commensal relationship. (A) is incorrect because the barnacle isn’t competing for food with the shark but takes advantage from the fact that sharks are messy eaters. (B) is incorrect, because only in mutualism is something, given in return; in parasitism, the barnacle would have to take something from the shark or harm it in some way, and it doesn’t. (0) is incorrect, because the shark doesn’t benefit from the barnacle consuming microscopic pieces of fish or blood in the seawater surrounding them both after the shark has been feeding. 35,10. The passage isa dry, fairly academic scientific text, which the author lightens by referring to the ants as bijou bodyguards. (A) is incorrect because it doesn’t open up the text to the general reader: that would require use on non-scientific terms, simpler language, and so on. (C) is incorrect because although the author might well be amused, the question is what effect does the phrase have on the passage not the author. (0) is incorrect because the phrase is more cute than contemptuous, so it isn’t mocking or derisory. By describing the herbivores as “browsing’,” the passage suggests that they are more haphazard in their search for food. The ants go straight to a vein and tap the sugar— the grazing animals wander from place to place looking for food, sometimes unsuccessfully. (A) is incorrect because “browsing” doesn’t suggest cunning. (B) is incorrect because browsing in terms of animals feeding means grazing, but it is easy to be misled by the leisurely connotations of the verb browse which also means to look through casually. (D) is incorrect because only those plants which have ants ‘would mean the animals were unfortunate (because they'd be stung). 36