Reading and Writing:

Questions-Craft
and Structure Drills
D
Biologist Jane Edgeloe and colleagues ha\'e locateJ 11·hat is believed to be
the largest individual plant in the world in the Shark Bay area of Australia.
The plant is a type of seagrass called Posido11in m1stmlis, and it ____
approximately 200 square kilometers.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word
or phrase?
A) acknowledges
B) produces
C) spans
D) advances

D
Osage ation citizen Randr Tinker-Smith pro<luced and directed the ballet
v\'nhzlwzhe, which vividly chronicle Osage history and culture. Telling
Osage stories through ballet is ____ choice because two of the
foremost ballet dancers of the twentieth century ,rere Osage: sisters :-.[aria
and Marjorie Tallchief.
1
\\hich choice completes the text with the most logical and precise 11·ord
or phrase?
A) an unpredictable
B) an arbitrary
C) a determined
D) a suitable
II
The following text is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston's l921 short story
"John Redding Goes to Sea." John wants to tra\'el far beyond the village
where he lives near his mother, Matty.
[John] had on several occasions attempted to reconcile his mother to the
notion, but found it a difficult task. Matty always took refuge in self-pity
and tears. Her son's desires were incomprehen ible to her, that was all.
As used in the text, what does the phrase "reconcile his mother to" most
nearly mean?
A) Get his mother to accept
B) Get his mother to apologize for
C) Get his mother to match
D) Get his mother to reunite ll'ith

;-,1ichelene Pesantubbee, a historian and citizen of the Choctaw 1ation, has

identified a dilemma inherent to research on the status of women in her
tribe during the 1600s and l 700s: the primary sources from that era, travel
narratiws and other accounts by male European colonizers, underestimate
the degree of power conferred on Choctaw women by their traditional roles
in political, civic, and ceremonial life. Pesantubbee argues that the Choctaw
oral tradition and findings from archaeological sites in the tribe's homeland
supplement the written record br proYiding crucial insights into those roles.
Which choice best describes the O\'erall structure of the text?
A) It details the shortcomings of certain historical sour ces, then argues
that research should avoid those sources altogether.
B) It describes a problem that arises in research on a particular topic, then
sketches a historian's approach to addressing that problem.
C) It lists the ad\'antages of a particular research method, then
acknoll'ledges a historian's criticism of that method.
D) It characterizes a particular topic as especially challenging to research,
then suggests a related topic for historians to pursue instead.

II
The following text is from Srimati Svarna Kumari Devi's 1894 novel TI1e
Fntnl Gnrla11rf (translated by A. Christina Albers in 1910). Shakti is walking
near a riverbank that she visited frequently during her childhood.
She crossed the woods she knew so well. The trees seemed to extend
their branches like 1,·elcoming arms. They greeted her as an old friend.
Soon she reached the river-side.
·which choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the
text as a whole?
A) It suggests that Shakti feels uncomfortable near the ri1·er.
B) It indicates that Shakti has lost her sense of direction in the woods.
C) It emphasizes Shakti's sense of belonging in the land cape.
D) It con\'eys Shakti's appreciation for her long-term friendships.
D
TI1e follo1ring text is adapted fr om Oscar Wilde's 1897 nonfiction work
De Proji111dis.
People whose desire is solely for self-realisation never know where
they are going. They can't know. In one sense of the word it is of course
necessary to know oneself: that is the first achievement of knowledge.
But to recognise that the soul of a man is unknowable, is the ultimate
achievement of wisdom. The final mystery is oneself. \ Vhen one has
weighed the sun in the balance, and measured the steps of the moon,
and mapped out the seven heavens star by star, there still remains
oneself. Who can calculate the orbit of his own soul?
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined question in the
text as a whole?
A) It cautions readers that the text's directions for how to achieve
self-knowledge are hard to follow.
B) It concedes that the definition of self-knowledge ad\'anced in the text is
unpopular.
C) It reinforces the text's skepticism about the possibility of truly achieving
self-knowledge.
D) It speculates that some readers will share the doubts expressed in the
text about the value of self-knowledge.

IJI
In many agricultural environments, the banks of streams are kept forested
to protect water quality, but it's been unclear what effects these forests may
have on stream biodiversity. To investigate the issue, biologist Xingli Giam
and colleagues studied an Indonesian oil palm plantation, comparing the
species richness of forested streams with that of nonforested streams. Giam
and colleagues found that species richness was significantly higher in
forested streams, a finding the researchers attribute to the role leaf litter
plays in sheltering fish from predators and providing food resources.
v\ hich choice best states the main purpose of the text?
A) It presents a study that addresses an unresolved question about the
presence of forests along streams in agricultural environments.
B) It explains the differences between stream-protection strategies used in
oil palm plantations and stream-protection strategies used in other
kinds of agricultural environments.
C) It discusses research intended to settle a debate about how agricultural
yields can be increased without negative effects on water quality.
D) It describe findings that challenge a previously held view about h01r
fish that inhabit streams in agricultural environments attempt to avoid
predators.
II
Text 1
Dance choreographer Alvin Aile)"s deep admiration for jazz music can
most clearly be felt in the rh)1hms and beats his works were set to. Ailey
collaborated with some of the greatest jazz legends, like Charles Mingus,
Charlie Parker, and perhaps his favorite, Duke Ellington.With his choice of
music, Ailey helped bring jazz to life for his audiences.
Text 2
Jazz is present throughout Ailey's work, but it's most visible in Ailey's
approach to choreography. Ailey often incorporated improvisation, a
signature characteristic of jazz music, in his work. When managing his
dance company, Ailey rarely forced his dancers to an exact set of specific
moves. In tead, he encouraged his dancers to let their own skills and
experiences shape their performances, as jazz musicians do.
Based on the texts, both authors would mo t likely agree with which statement?
A) Audiences were mostly unfamiliar with the jazz music in Ailey's works.
B) Ailey's \\'Ork was strongly influenced by jazz.
) Dancers \\·ho worked with Ailey greatly appre..-:iated his supportive
approach as a choreographer.
D) Ailey blended multiple genres of music together when choreographing
dance pieces.

Text 1
The idea that time moves in only one direction is instinctively understood,
yet it puzzles physicists. According to the second law of thermodynamics,
at a macroscopic level some processes of heat transfer are irreversible due
to the production of entropy-after a transfer we cannot rewind time and
place molecules back exactly where they were before, just as we cannot
unbreak dropped eggs. But laws of physics at a microscopic or quantum
level hold that those processes slio11/d be reversible.
Text 2
In 2015, physicists Tiago Batalhao et al.performed an experiment in which
they confirmed the irreversibility of thermodynamic processes at a
quantum level, producing entropy by applying a rapidly oscillating
magnetic field to a system of carbon-13 atoms in liquid chloroform. But
the experiment "does not pinpoint ...what causes [irreversibility] at the
microscopic level;' coauthor Mauro Paternostro said.
Ba ·ed on the texts, what would the author of Text 1 most likely say about
the experiment described in Text 2?
A) It is consistent with the current understanding of physics at a
microscopic level but not at a macroscopic level.
B) It provides empirical evidence that the current understanding of an
aspect of physics at a microscopic level must be incomplete.
C) It supports a claim about an isolated system of atoms in a laboratory, but
that claim should not be extrapolated to a general claim about the univer e.
D) It would suggest an interesting direction for future research were it not
the case that two of the physicists who conducted the experiment
disagree on the significance of its findings.
llil
Text 1
Because literacy in Nahuatl script, the writing system of the Aztec Empire,
was lost after Spain invaded central lexico in the 1500s, it is unclear
exactly how meaning was encoded in the script's symbols. Although many
scholars had assumed that the symbols signified entire words, linguist
Alfon o Lacadena theorized in 2008 that they signified units of language
smaller than words: individual syllables.
Text 2
The growing consensus among scholars of ahuatl script is that manr of its
symbols could signify either words or syllable , depending on syntax and
content at any given site within a text. For example, the symbol signi� ing
1

the word huipil (blouse) in some contexts could signify the syllable "pil" in
others, as in the place name "Chipiltepec'.' Thus, for the Aztecs, reading
required a determination of how such symbols functioned each time they
appeared in a text.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely characterize
Lacadena's theory, as described in Text 1?
A) By praising the theory for recognizing that the script's symbols could
represent entire words
B) By arguing that the theory is O\'erly influenced by the work of earlier
scholars
C) By approving of the theory's emphasis on how the script changed
over time
D) By cautioning that the theory overlooks certain important aspects of
how the script functioned