Thầy Minh’s Education Studio

Reading

Practice Test 2
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“The rock was still wet. The animal was 1

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glistening, like it was still swimming,” recalls Which choice completes the text with the most
Hou Xianguang. Hou discovered the unusual logical and precise word or phrase?
Line fossil while ________ rocks as a paleontology
5 graduate student in 1984, near the Chinese A) calculating the value of
town of Chengjiang. “My teachers always talked
B) examining comprehensively
about the Burgess Shale animals. It looked like
one of them. My hands began to shake.” C) determining the boundaries of
Hou had indeed found a Naraoia like those D) conducting a statistical study of
10 from Canada. However, Hou’s animal was 15
million years older than its Canadian relatives.

Questions 2-3 are based on the following

2
text.
Which choice best describes the function of
the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
Duke Ellington considered himself “the
world’s greatest listener.” In music, hearing is A) To highlight Ellington’s prodigious
all. Judging by the two or three thousand pieces memory
Line of music Ellington wrote, he could probably B) To emphasize the quality of Ellington’s
5 hear a flea scratching itself and put that rhythm listening skills
into one of his compositions. For him the
sounds of the world were the ingredients he C) To suggest that Ellington’s compositions
mixed into appetizers, main courses, and were marked by rhythmic similarities
desserts to satisfy the appetite of his worldwide D) To imply that Ellington could be overly
10 audience. He wasn’t averse to going out in a concerned about minutia
boat to catch the fish himself. He would raise
the fowl himself. But when that musical meal
appeared before you none of the drudgery
showed.
3
In lines 6-14 (“For him . . . drudgery
showed”), the author’s point is primarily
developed through the use of

A) comparison and contrast

B) appeal to emotion
C) metaphor
D) humor

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Questions 4-7 are based on the following 4

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text. The primary purpose of Text 1 is to
Text 1 A) dispute a hypothesis
I know what your e-mail in-box looks like, B) settle a controversy
and it isn’t pretty: a babble of come-ons and lies C) justify a distinction
from hucksters and con artists. To find your D) highlight a concern
Line real e-mail, you must wade through the torrent
5 of fraud and obscenity known politely as
“unsolicited bulk e-mail” and colloquially as
“spam.” In a perverse tribute to the power of the
online revolution, we are all suddenly getting
the same mail: easy weight loss, get-rich-quick
10 schemes, etc. The crush of these messages is
now numbered in billions per day. “It’s
becoming a major systems and engineering and
network problem,” says one e-mail expert.
“Spammers are gaining control of the Internet.”.

Text 2

15 Many people who hate spam assume that it is 5

protected as free speech. Not necessarily so. The The primary purpose of Text 2 is to
United States Supreme Court has previously
ruled that individuals may preserve a threshold A) confirm a widely held belief
of privacy. “Nothing in the Constitution B) discuss the inadequacies of a ruling
20 compels us to listen to or view any unwanted
communication, whatever its merit,” wrote C) defend a controversial technology
Chief Justice Warren Burger in a 1970 decision. D) lay the foundation for a course of action
“We therefore categorically reject the argument
that a vendor has a right to send unwanted
25 material into the home of another.” With regard
to a seemingly similar problem, the Telephone
Consumer Protection Act of 1991 made it illegal
in the United States to send unsolicited faxes;
why not extend the act to include unsolicited
30 bulk e-mail?

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6 7

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What would be the most likely reaction by Unlike the author of Text 1, the author of
the author of Text 1 to the argument cited Text 2
in lines 19-25 of Text 2 (“Nothing . . .
another”) ? A) criticizes a practice
B) offers an example
A) Surprise at the assumption that freedom
C) proposes a solution
of speech is indispensable to democracy
D) states an opinion
B) Dismay at the Supreme Court’s vigorous
defense of vendors’ rights
C) Hope that the same reasoning would be
applied to all unsolicited e-mail
D) Appreciation for the political complexity
of the debate about spam

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Newspaper editor and political commentator 8

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Henry Louis Mencken was a force of nature, In line 5, the words “seized” and “shook”
brushing aside all objects animal and mineral in help establish which aspect of Mencken’s
Line his headlong rush to the publicity that surely
personality?
5 awaited him. He seized each day, shook it to
within an inch of its life, and then gaily went on A) His code of honor
to the next. No matter where his writing
appeared, it was quoted widely, his pungently B) His sense of humor
outspoken opinions debated hotly. Nobody else C) His vindictiveness
10 could make so many people so angry, or make D) His intensity
so many others laugh so hard.

Questions 9-10 are based on the following 9

text.
The reference to beetles in lines 5-8 serves to
suggest that
The ability to see the situation as your
opponents see it, as difficult as it may be, is one A) people need to be more attuned to their
of the most important skills that you can surroundings
Line possess as a negotiator. You must know more B) effective negotiation is more of a science
5 than simply that they see things differently. It is than an art
not enough to study them like beetles under a C) people can be made to do what they
microscope; you need to know what it feels like would prefer not to do
to be a beetle. To accomplish this you should be
prepared to withhold judgment as you “try on” D) effective negotiation requires identifying
10 their views. Your opponents may well believe with a different viewpoint
that their views are right as strongly as you
believe yours are.

10
The primary purpose of the text is to

A) persuade people to defend their positions

on critical issues
B) indicate a specific ability that is useful in
negotiation
C) encourage people to be more accepting of
others
D) argue that few people are fit for the
demands of negotiation

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Questions 11-14 are based on the following 11

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text. Which of the following statements best
captures the relationship between the two
Text 1 texts?

Food has always been considered one of the A) Text 1 presents claims that are debunked
most salient markers of cultural traditions. by Text 2.
When I was a small child, food was the only B) Text 2 furnishes a larger context for the
Line thing that helped identify my family as Filipino experiences described in Text 1.
5 American. We ate pansit lug-lug (a noodle dish)
C) Text 2 provides an update of the situation
and my father put patis (salty fish sauce) on
depicted in Text 1.
everything. However, even this connection
lessened as I grew older. As my parents became D) Text 2 uses material presented in Text 1 to
more acculturated, we ate less typically Filipino correct a popular misconception.
10 food. When I was twelve, my mother took
cooking classes and learned to make French and
Italian dishes. When I was in high school, we ate
chicken marsala and shrimp fra diablo more
often than Filipino dishes like pansit lug-lug.

Text 2

15 Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin—who in 1825 12

confidently announced, “Tell me what you eat,
and I will tell you who you are”—would have no The author of Text 2 would most likely regard
trouble describing cultural identities of the the mother’s willingness to “make French and
United States. Our food reveals us as tolerant Italian dishes” (Text 1) as
20 adventurers who do not feel constrained by
tradition. We “play with our food” far more A) laughably pretentious
readily than we preserve the culinary rules of B) understandably conservative
our varied ancestors. Americans have no single C) typically American
national cuisine. What unites American eaters
D) a regrettable compromise
25 culturally is how we eat, not what we eat. As
eaters, Americans mingle the culinary traditions
of many regions and cultures. We are
multiethnic eaters.

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13 14

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The two texts differ in their discussions of Unlike the author of Text 2, the author of
food primarily in that Text 1 Text 1 makes significant use of

A) considers specific dishes eaten by A) sociological analysis

particular people, whereas Text 2 B) hypothetical assumptions
comments on a culture’s general attitude
C) historical sources
toward eating
D) personal experience
B) contrasts the cuisines of different cultures,
whereas Text 2 emphasizes culinary
practices common to all cultures
C) presents an abstract theory of food,
whereas Text 2 offers a historical analysis
of consumption
D) outlines some popular choices in cuisine,
whereas Text 2 underscores those that are
more unusual

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Jazz musician Benny Carter, known for his 15

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sophisticated compositions and arrangements, The text supports which of the following
was also a virtuoso alto saxophone player. statements about Carter as a saxophone
Line Fellow musicians frequently cited Carter’s player?
5 groundbreaking improvisational style, which
avoided the expected run up and down the A) He impressed other musicians with his
chord changes and instead spread out phrase technique.
fragments over the chord progression. In 1934, B) He was less celebrated as an
just six years after his first recording, Carter instrumentalist than as a band leader.
10 played at the opening of the Apollo Theater in
C) He confused critics with his unusual
Harlem and then led the first interracial big
technique.
band to tour Europe. In the ensuing quarter
century, Carter wrote music for film and D) He preferred to perform in local venues.
television in Hollywood, where he played a key
15 role in the merger of the trade unions of Black
musicians and White musicians.

Questions 16-17 are based on the following 16

text.
The reference to Stahle’s “pulse” serves to
indicate his level of
David Stahle is an expert on the imprints that
A) vitality
climate, fire, and pestilence leave in a tree’s
growth rings. His pulse rises when he spots a B) frustration
Line stand of beat-up old trees because they have C) playfulness
5 stories to tell. For reasons not fully understood, D) excitement
such trees, growing under harsh conditions,
often live longer and are more sensitive to
fluctuations in weather than healthier trees
growing on better land. Recently, Stahle
10 concluded from rings in bald cypress trees that a
17
severe drought struck Roanoke Island, North
Carolina, in the late sixteenth century. This Which choice best describes the function of
might explain why the so-called Lost Colony of the underlined sentence in the text as a
Roanoke died out by 1590. whole?
A) advocate a cause
B) offer a theory
C) modify a claim
D) predict an outcome

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Whistling and moaning, a 50-mile-an-hour 18

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wind whipped among the telescope domes atop The rhetorical device primarily featured
Kitt Peak. A few feet below, turning gray in the in this text is
Line dusk, slid a river of clouds that had been rising
5 and dropping all day. High above, comet Hale- A) appeal to emotion
Bopp hung like a feathery fishing lure, its tail B) metaphorical language
curving off a bit, as if blown to the side by the
C) flashback
punishing wind. One by one, stars winked on in
a darkening sky. Nearby, wild horses wandered D) irony
10 past. They never glanced skyward at the
gossamer swath of Hale-Bopp nor at the
wondrous spectacle that is the night sky on a
clear night, comet or no.
It felt good to be human.

In 1843 Augusta Ada King published an 19

influential set of notes describing Charles
The author of the text would most likely
Babbage’s conception of an “analytical
disagree with which of the following
Line engine”—the first design for an automatic
statements about Augusta Ada King?
5 computer. King’s notes, which included her
program for computing a series of figures called A) Her family history plays no part in the
Bernoulli numbers, established her importance fascination she arouses.
in computer science. However, her fascinating B) Her contributions to computer science
life and lineage (she was the daughter of the were markedly original.
10 flamboyant poet Lord Byron)—and her role as a
female pioneer in her field—have turned her C) She was well known in the field of
into an icon. She has inspired biographies, plays, computer science long after she had
novels, and even a feature film. And whereas completed her work.
many women have helped to advance computer D) Her life was remarkable even apart from
15 science, only King has had a computer language her contributions to computer science.
named after her: Ada.

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Questions 20-21 are based on the 20

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following text. In lines 7-9 (“Since ... poems”), the author
suggests that drawing and writing were
Poetry discovered me when I was four or A) activities that served the same desire for
five. My mother wrote a poem for me, and I self-expression
had to recite it in church. Soon I was writing
my own poems. This was during a time when B) accomplishments that gave pleasure to
Line
5 my primary artistic expression was drawing, others
usually with crayons. We also called it C) abilities that had already been developed
“coloring.” Since my command of the crayon to the limit of the author's talent
was greater than my command of writing, in a D) hobbies that would be supplanted as the
sense my drawings became my poems. Then at author grew to adulthood
10 about the age of twelve—while still drawing and
now painting with a passion—I seriously (too
seriously!) committed myself to writing poetry.
I wanted to be a Renaissance artist: write, paint,
compose music, invent things.

21
In the text, the author’s childhood wish "to be
a Renaissance artist” (line 13) is best
understood as

A) an early sign of artistic ability

B) a naive and grandiose ambition
C) the beginning of an arduous and painful
apprenticeship
D) the spark that initiated a devotion to the
visual arts

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Questions 22-23 are based on the following 22

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text. The primary purpose of the text is to

A) describe the different jobs held by women

The Second World War was a watershed during the Second World War
event for all Americans. It brought the Great
Depression to an end and marked the beginning B) explain how the Second World War
of significant socioeconomic and political helped to end the Great Depression
Line
5 changes for women and racial minorities. C) discuss the impact of the Second World
Chinese American women played an important War on Chinese American women
role in these longterm changes. D) highlight the influence of feminism on
Galvanized by motives ranging from Chinese Chinese American women
nationalism to American patriotism and
10 feminism, Chinese American women initiated
an outpouring of highly organized activities in
such areas as fund-raising, propaganda, civil
defense, and Red Cross work. While some
women in San Francisco’s Chinatown enlisted
15 in the armed services, many others went to
work in businesses outside their neighborhood
and in defense industries for is the first time.
23
Which best characterizes the relationship
between the first paragraph and the second
paragraph?

A) The first paragraph relates an anecdote

that illustrates a generalization made in
the second paragraph.
B) The first paragraph presents a claim that
is supported in the second paragraph.
C) The second paragraph digresses from the
topic discussed in the first paragraph.
D) The second paragraph challenges the
validity of the argument made in the first
paragraph.

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Questions 24-25 are based on the 24

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following text. Which of the following would be the LEAST
appropriate to add to the list in lines 11-13?
Scientifically speaking, it seems clear why
A) search-and-rescue cats
dogs act like dogs. Like most domesticated
animals, dogs are the descendants of an B) luggage-sniffing cats
Line intensely social species. Their instinct to seek C) mouse-hunting cats
5 the company of human beings is an attempt to D) sheep-herding cats
reconstitute an ancestral social structure that is
etched in their genes. But cats defy all normal
rules about domesticated animals. The cat’s
wild progenitor, the African wildcat, is
10 completely solitary in its natural state. I suppose
this explains why I’ve never seen any Seeing Eye
cats, Frisbee-catching cats, or slipper-fetching
cats. But by the same reasoning, there ought to
be no lap-sitting cats or treat-begging cats—and
15 certainly no cats like Shawn, my orange barn
25
cat.
The author of the text implies that Shawn is
very

A) curious
B) independent
C) companionable
D) mischievous

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Questions 26-27 are based on the 26

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following text. The reference to “clean linen” primarily
serves to
This all started on a Saturday morning in A) explain a course of action
May, one of those warm spring days that smell
B) evoke a particular sensation
like clean linen. Delia had gone to the
Line supermarket to shop for the week’s meals. She C) describe an unexpected development
5 was standing in the produce section, languidly D) show nostalgia for a past experience
choosing a bunch of celery. Grocery stores
always made her reflective. Why was it, she was
wondering, that celery was not called
“corduroy plant”? That would be much more
10 colorful. And garlic bulbs should be
“moneybags,” because their shape reminded
her of the sacks of gold coins in folktales.
27
The word “colorful” in line 9 conveys a sense
of something

A) garish
B) robust
C) vividly descriptive
D) eye-catching

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Questions 28-29 are based on the following 28

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text. The text suggests that many of Smith’s critics
considered her novels to be
Beginning in the 1780’s, novelist Charlotte A) marred by frivolous and pointless
Smith’s explicit and implicit criticism of English descriptions
life and laws, of England’s social organization,
B) riddled with historical inaccuracies
Line earned her a reputation as a “subversive.” Her
5 novels contain some of the earliest literary C) harmful to the established social order
attacks on the English legal system. In D) disrespectful of British literary traditions
comparison to later exposes by nineteenth-
century novelists such as Charles Dickens,
Charlotte Smith’s attacks appear somewhat
10 timorous. However, it cannot be denied that it
was Smith who introduced such a target for
later novelists and that when she did, her action
was considered so audacious that it laid her
open to the charge of being a “menace.”
29
The author of the text mentions Charles
Dickens primarily as an example of a novelist
who

A) found success by simply exposing rather

than attacking social institutions
B) rebelled against a literary tradition that
Smith had originated
C) developed the same themes as Smith, but
received far less criticism for doing so
D) made literary attacks that were bolder
than those made by Smith

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A century ago, opponents of women’s 30

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suffrage in the United States scoffed at the As the text presents it, the “commonly
notion that extending the vote to women would accepted wisdom” assumed that
Line make any difference. “Women will vote with
5 their husbands” was the commonly accepted A) women’s votes would be cancelled out by
wisdom. This was an argument made in the men’s votes
absence of evidence, as women did not yet have
B) many women would choose not to vote
the vote. Ever since women won the vote,
researchers have been keeping close track of in elections
10 female voting behavior. A “gender gap" in C) many husbands would discourage their
voting behavior has been found in the United wives from voting
States as in many other countries. In the United D) married women would not vote
States, the 1994 and 1996 elections showed the independently of their husbands
largest gaps ever between candidates favored by
15 women and those favored by men.

For people with synesthesia, a condition in 31

which the senses get mixed up, the number five Which choice best states the main purpose of
may be red. One explanation for this sensory
the text?
Line crossover is that synesthetes, people with
5 synesthesia, are simply experiencing childhood A) To explore possible explanations for a
memories and associations. Maybe the person phenomenon
played with refrigerator magnets as a child and
the number five was red. Another explanation is B) To compare two somewhat related
that synesthetes are experiencing the result of phenomena
10 some kind of cross wiring between regions of C) To present a theory for a phenomenon
the brain. In fact, we have now identified where and then critique that theory
in the brain such cross wiring might occur. We D) To trace the evolution of an intriguing
have also determined that synesthesia can occur phenomenon
if the wiring is fine but the balance of chemicals
15 that control brain activity is skewed.

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32

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Questions 32-33 are based on the following
text. Which choice best states the main purpose of
the text?
Your life may very well depend on a fish that A) To offer a hypothesis about the origins
few have heard of—the menhaden. No one of a food staple
actually eats menhaden because they are oily,
foul, and packed with bones. But they can be B) To describe the main habitat of a certain
Line
5 ground up and used as a high-protein feed for species of fish
chickens, pigs, and cattle. (Pop some barbecued C) To convey the importance of a particular
wings in your mouth and part of what you're species of fish
eating was once menhaden.) Furthermore, D) To discuss the overharvesting of fish
menhaden are filter feeders that help control species in coastal waters
10 the growth of algae devastating to coastal
fisheries. Marine biologist Sara Gottlieb says,
‘Think of menhaden as the liver of a bay. Just as
your body needs its liver to filter out toxins,
ecosystems also need those natural filters.”

33
The quotation in lines 12-14 contains an
example of which rhetorical device?

A) Personification
B) Understatement
C) Paradox
D) Analogy

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Questions 34-35 are based on the following
text. The author of the text suggests that “Others”
believed it important to
For Black American artists working in the
A) secure their reputations among
early twentieth century, the question of how
best to gain support for their work was a established artists and critics
Line compelling one. Some of them argued that they B) use African settings and themes in their
5 should incorporate their African heritage into works
their art production and choose themes C) develop innovative stylistic techniques
representing the shared experiences of Black
D) promote the works of fellow Black artists
people. Others believed that Black artists should
follow the prevailing styles of mainstream
10 Europe and America in order to gain full
acceptance in the art world. Modernist Lois
Mailou Jones entered the debate in 1930, when
she joined the faculty of Howard University and
began to explore Africa in her paintings. Africa,
15 both real and imagined, became a guide and an
inspiration for Jones throughout her career.
35
The passage indicates that Jones “entered the
debate” by

A) examining the impact of African artists on

Black artists
B) adapting classical European techniques to
fit African themes
C) inspiring other Black artists to join the
modernist movement
D) pursuing an artistic style in which African
influences predominated

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36

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Questions 36-38 are based on the following
text. Both Text 1 and Text 2 indicate that caves
are home to
Text 1 A) fossilized remains
Caves have always haunted the imagination. B) sedimentary rocks
The ancient Greeks shuddered at tales of C) mythological creatures
Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the D) multiple animal species
Line entrance to Hades, and countless legends and
5 Hollywood fantasies include a spine-tingling
staple: unknown creatures lurking in the next
claustrophobic corridor, hungry and waiting for
visitors. Now it turns out that bizarre, voracious
denizens of the underworld are not wholly 37
10 imaginary. Biologists slithering into ever The authors of both texts would most likely
deeper, tighter recesses are coming face-to-face agree that caves
with a fast-growing list of cave-dwelling spiders,
centipedes, leeches, mites, scorpions, beetles, A) are threatened by excessive exploration
fish, snails, worms, and salamanders, along with B) continue to yield new discoveries
15 thick beds of bacteria and fungi that sometimes C) provide information about ancient
make a living off the very rocks. civilizations
Text 2 D) fuel people’s fears about the underworld

Five hundred feet below the bright-green rain

forest, my fellow cave diver slips into the dark-
green waters of a flooded cave passage called
20 Tunkul Sump. Loaded with lights and two
scuba tanks, he unreels a thin white nylon cord,
38
his lifeline back from the unexplored passage. I
sit near the sump and wait. It’s April 30, 1999, The last sentence of Text 2 serves primarily to
my sixth expedition to the Chiquibul cave
A) show the extent to which the climate of
25 system in Belize and Guatemala. On each trip I
the area has changed
feel I’m opening books in an underground
library that has preserved records of dramatic B) point out that the cave was once home to
climate change over time, of the lives of the species that are now extinct
ancient Maya who once used these caves, and of C) convey the idea that the cave serves as a
30 numerous animal species, living and extinct. historical chronicle
D) suggest that underwater cave exploration
is more productive than scholarly
research

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Questions 39-42 are based on the following
text. Both texts discuss which of the following?

A) Reactions to plagiarism committed by

Text 1 scholars
In a recent survey concerning plagiarism B) An increase in plagiarism by college
among scholars, two University of Alabama professor
economists asked 1,200 of their colleagues if C) The impact that academic fraud can have
Line they believed their work had ever been stolen. A on the communication of scholarly ideas
5 startling 40 percent answered yes. While not a D) Recent and highly publicized cases of
random sample, the responses still represent plagiarism
hundreds of cases of alleged plagiarism. Very
few of them will ever be dragged into the
sunlight. That's because academia often
10 discourages victims from seeking justice, and
when they do, tends to ignore their complaints.
"It's like cockroaches," says the author of a
recent book about academic fraud. "For every
one you see on the floor, there are a hundred
15 behind the stove."

Text 2

Words belong to the person who wrote them. 40

There are few simpler ethical notions than this, The "author" (line 12, Text 1) would likely
particularly as society directs more and more argue that the historian's having "lifted
energy toward the creation of intellectual passages from other historians” (Text 2) is
20 property. In the past 30 years, copyright laws
have been strengthened, fighting piracy has A) an example of academic collaboration
become an obsession with Hollywood, and, in B) deserving of harsh punishment
the worlds of academia and publishing,
C) far from an isolated incident
plagiarism has gone from being bad literary
25 manners to something close to a felony. When a D) a comparatively recent problem
noted historian was recently found to have lifted
passages from other historians, she was asked to
resign from the board of the Pulitzer Prize
committee. And why not? If she had robbed a
30 bank, she would have been fired the next day.

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41 42

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The author of Text 2 would likely respond to Which best describes the relationship
the actions attributed to "academia” in lines between the two texts?
9-11 in Text 1 ("academia ... complaints") by
asserting that A) Text l advocates a strategy that Text 2
considers outmoded.
A) these actions are consistent with the B) Text 1 envisions an idealistic condition
approach common in publishing that Text 2 finds impossible.
B) researchers should not be held C) Text 1 provides a detached analysis to
accountable for inadvertent mistakes which Text 2 responds with alarm.
C) universities increasingly treat plagiarism D) Text 1 describes a state of affairs that Text
as a serious offense 2 views as inexcusable.
D) colleges should provide amnesty to
researchers accused of plagiarism

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I had grown up in the United States virtually 43

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without relatives, which, in my intense desire to When the author talks about being
assimilate, was quite all right with me. But this welcomed "for being simply who I am”, she
Line attitude dissolved when I walked into that attributes this acceptance to
5 apartment in Beijing. I realized then that my
extended family is not just a collection of A) character
accidental alliances but a living body, an entity B) nationality
that will welcome me for being simply who I
C) appearance
am: the daughter of my mother, the niece of my
10 aunts and uncles. We had never before seen D) kinship
each other but, in that moment, we shared a
sense of connection and loyally unlike anything
I had previously experienced.

Some people like to act like things come easy 44

to them. Take Cynthia Procter, for instance. If
Which best describes the tone of lines 12-14
there's a test tomorrow, she'll say something
(“And ... prodigy”) ?
Line like, "Oh, I guess I'll watch television tonight,"
5 just to let you know she ain't thinking about the A) Sardonic
test. Oh, brother. When I pass her house, she is
B) Anxious
practicing the scales on the piano over and over.
Then in music class she always lets herself get C) Reverent
bumped around so she falls accidentally on D) Amazed
10 purpose onto the piano stool and is so surprised
to find herself sitting there that she decides just
for fun to try out the ole keys. And what do you
know— Chopin's waltzes just spring out of her
fingertips. A regular prodigy.

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Questions 45-46 are based on the 45

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following text. In this text, Chen discusses photography
as a means by which to
"My philosophy,” said well-known A) document scientific phenomena
astrophotographer Pei-Kun Chen, “is that the
B) indulge in philosophical theorizing
guy who looks at the stars is in fact looking at
Line himself.” It is therefore important, Chen C) engage in self-expression
5 believes, to put a bit of yourself into your D) capture personal memories
photographs— either in the framing or the
creation of the image or by adding in a physical
foreground. In other words, don’t take a
portrait just of a solar eclipse but of a tree and
10 an eclipse or a person and an eclipse.
Otherwise, you’ll see only an image of the sky
and nothing about you.
46
Lines 4-10 (“It is .. . eclipse”) serve mainly to

A) recommend an approach
B) provide a comparison
C) identify a common mistake
D) describe a personal experience

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Questions 47-50 are based on the following 47

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text. The "Sleep researchers" (line 14, Text 2)
would most likely characterize the
Text 1 "grogginess" (line 1, Text 1) as a

I love to nap. When after-lunch grogginess A) potentially dangerous problem

hits and my eyelids start to droop, nothing B) symptom of stress
makes me happier than finding a comfortable C) normal human pattern
Line spot and drifting off to sleep.
5 But to my family, my napping is the sign of a D) response to an excess of caffeine
basic character flaw.
“You're napping again? You’re so lazy!"
They're not the only ones who feel this way. To
be an enthusiastic napper in twenty-first-
10 century North America is to be out of step with
your time and place. A nap is seen as a sign of
weakness, either physical or moral. Healthy,
productive adults do not nap.

Text 2

Sleep researchers have shown that the human 48

15 body is programmed to become sleepy in the
Text 2 indicates that the view expressed in the
early afternoon. In some cultures people doze
after the midday meal. But in many final sentence of Text 1 ("Healthy ... nap") has
industrialized nations, the usual response is to been
try to jump-start the system with caffeine, a
A) helpful for those who act on it
20 tactic that sleep experts say creates only the
illusion of efficiency and alertness. B) evident in every human culture
"Napping should not be frowned upon," C) opposed by many labor unions
writes one researcher. "It should have the status D) rejected by some employers
of daily exercise.”
25 And in fact restorative naps may be making a
comeback. Recognizing that many employees
are chronically sleep deprived, some companies
have set up nap rooms. If labor unions are
interested in worker welfare, they should make
30 such accommodations a standard item in
contract negotiations.

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49 50

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The author of Text 2 would most likely agree The sleep expert quoted in Text 2 (lines
with which statement about the “tactic" (line 22-24) would most likely consider the
20) ? position taken by the “family” (line 5, Text 1)
to be
A) It is not understood by sleep experts.
B) It is not encouraged by employers. A) self-contradictory
C) It is less effective than it appears to be. B) misguided
D) It is often difficult to implement. C) ambiguous
D) sympathetic

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