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Questions 34-44 are based on the following passage. 34

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A) NO CHANGE
B) For example,
The Consolations of Philosophy
C) In contrast,
Long viewed by many as the stereotypical useless
D) Nevertheless,
major, philosophy is now being seen by many students
and prospective employers as in fact a very useful and
35
practical major, offering students a host of transferable
&
A) NO CHANGE
skills with relevance to the modern workplace. 34 In B) speaking in a more pragmatic way,
broad terms, philosophy is the study of meaning and the C) speaking in a way more pragmatically,
D) in a more pragmatic-speaking way,
values underlying thought and behavior. But 35 more
pragmatically, the discipline encourages students to
36
analyze complex material, question conventional beliefs, A) NO CHANGE
and express thoughts in a concise manner. B) teaches
&
Because philosophy 36 teaching students not what C) to teach
D) and teaching
to think but how to think, the age-old discipline offers
consistently useful tools for academic and professional
37
achievement. 37 A 1994 survey concluded that only
Which choice most effectively sets up the
18 percent of American colleges required at least one information that follows?
A) Consequently, philosophy students have been
philosophy course. 38 Therefore, between 1992 and
receiving an increasing number of job offers.
1996, more than 400 independent philosophy B) Therefore, because of the evidence, colleges
increased their offerings in philosophy.
departments were eliminated from institutions.
C) Notwithstanding the attractiveness of this course
of study, students have resisted majoring in
philosophy.
&
D) However, despite its many utilitarian benefits,
colleges have not always supported the study of
philosophy.

38
A) NO CHANGE
B) Thus,
&
C) Moreover,
D) However,

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30 CO NTI N U E
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More recently, colleges have recognized the 39

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practicality and increasing popularity of studying Which choice most effectively combines the
sentences at the underlined portion?
philosophy and have markedly increased the number of
A) writing as
philosophy programs offered. By 2008 there were B) writing, and these results can be
&
817 programs, up from 765 a decade before. In addition, C) writing, which can also be
the number of four-year graduates in philosophy has D) writing when the results are

grown 46 percent in a decade. Also, studies have found

40
that those students who major in philosophy often do
A) NO CHANGE
better than students from other majors in both verbal
&
B) have scored
reasoning and analytical 39 writing. These results can be C) scores
measured by standardized test scores. On the Graduate D) scoring

Record Examination (GRE), for example, students

41
intending to study philosophy in graduate school 40 has
A) NO CHANGE
scored higher than students in all but four other majors.
&
B) students majoring
These days, many 41 student’s majoring in C) students major
philosophy have no intention of becoming philosophers; D) student’s majors

instead they plan to apply those skills to other disciplines.

42
Law and business specifically benefit from the
At this point, the writer is considering adding the
complicated theoretical issues raised in the study of following sentence.
philosophy, but philosophy can be just as useful in The ancient Greek philosopher Plato, for example,
engineering or any field requiring complex analytic skills. wrote many of his works in the form of dialogues.
Should the writer make this addition here?
42 That these skills are transferable across professions
A) Yes, because it reinforces the passage’s main
point about the employability of philosophy
majors.
B) Yes, because it acknowledges a common
counterargument to the passage’s central claim.

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C) No, because it blurs the paragraph’s focus by
introducing a new idea that goes unexplained.
D) No, because it undermines the passage’s claim
about the employability of philosophy majors.

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31 CO NTI N U E
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43 which makes them especially beneficial to 43

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twenty-first-century students. Because today’s students A) NO CHANGE
B) that
can expect to hold multiple jobs—some of which may not
even exist yet—during 44 our lifetime, studying
&
C) and
D) DELETE the underlined portion.
philosophy allows them to be flexible and adaptable.
High demand, advanced exam scores, and varied 44
professional skills all argue for maintaining and A) NO CHANGE

enhancing philosophy courses and majors within B) one’s

C) his or her
academic institutions.
D) their
&

STOP
If you finish before time is called, you may check your work on this section only.
Do not turn to any other section.

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