READING

This section measures your ability to understand academic passages in English.

There are three passages in the section. Give yourself 18 minutes to read each passage and answer the questions about it. The entire section will take 54 minutes to complete.

You may look back at a passage when answering the questions. You can skip questions and go back to them later as long as there is time remaining.

 

Directions: Read the passage. Then answer the questions. Give yourself 18 minutes to complete this practice set.

POWERING THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

     In Britain one of the most dramatic changes of the Industrial Revolution was the harnessing of power. Until the reign of George III (1760–1820), available sources of power for work and travel had not increased since the Middle Ages. There were three sources of power: animal or human muscles; the wind, operating on sail or windmill; and running water. Only the last of these was suited at all to the continuous operating of machines, and although waterpower abounded in Lancashire and Scotland and ran grain mills as well as textile mills, it had one great disadvantage: streams flowed where nature intended them to, and water-driven factories had to be located on their banks, whether or not the location was desirable for other reasons. Furthermore, even the most reliable waterpower varied with the seasons and disappeared in a drought. The new age of machinery, in short, could not have been born without a new source of both movable and constant power.
     The source had long been known but not exploited. Early in the century, a pump had come into use in which expanding steam raised a piston in a cylinder, and atmospheric pressure brought it down again when the steam condensed inside the cylinder to form a vacuum. This “atmospheric engine,” invented by Thomas Savery and vastly improved by his partner, Thomas Newcomen, embodied revolutionary principles, but it was so slow and wasteful of fuel that it could not be employed outside the coal mines for which it had been designed. In the 1760s, James Watt perfected a separate condenser for the steam, so that the cylinder did not have to be cooled at every stroke; then he devised a way to make the piston turn a wheel and thus convert reciprocating (back and forth) motion into rotary motion. He thereby transformed an inefficient pump of limited use into a steam engine of a thousand uses. The final step came when steam was introduced into the cylinder to drive the piston backward as well as forward, thereby increasing the speed of the engine and cutting its fuel consumption.
    Watt’s steam engine soon showed what it could do. It liberated industry from dependence on running water. The engine eliminated water in the mines
by driving efficient pumps, which made possible deeper and deeper mining. The ready availability of coal inspired William Murdoch during the 1790s to develop the first new form of nighttime illumination to be discovered in a millennium and a half. Coal gas rivaled smoky oil lamps and flickering candles, and early in the new century, well-to-do Londoners grew accustomed to gaslit houses and even streets. Iron manufacturers, which had starved for fuel while depending on charcoal, also benefited from ever- increasing supplies of coal; blast furnaces with steam-powered bellows turned out more iron and steel for the new machinery. Steam became the motive force of the Industrial Revolution, as coal and iron ore were the raw materials.
       By 1800 more than a thousand steam engines were in use in the British Isles, and Britain retained a virtual monopoly on steam engine production until the 1830s. Steam power did not merely spin cotton and roll iron; early in the new century, it also multiplied ten times over the amount of paper that a single worker could produce in a day. At the same time, operators of the first printing presses run by steam rather than by hand found it possible to produce a thousand pages in an hour rather than thirty. Steam also promised to eliminate a transportation problem not fully solved by either canal boats or turnpikes. Boats could carry heavy weights, but canals could not cross hilly terrain; turnpikes could cross the hills, but the roadbeds could not stand up under great weights. These problems needed still another solution, and the ingredients for it lay close at hand. In some industrial regions, heavily laden wagons, with flanged wheels, were being hauled by horses along metal rails; and the stationary steam engine was puffing in the factory and mine. Another generation passed before inventors succeeded in combining these ingredients, by putting the engine on wheels and the wheels on the rails, so as to provide a machine to take the place of the horse. Thus the railroad age sprang from what had already happened in the eighteenth century.

 

Directions: Now answer the questions.

 

PARAGRAPHS 1 & 2

     In Britain one of the most dramatic changes of the Industrial Revolution was the harnessing of power. Until the reign of George III (1760–1820), available sources of power for work and travel had not increased since the Middle Ages. There were three sources of power: animal or human muscles; the wind, operating on sail or windmill; and running water. Only the last of these was suited at all to the continuous operating of machines, and although waterpower abounded in Lancashire and Scotland and ran grain mills as well as textile mills, it had one great disadvantage: streams flowed where nature intended them to, and water-driven factories had to be located on their banks, whether or not the location was desirable for other reasons. Furthermore, even the most reliable waterpower varied with the seasons and disappeared in a drought. The new age of machinery, in short, could not have been born without a new source of both movable and constant power.
     The source had long been known but not exploited. Early in the century, a pump had come into use in which expanding steam raised a piston in a cylinder, and atmospheric pressure brought it down again when the steam condensed inside the cylinder to form a vacuum. This “atmospheric engine,” invented by Thomas Savery and vastly improved by his partner, Thomas Newcomen, embodied revolutionary principles, but it was so slow and wasteful of fuel that it could not be employed outside the coal mines for which it had been designed. In the 1760s, James Watt perfected a separate condenser for the steam, so that the cylinder did not have to be cooled at every stroke; then he devised a way to make the piston turn a wheel and thus convert reciprocating (back and forth) motion into rotary motion. He thereby transformed an inefficient pump of limited use into a steam engine of a thousand uses. The final step came when steam was introduced into the cylinder to drive the piston backward as well as forward, thereby increasing the speed of the engine and cutting its fuel consumption.

1. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 1? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. Running water was the best power source for factories since it could keep machines operating continuously, but since it was abundant only in Lancashire and Scotland, most mills and factories that were located elsewhere could not be water driven.
B. The disadvantage of using waterpower is that streams do not necessarily flow in places that are the most suitable for factories, which explains why so many water-powered grain and textile mills were located in undesirable places.
C. Since machines could be operated continuously only where running water was abundant, grain and textile mills, as well as other factories, tended to be located only in Lancashire and Scotland.
D. Running water was the only source of power that was suitable for the continuous operation of machines, but to make use of it, factories had to be located where the water was, regardless of whether such locations made sense otherwise.

2. Which of the following best describes the relationship of paragraph 2 to paragraph 1?

A. Paragraph 2 shows how the problem discussed in paragraph 1 arose.
B. Paragraph 2 explains how the problem presented in paragraph 1 came to be solved.
C. Paragraph 2 provides a more technical discussion of the problem introduced in paragraph 1.
D. Paragraph 2 shows why the problem discussed in paragraph 1 was especially important to solve.

3. According to paragraph 2, the “atmospheric engine” was slow because

A. it had been designed to be used in coal mines
B. the cylinder had to cool between each stroke
C. it made use of expanding steam to raise the piston in its cylinder
D. it could be operated only when a large supply of fuel was available

4. According to paragraph 2, Watt’s steam engine differed from earlier steam engines in each of the following ways EXCEPT:

A. It used steam to move a piston in a cylinder.
B. It worked with greater speed.
C. It was more efficient in its use of fuel.
D. It could be used in many different ways.

 

PARAGRAPH 3

     Watt’s steam engine soon showed what it could do. It liberated industry from dependence on running water. The engine eliminated water in the mines by driving efficient pumps, which made possible deeper and deeper mining. The ready availability of coal inspired William Murdoch during the 1790s to develop the first new form of nighttime illumination to be discovered in a millennium and a half. Coal gas rivaled smoky oil lamps and flickering candles, and early in the new century, well-to-do Londoners grew accustomed to gaslit houses and even streets. Iron manufacturers, which had starved for fuel while depending on charcoal, also benefited from ever- increasing supplies of coal; blast furnaces with steam-powered bellows turned out more iron and steel for the new machinery. Steam became the motive force of the Industrial Revolution, as coal and iron ore were the raw materials.

5. In paragraph 3, the author mentions William Murdoch’s invention of a new form of nighttime illumination in order to

A. indicate one of the important developments made possible by the introduction of Watt’s steam engine
B. make the point that Watt’s steam engine was not the only invention of importance to the Industrial Revolution
C. illustrate how important coal was as a raw material for the Industrial Revolution
D. provide an example of another eighteenth-century invention that used steam as a power source

6. The phrase “grew accustomed to” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. began to prefer
B. wanted to have
C. became used to
D. insisted on

 

PARAGRAPH 4

     By 1800 more than a thousand steam engines were in use in the British Isles, and Britain retained a virtual monopoly on steam engine production until the 1830s. Steam power did not merely spin cotton and roll iron; early in the new century, it also multiplied ten times over the amount of paper that a single worker could produce in a day. At the same time, operators of the first printing presses run by steam rather than by hand found it possible to produce a thousand pages in an hour rather than thirty. Steam also promised to eliminate a transportation problem not fully solved by either canal boats or turnpikes. Boats could carry heavy weights, but canals could not cross hilly terrain; turnpikes could cross the hills, but the roadbeds could not stand up under great weights. These problems needed still another solution, and the ingredients for it lay close at hand. In some industrial regions, heavily laden wagons, with flanged wheels, were being hauled by horses along metal rails; and the stationary steam engine was puffing in the factory and mine. Another generation passed before inventors succeeded in combining these ingredients, by putting the engine on wheels and the wheels on the rails, so as to provide a machine to take the place of the horse. Thus the railroad age sprang from what had already happened in the eighteenth century.

7. According to paragraph 4, which of the following statements about steam engines is true?

A. They were used for the production of paper but not for printing.
B. By 1800, significant numbers of them were produced outside of Britain.
C. They were used in factories before they were used to power trains.
D. They were used in the construction of canals and turnpikes.

8. According to paragraph 4, providing a machine to take the place of the horse involved combining which two previously separate ingredients?

A. Turnpikes and canals
B. Stationary steam engines and wagons with flanged wheels
C. Metal rails in roadbeds and wagons capable of carrying heavy loads
D. Canal boats and heavily laden wagons

 

PARAGRAPH 3

(A) Watt’s steam engine soon showed what it could do. (B) It liberated industry from dependence on running water. (C) The engine eliminated water in the mines by driving efficient pumps, which made possible deeper and deeper mining. (D) The ready availability of coal inspired William Murdoch during the 1790s to develop the first new form of nighttime illumination to be discovered in a millennium and a half. Coal gas rivaled smoky oil lamps and flickering candles, and early in the new century, well-to-do Londoners grew accustomed to gaslit houses and even streets. Iron manufacturers, which had starved for fuel while depending on charcoal, also benefited from ever- increasing supplies of coal; blast furnaces with steam-powered bellows turned out more iron and steel for the new machinery. Steam became the motive force of the Industrial Revolution, as coal and iron ore were the raw materials.

9. Look at the part of the passage that is displayed above. The letters (A), (B), (C), and (D) indicate where the following sentence could be added.

The factories did not have to go to the streams when power could come to the factories.

Where would the sentence best fit?
A. Choice A
B. Choice B
C. Choice C
D. Choice D

10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided on the next page. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.

Write your answer choices in the spaces where they belong. You can either write the letter of your answer choice or you can copy the sentence.

Answer Choices

A. In the early eighteenth century, Savery and Newcomen discovered that expanding steam could be used to raise a piston in a cylinder.
B. In the mid-1700s, James Watt transformed an inefficient steam pump into a fast, flexible, fuel-efficient engine.
C. Watt’s steam engine played a leading role in greatly increasing industrial production of all kinds.
D. In the 1790s, William Murdoch developed a new way of lighting houses and streets using coal gas.
E. Until the 1830s, Britain was the world’s major producer of steam engines.
F. The availability of steam engines was a major factor in the development of railroads, which solved a major transportation problem.

 

Directions: Read the passage. Then answer the questions. Give yourself 18 minutes to complete this practice set.

WILLIAM SMITH

     In 1769 in a little town in Oxfordshire, England, a child with the very ordinary name of William Smith was born into the poor family of a village blacksmith. He received rudimentary village schooling, but mostly he roamed his uncle’s farm collecting the fossils that were so abundant in the rocks of the Cotswold hills. When he grew older, William Smith taught himself surveying from books he bought with his small savings, and at the age of eighteen he was apprenticed to a surveyor of the local parish. He then proceeded to teach himself geology, and when he was twenty-four, he went to work for the company that was excavating the Somerset Coal Canal in the south of England.
     This was before the steam locomotive, and canal building was at its height. The companies building the canals to transport coal needed surveyors to help them find the coal deposits worth mining as well as to determine the best courses for the canals. This job gave Smith an opportunity to study the fresh rock outcrops created by the newly dug canal. He later worked on similar jobs across the length and breadth of England, all the while studying the newly revealed strata and collecting all the fossils he could find. Smith used mail coaches to travel as much as 10,000 miles per year. In 1815 he published the first modern geological map, “A Map of the Strata of England and Wales with a Part of Scotland,” a map so meticulously researched that it can still be used today.
     In 1831 when Smith was finally recognized by the Geological Society of London as the “father of English geology,” it was not only for his maps but also for something even more important. Ever since people had begun to catalog the strata in particular outcrops, there had been the hope that these could somehow be used to calculate geological time. But as more and more accumulations of strata were cataloged in more and more places, it became clear that the sequences of rocks sometimes differed from region to region and that no rock type was ever going to become a reliable time marker throughout the world. Even without the problem of regional differences, rocks present a difficulty as unique time markers. Quartz is quartz—a silicon ion surrounded by four oxygen ions—there’s no difference at all between two-million-year-old Pleistocene quartz and Cambrian quartz created over 500 million years ago.
     As he collected fossils from strata throughout England, Smith began to see that the fossils told a different story from the rocks. Particularly in the younger strata, the rocks were often so similar that he had trouble distinguishing the strata, but he never had trouble telling the fossils apart. While rock between two consistent strata might in one place be shale and in another sandstone, the fossils in that shale or sandstone were always the same. Some fossils endured through so many millions of years that they appear in many strata, but others occur only in a few strata, and a few species had their births and extinctions within one particular stratum. Fossils are thus identifying markers for particular periods in Earth’s history.
     Not only could Smith identify rock strata by the fossils they contained, he could also see a pattern emerging: certain fossils always appear in more ancient sediments, while others begin to be seen as the strata become more recent. By following the fossils, Smith was able to put all the strata of England’s earth into relative temporal sequence. About the same time, Georges Cuvier made the same discovery while studying the rocks around Paris. Soon it was realized that this principal of faunal (animal) succession was valid not only in England or France but virtually everywhere. It was actually a principle of floral succession as well, because plants showed the same transformation through time as did fauna. Limestone may be found in the Cambrian or—300 million years later—in the Jurassic strata, but a trilobite—the ubiquitous marine arthropod that had its birth in the Cambrian —will never be found in Jurassic strata, nor a dinosaur in the Cambrian.

Directions: Now answer the questions.

PARAGRAPH 1

     In 1769 in a little town in Oxfordshire, England, a child with the very ordinary name of William Smith was born into the poor family of a village blacksmith. He received rudimentary village schooling, but mostly he roamed his uncle’s farm collecting the fossils that were so abundant in the rocks of the Cotswold hills. When he grew older, William Smith taught himself surveying from books he bought with his small savings, and at the age of eighteen he was apprenticed to a surveyor of the local parish. He then proceeded to teach himself geology, and when he was twenty-four, he went to work for the company that was excavating the Somerset Coal Canal in the south of England.

11. According to paragraph 1, which of the following statements about William Smith is NOT true?

A. Smith learned surveying by reading and by apprenticing for a local surveyor.
B. Smith’s family lived in a small English town and possessed little wealth.
C. Smith learned about fossils from books he borrowed from his uncle.
D. Smith eventually left his village to work on the excavation of an English canal.

 

PARAGRAPH 2

     This was before the steam locomotive, and canal building was at its height. The companies building the canals to transport coal needed surveyors to help them find the coal deposits worth mining as well as to determine the best courses for the canals. This job gave Smith an opportunity to study the fresh rock outcrops created by the newly dug canal. He later worked on similar jobs across the length and breadth of England, all the while studying the newly revealed strata and collecting all the fossils he could find. Smith used mail coaches to travel as much as 10,000 miles per year. In 1815 he published the first modern geological map, “A Map of the Strata of England and Wales with a Part of Scotland,” a map so meticulously researched that it can still be used today.

12. According to paragraph 2, which of the following is true of the map published by William Smith?

A. It indicates the locations of England’s major canals.
B. It became most valuable when the steam locomotive made rail travel possible.
C. The data for the map were collected during Smith’s work on canals.
D. It is no longer regarded as a geological masterpiece.

13. The word “meticulously” in the passage is closest in meaning to 

A. carefully
B. quickly
C. frequently 
D. obviously

 

PARAGRAPH 3

     In 1831 when Smith was finally recognized by the Geological Society of London as the “father of English geology,” it was not only for his maps but also for something even more important. Ever since people had begun to catalog the strata in particular outcrops, there had been the hope that these could somehow be used to calculate geological time. But as more and more accumulations of strata were cataloged in more and more places, it became clear that the sequences of rocks sometimes differed from region to region and that no rock type was ever going to become a reliable time marker throughout the world. Even without the problem of regional differences, rocks present a difficulty as unique time markers. Quartz is quartz—a silicon ion surrounded by four oxygen ions—there’s no difference at all between two-million-year-old Pleistocene quartz and Cambrian quartz created over 500 million years ago.

14. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 3? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. The discovery of regional differences in the sequences of rocks led geologists to believe that rock types could some day become reliable time markers.
B. Careful analysis of strata revealed that rocks cannot establish geological time because the pattern of rock layers varies from place to place.
C. Smith’s catalogs of rock strata indicated that the sequences of rocks are different from place to place and from region to region.
D. Because people did not catalog regional differences in sequences of rocks, it was believed that rocks could never be reliable time markers.

 

PARAGRAPH 4

     As he collected fossils from strata throughout England, Smith began to see that the fossils told a different story from the rocks. Particularly in the younger strata, the rocks were often so similar that he had trouble distinguishing the strata, but he never had trouble telling the fossils apart. While rock between two consistent strata might in one place be shale and in another sandstone, the fossils in that shale or sandstone were always the same. Some fossils endured through so many millions of years that they appear in many strata, but others occur only in a few strata, and a few species had their births and extinctions within one particular stratum. Fossils are thus identifying markers for particular periods in Earth’s history.

15. The word “endured” in the passage is closest in meaning to 

A. vanished
B. developed 
C. varied
D. survived

 

PARAGRAPH 5

     Not only could Smith identify rock strata by the fossils they contained, he could also see a pattern emerging: certain fossils always appear in more ancient sediments, while others begin to be seen as the strata become more recent. By following the fossils, Smith was able to put all the strata of England’s earth into relative temporal sequence. About the same time, Georges Cuvier made the same discovery while studying the rocks around Paris. Soon it was realized that this principal of faunal (animal) succession was valid not only in England or France but virtually everywhere. It was actually a principle of floral succession as well, because plants showed the same transformation through time as did fauna. Limestone may be found in the Cambrian or—300 million years later—in the Jurassic strata, but a trilobite—the ubiquitous marine arthropod that had its birth in the Cambrian —will never be found in Jurassic strata, nor a dinosaur in the Cambrian.

16. The word “virtually” in the passage is closest in meaning to 

A. possibly
B. absolutely 
C. surprisingly 
D. nearly

17. Select the TWO answer choices that are true statements based upon the discussion of the principle of faunal succession in paragraph 5. To receive credit, you must select TWO answers.

A. It was a principle that applied to fauna but not to flora.
B. It was discovered independently by two different geologists.
C. It describes how fossils are distributed in rock strata.
D. It explains why plants and animals undergo transformations through time.

18. In mentioning “trilobite,” the author is making which of the following points?

A. Fossils cannot be found in more than one rock stratum.
B. Faunal succession can help put rock layers in relative temporal sequence.
C. Faunal succession cannot be applied to different strata composed of the same kind of rock.
D. The presence of trilobite fossils makes it difficult to date a rock.

 

PARAGRAPH 5

     Not only could Smith identify rock strata by the fossils they contained, he could also see a pattern emerging: certain fossils always appear in more ancient sediments, while others begin to be seen as the strata become more recent. (A) By following the fossils, Smith was able to put all the strata of England’s earth into relative temporal sequence. (B) About the same time, Georges Cuvier made the same discovery while studying the rocks around Paris. (C) Soon it was realized that this principal of faunal (animal) succession was valid not only in England or France but virtually everywhere. (D) It was actually a principle of floral succession as well, because plants showed the same transformation through time as did fauna. Limestone may be found in the Cambrian or—300 million years later—in the Jurassic strata, but a trilobite—the ubiquitous marine arthropod that had its birth in the Cambrian—will never be found in Jurassic strata, nor a dinosaur in the Cambrian.

19. Look at the part of the passage that is displayed above. The letters (A), (B), (C), and (D) indicate where the following sentence could be added.

The findings of these geologists inspired others to examine the rock and fossil records in different parts of the world.

Where would the sentence best fit?
A. Choice A
B. Choice B
C. Choice C
D. Choice D

20. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.

Write your answer choices in the spaces where they belong. You can either write the letter of your answer choice or you can copy the sentence.

Answer Choices

A. Smith found success easily in his profession because he came from a family of geologists and surveyors.
B. Smith’s work on canals allowed him to collect fossils and study rock layers all over England.
C. Smith found that fossils are much more reliable indicators of geological time than rock strata are.
D. Smith was named “the father of English geology” for his maps rather than for his other contributions to the field.
E. Smith and Cuvier discovered that fossil patterns are easier to observe in ancient rock strata than in younger rock strata.
F. The discovery of the principle of faunal succession allowed geologists to establish the relative age of Earth’s rock layers.

 

Directions: Read the passage. Then answer the questions. Give yourself 18 minutes to complete this practice set.

INFANTILE AMNESIA

     What do you remember about your life before you were three? Few people can remember anything that happened to them in their early years. Adults’ memories of the next few years also tend to be scanty. Most people remember only a few events—usually ones that were meaningful and distinctive, such as being hospitalized or a sibling’s birth.
    How might this inability to recall early experiences be explained? The sheer passage of time does not account for it; adults have excellent recognition of pictures of people who attended high school with them 35 years earlier. Another seemingly plausible explanation—that infants do not form enduring memories at this point in development—also is incorrect. Children two and a half to three years old remember experiences that occurred in their first year, and eleven month olds remember some events a year later. Nor does the hypothesis that infantile amnesia reflects repression —or holding back—of sexually charged episodes explain the phenomenon. While such repression may occur, people cannot remember ordinary events from the infant and toddler periods, either.
     Three other explanations seem more promising. One involves physiological changes relevant to memory. Maturation of the frontal lobes of the brain continues throughout early childhood, and this part of the brain may be critical for remembering particular episodes in ways that can be retrieved later. Demonstrations of infants’ and toddlers’ long-term memory have involved their repeating motor activities that they had seen or done earlier, such as reaching in the dark for objects, putting a bottle in a doll’s mouth, or pulling apart two pieces of a toy. The brain’s level of physiological maturation may support these types of memories, but not ones requiring explicit verbal descriptions.
     A second explanation involves the influence of the social world on children’s language use. Hearing and telling stories about events may help children store information in ways that will endure into later childhood and adulthood. Through hearing stories with a clear beginning, middle, and ending, children may learn to extract the gist of events in ways that they will be able to describe many years later. Consistent with this view, parents and children increasingly engage in discussions of past events when children are about three years old. However, hearing such stories is not sufficient for younger children to form enduring memories. Telling such stories to two year olds does not seem to produce long-lasting verbalizable memories.
      A third likely explanation for infantile amnesia involves incompatibilities between the ways in which infants encode¹ information and the ways in which older children and adults retrieve it. Whether people can remember an event depends critically on the fit between the way in which they earlier encoded the information and the way in which they later attempt to retrieve it. The better able the person is to reconstruct the perspective from which the material was encoded, the more likely that recall will be successful.
      This view is supported by a variety of factors that can create mismatches between very young children’s encoding and older children’s and adults’ retrieval efforts. The world looks very different to a person whose head is only two or three feet above the ground than to one whose head is five or six feet above it. Older children and adults often try to retrieve the names of things they saw, but infants would not have encoded the information verbally. General knowledge of categories of events such as a birthday party or a visit to the doctor’s office helps older individuals encode their experiences, but again, infants and toddlers are unlikely to encode many experiences within such knowledge structures.
      These three explanations of infantile amnesia are not mutually exclusive; indeed, they support each other. Physiological immaturity may be part of why infants and toddlers do not form extremely enduring memories, even when they hear stories that promote such remembering in preschoolers. Hearing the stories may lead preschoolers to encode aspects of events that allow them to form memories they can access as adults. Conversely, improved encoding of what they hear may help them better understand and remember stories and thus make the stories more useful for remembering future events. Thus, all three explanations—physiological maturation, hearing and producing stories about past events, and improved encoding of key aspects of events—seem likely to be involved in overcoming infantile amnesia.

1. encode: transfer information from one system of communication into another

 

Directions: Now answer the questions.

PARAGRAPH 2

     How might this inability to recall early experiences be explained? The sheer passage of time does not account for it; adults have excellent recognition of pictures of people who attended high school with them 35 years earlier. Another seemingly plausible explanation—that infants do not form enduring memories at this point in development—also is incorrect. Children two and a half to three years old remember experiences that occurred in their first year, and eleven month olds remember some events a year later. Nor does the hypothesis that infantile amnesia reflects repression —or holding back—of sexually charged episodes explain the phenomenon. While such repression may occur, people cannot remember ordinary events from the infant and toddler periods, either.

21. What purpose does paragraph 2 serve in the larger discussion of children’s inability to recall early experiences?

A. To argue that theories that are not substantiated by evidence should generally be considered unreliable
B. To argue that the hypotheses mentioned in paragraph 2 have been more thoroughly researched than have the theories mentioned later in the passage
C. To explain why some theories about infantile amnesia are wrong before presenting ones more likely to be true
D. To explain why infantile amnesia is of great interest to researchers

22. The word “phenomenon” in the passage is closest in meaning to 

A. exception
B. repetition 
C. occurrence 
D. idea

23. All of the following theories about the inability to recall early experiences are rejected in paragraph 2 EXCEPT:

A. The ability to recall an event decreases as the time after the event increases.
B. Young children are not capable of forming memories that last for more than a short time.
C. People may hold back sexually meaningful memories.
D. Most events in childhood are too ordinary to be worth remembering.

 

PARAGRAPH 3

    Three other explanations seem more promising. One involves physiological changes relevant to memory. Maturation of the frontal lobes of the brain continues throughout early childhood, and this part of the brain may be critical for remembering particular episodes in ways that can be retrieved later. Demonstrations of infants’ and toddlers’ long-term memory have involved their repeating motor activities that they had seen or done earlier, such as reaching in the dark for objects, putting a bottle in a doll’s mouth, or pulling apart two pieces of a toy. The brain’s level of physiological maturation may support these types of memories, but not ones requiring explicit verbal descriptions.

24. What does paragraph 3 suggest about long-term memory in children?

A. Maturation of the frontal lobes of the brain is important for the long- term memory of motor activities but not verbal descriptions.
B. Young children may form long-term memories of actions they see earlier than of things they hear or are told.
C. Young children have better long-term recall of short verbal exchanges than of long ones.
D. Children’s long-term recall of motor activities increases when such activities are accompanied by explicit verbal descriptions.

 

PARAGRAPH 4

     A second explanation involves the influence of the social world on children’s language use. Hearing and telling stories about events may help children store information in ways that will endure into later childhood and adulthood. Through hearing stories with a clear beginning, middle, and ending, children may learn to extract the gist of events in ways that they will be able to describe many years later. Consistent with this view, parents and children increasingly engage in discussions of past events when children are about three years old. However, hearing such stories is not sufficient for younger children to form enduring memories. Telling such stories to two year olds does not seem to produce long-lasting verbalizable memories.

25. According to paragraph 4, what role may storytelling play in forming childhood memories?

A. It may encourage the physiological maturing of the brain.
B. It may help preschool children tell the difference between ordinary and unusual memories.
C. It may help preschool children retrieve memories quickly.
D. It may provide an ordered structure that facilitates memory retrieval.

 

PARAGRAPHS 5 & 6

      A third likely explanation for infantile amnesia involves incompatibilities between the ways in which infants encode¹ information and the ways in which older children and adults retrieve it. Whether people can remember an event depends critically on the fit between the way in which they earlier encoded the information and the way in which they later attempt to retrieve it. The better able the person is to reconstruct the perspective from which the material was encoded, the more likely that recall will be successful.
       This view is supported by a variety of factors that can create mismatches between very young children’s encoding and older children’s and adults’ retrieval efforts. The world looks very different to a person whose head is only two or three feet above the ground than to one whose head is five or six feet above it. Older children and adults often try to retrieve the names of things they saw, but infants would not have encoded the information verbally. General knowledge of categories of events such as a birthday party or a visit to the doctor’s office helps older individuals encode their experiences, but again, infants and toddlers are unlikely to encode many experiences within such knowledge structures.

1. encode: transfer information from one system of communication into another

26. The word “perspective” in the passage is closest in meaning to 

A. system
B. theory
C. source
D. viewpoint

27. According to paragraphs 5 and 6, one disadvantage very young children face in processing information is that they cannot

A. process a lot of information at one time
B. organize experiences according to type
C. block out interruptions
D. interpret the tone of adult language

 

PARAGRAPH 7

    These three explanations of infantile amnesia are not mutually exclusive; indeed, they support each other. Physiological immaturity may be part of why infants and toddlers do not form extremely enduring memories, even when they hear stories that promote such remembering in preschoolers. Hearing the stories may lead preschoolers to encode aspects of events that allow them to form memories they can access as adults. Conversely, improved encoding of what they hear may help them better understand and remember stories and thus make the stories more useful for remembering future events. Thus, all three explanations—physiological maturation, hearing and producing stories about past events, and improved encoding of key aspects of events—seem likely to be involved in overcoming infantile amnesia.

28. How does paragraph 7 relate to the earlier discussion of infantile amnesia?

A. It introduces a new theory about the causes of infantile amnesia.
B. It argues that particular theories discussed earlier in the passage require further research.
C. It explains how particular theories discussed earlier in the passage may work in combination.
D. It evaluates which of the theories discussed earlier is most likely to be true.

 

PARAGRAPH 1

       What do you remember about your life before you were three? (A) Few people can remember anything that happened to them in their early years. (B) Adults’ memories of the next few years also tend to be scanty. (C) Most people remember only a few events—usually ones that were meaningful and distinctive, such as being hospitalized or a sibling’s birth. (D)

29. Look at the part of the passage that is displayed above. The letters (A), (B), (C), and (D) indicate where the following sentence could be added.

Other important occasions are school graduations and weddings.

Where would the sentence best fit?
A. Choice A
B. Choice B
C. Choice C
D. Choice D

30. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.

Write your answer choices in the spaces where they belong. You can either write the letter of your answer choice or you can copy the sentence.

Answer Choices

A. Preschoolers typically do not recall events from their first year.
B. Frontal lobe function of the brain may need to develop before memory retrieval can occur.
C. Children recall physical activities more easily if they are verbalized.
D. The opportunity to hear chronologically narrated stories may help three-year-old children produce long-lasting memories.
E. The content of a memory determines the way in which it is encoded.
F. The contrasting ways in which young children and adults process information may determine their relative success in remembering.

 

LISTENING

This section measures your ability to understand conversations and lectures in English.

Listen to each conversation and lecture only one time. After each conversation and lecture, you will answer some questions about it. Answer each question based on what is stated or implied by the speakers.

You may take notes while you listen and use your notes to help you answer the questions. Your notes will not be scored.

In some questions, you will see this icon:This means that you will hear, but not see, the question.

Answer each question before moving on. Do not return to previous questions.

It will take about 41 minutes to listen to the conversations and lectures and answer the questions about them.

 

Directions: Listen to Track 34.

Directions: Now answer the questions.

1. Why does the student go to the career services office?

A. To confirm the date and time of the career fair
B. To learn the location of the career fair
C. To find out if he is allowed to attend the career fair
D. To get advice about interviewing at the career fair

2. Why does the student think that companies’ representatives would not be interested in talking to him?

A. He will not be graduating this year.
B. He is not currently taking business classes.
C. He has not declared a major yet.
D. He does not have a current résumé.

3. What does the woman imply about the small print on the career fair posters and flyers?

A. The information in the small print was incomplete.
B. The print was smaller than she expected it to be.
C. The information the small print contains will be updated.
D. The information in the small print will be presented in a more noticeable way.

4. What does the woman say is a good way for the student to prepare for speaking to companies’ representatives? Choose 2 answers.

A. Take some business classes
B. Familiarize himself with certain businesses beforehand 
C. Have questions ready to ask the representatives
D. Talk to people who work for accounting firms

5. Listen to Track 35.

A. To acknowledge that he cannot go to this year’s career fair
B. To acknowledge the amount of preparation he will have
C. To indicate that he has school work he must complete before the career fair
D. To indicate that he needs to go to his job now

 

Directions: Listen to Track 36.

Directions: Now answer the questions.

6. What topics related to the Nightcap Oak does the professor mainly discuss? Choose 2 answers.

A. Factors that relate to the size of the area in which it grows
B. The size of its population over the last few centuries
C. Whether anything can be done to ensure its survival
D. Why it did not change much over the last one hundred million years

7. According to the professor, what led scientists to characterize the Nightcap Oak as primitive?

A. It has no evolutionary connection to other trees growing in Australia today.
B. It has an inefficient reproductive system.
C. Its flowers are located at the bases of the leaves.
D. It is similar to some ancient fossils.

8. What point does the professor make about the Nightcap Oak’s habitat?

A. It is stable despite its limited size.
B. Unlike the habitats of many plants, it is expanding.
C. Its recent changes have left the Nightcap Oak struggling to adapt.
D. Its size is much larger than the area where the Nightcap Oak grows.

9. According to the professor, what are two factors that prevent the Nightcap Oak population from spreading? Choose 2 answers.

A. The complex conditions required for the trees to produce fruit
B. The fact that the seed cannot germinate while locked inside the shell 
C. The limited time the seed retains the ability to germinate
D. Competition with tree species that evolved more recently

10. Why does the professor mention the size of the Nightcap Oak population over the last few hundred years?

A. To explain why it is likely that the Nightcap Oak population will increase in the future
B. To point out that the Nightcap Oak’s limited reproductive success has not led to a decrease in its population
C. To present evidence that the Nightcap Oak is able to tolerate major changes in its environment
D. To point out that the Nightcap Oak is able to resist diseases that have destroyed other tree species

11. Listen to Track 37.

A. She wants the students to think about a possible connection.
B. She wants to know if the students have any questions.
C. She is implying that researchers have been asking the wrong questions.
D. She is implying that there may be no connection between the questions.

 

Directions: Listen to Track 38. 

Directions: Now answer the questions.

12. Why does the student go to see the professor?

A. She is having trouble finding a topic for her term paper.
B. She needs his help to find resource materials.
C. She wants to ask him for an extension on a term paper.
D. She wants him to approve her plans for a term paper.

13. Why is the student interested in learning more about dialects?

A. She often has trouble understanding what other students are saying.
B. She is trying to change the way she speaks.
C. She is aware that her own dialect differs from those of her roommates.
D. She spent her childhood in various places where different dialects are spoken.

14. Based on the conversation, what can be concluded about “dialect accommodation”? Choose 2 answers.

A. It is a largely subconscious process.
B. It is a process that applies only to some dialects.
C. It is a very common phenomenon.
D. It is a topic that has not been explored extensively.

15. What does the professor want the student to do next?

A. Read some articles he has recommended
B. Present her proposal before the entire class
C. Submit a design plan for the project
D. Listen to recordings of different dialects

16. Listen to Track 39.

A. He thinks the topic goes beyond his expertise.
B. He thinks the topic is too broad for the student to manage.
C. He thinks the topic is not relevant for a linguistics class.
D. He thinks other students may have chosen the same topic.

 

Directions: Listen to Track 40.

Directions: Now answer the questions.

17. What aspect of creative writing does the professor mainly discuss?

A. How to keep a reader’s interest
B. How to create believable characters
C. Key differences between major and minor characters
D. Techniques for developing short-story plots

18. Why does the professor recommend that students pay attention to the people they see every day?

A. The behavior and characteristics of these people can be used in character sketches.
B. Observing people in real-life situations can provide ideas for story plots.
C. It is easier to observe the behavior of familiar people than of new people.
D. Students can gather accurate physical descriptions for their characters.

19. The professor discusses an example of three friends who run out of gas. What point does he use the example to illustrate?

A. Writers should know their characters as well as they know their friends.
B. Writers should create characters that interact in complex ways.
C. Friends do not always behave the way we expect them to behave.
D. Friends’ behavior is often more predictable than fictional characters’ behavior.

20. What warning does the professor give when he talks about the man who lives on the mountain?

A. Avoid placing characters in remote settings
B. Avoid having more than one major character
C. Avoid using people as models whose lives are unusual
D. Avoid making characters into stereotypes

21. What does the professor imply is the importance of flat characters?

A. They act more predictably than other characters.
B. They are difficult for readers to understand.
C. They help reveal the main character’s personality.
D. They are the only characters able to experience defeat.

22. Listen to Track 41.

A. To indicate that he is about to explain what type of drawing he wants
B. To help students understand a term that may be confusing
C. To indicate that he used the wrong word earlier
D. To motivate the students to do better work

 

Directions: Listen to Track 42.

Directions: Now answer the questions.

23. What is the lecture mainly about?

A. An example of rapid climate change
B. A comparison of two mechanisms of climate change
C. The weather conditions in the present-day Sahara 
D. Recent geological findings made in the Sahara

24. Not long ago, the Sahara had a different climate. What evidence does the professor mention to support this? Choose 3 answers.

A. Ancient pollen
B. Bones from large animals
C. Rock paintings
D. Agriculture in ancient Egypt E Underground water

25. In the lecture, what do the Ice Age and the creation of the Sahara Desert both illustrate about past climate changes? Choose 2 answers.

A. That some climate changes benefitted the development of civilization
B. That some climate changes were not caused by human activity
C. That some climate changes were caused by a decrease of moisture in the atmosphere
D. That some climate changes were caused by changes in Earth’s motion and position

26. What started the runaway effect that led to the Sahara area of North Africa becoming a desert?

A. The prevailing winds became stronger.
B. The seasonal rains moved to a different area.
C. The vegetation started to die off in large areas.
D. The soil lost its ability to retain rainwater.

27. The professor mentions a theory that people migrating from the Sahara were important to the development of the Egyptian civilization. Which sentence best describes the professor’s attitude toward this theory?

A. It is exciting because it perfectly explains recent archaeological discoveries.
B. It is problematic because it goes too far beyond the generally available data.
C. It raises an interesting possibility and he hopes to see more evidence for it.
D. It cannot be taken seriously until it explains how the migrants got to Egypt.

28. Listen to Track 43.

A. To correct a misstatement he made about the Sahara’s climate
B. To suggest that the current dryness of the Sahara is exaggerated
C. To indicate that scientists are not in agreement about the Sahara’s past climate
D. To emphasize the difference between the current and past climates of the Sahara

 

SPEAKING

This section measures your ability to speak in English about a variety of topics.

There are four questions in this section. For each question, you will be given a short time to prepare your response. When the preparation time is up, answer the question as completely as possible in the time indicated for that question. You should record your responses so that you can review them later and compare them with the notes in the Answers section and scoring rubrics.

 

1. You will now be asked to give your opinion about a familiar topic. Give yourself 15 seconds to prepare your response. Then record yourself speaking for 45 seconds.

Listen to Track 44.

2. You will now read a short passage and listen to a conversation on the same topic. You will then be asked a question about them. After you hear the question, give yourself 30 seconds to prepare your response. Then record yourself speaking for 60 seconds.

Listen to Track 45.

Listen to Track 46.

3. You will now read a short passage and listen to a lecture on the same topic. You will then be asked a question about them. After you hear the question, give yourself 30 seconds to prepare your response. Then record yourself speaking for 60 seconds.

Listen to Track 47.

Listen to Track 48.

4. You will now listen to part of a lecture. You will then be asked a question about it. After you hear the question, give yourself 20 seconds to prepare your response. Then record yourself speaking for 60 seconds.

Listen to Track 49.

 

 

WRITING

This section measures your ability to write in English to communicate in an academic environment.

There are two writing questions in this section.

For question 1, you will read a passage and listen to a lecture about the same topic. You may take notes while you read and listen. Then you will write a response to a question based on what you have read and heard. You may look back at the passage when answering the question. You may use your notes to help you answer the question. You have 20 minutes to plan and write your response.

For question 2, you will write an essay based on your own knowledge and experience. You have 30 minutes to plan and complete your essay.

 

1. Directions: Give yourself 3 minutes to read the passage.

Listen to Track 50.

Directions: You have 20 minutes to plan and write your response. Your response will be judged on the basis of the quality of your writing and on how well your response presents the points in the lecture and their relationship to the reading passage. Typically, an effective response will be 150 to 225 words.

Listen to Track 51.

Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they oppose the specific points made in the reading passage.

2. Directions: Read the question below. You have 30 minutes to plan, write, and revise your essay. Typically, an effective response will contain a minimum of 300 words.

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Life today is easier and more comfortable than it was when your grandparents were children.

Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Be sure to use your own words. Do not use memorized examples.