Module I: Reading and Writing

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The American continents are home to a huge diversity of languages, from Mayo, found in places like Mexico in North America, to Koreguaje, found in places like Colombia in South America. Much like the continents themselves, the variety of native languages in the Americas is ______. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
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immense
unknown
ordinary
limited
The minor planet 1095 Tulipa was named after the plant genus that includes tulips, but given the sheer number of minor planets that have been discovered (more than 500,000 so far), most are given only an identification number. Because any name given to a minor planet needs to be unique to that body, naming each would be ______.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
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impractical
presumptuous
ambiguous
customary
Drivers who strongly believe that the toll they must pay to use the San Luis Pass-Vacek Toll Bridge, which spans the San Luis Pass in Texas, is currently too high are likely to be ______ arguments for increasing the toll. Advocates for a higher toll are likely to have more success if they instead direct their arguments toward a more persuadable segment of the population. Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
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cited in
apprised of
unsympathetic to
placated by
Though few critics consider Vasily Grossman's novel Stalingrad —which focuses on the experience of the Soviet Union in the early years of World War II—to be as well written as his later book Everything Flows, some compliment it despite the damage ______ Soviet censors: Gary Saul Morson in The New York Review of Books called the novel "remarkably bold." Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
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bestowed on
wrought by
allocated to
concealed from
Archaeologists studying the ancient city of Pompeii in Italy recently discovered a well-preserved food shop known as a thermopolium. The site contains food remains, artworks, and decorations. These items give researchers a better understanding of what daily life in Pompeii may have been like. For example, the archaeologists found a ceramic jar that they believe likely contained a meat and seafood stew.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
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To discuss the political system of Italy
To present a recent archaeological discovery
To describe a region’s climate
To compare ancient artworks with modern ones
Karl Polanyi and other historians of capitalism rarely discuss domestic capitalism in Africa before the period of European colonization, implicitly presenting capitalism as external to and imposed on Africa. Mariana Candido and other Africanist scholars have shown, however, that in parts of Africa, centrally administered industrial production, the legal treatment of land as private property, and other features of capitalism predated colonization. One reason for this discrepancy is that historians of capitalism tend to focus on longitudinal economic data drawn from archival records, which do not exist for much of precolonial Africa.
Which choice best describes the main purpose of the text?
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Mark for Review
To explain why historians of capitalism and Africanist scholars disagree about which activities are features of capitalism
To present and account for a potentially misleading characteristic of the work of historians of capitalism
To describe and evaluate a method used by Africanist scholars that distinguishes their work from that of historians of capitalism
To summarize a debate between historians of capitalism and Africanist scholars about how to interpret longitudinal economic data from archival records
I am by no means sure that if the good people of Milby had known the truth about the Countess Czerlaski, they would not have been considerably disappointed to find that it was very far from being as bad as they imagined. Nice distinctions are troublesome. It is so much easier to make up your mind that your neighbour is good for nothing, than to enter into all the circumstances that would oblige you to modify that opinion. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
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Mark for Review
To offer commentary on a human foible that may account for why the people of Milby view the Countess Czerlaski as they do
To speculate on the circumstances under which the unfavorable opinion of the Countess Czerlaski that is held by the people of Milby could be improved
To explain why the people of Milby are somewhat correct to reproach the Countess Czerlaski for her misdeeds
To engage the reader’s compassion for both the Countess Czerlaski and the people of Milby by detailing their different viewpoints
It was evening when the two men got up to leave. Tia Ana had already come into the room several times to see if these guests had departed yet. The front parlor had always been her special province, as she used it for her little school. Now, every evening, it turned into Salome’s salon, as Ramona called it, and it was never in order for its transformation back to a classroom the following morning. Based on the text, what most likely motivates Tia Ana’s behavior during Salome’s salon?
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She is frustrated because she needs assistance elsewhere in the house, but Salome is unavailable while entertaining the guests.
She is anxious for the gathering to disperse so that she can ready the space for her own needs.
She is impatient to share her plans to start a new school with the guests and hopes they will support her.
She finds the guests to be dull and is eager to find a way to leave the salon.
Companies involved in petroleum extraction include drilling equipment among their assets. But petroleum extraction is a very carbon-intensive industry, so as social attitudes increasingly favor using less carbon-intensive sources of energy, demand for petroleum falls and the drilling equipment will eventually, or even suddenly, become a liability as reduced petroleum prices make it more difficult to recover the expense of maintaining such equipment.
What claim does the text make about the demand for petroleum?
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Mark for Review
Companies involved in petroleum extraction are not affected by the demand for petroleum.
The societal preference for low-carbon energy sources is a factor in the demand for petroleum.
The demand for petroleum follows a predictable annual cycle.
Companies involved in petroleum extraction can benefit from a decline in the demand for petroleum.
Why do flat-headed cats purr but jaguars roar? Researchers hypothesize that this difference between the two feline species may be partly due to a U-shaped bone in their throats called the hyoid. Flat-headed cats, which are much smaller than jaguars, have a rigid hyoid that rumbles when the cat’s larynx vibrates, resulting in a purr. By contrast, jaguars have a somewhat flexible hyoid, and the bone is attached to the skull with a stretchy ligament that flat-headed cats lack. These traits allow jaguars and most other species of big cats to produce powerful roars. The same traits may also prevent most big cats from purring. According to the text, which trait do researchers think may contribute to a flat-headed cat’s ability to purr?
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Mark for Review
The shape of the flat-headed cat’s larynx
The ligament attaching the hyoid bone to the flat-headed cat’s skull
The flat-headed cat’s rigid hyoid bone
The relative size of the flat-headed cat’s body and throat
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