Module I: Reading and Writing

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Political blogs with conspicuous ideological alignments became an integral component of US media in the early 2000s. While some commentators lauded this development, asserting that such blogs held a welcome transparency missing from traditional news, less-_____ observers countered that such blogs tended to ideological extremes that exacerbated political polarization to problematic levels.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
1
Mark for Review
Recalcitrant
Earnest
Sanguine
Misanthropic
Early Earth is thought to have been characterized by a stagnant lid tectonic regime, in which the upper lithosphere (the outer rocky layer) was essentially immobile and there was no interaction between the lithosphere and the underlying mantle. Researchers investigated the timing of the transition from a stagnant lid regime to a tectonic plate regime, in which the lithosphere is fractured into dynamic plates that in turn allow lithosphere and mantle material to mix. Examining chemical data from lithosphere and mantle-derived rocks ranging from 285 million to 3.8 billion years old, the researchers dated the transition to 3.2 billion years ago.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers' conclusion?
2
Mark for Review
Mantle-derived rocks older than 3.2 billion years show significantly more compositional diversity than lithospheric rocks older than 3.2 billion years do.
There is a positive correlation between the age of lithospheric rocks and their chemical similarity to mantle-derived rocks, and that correlation increases significantly in strength at around 3.2 billion years old.
Among rocks known to be older than 3.2 billion years, significantly more are mantle-derived than lithospheric, but the opposite is true for the rocks younger than 3.2 billion years.
Mantle-derived rocks younger than 3.2 billion years contain some material that is not found in older mantle-derived rocks but is found in older and contemporaneous lithospheric rocks.
Memoirs of Elleanor Eldridge is an 1838 historical account by Elleanor Eldridge and Frances Harriet Whipple Green. In the book, the authors describe how restorative sleep can be for young people, writing, _____
Which quotation from Memoirs of Elleanor Eldridge most effectively illustrates the claim?
3
Mark for Review
"Then let me no one turn with too much [fussiness] from the simple story of the humble Elleanor, it may contain few, or none, of the thrilling charms of poetry and passion."
"Home is home, to the lowly as well as the great; and no rank, or color, destroys its sacred character, its power over the mind, and the affections."
"Blessed are the slumbers of the innocent! They are kindlier than balm, and they refresh and gladden the spirit of childhood, like ministering from a better world."
"And now, deer reader, a word with you. What is done cannot be undone. We cannot unravel this web of iniquity, and extract justice from this mass of cruel wrongs."
The following text is from George Marion McClellan's 1895 poem "Eternity." My spirit swoons, and all my sense cry For Ocean's breast and covering of the sky. Rock me to sleep, ye waves, and outward bound, Just let me drift far out from toil and care Where lapping of the waves shall be the sound, Which mingled with the winds that gently bear Me on between a peaceful sea and sky To make my soothing slumberous lullaby.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
4
Mark for Review
To justify the speaker's qualms about being transported by the ocean to a quiet destination.
To contrast the demands of the speaker's everyday life with the serenity of being rocked to sleep by the ocean.
To illustrate the increasing intensity of the speaker's desire to escape ongoing hardship by gliding on the ocean.
To convey the speaker's longing for the ocean to impart a sense of inner tranquility.
Vertical gene transfer involves the transmission of genetic material from a parent to offspring; horizontal gene transfer, on the other hand, involves the exchange of genetic material between organisms not in a parent-offspring relationship. While horizontal gene transfer is common among prokaryotes—single-celled organisms, such as the bacteria Brevundimonas diminuta and Massilia timonae—it has rarely been observed among eukaryotes (multicellular organisms). However, new studies suggest that horizontal gene transfer is more common in eukaryotes than originally thought.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
5
Mark for Review
It contrasts the frequency with which a biological phenomenon has been detected in two categories of organisms.
It argues that two biological phenomena are more similar than they may initially appear to be.
It explains why a common perception of a biological process is flawed.
It indicates a distinction between the mechanics of two kinds of biological processes.
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