All practice questions

In his seminal study of the eighteenth-century public sphere, sociologist Jürgen Habermas argued that coffeehouses functioned as critical democratic spaces where social hierarchies were temporarily suspended, allowing citizens to engage in rational-critical debate. However, recent historians have pointed out that access to these spaces was highly stratified, noting that women and the working class were routinely excluded from participation. By highlighting these demographic barriers, these scholars do not seek to deny the collaborative nature of early modern intellectual exchange. Rather, they aim to refine Habermas's model by demonstrating that the 'universal' public sphere was, in practice, a bourgeois construct that reinforced existing class and gender boundaries.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?

Text 1
Archaeologist Klaus Schmidt proposed that the monumental T-shaped limestone pillars at Göbekli Tepe, dating to the 10th millennium BCE, served an exclusively ritualistic function, constituting the world's earliest temple. Schmidt asserted that the site entirely lacked signs of domestic habitation, such as hearths or permanent roofed dwellings, implying that it was a sacred sanctuary built by nomadic hunter-gatherers who did not reside there.

Text 2
Anthropologist Ted Banning challenges this interpretation, arguing that the distinction between sacred and domestic spaces in Neolithic archaeology is often overstated. Banning suggests that the large pillars could have served as structural supports for roofs of multi-family residential dwellings. He points to the high density of food-processing tools and organic domestic debris at the site as evidence of long-term habitation.

Match each claim or assumption from Text 1 with its corresponding counterargument or qualification from Text 2.

Historian Dr. Neil Clere and colleagues studied 14th-century maritime trade between East Africa and the Indian subcontinent. They hypothesized that while elite historical archives primarily highlight luxury goods like silk and porcelain, the bulk of the trade volume and economic activity actually consisted of mundane agricultural commodities like grain and timber, which left fewer traces in official customs records. Which finding, if true, would most directly support Clere and colleagues' hypothesis?

Text 1
Many botanists have long asserted that the development of agriculture in Mesoamerica was initiated solely by the domestication of maize. According to this traditional view, the high caloric yield of early maize varieties provided the necessary food surplus that allowed nomadic hunter-gatherers to establish permanent settlements. Consequently, other local plant species are viewed as minor additions that were only domesticated long after maize agriculture was already well established.

Text 2
Archaeologist Dr. Elena Ruiz argues that the focus on maize overlooks the crucial role of squash. Ruiz points out that archaeological remains of domesticated squash seeds in Mesoamerica date back to 8000 BCE, nearly two thousand years before the earliest evidence of domesticated maize. Thus, Ruiz contends that squash domestication, rather than maize, was the initial catalyst for the transition to sedentary agricultural life in the region.

Based on the texts, is the statement that the author of Text 2 agrees with the traditional view presented in Text 1 regarding which plant species initiated Mesoamerican agriculture true or false?

For decades, oceanographers viewed the abyssal plains—the vast, flat areas of the deep ocean floor—as biological deserts. However, the discovery of hydrothermal vent ecosystems in 1977 revealed that these environments, far from being barren, support ______ communities of specialized organisms that thrive without sunlight.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

During the early twentieth century, historians often argued that the introduction of print technology in sixteenth-century Safavid Iran was resisted primarily due to religious opposition. However, recent archival research shows that Safavid scribes and calligraphers occupied prestigious positions within the state administration, where their handwritten documents served as essential symbols of royal authority. Furthermore, the Safavid court actively subsidized scribal guilds to produce manuscripts even when cheaper, imported printed texts from Europe were available in local markets. This evidence suggests that the state's preference for handwritten texts over print was primarily motivated by

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Silbo Gomero is a whistled language used by inhabitants of La Gomera in the Canary Islands to communicate across deep ravines. Historically, researchers assumed Silbo Gomero was a simplified code with limited communicative range. However, a 2005 study by linguist Manuel Carreiras and colleagues disproved this assumption. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers monitored the brain activity of both fluent whistlers ('silbadores') and non-whistlers while they listened to whistled Spanish sentences. The fMRI scans revealed that in fluent whistlers, listening to Silbo Gomero activated the left temporal lobe—the region traditionally associated with processing spoken language. In contrast, in non-whistlers, the whistled signals only activated the right hemisphere regions associated with sound recognition, suggesting that the brain processes whistled language as linguistic data only when the individual is fluent in that language.

Based on the text, what is true about the brain activity of non-whistlers when they listened to Silbo Gomero?

Text 1
Many evolutionary biologists argue that the rapid diversification of angiosperms (flowering plants) during the Cretaceous period, often referred to as Darwin’s "abominable mystery," is best explained by co-evolutionary relationships with insect pollinators. They contend that the emergence of specialized pollinators catalyzed angiosperm speciation, creating a feedback loop that allowed flowering plants to dominate terrestrial ecosystems.

Text 2
While insect pollination was certainly a factor, paleobotanist Dr. Marcus Vance argues that angiosperm success was primarily driven by environmental shifts. Vance points out that during the Cretaceous period, rising global temperatures and elevated carbon dioxide levels favored the high-rate photosynthesis and fast-growing physiology of early angiosperms over gymnosperms, meaning they would have diversified rapidly even without insect assistance.

Based on the passages, how would Dr. Vance (Text 2) most likely respond to the evolutionary biologists’ claim in Text 1?

For years, evolutionary biologists assumed that the domestication of dogs (*Canis lupus familiaris*) from wolves was driven primarily by shared hunting behaviors and social bonding. However, recent genomic analyses have revealed a crucial genetic shift: domestic dogs possess significantly more copies of the *AMY2B* gene, which codes for amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch. While wolves carry only $2$ copies of this gene, domestic dogs can have up to $30$. This genetic expansion suggests that the transition of dogs from wild carnivores to domesticated companions was heavily dependent on their ability to digest starch-rich agricultural waste. By highlighting this metabolic adaptation, geneticists have reframed dog domestication not just as a behavioral alignment, but as an evolutionary response to the rise of human agriculture.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

Text 1
Dr. Angela Rossi and colleagues argue that as environmental stress increases, the relationship between neighboring plant species shifts from competitive to facilitative. In their study of *Artemisia* shrubs in desert ecosystems, they found that under high drought stress, the presence of mature "nurse" plants significantly increased seedling survival rates by shading the soil and retaining moisture. Rossi concludes that environmental stress universally promotes cooperative ecological dynamics.

Text 2
Ecologist Dr. Liam Chen investigated interactions between subalpine herbs under high wind stress. Chen observed that while hardy species provided wind shelter to delicate seedlings, this apparent facilitation was offset by severe underground nutrient competition in the resource-poor subalpine soil, ultimately resulting in net negative growth for the sheltered seedlings. Chen suggests that abiotic stress does not inherently guarantee positive or cooperative outcomes.

Based on the passages, how would Chen (Text 2) most likely respond to Rossi’s (Text 1) conclusion that environmental stress universally promotes cooperative ecological dynamics?

Ecologists studying cryptic forest mammals often struggle to estimate population densities because traditional camera-trap surveys fail to detect nocturnal or highly mobile species. To address this monitoring limitation, researcher Sarah Jenkins and her team proposed utilizing arboreal environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling, which retrieves genetic material shed by animals into the canopy air. By analyzing air filters deployed in the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, the researchers successfully identified several rare mammalian species that had eluded camera detection. While Jenkins acknowledges that atmospheric conditions can affect eDNA dispersal, she maintains that canopy air sampling represents a significant advancement in biodiversity monitoring.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

Text 1
For decades, researchers assumed that forest dynamics were governed solely by competition for light and soil nutrients. However, ecologist Dr. Evelyn Reed argues that trees are connected in an underground cooperative network mediated by mycorrhizal fungi. Reed’s research suggests that older, established "mother trees" use these fungal conduits to actively allocate carbon and defensive signals to younger seedlings, particularly their own kin. According to Reed, this resource sharing is an evolutionary adaptation that enhances the collective resilience of the forest community, showing that cooperation, rather than competition, is central to forest survival.

Text 2
While Dr. Evelyn Reed views mycorrhizal networks as conduits for mutual aid among trees, evolutionary biologist Dr. Julian Martinez offers a more skeptical interpretation. Martinez contends that the transfer of carbon between trees is not an act of altruistic sharing by the trees themselves. Instead, Martinez argues that the fungi controlling the network act as selfish intermediaries, actively extracting carbon from donor trees and distributing it to other plants only to ensure their own survival and maintain a diverse host pool. In Martinez's view, what appears to be tree-to-tree cooperation is merely the byproduct of fungal exploitation.

Based on the passages, how would Martinez (Text 2) most likely characterize the claim of cooperation among trees described in Text 1?

For decades, marine biologists assumed that bioluminescence in deep-sea organisms served primarily as a mechanism for attracting mates in the pitch-black bathypelagic zone. However, recent studies of various organisms, including the anglerfish and certain species of jellyfish, suggest a far more complex utility. Researchers have observed these creatures utilizing bioluminescent displays to startle predators, camouflage themselves against downwelling light through counterillumination, and even signal to larger predators to consume their attackers. Consequently, bioluminescence is now understood not merely as a reproductive aid, but as a sophisticated, multi-functional tool critical for survival in high-risk marine environments.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Many desert plants have developed waxy outer coatings on their leaves to prevent water loss in arid environments. This protective layer significantly reduces transpiration, the process by which water evaporates from plant tissues. ________, these plants are able to survive prolonged droughts that would otherwise wither species lacking such specialized adaptations.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

Literary scholar Dr. Elena Rostova investigated the influence of industrialization on pastoral poetry in early nineteenth-century Britain. She hypothesized that poets living in rapidly urbanizing northern cities, such as Manchester, frequently incorporated mechanical or industrial metaphors into their depictions of nature to express anxiety about environmental change. In contrast, she argued, poets living in the agrarian south of England continued to use traditional, unmechanized pastoral imagery.

Which choice, if true, would most directly support Rostova's hypothesis?

While the extensive road networks of the Inca Empire have long dominated discussions of pre-Columbian engineering, recent archaeological research highlights the foundational infrastructure of the earlier Wari Empire (600–1000 CE). Excavations and aerial surveys reveal that many routes attributed to the Inca were actually built by the Wari. These early highways did not simply predate the Inca system; they operated under a different logic, connecting administrative hubs to distribute local resources rather than facilitating the military conquests and direct tribute collection characteristic of the Inca. By examining these networks, scholars are uncovering how the Wari maintained territorial integration through decentralized regional partnerships rather than highly centralized imperial control.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

The following passage describes historical migration patterns in the American Southwest. Which transition word most logically completes the blank in the text to signal a cause-and-effect relationship?

Text 1
Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins argues that eusociality—exemplified by sterile worker castes in ants—is best explained by kin selection theory. Because workers share a high proportion of genes with siblings, helping the queen reproduce is genetically advantageous, even if the workers themselves do not reproduce. Under this view, altruistic behavior is driven by gene-level self-interest, rendering group selection models obsolete.

Text 2
E. O. Wilson contends that kin selection relies on highly restrictive parameters, such as haplodiploidy, which are absent in many eusocial species. Instead, Wilson posits that eusociality arose through multilevel selection: cooperative groups outcompeted less cooperative groups, driving the evolution of altruism. The genetic relatedness observed within colonies is a consequence of eusocial structure, rather than its primary evolutionary driver.

Based on the passages, how would E. O. Wilson (Text 2) most likely respond to Richard Dawkins's claim in Text 1 regarding the genetic relatedness of workers and siblings?

Text 1
Paleontologist Dr. Aris Vance argues that the extinct ground sloth *Mylodon darwinii* was a strict herbivore. Vance points to fossilized dung samples retrieved from South American caves, which contain exclusively plant matter, such as grasses, sedges, and leaves. According to Vance, the sloth's specialized, low-crowned teeth and large digestive system were evolutionary adaptations optimized solely for processing fibrous vegetation. He contends that these physiological traits would have made the digestion of animal proteins highly inefficient, if not impossible. Consequently, Vance asserts that the species relied entirely on plant resources for its survival.

Text 2
Ecologist Dr. Sarah Jenkins agrees that *Mylodon darwinii* consumed a vast amount of plant material, but she argues that the species likely scavenged animal carcasses to supplement its diet when vegetation was scarce. Jenkins highlights recent isotopic analyses of the sloth's fossilized bone collagen, which revealed nitrogen-15 levels that are significantly higher than those typically found in strict herbivores. Jenkins suggests that these chemical signatures can only be explained by the periodic ingestion of animal proteins, suggesting that *Mylodon darwinii* was an opportunistic omnivore rather than a dedicated herbivore.

Based on the passages, how would Dr. Vance (Text 1) most likely respond to Dr. Jenkins's characterization of *Mylodon darwinii* as an opportunistic omnivore (Text 2)?