All practice questions

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

For decades, epigraphers attempting to decipher the Indus Valley script faced a major hurdle: the brevity of the surviving inscriptions made standard statistical analysis of sign frequencies unreliable. To address this limitation, computational linguist Rajesh Rao and his team proposed using Markov models to analyze the sequential patterns of the signs rather than their individual frequencies. By calculating the conditional entropy of these sequences, the researchers could compare the script’s structural patterns to those of known spoken languages and non-linguistic systems. This innovative approach successfully demonstrated that the Indus script exhibits a level of syntactic order characteristic of natural human speech, providing a new pathway for decipherment.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

The following passage is from an academic text about language development. Complete the passage by typing the transition word or phrase that most logically completes the blank.

Read the passage below. Fill in the blank with the transition word or phrase that most logically connects the ideas.

Hydrangea macrophylla shrubs produce flowers that can range in color from blue to pink. This color variation is determined by the availability of aluminum ions in the soil, which the plant requires to synthesize its blue pigment. In highly acidic soils, typically with a pH of $5.5$ or lower, aluminum is soluble and easily absorbed by the root system, resulting in blue flowers. In contrast, in neutral to alkaline soils with a pH of $6.5$ or higher, aluminum becomes chemically insoluble and cannot be taken up by the plant. Which choice most logically completes the text?

In modern urban design, dark asphalt pavements absorb a high percentage of incoming solar radiation, a phenomenon that significantly elevates surrounding air temperatures in metropolitan areas. ________, municipal planners are now increasingly coating public roads with light-colored reflective sealants to lower surface temperatures and help mitigate the intense urban heat island effect in vulnerable neighborhoods.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

In cognitive psychology, the 'cognitive reserve' hypothesis suggests that intellectually stimulating activities help maintain brain function as people age. Researcher Elena Rostova and her team compared executive function—specifically cognitive flexibility—in older bilingual individuals and older monolingual individuals. The researchers observed that among participants who rarely engaged in mentally challenging hobbies, bilinguals significantly outperformed monolinguals. However, among participants who regularly played musical instruments or solved complex puzzles, monolinguals performed just as well as bilinguals. Given that playing music and solving puzzles stimulate the same neural networks responsible for managing multiple languages, Rostova's team concluded that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

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

For many years, geologists viewed the Neoproterozoic "Snowball Earth" glaciations as periods of absolute planetary stagnation, during which global ice cover halted all hydrological cycles and biological activity. However, recent geochemical analyses of glacial deposits from this era have revealed fluctuations in carbon isotopes that suggest ice sheet dynamics were highly active. Instead of being completely frozen and static, the planet likely experienced transient warm periods and localized open-ocean basins. These dynamic conditions allowed for the survival and even diversification of early eukaryotic organisms, indicating that the glacial epochs were far more ecologically active than previously assumed.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Edward Forbes proposed the azoic hypothesis in 1843, asserting that marine life could not exist below 300 fathoms (about 550 meters) due to extreme pressure and lack of light. This hypothesis became a dominant paradigm, guiding oceanographic expectations for decades. However, subsequent deep-sea dredging expeditions, most notably the HMS Challenger expedition in the 1870s, consistently recovered diverse organisms from depths far exceeding Forbes's limit. While Forbes's specific hypothesis was ultimately disproved, its formulation was crucial; by establishing a falsifiable limit, it galvanized systematic deep-sea exploration and prompted researchers to investigate the physiological adaptations that enable organisms to survive in seemingly hostile benthic environments.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

Text 1
Marine biologist Dr. Sarah Vance argues that the periodic shell-gaping behavior of intertidal mussels during low tide is a primary thermoregulatory response. By slightly parting their shells, mussels facilitate evaporative cooling, which prevents lethal tissue temperatures when exposed to direct sunlight. Vance points to laboratory trials where mussels prevented from gaping suffered significantly higher mortality rates under heat lamps than those permitted to gape.

Text 2
Ecologist Dr. Marcus Reyes acknowledges that gaping helps dissipate heat, but he contends that thermoregulation is secondary. Reyes's field observations show that gaping occurs just as frequently on cool, overcast days as on hot, sunny ones. He argues instead that gaping is primarily a respiratory strategy to maintain oxygen consumption during aerial exposure, and that evaporative cooling is an incidental benefit rather than the evolutionary driver of the behavior.

Based on the texts, how would Reyes (Text 2) most likely characterize Vance's (Text 1) explanation of shell-gaping?

Text 1
Many theorists of embodied cognition argue that genuine semantic comprehension is impossible without a physical body that actively interacts with the physical world. Under this view, abstract concepts are fundamentally grounded in sensorimotor experiences. Consequently, they contend that disembodied artificial intelligence systems, which process text without physical interaction, are restricted to manipulating arbitrary symbols and can never achieve true understanding of the real-world referents of those symbols.

Text 2
To test this assumption, computational linguist Talia Vance and colleagues analyzed the spatial reasoning capabilities of advanced, disembodied large language models (LLMs). By evaluating how these models describe physical geography, the researchers discovered that the LLMs had constructed highly accurate internal topological representations of physical spaces. Vance's team argues that coherent, grounded conceptual maps of the physical world can emerge purely from relational regularities in textual data.

Based on the passages, how would Vance and colleagues (Text 2) most likely respond to the contention in Text 1 that disembodied artificial intelligence systems cannot achieve true understanding of real-world referents?

In a study of ancient Roman concrete structures, architectural historian Dr. Marcus Vance examined the composition of marine concrete used in various harbors constructed between 100 BCE and 100 CE. Many engineers have argued that Roman builders deliberately selected volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius for its chemical properties, which react with seawater to increase structural durability over time. Vance, however, contends that the use of volcanic ash was not a deliberate engineering strategy for longevity, but rather a reflection of local resource availability, with builders using volcanic materials simply because they were the most accessible aggregates near major construction sites.

Which choice, if true, would most directly support Vance's contention?

The emergence of photography in the mid-nineteenth century sparked intense debate among fine artists, many of whom feared that mechanical reproduction would render realistic painting obsolete. However, some progressive painters quickly recognized that the new medium could liberate painting from the burden of literal representation, allowing artists to explore abstract forms and subjective emotional states. Consequently, instead of prompting the demise of painting, photography catalyzed the rise of modern art movements such as Impressionism and Expressionism. By capturing physical reality with objective precision, photography paradoxically forced painters to redefine the scope and purpose of their own medium.

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

In historical linguistics, the laryngeal theory proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure in 1878 predicted the existence of certain consonant sounds in Proto-Indo-European that had vanished in all known daughter languages. When Hittite cuneiform tablets were deciphered in the early twentieth century, scholars discovered a written language that retained these exact predicted consonants. The decipherment of Hittite, ________, provided direct empirical confirmation of Saussure's hypothetical structures, vindicating his reconstructed model decades after its publication.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

Text 1
In a recent study, environmental psychologist Dr. Laura Vance argues that introducing live plants into corporate office spaces significantly enhances employee productivity. Vance and her team monitored workers over a six-month period, observing that employees in offices decorated with various indoor plants completed routine data-entry tasks 12% faster than those working in sparse, plant-free environments. Vance attributes this performance boost to the plants' documented ability to lower physiological stress levels and improve indoor air quality. She concludes that modern office designs must prioritize the integration of natural elements, such as vegetation, to maximize daily work output.

Text 2
Cognitive psychologist Dr. Marcus Thorne later reviewed the findings from Dr. Vance's study and conducted a follow-up analysis of the same corporate office spaces. Thorne suggests that the productivity increase observed by Vance was not directly caused by the presence of the plants. Instead, he highlights that the installation of the plants coincided with a comprehensive office renovation, which also introduced updated LED lighting and adjustable ergonomic chairs. Thorne argues that these broader workplace upgrades, rather than the addition of flora, were the primary drivers of the employees' increased task completion speed.

Based on the texts, how would Dr. Thorne (the author of Text 2) most likely view the conclusion presented in Text 1?

For centuries, most astronomers adhered to the geocentric model, which posited that Earth sat stationary at the center of the universe while all other celestial bodies revolved around it. This view was widely accepted because it aligned with daily observations of the Sun rising and setting. _______, in 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus published a groundbreaking mathematical model showing that Earth and the other planets actually revolve around the Sun, challenging the long-held geocentric consensus.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

Agricultural scientists studying soil health have observed that compacted soil contains fewer pore spaces, which restricts the flow of oxygen and water to plant roots. In a study, researchers compared tomato plants grown in highly compacted soil with those grown in loose, well-aerated soil. The plants in the compacted soil developed significantly shorter and less branched root systems. Because robust root systems are necessary for plants to efficiently absorb essential nutrients from the surrounding environment, it is highly likely that plants grown in compacted soil will ________.

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Many plant species release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) when damaged by herbivores. Initially, researchers assumed these airborne signals functioned primarily as a direct defense mechanism to repel insect pests. However, recent studies suggest a more complex ecological role. When neighboring plants of the same species detect these chemical emissions, they preemptively activate their own defense genes, preparing for potential herbivore attacks. While this communication increases the survival rate of the plant community, scientists are still debating whether this response evolved as an altruistic warning system or if neighboring plants are simply eavesdropping on a localized self-signaling mechanism within the damaged plant itself.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

Text 1
For decades, archaeologist Denise Schmandt-Besserat has argued that clay tokens found throughout the Near East starting around 8000 BCE were the direct precursor to cuneiform writing. According to her theory, these three-dimensional geometric counters evolved systematically into complex, inscribed tokens, which were eventually pressed into clay envelopes to create the earliest two-dimensional pictographic signs. She asserts this transition represents a linear cognitive progression from concrete accounting to abstract representation.

Text 2
While acknowledging that Neolithic clay tokens served administrative functions, anthropologist Piotr Michalowski argues that cuneiform did not gradually evolve from these accounting tools. Michalowski emphasizes that cuneiform writing emerged rapidly in the late fourth millennium BCE in Uruk as a sophisticated administrative system. Rather than being a natural continuation of token usage, writing was a sudden structural invention designed to meet the immediate bureaucratic needs of a highly centralized state.

Based on the passages, how would Michalowski (Text 2) most likely respond to the assertion in Text 1 that cuneiform developed through a "linear cognitive progression"?