2020 PT 2 | Reading SECTION 3 Time 25 minutes 24 Questions 1.

. Composer Bernard Rands appears to be indefatigable, able to function well with only four hours of -------.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

7. Moving from the security of the village to the excitement of the city gave Esmerelda conflicting feelings of ------- and -------.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

performance practice sleep exercise exhaustion

boredom . . impassivity eagerness . . optimism satisfaction . . delight foreboding . . elation subjugation . . anger

8. She possessed a remarkably --------disposition: what others would perceive as calamites she shrugged off as minor annoyances.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

2. The Dutts are wonderfully -------, always acting ------- to promote the well-being of others.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

enigmatic placid humane diffident ingenuous

dedicated . .feebly menacing . . promptly generous . . unselfishly cautious . . powerfully courteous . . cruelly

Questions 9-10 are based on the following passage.

3. While the new legislative initiation is hailed by its ------- as a bold solution to a pressing problem, its ------- argue that it will produce no meaningful results.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

supporters . . critics advocates . . proponents detractors . . antagonists adversaries . . observers auditors . . creditors

10

Every now and again, cosmologists decide that the universe needs redecorating. Sometimes they declutter, as when Copernicus shuffled the Sun and the Earth to make the planets move in straightforward orbits. Sometimes they embellish, as when Einstein decided theres more to space than good old-fashioned nothingness and introduced the concept of a deformable space-time. Theyre at it again, but this time its different. Like the decorator who strips away wallpaper to reveal a crumbling wall, cosmologists are realizing that their discovery that something is speeding up the expansion of the universe points to serious problems with their models. When theyre done fixing things, chances are well hardly recognize the place.

4. Dr. David Ho was named Time magazines Man of the Year in ------ of his ------- work with innovative drug therapies that gave hope to many patients.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

9. The author uses declutter (line 2), embellish (lines 5), and fixing (line 12) to
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

recognition . . groundbreaking defense . . pivotal appreciation . . naive protection . . monumental acknowledgement . . intangible

establish a tone of breezy disdain emphasize the complexity of an issue vary the terms of a critique expand upon an earlier figure of speech explain the details of a technical theory

10. The last sentence of the passage (When . . . place) implies that the
(A) recent views of the cosmos are aesthetically satisfying (B) current cosmological methods can be bewilderingly complex (C) new breed of cosmologists will do unnecessary damage to

5. Because their behavior was ------, Frank and Susan served as -----models for the children under their excellent care.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

incorruptible . . pernicious lamentable . . flawed commendable . . exemplary erratic . . unimpeachable reputable . . imperfect

previous theoretical models

(D) contemporary astronomical theories will be thoroughly

tested by the scientific community

(E) current cosmological research will transform our

understanding of the universe Questions 11-12 are based on the following passage. Charles Chesnutt, one of the first critically-acclaimed African American writers, was born in 1858. His stories display a keen ear for language and an understanding of both the tragedy of slavery and the heartbreak of Reconstruction. Chesnutt earned immediate accolades as a creator of fresh, vivid, dramatic sketches in a new and delightful vein. he shared with other writers such as Bret Harte an intensity of

6. George Eliots fiction demonstrated ------- ethical inquiry, undermining superficial positions in the quest for moral truth.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

facile affected inadequate profound impulsive

2020 PT 2 | Reading feeling for the rawness of an emergent American. Chesnutt portrayed human loss and tormentsometimes with pathos, but more often with a wit like an ax cutting into a tree in the backwoods of the North Carolina he knew so well. human mind is specialspecial in its immense capacity to feel pleasure and pain and to be aware of the pain and pleasure of others; in its ability to love and pardon; in its prodigious memory; in its ability to symbolize and narrate; in its gift of language with syntax; in its power to understand the universe and create new universes; in the speed and ease with which it processes and integrates disparate information so that problems can be solved. But awe and wonder at the human mind are compatible with other views of the relation between the body and the mind and do not make Descartes views any more correct. Passage 2 45 It is popular in some quarters to claim that the human brain is largely unstructured at birth; it is tempting to believe that our minds float free of our genomes.* But such beliefs are completely at odds with everything that scientists have learned in molecular biology over the past decade. From cell division cell differentiation, every process that is used in the development of the body is also used in the development of the brain. The idea that the brain might be assembled in much the same way as the rest of the bodyon the basis of the action of thousands of autonomous but interacting genesis anathema to our deeply held feelings that our minds are special, somehow separate from the material world. Yet at the same time, for the Western intellectual tradition, it is a continuation, perhaps the culmination, of a growing up for the human species that for too long has overestimated its own centrality in the universe. Copernicus showed us that our planet is not at the center of the universe. William Harvey showed that our heart is a mechanical pump. John Dalton and the nineteenthcentury chemists showed that our bodies are, like all other matter, made up of atoms. Watson and Crick showed us how genes emerge from chains of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus. In the 1990s, the Decade of the Brain, cognitive neuroscientists showed that our minds are the product of our brains. Early returns from this century are showing that the mechanisms that build our brains are just a special case of the mechanisms that build the rest of our bodies. The initial structure of the mind, like the initial structure of the rest of the body, is a product of our genes. Although some might see the idea that our brains are just a bunch of molecules, grown in all the usual ways, as a bleak renunciation of all that is special about humanity, to me it is an exciting modern take on an old idea, that there is a bond that unifies all living things. Through advances in molecular biology and neuroscience, we can now understand better than ever just how deeply we share our biological make-up physical and mentalwith all the creatures with which we share our planet. *genomes: the genetic material of an organism 13. With which statement regarding the view described in lines 5-6 of Passage 1 (One . . . not) would the author of Passage 2 most likely agree?
(A) It has been undermined by recent discoveries in molecular

10

35

11. The quotations in line 6 serve as examples of 40

(A) the reactions of some of Chestnutts contemporaries to his

stories
(B) Chesnutts pronouncements about the purpose of fiction

writing
(C) the type of language that appears in Chestnutts stories (D) the shared languages of nineteenth-century short-story

writers
(E) the unintelligible jargon of modern-day literary critics

12. The description in lines 10-11 (more . . . well) suggests that many of Chesnutts stories 50
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

are more realistic than those written by Bret Harte evoke a warm sentimental response influenced the writings of other African American authors are both forceful and penetrating in their insights offer vivid depictions of life in the North Carolina wilderness

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Questions 13-24 are based on the following passage. 60 These two passages are adapted from books written in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Passage 1 65 It is easy to understand why the mind may appear to be a forbidding, unapproachable mystery. The mind, as an entity, seems to be different in kind from other things we know, namely, from the objects around us and from the parts of our own bodies that we see and touch. One view says that the body and its parts are physical matter while the mind is not. On one side is the physically extensive matter that constitutes the cells, tissues, and organs of our bodies. On the other side is the stuff we cannot touchall the rapidly formed feelings, sights, and sounds that make up the thoughts in our minds. This view is no longer mainstream in science or philosophy, although it is probably the view that most human beings today would regard as their own. This idea of the dualism of the mind and the body was dignified by seventeenth-century philosopher and scientist Ren Descartes. Descartes also proposed that the mind and the body interacted, yet he never explained how the interaction might take place beyond saying that the pineal gland was the conduit for such interactions. The pineal is a small structure, located at the midline and base of the brain, and it turns out to be rather poorly connected and endowed for the momentous job Descartes required of it. Whether Descartes really believed in mind-body dualism is by no means certain. He might have believed it at some point and then not, which is not meant at all as a criticism. It would simply mean that Descartes was uncertain and ambivalent about a problem that has chronically plunged human beings into precisely the same state of uncertainty and ambivalence. Very human and very understandable. In spite of its scientific shortcomings, the view identified with Descartes resonates well with the awe and wonder we deservedly have for our own minds. There is no doubt that the

70

10

75

15

80

20

25

biology.
(B) It has been strengthened by modern ideas about humans

place in the universe.

(C) It is supported by cognitive neuroscientists. (D) It is promoted by contemporary philosophers. (E) It is consistent with the findings of nineteenth-century

30

chemists.

2020 PT 2 | Reading 14. The tone of the comment that closes the third paragraph of Passage 1 (line 29) is best described as
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

sarcastic apologetic impartial admiring sympathetic

role of genes in shaping human development place of human beings in the universe remarkable achievements of twentieth-century scientists controversial nature of recent scientific findings fundamental mystery of the human mind

21. The author of Passage 2 uses the phrase just a bunch of molecules in lines 73-74 primarily to
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

15. The author of Passage 2 would most likely view the attitude described in lines 31-33, Passage 1 (the awe . . . is special), as an example of the tendency of humans to
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

dispute scientific advances defend their own skepticism exaggerate the role of the body overemphasize their distinctiveness resist identifying with other people

undermine a firmly held conviction criticize a viewpoint as being unfair emphasize an overly modest attitude acknowledge that a concept may seem unappealing minimize the differences between old and new perspectives

22. In line 76, take most nearly means

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

16. In the lines 32-40, Passage 1 (the human . . . solved), the author uses repetition primarily to convey the
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

scene share outlooks reaction number

skills that human beings gradually acquire distinctions between mind and body self-absorption that distinguishes human beings range of emotions people experience unique capabilities of the human mind

23. Which best describes the final sentences of Passage 1 and Passage 2, respectively?
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

17. The idea expressed in line 47, Passage 2 (our minds . . . genomes), is most likely which idea in Passage 1 ?
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

Perplexed . . resigned Cautionary . . stirring Ironic . . dismissive Reverent . . dispassionate Indignant . . surprised

the dualism of the mind and the body (line 14) the mind and the body interacting (lines 16-17) the capability to feel pleasure and pain (lines 33-34) The minds ability to symbolize and narrate (line 36) The minds gift of language with syntax (lines 36-37)

24. Both passages suggest that the notion that the mind and body are separate is
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

18. In lines 33, Passage 1, and line 55, Passage 2, the word special most nearly means
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

appealing but problematic novel and impractical rational and reassuring innovative and controversial demeaning and shortsighted

primary additional exceptional definite featured SECTION 4 Time 25 minutes 24 Questions 1. Never especially eager to go climbing with his friends, Mick felt even less ------- when he actually saw the mountain.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

19. The growing up referred to in line 58 is primarily

(A) the acceptance of Copernicus theories about Earths

position in the universe

(B) an increased understanding of and respect for the power of

the human mind

(C) a commitment in all scientific branches to solving problems

related to human survival (D) an endorsement of the view that our brains are not a products of carbon, hydrogen, and other elements (E) the recognition based on the scientific developments that humans do not occupy a privileged place in nature 20. In lines 60-68 (Copernicus . . . brains), the author of Passage 2 uses the word showed repeatedly to make a point about the

resourceful fastidious inquisitive enthusiastic weary

2. Telling our own life stories has ------- effect: it helps us to overcome fears and to heal psychological wounds.
(A) a harmful

2020 PT 2 | Reading
(B) (C) (D) (E)

a typical a therapeutic an endearing an enervating

(E) new classification intended to replace others used by

scientists
Questions 8-9 are based on the following passages.

3. Many animals migrate early in certain years apparently to avoid the ------- of particularly harsh, snowy winters.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

regression severity stigma aridity predictability

10 4. Although Professor Kniffen vigorously ------- the development of nuclear technology, she nonetheless adopts a somber and ------tone when speaking of its potential safety issues.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

In the age of science, belief in phenomena like astrology, telepathy, and the healing power of crystals is raging out of control. Author Wendy Kaminer thinks she knows why: The more limited your understanding of science, she tells us, the more that scientists resemble masters of the occult, and the more that paranormal phenomena seems likely to reflect undiscovered scientific truths . . . A persistent irony of scientific progress is its encouragement of pseudoscience. Scientists regale the public with speculations about parallel universes, quantum teleportation, and 10-dimensional superstrings. But what some nonscientists take from this is that the universe is so strange that anything can happen.

supports . . cautionary analyzes . . scholarly proposes . . favorable monitors . . respectful condemns . . critical

8. Which of the following situations is most similar to the persistent irony (line 7) ?
(A) A hospitals efforts to develop procedures for coping with a

natural disaster doesnt occur.

(B) A legislatures efforts to pass new ethics rules are thwarted by

corrupt legislators.
(C) A companys efforts to sell its products in a new market

target a resistant population of potential customers. 5. Alvarez is far less ------- than his peers, tending rather to flout tradition and disdain conventional behavior.
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
(D) A teams efforts to win a championship cause some team

members to engage in unsporting conduct.

(E) A schools efforts to educate children in good manners lead to

indecorous intuitive combative inventive punctilious

an increase in antisocial behavior. 9. The passage suggests which of the following about the speculations (line 9) ?
(A) They are difficult even for trained researchers to understand. (B) They have an unintended effect on some laypersons. (C) They arouse cynicism toward science on the part of the

Questions 6-7 are based on the following passages.

We are witnessing a key moment in the history of our species. For the first time, more people are living in cities than outside them. Now and into the future, we will be Homo urbanusthe city dweller. This transition is profound. For one thing, it is likely to be irreversible. For another, it is a manifestation of a relentless trend. It has taken a few millennia for the number of people living in cities to reach 3 billion. It will take only about 50 years to double that number

public.
(D) They encourage nonscientists to take an active interest in

scientific research.
(E) They garner attention for those scientists who crave publicity. Questions 10-16 are based on the following passage.

The following passage is adapted from a 1999 novel about a family living in India. 6. The tone of the first sentence is best described as
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

playful sympathetic ironic dramatic defiant

7. In context, the phrase Homo urbanus (lines 3-4) is best described as a

(A) (B) (C) (D)

10

humorous label used to satirize certain behavior specialized reference to a social oddity coined term reflecting a recent development factual description in support of a radical view

15

MamandPapa. MamaPapa. PapaMama. It was hard to believe they had ever had separate existences, that they had been separate entities and not MamaPapa in one breath. Yet Mama had been born to a merchant family in the city of Kanpur and lived in the bosom of her enormous family till at sixteen she married Papa. Papa, in Patna, the son of a tax inspector with one burning ambition, to give his son the best available education, had won prizes at school meanwhile, played tennis as a young man, trained for the bar, and eventually built up a solid practice. This much the children learned chiefly from old photographs, framed certificates, tarnished medals, and the conversation of visiting relatives. MamaPapa themselves rarely spoke of a time when they were not one. The few anecdotes they related separately acquired great significance because of their rarity, their singularity. Mama said, In my day, girls in the family were not given

2020 PT 2 | Reading sweets, nuts, good things to eat. If something special had been bought in the market, like sweets or nuts, it was given to the boys in the family. But ours was not such an orthodox home that our mother and aunts did not slip us something on the sly. She laughed, remembering thatsweets, sly. Papa said, We did not have electricity when we were children. If we wanted to study, we were sent out to sit under the streetlight with our books. During the examinations, there would be a circle of students sitting and reciting their lessons aloud. It would be difficult to concentrate on law because others were reciting theorems or Sanskrit slokas or dates from British history. But we did itwe passed our exams. Papa said, The best student in my year studied day and night, day and night. We found out how he could study so much. During the exams, he trimmed his eyelashes. Then, whenever his eyes shut, they would prick him and he would wake up so he could study more. Papas stories tended to emphasize hard work and sacrifice. Mamas had to do with foodmostly sweetsand family. But the stories were few, and brief. That could have been tantalizingso much unsaid, left to be imaginedbut the children did not give the past that much thought because MamaPapa seemed sufficient in themselves. Having fused into one, they had gained so much in substance, in stature, in authority, that they loomed large enough as it was; they did not need separate histories and backgrounds to make them even more immense.
(A) They had decided to dwell on future events rather than

previous misfortunes
(B) They had become impatient with stories that seemed to

20

moralize
(C) They were satisfied to know their parents as they existed in

the present
(D) Their imaginations were more stimulated by possibilities

than by reality
(E) Their parents childhood experiences seemed dull compared

25

to their own. 15. In line 41, the word loomed is used to suggest an
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

30

35

indistinct appearance impressive status impending action imminent moral danger imposing physical size

16. The last sentence of the passage (Having . . . immense) primarily serves to
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

40

call into question a description of the children reiterate a minor objection made by the narrator expand on a previous impression of the parents draw a moral lesson from a set of experiences conclude on a note of nostalgic regret

10. In context, the first three words of line 1 are best understood to be a
Questions 17-24 are based on the following passage. (A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

linguistic construction peculiar to India criticism of the parents lack of individuality play on words that establishes a dreamlike mood verbal representation of the childrens perception dramatic re-creation of a childhood event

The passage is adapted from a book of essays published in 2000. Here the author shares his thoughts on Socrates.

11. The phrase MamaPapa in one breath (line 3) is used primarily to suggest
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

a hasty response an uncertain attitude an indivisible entity a confused remembrance a sense of desperation

10

12. The narrator uses the word Yet (line 3) to convey a shift from
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

15

feeling to fact optimism to cynicism prediction to recollection speculation to conclusion remembrance to anticipation

20

13. In line 20, slip most nearly means

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

fall pass slink elude unfasten

25

30

14. Why did the children not give the past that much thought (lines 37-38) ?

A few years ago, during a bitter New York winter, with an afternoon to spare, I found myself in a deserted gallery on the upper level of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Suddenly, my eye was caught by a canvas that a caption explained had been painted in Paris in the autumn of 1786 by Jacques-Louis David. In the painting, the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, condemned to death by the people of Athens, prepares to drink a cup of poison hemlock, surrounded by woebegone friends. In 399 B.C., three Athenian citizens had brought legal proceedings against the philosopher. They had accused him of failing to worship the citys gods and of corrupting the youth of Athensand, such was the severity of their charges, they had called for the death penalty. Though afforded an opportunity to renounce his philosophy in court, Socrates had sided with what he believed to be true rather than what he knew would be popular. Allegedly, he told the jury: So long as I draw breath and have my faculties, I shall never stop practicing philosophy and exhorting you and elucidating the truth for everyone that I meet . . . whether you acquit me or not, you know that I am not going to alter my conduct, not even if I have to die a hundred deaths. And so Socrates had been led to meet his end in an Athenian jail. If the painting struck me forcefully, it was perhaps because the behavior it depicted contrasted so sharply with my own. In conversations, my priority was to be liked rather than to speak the truth. A desire to please led me to laugh at modest jokes like a parent on the opening night of a school play. I did not publicly doubt ideas to which the majority was committed. When passing through customs or driving alongside police cars, I harbored a confused wish for the uninformed official to

2020 PT 2 | Reading think well of me. But the philosopher had not buckled before unpopularity and the condemnation of the state. Socrates had not retracted his thoughts because others had complained. Moreover, his confidence had sprung from a more profound source than hotheadedness or bull-like courage. It had been grounded in philosophy that supplied him with convictions in which he had been able to have rational, as opposed to hysterical, confidence when faced with disapproval. Such independence of mind was both a revelation and an incitement. It promised a counterweight to a spine tendency to follow socially sanctioned practices and ideas. In Socrates life and death lay an invitation to intelligent skepticism. More generally, the subject of which the Greek philosopher was the supreme symbol seemed to offer an invitation to take on a task at once profound and laughable: to become wise through philosophy. In spite of the vast differences between the many thinkers described as philosophers across time, it seemed possible to discern a small group of people, separated by centuries, sharing a loose allegiance to a vision of philosophy suggested by the etymology of the Greek word philosophiaphilo, love; sophia, wisdoma group bound by a common interest in saying a few consoling and practical things about the causes of our greatest griefs. It was to these people I would turn. 21. In the fourth paragraph (line 25-33), the author presents his own behavior as being habitually
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

35

40

conciliatory compassionate pretentious aimless impetuous

22. In line 44, sanctioned most nearly means

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

45

restricted protected approved revered penalized

50

23. In line 48, the author indicates that the task is in part
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

55

incomprehensible unavoidable unnecessary ludicrous risky

17. The primary purpose of the opening paragraph is to 24. The final paragraph (lines 46-57) primarily serves to
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

describe a favorite pastime for the author indicate the reason for a visit convey the distinctiveness of a place reveal the authors admiration for an artist suggest the unexpected nature of an encounter

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

assess the significance of Davids paintings contrast ancient and modern approaches to philosophy expose the meaninglessness of philosophical language indicate how the author intends to proceed summarize Socrates influence of later philosophers

18. According to the passage, Davids painting indicates that Socrates

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

refused to deny the charges brought against him recanted his testimony during the course of the trial reconsidered his testimony during the course of the trial had sympathizers near him as he approached death was philosophically opposed to the death penalty

Raw Score

total # of correct answers

1 4

total # of wrong answers

19. The authors account of Socrates in the third paragraph (lines 1524) is best characterized as
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

impatient uncertain respectful incredulous apologetic

20. The author uses the quotation in lines 18-23 to emphasize Socrates
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

unpopularity inquisitiveness steadfastness intelligence prudence