TEXAS REVIEW READING COMPREHENSION - 1 GRE

Passage 1:

The nearly circular orbits of planets in our solar system led scientists to expect that planets around other
stars would also reside in circular orbits. However, most known extrasolar planets reside in highly
elongated, not circular, orbits. Why? The best clue comes from comets in our solar system. Comets
formed in circular orbits but were gravitationally flung into their present day elliptical orbits when they
ventured too close to planets. Astronomers suspect that pairs of planets also engage in this slingshot
activity, leaving them in disturbed, elliptical orbits. If two planets form in close orbits, one will be
scattered inward (toward its star), the other outward. They will likely then travel close enough to
neighboring planets to disturb their orbits also.

For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
1. According to the passage, which of the following factors help account for the elliptical shape of
the orbits of extrasolar planets?
a) The planets’ formation in close proximity to other planets
b) The gravitational influence of planets whose original orbits have been disturbed
c) The gravitational influence of comets.

For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
2. The passage suggests that two planets formed in close orbits that engaged in “slingshot activity”
would be likely to?
a) deflect away from each other
b) change the shape of each other’s orbit
c) affect the orbits of any neighboring planets

Passage 2:

A tall tree can transport a hundred gallons of water a day from its roots deep underground to the
treetop. Is this movement propelled by pulling the water from above or pushing it from below? The pull
mechanism has long been favored by most scientists. First proposed in the late 1800s, the theory relies
on a property of water not commonly associated with fluids: its tensile strength. Instead of making a
clean break, water evaporating from treetops tugs on the remaining water molecules, with that tug
extending from molecule to molecule all the way down to the roots. The tree itself does not actually
push or pull; all the energy for lifting water comes from the sun’s evaporative power.

For the following question, consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
3. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage?
a) The pull theory is not universally accepted by scientists.
b) The pull theory depends on one of water’s physical properties.
c) The pull theory originated earlier than did the push theory.

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TEXAS REVIEW READING COMPREHENSION - 1 GRE

4. The passage provides information on each of the following EXCEPT

a) when the pull theory originated
b) the amount of water a tall tree can transport
c) the significance of water’s tensile strength in the pull theory
d) the role of the sun in the pull theory
e) the mechanism underlying water’s tensile strength

Passage 3:

The dark regions in the starry night sky are not pockets in the universe that are devoid of stars as had
long been thought. Rather, they are dark because of interstellar dust that hides the stars behind it.
Although its visual effect is so pronounced, dust is only a minor constituent of the material, extremely
low in density that lies between the stars. Dust accounts for about one percent of the total mass of
interstellar matter. The rest is hydrogen and helium gas, with small amounts of other elements. The
interstellar material, rather like terrestrial clouds, comes in all shapes and sizes. The average density of
interstellar material in the vicinity of our Sun is 1,000 to 10,000 times less than the best terrestrial
laboratory vacuum. It is only because of the enormous interstellar distances that so little material per
unit of volume becomes so significant. Optical astronomy is most directly affected, for although
interstellar gas is perfectly transparent, the dust is not.

5. According to the passage, which of the following is a direct perceptual consequence of

interstellar dust?
a) Some stars are rendered invisible to observers on Earth.
b) Many visible stars are made to seem brighter than they really are.
c) The presence of hydrogen and helium gas is revealed.
d) The night sky appears dusty at all times to observers on Earth.
e) The dust is conspicuously visible against a background of bright stars.

6. It can be inferred from the passage that the density of interstellar material is
a) higher where distances between the stars are shorter
b) equal to that of interstellar dust
c) unusually low in the vicinity of our Sun
d) independent of the incidence of gaseous components
e) not homogeneous throughout interstellar space

7. It can be inferred from the passage that it is because space is so vast that
a) little of the interstellar material in it seems substantial
b) normal units of volume seem futile for measurements of density
c) stars can be far enough from Earth to be obscured even by very sparsely distributed matter
d) interstellar gases can, for all practical purposes, be regarded as transparent
e) optical astronomy would be of little use even if no interstellar dust existed

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