Centuries ago, the Maya of Central America produced elaborate, deeply cut carvings in stone. The carvings would have required a cutting tool of hard stone or metal. Iron-ore deposits exist throughout Central America, but apparently the Maya never developed the technology to use them and the metals the Maya are known to have used, copper and gold, would not have been hard enough. Therefore, the Maya must have used stone tools to make these carvings.
1. Select and indicate the best answer from among the five answer
choices:
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the
argument?
A. In various parts of the world, civilizations that could not
make iron from ore fashioned tools out of fragments of
iron from meteorites.
B. All the metallic Mayan artifacts that have been found by
archaeologists are made of metals that are too soft for
carving stone.
C. The stone out of which these carvings were made is harder than the stone used by other Central American peoples.
D. The technique that the Maya used to smelt gold and some
other metals could not have been easily applied to the task
of extracting iron from iron ore.
E. Archaeologists disagree about how certain stone tools that
have been found among Mayan ruins were used.
Answer:
Questions 2 and 3 are based on the following reading passage.
(A word is boldfaced and underlined for reference in answering
question 3.)
In early-twentieth-century England, it was fashionable to claim
that only a completely new style of writing could address a world
undergoing unprecedented transformation—just as one literary
critic recently claimed that only the new “aesthetic of exploratory
5 excess” can address a world undergoing . . . well, you know. Yet in
early-twentieth-century England, T. S. Eliot, a man fascinated by
the “presence” of the past, wrote the most innovative poetry of his
time. The lesson for today’s literary community seems obvious:
a reorientation toward tradition would benefit writers no less than
10 readers. But if our writers and critics indeed respect the novel’s
rich tradition (as they claim to), then why do they disdain the urge
to tell an exciting story?
Line
2. Select and indicate the best answer from among the five answer
choices:
The author of the passage suggests that present-day readers would
particularly benefit from which of the following changes on the
part of present-day writers and critics?
A. An increased focus on the importance of engaging the audience in a narrative
B. Modernization of the traditional novelistic elements already
familiar to readers
C. Embracing aspects of fiction that are generally peripheral to
the interest of readers
D. A greater recognition of how the tradition of the novel has
changed over time
E. A better understanding of how certain poets such as Eliot
have influenced fiction of the present time
Answer:
3. Select and indicate the best answer from among the five answer
choices:
The word “address” appears underlined and in boldface twice in
the first sentence of the passage (lines 2-5). In the context of the
passage as a whole, “address” is closest in meaning to
A.
reveal
B. belie
C. speak to
D. direct attention toward
E. attempt to remediate
Answer:
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