Questions 1 to 2 are based on this passage:

Serpentinization, the reaction of deep-mantle material with seawater to produce serpentine minerals, may help scientists ascertain whether life on Earth emerged from the deepest sea. The process releases heat, hydrogen, methane, and minerals—a recipe for a chemical-based life. In some deep-sea locations, such chemical reactions, not photosynthetic energy from the sun, supply the energy that sustains living organisms, leading some scientists to reason that life might have begun at hydrothermal vents where serpentinization occurs. Vents tend to be ephemeral, however, so some have questioned whether they could have really spawned life. A newer hypothesis proposes that serpentinization in trenches, rather than vents, could have more readily fueled the first life because it occurs across much larger areas and is sustained for much longer in geologic time.?

1. Which of the following best describes the function of the highlighted sentence in the context of the passage as a whole?

A. It defines a concept on which the author’s overall argument depends.

B. It introduces a complicating factor.

C. It concedes that the problem posed by the author cannot be solved.

D. It proposes an alternative explanation.

E. It presents a scientific consensus.

2. According to the passage, the reasoning of “some scientists” relies primarily on

A. eliminating a competing hypothesis by comparing two related processes

B. extrapolating present-day findings to develop a theory about the past

C. refuting a generalization by citing an individual case

D. exploring the implications of new research data

E. synthesizing findings from one research site with those from another location

Questions 3 to 5 are based on this passage:

Faced with the paucity of surviving texts by mid-eighteenth-century American women, historians interested in women's experience have proven resourceful at using nontextual sources. Recently, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich has turned to objects hand-sewn by New England women, maintaining that objects such as sheets, pillowcases, and quilts reveal the "flow of common life" while providing a context for political events. Discerning the historical significance of these handmade objects is not easy, however. between today and eighteenth-century New England there looms a formidable nineteenth-century mythology that romanticized that earlier, colonial era, with its household production system, as a simpler time of hard work and virtuous self-sufficiency. This myth emerged as compensation for the extreme wealth and poverty generated by industrialization. As household production declined, and factory-made, store-bought goods became widespread, antiquarians avidly collected and displayed the handmade objects of their idealized forebears. Attentive to the ideological distortions of nineteenth-century mythmaking, most historians are wary of trying to discern the original meaning of colonial objects, assuming that, nowadays, such objects reveal more about nineteenth-century collectors than about eighteenth-century users. By contrast, rather than disparaging the mythmakers, Ulrich thanks them for saving so many objects made and used by ordinary women.?

3. The passage is primarily concerned with discussing

A. reasons that it is difficult to find sources relevant to women's past experience

B. the emergence of a particular historical myth during the mid-nineteenth century

C. attitudes regarding the usefulness of certain historical sources for studying a particular period

D. attempts by a historian to discern the significance of certain handmade objects

E. a debate among historians regarding the experience of women during a particular historical period

4. The passage identifies which of the following as a source of difficulty for historians attempting to draw conclusions from the hand-sewn objects referred to in the passage?

A. The relative shortage of such objects in comparison with other handmade objects

B. Historians insufficient understanding of the household production system that produced these objects

C. Historians disagreements over why such objects became especially prized during the nineteenth century

D. An interpretive context applied to these objects during the nineteenth century

E. A lack of textual sources that might supplement and explain such objects

5. Regarding the "myth," it can be inferred that Ulrich would probably disagree with most?historians over

A. the extent to which this myth interferes with the use of certain objects as historical source material

B. the extent to which this myth emerged in response to forces unleashed by industrialization

C. whether this myth contains clues to the original meaning of handmade objects from the colonial period

D. whether this myth was especially widespread during the nineteenth century

E. whether this myth was able to compensate adequately for the inequities of industrialization

Question 6 is based on this passage:

Editorial

It is worrisome that the legislation proposed for curbing lobbyist’ influence is not being opposed by lobbyists themselves. Lobbyists by definition are those who protect the interests of their clients by influencing lawmakers. Since lobbyists’ livelihood depends on their having influence, their lack of opposition must mean that they expect that the proposed legislation would be ineffectual.

6. The argument in the editorial is most vulnerable to which criticism?

A. It presupposes that lobbyists’ positions on legislation are always wrong, but that cannot be the case where lobbyists oppose each other.

B. It assumes without justification that the influence of lobbyists cannot be curbed by legislation.

C. It overlooks the possibility that lobbyists believe that campaigning against the proposed legislation would damage their ability to serve their clients’ interests.

D. It dismisses without evaluation the possibility that by opposing the proposed legislation, lobbyists could succeed in modifying its provisions.

E. It attacks lobbyists as a group rather than evaluating the actions of individual lobbyists separately.

Questions 7 and 8 are based on this passage:

The widespread abandonment of Classic Mayan settlements began in the southern and central Yucatan, with the northern lowlands undergoing their own decline a century later. Some Mayanists think that extended drought caused these abandonments, while others object that the pattern does not match modern patterns of rainfall, which diminishes markedly from south to north. However, access to underground water sources should also be considered. In the north, the Maya could reach groundwater via sinkholes or wells. Further south, the landscape rises in elevation, and the depth to the water table increases, making direct access to groundwater unfeasible via Mayan technology. Thus the more southern settlements, totally dependent on rainfall and reservoirs for water, were more likely to be susceptible to the effects of prolonged drought.

7. Select the sentence that points to a conflict that is resolved in the passage.

Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.

8. The passage identifies which of the following as a possible reason for the chronology described in the first sentence?

A. The lower elevation of the Mayan settlements in the north

B. Variation in the time of onset of drought between the north and the south

C. The higher level of technical expertise reached by the Mayan settlements in the north

Questions 9 and 10 are based on this passage:

In his splendid new biography of Flaubert, Frederick Brown deftly dismantles the most durable myth concerning the novelist—that Flaubert was miraculously transformed into a committed realist with the writing of?Madame Bovary. Robert Baldick offers one version of the myth: “In his early works ... Flaubert tended to give free rein to his flamboyant imagination, but on the advice of his friends he later disciplined his romantic exuberance in an attempt to achieve total objectivity and a harmonious prose style." The only problem with this account is that it doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Flaubert followed the realism of?Madame Bovary?with the fantastical Salammbo, and paired "A Simple Heart" with his hothouse fantasy, "Herodias."

9. The primary function of the highlighted sentence is to

A. suggest the range of Flaubert’s accomplishment as a novelist

B. identify certain of Flaubert's works that are often overlooked by readers

C. show that Madame Bovary was a turning point in Flaubert's stylistic development

D. provide evidence undermining a conventional view regarding Flaubert

E. suggest that critics have tended to overrate Madame Bovary

Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.

10. In the context of the passage, the reference to Baldick's "version" serves to

A. flesh out a conventional view regarding Flaubert

B. present a framework for further research into Flaubert

C. offer a useful corrective to Brown's approach to Flaubert