Questions 1 and 2 are based on this passage.?

The graphic element of Mesoamerican codex writing appears as figural representations, icons and symbols that signify thought, ideas, and imagery rather than visible speech. Although ancient Mexicans designated some symbols to voice specific words, their larger graphic system did not correspond directly with spoken language. Because the symbols did not replicate any single linguistic system, speakers of various languages could translate the pictographs into their own respective tongues. Readers evaluated a combination of naturalistic images, pictorial conventions, and abstract symbols recorded within an organized structure. By knowing the basic conventions and the meanings of the symbols and recognizing their general arrangement, readers interpreted the pictographic messages. Precise reading orders are not always set, however; thus, different readings and interpretations remain possible.

1. According to the passage, which of the following is true regarding the symbols of the Mesoamerican codex graphic system?

A. Some of the symbols represent multiple concepts.

B. Some of the symbols correspond with particular words.

C. Most of the symbols originate from a single spoken language.

D. The symbols were primarily made up of abstract images.?

E. The individual symbols were hard to translate because their arrangement varied.

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

2. It can be inferred from the passage that the nature of the Mesoamerican codex graphic system enabled which of the following?

A. The sharing of the system among speakers of different languages?

B. The visible representation of different language systems?

C. The changing of the system’s conventions by speakers of different languages

Questions 3 to 5 are based on this passage

During the Early and Middle Ming periods in China (1368-1522), most private maritime enterprise was outlawed as piracy by the imperial government. The result was armed conflict between private traders and government forces as well as a gap in the supply of Chinese export wares into the overseas market during the Early Ming period. It is tempting to envision the tension between the private traders and the imperial government during the Early and Middle Ming periods as a conflict between two ideologies: an entrepreneurial spirit versus an agrarian society's conservative Confucian cosmology that despised commerce and material indulgence. A careful examination of the historical events within the empires however, reveals that this binary view would be an oversimplification, since the tension likely created factions within the Ming bureaucracy. For instance Governor Zhu Wan's handed crackdown on Shuangyu Island (the hub of middle Ming period international piracy) seems to have damaged the commercial interests of so many powerful players in the Ming bureaucracy that they were able to impeach him (after which he committed suicide). Archaeological evidence indicates that there was a flood of Chinese black-and-white porcelain to the overseas market after 1488. In contrast, an account written by Cui Bo, a Korean scholar official who was shipwrecked on the coast of Ningbo reveals no signs of a relaxation of the maritime ban at the level of coastal defense. One can conjecture that?those responsible for enforcing the maritime ban probably benefited from turning a blind eye to illicit trade under their jurisdiction.

3. The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. describe the tension between two ideologies?

B. analyze the nature of a historical antagonism?

C. question the relevance of certain evidence?

D. reveal the inconsistencies of a popular theory

E. defend the importance of historical research

4. The author mentions “two ideologies” primarily in order to

A. contrast the popular beliefs of a particular time period in Chinese history?

B. identify the main source of tension between two groups of people?

C. describe the economic and geopolitical context of a historical event?

D. mention a plausible but ultimately inadequate explanation for a phenomenon?

E. refute a widely held view about the consequences of a conflict

5. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

A. A conflict is described and some of its ramifications are explored.

B. A hypothesis is proposed and the credibility of the evidence typically used to support it is questioned.

C. A phenomenon is considered and the accounts of the historical events surrounding it are discussed.?

D. A view is presented and an argument that suggests its deficiency is given.

E. A controversy is explained and the strengths and weaknesses of both sides are considered.

Question 6 is based on this passage.

Seeds of wild plants generally have thick coats that allow them to survive in the ground until the next growing season. But with domesticated plants, seeds are not sown until the growing season begins. Accordingly, within a given domesticated species, plants with thinner-coated seeds which germinate more quickly are advantaged, since quicker germination enables a plant to shade out its slower neighbor, thereby increasing its likelihood of surviving to harvest and contributing seeds to the next planting.

6. The information given, if accurate, provides the strongest justification for which of the following claims?

A. In the wild, a plant gains no reproductive advantage if its seeds germinate before the seeds of other plants.

B. The relative thickness of the coat of the seeds of two species of domesticated plants reliably indicates which of the plants will grow more quickly.

C. A wild plant such as Chiltepin, whose seeds have extremely thick coats that ensure that they survive the digestive systems of animals, will be at disadvantage compared to a wild plant whose seed coats protect only against cold.

D. The cache of Chenopodium seeds found at 3,500-year-old cave dwelling, whose coats are significantly thinner than those of Chenopodium known to have grown wild then, supports the hypothesis that the plant had been domesticated by that time.

E. The one of two seeds of the same domesticated species has a thicker coat than the other is evidence that the seed with the thicker coat came from a plant grown in the colder climate.

Questions 7 and 8 are based on this passage

Isobel Grundy rightly argues that in researching pre-nineteenth-century women’s?historical writing, scholars must define history broadly and include historical fiction, biography, court memoirs, and family history. Grundy also believes that these writings provide “a history of a whole female culture,” while embodying a pre-nineteenth-century “feminine” relationship to history. On this point, I am skeptical, as I do not believe there was a characteristic women's relationship to history. Instead, my research suggests that pre-nineteenth-century British women writers engagement with historical discourse depended on such things as their political commitments and class affiliations and their perceptions of developing historical genres and markets. We must give sufficient attention to the myriad individual authors and texts before generalizing widely about women writers' engagements with history.?

7. The passage implies that its author would agree with which of the following statements about "historical fiction, biography, court memoirs, and family history”??

A. These genres had their origins primarily among pre-nineteenth-century British women writers.

B. These genres were probably more reflective of women's views in pre-nineteenth-century Britain than they were in later periods.?

C. These genres can help scholars develop a comprehensive view of British women’s historical writing.?

D. These genres have generally been regarded by scholars as more reliable sources of information about pre-nineteenth-century women than have other genres of historical writing.

E. These genres are remarkably homogeneous in the way they represent the lives of pre-nineteenth-century women in Britain.

8. Which of the following describes a difference between the author and Grundy regarding British women writers engagement with historical discourse??

A. The author thinks the engagement was determined primarily in response to developing literary markets; Grundy thinks it had little to do with such markets.?

B. The author believes the engagement is reflected in numerous genres; Grundy thinks that one genre is specifically feminine.?

C. The author emphasizes the heterogeneity of factors that influenced the engagement; Grundy suggests that the engagement was unified by one particular factor.

D. The author thinks the engagement was limited to women in certain social classes; Grundy thinks it was common to all classes.

E. The author believes the engagement was just beginning in the late 1700s; Grundy thinks it reached its peak then.

Questions 9 and 10 are based on this passage

Scientists have long debated the exact timing of the lunar cataclysm, a period approximately 4 billion years ago when Earth and the Moon were pummeled with asteroids. A clue to this puzzle may come from spherules, millimeter-sized droplets of molten rock formed after an asteroid collides explosively with a planet. Upon impact, the asteroid vaporizes both itself and the target rock, producing a vapor plume that condenses into spherules. These form a layer preserved in rock, whose age can be estimated using radiometric dating. Scientists know of fourteen of these spherule layers scattered across Earth, but none dates to the theorized lunar cataclysm time period. Four layers, however, are from between 3.47 and 3.24 billion years?ago indicating perhaps a slow decline in collisions.

9. The primary purpose of the passage is to?

A. challenge a basic assumption underlying a theory

B. analyze a flaw in a novel approach to a problem?

C. describe different processes that could have produced the same phenomenon?

D. explain how a class of data might be useful for answering a question?

E. outline a theory that may reconcile conflicting interpretations of a phenomenon

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

10. Which of the following might plausibly account for the finding in the highlighted sentence??

A. Spherule layers older than 3.47 billion years exist, but they have not been discovered yet.

B. Spherule layers older than 3.47 billion years once existed, but they have since been destroyed.

C. Fewer asteroids collided with Earth than with the Moon during the lunar cataclysm.