Questions 1 and 2 are based on this passage. ?

Before feminist literary criticism emerged in the 1970s, the nineteenth-century United States writer Fanny Fern was regarded by most critics (when considered at all) as a prototype of weepy sentimentalism-a pious, insipid icon of conventional American culture. Feminist reclamations of Fern, by contrast, emphasize her "nonsentimental" qualities, particularly her sharply humorous social criticism. Most feminist scholars find it difficult to reconcile Fern's sardonic social critiques with her effusive celebrations of many conventional values. Attempting to resolve this contradiction, Harris concludes that Fern employed “flowery rhetoric" strategically to disguise her subversive goals beneath ?apparent conventionality. However, Tompkins proposes an alternative view of sentimentality itself, suggesting that sentimental writing could serve radical, rather than only conservative, ends by swaying readers emotionally, moving them to embrace social change.?

1. It can be inferred that the author of the passage mentions Fern’s “sharply humorous social ?criticism” primarily in order to?

A. contrast Fern’s apparent intentions with the impression her writing made on Harris?

B. suggest that many feminist critics have attributed to Fern intentions that she may not have had.?

C. identify an aspect of Fern’s writing that strikes some scholars as incompatible with other ?attributes of her writing.?

D. help account for the effect Fern’s writing had on critics of her own time?

E. identify the aspects of Fern’s writing for which she was primarily known prior to the 1970s

2. In the context in which it appears, “reclamations” most clearly means?

A. reformations?

B. rehabilitations?

C. recapitulations?

D. retractions?

E. reiterations ?

Questions 3 to 5 are based on this passage.

Educated people in the Renaissance learned their Latin from contemporary collections, like Erasmus’ Adages and Ravisius Textor’s Epitha, that grouped pithy expressions not by author or period ?but by subject. Thus Renaissance students encountered the many variations ancient Roman writers (ca. 100 B.C.—ca. A.D. 200) had for maxims like "War is pleasant to those who haven't tried it.” They could even use these sayings flawlessly themselves, for example, urging friends who worked too long on one book to “take your hand off the writing tablet." But they had no sense of context, instead they associated the quotations not with the original sources, but with other identical, similar, or opposite sayings cited?in their textbooks. Modern scholarship has explored this point to explain the idiosyncratic nature of?most Renaissance allusions to classical texts. The prevalence of this sort of secondhand classical culture?in the Renaissance should figure in any effort to assess the degree and kind of influence that Roman writers had on the educated class of the sixteenth century in Europe.?

3. The term “idiosyncratic” is used by the author of the passage to characterize the?

A. manner in which educated people of Renaissance Europe learned Latin?

B. interpretations by some modern scholars of Renaissance allusions to classical texts?

C. way in which allusions to classical texts were usually employed by Renaissance writers?

D. secondhand nature of classical culture in Renaissance Europe?

E. influence that ancient Roman writers had on the educated class of sixteenth-century Europe?

4. The author of the passage suggests that when a Renaissance student quoted a Latin expression, that student would typically?

A. use the expression in an inappropriate context?

B. be unfamiliar with the original source of the expression?

C. employ a garbled variation of the original expression?

D. modify the expression from the form in which it appeared in contemporary collections?

E. use the expression with a similar or opposite saying learned from the same textbook?

5. With which of the following views of modern scholarship on the Renaissance period would the author of the passage most likely agree??

A. It’s devotion to the study of Renaissance allusions to classical texts has blinded it to issues that are more central to an understanding of the period.?

B. It needs to consider the means by which educated Renaissance people learned Latin in order to understand how these people were influenced by the literature of ancient Rome.?

C. It has adequately assessed the way in which Renaissance writers used ancient Roman texts, ?but it still needs to examine the original sources of these Roman texts.?

D. It has spent most of its time exploring firsthand classical culture in the Renaissance and now ?needs to take on its secondhand classical culture.?

E. It should incorporate a broader, interdisciplinary approach, one that addresses the overall social conditions of the Renaissance, if it hopes to gain a more complete understanding of this period.?

Question 6 is based on this passage.

James: Why is it that fish living in the ocean’s dark depths do not swim around very much? It must be that the scarcity of food available there prevents them from having much energy for swimming.?

Marie: But fish swim around only to approach or avoid other creatures that they can see, and in ?such conditions of darkness, almost nothing can be seen.

6. Marie responds to James by?

A. offering a reason to think that the question James poses is too vague to be satisfactorily answered?

B. pointing out that what James presents as an explanation is the very thing that needs to be explained?

C. objecting that James’s explanation accounts for only some of the cases that it is claimed to cover?

D. presenting a reason to doubt that what James tries to explain really happens?

E. providing a reason to doubt that the phenomenon James attempts to explain requires any ?explanation of the kind he offers?

Questions 7 and 8 are based on this passage.?

The decline of the heath hen began when the first European arrived on the East Coast of North America. Before European settlement, Native Americans used fire to maintain a mosaic of forests, shrublands, agricultural fields, and grasslands. After European diseases decimated Native American ?populations, the formerly open habitats of the Northeast became largely forested, resulting in major changes to bird communities and probably reducing suitable heath hen habitat. Although the clearing of forests by European settlers probably once again increased heath hen habitat, hunting pressure was extreme, and by 1821 the formerly common bird was rare in New England. The last reports of heath hens in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are from 1869, and it is doubtful that the heath hen survived much after that on mainland North America.?

7. Which of the following can be inferred about the action mentioned in the highlighted portion?of the passage??

A. It was facilitated by the use of fire to maintain a mosaic of forests and open habitats.?

B. It partially reversed changes to bird communities that occurred in the previous century.?

C. It failed to compensate for the effects of overhunting the species.?

D. It resulted from a deliberate effort to conserve the species.?

E. It had a significant positive impact on a species that was already close to extinction.?

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

8. Which of the following statements about the impact of European settlers on the heath hen is supported by the passage? ?

A. The first Europeans indirectly precipitated a decrease in suitable heath hen habitats?

B. European settlers hastened the decline of the heath hen through hunting.?

C. The growth of European settlements may have increased suitable heath hen habitats

Questions 9 and 10 are based on this passage.?

Academics have been reconsidering the meaning of “wilderness” and its usefulness to conservation strategies. The idea of pristine wilderness is historically inaccurate, argue scholars of Native American history, who have demonstrated that Native Americans shaped their environments?with their agricultural practices and residential patterns. Other scholars argue that wilderness is simply a cultural construct created in opposition to modern society, not a real place untouched by humans. Scientists, in turn, have argued that the goal of wilderness preservation is based on a model in which?ecosystems progress toward a stable equilibrium state, a model replaced in the 1970s with one stressing constant change. These insights complicate wilderness management which critics charge?aims to preserve a supposedly stable environment that existed prior to human disturbance.?

9. Which of the following statements best describes the function of the highlighted sentence??

A. It undermines a claim made in the previous sentence.?

B. It introduces a perspective that the author disputes.?

C. It elaborates on a claim made earlier in the passage.?

D. It introduces a traditional point of view?

E. It describes a recent scholarly controversy.?

10. The author suggests that the model “stressing constant change” is significant because it?

A. points a way in which wilderness management can be conducted in a modern society?

B. undermines an assumption underlying wilderness management?

C. helps to explain why wilderness management efforts have been unsuccessful?

D. calls into question the idea that wilderness is a cultural construct?

E. suggests that wilderness areas are more threatened than was previously thought