MCAT verbal test (25)

MCAT Section Tests
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Verbal Reasoning
Time: 85 Minutes
Questions 1-60

DO NOT BEGIN THIS SECTION UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.


VERBAL REASONING
DIRECTIONS: There are nine passages in the Verbal Reasoning
test. Each passage is followed by several questions. After
reading a passage, select the best answer to each question. If
you are not certain of an answer, eliminate the alternatives that
you know to be incorrect and then select an answer from the
remaining alternatives. Indicate your selection by blackening the
corresponding oval on your answer document.
Passage I (Questions 1-6)

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If the ancient Greeks first inspired the ideological
commitment to democracy that gripped Western thought
especially during and after the Enlightenment, the Greek
philosophers contributed to this development less by their
embrace of the democratic principle than by their rejection
of tyranny. In Aristotle’s schema, tyranny is the most
perverse of six types of government; Plato designated five
types, with tyranny the least desirable, followed by
democracy. Yet less clear than Plato’s disregard for the
tyrannical character is his sense of its basic constitution.
The best-known platonic depiction of tyranny appears
in Republic, where the tyrant is beastly, subject to base and
unnecessary appetites: power, vainglory, luxury, lust, and
gluttony. To the extent that passions control him—a
decidedly male figure—the tyrant is a sort of slave, who
depends on both taxation to support him and his “drinkmates…and…mistresses,” as well as bodyguards to
protect him from assassins and other “worthless creatures”
who proliferate under tyrannical rule. An argument
recently propounded by the historian of philosophy Matteo
Giovannini threatens to unsettle this widely held view of
the platonic tyrant as brutish slave. According to
Giovannini, the traditional view, while sound as far as it
goes, is incomplete in that it ignores insights into the
tyrannical character that are offered by Plato in the earlier
and more obscure dialogue, Lysis.

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Giovannini’s account thus purports to complicate the
one-dimensional view of tyranny associated with
Republic. But this account, while ingenious and
provocative, is not beyond question. Most significantly,
Giovannini appears not to have anticipated an obvious
objection to his research design. While Lysis first appeared
during Plato’s formative period of aporetic dialogues in
which the principal interlocutors frequently pose questions
but rarely provide lasting answers, Republic dates from a
later, more mature period in the development of Plato’s
thought, when conclusions are more frequent and less
concealed. The point is that if Plato intended the
conception of tyranny that appears in Republic to be
somehow bound up in a paradox with the conception of
tyranny in Lysis, he would presumably have hinted as
much. Absent such indications, the danger is heightened
that Giovannini may have invented, rather than discovered,
subtle interconnections in Plato’s thought.

1.

According to Giovannini, Lysis forms a counterpoint
to Republic by depicting a tyrant whose status derives, not

from his slavish dependency, but from his utter selfsufficiency; he is complete, or (to use the language of the
ancient philosophers) perfect. For such a figure,
friendship—for many of the Greek philosophers, the
foundation of healthy political community—is ultimately
impossible, because “the one who is perfect does not
depend on the many who are imperfect, but the many who
are imperfect depend on the one who is perfect.” In short,
Giovannini argues, the tyranny found in Lysis is the wake
of a doomed union between the needy masses and the
singular, complete one. Viewed in the double light of
Republic and Lysis, the platonic tyrant depicted by
Giovannini is a paradoxical figure: here a slave, there the
epitome of wholeness.

In paragraph 4, the author is primarily concerned
with:
A. providing a richer alternative to the onedimensional view of tyranny furnished in
Republic.
B. establishing a relationship between the content
of platonic dialogues and the order in which
they first appeared.
C. dismissing Giovannini’s findings on the
grounds that they are more imagined than real.
D. supplying
an
overall
assessment
of
Giovannini’s argument about the platonic
conception of tyranny.

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2.

What does Giovannini suggest about tyrannical
regimes as depicted in Lysis?

5.

A. They fulfill the brutish desires of the tyrant.
B. They are typically incompatible with the
political community.
C. They result from a severe imbalance in the
relationship between the ruler and the ruled.
D. They promote strength and self-reliance among
the general populace.

3.

A. It would weaken Giovannini’s claim that the
platonic tyrant is a paradoxical figure.
B. It would verify the author’s assertion that
Republic provides a reasonable but only partial
depiction of Plato’s conception of the
tyrannical character.
C. It would weaken the author’s major criticism
of Giovannini’s research.

D. It would weaken the author’s assessment of
Giovannini’s work as ingenious and
provocative.

The author most likely mentions Aristotle in order
to:
A. illustrate Greek philosophers’ rejection of
tyranny as a desirable form of government.
B. link ancient Greek political thought with that
of the Enlightenment.
C. exemplify the seminal nature of Plato’s
political thought.
D. provide a contrast to the position of tyranny in
Plato’s classification of regimes.

4.

Suppose conclusive evidence emerged that, in order
to shield his audience from confusion, Plato on
occasion intentionally avoided revealing complex
or seemingly contradictory conclusions in his
dialogues. What relevance would this information
have to the passage?

6.

The author of this passage criticizes Giovannini
primarily on the basis of his:
A. bias against the slavish dependency of the
platonic tyrant.

B. over concern for the situation of the “needy
masses”.
C. failure to use original source materials in his
research.
D. treating Plato’s earliest works as deliberate
contrasts to his mature works.

Which of the following is NOT presented as
evidence
for
the
best-known
platonic
characterization of the tyrannical figure?
A. reliance on taxation to support his personal
social pursuits
B. slavish attachment to the friendship of the
populace
C. excessive indulgence of base desires
D. dependence on physical protection from
enemies

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Passage II (Questions 7–12)

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It has long been a commonplace that the idea of a state
of nature is the conceptual starting point of Hobbesian
political thought. A war in which “every man is Enemy to
every man” chiefly characterizes this state in which,
because of limited resources and the absence of any
summum bonum to fortify a moral order, anarchy rules
and life is never without want and fear. Even scholars who
offer otherwise contrasting readings of Hobbes agree that
its foundation is the state of nature. For LaJoie, Hobbes’s
state of nature “sets in motion the dominoes of deduction”

from which ultimately issue the politics proper. Saccente
cautions against framing Hobbes’s thought within an
“architectural analogue according to which the state of
nature is the foundation of a structure and civil philosophy
is its roof,” yet she too maintains that for Hobbes “civil
philosophy begins with knowledge of human nature.”
Hobbes presents no exception to the rule that at the outset,
every social theorist, whatever else he or she argues, of
necessity makes fundamental and seminal assumptions
concerning human nature.

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To the extent that it involves a politics—what Hobbes
calls civil philosophy—built on a philosophy of human
nature, Hobbes’s thought constitutes a system in which the
problems of political life in civil society are intertwined
with the basic nature of the human condition. By this view,
humankind exists in a universe the entire content of which
is no more or less than matter and motion. A strict, raw,
nominalist materialism circumscribes reality in this
billiard-ball world of efficient causes, which manifest in
personality as the passions that drive behavior. What is
usually termed ‘will’ is unreal, nothing more than the final
derivative of appetite or aversion. To understand the
operation of these passions in human behavior, we are

invited by Hobbes to explore a setting in which nothing
impedes people’s acting on appetites and aversions. This
setting is, of course, the state of nature. In addition to the
absence in this state of any positive law, there is also no
natural law in the scholastic sense of providentiallyprescribed rational commands of right conduct for
everyone. ‘Good’ is radically individual and utilitarian; it
is always and only that to which appetite or aversion drives
a person. Possessed of a natural liberty to compete for
limited resources and to win what security they can by
whatever means they choose, actors in the natural state vie,
according to the famous phrase, for “Power after power,
that ceaseth only on Death.”

thyself…whosoever looketh into himself…shall thereby
read and know what are the thoughts and passions of all
other men.” In De Corpore, Hobbes suggests that
principles of human nature can be derived by ratiocination
from “the first part of philosophy, namely, geometry and
physics.” Among Hobbes scholars consensus lacks
regarding how, and indeed whether, these scenarios
reconcile. Conclusions seem to change sometimes within a
single tract. Within the space of two lines in Konstantin’s
influential Leviathan Logic, the state of nature changes
from a mere “act of imagination” into a far more
ambitious “ideal conception.” (What is more, Konstantin’s
assertion that the state of nature could never be empirically
observed contradicts Hobbes’s own reference to “they of
America.”) LaJoie calls the state of nature a creation of
logic, not history, while for Saccente the state of nature is
a “thought-experiment” designed not to chronicle the

essential condition of humankind, but to illuminate it.

7.

Which of the following is NOT addressed in the
passage?
A. the relationship between physics and human
nature
B. Hobbes’s basic conception of the nature of
universe
C. the role of self-reflection in relation to the
principles of human nature
D. the requirements for emergence from the state
of nature into civil society

8.

As used in the passage, the words “billiard-ball
world of efficient causes” (lines 29–30) refer to:
A. the rejection of belief in transcendent or
universal standards of right conduct.
B. the philosophical relationship between political
and pre-political society.
C. the foundation of positive law in human nature.
D. the derivation of will from basic appetites and
aversions.

It is still an open question precisely how Hobbes
conceptualized the state of nature; neither he nor his
interpreters have been completely clear. Hobbes offers

three scenarios. In De Cive, the state of nature is an
empirical physical location in which war “is perpetuated in
its own nature….They of America are examples hereof.” In
Leviathan, Hobbes appears to conceive of the state of
nature as a facet of personality, accessible through
introspection or intuition: “Nosce teipsum, read

9.

Which of the following best characterizes the claim
(lines 18-20) that “every social theorist, whatever
else he or she argues, of necessity makes

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fundamental and seminal assumptions concerning
human nature?”

11.

A. It supports a viewpoint regarded by the author
as widespread but groundless.
B. It is at odds with the subsequent claim that
Hobbes’s conception of the state of nature is an
open question.
C. It broadens the scope of a claim with which the
author agrees.
D. It demonstrates the systemic character of

Hobbesian thought.

10.

According to the author, which of the following
would be most analogous to conditions in the state
of nature?
A. In a nuclear family, parents allow children to
share in decision-making as the children
develop a capacity to communicate increasingly
thoughtful opinions.
B. In warfare, belligerents adhere to principles
such as proportionality, non-combatant
immunity, and other norms of the “just war”
principle.
C. In international politics, sovereign states
pursue their individual interests without
reference to an overarching authority whose
laws are backed by the threat of coercive force.
D. In a crime-ridden neighborhood, a paroled
criminal burgles homes and businesses despite
the emergence of a vigilante group of hostile
neighborhood residents convinced that police
are incapable of capturing the criminal.

A key distinction between two types of social
agreements—compacts of immediate performance
and covenants of mutual trust—is that the latter,
unlike the former, depend significantly on the
presence of good faith and the expectation of longterm future cooperation among the parties to the

covenant. Given this, which of the following does
the passage suggest would be LEAST likely to
occur?
A. a compact of immediate performance in the
state of nature
B. a compact of immediate performance in civil
society
C. a covenant of mutual trust in the state of nature
D. a covenant of mutual trust in civil society

12. The passage suggests that LaJoie’s characterization
of the state of nature is most consistent with that expressed
in:
A.
B.
C.
D.

Leviathan.
De Corpore.
De Cive.
Leviathan Logic.

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Passage III (Questions 13–18)

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The idea of evolution is not at all new. In its most
simple form, the concept of evolution is that populations
of organisms change over time. One can trace the origins
of evolutionary thought at least as far back as the Greeks.
Anaximander, in 500 BC, held the belief that living
creatures were formed from water and that humans and
other animals were descended from fishes. Empedocles,
around 400 BC, proposed an evolutionary hypothesis in
which he stated that heads, limbs, and various other parts

of animals were continuously joined in random
combinations – e.g. human heads with cows’ bodies – and
that only some of these combinations were fit for survival.

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Christian philosophers later elaborated on the ideas of
Aristotle and Plato when they reasoned that because
existence is a good thing and because God is considered
benevolent, God must have bestowed existence on all
creatures. This twist of circular reasoning, to which the
name “natural theology” was applied, dominated the
period preceding Darwin, and this philosophy resisted
change long after Darwin published his theory of natural
selection in 1859. The apparent change from the rather
mechanistic explanation of evolution put forth by the
Greeks to the more creationist reasoning found later in
Europe was a significant paradigm shift, yet it is clear that
the idea of evolution was not first pioneered by Darwin
himself.

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evolutionary theory and the “theory” of creationism. This
extremely dangerous idea has been at the forefront of
battles waged by so-called “creation-scientists” since the
early 1970s in their attempts to overturn school curricula.
It is essential to confront the creationist issue and to

look at it in a scientific manner. Creationism is not science
and doesn’t belong in the science classroom. However, a
frank discussion of creationism with students is also
important. To avoid it may suggest that perhaps there is
something valid there, lurking in the irrationality. The late
Carl Sagan, one of the staunchest advocates of rationality
and reason in the increasingly irrational and superstitious
world in which we live, has defended the importance of
good science teaching by saying: “In the demon-haunted
world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, [science]
may be all that stands between us and the enveloping
darkness.”

13.

Soon after Charles Darwin published his landmark
work, universal school education began in Britain, and the
teaching of evolution was a top priority in that new
system. Thomas Huxley, one of Darwin’s most ardent
supporters, was one of the founding members of the
powerful London School Board, which helped to set
curriculum guidelines for students and teachers. Yet, back
in the United States, a strong biblical fundamentalism was
taking hold, using the Bible as both a means of
consolation as well as a guide for moral conduct. Many
states passed laws banning the teaching of evolution in
schools, and teachers who persisted either did so quietly or
allowed themselves to be martyred, as in the case of John
Scopes, the Tennessee teacher convicted in 1925 of
teaching evolution in his public school biology class.

Despite his conviction, his trial scored enough of a public
victory for the teaching of evolution that the rising tide of
creationism slowed considerably until many decades later.

The author contrasts the presence of Thomas
Huxley on the London School Board with the
growing biblical fundamentalism in the United
States in order to:
A. show how unimportant the Bible was in British
education.
B. suggest that creationism was a movement
specific to the United States.
C. suggest that Darwin’s ideas needed a great deal
of support in order to be allowed into
England’s classrooms.
D. demonstrate the continued presence of natural
theology in United States curricula.

Most recently, those opposed to the teaching of
evolution in schools have pressed the idea of “creation
science,” a tactic devised by creationists in the late 1960s
to infiltrate America’s science classrooms with religious
ideas. Creation science, despite the apparent oxymoron, is
a phrase that has been widely used by creationists to add
legitimacy to their claims by stating that creationism is a
scientific theory just as much as evolution. By claiming
that their ideas are scientific, creationists could then
demand equal time in the classroom devoted to both

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14.

When Carl Sagan speaks of “the demon-haunted
world that we inhabit by virtue of being human,”
what is he trying to say about us?

17.

A. All discussions of creationism and creation
science should be eliminated from science
classrooms.
B. Most teachers who teach evolution would
agree to splitting time in their classrooms
equally between evolutionary theory and
creation science.
C. There is no room for irrationality and
superstition, since it hides scientific truth and
derails reason.
D. The Bible may be an essential tool for guiding
certain human behaviors, such as morals and
ethics.

A. Human claims that demons and other creatures
exist on Earth should be believed.
B. Humans are innately superstitious beings and
irrationality is part of being human.
C. We should put more emphasis into the teaching

of science and reason so that we can understand
better what makes us human.
D. We tend to turn to fantastic and irrational
explanations in order to explain phenomena in
the world which we do not understand.

15.

Alfred Russell Wallace is widely credited with
having arrived at an almost identical theory of
natural selection to Darwin’s at about the same
time that Darwin was ready to go public with his
ideas. Yet, the one aspect of natural history that
Wallace could not reconcile with according to his
theory was human intelligence, crediting
something supernatural for the evolution of this
trait. Thus, Wallace’s ideas on evolution might be
best characterized as:

18.

In 1968, Epperson v. Arkansas legalized the
teaching of evolution while blocking attempts to
ban the teaching of evolution in the state of
Arkansas. In doing so, however, this Supreme Court
case did all of the following EXCEPT:
A. allow teachers to emulate John Scopes without
fear of prosecution.
B. provide equal time for the teaching of
creationism alongside evolution.

C. prevent the teaching of creation science along
with the teaching of evolution.
D. grant a victory for scientists and rational
thinkers alike.

A. Thomas Huxley’s views with some natural
theology mixed in.
B. those of a natural theologist.
C. entirely creationist.
D. a combination of biblical fundamentalism and
natural theology.

16.

The author would most likely agree with which of
the following statements?

The author’s main idea in this passage is:
A. to explain the differences between natural
selection and creation science.
B. to show how the continued spread of
creationist views is a potentially dangerous
affront to a rational, scientific understanding of
evolution.
C. to contrast the creationist viewpoints, such as
fundamentalism and natural theology with
more ancient views of evolution.
D. to explain why the concepts of evolution are
more scientifically correct than those of
“creation science.”

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Passage IV (Questions 19–25)

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Coral reef ecosystems provide habitat for many diverse
organisms. The reef itself is alive with many billions of
coral colonies plus other limestone-depositing organisms,

growing among the skeletons of their predecessors. Reefs
grow on the continental shelf edge, on the shelf itself,
along islands and atolls, and from the continental
mainland. Reefs are found in two general locations: the
Indo-Pacific, where Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is
located, and the Western Atlantic, which includes
Caribbean reefs. While strict requirements concerning the
amount of available light, and the ocean’s clarity,
temperature, and movement have restricted the geographic
locations of the Earth’s reefs, these requirements have not
limited the ecological complexity of reef communities.
Species representing more phyla than those found in a
tropical rainforest live on coral reefs. Scientists counted
1,441 worms on one coral head alone, and these worms
belonged to over a hundred different families. Six of the
Earth’s seven species of marine turtles inhabit the Great
Barrier Reef. Four thousand species of fishes, more than a
third of all marine fish species, make coral ecosystems
their home. Cartilaginous sharks and rays, perciform fish
families, and some lower teleost are found. Perhaps more
notably, representatives from all fish families and most
genera are reef inhabitants. Although annelid, mollusk,
and insect faunas eclipse reef fish assemblages, fish
diversity exemplifies the richness of coral environments.

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Scientists study reef fishes not only because of the
diverse sampling of species but also because of the range
of behaviors and relationships between species and other
animals that is available for analysis. Intense competition
and predation have caused fishes to carve out special
niches. Mimicry and camouflage offer just two ways for
species to blend in with their surroundings. Juvenile
rockmover wrasses mimic dead leaves by floating along
with currents, and peacock flounder blend in so well with
the sea floor that only their sudden movement will betray
location. Symbiotic relationships between fish and other
organisms also occur with frequency on coral reefs. Small
cleaner wrasse and gobies enter the mouth of larger
species and emerge unscathed because cleaner fishes eat
dead skin and external parasites from other fishes. Cleaner
fishes are necessary to sustain the health of organisms on a
reef. The anemonefish share their habitat with sea
anemones in a symbiotic relationship that scientists have
yet to unravel completely. The defensive nematocysts of
the anemone are used to stun prey, but the anemonefish are
resistant to these stinging cells. Researchers believe that
the fish secrets a mucous coating that mimics that of the
anemone allowing for chemical signals to prohibit the
firing of the cells. One theory holds that the fish obtain
these chemicals by rubbing against the sea anemone’s

tentacles. The benefits, if any, to the anemone for having
these fish live with them is not clear.

The variety of fish reproduction techniques provides
another example of the adaptive complexity that ecologists
have found on reefs. Most spawning is synchronized with
phases of the moon, and eggs are fertilized in the water
column. However, some species lay eggs on the sea
bottom or in a protected area. Damselfishes will guard
their nests quite aggressively, while jawfish and
cardinalfish incubate eggs in the mouth. Seahorse and
pipefish carry their eggs in a pouch. For some species sex
is determined at an early stage of development, while
others have the ability to alter sex depending on
circumstance. Most hermaphroditic species follow the
protogynous pattern of the fairy basselet. If the male
disappears, the dominant female in his harem will change
sex within days and take over his role within hours.
However, a few species are protandrous where the fish are
male first and then become female. Much remains to be
learned about fish reproduction, and evolutionary
biologists find that the coral environment provides them
with many opportunities to observe a variety of species
and specialized behaviors.

19.

Based on the passage, which of the following
statements would the author most likely agree
with?

A. More effort should be made to protect
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
B. The absence of diverse phyla in terrestrial
ecosystems makes them irrelevant for Earth’s
biodiversity.
C. The richness of coral reef diversity should be
recognized and studied.
D. Ecologists should focus research efforts on
environments other than coral reefs.

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20.

It can be inferred from the passage that scientists
studying hermaphroditic reef fishes would be most
interested in research concerning:

24.

A. the complexity of reproductive behaviors of
perciform families in light of fish evolution.
B. the prevalence of shark attacks on reef divers.
C. the development of coral spawning behavior in
reef communities.
D. the specific temperature requirements, broken
down by latitude, for coral growth.

21.

A. More mollusk diversity can be found on a reef
than fish diversity.
B. Evidence of the diversity of fish behavior in
other ecosystems surpasses that of the Great
Barrier Reef.
C. The discovery of new teleost species not found
in marine environments.
D. Coral bleaching causes fish species to die off.

The author discusses the number of species found
on a coral head (line 17) in order to:

25.

A. provide an example of an abnormal
phenomenon.
B. emphasize how much greater the diversity of
worms are on a reef than fish.
C. highlight the importance of coral reef
preservation.
D. illustrate the diversity found in coral reefs.

22.

Evidence of which of the following would most
weaken the author’s argument concerning fish
diversity?

The passage suggests that which of the following is
implicit in discussions concerning biodiversity?
A. The larger the number of marine turtle species,
the greater the biodiversity.
B. Higher population numbers mean greater
biodiversity.
C. The larger the number of phyla, the greater the
biodiversity.
D. Geographic location correlates with the
amount of biodiversity.

It can be inferred from the passage that changes in
an ocean’s water clarity and temperature would
concern researchers studying coral reefs because:
A. water clarity and temperature directly limit
ecological biodiversity.
B. symbiotic relationships between organisms are
complex and interesting.
C. water clarity and temperature affect the growth
of coral communities.
D. scientists studying reefs also study climate
change.

23.

Which of the following theories is supported by the
example of the anemonefish in lines 45-55?
A. Coral animals and fish often operate
independently in the same realm.
B. Complex symbiotic relationships operate on

different levels.
C. Symbiotic relationships only work when both
species receive tangible benefits.
D. Many smaller fish will hide in coral nooks and
crannies to avoid predators.

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Passage V (Questions 26–31)

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The phenomenon of “tracking” is a common one in our
nation’s schools. Tracking places different students in
groups that are usually based on the academic ability of
these students as demonstrated by their grades and as
described in teacher reports. These tracks mean that a
student will proceed through every school day with
essentially the same group of peers, assigned to classes at a
particular level of difficulty. Researcher R. Slavin notes
that “students at various track levels experience school
differently,” depending on their track assignments. There
are differences, for example, in how fast a class progresses
through material, how talkative and energetic the
classroom is, even how stressed or relaxed the teacher
appears.

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ways, a means to alleviate difficulties faced by
administrators in scheduling their student body for classes.

26.

Tracking has the ability to create divergent experiences,
even in identical courses that are meant to be taught at the
same level and speed. Administrators who support tracking
generally assume that it promotes student achievement,
citing that most students seem to learn best and develop
the most confidence when they are grouped amongst

classmates with similar capabilities. Yet, at least for the
lower level tracks, this method of class assignment can
encourage “dumbing down,” or teaching to the lowest
common denominator of ability within a particular class,
rather than accommodating differences and pushing all
students equally hard.

If it were found that students who were tracked did
better overall on standardized tests than those who
were not tracked, this would most likely weaken the
author's argument that:
A. tracking has the ability to create a diversity of
student experience in the classroom.
B. tracking encourages teaching to the lowest
common denominator.
C. tracking allows administrators to overcome
scheduling difficulties.
D. tracking allows students to learn best when
grouped with similar-ability classmates.

27.

One of the major problems with tracking is that
whatever level students are initially placed in often
determines not only where they remain throughout high
school, but also the kinds of courses they are allowed to
take. For example, schools that offer Advanced Placement
(AP) courses often require that students take the honorslevel version of the introductory course before enrolling in
the AP course a year or two later. A student who is tracked
into the “regular” introductory course, rather than the

honors level, may not be able to take the AP course even
after doing an exemplary job in the introductory course,
simply because the honors course is offered a year earlier
than the regular one – allowing honors-track students to
complete enough other graduation requirements to have
time for the AP course later on. And, even if the “regular”track student could make it into the AP course, he or she
would be at a disadvantage, because the introductory
course couldn’t cover key concepts when the teacher was
compelled to slow down the class for the less able
students.

The main idea of the passage is that:
A. tracking should not be used by schools to try
and promote student achievement.
B. tracking can be used in schools, but only with
careful monitoring of student progress.
C. teachers of tracked classes are often stressed
and run their classes at a slow pace.
D. scheduling is a major problem for school
administrators.

In this way, tracking seems to contradict the oft-stated
assumption that “all kids can learn.” If certain students are
better in certain subjects, they must be allowed to excel in
those areas and not be relegated to an inferior class simply
because they have been tracked in another subject in which
they don’t excel. The major obstacle to eliminate tracking
seems to be scheduling, and tracking has become, in many

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10


28.

The author’s argument that tracking contradicts the
assumption that “all kids can learn” would be
strengthened by which of the following findings?
I.

II.

III.

30.

Honors-track students almost always
have AP classes on their transcripts,
while regular-track students do not.
Students in tracked classes do
significantly better on standardized tests
appropriate for their class level.
Teachers of the lower math track in a
particular school were unable to cover
more than ¾ of the textbook over the past
few years.

A. the student has been placed in a track that is too
high.
B. the student is unmotivated and should be

disciplined.
C. the student has been placed in a track that is too
low.
D. the student should be in AP level classes.

31.
A.
B.
C.
D.

29.

I only
III only
II and III
I and III

In paragraph 2, the author is primarily concerned
with:
A. contrasting administrative views of tracking
with his own views.
B. defining “dumbing down” and its effect on
students.
C. describing the diverse experiences students face
when tracked.
D. conveying the importance of pushing all
students equally hard.

According to the passage, students may fall into a

particular track because of all of the following
conditions EXCEPT:
A.
B.
C.
D.

If the author were to encounter a student in a class
who was not doing the work because he or she
claimed to be so bored by the material, the author
would most likely conclude that:

high grades.
learning difficulties.
honors-course enrollment.
how talkative and energetic they are.

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11


Passage VI (Questions 32–39)

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25

30

35

40

45

50

The politics of race in the United States has been
mainly a struggle to restructure constitutional meaning
and to establish certain legal claims. This emphasis was
necessary precisely because the citizenship status of Blacks
was defined for a long period as quite different from that
of Whites. After the abolition of slavery, approximately
one hundred years ensued—into the 1960s—that were
devoted essentially to interpreting the new constitutional
status of the emancipated Black citizens. Thus a “civil
rights” movement developed that saw ninety-five years
(1870-1965) devoted to establishing the privilege of
Blacks to vote unencumbered by racial barriers. The main
arena was the court system. Congress and the presidency
were not principal participants, because the political
constituencies supporting their elections did not favor
such participation. Civil rights advocates went to federal
courts to challenge “grandfather clauses,” White primaries,

evasive voter registration practices, as well as economic
intimidation. These important, tedious battles created a
cadre of constitutional lawyers who became in a real sense
the focal points of the civil rights struggle. Such was the
situation in the famous Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott
from 1955 to 1957, which began when Rosa Parks refused
to abide by a municipal law requiring her to sit in the rear
of the city bus, and ended when the U.S. Supreme Court in
Gayle v. Browder said she did not have to do so.

32.

The author mentions the Gayle v. Browder case in
order to:
A. provide an example of civil disobedience that
led to a change in the law.
B. show how civil rights activists distrusted the
higher court system.
C. examine how the struggle for resources utilized
the lower court systems to achieve certain
goals.
D. refute the claim that the federal government
was not involved in the civil rights movement.

33.

According to the passage, how did the struggle for
resources differ from the struggle for rights?
A. focus on grass-roots activism instead of
electoral power

B. emphasis
on
control
and
political
representation at a local level
C. dedication to effecting changes through
election to national political positions
D. cooperation with newly-arrived immigrant
populations

This civil rights movement developed at the same time
we were witnessing the development of pluralist politics
in this country. And very much of the latter, especially in
the northern urban area, was infused with a heavy dose of
ethnicity. As Blacks were coming out of slavery and going
into courts, immigrant groups were coming out of Europe,
passing through Ellis Island, and going into local political
clubs and machines. But while the politics of race was
characterized by a struggle for rights, the politics of
plural-ethnicity was characterized by a struggle for
resources. The latter was a struggle to capture and control
public office and the ability to dispense patronage and
divisible and indivisible benefits. Instead of nurturing and
training lawyers and plaintiffs, plural-ethnicity focused on
precinct captains and patronage. While the Black racial
political struggle utilized constitutional lawyers as
sophisticated interpreters of new constitutional meaning,
the ethnics utilized lawyers to interpret immigration rules,
obtain pushcart licenses, and negotiate the bureaucratic

passage from alien to citizen. Both roles were
fundamentally critical, but also fundamentally different.
The point is the following: when the civil rights struggle
evolved from rights to resources, as it certainly did
beginning substantially in the 1960s, it took with it the
orientation, language, and some of the tactics of the earlier
struggle for constitutional rights.

34.

According to the passage, why was the Executive
Branch of the government not targeted for civil
rights participation in the 1950s?
A. Early activists had little political clout on a
federal level at that time.
B. Federal policies banned lobbying of Congress
by civil rights advocates.
C. Elected officials acted according to the
expressed opinions of their voters.
D. No members of Congress were interested in
enforcing new voting laws.

35. Which of the following statements best describes the
structure of the passage?

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38.

A. Two historical developments are described and
contrasted.
B. A historical movement is praised using two
closely connected examples.
C. A general history of a struggle is presented,
with a suggestion of how it will be resolved in
the future.
D. Two different approaches to a problem are
analyzed and then combined.

36.

A. concentrated more on elections as a way to
achieve important goals.
B. initiated court cases for more sophisticated and
theoretical reasons.
C. was more concerned with the dispensation and
control of patronage benefits.
D. was more based on immigrant ethnicity in
northern urban regions.

According to the author, prior to 1965 the civil
rights movement on behalf of Blacks was
characterized by which of the following?
A. an emphasis on removing restrictions on Black
voting through court cases
B. a struggle to overturn the decisions of
constitutional lawyers
C. the increasing ability of Black voters to
mobilize and elect Black politicians to office

D. frequent conflict between the Congress and
Supreme Court over controversial issues

47.

According to the author, the “politics of pluralethnicity” discussed in the second paragraph
differed from the Black civil rights movement
before 1965 in all of the following ways EXCEPT
that it:

39.

The author would most likely agree with which of
the following statements regarding the relationship
between pluralist politics and the civil rights
movement?
A. In the 1960s, the civil rights movement took on
some of the less legalistic characteristics of
pluralist politics.
B. The civil rights movement remained
fundamentally unaffected by pluralist politics.
C. During the 1950s, the tactics of pluralist
politics came to dominate the civil rights
movement.
D. The civil rights movement benefited from the
constitutional rights achieved by pluralist
politics.

The author cites the Montgomery, Alabama bus
boycott (lines 22-27) as an example of:

A. a crucial incident which marked the turn of the
civil rights movement toward the goal of
controlling resources.
B. an event important because it began the
leadership career of Martin Luther King, Jr.
C. one of the better-known battles to assert the
civil rights of Blacks.
D. an event whose primary importance was its
impact on the enforcement of constitutional
rights.

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13


Passage VII (Questions 40–47)

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20

25

30

Instead, it is a part of the grammar of virtue: it shows what

kind of thing virtue is.

Virtue is not so much a matter of learning specific
rules or principles or maxims as it is one of developing the
knack of exercising one’s capacity for right action. Since
“virtue” can mean both “moral goodness” and “successful
or excellent action,” my comments about the teaching of
virtue are intended to apply to both senses or uses of the
term, narrow and broad. Both are matters of human action
or activity and, as such, are taught nondidactically,
performatively.

40.

That virtue is taught (and learned) performatively has
something to do with the ineluctably normative quality of
human action or activity. Norms are ways of doing
something, getting something done; these ways of acting
are taught by doing and showing how to do. Being
normative, however, human actions can go wrong. They
can be done wrong, or be wrongly done. As Stanley Cavell
wrote: “The most characteristic fact about actions is that
they can—in various specific ways—go wrong, that they
can be performed incorrectly. This is not, in any restricted
sense, a moral assertion, though it points the moral of
intelligent activity. And it is as true of describing as it is of
calculating or of promising or plotting or warning or
asserting or defining...These are actions which we perform,
and our successful performance of them depends upon our
adopting and following the ways in which the action in

question is done, upon what is normative for it.” Thus, in
talking about virtue, we are talking about normative
matters, matters taught and learned in terms of successful
or unsuccessful human action. As such, we are speaking
about the cultivation of human skills and practices, human
ways of acting (or ways of acting humanly) in this world.

In the last paragraph, the most probable reason for
the author’s comparison between virtue and
language is to:
A. suggest that neither skill can be learned through
indoctrination.
B. prove that both skills are more easily acquired
at a young age.
C. show that both skills are based on certain
human actions.
D. make a case for the theoretical acquisition of
language.

41.

Which of the following are used to bolster the
author’s assertion in the second paragraph that
“human actions can go wrong”?
I.
II.

35

40

45

50

55

Whether virtue is narrowly or broadly understood, the
teaching of virtue is the teaching of a skill within a
practice or form of life, the training of a capacity, not the
memorization or indoctrination of rules or guidelines. The
latter may indeed play some part in teaching a skill within
a practice, but it is not all, or even most, of what I
understand the teaching of virtue to be. Virtue is embodied
in action; accordingly, our knowledge of virtue is a kind of
performative knowledge—both knowledge acquired
through action and knowledge expressed or revealed in
action, in performing a task. Our knowledge of virtue is
not, then, a matter of propositional knowledge, but rather
a matter of performative knowledge. This helps account
for our relative inability to define or say what virtue is
with any confidence or assurance. Knowing what virtue is,
is not the same as knowing what some kind of object is,
because virtue is not an object. And since so much of
Western thought uses our knowledge of objects as the
paradigm of knowledge, any kind of knowledge that does
not fit the model is apt to seem not quite or fully
knowledge at all. In this respect, virtue is like language.
Both are taught by example. Hence, an inability to
articulate the meaning of virtue is not a sign of the lack of

knowledge of virtue, contrary to Socrates (or Plato).

III.

A.
B.
C.
D.

reference to the inherent nature of virtue
as propositional knowledge
expert testimony that supports the
author’s definition of virtue
additional explanation of the nature of
human actions

I only
III only
I, II, and III
II and III

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42.

Based on the information given in the passage, we
can infer that the author would most likely agree
that:

46.

A. cannot successfully teach virtue to others.
B. may impart knowledge of excellent action but
not of moral goodness.
C. can teach didactically but not performatively.
D. may still have a knowledge of virtue.

A. moral values must be learned through
memorization of societal norms.
B. abstract ideas can only be understood through
extensive study of human nature.
C. virtue can be explained through intensive
philosophical discussion.
D. some skills can only be demonstrated by the
completion of a certain action.

43.

47.

As the term is used in the second paragraph of the
passage, “normative” human actions are based
upon:

Which of the following would the author consider
an example of the “propositional knowledge”
referred to in line 44?
A. experiments conducted on a trial and error

basis
B. practicing virtue by imitating moral actions
C. learning a language in conversational classes
D. memorizing various philosophical definitions
of virtue

A. lessons learned from life experiences and
observations.
B. examples provided by historical precedents.
C. cultivation and development of skills and
practices.
D. comprehension of what is right and what is
wrong.

44.

According to the passage, a person who is unable to
define virtue:

According to the author, we can distinguish the
broad and narrow meanings of virtue from each
other on the basis that:
A. the broad definition focuses primarily on the
moral rightness of human actions.
B. the narrow definition was understood by
Socrates to signal a lack of knowledge.
C. the narrow definition involves the teaching of a
skill.
D. the broad definition concerns nondidactic
actions.

45.

The author would be most likely to agree with
which of the following statements about norms?
A. They are derived from specific maxims that
define different aspects of virtue.
B. Only by faithfully following behavioral norms
can virtue be acquired.
C. Many norms are simply the correct way of
performing a certain action.
D. They are the product of didactic teaching.

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15


Passage VIII (Questions 48–53)

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20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

The modern codification tradition to which the Model
Penal Code (1962) belongs has its roots in the new
rationalism of the eighteenth century Enlightenment,
which saw reason as the instrument both for understanding
and mastering the world. For law, reason provided a
lodestar and an instrument for reform. The ideas of the
Enlightenment took hold in England as well as the
Continent and led to a powerful movement toward
codification of law. But it was through the work of one
man, Jeremy Bentham, that these ideas had their greatest
influence on law reform. Bentham’s thinking on
codification of criminal law had a powerful influence on
every codification effort in the English-speaking world in
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, not excluding the
Model Penal Code. Within Bentham’s legacy are such
concepts as: law defined in advance with clarity and
certainty to maximize its potential for guiding behavior;
judicial discretion to make or change the law eliminated as
productive of uncertainty and arbitrariness; the doctrines

of the criminal law and the principles of punishment
justified only by their service to the purpose of the
criminal law to prevent crime; penalties proportioned to
the offense; and no punishment where it would be
“groundless, inefficacious, unprofitable, or needless.”

60

detailed specifications of rules. Other notable
characteristics of the Code include its rejection of capital
punishment, its moderation of punishments, its forceful
protection of freedom of speech and the rights of the
accused, the prominent place it gave to reform of the
offender and its provision of means to accomplish it.

8.

The author of the passage would most likely agree
with which of the following statements?
A. Edward Livingston’s personal commitment to
the codification of laws greatly influenced his
colleagues, including Jeremy Bentham.
B. English and Continental lawmakers agreed
wholeheartedly on the need for standardization
of laws during the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.
C. Developments in intellectual and philosophical
thought during the Enlightenment were a major
factor in leading to the establishment of the
first penal codes.

D. The Benthamite concept of penal codes has
been highly influential in theory, but rarely
successful when written into law.

The first great penal code in the Benthamite tradition,
although never enacted, was prepared by an American,
Edward Livingston, for the state of Louisiana in 1826.
What led to the appearance of this draft code at this time in
Louisiana? Many factors, doubtlessly, but conspicuously
among them was the commitment of one man to the idea
of codification. Livingston was a learned man, well read in
Continental as well as English intellectual and social
developments. He was captured by the ideas of Bentham
and the ferment for legal reform and codification in
revolutionary America and France. Earlier in his career as
a United States Congressman he sought a revision of the
United States penal law. That his code was drafted for
Louisiana may be due simply to the accident that led him
to leave New York and to transplant his legal and public
career there.

49.

This Penal Code, breathtaking in conception and
achievement, included a Code of Procedure, a Code of
Evidence, a Code of Reform and Prison Discipline, and a
Code of Crimes and Punishments. Livingston’s unassisted
completion of this task within three years was one of those
prodigious, virtuoso performances that is scarcely
imaginable today. His Benthamite philosophy was

manifested in many of the Code’s provisions, notably
those relating to the judicial function. Livingston
distrusted judges no less than Bentham; consequently,
common-law crimes, use of common-law terms, and all
means through which judges might infuse their own moral
views into the definition of crimes were outlawed. The
object of the Code, to leave as little as possible to judicial
creativity, is apparent in its preference for exhaustive and

Which of the following is NOT attributed by the
author to Bentham’s work on legal reform?
I.
II.
III.
IV

A.
B.
C.
D.

making sure the punishment fits the crime
outlawing unjust and arbitrary penalties
legalization of capital punishment
editing laws to make them clear and
unambiguous

II only
III only
I, III, and IV

I, II, and III

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50.

According to the passage, which of the following
was one of the primary reasons for the creation of
Livingston’s penal code?

53.

A. historical background of a topic, presentation
of a thesis based on this topic, refutation of the
thesis and suggestion of a different explanation
B. introduction of a controversial thesis,
discussion of an example of the thesis, defense
of a potential alternative thesis
C. objective presentation of a historical legal
development, description of successive stages
in this development, judgement of the outcome
of this development
D. contextualization of a theory, application of the
theory in a different circumstance, description
of the new application and comparison to the
original

A. Influence from previous codification efforts

had finally spread from other parts of the
country into Louisiana.
B. American legal figures were impressed by the
legal systems in England and wished to emulate
them.
C. Livingston was inspired by intellectual and
social changes and progress from abroad.
D. Colleagues in the legal profession encouraged
Livingston to develop a Penal Code based on
the Benthamite tradition.

51.

Which of the following best describes the method
used by the author to structure this passage?

All of the following are strengths of Livingston’s
penal code EXCEPT:
A. specific protection of defendants’ civil rights.
B. emphasis on reform rather than on punishment.
C. constraints on judicial discretion to modify
rules and legal procedures.
D. successful implementation and expansion of
his code.

52.

One of the guiding motivations for Livingston’s
development of a penal code was:
A. to afford broader rights and less severe

punishments to convicted criminals.
B. to decrease the possibility of judicial
misinterpretation of laws.
C. to define penalties and crimes based on
common-law terms.
D. to protect certain freedoms and civil rights of
defendants.

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17


Passage IX (Questions 54–60)

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25

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35

40

45

50

Fully literate persons can only with great difficulty
imagine what a primary oral culture, i.e., a culture with no
knowledge of writing, is like. Without writing, words as
such have no visual presence, even when the objects they
represent are visual. Thus, for most literates, to think of
words as totally disassociated from writing is
psychologically threatening, for literates’ sense of control
over language is closely tied to the visual transformations
of language. Writing makes “words” appear similar to
things because we think of words as the visible marks
signaling words to decoders, and we have an inability to
represent to our minds a heritage of verbally organized
materials except as some variant of writing. A literate
person, asked to think of the word “nevertheless” will
normally have some image of the spelled-out word and be
quite unable to think of the word without adverting to the
lettering. Thus the thought processes of functionally
literate human beings do not grow out of simply natural
powers but out of these powers as structured by the
technology of writing. More than any other single
invention, writing has transformed human consciousness.

55

60

65

Nevertheless, without writing, human consciousness
cannot achieve its fuller potentials, cannot produce other
beautiful and powerful creations. Literacy is absolutely
necessary for the development not only of science, but also
of history, philosophy, explicative understanding of
literature and of any art, and indeed for the explanation of
language (including oral speech) itself. Literate users of a
grapholect such as standard English have access to
vocabularies hundreds of times larger than any oral
language can manage. Thus, in many ways, writing
heightens
consciousness.
Technology,
properly
interiorized, does not degrade human life but enhances it.

54.

In the total absence of any writing, there is nothing
outside the writer, no text, to enable him or her to produce
the same line of thought again or even verify whether he
has done so or not. In primary oral culture, to solve
effectively the problem of retaining and retrieving
carefully articulated thought, you have to do your thinking
in mnemonic patterns, shaped for ready oral recurrence. A
judge in an oral culture is often called upon to articulate
sets of relevant proverbs out of which he can produce
equitable decisions in the cases under formal litigation

under him. The more sophisticated orally patterned
thought is, the more it is likely to be marked by set
expressions skillfully used. Among the ancient Greeks,
Hesiod, who was intermediate between oral Homeric
Greece and fully developed Greek literacy, delivered
quasiphilosophic material in the formulaic verse forms
from which he had emerged.

In paragraph 2, the author mentions Hesiod in order
to:
A. prove that oral poets were more creative than
those who put their verses in written words.
B. show that some sophisticated expressions can
be found among the pre-literate ancient Greeks.
C. demonstrate that a culture that is partially oral
and partially literate forms the basis of an ideal
society.
D. thinking in mnemonic patterns is an
unsuccessful memory device.

55.

Because we have so deeply interiorized writing, we
find it difficult to consider writing to be an alien
technology, as we commonly assume printing and the
computer to be. Most people are surprised to learn that
essentially the same objections commonly urged today
against computers were urged by Plato in the Phaedrus,
against writing. Writing, Plato has Socrates say, is
inhuman, pretending to establish outside the mind what in

reality can be only in the mind. Secondly, Plato’s Socrates
urges, writing destroys memory. Those who use writing
will become forgetful, relying on external resource for
what they lack in internal resources. Thirdly, a written text
is basically unresponsive, whereas real speech and thought
always exist essentially in a context of give-and-take
between real persons.

According to the passage, the thought patterns of
most literates are based on which of the following
processes?
A. consistent reference to the written word as a
visual coding device
B. acquired
abilities
to
interpret
oral
communication in a textual context
C. learned abilities that are acquired by all humans
during the early childhood years
D. conscious transformation of viewed objects
into visual language

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56.

The author of the passage would most likely agree
that:
A. computer advances in the recent decades will
prove to be advantageous to human life.
B. the development of writing has been
detrimental to the progress of intellectual
thought.
C. communication in primary oral cultures was
flawed and untrustworthy.
D. beautiful and powerful creations cannot be
produced through oral communication.

57.

58.

A.
B.
C.
D.

59.

Which of the following, if true, would most
weaken the author’s conclusion about the benefits
of writing?
A. Data from a study of primary oral cultures
prove that advances in philosophy in these
cultures have been sophisticated and
meaningful.

B. Researches have shown that children who are
blind from birth and are never exposed to
writing are just as likely to excel in all
academic and artistic endeavors as sighted
children.
C. Historical evidence suggests that fewer
developments in history and art were achieved
in pre-literate ancient cultures.
D. Tests on stroke patients whose language
processing centers have been damaged have
shown no proof of an increased reliance on oral
communication.

According to the author, an important difference
between oral and literate cultures can be expressed
as:
extensive versus limited reliance on memory.
chaotic versus structured modes of thought.
simple versus complex use of language.
barbaric
versus
civilized
forms
of
communication.

The author refers to Plato in the third paragraph
primarily to:
A. provide an example of literate Greek
philosophy.

B. suggest the possible disadvantages of writing.
C. illustrate common misconceptions about
writing.
D. define the differences between writing and
computer technology.

60.

The author views the technology of writing as:
A. conflicting with the structure of human
consciousness.
B. enriching the possibilities of human
achievement.
C. damaging to essential human resources.
D. essential for any artistic creation.

STOP. IF YOU FINISH BEFORE TIME IS CALLED,
CHECK YOUR WORK. YOU MAY GO BACK TO ANY
QUESTION IN THIS SECTION ONLY.

STOP.